Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hey.

I wonder if you know who I am…

You probably do.

A lot of you probably hate me.

I mean, I did end the world, huh?

Well, think again.

That’s not what happened here.

Granted, yeah.

In one world, I did that.

I caused the tragedy.

But…

This isn’t that world.

In that world, I was the Ultimate Despair.

I did so… so many terrible things.

Great things.

But terrible.

Here?

I didn’t do any of that.

I’m just like everyone else.

Well…

Not everyone else.

I’m still an Ultimate.

So I’ve got that going for me.

There are so many things that could have happened.

What if someone else became obsessed with despair?

What if it wasn’t even just despair?

It could be anything.

Hatred?

Malice?

Revenge?

Or even hope?

Well… I dunno.

Guess I’ll have to figure it out on my own.

Or maybe I won’t.

Maybe I’ll be one of the ones who die.

Or maybe not.

Nothing like that has happened yet, after all.

But it’s about to.

Just as soon as I wake up.

Should probably do that now, huh?

I’m keeping everyone waiting.

…

…

…

Fuck it. Let’s go.

Chapter Text

…

…

…

Okay. What’s going on here?

This isn’t my bed.

“Fuck, how much did I drink last night?”

Wait, no. I wasn’t drinking… I think.

I was in my own bed.

Shit’s not right here.

I’m lying on something hard.

I can feel some wind blowing against me… I must be outside.

Ugh, my eyelids feel heavy. It’ll probably take some effort to open them up.

Junko pried her eyes open, and immediately saw light.

“Ugh, fuck…” she says in response to the blinding light.

She covered her eyes with her hands and sat up.

“Woah!” A voice came from a small way away from her. “You’re awake, dude!”

“No shit, dude,” Junko shot back at the voice. “Where the hell am I?”

She still couldn't see right. There were blind spots in her vision. She hoped they’ll go away soon.

“Beats me,” The voice said. It sounded like a mans voice.

Junko looked towards the man once her vision cleared. He looked like a bum.

Considering the fact that he was lying on a log that was cut in half, that might've been accurate. Actually, now that she thought about it, she was too.

The man had light brown skin with stubble on his chin, and thin dark brown eyes.

His clothing was a crime against fashion.

He was wearing three layers of shirts, the top one being a green Japanese male uniform jacket he wears over his shoulders, with neither of his arms in the sleeves… for some reason. The second one being an open button-down white shirt, and his third layer is a small yellow short-sleeve shirt. He had a brown haramaki… and used a fucking rope as his belt to hold up his pants, which were baggy and black, and are rolled up past his ankles. To top it off, he was wearing sandals.

The most noticeable part about him was his hair. His dark brown hair was styled in dreadlocks that stick out as large points and seem to be bent backwards, making it look like a strange-looking afro. Junko doubted that he’d washed his hair in a scarily long time.

“Well, you’re useful,” Junko said to the man sarcastically, before taking in her surroundings.

She was, in fact, sat on a half log. There seemed to be about eight in a circle around an extinguished fire, two of which were occupied by myself and the man.

There were trees all around her, but they weren't exactly dense. She could see through all of them despite their large number.

She noted that there were a few cabins around her- about six to be exact, but there could be more.

Finally, she could see some sort of field in the distance, if the complete lack of trees in a certain area was any indication.

She sighed, resigning herself to the fact that she has to talk to the bum now.

“Hey,” Junko began, looking over towards the man again, “Who are you?”

The man sat up and looked towards her. “Huh? My name?” he asked.

“No, your mother’s name,” Junko rolled her eyes. “Yes your name!”

The man gave her a dopey grin. “Yeah alright. I’m Yasuhiro Hagakure- Hiro for short,” he said, crossing his arms and smiling, “I’m the Ultimate Clairvoyant! Take it easy, yeah? I know I will.”

’Ultimate,’ huh?

“You’re also an Ultimate?” Junko asked him sceptically.

“Yeah!” he said, a large grin arriving on his face, “Ultimate Clairvoyant! I’m right thirty percent of the time!”

She stared at him, “Only thirty percent of the time? Isn’t that like, really low?”

“I mean, when there are only two options, yeah,” Hiro began, “When there are, say, a hundred options? Whatever I pick goes from having a one percent chance of being right to a thirty percent chance!”

“Huh. Interesting,” Junko responded. In fairness, that did sound pretty impressive. “How’d you even find out that you could do this? Just guess on every test you ever did or something?” she said jokingly, stifling a laugh.

“Yeah,” Hiro replied, simply.

Huh? “Wait what?” she reeled back at the insanity of his words.

“Guessed everything,” he clarified, “Especially math. Out of an infinite number of options for an answer, I picked the right one thirty percent of the time.”

“That’s fucking amazing!” she told him. “How’d you not get held back?”

Hiro have another dopey grin. “Oh, I did get held back. I’m actually twenty one.”

“Fucking what?” Junko shouted, shocked, “I’m seventeen, so you got held back four fucking times!?”

Hiro smiled. “Whadaya expect man?” he said, “I did guess on every single test.”

Junko considered this. “Touché.” she nodded wisely, “Touché.”

“Actually, I don’t know who you are,” Hiro realized. “So uh… who are you?”

Junko blinked at him, mildly surprised.. “I uh… I don’t wanna sound like a prick… But you don’t recognise me at all?”

“Nup,” Hiro responded blankly.

He was clueless. “Well, I’m Junko Enoshima!” she told Hiro. “I’d say you’re charmed, but clearly you don’t know who I am, mister bum.”

“Ah, another Ultimate!” Hiro responded, before angrily pointing at her, “Hey! I’m not a bum!”

Junko gives him a snarky grin. “Dude, you literally can’t even put your jacket on properly,” she said, grabbing one of the sleeves of said jacket to emphasize her point, “And that hair! When’s the last time you washed it?”

“Hey!” he responded indignantly, “I washed my hair last month! And I don’t have my arms in my sleeves by choice!”

“Dude, that like, makes it worse. Your fashion sense is abhorrent,” Junko told him, “And a month!?” she backed away from him promptly, “You should wash your hair every few days!”

Hiro stuttered angrily. “A-And how would I know that!? I’m not a fashion… fashion…ist!” He said, fucking up and forgetting the word ‘fashionista,’ despite the fact she had said it to him not five minutes ago.

“It should be common knowledge…” Junko mumbled, but decided to continue on, “Anyway, you said you’ve never heard of me? You mustn’t be too into media then, huh?”

Hiro shook his head. “Nah. That stuff’s waaaay to advanced for me. I never had any electronics as a kid, no phone or anything, so I never really got into that stuff.”

“Really?” Junko asked him. She couldn’t imagine life without her phone, so this shocked her. “Did you at least have a tv?”

Hiro laughed. “Of course, man. I’m not that poor. My mom and I used to love watching cartoons together…” Hiro looked at the sky, reminiscing.

Junko let him stay in his memories for a short while longer, before snapping him out of it. “So uh, is there anyone else here?”

“Hm?” Hiro blinked, before looking back at me. “Oh, yeah. Like, fourteen more people.”

“Fourteen!?” Junko blanched at him, before shouting angrily. “Where the fuck are they!?”

“Looking around,” he told her, “Byakuya told me to wait here with you, since you hadn’t woken up yet.”

Junko tilted her head in confusion. “Why you of all people?”

Hiro looked angry again. “He said that I was stupid and didn’t want me looking around!” he said, looking annoyed, “Can you believe that!?”

Yes. “No.”

“Thank you!” Hiro said, grabbing Junko’s hand and shaking it profusely. After letting her hand go, he spoke again. “Well, not like I mind too much. I didn’t really wanna look around too much anyway.”

Junko narrowed her eyes at him. “Then why were you complaining so much about it?”

“I dunno,” Hiro said with his dopey grin.

“Ooooof course.” Junko rolled her eyes. “Shit, what’s the time?” She went to grab her phone, but found nothing. “Wait, what?!”

“What’s wrong?” Hiro asked, playing with the sleeve of his jacket.

“I can’t find my phone!” Junko yelled at him, frantic.

Hiro smiled again. The fuck is he thinking? “Oh yeah. Everyone mentioned that their phones were gone earlier. I never had one. I just used my mom’s when I needed to call someone.”

“For fuck's sake.” Electing to ignore the hilarity of a twenty one-year-old man having to use his mommies’ phone for the time being, Junko went through all of her pockets- and her cleavage- to see if her phone was truly gone, and in one of her pockets, she found something else.

Pulling out the object, she realised that it looked like a phone, but it was black and white instead of the usual pink, so she knew it wasn’t hers. Turning it on, what she saw was her name, followed by a few icons. The first said ‘Map,’ so she clicked on it.

“What the fuck…?” She analysed the map. There were sixteen cabins on the right side of the map with a forest-y area called ‘The Grove,’ that seemed to be where she and Hiro were. There was a ‘Lodge’ and a tennis court labelled ‘Middle Tennis’ at the bottom of the map, with the ‘directors’ cottage to the left of it.

The far left of the map had the ‘Health Centre’ and the ‘Dining Room,’ with an unlabelled stage above it. There were four more sports areas, being a hockey rink, basketball court, softball, and another tennis court, labelled ‘Hockey,’ ‘Lower basketball,’ ‘Softball,’ and ‘Lower Tennis’ respectively.

Most notably, however, there was a white cloud that covered everything. Surely that’s not real, right?

Looking at the other icons, Junko saw one called ‘Camp Rules,’ and clicked on it.

Camp Kuma Rules:

1. Attempting to leave Camp Kuma is strictly prohibited.

2. Major destruction of property is not permitted.

3. Littering or tampering with the environment to the degree of the prior rule is prohibited, unless approved by one of the counsellor.

4. Nighttime begins at 10 PM, and ends at 7AM.

5. Covering or impairing security cameras in any way is strictly prohibited.

6. Violence against the head counsellor is strictly prohibited.

7. Any assembly called by the counsellor must be attended by all participants.

8. These rules can be changed at any time, and the head counsellor can add new rules whenever the need arises.

Alright. Something’s really fucked here.

“Hey Hiro?” Junko looked at the man, who was staring at the sky, clearly zoned the fuck out.

“Wha? Oh, yeah?” he said confusedly.

“Got any idea what’s going on with these rules?” she asked him.

“Nup.”

Junko didn't know what she had expected when she asked this guy something. “Alrighty then,” she groaned, “Have you met the counsellors?”

Hiro tilted his head. “The who now?”

Oh for fuck’s sake. “The counsellors?” Junko elaborated, “The ones mentioned in the rules?”

“Oh. Nah.”

The guy was fucking useless.

She decided to look in between two cabins, at where the map showed the white clouds.

How the fuck did she not notice it before?

There was a large fog behind the two cabins. She decided to walk over and investigate.

“Woah, woah, woah,” she heard Hiro say from behind her, “Where’re you going?”

Junko swung her head back at him, looking at him over her shoulder. “Getting the fuck out of here. I’ll be able to see through the fog… probably.” She shrugged as she finished the sentence.

“Would not recommend doing that, dude,” Hiro called out, walking after her.

“Why’s that?” she asked, not looking back at him this time.

“Apparently it hurts like hell. The big guy tried to get through it earlier and he came back crying his ass off. Granted though, I think that was just from the pain…” Hiro told her, beginning to ramble.

Pfft. Probably the sort of big guy who’s all talk and no walk. “I’ll manage,” Junko said, finally reaching the fog. Ignoring Hiro’s continued bitching, she walked inside.

Her eyes immediately started burning. Badly. Her throat started to burn as well, and she started hacking up her fucking lungs. She tried to ignore it and kept going, but the burning sensation became so strong that she couldn’t handle it anymore, so she stumbled backwards and fell on her ass, gripping at her face. “FUCKING HELL!”

“I told you it would hurt,” she heard Hiro say from behind her.

“Say another word and I’ll push you directly into it!” Junko screeched at the clairvoyant.

Hiro reeled back. “Yes ma’am,” he said frightenedly, saluting her.

After the pain subsided, she stood up and thought about this. “How in the actual fuck has someone managed to not only perfectly control fog so that it doesn’t spread into this area, but also make it do,” she indicated to her still hurting face, “all of this!?”

Hiro shrugged. “I dunno, man. I’m not a scientist.”

“I wasn’t asking you, dumbass!” Junko snapped at him.

Hiro looked confusedly at her, “But I’m the only other person here.”

“It was a rhetorical, dipshit!,” Junko shouted at the aforementioned dumbass.

“Wuzzat?” he said, scratching his head.

Junko could feel her braincells actively slipping away as she spoke to this dude. “You know what?” she looked the taller man dead in the eyes, “I’m going to go look around this place, and you’re coming with me.”

“What!? Why!?” Hiro exclaimed.

“Because” Junko started sweetly, “A super cute model like me needs a bodyguard, and you’re the only other person here, so you’re gonna fill that role.”

“Will I get paid?” he asked her, a nervous smile sliding on his face.

“No,” Junko laughed at him.

Hiro's face fell. “But I don’t wannaaaa,” he whined, smile falling from his face instantaneously.

“Tough titties.” She grabbed his hand and began to tug. “Let’s go, mister bum!”

“I’m not a goddamn bum!”

Chapter Text

Holding onto Hiro’s hand, Junko dragged him in a random direction.

“Where are we goiiiing?” she heard Hiro whine from behind her.

Smiling, Junko told him, “Wherever the wind takes me!”

“Woah… you’re just going with the wind?” he asks her. As they’re still running, he puts a finger of the hand she’s not holding in his mouth, and then points it to the sky. “Hey! The wind is going back that way!” he says angrily, pointing back the way they came.

“That’s because we’re running, dumbass,” He couldn’t see her face because she was facing forward, but Junko made extra specially sure that he could hear the eyeroll in her voice.

“Oh yeah,” he said dumbly.

After a while, they slowed down to a walk, and Junko let go of his hand. Hiro had seemingly relented, and he walked with her.

“Haaaah!” Junko breathed, “I am not used to running that much.” She decided to stretch my arms as she walked.

“Really?” Hiro asked, looking down at her, “That’s nothing.”

“Whaaaa?” Junko exaggerated her confusion as she cracked her back, “My dude, we sprinted for like a minute straight.” Though to Hiro’s credit, he did look rather unperturbed after a solid minute of sprinting.

Hiro laughed, “I’ve had to run from people heaps of times!”

“Wait what?” Junko whipped her head at him, “Are you, like, a criminal or something?”

Hiro tilted his head, “Hm… nah, I wouldn’t say so.”

Junko looked at him again, “Uh, yeah, ex-fucking-splain,” she demanded of him and his vague-ass wording.

“Uh…,” he started hesitantly, “I uh… sorta borrowed some money from some shady people, and like… couldn’t pay them back quickly enough and stuff, and soooo…,” he trailed off.

“They sent loan sharks?” Junko inquired.

“Yyyyeaaaahhhhh…,” he drew out the word while scratching his head, “Gotta admit, not my finest moment…”

“Doubt you have many of those…,” Junko mumbled.

“Hm?”

“Oh- nothing,” Junko responded to his inquiring noise, before continuing, “Though, that’s not as bad as it could have been.”

“Wha- uh, yeah!” Hiro cut his question off mid word, deciding to agree with her instead, “Yeah! I’m the victim here!”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Junko told him.

At this point, they had reached the end of the trees, and were now in a more grassy and open area. Looking in the near distance, there looked to be a basketball court, though they could only see half of it, as a nearby building blocked the other side from their perspective. On each side of the court there were stands where people could sit and watch any games, and further, though still on each side of the court, there were two buildings of unknown purpose.

“Yo, a basketball court!” Hiro exclaimed from besides Junko, essentially summing up her thoughts in four words.

“Definitely looks like-” Junko cut off her words when she heard the thumping of a ball on the court, “Hiro, you hear that?”

“Yeah,” he said, “Must be coming from the side of the court we can’t see-”

“YEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

“Fucking-!” Junko shouted as she flung her hands up to her ears at the sound of the deafening roar coming from the court. She could see Hiro doing the same, albeit more pathetically.

“Nekomaru…,” said a strained voice coming from behind the building, probably from the stands, “Could you please keep your voice down?” The voice feminine, but also somewhat deep.

“HUH!?” they heard this ‘Nekomaru’ yell again, “UH, oh, sorry Peko,” he became quieter by the end of his sentence, but his general jovial mood didn’t seem to change much, “But I got a slam dunk!”

“With how tall you are, that’s not too much of an achievement,” ‘Peko’ told the loud man.

“Gyahahaha! I guess you’re right!”

Junko stepped forward a little, grabbing Hiro’s arm, “C’mon Hiro, let’s go meet ‘em.”

“Yeah… sure…,” he said tiredly, still clearly embarrassed by how much he whimpered at the man’s initial shout.

Junko rounded the corner and immediately shouted, “Heeeeeeey!” She waves with the arm that isn’t connected to Hiro.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the man on the court, who she could only presume to be ‘Nekomaru.’ He was a very tall, muscular man with black hair and brown eyes. He wore a white tank top under a black gakuran, as well as blue tracksuit pants and getas. He had chains around his neck with a whistle hanging in the middle part, and Junko could swear to God that she saw fucking electricity coming from his eyes.

“Hey!” ‘Nekomaru’ shouted towards the duo in greeting, “Hiro! Sleepy girl! Glad to see you’re finally up!” he picked up his basketball from the ground and started over towards them. Fuck, this dude is tall.

“What is your name and purpose, newcomer?” Junko’s eyes whipped to the woman called ‘Peko.’ She was standing much closer to her then Nekomaru was, and it was as plain as day that she was wary of her.

“Hey, Peko.” ‘Nekomaru’ looked towards her, “There’s no need to be so hostile!”

“Yeah!” said Hiro, who was hiding behind Junko, clearly rattled by the woman’s demeanour. This annoyed Junko, who didn’t appreciate being used as a shield.

‘Peko’ was relatively tall, with fair skin. She had long silver hair tied up into two braids on each side of her head, secured by white ribbons at the bases and dark red hair ties at the ends. She had side-swept bangs with two shoulder-length locks of hair that curl outwards, left down to frame her face. Her eyes were an amazingly vivid red, and she wears thin-framed rectangular glasses.

She wore a long sleeved, turquoise, black seifuku uniform with a dark, grey-teal sailor collar and sleeve cuffs, each striped with two thin white lines at the edges, a red ascot tied at her neck. A red strip of cloth was wrapped around her left upper arm. Below this, she wore a somewhat paler turquoise pleated skirt, striped with an even paler line at the hem. She had turquoise-black tights and cream-colored loafers.

Most notably, however, was what seemed to be a sword she was carrying on her back with a turquoise sheath. Despite this… mildly worrying sight, Junko decided to try to appease her.

“Nah, no need to worry big guy,” Junko told the large man, “She’s got every right to be paranoid.” She looked over at ‘Peko’ again. Gesturing to herself, she spoke again, “My name is Junko Enoshima! I’m the Ultimate Fashionista! And this dumbass pansy,” she dragged the whimpering Hiro in front of her, “Is Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant!”

“Hey!” Hiro shouted at Junko, trying to get out of her grasp. This is what he gets for using her as a shield.

“Very well.” ‘Peko’ said, finally now looking less tense. While she was still struggling with Hiro, Junko gave her a thumbs up.

“Get off of me!” Hiro complained.

Junko was much too stubborn to go down without getting something from him. “Apologize for using me as a shield!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” the clairvoyant shouted.

“Good,” the fashionista finally relented, releasing Hiro from her grip.

‘Nekomaru’ laughed again, “Gyahaha! You two seem to get along pretty well!”

Junko pulled Hiro’s hair, “Yep!” she laughed at the resulting yelp. “Would you two fine people mind introducing yourselves?” she requested of the intimidating people standing before her. One massive and loud and the other holding a literal fucking sword.

“GYAHAHAHA!” ‘Nekomaru’ laughed, louder than before. “I’m glad you asked!” Seeing ‘Peko’ immediately bring her hands to her ears, Junko did the same, without notifying Hiro. “I AM NEKOMARU NIDAI! THE ULTIMATE TEAM MANAGER!” the entire area shook with the volume of his voice, and Junko could actually hear Hiro slap his hands to his ears, since he seemingly did so incredibly quickly and violently, “DON’T FORGET IT, EVEN IF YOU GO TO HELL!”

”JESUS DUDE!” Hiro both whimpered and shouted from the ground, “Does your voice have to be so loud!?”

“Gyahahaha! Of course it does!” he said, thankfully more quiet now. ‘Peko’ and Junko both removed their hands from their ears at this point, “In fact, I’d say that your voice is too soft! You should let your voice rise from the bottom of your stomach!”

“No,” was Hiro’s pathetic response, still whimpering slightly.

Resisting the urge to laugh at the man now scrambling to get back to his feet beside her, Junko addressed Nekomaru, “So, team management, huh? What’s that like?”

“It’s great!” he jovially announced, “I love seeing all of my athletes reach new heights! It's my job to take care of athletes so they can give it their all! The technique varies for each sport, but every top athlete needs three essential things: Physical fitness, visual acuity, and willpower. If an athlete wishes to strengthen these three essentials... Then it's my job to prepare a solid and effective training regimen for them!”

Junko stared at the man in awe, “Wooow! You must’ve been behind some big names, huh!?”

“Yeah!” He responded, “Have you ever heard of Leon Kuwata?”

Junko thought for a second. She wasn’t too into of sports, but the name rang a bell somewhere in her mind. After a while, it clicked, “Oh! The baseball player?”

“The very same,” Nekomaru told her, a proud grin on his face, “Under my guidance, he got an offer to enter the major leagues while he was still in middle school!”

“That’s amazing!” Junko told him, still staring at the man in awe.

“Why do you just manage them?” Hiro chimed in, now having regained his bearings, “You’re like, heaps strong, so you’d be good at sports,” he said confidently.

Nekomaru gave them a sad smile, “I do like to play sports recreationally,” he said, spinning the basketball on the tip of his finger, which completely entranced Hiro, “But I can’t play long-term for health reasons. I’d prefer not to get into specifics,” he smiles sadly at his words, eyes falling to the ground.

 Junko nodded at the man, “Completely understandable.” She had to admit that she was curious, but it was a conversation for another time.

Nekomaru allowed the ball on his finger to fall, and it rolled over towards ‘Peko,’ who Junko had admittedly forgotten was there. She was awfully quiet.

“Yo, dude!” Hiro said with wonder after noticing her, “I had completely forgotten you were there!”

Junko attempted to ignore the fact that she was on the same wavelength as ‘the bum,’ she decided to move the conversation on faster in order to avoid dwelling on it. “Sorry girl! What’s your name?”

‘Peko’ studied Junko and Hiro momentarily, before speaking up. “My name is Peko Pekoyama. I am the Ultimate Swordswoman. It is a pleasure to meet you.” She gives everyone a small bow, before returning to her usual posture.

Well, at least there’s a good explanation for the sword.

“Nice to meet you too!” Junko said, reaching out to shake her hand.

Peko looked at Junko’s hand for a moment before shaking it back. Hiro also reached his hand out, and Peko shook it. Hiro looked pleased with himself.

“So, a swordswoman, huh? What’s that like?” Hiro asked, echoing exactly what Junko asked Nekomaru.

“Wow, you’re original, huh?” Nekomaru snarked at him, echoing her thoughts. Junko chuckled.

“Hey!”

“To answer your question,” Peko addressed Hiro, “I quite enjoy being a swordswoman. It is all I have ever known, but I don’t dislike that fact.”

Hiro pondered those words for a moment, before eloquently asking, “Whadaya mean all you’ve ever known?”

“My caretakers trained me from an incredibly young age,” Peko told him, “I was moulded from birth to be skilled with a sword. I am very content with my lifestyle, despite the fact that most would consider it odd, or even cruel,” she finished with a confident nod.

“Woah…,” was Hiro’s intelligent response.

Junko decided to continue screwing with Hiro because she found it funny. “Wow, Peko! You could totally be my bodyguard instead of this clown!” she said, pointing to Hiro, who reeled back.

“What!?” he yelled at her, before pointing accusingly, “Nuh uh! You already appointed me your bodyguard!”

This confused Junko. “Dude, you did nothing but complain about it!” she told him, palms up, like trying to explain something simple to an annoying child.

“But I don’t want anyone to beat me!” Hiro pleaded.

“You are an imbecile.” Peko observed.

“I don’t even know what that means,” Hiro laughed at her, “So HA!”

“YOU SHOULDN’T BE PROUD OF THAT!” Nekomaru shouted at him.

“Ah! I’m sorrryyyyyyyy!” Hiro shouted, before running off in the opposite direction. Nekomaru laughed again.

Junko sighed, barely managing to stop herself from bursting out laughing. “Sorry guys, I gotta go chase my dumbass,” she told Peko and Nekomaru, “See ya!” She turned tail and ran off after him.

“Farewell.”

“GOODBYEEEEE!”

Chapter Text

As it happens, Hiro can run ridiculously fast.

Junko has to really push herself to catch up with him.

Out of nowhere, he comes to an abrupt stop.

“Hiro,” Junko wheezed, out of breath from sprinting to keep up with the slim man, “Why’d you stop…?”

Hiro simply points in front of him. Junko’s gaze followed his finger, and she saw that he was pointing in the stands of a tennis court, where two men were sitting.

The one closest to them was easily the shortest teenager that Junko had ever seen.

He was wearing a black hat with two points that has a picture of two blue tennis rackets on it, a black leather jacket, and a black and dark blue striped jumpsuit underneath, giving him the appearance of a prisoner. He wore black shoes with red soles and has a metal cuff attached to his left leg with a bit of a chain attached to it… Oh fuck, maybe he is a prisoner.

Regardless, the other man was tall with notably wide shoulders, sickly pale skin, and light grey-green eyes with thick eyelashes. His hair was shoulder-length and naturally wavy, of an unnaturally pale pinkish off-white colour that fades to white the closer to his scalp… and frankly, the colour would look more realistic on the incredibly elderly, or a corpse.

He had a thin, knee-length dark green zipper coat with a jagged-cut tail, which he left unzipped. It had a red square pattern across the right shoulder, and a large, square-shaped '55' on the back, as well as two red drawstrings, threaded through the hood, hanging down on either side of his chest. Underneath, he had a white scoop-neck T-shirt with a red design on the front, somewhat resembling two interlocking hooks. Finally, he had plain black jeans, and a wallet chain with a skull charm, and pale brown shoes, each fastened by two zippers. In Junko’s professional opinion, she thinks that it’s a pretty good outfit.

The two boys heard Junko and Hiro approaching and turned to face them. The small man looked disinterested at their arrival, whereas the pale man waved them over excitedly.

“Damn it…” Junko heard Hiro mumble from next to her.

As they walked over to the duo, she leaned in and whispered to Hiro, “What’s wrong?”

He leaned towards her and responded, “The short guy is a real downer, and the other guy…” Hiro thought for a moment, “I dunno, but I just get this… really bad vibe from him… I can’t really explain it.”

“Hm…” Junko nodded to him, “I’ll tell ya if I get the same vibe from him, sound good?”

Hiro nodded, “Yeah, thanks,” he whispered back.

“Hello there,” the pale man greeted us.

“Heeeeey!” Junko waved at the duo. The pale man smiled, and the short man grunted as a greeting.

“Hey dudes…” Hiro says, exasperatedly.

“Hello Hiro!” the pale man excitedly waves, before turning towards Junko, “And you are?”

Junko gave the man a wide smile, “Junko Enoshima, Ultimate Fashionista! Charmed, I’m sure.”

“Ah, the Ultimate Fashionista,” The man repeats to her. “What an amazing talent! Someone with no knowledge on fashion like me could learn a lot from you.”

“Whaaaat?” Junko exaggerates the word, “Dude, you look awesome! I love your hoodie,” she tells him, grabbing his sleeve and examining it.

The man chuckles, “Thank you miss, but I really don’t deserve all the praise.”

“If you’re really thankful, you’ll tell me your name,” she told the man.

The man’s grin broadened as he began speaking, “It would be my pleasure!” he exclaims happily. “My name is Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student… at least, that’s what I’m called anyway.”

“‘Ultimate Lucky Student?’” Junko questions, “How’s that a talent?”

“School does a lottery every year,” mumbles the small man seated next to Nagito.

Junko makes a sound of recognition, “Ahh, yeah, that does sound familiar…” she realized.

“Is there like, anything special about you?” Hiro asks Nagito.

Nagito chuckled, “Ahaha, beyond my luck, I’m nothing special.”

Junko raised an eyebrow sceptically at Nagito, “Is there something special about your luck?”

“Well,” Nagito started, “I’ve got a kind of… cycle of luck. Whenever something extremely lucky happens to me, something extremely unlucky will inevitably follow, and vice-versa.”

“F’real?” The small man next to Nagito asked him. Apparently he hadn’t heard this story yet. “Care to give an example?”

Nagito smiled, “No problem, Ryoma. Let’s see here…,” Nagito looked deep in thought momentarily, “Ah, okay. I once went on a vacation with my parents, and the plane got hijacked on the way back.”

“Jesus…” Hiro whispered from beside me.

“I’m… I’m sorry to hear that…,” Junko told him. This ‘Ryoma’ also seemed to look unnerved at Nagito’s story.

Nagito laughed, “It’s fine, I’ve moved on. Anyway, after that a small meteor hit the plane-”

“A fucking what!?” Junko shouted at him.

“A meteor.” He responded simply.

“Christ…” Hiro mumbled.

Nagito chuckled. “Regardless, after that the plane obviously crashed, and both the hijacker and my parents died in the accident.”

I saw the eyes of the small man open wide, “Good lord,” he mumbled. “You seem oddly happy, despite all of this…”

“Well, this is where the good luck part of my talent comes in,” Nagito started, “After this tragedy, I inherited their entire fortune. Millions of dollars, numerous mansions, and all of their other assets… They all became mine.”

“Woah…” Junko looked over at Hiro, and could see him drooling, “M-Millions of dollars?” he repeated, “A- all yours?”

“Yep,” he told Hiro, “All mine.” Hiro started drooling even more at this.

“Hiro, no,” Junko snapped at him. He shook his head and snapped out of it.

“Shit man,” ‘Ryoma’ said, “That’s both really unfortunate and super lucky.”

Nagito nodded, “Exactly, and that is my talent; both a blessing and a curse,” he said, before gesturing to all three of them, “But it’s nothing compared to you guys, real Ultimate students!” he splayed his hands out to his sides, “You’re all such beautiful shining beacons of hope! Such amazing talents!”

“Chill dude,” Hiro said, “You give us way too much praise.”

Nagito’s eyes widened at him. “That’s impossible! All Ultimate students are talented beyond belief, much more so than someone like me! Just being in the mere presence of one of you is absolutely incredible, and I’m standing here with three!” Junko could swear that Nagito’s fucking eyes began to swirl as he spoke, his voice becoming increasingly manic, “Ahh, I truly am the Ultimate Lucky Student!”

Junko stared momentarily at the pale man in front of her. She realized pretty quickly that this dude has a few screws loose. She leaned closer to Hiro and whispered, “I see what you meant.”

He nodded at her, and then went and addressed the other man. “Hey, Ryoma? Can you introduce yourself to Junko so we can get out of your hair?”

“Yeah, sure,” ‘Ryoma’ said to him, before turning to speak to Junko, “I used to be Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro…,” he paused for a moment and then sighed, “But now… now I’m nothing more than his empty shell…”

Wow. His eyes look unbelievably dead. He looks like he doesn’t even have pupils… Junko is extremely worried about his mental health just from this.

“You were right,” she whispered to Hiro, “He really is a downer.”

“I can hear you, y’know,” Ryoma grumbled.

Junko winced. “Crap, sorry dude…,” Hiro said. To his credit, it did sound sincere.

“Hmph.” Ryoma nodded to him, “Well, prison’ll do that to a guy.”

Fucking called it. “What?” Junko asked him, “What were you in fucking prison for!?”

“Murder,” Ryoma responded calmly.

“…Come again?” Hiro asked hesitantly.

“I believe he said murder,” Nagito chimed in.

Hiro swivelled around to face the lucky student. “I heard what he said! I’m just confused!”

“About what?” Ryoma apathetically asked. “I killed people, and got put on death row. I need to admit, this place is fine in comparison to prison… though I would like to know why we’re here…”

An Ultimate is a death row inmate? Hope’s Peak has some really lenient policies, huh?

“W-Well, we’d better uh… keep our end of the deal and get out of your hair, right Junko?” Hiro nudged her arm as he said her name, he was clearly unnerved by Ryoma’s declaration… though Junko had to admit that she was as well.

“Yep! We’ll leave you guys alone now.” Junko waved to the two boys, “See ya Nagito, Ryoma.”

“Goodbye, Junko,” Nagito waved.

“See ya,” Ryoma nodded.

Hiro and Junko walked off to the open area not too far away.

“So uh… whadaya think of Ryoma and Nagito?” Hiro asked her as they crossed what Junko now came to realize was the softball court as shown on the map.

“Well,” Junko hesitantly started, “Nagito seems to have a couple of screws loose, but seems like an okay guy beyond that… he seems chill enough.”

“And Ryoma?”

In Junko’s mind, he was a different story. “He… seems like he’s given up on life… he’s like… I dunno.”

“Yeah, I think the same,” Hiro agreed, despite the fact that what she said was incredibly vague.

They continued walking across the softball court in silence, both deep in their own thought about Ryoma Hoshi. Neither of them could quite pin him down.

After a while, Junko decided to speak up. “I think keeping an eye on Ryoma would be a good idea- Nagito too, actually.”

“Yeah… you can do that, I don’t wanna,” Hiro half-assedly agreed.

“Of course you don’t,” Junko sighed, rolling her eyes.

We had reached a building on the other side of the pitch. Quickly whipping out her map, Junko saw that it was ‘The Lodge.’

“Should we go in?” she asked Hiro hesitantly.

“Dunno if we can. Could be locked like the cabins were.” Hiro replied to her.

The cabins were locked? Junko didn’t try to open them, so she didn’t know. “Welp, no harm in trying,” she said, walking around to the left side of the building, before stepping up to the door and turning the knob. “Fuck yeah, it’s unlocked!”

Directly in front of Junko in the room was three tables with games. The first one has table tennis, the second one has air hockey, and the third one had foosball.

Most peculiar about the foosball table, however, was the two girls playing it.

The first was a tall woman with fair skin and pale sea blue eyes. She had knee-length light blonde hair, part of it styled in a braided crown, the rest left to flow slightly towards the left.

Her hair was accessorized with a green-black ribbon flecked with diamonds. She wore a dark teal dress with a white collar, puffed sleeves, and belt. She also had a bitching red ribbon with a blue jewel trimmed with silver on the chest. As well as this, she had a pale bracelet on her left wrist, black over-knee socks trimmed with grey lines, and red toe cap heeled Mary Janes. All in all, she was a very beautiful woman.

The second was a taller, thin woman with pale, ashy, sage-colored hair and long bangs that obscure her left eye. Her skin was fairly pale, and her eyes were of a pale, warm green colour. Her uniform was maid-like, and consists of a long black apron dress in a pinafore style with an awesome spiderweb motif, and four white buttons along the middle of the torso of her dress.

A white dress was donned underneath her apron dress with a black collar, and a purple tie around her neck. The sleeves of her shirt had elegant frills at the end, which goes along with the bubble skirt appearance of her dress.

She had a black headdress with black lace and frills attached to it, with four white pins on it, a common appearance that maids take up… Junko was starting to think she is one, honestly. She had black, form-fitting gloves with silver rings attached to the back of her hands. Underneath her dress was a chic-combination of a petticoat with black lace and black tights. She also had grey, high-laced pinwheel shoes, the laces white and wrapped around her ankles and settling into a neat bow at her feet.

“Ah ha!” the first girl calls out, after scoring a point in their foosball game, “I have won!”

The second girl smiles at the first, “That you did, Miss Nevermind. Well done.”

“Kirumi!” the first girl addresses the second heatedly, “I must request that you do not address me by my last name, nor with a title. Just ‘Sonia’ is fine!”

“Very well, Sonia. I shall address you as such,” the second woman gave a small bow.

Just as Junko was wondering when they should make their presence known…

“Heya Sonia, Kirumi,” Hiro said, “The last person woke up.”

Junko shrugged, mumbling “Guess that works…”

The two girls whirled around on them, one more enthusiastically than the other. The first girl runs up to Junko with a smile on her face and then grabs her hand.

"Hello there!” she said, still smiling broadly, “You are very beautiful! What is your name!?”

“You’re heaps pretty as well, girl!” Junko told her, and her grin only broadened, “Name’s Junko Enoshima, Ultimate Fashionista. Charmed, I’m sure.”

“Wow! I have heard of you in the magazines!” she says happily. Junko begins to think that she’s foreign, as her talking style was pretty clunky. Despite that, she spoke the language well, so she’s doing well if she is.

Junko smiled back at her, “Yeah, thanks! Mind if I ask your name?”

She removed her hand from Junko’s, before allowing her face to return to a small smile. “Certainly. My name is Sonia Nevermind. I am foreign exchange student from a small European kingdom called Novoselic. I have the title of the Ultimate Princess. I may cause trouble here and there, but I hope we can get along well.”

Holy. Fucking. Shit. “You… You’re an actual princess!?”

Sonia nodded with a forced smile, “Yes, I am, however I’d like to ask you to just treat me like a normal student, as classmates should,” she began, “In my home country, I was always regarded with an excluding level of care, and everyone my age was very nervous around me, so being treated like an equal is something I am looking forward to greatly!” Sonia finishes, pumping her arms.

“No problemo,” Hiro tells her, completely unbothered by the fact that he’s standing in front of royalty.

“What he said,” Junko told her, calming down a little.

Sonia nodded, before addressing Hiro, “Yasuhiro, I would like to get a divination from you in the near future, as you are the Ultimate Clairvoyant!” she says, her eyes sparkling, “Is that acceptable?”

Junko could physically see the gears in Hiro’s dumbass head turning. “Yeah, no worries,” he says, a smile on his face, “Though it might cost ya.”

“Of course! I am fully willing to pay whatever fare you choose to give me,” Sonia said, giving him a polite bow.

“Excuse me,” the second woman politely butted in, “I’d like to overview this transaction,” she turned to look at Hiro. “I apologise Mister Hagakure; however Sonia is unfortunately rather sheltered, and I’d like to make sure that she does not get swindled out of her money, I hope you understand,” she finished, bowing again.

Hiro’s face dropped. “Yeah… sure…,” he says glumly.

The woman nodded, before turning to face Junko, “My apologies Miss Enoshima, I should have introduced myself sooner,” she bowed, “I am Kirumi Tojo, the Ultimate Maid. Please let me know if you require my services.”

“No worries!” Junko said happily, “No harm in introducing yourself a bit late. Now, a maid, huh?”

“Yes, I am the Ultimate Maid. As I said, please do not hesitate to request anything of me.”

“Will do,” Hiro saluted. Junko gave him the side eye. “Hey! She said I could!”

“Yasuhiro!” Sonia pointed at him accusingly, her tone heated, “I hope you are not thinking of anything unbecoming!”

“What!?” Hiro recoiled from all three of the girls in the room, “No, no, no! I was talking about cleaning and stuff! I hate doing that crap, man…”

“Oh,” Sonia said dumbly, “Well in that case, carry on.”

Junko, noticing that she was relatively removed from the conversation at this point, decided to give the rest of the room a looksee.

“I have looked over the room thoroughly,” Kirumi tells Junko, clearly having seen her observing the room, “This room has the three tables you see here, having table tennis, air hockey, and foosball respectively. There is a stage in the centre of the back wall, with sixteen chairs facing it, along with stairs on either side that one can use to ascend the stage,” Kirumi explains, “There is an area backstage with some props and basic clothing, and there is a unisex bathroom over there,” she finishes, pointing to the side of the room.

“Huh,” Junko says, before looking towards Kirumi, “Thanks ‘Rumi! Saved me some time!”

Kirumi smiled gracefully at me, “It is my pleasure.”

Upon realizing that she had found out everything about the lodge, Junko was prepared to go elsewhere. “Hey, Hiro,” she called out to him, as he was still talking to Sonia, “Leggo.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said, turning back to Sonia, “Talk to you more about the divination later, yeah?”

“Of course!” She replied, looking at him starry-eyed, “I am looking forward to it!”

Junko sighs. ‘He’s gonna to scam her ‘till her entire country falls into a recession,’ she thought, slightly giggling at the thought of Hiro managing to destroy a nation.

“Later Kirumi, Sonia,” Junko waved to the elegant duo, as she and Hiro exited the lodge, Hiro waving back behind me.

“See you later!”

“Goodbye.”

Chapter Text

After exiting the lodge, Junko heard Hiro groan behind from behind her as he stretched. “Alright, where to next?”

Looking around, Junko saw that there was another tennis court a short distance away. “Over there,” she said, pointing towards it.

Hiro nodded, and they made their way over there.

“You trying to scam Sonia?” Junko asked casually, giving Hiro the side-eye.

“Y- I mean, no,” the clairvoyant replied, “It’s just that she has a lot of money, and my rate is pretty high- I am an Ultimate, after all,” he boasted proudly.

The fashionista smirked at the man, “So getting her to come back more than once would be mutually beneficial?”

Hiro squinted for a few moments, trying to understand the mildly difficult words in her sentence, before remembering what they mean, “Oh! Yeah, yeah!”

Rolling her eyes at the dumbass next to her, Junko stepped onto the tennis court that they had arrived at. This “Middle Tennis” court was incredibly similar to the “Lower Tennis” court, albeit a little bit larger.

“Heeeey,” Junko complained to Hiro, “The last tennis court had Ryoma and Nagito, why are there no people hereeeeee?”

“I dunno,” Hiro answered, not noticing the fact that she was intentionally exaggerating her complaints. He’s boring.

“Ugh,” Junko moaned, “We’ll have to go somewhere else then…” She whipped out her map again to have a look what was close by before Hiro spoke up.

“How about that building over there?” he said, pointing to a building with a sign that says, ‘Director’s Cottage.’

Angrily putting the phone back into her pocket, Junko lightly punched Hiro’s arm. Ignoring his bitching, she began to walk over to the director’s cottage.

Once they were at the door, Junko gestured to it with her arm with an exaggerated bow. “Would you like to do the honours, my good sir?” she said, putting on her best ‘royal’ English accent.

“Of course I would!” Hiro said, completely oblivious to the fact that she was fucking with him. With a smile, he opened the door and stepped through.

Following him, Junko immediately noticed just how barren the room was. It was an L-shaped hallway, with the end of the L going further forward on her left side. Beyond that, there was a singular door slightly to her right on the wall in front of her.

“Hello?” Hiro called out once Junko had entered, “Anyone home or whatever?”

“Hello?” A voice repeated, coming from around the corner of the L that was out of their sight. From the voice alone, Junko could tell that it was either a dude with a soft voice, or a chick with a relatively deep one.

Junko and Hiro looked towards the direction of oncoming footsteps, coming from the same direction the voice came from. They saw two people come from around the corner.

The first person was who Junko assumed spoke to us. He was notably short compared to most of the people she had met so far, other than Ryoma, of course, and had spiky, light brown hair with a prominent ahoge, which somehow seemed to defy gravity as it was poking directly up, and washed-out hazel eyes. He had black jeans, a zipped-up dull green hoodie with a red stripe along the zipper, an open black jacket with gold buttons, and red sneakers with white toes. Most of all, Junko got a distinct impression of averageness from him, more so than Nagito, the literal Ultimate Lucky Student… Actually, he looked pretty similar to Nagito, with the hoodie and unkempt hair.

The second person, looking much more nervous than the first, was a slim girl of average height with a pale complexion. She had long, dark blue hair flowing past her waist, the hair framing her face cut shorter at elbow-length, with bangs swept to the right. Two thin hairclips were pinned on her bangs to her right, and another pinned on the left side of her face. Her eyes were round and dark blue, likely enhanced by makeup. All in all, she was very attractive, borderline doll-like.

She had a white seifuku school uniform with a blue sailor collar and sleeve cuffs, both striped with two white lines. With this, she had a light pink ribbon tied in a large bow at her collar and a short, pleated, blue-green plaid skirt. Her legwear consisted of navy thigh-high socks, the edges striped with a white line, and dark brown Mary Janes with silver buckles.

“Oh, Hiro, hey” the boy greeted Hiro, seeing he and Junko standing in the middle of the hall, before addressing her, “You’re Junko Enoshima, right? The model? I drew a blank when I saw you sleeping earlier but it came to me a little while ago.”

Junko smiled at the boy. “Ah, thank you, thank you!” she told him jovially, “Can you believe that no one else has recognised me today?”

“Really!?” the girl standing behind the boy spoke up, “I can’t believe it,” she shook her head slightly, “You’re probably more recognizable than even I am.”

Oh shit. Judging by what she said, Junko should probably know who she is. She studied her for a moment, before realizing that she looked familiar, “Oh! You’re Sayaka Maizono, right!? The pop idol!?”

Sayaka smiled at her happily, “That’s right!” she said, adopting a more sophisticated stance to introducing herself proper, “I’m Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation. I look forward to getting to know you as a classmate, and a friend.”

“Right back atcha!” Junko said, reaching her hand out to shake Sayaka’s, which she obliged politely, “How is the idol industry? I’ve heard rumours, but…?”

Sayaka’s smile became tight and forced as she let go of Junko’s hand. “It’s… something. Definitely something… what you’ve heard is probably pretty accurate. It’s a nightmare, really,” she finished, her face becoming more relaxed.

“Yeah?” Junko felt bad for her. While the fashion industry is definitely not the kindest, it’s nowhere near as bad as the idol industry… From what she’d heard, an idol has to be ‘on’ all the time, onstage and off, whereas a fashionista like herself doesn’t have to maintain a ‘pure’ public image; a scandal here and there can actually be pretty good for exposure, but staying pure and out of controversy is a must for an idol. “Sorry to hear that.”

Sayaka thanked Junko, before the fashionista turned her attention to the boy next to the idol. “Well then, who’re you?”

“He’s Big Mac!” Junko heard Hiro call out from behind her, trying to hold in a laugh.

“Big Mac?” Junko repeated, curiously.

The boy sighed in an exasperated, but not an upset manner, before smiling sheepishly. “It’s a nickname he’s given me. Gotta say, it’s probably the most interesting nickname I’ve ever been given.”

Junko studied the boy for a moment, “Well I imagine it has something to do with your name, because your appearance doesn’t exactly scream ‘Big Mac!’” she told him, before adding with a smile, “On that note, what is your name?”

The boy smiled back at her. “Well, I’m a little bit nervous… I guess I wasn’t as ready as I thought to be surrounded by a bunch of Ultimates,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck and blushing, “But I’m Makoto Naegi. I won this year’s lottery to become the Ultimate Lucky Student. I know I’m just your average joe, surrounded by a bunch of the best and brightest in the world, but I hope that we can get along as equals regardless.”

“Wait… Ultimate Lucky Student?” Junko asked him, sceptically.

Makoto blushed even more, and started rubbing the back of his head with his hand, “Yeah... I know it’s not exactly the best talent, but-”

Junko cut him off, “Nonono, that’s not what I’m getting at!” she told him, trying to explain, because right now she sounded like she was talking down to him because of his talent, “But there’s only one Lucky Student per year, right?”

“There should be, yeah,” Sayaka chipped in. Makoto nodded.

Yeah, Junko had a feeling. “Well that’s strange… since I just met an Ultimate Lucky Student earlier!” At their confused expressions, she elaborated, “Did you meet Nagito? Komaeda?”

“Wait… he said he was the Ultimate Lucky Student?” Makoto inquired hesitantly.

“Yeah!” Hiro butted in, answering a simple question to seem smart, “Come to think of it, we didn’t really have time to properly introduce ourselves earlier beyond our names, did we?”

Sayaka shook her head slowly, “No, we didn’t…”

“Do you think he could be lying?” Junko asked Makoto. Before he could answer, she added, “It’s just that I was under the assumption that we were all a part of the same class, is all.”

“Yeah, up until you told me that I thought the same thing… Though I guess I haven’t really met everyone here yet, so I’m not sure if anyone that I know is in my class is missing,” Makoto told responded.

Junko tilted her head, “Wait, you know who’s in our- your class?”

“Our,” Makoto corrected, “I made sure to research who else was in class seventy-eight with me,” he explained, “And both you,” he referred to Junko, “And Sayaka,” he gestured at her, “Were definitely a part of our class.”

“What about me?” Hiro asked.

Makoto turned to him, “The last time I checked, you were rumoured to be a part of my class, it wasn’t confirmed,” he said, “Off the top of my head… I think that Leon Kuwata, Mondo Owada, and Sakura Ogami were the only other confirmed members of my class- the ones who were announced to be joining the school by Hope’s Peak themselves.”

“You really did your research, huh?” Junko observed. Makoto just shrugged with a sheepish smile.

“Well, we haven’t run into any of the people you mentioned yet,” Hiro told him, trying to be helpful, “But we still got…” Junko could physically see the gears turning in Hiro’s head as he tried to do simple addition, “Two, four, six, eight, ten- there should still be six people we gotta meet, so maybe they’re one of them!”

“Maybe…,” Sayaka agreed, “But I still think that we should talk to Nagito later, just in case he is lying about his talent.”

Junko nodded in agreement. “Now, what the hell is this place?” she said, changing the subject, gesturing to the hallway we stood.

“No idea,” Makoto responded, “This entire place is empty, and both of the doors in the hall are locked,” he said, gesturing around the corner, and to the door that was now just behind Junko.

“Well this is a colossal waste of space,” Hiro said grumpily, “Let’s go, Junko.”

“Yeah, alright,” Junko obliged him. “You two keen to join us?”

Makoto and Sayaka shook their heads, “We’ll try to keep getting through these doors, if you don’t mind,” Sayaka told her, “I get the feeling that there’s something important behind them.”

“You do you then, later guys,” Junko waved to them, Hiro doing the same thing before he slipped outside before her.

“Bye, bye!” Sayaka waved.

“Goodbye,” Makoto said quietly.

Junko followed Hiro outside. She could see him vaguely looking around, and, predicting his next question, pointed to a nearby building, “We’re going there next,” she said the second he opened his mouth.

Hiro’s mouth snapped shut as he put his thumbs up, and they began walking over there.

“So, which one of ‘em do you think is lying?” Hiro asked her as they were walking.

Junko looked over at him, an eyebrow raised, “What, which of the ‘Ultimate Lucky Students’ might be lying?”

“Might?” Hiro questioned, “No, no, no, one of ‘em HAS to be!” he accused heatedly.

“What if we’re really just part of two classes? Or three? Or four?”

“Hmmmmmmmmmm…” Hiro drew out his ‘hm’ for a comically long time, and just as Junko was going to speak up and tell him to knock it off, “Nah, we’re all a part of the same class.”

Her expression again turned quizzical, “How’d you get that answer?”

With a smug smile, Hiro answered, “You seem to forget that I’m the Ultimate Clairvoyant.”

Junko rolled her eyes, electing not to point out the fact that because there are only two options, his thirty percent guess is more than likely wrong. Though, she kept quiet mainly because they were at the building that they were headed to.

Quickly whipping out the map again, Junko came to see that this was the ‘Office.’ Doing so was deemed redundant, as once she opened the door, a plaque on the desk directly in front of her said ‘OFFICE.’

The entrance to the office was pretty barren. It had eight chairs, four on each side of the door we came in from, two windows, and a desk directly in front of them.

“Huh,” Junko muttered as she looked around, trying to find anything of any level of interest.

“Hey, look,” Hiro piped up from behind her. He was pointing behind the desk at a door. Above the door, a plaque read ‘FILE ROOM.’

“Aw, awesome!” Ignoring the opening that the desk had for entry, Junko jumped over the desk and almost ran into the door. Twisting the knob-

“Aaaaaand locked… Fuck.”

“Ha! Shame,” Hiro laughed from behind her.

Junko glared at him. “Dude, this being locked is just as bad for you as it is for me.”

“I know. I just wanted to laugh at you.”

Resisting the urge to lunge at him, Junko walked out from the side of the desk directly to the entrance door.

As she left, Junko made sure to wait for Hiro to be close enough so when she slammed the door, it’d hit him directly in the face. Lo and behold, “Ah crap!,” his muffled voice came from inside the building behind her. She waited for him to open the door and saw that his nose was bleeding slightly, “You’re mean!” he whined, pinching his nose closed.

“Well look,” Junko pointed to the next building, which was incredibly close, “The health centre. How convenient.” She began walking towards it, Hiro grumbling behind her.

Swinging the door to the health centre open, Junko announced their presence. “Hellooooooo! My dumbass hurt himseeeeeelf!”

“You hurt me!” The aforementioned dumbass shouted, his voice all high and squeaky because of the fact that he was pinching his nose.

Smash!

“Ah- I- I’m so sorry!”

In response to their loud entrance, one of the two occupants of the room dropped a glass container. The most discerning feature of the boy who dropped the glass was the black cap that was covering the majority of his face. It had three white stripes lining the back of it, and a silver star pinned near the front. He had short dark blue hair, very pale skin, and a slim figure. The one eye that Junko could see was gambogeish grey, and he had thick eyelashes. His outfit was double-breasted and pinstripe, thin, grey stripes over a black uniform. His pants matched his uniforms’ design, black with a pinstripe design that really helps accentuate his long-ass legs. His shoes were dark blue loafers that look both fashionable and easy to walk in… overall, he looked very feminine, so much so that the only way Junko could I.D. him as a dude was his voice.

“It is quite alright, Shuichi,” the other person in the room said, “There are more than enough painkillers to last a long time, one glass is not the end of the world.”

The woman’s voice was deep and masculine, and her appearance reminds Junko heavily of Nekomaru- hell, the only reason she could tell that she’s a chick is her outfit. Like Nekomaru, she’s very, very tall, with a large build, and a stern appearance. She had long white hair, reddened-dark skin, very pale blue eyes, and a scar on her face and right shoulder. Her clothing consisted of a traditional seifuku style Japanese school uniform comprising of a white shirt a blue sailor collar, a short blue skirt, and a red tie. The sleeves on the uniform were torn off to make room for her muscular upper arms. She also wore bandages wrapped around her calves and forearms. Her shoes are grey and resemble Uwabaki, with some Kanji on the toe box.

“Shit man, I’m sorry,” Junko said, as she approached the duo, reaching down to pick up some of the glass.

“N- No, don’t!” the hatted-boy said, reaching an arm out to grab her, before reeling it back when he realized he had done it, “You’ll… you’ll cut yourself…”

“Oh shit, yeah… Thanks man!” Junko thanked him sincerely, before looking at the other person in the room and bowing slightly, “Sorry to you, too.”

“Where’s my apology!?” Hiro yelled at Junko, having followed her into the building.

“You’re not getting one.”

“You’ve nothing to apologize for,” the large girl said, before requesting their names.

“Junko Enoshima, Ultimate Fashionista,” Junko told the duo, shaking the large woman’s hand. She extended her hand to the hatted-boy, but he looked away from her, and scurred to get a dustpan and brush, “Oooookay then.” Junko skilfully played it off by thumping Hiro on the back. “This dumbass is Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant!”

“Why do you keep hurting me!?”

The girl in front of them smiled at their antics, before handing Hiro some tissues to plug up his nose, despite the fact that it had mostly stopped bleeding by now. Once she had done so, she introduced herself. “I am Sakura Ogami, the Ultimate Martial Artist.”

“Oh yeah, Big Mac mentioned you,” Hiro said as he wiped the blood off of his face, “You’re apparently a part of his and Junko’s class.”

“Is that so? I presume Big Mac refers to Makoto? He has done his research well,” Sakura commended the luckster.

“Well, if we end up finding Leon Kuwata and Mondo Owada, we’ll have all of the announced members of our class!” Junko told her.

“Uh- um…” The boy with the hat spoke up, having finished cleaning the glass off of the ground, “Do- do you think that we aren’t all a part of the- the same class?”

Junko nodded to him, “We ran into two Ultimate Lucky Students, and from what I’ve gathered, there’s only one per year.”

The boy nodded, averting his eyes, “Th- that’s right… Why are there two…”

Sakura made an amused-sounding noise, though Junko couldn’t be sure if she was actually amused due to how deep her voice is, “A detective such as yourself must find information such as this invaluable.”

“Woahhhh, you’re a detective?” Hiro said from behind Junko, in awe. Admittedly, she did think that it was pretty cool.

The detective hesitated before speaking. “Um… k- kind of,” he said, taking a moment before continuing, “I- I’m Shuichi Saihara… They call me the Ultimate Detective, b-but…”

“You are a detective!” Hiro exclaimed excitedly, “That’s awesome!”

“Yeah!” Junko nodded, starry-eyed. “You’ll be able to help us find out why we’re here and-”

“N- no!” Shuichi interrupted frantically, “Y- you shouldn’t rely on a rookie like me for that! I- I’m barely even a detective… Frankly, I don’t deserve my talent at all…”

“Shuichi,” Sakura said, clearly having heard his self-depreciating spiel before, “You were scouted by-”

“Stop,” he said, somewhat forcefully, “You’ve a- already said this before. Please, stop.”

“…Okay. I shall for now,” Sakura relented.

Deciding to leave these two to… whatever the hell this was, Junko looked around the room for the first time.

They were standing in the furthest right corner. There was a counter with various medical materials, and cabinets full of vials and stuff.

The rest of the right side of the room was a wide space that contained a singular bed, and the other side of the room had three beds, each with smaller area surrounding it.

Junko noticed that Hiro had decided to take a seat on the closest bed as she was looking around. Deciding that he needed to suffer more, she grabbed the attention of Sakura and Shuichi.

“Hey, you two,” Junko spoke up. While only Sakura looked over to her, she could tell that Shuichi was listening by the fact that his head moved. “Myself and my moron are gonna take a hike,” Ignoring Hiro’s shout of protest. She looked towards Shuichi. “Mister detective, we’ll be sure to tell you if we find anything important, yeah? We’re not gonna rely on you or anything, buuut I’d like your input if we find something important. That work for you?”

Junko could see that Shuichi had gained a small smile. “Y- okay… Thank you.”

“Good~” Junko purred, grabbing Hiro’s arm, and dragging him up. “Well then, I’ll see you both later. Ba bye!” and without looking back, she walked out of the building, still dragging Hiro, and closed the door behind her.

Chapter Text

“Hey!” Hiro yelled at Junko as they were walking towards the “Dining Room,” “Why’d you drag me outta there?”

“Dunno,” she responded with a shrug, “But I got the feeling that Sakura wanted to talk to Shuichi in private.”

Hiro tilted his head, “About what?”

Junko looked up at him, “About his lack of confidence. Sakura seems like someone who’s got her shit together, and I imagine that seeing someone who was talented enough to be scouted personally by Hope’s Peak talking about themselves in that way wasn’t gonna fly.”

Hiro raised a finger, “Oh, lemme guess… Shuichi would listen more if it were just the two of ‘em, right?”

Junko gave Hiro finger guns, “Bingo, big guy! I think having him in tip-top shape’ll be good for us in the long run- we’re clearly in a weird as fuck situation, a detective’s abilities’ll be useful regardless.”

“True, true,” Hiro nodded wisely. Makes Junko wonder who exactly he thinks he’s fooling.

Conveniently, as that conversation seemed to have run its course, they arrived at the dining room.

Entering, they saw a large room. Over to the right was a singular desk, with a lot of cutlery- knives, forks, spoons, all that jazz.

“Hm, nice place,” Hiro observes.

“We’ve not even seen half of it, dumbass.”

“Haha, you think so?” he tells Junko, “Well, I predict that this will be a nice place.”

Junko rolled her eyes at him and continued through the room. The second part of the room consisted of many tables, five to be exact. The first four were small, and looked that they could have about four people, give or take, and the fifth was much larger, and seemed to be able to hold like ten to twelve people.

Going through a door at the far side of the room, the duo entered what could only be a kitchen. All things considered, it was pretty rudimentary on the surface, with three counters, with different types of pots and pans and stuff hanging.

“Ah, hello, hello!” Junko heard someone pipe up before she could examine the rest of the room, “Hiro, I see you have brought our sleeping beauty!”

Looking over at the source, Junko saw a bubbly girl. She had dark skin and round, blue eyes the colour of the ocean. Her hair was a pale platinum blonde that looks nearly white and was loosely tied into two wavy ponytails by small, thin hair bands. There were three small silver bead piercings surrounding her belly button.

She wore a white, frilly bikini top, the frills a very pale blue, presumably matching bikini bottoms under the blue skirt with white frills sewn to the bottom of it and a blue bow at the waistband. On top of her skirt, she wore a pink utility belt which seemed to hold some artsy tools. She had a yellow smock which reached below her knees, sleeves loose and wide as they stop before her wrists, and her shoes were simple slip-ons with grey soles.

“Well,” Junko said to her, “I’m glad to see that someone around here can appreciate beauty!” She shot Hiro a look of annoyance.

He stuttered pathetically under her annoyed gaze, “Wh- the hell did I do!?”

“You’ve not given me a single compliment!” Junko told him.

The girl with them gasped dramatically. “Hiro! That’s like, so mean!” She then reached a ways behind her and pulled another girl forward… Junko didn’t understand where she came from. Where the fuck was she? “I’ve told my new friend Chihiro that she is adorable every single chance I get!”

She had a small, lithe stature and doll-like appearance with short, light brown layered hair and hazel-colored eyes. She wore a winter school uniform set, featuring a long-sleeved dark green jacket, a white shirt with a large Peter Pan collar secured with a thin dark ribbon, suspenders, a box-pleated, mid-thigh length brown skirt, knee-high black socks, and white, ribboned Mary Janes.

“Listen Angie,” Hiro started, trying to look mature, “It’s easier for girls to say that sorta stuff to other girls, I show my kindness through actions, rather than words. That’s just the kinda guy I am.”

“Cop out.” Junko said.

“Liar.” ‘Angie’ said.

“HEY!” Hiro shouted indignantly.

“Um…” the second girl finally spoke up, “If it’s any consolation, I- I believe you Mister Hagakure…”

“Thank you, Cheerio!” he said to her, “I knew you were one of the good ones!”

“‘Cheerio?’” Junko asked inquisitively.

“Oh, um… it’s a nickname he gave me… I quite like it actually, it’s nice. It’s derived from my name,” she said, before tightening her posture and starting a proper introduction, “Nice to meet you. I'm Chihiro Fujisaki, the Ultimate Programmer... Sorry, I get kinda embarrassed whenever I introduce myself like this…,” she rubbed her arm absentmindedly. “Anyway, I hope we can get along...”

“Pleasure to meet you, Chihiro,” Junko reached out to shake her hand, which the programmer responded with a smile while doing the same, “I’m Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Fashionista!”

“A programmer?” Hiro inquired, since he clearly couldn’t come up with any better topics straight after an introduction, “Damn, I think that’s impressive… I could be wrong though; I know nothing about computers and all that crap.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t call it impressive,” Chihiro responded humbly, “But it’s not exactly easy work, either… I think that anyone can do it with enough effort…”

She’s like Shuichi, but more humble as opposed to self-depreciating… She says her work isn’t impressive, but is rather more time consuming and mentally taxing, whereas Shuichi just flat out says that he’s bad at what he does… It’s an improvement, that’s for sure.

‘Angie’ jumped in at this point, clearly thinking that it wasn’t good enough, “No, no, Chihiro!” she says with a smile, wrapping her arms around Chihiro, “You were selected personally by Hope’s Peak! Your talent must be extraordinary!”

“Th- thank you,” Chihiro responded, her cheeks reddening.

At this point, Junko wanted to join on the hug… so she did, “Aww, you guys are adoooorable~”

Junko could see Hiro debating whether to join in, but decided to instead come over and ruffle all of their hair in turn.

After a few moments of wholesomeness, Junko decided to get back to figuring out what the fuck is happening here… that and Chihiro looked like she was about to explode with embarrassment.

Just as Junko was about to ask ‘Angie’ to introduce herself, she spoke up.

“Atua has told me that I should introduce myself to the two of you!” she said, gesturing to Junko and Hiro, “My name is Angie Yonaga! I am the Ultimate Artist!”

“Atua?” Junko asked, “Who’s Atua?” She’d have asked about her talent, but this seems more interesting.

Angie’s smile broadened to an absurd degree, “Atua is the divine creator, the being who made all life in this plane of existence!” she finished, putting her hands together as if praying.

“Oh, so your God,” Junko surmised simply.

Angie looked slightly miffed at that, but her smile remained all the same. “He is much, much more than that, but that explanation shall do for now.”

Junko heard a crinkle coming from next to her, and saw that Hiro had is hand balls deep in a bag of chips. Junko looked at him for a moment, unsure what exactly to say.

“…Where the fuck did you get that?” is what she decided on.

“Panthry,” he said, his mouth full of chips, while he used his crumb-covered hand to thumb behind him.

“Yeah!” Junko heard Chihiro call from inside what she could only assume was the aforementioned pantry. Chihiro stepped out. “There’s a whole lot of food in here… though I don’t know if we’re allowed to eat it.”

“I mean, haven’t we been like, kidnapped?” Angie said to the room at large, “So like, who cares about eating our kidnapper’s food?”

“Hear! Hear!” Hiro and Junko both called out, despite the fact that she didn’t want to eat.

Entering the pantry regardless, Junko saw that there was a hell of a lot of food. There were jars, bags, containers, fruit, veg, and even cartons of soda… Junko will probably have one later, actually.

“There’s a freezer here with cold food, as well!” Junko heard Chihiro call out from outside of the pantry. She followed the sound of her voice, and lo and behold, a freezer full of cold foods. Meat, vegetables, and-

“Duuuuude!” Hiro called out from nearby, “Dino nuggets!”

Junko’s  heart began racing to an embarrassingly extreme degree, but she didn’t care, because as Hiro said, there were dino nuggets!

“Hiro, your prediction was right!” Junko told him, to which he began nodding profusely, “This is a nice place!”

“Hell yeah!”

They walked back out of the freezer, and noticed that both Chihiro and Angie were smiling at their exchange.

“Are you two going to investigate more?” Chihiro asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Yep,” Junko told her, “We still got two more people to meet.”

“And one of em is Byakuya,” Hiro added.

“Ah yes, I can see why that is important,” Angie said.

Junko looked at her confusedly, “Why’s Byakuya so important?”

Chihiro answered for her, “Byakuya is the one who helped reign us all in when we first woke up… he’s basically our impromptu leader,” she said politely.

“Huh…” Junko can see why meeting him would be important… though she may have a bone to pick with him about leaving Hiro of all people to watch over her… not that she didn’t trust him or anything, but she felt like if someone were to try and kidnap her while she was asleep, all they’d have to do was hand him a fidget spinner and he’d be completely preoccupied… though it did turn out well, so she might only have to tear into him a little.

“Tell him hello from us~” Angie waved to us on our way out.

“Will do!” Hiro responded with a goofy yet confident grin.

“Later, ladies!” Junko waved back at them.

Stepping back outside, Junko pulled out her map for what she hoped to be the final time.

The final area was behind the dining room, and looked to be a stage of some kind. Conveniently, there is a path circling the dining room, which Junko and Hiro took.

“Cheerio’s pretty cool, isn’t she?” Hiro said as they walked, “Angie too… but she’s a bit odd as well.”

Junko nodded in agreement, “Chihiro seems really nice, if not just a little shy, and Angie… I get that same vibe that I got from Nagito, just to a lesser degree… eh, it’s probably nothing,” she shrugged dismissively.

“Who knows, man,” Hiro said unhelpfully, before adding while pointing at the distant stage, “Ah, there’s Byakuya and Miu!”

The stage was pretty standard. It was wooden, and had many stage lights on the top of it, along with two massive speakers on each side. Whoever built it was really gonna make their voice heard.

The first of the two people Hiro pointed out could only be the previously mentioned ‘Byakuya.’ He had pale skin, and was very noticeably heavy-set. He had lapis blue eyes with noticeably long eyelashes accompanied by rectangular, white-framed glasses, and has chin-length blonde canary yellow hair. He wore a white dinner jacket over a white shirt and lapis blue crossover tie, with white slacks, and white dress shoes.

The second was a tall woman with an hourglass figure and a fair complexion. She had waist-length strawberry blonde hair that flowed in waves around her back, with two short locks of hair stuck up at the top of her head, sweeping to her right. Her bangs were long and wispy, swept somewhat to her left. She had shaky ice-blue eyes. Her head accessories consisted of a pair of brown goggles with gold accents. She wore a modified, long-sleeved, dark pink seifuku uniform with a white sailor collar and sleeve cuffs, both striped with a single faded pale blue line, a faded pale blue bow tied at her collar.

Her chest cover was noticeably missing, her ample cleavage exposed. She wore a short, dark pink pleated skirt the same colour as her uniform, vertically striped, off-white, knee-high socks, and black heeled boots accented with gold buckles, studs, and buttons. Her accessories included a black choker, two rubber collars that resemble barbed wire, black fingerless gloves studded with silver, a pin of a cartoonish mouse on her collar, black straps connected with gold studs wrapping her left upper arm, and black straps studded with gold linked with gold rings around her torso and legs. This ‘Miu’ easily had the most intricate clothing of anyone Junko had met today.

“Fuckin’ took you long enough to wake up!” ‘Miu’ jeered at Junko after she saw her and Hiro approaching, “Enjoy your beauty sleep?”

“Damn straight, bitch,” Junko shot back at her coldly. ‘Miu’ squealed pathetically.

“Th- the first thing you do is call me a bitch!?” she questions, “…You and I just might get along!”

“Shut up. Both of you,” ‘Byakuya’ snaps, “You, new girl,” he addressed Junko, “Introduce yourself. Make it snappy.”

Wow, this guy is rude. Though people have only had nice things to say, so maybe he’s just blunt, “Junko Enoshima, Ultimate Fashionista.”

“Ooh, a model,” ‘Miu’ said, “Explains your cute outfit~”

The fuck is with this chick? Rude one second, complimenting the other… least she’s not boring. “I could say the same to you,” Junko decided to respond politely in turn, “Care to introduce yourself?”

Smiling broadly, she jumped into her introduction, “I’m the gorgeous girl genius whose good looks and golden brains will go down in history! I’m the one, the only, the legendary Ultimate Inventor herself- Miu Iruma!”

Really? “You’re the Ultimate Inventor?” Junko asked sceptically, eyes unintentionally narrowed.

“The fuck’s that supposed to mean!?” she shoots back at Junko angrily.

Junko tries not to start any fights, especially because she didn’t mean any harm by the statement in the first place. “Nothing, nothing. It’s just the way you talk... it doesn’t seem very… academic, if you get what I mean?”

Miu smiled broadly, “Oh, well get rid of all those shitty fucken preconceptions, they’re all wrong,” she said confidently, “I mean, yeah, there are your more mild-mannered academics, but most of them are fucken weirdos. Some of ‘em aren’t weird in the bad way- just odd, but some of ‘em are real creeps.”

“Interesting… I always thought that most people like that were lab coat wearing nerds,” Junko said, partially truthfully. She had never really gave the idea some thought, but had she done so, she probably would have found a similar conclusion.

“Oh yeah, I’ve met a few of ‘em,” Miu says simply.

“Are you two finished yet?” ‘Byakuya’ interrupts harshly, “We have very little time for small talk, and I’d like to gather everyone together in order to pool together our information.”

Hiro looks at him confusedly, “Why’re you just standing here at the stage?”

‘Byakuya’ looks over to him, “This stage seems very out of the ordinary, considering we are standing in what looks like a summer camp. It’s very unnecessary to have stage lights and speakers of that size.”

“Oh yeah,” Junko mumbled in realization before raising her voice back to its normal volume, “Don’t most summer camps use megaphones?”

“Exactly,” ‘Byakuya’ agreed, “Why not stick with what works? This must have costed ample funds… It just seems unnecessary. Regardless,” he said, turning to address Junko personally, “I believe I should introduce myself before we gather together. My name is Byakuya Togami, sole heir to the Togami conglomerate, and the Ultimate Affluent Progeny.”

“… Soooo… you’re rich?” Junko summarized simply.

Byakuya rolled his eyes, “There is much more to my talent beyond my fortune, however for the sake of hurrying this along, I will not be explaining the full extent of my talent for the time being.”

“Yeah, sure,” Whatever.

“Now,” Byakuya started, addressing all three of them now, “I would like all of you to go to the dining hall. I shall gather all of the students not yet there, and we will discuss our situation. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir!” Hiro saluted.

“Sure, works for me,” Junko agreed.

“Fuck you, fine,” Miu… agreed? Maybe?

Byakuya nodded, and started walking towards the basketball court, probably going to find Nekomaru and Peko, as Junko, Miu, and Hiro walked towards the dining hall together.

Chapter Text

“I’m hungry,” Miu complained as they were on their way to the literal dining hall.

“Dude, we’re walking to the dining hall,” Hiro responded to her, as if reading Junko’s mind.

Miu folder her hands behind the back of her head as they walked. “I know, I know, but I’ve not eaten since I woke up and I’m fuckin’ starving!”

“Thanks for that entirely relevant information, Miu,” Junko said sarcastically, ensuring that the inventor could hear her eyeroll.

“You’re fucken’ welcome!” she responded, not caring about Junko’s obvious sarcasm.

The trio walked into the dining hall, and immediately the door to the left burst open.

“Hello, hello~” Angie said, Chihiro hot on her heels, “I heard the door open, and came to investigate! Why are you back so soon?”

“Fuck’re you talkin’ about?” Miu snapped.

“She was talking to us, dude,” Hiro told her, before addressing Angie, “We’re here cuz Byakuya wants everyone to meet up here. He’s grabbing everyone now.”

Chihiro smiled, “Lucky us, we’re already here.”

“Nyahahaha!” Angie laughed, a massive grin on her face, “It was Atua’s will that guided us here, Chihiro!”

Chihiro smiled at her kindly, “I’m sure it was.”

“Alright, alright, whatever, whatever,” Miu brushed off swiftly, “Where’s the grub!?”

Junko pointed to the door that Chihiro and Angie just left from, “In there, straight right is the pantry.”

“Fucken nice!” she said, before dashing into the kitchen.

“Cool. I’m taking a seat,” Junko said blankly, beginning to walk towards the larger table.

Taking her seat, Junko saw that she was joined by Hiro and Angie. “Hey, where’s Chihiro?”

“Huh?” Hiro looked around from his seat to Junko’s left, “Oh yeah, where the hell did she go?”

Angie sat across from Junko. “I believe that she went into the kitchen with Miu.”

“Oh.” Junko was unbothered. “I’ll give it about thirty seconds before she comes running out after Miu scared her shitless.”

“Maybe not,” Hiro said, clearly equally unbothered, “Cheerio’s a programmer, and Miu’s an inventor, right? They’ve got something pretty big in common with each other, maybe they’ll hit it off.”

“Wow, Hiro!” Angie feigned surprise, “I didn’t know that you were smart!”

Hiro looked smug for about three seconds, before realizing that he had just been insulted, “Hey, wait a second!”

The girls burst into giggles at the expense of the bumbling clairvoyant, who was heatedly begging them to stop laughing at him.

“Fuck’s so funny?” Miu sat on Junko’s right. She had a bag of chips in one hand, and a soda in the other.

Junko eyed the soda for a second, before Chihiro handed her one from across the table next to Angie, “Here, I saw you eyeing them earlier,” she said with a kind smile.

Taking it gratefully, Junko leaned over to ruffle her hair, “Hey, thanks, girl! ‘Preciate it!” Chihiro looked embarrassedly away from Junko as she nodded, mouthing a response that was too quiet to hear. The fashionista turned to Miu once the former stopped leaning over the table, “To answer your question, we were laughing at this dipshit. He was tryna be smart.”

“Haha!” Miu responded, pointing at Hiro as she cracked open her soda can, “Dumbaaaaass!”

“Why is everyone so mean to me!?” Hiro cried out hysterically, before his expression turned into a smile seeing how they were all laughing.

CRASH!

Their happy moment was interrupted by the sound of the front door bursting open.

“WHERE’S THE BATHROOM!?” Nekomaru shouted urgently.

Hiro cupped his mouth with his hands and shouted back, “To your right!”

“THANK YOUUUU!” Nekomaru ran into the bathroom at a speed that would be accurately described as Mach fucking two.

It was quiet for a few moments, before someone dared to speak up, “… The fuck was that?” Miu asked, flabbergasted.

“That,” the voice of Peko came from the entrance, “Is what I had to deal with for the past five minutes.”

Junko smiled at the swordswoman as she entered, “Peko, good to see you!” She gestured for her to take a seat, “Byakuya send you?”

“He did, yes,” She said, as she made her way toward them, taking a seat opposite Hiro on Angie’s right, “It was at that point that Nekomaru became,” she gestured vaguely in the direction of the bathroom, “… like that.”

“Shame,” Hiro said, uncaringly.

“‘Least he keeps things interesting,” Junko reasoned, punching Hiro lightly on the arm.

“I suppose you could say that” Peko conceded.

Chihiro leaned forward to see Peko across from Angie, “Peko, are you hungry? There’s a lot of food here, so you don’t need to be scared of taking some.”

Peko looked thoughtful, “Are you sure we’re within our rights to eat the food?”

“Nyahahaha!” Angie laughed loudly, “We had that same thought, Peko, but then I said like, why should we care about eating our kidnapper’s food?”

“Hear, Hear,” Hiro, Miu, and Junko chanted.

Peko still looked concerned, “What if the food is poisoned?”

Miu choked on the sip of soda she was taking, Chihiro just barely putting her arms up in time to keep any getting on her face or hair, “Fucking what!? I- I’ve been poisoned!?”

“I mean…” Junko mumbled worriedly, “It is a possibility…”

Hiro put a hand to his chin, “Wait,” he said, clearly thinking hard, “If whoever got us wanted to kill us, wouldn’t they have done it already? I mean, they managed to grab us and take us here while we were knocked out, surely they’d have killed us then if they wanted.”

It was quiet for a second as everyone digested the thought. “Damn Hiro,” Junko smirked, “Do that more often.”

“Do what?” Fucking never mind.

“He does make a good point,” Peko said, getting to her feet, “I shall look for something to tide me over for the time being. I am a little peckish, I suppose,” she walked over towards the kitchen. Just then, the bathroom door burst open, and Nekomaru came out laughing.

“Gyahaha! Phew, that was nice,” he said, still drying his hands on his uniform. He started walking towards the group, and took the seat that Peko had just left from. He scooted over once Angie notified him that it was her seat.

“Feelin’ good?” Junko asked Nekomaru.

He laughed. “Best shit I’ve taken in a long time!”

“Good for you, man,” Hiro told him, his voice devoid of conviction.

“Want some grub?” Miu asked Nekomaru, “Kitchen’s there. Anything fancy takes a minute to make, but just snacks or fruit or whatever are ready to go.”

“Hmm… Nah,” Nekomaru decided, propping his head up with his arm on the table, “I’ll eat later.”

Peko came back with an apple in hand, and sat back in her seat wordlessly.

“Seriously?” Hiro asked, “All of them great snacks, and you grab an apple?”

Before Peko could respond, however, the cafeteria door opened again, albeit much quieter this time around. Ryoma walked in, hands in his pockets, not holding the door for Nagito, who slipped in just after him.

Angie stood from her seat to welcome the newcomers, “Hello, hello!”

“Hello there,” Nagito greeted, cheerily.

Ryoma just grumbled his greeting.

“Nagito, Ryoma!” Chihiro called out from the table, “Come take a seat with us!”

“I’ll pass.” Ryoma turned to go to a different table.

Angie grabbed him by the arm, “No, no, we are here to talk together,” she said, guiding him next to Miu, “Once Byakuya gets here and we are all done, then you may leave.”

Ryoma sighed in defeat, “Fine.”

Nagito, who in the commotion had taken a seat to Hiro’s left, the clairvoyant leaning away from him slightly, piped up. “Have any of you Ultimates discovered anything about our situation?”

“Not yet, nah,” Junko told him, “But Byakuya told us all to gather here to discuss just that, so right now it’s just a waiting game.”

“I see. Byakuya seems to truly be a capable leader, as expected of someone so talented,” Nagito gushed. He really does value talent, huh?

Junko considered confronting him about him potentially lying about his talent, but figured she’d wait for Makoto to show up at the very least, and if Byakuya is doing the same route that she and Hiro did, he’s not even the next one to show. She considered telling Hiro to keep his trap shut as well, but seeing that he was staring off into space, it’s possible that he either forgot, or just wasn’t listening, so Junko decided not to say anything.

“You say that as if you, too, aren’t talented,” Peko observes.

“That’s because I’m not,” Nagito told her, and at the confused looks on the faces of everyone but Junko, Hiro, and Ryoma, he elaborated. “I’m this year’s Ultimate Lucky Student, so I’m only ‘talented’ by name, unlike the rest of you, who all have such great gifts! It’s truly an honour to be in your presence!”

“Damn fucking straight!” Miu agreed, a wild smile on her face, “You should all be at my knees!”

“Shut up. The pair of you,” Ryoma demanded harshly.

“The fuck’d you just say, short stuff!?” Miu demanded of the man on her right, “Do you even know who I am!?”

“No, and I don’t care,” Ryoma shot back harshly, before addressing Nagito, “Look kid, I can appreciate admiring people, but don’t lump me in with the rest of them, they don’t deserve that.”

Nagito smiled at him, “But you are one of them! You’re an Ultimate student, scouted by-”

“No, I was going to be an Ultimate student, but I threw it all away before I actually had the chance to be one,” Ryoma cut Nagito off, “Frankly, I have no idea why I’m even here with the rest of you,” he chewed on his candy cigarette, before getting a new one.

Peko eyed Ryoma suspiciously, “Are you referring to your slaughter of that mafia group?”

“Woah woah woah woah woah!?” Miu leaned into Junko, as far away from Ryoma as she could, “He slaughtered a fucking mafia group!?”

“Get the fuck off of me,” the fashionista grumbled, pushing her to the floor. She moaned. Everyone ignored her.

“No, she had the right reaction,” Ryoma said, before eyeing the rest of the group, “Frankly, the rest of you aren’t bothered enough by this.”

“Oh, I am,” Chihiro said warily, “But I don’t feel like you’re going to hurt us…”

“He won’t,” Nekomaru agreed, “Ryoma’s never been one to start something himself. He’s more of an ‘I’ll leave you be, so you leave me be’ kinda guy.”

Angie’s head, which was bobbing up and down as she listened in, tilted far to one side, “And how do you know that?”

“Because I trained him before all that crap happened,” Nekomaru revealed, looking over at Ryoma, who was pointedly not looking at him back. “I certainly don’t condone what he did, but trust me, there’re two sides to that story.”

“Oh yeah!?” Miu, who had gotten back to her seat, was in full swing again, “And what is that other side!?”

But unfortunately, before Ryoma could respond, the dining hall doors opened again.

“Good day, classmates!” Sonia greeted as she entered, Kirumi bowing to everyone from behind her.

“Great timing,” Ryoma muttered, his voice a mix of annoyance and sarcasm.

Kirumi tilted her head slightly, “Are we interrupting something, perhaps?”

Nekomaru waved his large hand dismissively, “Nothin’ that can’t be talked about later.”

Chihiro indicated to a seat to her left, “Would either of you like to take a seat?”

“I would, thank you Chihiro!” Sonia said gratefully, before taking the seat that she had indicated.

“I would prefer to remain standing, at least for the time being, if you do not mind,” Kirumi told the room at large, before giving another bow.

“Choice is yours,” Junko told her, before asking, “You two find anything in the lodge?”

Sonia shook her head, “Nothing of immediate concern, no,” her expression was one of disappointment, “I am sorry.”

“It’s fine!” Angie assured her, “I don’t think any of us found anything that was any more important.”

“I don’t think that’s a good thing,” Nagito pointed out, his ever-present smile still on his face.

“No, it isn’t.” Angie agreed, nodding multiple times in quick succession, “But it means that no one has to be sorry for not finding anything out.”

“Ah, I see,” Nagito conceded, “My apologies. Far be it from me to question an Ultimate. I was out of line.”

Nekomaru sighed a loud sigh, “Quit it with that, Nagito.”

Nagito mimed zipping his lips in response, his smile still unwavering.

“Excuse me,” Sonia spoke up, “May I excuse myself for one of those, um… ‘bags of chips?’” she said, pointing at Miu’s empty bag, “I have heard of such foods before, but have never had some, and would like to try them for the first time!”

“You can stay seated, Sonia,” Kirumi told her, “I will get you the chips you desire.”

“Kirumi!” Sonia demanded of her angrily, “I believe I asked you to treat me like a normal classmate!”

Kirumi bowed at her with a smile, “Of course, however I would have offered if anyone voiced such a desire, as is my selfless devotion as the Ultimate Maid.”

“Oh!” Sonia said, placing her hand over her mouth, “Well my apologies. You may.”

Kirumi bowed again, about to set off.

“Woah, hold on!” Miu shouted suddenly, “You’re the Ultimate Maid?” Kirumi nodded, “So… you’ll do anything we ask?” she asked, clearly having something dirty on her mind if her expression was anything to go by.

Kirumi’s expression was blank, and she didn’t bow to Miu when she answered. “So long as it is within reason, and I suspect that what you are thinking does not fall under that category.”

Miu looked visually disappointed with that answer. Because of course she was thinking of something like that.

Kirumi, seeing that Miu had nothing more to say, strode towards the kitchen to get Sonia her chips.

Junko thought about how strange it was to see someone talk about a bag of chips as if it were some delicacy, but supposed that with Sonia being a princess, she didn’t get to indulge with shit food as much as a commoner. Even Junko, a famous supermodel, got to indulge whenever she wanted so long as she balanced it out with some extra exercise.

Before Sonia received her chips, however, the door to the dining hall opened again. Byakuya, Makoto, Sayaka, and Sakura all entered, Shuichi trailing slightly behind the large woman.

“Woah, everyone rocked up at once!” Hiro pointed out uselessly.

“Astute observation,” Byakuya rolled his eyes, as Makoto, Sayaka, and Sakura greeted everyone, Shuichi silently waving to the room at large and going to sit down at the closest four-person table.

“Where’s Kirumi?” Makoto asked, looking around the room and noticing that she was the only one missing. At that exact moment she emerged from the kitchen, striding over to Sonia, and handing her an identical bag of chips to the one Miu had. The princess beamed and ripped open the bag enthusiastically, before looking immensely satisfied at the taste.

“You like them?” Sayaka asked her, a small smile on her face, as if looking at a very happy child.

“Yes! They taste divine!” Sonia said, very, very happy.

Sakura shook her head. “I would not recommend eating too much. Junk food such as that is not very healthy.”

“Heeeey~” Angie complained, her cheeks puffed out in mock anger, “Let her have some fun!”

“Can we please get on topic?” Byakuya spoke up, “While I agree chips are interesting, I believe we have more pressing matters to discuss.”

“You would like chips, fatass,” Miu sniggered. Byakuya ignored her.

“Now, first and foremost,” Byakuya began in earnest, “Did anyone find an escape?”

A murmur of ‘no’ and ‘nah’ echoed the dining hall, with everyone shaking their heads solemnly.

Byakuya nodded, “As expected,” he said simply.

“If you expected that, why bother asking?” Ryoma piped up, mildly annoyed.

“While I did expect it, it wasn’t definite,” Byakuya explained, “I figured I should ask on the off chance someone really did find a way out.”

“Fair,” Ryoma nodded, twirling a candy cigarette in his fingers, “Fair. Carry on.”

Byakuya nodded at him, and looked on the verge of saying something else before Hiro spoke first. “Hey! I just remembered,” he said suddenly, pointing at both Nagito and Makoto accusingly, “We gotta find out which one of these two is lying!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Junko noticed Shuichi, who up until this point had his head facing down at the table, raise his head to listen more intently.

Peko made a questioning noise, “Hm? Lying about what?”

“Their talent of course!” Hiro says with conviction, “There’s only one Ultimate Lucky Student per year, and they both claim to be one!”

“Oh?” Angie tilted her head, “You think that one of them is lying? Why would they do such a thing?”

“Beats me,” Hiro shrugged. Of course, when it comes down to actual thinking, he shuts his trap.

“W-wait!” Sayaka pipes up, “If one of them is lying, it can’t be Makoto!”

“Why is that?” Byakuya asks bluntly.

Sayaka blushes slightly, “Well… Makoto and I went to the same middle school, and he really is just a normal person. The exact sort to be the Ultimate Lucky Student…”

“Good point,” Ryoma says, “But Komaeda’s told us some pretty extreme things that have happened in his past, and all of it can be traced back to luck.”

“Yeah, but like,” Junko added, “That could be interpreted both ways. Sure, it sounds luck related, but some strange shit has still happened in his past, giving him reason to lie.”

Makoto raised his hand before speaking, “Uh, this can be pretty easily explained by the fact we might be more than one class. Actually, out of the people who were confirmed to be part of class 78 with me, two of them are missing.”

“Wait,” Byakuya orders, “Does anyone else recall what class they are supposed to be in?”

Everyone shook their heads, but Chihiro spoke up, “Well… I remember checking what class I was supposed to be in…”

“And?”

Chihiro looks down sadly, “I don’t know. I know for sure that I checked, but I can’t recall which class it was. I’m sorry…”

Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder with a reassuring smile, “You have no need to apologize, none of the rest of us know, either.”

“Not quite,” Kirumi pointed out, “Makoto knew.”

“Yes, why is that?” Nagito spoke up at last, with what could only be described as a shit-eating grin on his face.

Junko could see Makoto start sweating, “I- I don’t know why I know and no one else does… Maybe…” he trailed off.

“So… we have no conclusive evidence if we’re all a part of the same class or not?” Byakuya asks the room at large, only to be greeted with silence.

“…”

“…Does- does anyone have any siblings? Twins, specifically.”

Everyone looked towards Shuichi, who tugged his cap lower over his face at the attention.

“Uh, I do,” Junko raised her hand, “A sister, but why is that-”

“Is she also talented?” He asks, still not looking at her.

Junko nodded, “Yeah, but why’s that-”

“Ah, I see,” Byakuya realizes.

Miu slammed her fist on the table, “See what!? Quit being so fucking vague!”

Byakuya explained. “The general rule that Hope’s Peak follows is to place people who are in the same year, with some relation to each other, in the same class. The school believes that it promotes faster talent growth to be around someone familiar. If Junko has a twin who is also talented, but not here, it means that we’re not the same class,” Byakuya finished, nodding at Shuichi, “Well done detective.”

Shuichi gave a feeble nod in response, but said no more.

Nagito smiled again, “While it was certainly interesting speaking about worthless individuals such as ourselves,” he said, indicating to himself and Makoto, who looked dejected at the description, “But I believe we may have more import-”

Bing, Bong, Bing, Bong

Nagito was cut off by the sound of a bell, coming from speakers that Junko hadn’t noticed in the far corner. Everyone’s head whipped around, sans Shuichi, who recoiled at the fact that everyone was now looking his direction.

Everyone was silent for a few seconds, before a voice emanated from the speakers.

“Ah, finally!” the voice from the speakers said, “Finally got this shit to fuckin’ work!” the voice was loud and crude, like a male version of Miu’s. It was jarring, considering we were all so confused about our current situation.

“Who is that?” Sonia asked, innocent confusion on her pale face.

“A very good question,” Byakuya responded, adjusting his glasses.

“Yeah! Good question, beautiful!” the voice from the speakers agreed.

I saw the eyes of multiple people widen. “W-wait, you can hear us?” Chihiro asked, hesitantly.

“‘Course I can fucken’ hear ya! I can hear everything! I’m like, omnipotent or whatever the word is. Like, the greatest, the bestest, the super duper flooper trooper coolest-”

“Can you get on with it?” Ryoma interrupted the voice’s rambling, frowning.

“bear- Fuck it, fine. Look, just go to the stage behind the dining hall. We’ll be waiting for you there. This has been the Kur-” The voice cut off abruptly.

Everyone hesitated for a brief moment. Then Peko stood, “I suppose we have no other option.”

“Are- are you sure it’s safe?” Chihiro asked worriedly, shrinking in on herself.

Byakuya shook his head, “That, I do not know,” he said, before looking resolute, “However, I do not see any other options, as Peko said. We must do what our kidnapper asks for now, else we will not obtain any information that we can use to make our escape.”

Ryoma stood up, “Agreed,” is all he said, before starting to walk towards the door, Peko going after him. Shuichi stood up silently, averting his gaze, and followed.

“Well, let us get going, everyone!” Angie said, grabbing Chihiro’s arm.

“A- Angie!” She attempted to protest, as she was dragged out of the dining hall by the artist.

Sonia stood up, both elegantly and enthusiastically, “Let us go onward!” she said, looking at Kirumi, who nodded, and followed her out.

“H-Hey! Sonia!” Hiro bolted up and followed her, “About that divination…!”

“Come on, Sayaka,” Makoto said to her, “We’ll be fine. We have Sakura and Nekomaru on our side, no one could beat them, right?” He looked towards Sakura and Nekomaru.

Sakura nodded, “Yes, we shall do our best to protect anyone and everyone from harm.”

Nekomaru laughed and heartly agreed, “YEAH! I WON’T ALLOW ANYONE TO GET HUUUUUURT!” finishing the statement while barrelling out of the building.

Laughing happily, Sayaka, Makoto, and Sakura followed him. Nagito skulked afterwards silently, staring at Makoto.

“What are you waiting for, you two?” Byakuya asked, looking towards Junko and Miu, “We shouldn’t dawdle.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re fucking going,” Miu complained, standing up and cracking her back.

Junko stood up as well and waltzed towards the door, Miu scrambling to catch up with her, and Byakuya trailing behind them.

“Whadaya reckon is about to go down?” Junko asked Miu, conversationally.

Miu cracked her neck, “Not a fuckin’ clue. Could be anything. Maybe we’re about to get gang-”

“Do not finish that sentence,” Byakuya told her warningly, a stern look on his wide face.

Miu cackled, “Actually yeah, I was wrong,” she indicated to the man walking behind her, “No one’d want this fatass!”

Byakuya and Junko both sighed. Junko was all for poking fun at people (read: Hiro), but that miiiight be a bit too far.

Before she could call her out on it though, they arrived at their destination. Looking around, she could see everyone in differing states of paranoia.

Makoto and Sayaka were standing near Sakura and Nekomaru, the latter was laughing heartily, clearly not thinking that this situation was dangerous.

Peko and Ryoma were chatting to each other quietly, both looking tense.

Hiro and Sonia were talking together, more than likely about his scam of a divination… Junko’s not that worried though, since Kirumi is supervising.

Finally, Chihiro was standing with Angie, who was pestering Shuichi, who looked nervous, but didn’t shoo her away.

“Everyone is here, correct?” Byakuya called out to everyone.

A chorus of ‘Yeah’ erupted, with Hiro shouting, “Why’re we here again?”

Angie is the one who answered him, “The mysterious voice from the speakers told us to be here!”

Miu rolled her eyes, “Yeah, that’s useful.”

“U- Um…!” Everyone all looked over to Shuichi, who was pointing on top of the stage with a shaking finger.

Following his gaze, everybody saw…

“Wussup, pussies?”

“Brother, there’s no need for that language.”

“Eh, lighten up, lil’ bro.”

Standing on the stage were two… plushies? Bears? Bear plushies? Bear plushies?

The first bear had the voice that came out of the speakers. Its body was half dark-grey and half black split equally down the centre. It seems its right half was originally white, but was pained over to become black, making it the dark grey colour that it is. It had a dark-grey fucking fedora with a red and white feather on it. It had gold teeth, and it smoked a cigar. It also wore an eye-patch with a heart decal over the right eye, a black tie, and a golden chain with a padlock and star-shaped charm.

The voice of the second bear was more kind, but still had that same… air about it. Its body was half white and half-light grey split equally down the centre. It seems its left half was originally black, but was pained over to become white, making it the light grey colour that it was, similarly to its ‘brother.’ It had wrapped bandages around its left leg, left forearm, and the left side of its head - the latter to serve mostly to conceal the jagged red left eye that its brother had… At least, Junko couldn’t see any other use for it. Its body was somewhat worn and covered in scratches. It had two small eyelashes on its right eye and a noticeable blush on its right cheek.

Everyone was quiet for a moment… then Chihiro spoke up, “Are those… stuffed animals?”

The black one turned to look at her, “Stuffed animals!? Nah man, we’re your counsellors!” it said, before indicating to itself, “I’m the swaggiest, the greatest, the awesomest, the bestest, the coolest, the GOATedest, the-”

“Sigh, big bro’s name is Kurokuma,” the white bear said, before indicating to itself, “And I’m Shirokuma. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hey! The fuck lil’ bro!?” Kurokuma said, taking his cigar out of his mouth and waving it around, “You stole my thunder! I can’t believe you’d do this! The betrayal! The-"

He was interrupted by Miu, “Hey! Fuckheads! What the hell do you mean you’re our counsellors!?”

“Uh…,” Kurokuma turned to her, “Um, exactly what we said?”

Shirokuma filled in the blanks of his brother’s weak explanation, “As he said, we’re your counsellors for this school trip,” he said kindly.

“Yes, I understand that,” Byakuya said impatiently, “And I couldn’t care less about that if I am being honest. What I want to know is why we’re here. For what purpose have you gathered sixteen Ultimate students into this supposed summer camp?”

Kurokuma tilted his head, “Whaaaa? Nah man, we don’t know nothing about that. We got our job, and it’s-”

“You should probably talk to the boss,” Shirokuma cut his brother off, “He’s the one who knows all about this.”

“Th- the boss?” Shuichi asked.

Kirumi cleared her throat, “Is this ‘boss’ the ‘head counsellor’ that is mentioned in the rules?”

Sonia’s eyes widened as she took out her phone thing, displaying the rules for everyone to see, “I believe this is what she is referring to.”

Camp Kuma Rules:

1. Attempting to leave Camp Kuma is strictly prohibited.

2. Major destruction of property is not permitted.

3. Littering or tampering with the environment to the degree of the prior rule is prohibited, unless approved by one of the counsellor.

4. Nighttime begins at 10 PM, and ends at 7AM.

5. Covering or impairing security cameras in any way is strictly prohibited.

6. Violence against the head counsellor is strictly prohibited.

7. Any assembly called by the counsellor must be attended by all participants.

8. These rules can be changed at any time, and the head counsellor can add new rules whenever the need arises.

“Please look at rule number eight,” Sonia finished, “It distinctly mentions the head counsellor.”

Hiro pointed at the two bears accusingly, “Hey, yeah! Where’s this head counsellor, huh!?”

“Why, I’m right here!”

The voice was jarring, but not in the way Kurokuma’s was. His voice had a light-hearted, borderline fun tinge to it… This one sounded menacing, thinly veiled behind that façade of light-heartedness.

To be completely frank…

Junko was scared.

“Where are you!?” Sakura growled at the sound of the voice, a dangerous look on her face.

“SHOW YOURSEEEEEEELF!” Nekomaru bellowed.

“That’s the plan, big guy!”

Suddenly, from behind the stage, rose a third bear. A bear whose whole face and body were divided by the centre into two parts. Its right side was white and has the classic expression of teddy bear, while its left side showed a more sinister appearance. It was black, had a red, horizontal, jagged eye- the same kind that Kurokuma displayed proudly, and Shirokuma went out of his way to cover up. It also had a large, obvious belly button on the underside of its belly, and its protruding navel has an "X" shaped mark on it.

It looked down on all of them, and Junko could just visibly see the aura of evil surrounding it, “I am the head counsellor of Camp Kuma! The one! The only! Monokuma! Pleased to meetcha!”

“Heya boss!” Kurokuma waved enthusiastically.

“Th- There’s another one!?” Makoto shouted in a panic.

“Obviously,” Nagito scoffed at him.

“Wh- What do you want from us?” Sayaka asked, clearly unnerved.

Byakuya jumped in again, “Yes, what do you want? You’re their boss, correct? Please explain why we’re here.”

Monokuma turned to look at him, “Why, you’re here for the Killing Game!”

… Huh?

“Uh, sorry bear man, I musta misheard you,” Junko heard Hiro say shakily, “Like, I coulda sworn you just said Killing Game,” he finished with a laugh.

Ryoma turned to look at him, looking concerned, “That’s because he did.”

Hiro remained silent, clearly having an internal crisis at the news.

“Excuse me,” Peko inquired, “But what do you mean ‘Killing Game?’”

“I mean Killing Game!” Monokuma responded jovially, “Killing! Game!”

Nagito raised his hand, “What does this Killing Game consist of?” he asked, looking startlingly calm about the situation.

“Well, you don’t gotta play it!” Kurokuma butt in.

“But if you don’t, you’ll never be able to leave,” Shirokuma finished his brother’s thought.

Chihiro was trembling at this point, clutching Angie’s arm, “W- We’ll never be allowed to leave?”

Monokuma started speaking again, a rehearsed tone to his robotic voice now, “If you wanna leave Camp Kuma, you gotta make it through the class trial without getting caught!”

“…Come again? Class trial?” Junko asked simply.

“Right!” Monokuma said happily, “The class trial is the cherry on top of this Killing Game!”

“If one of you gets murdered… The surviving members must participate in the class trial! At the class trial, there will be a showdown between the killer, henceforth known as the blackened, and the innocent, known as spotless. During the trial, you’ll present your arguments about who the blackened is, and a vote his held! If you choose the blackened correctly, only they get punished! But choosing the wrong person results in all of the spotless being punished, and the blackened gets to leave Camp Kuma! As far as the rules for the class trial go… that’s it!” Monokuma explained at length.

…Shit. That’s a lot of info… but he was very vague about one word specifically.

“Hey fucker!” Miu shot at the monochrome bear, “What’s this “punishment” you’re fuckin’ going on about!?”

Monokuma smiled sinisterly, “Oh, that?” he waved a paw dismissively, “That just means execution.”

Junko blinked stupidly up at the bear. “Come again?”

“He said execution…!” Byakuya said tensely.

“No way…!” Makoto muttered.

“I refuse…!” Sakura said.

“Refuse?” Monokuma echoed, “Well that’s fine! Just stay here! See if I care! Now, I got stuff I gotta take care of, so…,” he waved both of his paws at everyone, did a backflip off the stage… and disappeared.

It was silent for a while after that. Mercifully, even Kurokuma and Shirokuma knew to keep their traps shut while everyone was stuck in their heads.

This was… insane! Kill, or stay here forever? Fuck that noise!

“Everyone…?” Sonia spoke up hesitantly, “What… what are we going to do?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Nekomaru muttered, before hyping up completely, “WE’RE GONNA TAKE DOWN MONOKUMA AND GET OUT OF THIS PLAAAAAACE!”

“I concur,” Sakura nodded, “He is the biggest threat, after all.”

“No. I doubt that Monokuma will be a threat as long as we stay in line,” Byakuya said, his voice carrying so much that everyone looked towards him, “Nor do we need to be cautious of them,” he said, pointing to Kurokuma and Shirokuma, the former of whom waved, “No, more than anything, we must be cautious of…”

“…Ourselves. Being brought to a strange summer camp with complete strangers, and ordered to kill each other to escape… This creates fear in our minds, and the desire to escape that hopeless fear…

Is our worst enemy.”

Looking at everyone, whether reluctantly, or even begrudgingly, Junko could tell they agreed with him.

Chihiro, Miu, Sayaka, Makoto, and Hiro all looked scared, and were closing in on themselves.

Angie, Kirumi, Ryoma, and Shuichi were all looking at the bears still on the stage. Kurokuma was leering tauntingly, and Shirokuma looked pitifully at us.

Peko, Sonia, Sakura, Nagito, Nekomaru, Byakuya, and Junko were all shooting glances at one another, all clearly seizing each other up to see how the others were thinking…

Regardless of how they felt…

They were in this situation.

There was no way out.

Junko thought that they needed to work together, but she don’t really care if they didn’t.

There was one thing that she knew for sure, however…

That she was going to survive this.

No matter the cost.

Chapter Text

The hallways of the facility were quiet, save for the frantic running of a woman, clearly in distress.

Something very concerning had just surfaced on the airwaves. She had to notify the one she trusted most, the one who could do anything… the one she loved.

She frantically ran to the office of the man who could help, not bothering to knock when she entered.

“▇▇▇▇▇▇▇!” she shouted, “▇▇▇▇▇▇▇! Something’s happening!”

“▇▇▇▇▇?” he asked, surprised at her sudden entrance. He stood to his feet, sensing that the situation was dire, “What’s going on?”

“It’s- it’s the students of Hope’s Peak!” she said, out of breath, “The ones they locked in the academy!”

“What happened!?”

 The woman looked at him, fear in her eyes, “Just… just look at this!”

She presented the man with a tablet, and he took it swiftly. He looked down at the already lit screen. Even though she could no longer see it, she knew what was happening on the screen.

“Why, you’re here for the Killing Game!”

The man was silent, trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

“How many of the students are there?” he asked the woman.

The woman hastened to answer, “There are sixteen of the thirty-two who are- or I guess, were, trapped in the academy!”

The man’s face became livid, “Even though we cannot get close to the damned place, we have it closely monitored! When did this happen!? How did they do this!?”

“I- I don’t know!” the woman shouted.

The man thought for a moment, “These are on the airwaves?”

“Yes!”

“Alert everyone,” he said, “And get ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ to trace the signal at once! We will find them before there are any casualties!” the man was resolute on that point. The woman knew that he would not allow anyone to die.

“I understand!” the woman said, before running out of the room, and running down the hallway.

As she got further away from the man’s office, she slowed her pace.

And a scowl crept up her face.

Ding Dong!

The monitor in the room sprung to life again.

“Good morning, students. It is 0700. Please wake up and begin your day.”

The usual voice of ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, or as he likes to be called, “The Warden,” wakes the man up again.

He rolls out of bed and gets dressed, stuck in his own head as he does so.

How long have they been here? Where the hell did half of them disappear to?

“Shit… I should shower now…,” The man thought aloud… But he’s already dressed… Screw it, he’ll do it later.

Dingdong!

He heard the ringing of the doorbell. At the start, this was a normal thing- being woken up by someone early in order to discuss escape plans… but as days turned into weeks… and weeks into months… they sorta stopped trying.

Dingdongdingdongdingdongdingdong!

“Alright, I’m coming!” He shouted at the person incessantly ringing the bell.

He swung open the door and came face to face with ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, “▇▇▇?” The man said in surprise. He’s normally not the one to come and get people to do things. That’s normally ▇▇▇▇▇▇, or ▇▇▇▇▇▇, or even ▇▇▇▇▇, “What’re you doing here?”

“Dude,” he said worriedly, “Dude, this shit’s bad! A/V room, now!” he said, before running to ▇▇▇▇’s room and ringing the bell the same way he did with mine.

“The hell are you on about?” The man asked him.

“▇▇▇▇▇’s there! He’ll explain!” he said without looking over at the man.

Nodding, the man ran towards the room.

What the hell is this about? It’s been weeks since anything happened…

He arrived in the room. Standing in there was ▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇, and ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, all looking tense, and all staring at the large screen in front of them. He followed their gazes and saw what scared ▇▇▇ so much.

In a grassy field stood all sixteen of the people who were taken from the Academy, being leered at by a regular Monokuma unit, and two abnormal ones.

“Why on earth is he impersonating me again?” ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ asked, ignoring the actual issue at hand.

▇▇▇▇▇ wheeled around on him, face contorted with frustration, “That’s not the issue, you bastard!”

“What’s going on?” The man asked ▇▇▇▇▇, who was the only person in the room who wasn’t ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, and was still relatively calm.

She was quiet for a moment, before she spoke, “Before you showed up, the Monokuma mentioned that they were trapped, and are being forced to play a Killing Game,” she said bluntly, not bothering to sugar-coat it.

On the one hand, The man could appreciate the straightforward delivery. On the other hand, however? “What the fuck!?”

“Like hell the coach would let that happen!” ▇▇▇▇▇ said with conviction, her fist raised.

“What blasphemy is this!?” The man looked towards the door and saw ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇, and ▇▇▇▇ enter the room, the former being the one who spoke.

▇▇▇▇ walked and stood next to me, transfixed on the screen in front of us, he put his hand to his mouth, “Oh my…”

“I see you see our latest project?” They all whirled around to the door to see the Warden.

“▇▇▇▇-” ▇▇▇▇▇ was cut off.

“You will refer to me as the warden,” he said dangerously.

“What is this!?” ▇▇▇▇ asked, clearly very distressed.

“This,” he referred to the screen, “Is the final nail in the coffin.”

“‘Nail in the coffin?’” ▇▇▇▇▇ repeated, dimly, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He turned to her slowly, “This will be what shows the world that despair will always triumph over hope. Seeing sixteen of the world’s best and brightest try to work together, only for it all to come crashing down,” The man could see his eyes begin to swirl, clearly feeling despair at watching some of his classmates in this situation, “Despair will win. The world will see that. And once the Killing Game is finished…

All hope will be eradicated.”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Huh?

Someone’s knocking… at the door?

That’s… not possible.

He’s been in this hotel room for… weeks? Months? He doesn’t know anymore.

In the entire time that Taichi Fujisaki has been there, not one person knocked on the door.

He’s get given daily food… but that’s it.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The knocking sounded menacing. It was slow. Deliberate.

He didn’t know if he should answer.

Taichi stood up off of the couch.

He walked towards the door.

He reached his hand out…

CRASH!

“GOOOOOOD MORNING, ASSHOLE!”

“AAH!”

A man kicked open the door, knocking him back on the floor.

“Sorry buddy!” the man said, dragging Taichi by the hair towards the couch before he could comprehend what was happening, “But I got sixteen of you assholes to get through, so let’s get this show on the road!”

“What is-?”

He kicked Taichi in the face. He could feel my nose break.

“Shut it!” He kicked again.

He threw Taichi onto the couch, and turned the TV on. He held his head in place and forced him to look at it.

“Why, you’re here for the Killing Game!”

A Monokuma unit was on the screen. The camera panned out to show some people. Taichi scanned all of them-

Chihiro

“Ah, found him, have you?” the man taunted.

“No… please…,” Taichi pleaded, “Don’t put my son through this…” What is happening? So much is going on so fast…

“Your son has the same chance of surviving as anyone else!” The man said, getting close into Taichi’s face, and lowering his voice dangerously, “There’re Ultimates there. Chihiro might make it through… but probably not…

There are sixteen of them…

All of them want to survive…

It’s a game of life and death…

A sophisticated battle royale…

With how athletic some of the people are there…

And how smart some of them are…

There’s a decent chance that Chihiro doesn’t make it out alive…

But it’s not a certainty…

It’s close to certain death, but... even if it was completely certain…

The impossible is possible! All you gotta do is make it so!”

Chapter Text

Camp Kuma Map

Cabins

Cafeteria

Lodge

Director’s Cottage

Office

Health Centre

Sports Storage

Chapter Text

Junko falls backwards on her bed as soon as she gets there.

Admittedly, it’s actually pretty comfy. She’s glad to see that her kidnapper values her comfort in the literal murder game.

How the fuck did she get here? What did she do wrong to deserve this?

“This fucking sucks…” she says aloud.

She knows that Byakuya wants them all to work together, but, well… she has the impression that that’ll be difficult to make happen.

There’s already so much distrust strewn among everyone…

And if everybody’s reaction to Byakuya’s words of caution were any indication…

Everyone took in Byakuya’s words of warning.

“If that’s the case, why should we fucking bother!?” Miu shouted, clearly shook.

Hiro shook his head, “Yeah, Byakuya, dude,” he said hesitantly, “Even if what you’re saying is right, how does that help?” he started panicking slightly, “All it means is that there’s nothing we can do!”

“I don’t recall saying that” Byakuya told him dismissively.

Peko twirled one of her braids, “And what do you mean by that?”

“I mean,” Byakuya said, raising his voice loud enough for everyone to hear, “That we must work together as a group in order to undermine those who intend to trap us here,” he said, pointing to the stage where Kurokuma and Shirokuma still stood, quietly conversing with one another.

Ryoma stuck his hands in his jacket pockets, “You guys can do whatever you want, but leave me out of it. I don’t want to subject anyone else to my presence,” he said, before looking away from the group, “I’m gonna go and think some stuff over.”

But before he could, “RYOMA!” Nekomaru shouted, startling everyone, “YOU NEED TO GET ALONG WITH EVERYOOOONE! IF NOT FOR YOURSELF, FOR UUUUUUSSSSS!”

Ryoma didn’t say anything in response, but he also didn’t leave.

“As much as I would like to trust that everyone here had pure intentions,” Peko said, making direct eye contact with Byakuya, “It is possible that one or more of us is taking that bear’s words seriously,” she said, before reaching slightly for her sword, “In fact, any one of us could be contemplating murder as we speak.”

Sakura looked over towards her, “While that is undoubtedly true,” she said, “All thinking like that does is cause unnecessary fear. I believe vigilance is necessary here, not distrust.”

“That’s right!” Makoto said with conviction, “There’s no need to think the worst of everyone!”

Nagito turned to him, “Maybe someone so hopelessly average should let those with actual talent talk, hm?” he asked condescendingly. Makoto looked saddened.

“Everyone stop!”

They all turned to Chihiro, who looked nervous, but stood her ground, “We can’t keep arguing like this! It’s just playing right into Monokuma’s paws!” she said resolutely.

“Yeah, but like,” Angie said to her, an innocent smile on her face, “We know that at least one of us is already a killer! How can we even say that no one else is?”

Ryoma let out a deep sigh, “Well, if that isn’t my cue to leave, I don’t know what is,” he says, beginning to walk away towards the cabins.

“Oh, shit, wait!” Kurokuma called out to him, before chucking something his direction, which Ryoma caught, “Your cabin key! Check your Monophones if you wanna see which one it is!”

Ryoma nodded, and departed the scene.

“Monophones?” Junko asked, before pulling out the phone that she had, “Y’mean this thing?”

“No shit, Sherlock!” Kurokuma said bluntly.

“Hey, asshole!” Miu shouted at the black bear, “Gimmie my one!”

Kurokuma quickly looked through the keys. Shirokuma reached over and grabbed one, and walked offstage. Kurokuma mumbled, “You’re welcome, asshole,” without looking up.

Kurokuma found Miu’s key and threw it at her. Not to her, at her.

“Fucking ow!” she said as the key hit her in the face. Kurokuma cackled, “Get good, loser!”

“Miu, are you really-?”

“Of course I’m fuckin’ leaving!” she cut Junko off, “I can’t trust any of you cunts! I just wanna go to bed…!” She followed Ryoma to the cabins.

Junko noticed Shuichi silently departing himself. The key Shirokuma grabbed must have been his.

“May I have my key?” Peko asked Kurokuma, who nodded, and, in the same way as he did with Miu, threw the key at her. Unlike Miu, Peko caught it expertly, and nodded to him. The black bear looked disappointed.

“I apologize,” she tells the group, “I have every intention of cooperating with you, but I would like to think about things for the night. Please excuse me,” she said, bowing to the group at large once, before leaving.

Sonia looked very frustrated. “Everyone!” she shouted at the disappearing silhouettes of the students who decided to leave, “I order you to come back! We can work this out!”

Kirumi placed a hand on her shoulder, “I do not think that they will be coming back. We can try and reconcile with them tomorrow.”

Sonia nodded, her expression of embarrassment. “I apologize, I spoke out of line…”

“No worries,” Junko told her, “We’re all on edge. How’s about we all get some shut eye, and talk about all this tomorrow?” She asked this question to the group, but most particularly, Byakuya.

Hiro raised his hand, “I agree with Junko!”

Byakuya sighed. “Fine. I suppose I must accept defeat here,” he said, before turning to all of them, “Though we will be gathering tomorrow to speak on this issue more,” he turned to Kurokuma, “Give us our keys.”

“Say please~” the black bear taunted.

“Give us the keys. Please.” Byakuya said, clearly in no mood to argue.

Kurokuma laughed before chucking the keys at everyone, one-by-one. Everyone caught them… except Hiro and Makoto. Kurokuma looked satisfied that he had got some of them.

Once they all had their keys, they began the walk to the cabin area.

“I can’t believe we gotta walk around everywhere, when he can just do whatever!” Junko heard Kurokuma complain from behind her.

“Guess those are the perks of being host.” Shirokuma told him.

Junko could hear Kurokuma respond, but they were going in another direction, so she couldn’t make out what he was saying. She wonders if they’re gonna… sleep? Do they sleep? Where are they gonna go?

Actually, why did Monokuma piss off as fast as he did? It seemed like a pretty abrupt exit. He gave the task of giving our keys to Kurokuma, and Junko got the impression he isn’t the most competent bear in the world- hell, he nearly forgot to hand them to us, and if he did, we’d be sleeping outside. Did he have something to do?

“…Makoto?” Sayaka whispered from somewhere nearby.

Makoto leaned in closer and hum in acknowledgement.

“Do you… do you think everything will be okay?” Sayaka asked hesitantly.

Makoto stiffened momentarily, but his response was calm, even soothing. “We will,” he says, “We just need to have hope.”

Junko stopped listening after that.

She realized pretty swiftly that the cabin at the very end was her own, if the little pixel art of herself on the door was any indication. To be perfectly honest, it was pretty cute.

As she opened the door, there was one thing on her mind…

Will having hope really be enough to get everyone through this?

As much as she wanted to think so…

She felt like platitudes like that will be proven to mean nothing here…

Which leads up to now. Fuck, that was depressing.

Sitting up in the bed, Junko gave the cabin a quick once over before she hit the hay.

The bed was facing the door, and it had two bedside desks- one to each side.

There were two drawers, each adjacent to one another, a little closer to the door. The room had four windows: two to the front of the room near the door, one to Junko’s right, and one behind her.

On her left was a door that led to the bathroom. Inside was a simple sink, bath, and shower, though she had a lot of skin care and beauty products, thank fuck.

Flopping down on her back, Junko sighed. What a clusterfuck of a day.

She knew that she should be thinking about her next move… but she was very, very tired, so she decided to conk out.

And, fortunately, sleep came over her pretty quickly once she wrapped herself in her blankets.

“Maybe today was just a bad dream…”

And within no time, she was knocked the fuck out.

“Aw fuck.”

Junko bolted upright as she realized that yesterday was not, in fact, a dream. She still wished it was. Never really was a fan of that ‘reality’ crap.

Rolling out of bed, she decided to take a shower. They had warm water, which was nice, though considering their surprisingly decent accommodations, she’s not surprised.

As she was drying herself off, Junko heard a knock on the door. Wrapping her towel around her, she went to answer it.

Opening the door, she saw Byakuya and Sakura on the other side. The former looked away the second he saw Junko, and the latter smiled at his reaction.

“Yeah?” Junko asked simply.

Byakuya coughs, still looking away. “I have decided that every morning, we are all to gather in the dining hall to discuss matters. Today especially is absolutely mandatory,” he said sternly, “You are the last person we have spoken to, and naught but one person objected. I expect to see you at the dining hall in twenty minutes.”

“Uhhhhh, sure,” Junko said. Frankly, she didn’t really have a reason to disagree.

Byakuya nodded, and looked to be about to leave before he said, “And next time, please do not answer the door in such a state,” he indicated vaguely towards Junko.

“Oh?” Sakura slyly said, “Are you having some kind of uncomfortable reaction, Byakuya?”

“PFFFT-” It took everything Junko had not to keel over laughing at the expression on Byakuya’s face. She had to admit, Junko didn’t expect Sakura to be the sort to make a joke like that. Good on her!

In place of an answer, Byakuya walked off without saying goodbye. Sakura waved, smiled again, and departed after him. Still giggling at Byakuya’s expense, Junko closed the door and dressed.

It was… kinda concerning that they had exact replicas of the exact same clothing that Junko wore yesterday, and fuck all else, but she liked that uniform, so she dealt with it.

Reopening the front door, now dressed more modestly, Junko spotted some people walking past her cabin, presumably on their way to the dining hall.

“Good morning, Junko,” Makoto greeted, walking with Sayaka.

The popstar waved, “Hello!”

“Yo,” nodded Miu, who looked relieved to have found a fourth person. She clearly thought she was third wheeling.

The fashionista waved to all three of them. “Byakuya and Sakura grab you guys too?”

“Yep,” Miu said, popping the 'p', “Piss early though- eight a.m.!”

Sayaka looked over at her, “eight a.m. is early for you?” she said, with a small laugh, “Try five in the morning.”

“Eight is pretty normal, I think,” Makoto said conversationally, “I think that’s the general time to get up for most normal highschoolers.”

“Yeah,” Junko shrugged, “But most of us aren’t normal highschoolers.”

Makoto laughed, “I guess that’s true,” he said, before his tone became more muted, “So uh… how’s everyone feeling?”

“Oh, just fucking great!” Miu shot at him, “Juuuust great, with the looming threat of death and murder bears over my head!”

“Hey!” Sayaka says, offended, “He was just trying to be nice!”

Miu waved her hand in a dismissive way, “Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry,” she said to the duo, “I’m just really fucking on edge, and that was such an obvious question.”

Junko decided to jump in, “Yeah, my answer is pretty much the same as Miu’s, but without the bitchiness.” This comment, much to Junko’s delight, removed some of the tension around them.

“Hey, uh…,” Sayaka starts hesitantly, “Am I the only one… who’s worried a bit about Ryoma?”

“Define “‘worried,’” Junko asked.

 It was Miu who answered, “Worried that he’s dangerous, duh!”

Sayaka nodded, “Yeah…”

“Nah,” Junko answered, “Nekomaru knows him, and apparently he had a good reason to do what he did- obviously that doesn’t excuse it,” she clarified quickly, “But frankly, I’d be more worried about him doing something to himself, he just looks so… fucking dead inside, y’know? Out of everyone, I’d peg him to have the least motive to kill, since all that’s waiting outside for him would be the chair.”

Makoto looked thoughtful, “Well we could always ask Nekomaru what the deal is- or even just go to Ryoma himself.”

“I reckon it’d be more respectful to go to Ryoma,” Junko said.

“Fuck that!” Miu said in protest, “I’d rather go to shitface!”

Sayaka looked upwards, thinking, “I feel like Nekomaru will try to talk to Ryoma, so we can just talk to them together, right?” she asked.

“Guess we’ll see,” Junko said, mildly dismissively, “But Byakuya mentioned that someone decided to no-show today. Going by yesterday, odds are it’s Ryoma.”

Makoto smiled at Sayaka, “I think talking to them together will be better,” he said, “I think Ryoma will be very hard on himself, so having Nekomaru put things into perspective will be good.”

“Fuckin guess we’ll see,” Miu paraphrased as she pushed open the dining hall doors, since they had made it there at long last.

“Oh shit,” she said, as the door was blocked by someone, “Watch where you’re going!”

Turns out that the door ran into Sakura, who was carrying a coffee in her hands as she attempted to exit the building. “My apologies,” she said, respectfully.

“Who’s that for?” Makoto asked, indicating to the coffee in her hand, “I didn’t take you for the coffee type, so I’m guessing it’s for someone else.”

Sakura nodded, “Correct. It’s for Shuichi.”

Sayaka tilted her head, “Shuichi?”

The giantess nodded again, “Shuichi had reservations about joining us this morning. He was also quite irritable, which seemed odd considering how polite he was yesterday. Being a detective, I assumed he may like his coffee, so I volunteered to deliver some to him in the hopes that he will agree to meet with us all.”

“That’s nice of you,” Junko said to her, to which she nodded.

“Fuck,” Miu said to no one in particular, “You’d think a detective would be more useful. Fucker can’t even get up in the morning.”

Sakura looked down at her, “Show some respect,” she said harshly. Miu cowered in response. Looking mildly annoyed at the inventor, Sakura left the dining hall.

Once she was out of earshot, Sayaka spoke, “I… I agree that maybe Shuichi should get his act together, but, uh…” she gestured to Miu, “You didn’t need to put it like that…”

Junko silently agreed. A detective will invariably be useful in this situation. Finding a way out and solving any potential murders will be made exponentially easier with his help, and him keeping his trap shut ninety percent of the time like he did yesterday is extremely unhelpful.

The four of them continued into the dining hall. At one of the small tables was, to the shock of no one, Ryoma, accompanied by, to an equal level of fuck all surprise, Nekomaru. Peko was also there, but she was relatively quiet. Nekomaru talked at Ryoma, but he didn’t seem to be getting anywhere if the tennis-pro’s blank expression and complete lack of eye contact was anything to go by.

The large table held the more sociable people, namely Byakuya, Sonia, Angie, Chihiro, Hiro, Nagito…, and Kurokuma. The fuck is he doing there?

The four who just entered joined this table, Junko and Miu taking a seat on Hiro’s left. “What’s this moron doing here?” Junko said, indicating to Kurokuma, who gasped dramatically at the nickname.

“GASP!” he said. Yeah, he actually said ‘gasp.’ “What have I done to deserve such treatment!?”

Hiro tilted his head, “Uh… be in league with the one who’s behind the game?”

Kurokuma thought for a moment, “…Okay, besides that.”

“Threw keys at us,” Makoto said, subconsciously rubbing his cheek, which was where the key hit him.

Kurokuma thought for another moment, “Look, quit derailing my argument with facts, alright!?” he said, clearly trying his best to play off the good arguments to throwing him away.

“No,” Byakuya said bluntly, just as Kirumi and Shirokuma arrived carrying trays of food, which the maid dished out.

Sayaka looked at the bandaged-bear, confusion evident on her pretty face, “Was he helping you cook, Kirumi?”

Kirumi nodded, “Yes, he was, however,” she clarified quickly, “I made sure to observe him whenever necessary, and I am positive he did not spike the meals in any way, shape, or form.”

“Yeah,” I heard Shirokuma say, though I could only see the top of the tray he was carrying up high due to his short stature, “Big bro and I were supposed to be the cooks, but Kirumi offered to help me,” he said gratefully, clearly feeling very happy to have the help.

“And you weren’t helping, because…?” Nagito trailed off, asking Kurokuma the obvious.

Kurokuma gestured to Kirumi and his brother, “Because lil’ bro had the hot maid helping him! I’m too good at cooking, and it’s ungentlemanly to overshine someone whilst they’re doing their specialty.” He tipped his hat to Kirumi, who rolled her eyes, likely at both the nickname and the insinuation that this prick could cook for shit.

“How kind of you,” Chihiro said sarcastically, earning a small giggle from Angie.

Kurokuma wheeled on her, “Thank you, my dude, thank you!” he said, tipping his hat at her now, “Glad to see someone appreciates my awesomeness!”

“Yeah, that’s one way to put it,” Makoto laughed slightly.

Kirumi took the orders of the four latecomers, and she and Shirokuma returned to the kitchen.

“So,” Byakuya said in-between mouthfuls of waffles, addressing Junko, Miu, Sayaka, and Makoto, “How did you four sleep?”

Miu shot back with her usual, “The fuck do you think!?”

Makoto said, “Not that great, honestly,” to which Sayaka nodded in agreement.

“Eh, coulda been worse,” Junko shrugged. “Beds are comfy, door was locked… I slept pretty decently actually.”

“Ah!” Nagito says happily, which is always a warning sign, “How wonderful! You’re hope and trust in this group is so strong, you’re able to sleep soundly despite the danger!” his eyes were glowing with happiness, “I truly admire you, Junko!”

Kurokuma cackled in response to his statement, “If she’s that willing to trust people, she’s gonna get backstabbed for sure!”

Junko decided to address Nagito first, “No Nagito, I had to force myself to sleep fine exactly because I’m apprehensive and have doubts. I wanted to maintain some normalcy. And you,” she addressed Kurokuma, “You’ll be getting a boot to the face at this rate.”

Kurokuma wagged a fucking finger at her in a disapproving style… or he tried to at least, his hand had none, making it look like he was just waving. “Actually, no the fuck you can’t!” he said, swiping the Monophone that Hiro was looking at, ignoring the clairvoyants complaints, “Hey, already on the right page!” he said, before showing Junko the rules tab…

Camp Kuma Rules:

1. Attempting to leave Camp Kuma is strictly prohibited.

2. Major destruction of property is not permitted.

3. Littering or tampering with the environment to the degree of the prior rule is prohibited, unless approved by one of the counsellor.

4. Nighttime begins at 10 PM, and ends at 7AM.

5. Covering or impairing security cameras in any way is strictly prohibited.

6. Violence against the head counsellor is strictly prohibited.

7. Any assembly called by the counsellor must be attended by all participants.

8. Don’t break your Monophones. Seriously, shit’s expensive.

9. Once three or more spotless discover a body for the first time, a body discovery announcement will play.

10. An autopsy file will be supplied to all surviving participants once a significant number of students arrive at the scene directed by the body discovery announcement. This file will be supplied to you via your Monophones. Receiving this officially signals the beginning of investigation time.

11. After the investigation, a Class Trial will be held. You will be directed to the location of the trial grounds when necessary.

12. During a class trial, all remaining participants must debate and vote for the blackened. Refusing to vote will result in punishment.

13. If a blackened is successfully identified in a Class Trial by the majority vote, the blackened will be punished, and the game will reset and resume with all spotless participants.

14. If the blackened does not receive the most votes, they will be permitted to leave Camp Kuma. They will be taken to a location of their choosing.

15. The head counsellor will never directly participate a murder, nor will the counsellors.

16. These rules can be changed at any time, and the head counsellor can add new rules whenever the need arises.

“See?” Kurokuma said, chucking the Monophone back at Hiro, which he miraculously caught, “Rule 6. Read it and weep.”

Yeah, Junko wasn’t too concerned with that shit. Last time she checked the rules list, there were eight of them. She’s reading sixteen. Seven of the new ones were relating to the killing game… and one seemed like a cost-saving PSA.

She briefly considered breaking her Monophone out of spite, as the wording of the new rule eight seemed to imply that there was no punishment… but the Monophones didn’t seem strictly necessary for any participant to have, and they only seemed useful, so she restrained herself.

“That’s…” Makoto trailed off.

“Concerning? Yes,” Byakuya finished, “Though it is not anything new. Monokuma explained all of this last night.”

“Hey, wait!” Hiro shouted, seeming roused by the name of the bear-in-command, pointing an accusatory finger at Kurokuma, “The rule says we can’t hurt the head counsellor! That’s Monokuma!”

Angie laughed at the black bear, who seemed to realize the implications of Hiro’s sentence, “Nyahaha! You and your brother are just simple counsellors! So we can do whatever we feel to you two! Though, Shirokuma has been very kind, so it is you who will feel our wrath!” Angie told him, her expression darkening maliciously.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” Kurokuma drew out the noise as if his voice box were broken, before scurrying off towards the Nekomaru’s table. The team manager was focused on his food, and Ryoma looked deep in thought, so neither noticed Kurokuma’s presence at their table… Peko on the other hand, sighed audibly.

“Ha! Bitch!” Miu pointed and laughed.

Two doors opened at once. The first was Kirumi and Shirokuma again, carrying the four of us our food, which they gladly took. The toast was amazing, by the way.

The second was the dining hall door, and Sakura walked in, a mildly dishevelled looking Shuichi trailing behind her like a pale shadow. They both go to their own table, likely a request of Shuichi’s, and Kirumi approaches the duo to receive their orders, but before she could, someone cleared their throat.

Byakuya stood up and addressed everyone, “Now that everyone is finally here, we can begin discussing.”

“Uh, like, what is there to discuss?” Angie asked the rotund man, tilting her head.

“I have a question for everyone,” he said, looking around at everyone’s faces, “What do you all believe we need right now?”

Makoto answered the quickest, and he seemed to be waiting for his chance to say this, “A plan. One on how to escape, or else defeat Monokuma…?”

“While that is certainly not a bad idea,” Sonia said kindly to the luckster, “I do not believe we have the information, nor the resources to enact a plan like that right now, though in the future I’m sure it is something we will be considering.” Makoto nodded at her, clearly happy with her reason to shoot down his idea.

“How about a bond?” Nagito said.

“PFFFT!” was the sound that came from Miu and Kurokuma, trying to hold back laughter. Miu was the one to voice what they found funny, “Dude, that’s the cringiest shit I’ve ever heard!”

Nagito turned to her, his smile still on his pale face, “I apologize, maybe it’s not my place to talk, but I have to disagree. I believe we need a bond so we can form hope! Prevent a killing, prevent anyone wavering! Only then, can we overcome any despair!” he was starting to sound manic by the end of it. Miu was sufficiently shut down at that, her only response was to whisper “Psycho…” in Junko’s ear.

Byakuya looked impressed, “Not a bad thought from a commoner such as yourself,” he said, “You’re close, but not quite there. I do agree that forming a bond with one another is vital in this situation, but a simple bond is fragile. It can be broken by a singular action. No, I have another idea in mind.”

“And that is?” Chihiro prodded politely.

Byakuya adjusted his stance, backed up a bit, and pointed towards all of us, “What we need right now is a disciplined leadership, provided by an unmistakable leader!” he said resolutely.

“I see…,” I heard Nekomaru grumble from the other table, “Even sports teams need captains, after all…”

“Who did you have in mind?” Peko asked the heir, despite likely already knowing what he would answer. Junko knew she did.

Byakuya crossed his arms, and smiled smugly. “Rejoice. I shall accept the position.”

“Come again?” Miu inquired incredulously.

Byakuya ignored her, “Now then, I’ll wrap up this intro-”

“The hell you will!” Miu interrupted, more forceful now as she stood up and slammed her hands down onto the table, “We already got Yogi bear and his two accomplices bossing us around!” she said heatedly, indicating towards Kurokuma, who’s smile broadened, and Shirokuma, who recoiled at the accusation, “Like hell I’m gonna let some unelected fatass tell me what to do!”

“So it’d be better if he were elected?” Sayaka asked. “Gotta say, I think I’d vote for him.”

“Yes,” Byakuya agreed, “Who else but I, heir to the Togami conglomerate, is fit to lead? I have managed innumerable people, fifteen highschool students are of no challenge to me.”

“I agree with Iruma,” Ryoma said from the other table. “I don’t wanna go against anyone, but I also don’t wanna be bossed around, especially when we’re on such a tight leash already.”

“How ‘bout we vote on it then?” Junko suggested to everyone, hoping to avoid a full-scale argument, “Vote on if we want a leader or not. Thoughts?”

Everyone seemed to agree to the idea.

Everyone voted in favour of having a leader, with three exceptions.

Miu and Ryoma both voted for no leader, while Shuichi abstained, though Junko didn’t think anyone noticed.

“It is decided then,” Byakuya says with finality, “I will be your leader!” he said impressively. “Now, I would like to ask everyone to at least make an appearance here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” Byakuya begins, “I would like everyone to at least show up momentarily and be seen by a few people, after that you do not need to stick around. If anyone decides to be tardy, it will be treated as an emergency, so do not do so.”

Sakura nodded. “A wise idea. Having scheduled roll calls makes it so we will be able to identify any foul play relatively quickly, minimizing people’s desire to take any… foolish actions, out of fear of being caught.”

“… Not half bad,” Junko heard Miu grumble begrudgingly. Both her and Ryoma seemed to find this reasonable.

Kirumi asks the large man, “Is there anything else you wish to discuss?”

Byakuya nodded, “Yes, one more thing,” he said, before indicating to the speakers in the corner of the dining hall.

“The speakers?” Makoto asked.

“Yes,” he said, “I believe this will be the primary way our kidnappers address all of us. There are numerous around the place. If one were to speak through them, it would be nigh impossible not to hear them.”

Hiro leaned back in his chair, “I mean, yeah, that’s cool and all, but is there anything else?”

Byakuya nodded again, “Yes. I took the liberty to inspect the speakers. I believe there is a camera embedded into the wall, in such a position that it is able to view the entire room.”

Angie leaned towards the corner of the room, despite the fact she could not be further away, “I can’t see a camera?”

“It is nigh indiscernible,” Byakuya explained, “Likely by design so no one could intentionally cover it up.”

“There is a rule forbidding that…,” Nagito mused aloud, “But I suppose minimizing the possibility that anyone could do it regardless has no backlash.”

Shuichi cleared his throat quietly before speaking, “I- I think that they’re probably everywhere, observing our every move…”

“Correct,” Byakuya agreed, “I saw at least two yesterday, one while inspecting the stage, and another embedded within a tree.”

Chihiro raised her hand slightly, and Byakuya indicated that she may speak. “I think that they might be able to hear us through it through some speakers, if Kurokuma talking to us yesterday was any indication.”

“Damn skippy, frills!” Kurokuma applauded Chihiro, “And well done to you too, fatass and dicktective!” he said, indicating Byakuya and Shuichi, “There are cameras everywhere, and we can communicate with you through the speakers!”

Shirokuma continued his brother’s shitty explanation, though he didn’t look at all happy doing it. “There… there are cameras everywhere so we can get every detail of any potential murders in order to be sure of who the killer is so that the game runs smoothly, and we can have a fair trial…”

“That’s…” Junko started, finding it difficult to find the words, “Oddly comforting. At least the game will be fair when we could all die, should it ever come to that…”

“That will never happen!” Byakuya shouted vehemently, “Under my esteemed leadership, I promise that no one will become a victim! I stake it on my family name!”

Junko looked upon their leader with awe. She had to admit, the guy was impressive.

“Kyahahah!” Kurokuma laughed, “Yeah, staking it on your family name on means a lot, eh Togami?”

The heir glared at the small bear. Junko could tell at that moment that Kurokuma knew something about Byakuya that everyone else did not, and that Byakuya was not happy with him knowing. She wasn’t the only one to pick up on this, as the more shrewd of the group looked in thought following the bear’s statement, Shuichi, Sakura, Peko, and Ryoma among them.

“That all?” Ryoma asked the heir, clearly looking bored.

Byakuya nodded, “Yes, that is all. You are free to go, though I expect everyone to make an appearance at midday.”

Shirokuma raised his hand, “Um… are we free to come back?”

Kirumi answered for him, “You are free to return if you wish,” she said to him, before indicating to his brother, “He is not,” she said bluntly.

Kurokuma’s grin broadened, “Eh~ I like a chick who plays hard to get,” he said, before departing the cafeteria without another word.

Kirumi sighed and returned to the kitchen, Shirokuma on her tail.

Now that everyone was free to go, Junko noticed a decent amount of people leave, namely Byakuya, Ryoma, Nekomaru, Peko, Angie, Chihiro, Sayaka, Makoto, Nagito, and Hiro all followed Kurokuma out of the dining hall. Left in the room was Junko herself, Miu, Sakura, and Shuichi. Sonia having gone into the kitchen with Kirumi and Shirokuma.

Miu stretched her limbs, “Well, whaddaya wanna do?” She clearly intended to stick with Junko for a bit.

“I wanna talk to those two,” the fashionista told her, indicating towards the table where Sakura and Shuichi sat alone.

“Sure,” Miu said dismissively before getting up and walking over to them, Junko following.

“Mind if we take a seat?” Junko asked the duo as Miu was already sitting. Thankfully, they both nodded, and Junko did the same. “You both doing okay?” she asked them both, though shes was mainly curious about Shuichi.

“Y- Yeah, I’m fine,” the detective replied, “Just not a morning person, i- is all…”

“Join the club,” Miu grumbled.

Sakura turned to address Junko. “Shuichi and I have decided to do some exercises each morning from now onward,” Sakura informed us, “As I can attest to the fact that it helps start the day off right.” Shuichi nodded. “You are both welcome to join us if you wish.”

Junko could feel her eyes widen slightly in perplexion. She didn’t take Shuichi as the type to agree to this, and as if reading her mind, the detective explained himself. “I- I agreed to do this because, um… I’m not exactly in the best shape, and in this situation…” he said hesitantly, “Being in a shape to defend myself is important…”

Junko smiled at the boy, “Not a bad idea, honestly…” she said, in thought, “I might just join ya in that. Miu?” The inventor blew a raspberry while sticking her thumb down. “Well, that’s that.”

Kirumi and Shirokuma walked out with more food, and Junko and Miu both excused themselves from the dining hall, not wanting to interrupt their breakfast. At least, that’s what they said. Truth was, they were both just bored.

“Where should we go?” Miu asked once we were outside again.

Junko thought for a moment. She wanted a place to chillax. “How ‘bout the grove?”

“The whatsit?”

“The grove,” Junko explained to her, “Place where we woke up. Pretty peaceful place to chill.”

They began their walk over there, making small talk. On the way, they spotted Ryoma walking away from Nekomaru on the softball field. He looked to be heading towards his cabin.

“Guy’s fighting a losing fuckin’ battle,” Miu said in response to the sight, “Short stuff’s isolating himself regardless of what shitface does.”

“Hm,” Junko nodded in agreement as they got into the wooded area nearby the grove. Coming closer, she noticed that someone was already there.

Hiro was chilling on the same log he woke up on, just staring at the sky. He sounded like he was humming tunelessly, completely at his ease despite the severity of the situation.

“Hey bud,” Junko greeted as she walked up to the man, “How you doin’?”

Hiro started and turned around to look at the newcomers. “You scared me, Junko…” he said, exhaling, “Yeah, I’m not bad, I guess…” he trailed off, looking back towards the sky.

“Well,” Miu said, interrupting whatever reverie he was in, “We’re bored as fuck, so you needa entertain us!” she pointed at him, as she sat down on a log, Junko following suit.

“Uhh…” Hiro looked unsure if or not to be angry, but decided to remain amicable, “Eh, screw it, I’ve got some time to kill, and…” he sists up, adopting a business-like posture, “I’ve got a… proposition for you,” he said, referring to Junko.

“Oh yeah?” she said, suspiciously, “What’s this about?”

Hiro gave Junko a sleazy smile, “Since we investigated this place together, and since we’re such good friends, I’m willing to give you a psychic reading- and at a large discount!”

“Discount?” Miu inquired, despite the fact that she’s not a part of this conversation, “How much we talkin’?”

“My normal fee is a thousand dollars,” Hiro said, soldiering on despite Miu’s gaping sound, “But for a good friend like you? Seven-fifty it is!”

“Bruh,” was Miu’s intelligent response, “You can fuck right off with that crap!” she said, rolling the ‘r’ of ‘right.’

Junko simply nodded.

“Whaaaaaaat!?” Hiro responded dramatically, unironically fucking shocked.

“Jabroni,” Junko said to the clairvoyant, “I’m not going to just burn seven-fifty on a thirty-percent bet.”

Hiro groaned for a moment, before perking up again, “Alright then! I’ll give you a little taste,” he said importantly, before looking Junko dead in the eyes. “Junko. In the coming days, you’re gonna drink something bad.”

There was a moment of silence, broken by a cackle coming from Miu, “How fucking vague can you get!?”

“Uh, yeah dude,” Junko agreed, “Can you like, elaborate?”

“Nup. Pay up,” the dipshit replied.

Junko groaned inwardly, deciding not to hurt his feelings, “I’ll consider it…”

“Good!” Hiro clapped, “For the time being, I’m gonna go hash things out more with Sonia!” he said as he stood up and waved, “See ya!” and he headed towards the dining hall.

“So he’s going to scam her?” Miu asked Junko, to which she nodded.

The two girls chilled out at the grove for a little longer, laughing jovially at Hiro all the while, before they heard a noise coming from nearby.

Getting up, they saw that Makoto had set down a folding chair outside of what Junko could only assume to be his cabin, this one looking to be the third one.

“The fuck are you doing?” Miu asked as they walked up towards him.

Makoto looked up, wiping his forehead clear of sweat, “Oh, hey. Sayaka and I decided to get some lawn chairs and place them outside my cabin. More camp-y if you get what I’m saying?” he ended uncertainly.

“Oh yeah, I’ve done something like that before,” Junko mumbled to the luckster, “The chilly air, having a cold drink, a nice conversation… it brings back some good memories…”

Miu plopped down into a chair ungracefully, “You said this was idol-bitches idea? Where she at?”

“‘Idol-bitch’ is right here,” Sayaka said as she was walking over, holding a fourth chair, “And I’d prefer a better nickname, if you don’t mind,” she said indignantly.

Miu opened her mouth to retort, but Junko swiftly told her to shut up as she took the remaining seat, Sayaka sitting in the one she was carrying.

“Hey Big Mac?” Junko addressed Makoto after waving at Sayaka, “You’re probably the most normal person here, right?” He nodded, Sayaka giving a small giggle at the awkwardness of his movements, “How’s life outside of this place?”

“What do you mean?” Makoto asked, tilting his head.

She tried to explain herself better. “Like, everyone here is different from what’s usual in one way or another- even Nagito has some weird shit in his past, you’re easily the most normal person here, so I wanna know what just being… a normal person is like I guess…” Junko trailed off.

“Oh!” Makoto said, perking up now he understood better, “Yeah, sure, but there’s not too much to tell.”

“Try us,” Miu said, bored.

“Well…,” Makoto mumbled, unsure where to start, “I live with my parents, and I have a little sister… I go to school every day, and I like to spend time with my friends…” he stopped talking for a few moments, “Uh… that’s it.”

Miu cackled at his mundane life story, “Wow, you were right, there was fuck all to tell!”

Makoto blushed and shrugged his shoulders, but didn’t respond.

“Aaaaaalrighty then,” Junko decided to change the subject somewhat, and gestured towards Sayaka. “The two of you said that you knew each other, right? How’d someone like you become friends with an idol?”

“Well, we weren’t exactly close,” Makoto started, “But we went to the same middle school. Heck, I was shocked that she remembered me, especially considering we never talked…”

“Don’t say that,” Sayaka chided gently, “Sure, we never did actually talk, but… I was always looking for an opportunity to talk to you…”

“Wh- What?” Makoto reeled back in shock. Things were getting interesting. “You wanted to talk to me?”

Sayaka nodded sheepishly, “Yeah, but I always had so many people around me… and we ended up graduating without exchanging a word… it’s one of my biggest regrets.”

“Entourage?” Junko asked knowingly, to which the idol nodded.

“B- but…” Makoto stammered, “Why me?”

“Do you remember our first year of junior high? The big bird that walked into the campus pond?” Sayaka asked him.

“Oh, the crane?” Makoto replied as fast as lightning, as if this were scripted.

“Yeah! You walked it into the forest behind the school. It was very kind of you…”

“What, so any time a dude does something half-decent, you start obsessing over him?” Miu said obnoxiously, “Damn, guys must loooooove you.”

Aaaaaand there goes the moment.

“Uncalled for, jerkass,” Junko scolded her.

She shuddered and moaned, and the other three all sat there awkwardly for a while.

Small talk soon emerged again, and Miu decided to fuck off because she was getting bored. No one stopped her.

“Well, I might as well run along too,” Junko stood up and smiled at the duo, “You kids have fun, okay?” she says with a wink and a knowing smirk.

Makoto blushed profusely, and Sayaka gave Junko a mischievous smile. “Oh, we will,” she says, making the luckster’s blush even more pronounced.

Laughing to herself, Junko departed the scene alone.

Now she thinks of it, this was the first time she’d walked around the campgrounds alone. It’d be pretty peaceful if it weren’t for the whole murder thing.

She wound up at the softball field, where Nekomaru was running laps. Spotting Junko, the coach shouted her name and made a beeline for her.

“JUNKO! CARE TO JOIN ME!?” he shouted with a smile.

Junko internally wished that she had brought some earplugs.

“Whatcha doin’?” she asked the large man inquisitively, despite knowing the answer.

Nekomaru waved a large hand, gesturing around the court, “Doing some laps! Wanna join in!?”

Junko took a moment to think. Not seeing a way out of the situation without considerable bargaining, she gave her hesitant answer. “Hm… Eh, sure, why not?”

“EXCELLENT!” Nekomaru shouted.

“Juuuust don’t go too fast, okay?” Junko asked him quickly, preparing to do some quick stretches before they get running.

“Of course!” Nekomaru replies, “And I see you already know to stretch your limbs before going! Nicely done!” he claps her on the back, nearly making her topple over.

Junko thanked him, and did some more stretches. After about a minute, in which Nekomaru joined her, they started going.

Their pace was a light jog, which Junko appreciated, as she was not in the mood to go sprinting at the speed that he was going before.

“So… Nekomaru?” Junko spoke up tentatively as they were running around the field.

Nekomaru looked down at her, not breaking a sweat, “Yeah?”

“Why’d you decide to become a team manager?” Junko asked him, out of pure curiosity.

“Hm?” he grunted, “Ah, you want to continue the conversation we had when we first met?” he said, and seeing Junko’s mildly confused expression, elaborated, “About my medical condition.”

Oh! “Nah, that’s not what I meant,” Junko told him, though she was interested in the topic, “No, I meant like as opposed to… literally anything else.”

Nekomaru made a sound of understanding, “Oh!” he says jovially, “Yeah, I have no problem divulging that!” He followed his sentence off with a laugh.

They had made their first lap. Out of the corner of her eye, Junko noticed Chihiro and Angie walking into the lodge. They must be going to play some games.

Her attention snapped back to Nekomaru, who had finished laughing and was starting his explanation, “Well, a big part of it was just a desire to help people,” he said, his voice unnaturally quiet- for his usual anyway, it was still louder than Junko’s own normal voice.

“Yeah?” Junko said inquisitively, “But there are heaps of other things you could do to help people, so how’d you arrive at team management?”

He looked down towards Junko as they jogged, “I didn’t decide on team management initially,” he corrected, “No, I was drawn to the idea of management at the start. I decided on sports later.”

“Okay, how’d you arrive at management?” Junko amended her previous question.

Nekomaru smiled, “There is no big story really,” he said, before looking at Junko again, “Think about this, you have a manager don’t you!?”

“I mean, yeah?” Junko said confusedly, “Where’re you going with this?”

Second lap. Fuck, they were going pretty fast at this point. It was starting to wear Junko out.

“Well!” Nekomaru shouted, “Would you have gotten to where you are now without them!?”

She thought over it for a second. “Well no, of course not. Without her, I wouldn’t be anywhere near as famous as I am-”

“AND THERE IT IIIIIIS!” Nekomaru shouted at the top of his lungs, stopping now that they had completed their third lap, “WITHOUT MANAGERS, OR PEOPLE LIKE THEM, NO ONE CAN GET ANYWHERE IN MANY INDUSTRIES!”

Fucking- “Dude, I get it, stop yelling!”

“Gyahaha!” the team manager laughed heartily, before lowering himself to the ground, “Fine, I promise I won’t yell for the rest of the day if you can do more push-ups than I can!”

“What!?” Junko yelled at him, “That’s obviously unfaiiiiir!” she whined.

Nekomaru chuckled again, “Never know until you try!” he chided, before getting into position, “Whoever can do more within a minute wins. You game?”

Junko debated saying no and fucking off, but she thought about the valuable service that she’d be doing for her own and everyone else’s ears. She groaned before answering him. “Fuck it, why not?”

“EXCELLEEEEEENT!!” he shouts, as if reminding her why she’s doing this. Junko quickly gets into position. “Ready!?”

“Yeah, sure. Ready!” Junko tells him, with some resolve.

“On three…” the coach says, “One…! Two…! THREE!!!”

 And off they went. Down, and up, down, and up.

Her arms started hurting like hell after about five, but she kept going. This was for all of their sakes, after all.

Junko looked over at Nekomaru and- holy fuck. The man was like a blur to her goddamn eyes. He’s insane!

“AAAAAND TIME!” Nekomaru shouted, “How many’d you get!?”

“Twenty…,” Junko said, still puffed the fuck out, “You…?”

Nekomaru smiled down at the fashionista, a triumphant grin on his face. “A HUNDREEED!”

“Motherfucker, all I got out of that was sore arms!” Junko told the man desperately, massaging a shoulder with one of her hands.

“Gyahahaha!” Nekomaru laughed, “Eh, you’ll walk it off!”

She started moving her arms around in order to alleviate the pain, “Yeah, but I might wanna workout with Sakura and Shuichi later though, what if I’m not better by then?”

Nekomaru raised an eyebrow, and his general jovialness slowed, “Huh?” he asked simply, “What’s this about a workout?”

“Oh yeah, Sakura and Shuichi are planning on doing something later,” Junko told him, before pointing to the dining hall, “Last I checked, they were still in the dining hall if you wanna work out the details-”

“THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME JUNKOOOOO!” Nekomaru interrupts, shouting as he runs towards the dining hall… Fuck it, he’s their problem now.

“Later, dude…” Junko said after him, despite knowing that he wouldn’t hear her, “Fuck, what do I do now…?”

Junko remembered that she had spotted Chihiro and Angie heading into the lodge. Deciding that she’s got nothing better to do, she headed there to maybe play some games with the two of them.

The walk there was quick, considering that Junko and Nekomaru stopped at the pitch closest to the cabins. She opened the front entrance and called out, “Yoohoo~ Anyone home?”

Junko heard a dramatic gasp from nearby, and Angie came running out at blazing speeds, “Junko! Junko!” she calls out, grabbing her arm and dragging her, “Come and see what Chihiro and I found backstage!”

“Fucking- okay,” Junko said, somewhat confused and caught off guard at this enthusiasm.

Backstage Junko saw numerous props and outfits lined up on shelves, likely for any potential performances anyone wanted to do. Pretty mundane shit, right? Nope, since in one of the corners, Junko saw Chihiro looking down an open trapdoor. “Junko!” she said as Angie and the fashionista approached her, “Junko, we found something!” She looked elated with herself, though Junko could see some apprehension in her facial expression.

“What the hell is this…?” Junko mumbled curiously, peering down the hole herself. It was pitch black down there, and because of that, she couldn’t see a thing.

“Yes, yes!” Angie said in a delighted voice, “Atua guided Chihiro to find this trapdoor! But neither of us are brave enough to go down and explore!” she said, before looking directly at me, and gasping again, “This must be why Atua sent you! To be fearless, and delve into the dark unknown for the greater good!”

“What?” Junko asked surprised, “Nah, fuck off with that!” she told the artist, before seeing a glimpse of sadness in Chihiro’s expression. Junko couldn’t tell if it was from her refusal to look down the trapdoor, or her vulgar choice of words, but regardless, it made her think a little more. “Alright look, the sports storage might have some flashlights,” Junko looked back at Angie again, “I’ll go down the trapdoor, if you go and look for a flashlight. Deal?”

Angie considered this arrangement for a moment, before offering out her hand, “Deal!” she said, as her and Junko shook on it. “Now, you two have fun while I go and look, ‘kay?” Angie said to the other two girls, and without waiting for a response, she disappeared out of backstage. A second later, the sound of the entrance door closing reverberated throughout the lodge.

“Well that was… something,” Chihiro observed with an exasperated smile, “Sorry you got dragged into this…,” she said earnestly.

Junko gave her a dismissive gesture, “Nah, it’s cool, I had nothing better going on anyway. Wanna go play some foosball?” she asks Chihiro, a note of challenge in her voice.

Chihiro looked at me, a little nervously, “Um… I don’t know how good I’d be…”

“What, you think a fashionista would be any better?” Junko replied simply.

Chihiro smiled at Junko, “Alright then… you’re on!” she said, trying, and almost succeeding in adding a challenging tone to her voice.

Junko zipped over to the foosball table, Chihiro hot on her heels. They took their positions, and prepared to place the ball on the table.

“You ready?” Junko asked her, a confident grin on her face.

“Ready,” she said, a glint of competitiveness in her eyes now.

“Aaaaand… GO!” Junko placed the ball on the field and spun around her little guys. Sbe scored the first goal.

Chihiro got the second.

Junko got the third and fourth.

Chihiro got the fifth.

“Wait…” Chihiro spoke up suddenly, “When do we stop?”

Junko tilted her head and thought for a moment, and Chihiro took that moment to score again. Junko playfully glared at her, “Oh you did not just do that…”

“First to five?” Chihiro responded with a slight smirk.

They each scored another goal, and the winner was decided by the next.

The game was close, but in the end… “YES!” Junko shouted after the ball finally went into Chihiro’s goal, “Fuck yeah!”

Chihiro smiled despite her loss, “Congratulations,” she said happily.

Junko noticed that her smile seemed sorta forced, “Hey, chin up! You played a good game! Nearly beat me, in fact.”

“I’m not a sporty person, I stood no chance,” Chihiro said to me, “I like to stick to my computers.”

Junko held back the comment that she, too, was rather shite at sports, along with the fact that foosball barely even counted as one, and instead decided to start a better conversation, “How’d you even get into computers ‘n’ junk?”

Chihiro looked up, her smile seeming somewhat realer now, “Well… I got into it thanks to my dad.”

Taking a seat now, Junko gestured Chihiro to join her, and the programmer obliged, “What, he work in IT or something?”

Chihiro giggled, putting a small hand to her mouth “Do you even know what IT means?”

No, of course I don’t. “Yes, of course I do.”

Chihiro raised an eyebrow sceptically, “Yeah?” she challenged.

Junko, despite knowing this was not going to go her way, was too stubborn to back down, “Yeah,” she said with far too much confidence.

“Go on then,” she prodded.

Fuckfuckfuck, ahhhh… “In… formation technology?” Junko said with all the confidence she could muster.

The programmer looked at her for a moment with narrowed eyes, “Lucky guess…,” she muttered, mildly impressed.

“Holy shit, did I get it!?” Junko stood up and shouted before she could stop herself. Quickly realising her mistake, she cleared her throat and sat down, “Hm, I mean, there was no guessing involved, my dear Cheerio.”

The small girl tried to stifle a laugh, “Sure, sure,” she said dismissively with a smile, “Now, my dad’s a-”

The lodge door burst open, “I’m baaaaaaack~” Angie shouted before spotting the dup and making a beeline towards them, “And I got the flashlight!”

Well Angie’s timing couldn’t be more shitty.

“Yeah?” Junko asked before standing up again, “Welp, let’s investigate!”

Angie noticed the used foosball table, “Whaaaaat? Did you guys play a game without me?” she said, putting her hands to her cheeks in a faux shocked fashion, “That is so mean!”

Chihiro clasped her hands together over her chest, “Sorry Angie, but we had to pass the time while you were gone…” she said earnestly, clearly sorry.

Angie smiled at her and gave her a hug, “Nevermind that, I forgive you, and Junko’s right!” she wheeled around on her, “Let us investigate!” she said before shooting off backstage, dragging Chihiro behind her. Junko sighed and followed.

By the time Junko caught up, they were both looking down the trapdoor. Angie tossed her a flashlight, and all three of them turned them on together.

“What the fuck…?” Junko expected the ground to be dirty concrete like most basements, or even not to be able to see the ground at all because it was so far down. She did not expect to see luxurious red fucking carpet.

“I wonder what that is?” Angie mused aloud, clearly unperturbed by this plot twist.

Chihiro was not so good at hiding her surprise, “Why is there carpet?”

“I don’t know…” Junko responded, “Maybe-” and it clicked, “Oh for fuck sake.” Junko jumped down without another thought. The drop was short, and she was just barely short enough to be able to stand without crouching.

Ignoring Chihiro’s squeak in protest, and Angie’s egging on, Junko shined her light around the room, and pulled on a string that seemed to be attached to a miniature fucking chandelier.

Once the light came on, she threw my flashlight to the ground, “Come in you two, I doubt this place is dangerous…” Junko said exasperatedly now that she saw the room that she was standing in.

The room could only be described as ‘swanky.’ The carpet was red and luxurious, and the walls were striped black and white, similar to that of Monokuma. There was a fake fireplace, and two comfy-looking armchairs, one black, and one white. In the corner of the room was a bunk bed, the top one being black, and the bottom one white.

Chihiro and Angie joined Junko in looking around, “What…” Chihiro muttered, gears turning in hear head.

“It looks like someone lives here,” Angie observed, putting the tip of her paintbrush to her mouth, “But I wonder who…” she trailed of mysteriously.

Junko looked at her with a smirk, “Isn’t it obvious? It’s-”

“Kuro and Shiro,” Chihiro said, “The black and white could only be them and Monokuma, and since there’re two beds…”

Junko nodded, “They seem like the two who’d stick together, Monokuma’s probably tucked away somewhere we’ll never find,” she finished Chihiro’s thought.

Chihiro nodded. They watched silently as Angie tried to squeeze into Shirokuma’s chair, “It would be comfy if it was not so small.”

Ignoring that, Junko turned back to Chihiro, “You gave ‘em nicknames, huh?” she inquired.

“Y- Yeah…” Chihiro said, slightly nervous, “I mean… saying Kurokuma and Shirokuma seems kinda repetitive and clunky… so I got rid of the suffix, and…”

Junko simply smiled at her, “Nah, it’s fine. I’d have probably done the same after a while, honestly.” Chihiro smiled and nodded.

“Ah!” Angie shouted, and Junko had to believe that it was because she was pissy at being ignored. She pointed at the clock on the wall, “Look! It is nearly twelve!” she said, squirming to get out of the tiny-ass chair she was stuck in.

“Oh yeah, we probably shouldn’t keep Byakuya waiting, huh?” Chihiro asked the room at large.

Junko shook her head, “Probably not, no,” she agreed, “Let’s get going to the dining hall,” Junko gestured to the ladder, before hesitating, “I kinda wanna steal the chandelier. It looks fake and removable…”

“Nyahahaha!” Angie laughed heartily, “We can come back for it later. Who knows, if they decide to replace it, maybe we can all get one!”

“Fuck yeah, I like your style,” Junko gives Angie an enthusiastic high-five.

As they walked through the lodge to get outside, only one thought was on Junko’s mind…

‘Why the fuck do the robots get the nice-ass carpet? They can’t even feel it!’

(Descriptions provided by Kurokuma)

Chapter Text

There are only three people in the main part of the cafeteria when Junko, Angie, and Chihiro arrive.

Nekomaru is one of them, talking the ears of the other two occupants off. Sakura has an amused smile at the manager’s antics, whereas Shuichi just has a feeble grin on his face, clearly uncomfortable but still sorta enjoying himself.

Junko debates for a moment if or not she wanted to put herself in the firing line, because she has a sneaking suspicion that this may sorta, kinda, be entirely her fault.

“Yo,” Junko addresses the girls, “I’m going to sort that out,” she points at the large man’s back.

Chihiro playfully narrowed her eyes, “What’d you do?”

Junko put her hands up in defence, “Nothing, nothing at all!” she said earnestly.

“Except for that one thing that you did?” Angie asks with that large smile of hers.

Junko sighed, “You don’t even have to know what I did to know that I did something, do you?”

The girls both laughed and walked over to the large table. As Junko was walking to one of the small tables where the trio were sat, she heard some commotion from the kitchen. Forcibly restraining herself, she walked past the kitchen door and told herself that she’d check it out after she’d dealt with this.

“Junko!” Nekomaru shouts once he sees her, “You said that these two were planning on working out later!”

The Ultimate Fashionista looked at Sakura and Shuichi in confusion, “Yeah? And?”

Sakura sighed, “We said that we were planning on exercising tomorrow morning,” she said, emphasizing the time they had said earlier, “One of the two of you seems to have gotten that confused,” she referred to Junko and Nekomaru.

Processing what they had said for a few seconds, Junko swiftly realized the confusion. “Oh shit!” She turned to the loud man, “Sorry man, musta misremembered.”

Nekomaru gave a small groan, “And here I was all excited…” he said, before giving a hearty guffaw and clapping Junko on the back, “You’ll have to make up for it by showing up to the training tomorrow!”

Seeing that she now had no choice, “Sure, I was planning on going anyway,” Junko agreed. “Reckon anyone else besides the four of us would wanna go?”

Clearing his throat, Shuchi answered, “It- um, it was our plan to ask if anyone else wanted to join during lunch…” he said, trailing off and refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

Sakura smiled at the detective, seeming pleased that he was joining in on the conversation.

Junko heard some glass shatter from the kitchen, “Fuck’s going on in there?”

“Sonia is assisting with the cooking,” Sakura said, trying to hide her grin.

“Oh, I gotta see this,” Junko said, excusing herself from the workout trio and dashing into the kitchen.

“I- I’m sorry!” Shirokuma said while trying to pick the broken mug up off the floor. He looked like he was covered in scrambled eggs.

“N- No!” Sonia shouted at him, “You have no need to apologize! I am the one who is at fault!” she bent down to pick up a frying pan that Junko could only assume wasn’t empty about ten seconds ago.

“Perhaps using the stove was not a smart idea, Princess,” Kirumi said, handing Shirokuma a dustpan and brush so he didn’t cut himself, as if that really mattered when he was a stuffed animal, “Would you like to try carrying out the dishes when the time comes?”

Seeing as Junko would prefer her food to come in one piece, she butted in before Sonia could answer, “What’s going on in here?” she asked casually.

Sonia jumped, dropping the frying pan on Shirokuma’s head, who subsequently dropped the dustpan, releasing all the glass back onto the ground. “I am so sorry!” Sonia shouted at the bear, now on the verge of tears.

The other kitchen door burst open. “What the hell is going on?” Byakuya asked urgently, before seeing Sonia about to have a mental breakdown, the mess that was Shirokuma, and Junko about to die of repressed laughter. Kirumi just looked stunned, as if she couldn’t quite believe that allowing someone to help with cooking could cause such mayhem.

Quick on the uptake, Byakuya kicks Sonia out of the kitchen and asks Kirumi to help clean both Shirokuma and the floor, telling Junko to watch over the food until she’s done. Everyone obliged.

Upon seeing the sobbing mess that was Sonia walking out of the kitchen door, Ryoma and Kurokuma pop their heads in to investigate. “Someone die!?” Kurokuma asks excitedly.

Byakuya actually punts him out of the room, before turning to Ryoma, “Please keep him occupied,” he asked the tennis pro exasperatedly, “Unless you’d prefer we all went hungry?”

“I’ve been doin’ that for the past hour,” Ryoma grumbled, but otherwise didn’t reject his assignment, “I’ll grab us a table,” I heard him tell the black bear.

Kurokuma scrambled to his feet and gasped, “I knew you’d come around!” he said happily, seemingly forgetting about having just been literally kicked out of a room.

“I’m sorry…” Shirokuma said again.

“Shut up,” Byakuya shot back at him, “This wasn’t your fault, you’ve no need to apologize,” he said, turning to Kirumi, “The princess is not allowed in here under any circumstances.”

Kirumi nodded, “That is probably for the best,” she said sadly.

“You should probably go and make sure no one kills each other,” Junko said to the heir, only half joking, “I get the impression that Ryoma can and will tear Kurokuma limb from limb if he pisses him off too much.”

Byakuya sighed and nodded, “While that isn’t expressly against the rules…,” Byakuya looked down at Shirokuma, “I get the impression that Monokuma wouldn’t be happy if we killed one of his accomplices.” He exited the room.

Kirumi finishes cleaning off Shirokuma, “Very well Junko, you may leave if you wish,” she said, resuming tending to whatever it was on the stove.

Junko certainly could leave, but… Kirumi’s probably blaming herself for all of that, so she should probably help distract her a little bit. Junko’s sure Kirumi can focus on food and herself at the same time, she’s the Ultimate Maid for a reason, right?

Instead of leaving, Junko leaned against the bench behind Kirumi, who noticed that the fashionista hadn’t left.

“How can I help you, Junko?” she asks politely, not taking her eyes off of what seemed to be non-Shirokuma’d scrambled eggs.

Junko tilted her head at the maid, a futile action considering Kirumi wasn’t looking at her, “What do you mean how can you help me?”

Kirumi turned to look at Junko now, performing a small bow, “I will perform any action you request of me,” she informed, her voice flat and dull, “I can only presume that you not leaving means that you want something from me?” She tilted her head, maintaining a completely blank expression.

Junko wasn’t completely sure how to answer her. She’s had people say that they’re willing to do anything for her before, but never with this serious of an expression. She honestly felt that if she were to tell her to slit her throat with a nearby knife, she’d do it without hesitation.

Tilting her head, Junko thought her words over carefully to try and get her point across, “No, I just wanna hang out with you, y’know?” Junko tried her best not to sound commanding.

Kirumi bowed, “If it is your request, I would be happy to spend time with you forever.”

“No, no,” Junko said bluntly, “No, I just want to talk to you.”

Kirumi bowed again, “If it is your request-”

“Have you ever just spent time with friends at school during your breaks?” Junko cut her off, trying to bring the conversation to a less professional area.

Kirumi looked bemused at the question, but recovered pretty quickly, “Of course I have spent time with my peers at school,” she said slowly, “We enjoyed leisurely conversations as we ate our lunches together.”

“That, I wanna do that,” Junko said bluntly, straightening her posture, “On that note, after you’ve finished cooking, do you wanna come and eat with us? I noticed you didn’t at breakfast, and I’d like you to enjoy yourself.”

Kirumi smiled, having seemingly finally understood what was being asked of her. “Of course I will,” she said kindly to which Junko beamed, but then she continued, “It is my classmate’s request after all.”

Junko inhaled frustratedly through her teeth, “No, that’s not on,” she told Kirumi, who proceeded to tilt her head in confusion, “No, it’s not a request, it’s an invitation, and it’s your choice,” Junko said, putting emphasis on the nature of what she was asking, “I don’t want you there if you’re just doing it out of obligation.” She leaned back on the bench after finishing her explanation.

Kirumi looked like she had never received such an invitation, “I… um…” If Junko didn’t know any better, she’d say that she was short-circuiting.

“Um… Miss Kirumi?” Shirokuma interjected, tugging lightly on Kirumi’s long skirt, which startled Junko since she had forgotten that he was here, “I think that everyone would like you to join them while they ate, even if it’s just an occasional thing…” he trailed off nervously, staring at the floor in embarrassment.

Kirumi smiled down at the white bear, an almost motherly expression on her face, before looking up again, “Would Shirokuma be allowed to join us?”

Shirokuma’s head snapped up at her, before looking over at me hopefully. Junko smiled at him, “Of course he can,” she said, giving him a pat on the head, “If we’re allowing Kuro to sit with us, I certainly don’t see a reason why you can’t.”

Shirokuma beamed, before asking, “Is Kuro bro? Does… does that mean I’m Shiro?”

“‘Course it does,” Junko smiled at him, and the bear smiled back.

Kirumi cleared her throat, “Very well. Once we have finished cooking, we will join everyone while eating,” she said with a small smile.

“Awesome!” Junko nodded to the cooking duo, before adding, “You guys finish up in here, and I’m gonna go make sure that Kuro hasn’t annoyed Ryoma too much,” they nodded, and Junko left the kitchen with a wave.

“Hey, watch it!” A voice said from below her as Junko left the kitchen. Looking down, she saw the back of Kurokuma as he was heading to the exit of the dining hall.

Wondering how Ryoma had gotten him to leave him be, Junko turned the corner and sought him out, and, sure enough, Ryoma was sat alone at a table, an expression of relief on his face.

Junko walked over and took a seat opposite him, his expression hardly changing as he noticed her.

“And how in the hell did you manage to shake him off?” Junko asked him, assuming he knew what she was talking about.

She had assumed right, “He went to grab one of my hats,” he said, pointing to the hat he wore on his head with an exasperated expression. At Junko’s confused face, he added, “He’s been bugging me about becoming some sorta duo, and I told him to grab a hat to get him off my back for a few minutes.”

Junko giggled, “What’s your plan when he comes back?” she asked excitedly.

Ryoma looked thoughtful for a second, before shrugging, “Burn that bridge when I get there.”

She giggled a bit louder, and saw Ryoma crack a smile- an odd sight to behold, but a welcome one for sure.

“So, tell me about yourself,” Junko said simply. Ryoma seems like the sort to want to get straight to the point, so that’s the way she’s gonna handle this.

Ryoma sighs audibly, his eyebrows slightly knitting together, “You wanna know about my murder spree, huh?”

Junko put her hands up in defence, “Woah there bud. I’ll admit I’m interested, but no. I just wanna get to know you a bit better.”

Ryoma raised an eyebrow, “Really? Why?” he said sceptically.

Junko shrugged, “I mean, we’re prolly gonna be stuck here for a while,” she said nonchalantly, “Might as well get to know each other better.”

The tennis player thought over her words for a moment, before shrugging, “Yeah, fair enough,” he said coolly, “My bad for being so presumptuous, it wasn’t cool of me.”

Junko waved her hand dismissively, “No worries man,” she said, before straightening her posture slightly, “Let’s just start with something simple, liiike… how’d you get into tennis?”

Ryoma thought something over for a few moments, but seemed to come to a conclusion. He shrugged again and spoke, “Well, it has to do with my old club from school…” he said conversationally, “I’ve never been the talkative type, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.” Junko nodded, earning the slightest of smiles from him. “Yeah, well the captain of the club sought me out one day and invited me to play. I didn’t see a reason to refuse, and I enjoyed playing tennis recreationally when I was younger. And, well…”

“Got addicted?” Junko asked with a smirk.

He smirked right back, “That’d be the best way to put it, yeah,” Ryoma said with a reminiscent edge to his voice, “But I was more obsessed with breaking the captain’s zone.”

Junko stared at him for a moment. “Yeah, gonna need to elaborate there.”

“Oh yeah,” he said dumbly, “It’s a skill where you can stay in a single spot and continually return the ball.”

The fashionista tilted her head in confusion, “Couldn’t you, like, just hit the ball away from him?”

Ryoma chuckled, “You’ve got no idea just how much I tried to do that. To angle the racket properly, to angle the ball properly… nothin’ worked.” Ryoma was properly smiling now, “He developed countermoves that only he could’ve pulled off. Always had a stupid grin, he did. Never could tell what was goin’ on inside his head…”

Junko smiled at his expression, “Sounds to me like you looked up to the guy.”

Ryoma didn’t say anything in response.

Junko pushed the conversation along, “Would you go and visit them once you get outta here?”

Ryoma chuckled dryly, “After what I did? They probably hate me.”

Junko furrowed her eyebrows, “Have you got anyone outside of here? Anyone at all?”

“Nope,” Ryoma replies.

“No one?” Junko asks again.

“Nuh uh,” He responds.

“Like, absolutely nobody?” Junko presses.

“… A cat.”

Junko pauses for a second. “A… cat?”

Ryoma looks down at the table, “‘s what I said, isn’t it?”

Junko regains her composure quickly, “Well there you have it!” she says brightly, “Who’s got the cat now?”

“I left him with an acquaintance of mine who runs an animal shelter,” he says, “But I doubt the cat’d remember me at this point.”

Junko frowns at him, “Nuh uh,” she says simply, and he looks up slowly, “Animals are smarter than we give ‘em credit for, and I suspect you know that.”

Ryoma doesn’t say anything for a while, but just as she thinks the conversation is completely over, “Okay then. Wanna bet on it?”

“Huh? Bet on what?”

“If we both get outta here,” Ryoma elaborates, “Then we’ll go back to that shelter and see if my cat remembers me. Before I go back to prison, I mean.”

Junko was not expecting this outcome, but was very happy with it nonetheless, “Alright then, what’s on the table?”

“Bragging rights,” Ryoma says simply, with a shadow of a smirk.

Junko gives him a big grin, “Now you’re speaking my language!” She put out her hand and he takes it. They shake on it, sealing the deal.

They devolve into idle chatter for only a moment, before Peko takes the seat next to Junko, nodding at them both, but speaking to Ryoma, “I’m glad to see you being more sociable. I believe it does us well to form bonds here,” she said, her tone relatively light, but with a slightly serious edge to it.

Ryoma chuckles, “Hm. It’d be uncool to turn away someone who just wants to have a legit conversation.”

Junko raises a finger, “But Nekomaru-”

Ryoma cuts her off, “Have you met Nidai?” he asks plainly, “You need to buy yourself a new set of eardrums after every conversation.”

“I hear that…,” Junko mumbles, recalling how she spent time with him earlier in the day.

The door to the dining hall opens, and a large group of people show up, consisting of Miu, Hiro, Makoto, Nagito, Sayaka, and a thoroughly disgruntled Kurokuma.

Junko politely excuses herself from the duo to go to the big table with everyone else, and they both give her a nod in response. Thanking them kindly, she heads on over. She notices that all six who just showed up were already seated and eating- including Kirumi, Shirokuma waddling in and out of the kitchen delivering food. Also already at the table is Byakuya, Angie, Chihiro, and Sonia.

She takes her seat. “Yo.”

Getting an influx of, yo’s and hey’s back, she turns to address Kurokuma. “Weren’t you trying to get buddy-buddy with Ryoma?”

“Bah!” Kurokuma said aloud, “Who needs him? Told me to go grab a hat from his room, and forgets to give me the key!” Kurokuma said incredulously, “It was my brilliant idea in the first place! The least he could do is come up with something to partner with my greatness-”

“Oh yes!” Angie spoke up, cutting off the rambling bear, “We discovered your little hidey-hole in the lodge!”

“LE GASP!” Kurokuma exclaimed at the top of his voice, clapping his paws to his cheeks in an overly dramatic fashion.

While there were some chuckles at the bear’s reaction, Hiro and Miu specifically, there were people who were actually interested in what was just said. “What do you mean, ‘hidey-hole?’” Byakuya asked Angie importantly.

Chihiro jumped in to answer in her stead, probably knowing that Angie would get sidetracked, “When we were investigating the lodge, Junko, Angie, and I discovered a trapdoor, which we investigated, and it turned out to be Kuro and Shiro’s room.”

Hiro raised his hand dumbly, “Uhh, was it dark down in the trapdoor?”

“Yesyesyes, very dark, very dark~” Angie replied.

Makoto spluttered during the sip he was taking. Sayaka pat him on the back, “You’re not telling us you just dived into a dark trapdoor in- in this situation!?” he exclaimed worriedly.

Sayaka smiled kindly at the lucky student, “No, no, I doubt any of them are that stupid,” she looked between the three of them nervously, “R-right?”

“Angie went and raided the sports storage for flashlights, we’re good,” Junko told them, reliving the stress off of Big Mac.

“Excuse me,” Sonia piped up, “But how do you know this room belongs to Kurokuma and Shirokuma?” she asked plainly.

“I imagine that the colour scheme was what helped the girls make the connection,” Nagito said, before turning towards me and asking, “Right?”

Junko nodded, “Yeah, the black and white, but that’s-”

“Though,” Nagito interrupted again, squinting at the ceiling as he leaned back in his chair, “That room could always just be Monokuma’s…”

Miu rolled her eyes, “Dude, didn’t you hear deputy dipshit’s reaction to his pad being found?” she pointed to Kurokuma, who, having relaxed his expression to follow the conversation, decided to look all shocked again. He wasn’t helping his case.

“He could be lying,” Byakuya said, “Nagito is right to ask questions.”

“Pfft,” Hiro laughed, referring to Kurokuma, “You think this idiot can lie?”

“HA! Talk about a pot and a fuckin’ kettle!” Miu laughed loudly at her own joke, earning a chuckle from Kurokuma who forgot he was supposed to be shocked.

Byakuya shook his head, “Regardless of that,” he said, turning to address the three of them again, “Was there anything conclusive that proved it’s not Monokuma’s?”

Chihiro answered quickest, “There were bunkbeds… I don’t really see why Monokuma would need them...”

Sayaka chuckled, “I get the impression that top bunk would go to ‘big bro?’”

Kurokuma wheeled around on her, “Damn skippy! No lil’ bro gets the top- hey wait a second!” he said, pointing accusingly at random people, “How’d you even find it!?”

“Well it wasn’t exactly hidden, big bro,” said Shirokuma, who had evidently finished delivering food to everyone else.

“I was SO sure the power of swag would keep it hidden…” Kurokuma mused aloud.

Conversation lulled after that, everyone enjoyed their food while Kuro and Shiro bickered back and forth. At one point Byakuya told them to shut it, which didn’t work.

After a while, someone went and got everyone’s attention. “Excuse me, everyone?” Sakura stood up, clearly having finished her food.

“What is up?” Sonia asked happily.

Sakura cleared her throat, “Tomorrow morning, Shuichi and I intend to begin exercising at about 6AM,” she said, gesturing to the detective, who stared at his food because of the attention, “Anyone else is welcome and encouraged to join us,” she finished, sitting down again.

“HELL YEAH!” Nekomaru shouted, taking a huge swig of whatever the fuck he was drinking. Looked like some sorta juice.

Junko noticed Peko talking in hushed tones to Ryoma in the corner. Likely interested and asking his opinion.

“Hey,” Hiro leaned in to ask, “You interested in that?”

“Yeah,” Junko said back, “It’d help to keep fit in a situation like this.”

Hiro pondered her words, “But like…, if everyone’s fit, isn’t it like no one’s fit?”

Before Junko had a chance to marvel at Hiro’s philosophical genius, Kurokuma piped up loudly, “I’d grace you all with my presence, but I’ve got a verily important job in the mornings…” he paused for dramatic effect, relishing in the fact that everyone’s attention was on him now.

Miu chucked some food at him, “Get on with it!”

Kurokuma ate the food. Junko don’t know why a robot as that function, but he definitely did. “The morning announcement!” he finished dramatically, raising his paws in the air.

Nagito raised his eyebrows, “What do you mean by that?”

Kurokuma explained, “Listen up, chumps! Every morning at 7, I have to make an announcement over the loudspeakers to wake your lazy asses up! The boss says it’s so if anyone does kick the bucket, there are people awake to find their corpse! Oh, I also do one at 10 at night, to tell you all go get to sleep.”

Makoto tried to put a positive spin on the proclamation, “Well that’s… good?” he said hesitantly, but wilted at the exasperated look on Sayaka’s face.

“No, it is good,” Byakuya agreed, Makoto looked rejuvenated, “This gives everyone an alarm to wake up and show up for breakfast, and to turn in for the night. It will help keep structure and go a long way in ensuring that no one succumbs to the temptation of murder.”

“I didn’t hear any announcement this morning,” Hiro piped up, looking at Kurokuma.

“Nor was there one last night,” Peko concurred.

Kurokuma didn’t say anything for a while. Hell, he didn’t move a muscle. Without warning, he jumped off the table, and ran out the dining hall door at breakneck speeds.

“What the fuck is he doing!?” Miu exclaimed, having just barely caught her drink that Kurokuma nearly knocked over in his haste.

Angie stood up and pointed to the back window, “Look! There he is!” she said, and lo and behold, Kurokuma was making a mad dash to somewhere.

“Fuck is he going?” Junko asked the room at large, and she got the answer almost immediately.

“Oh, he’s going to the office,” Sayaka said, slightly confused until…

Bing, Bong, Bing, Bong

The same sound everyone heard yesterday emanated from the speakers, followed by the same voice, “Good mornin’ kiddos!” Kurokuma shouted gleefully.

“Is he really doin’ this?” Junko heard Ryoma muse exasperatedly to no one in particular, and she could tell everyone else had the same thought on the mind.

“Sure am!” Kurokuma responded happily, “A happy belated radio show morning everyone, because I definitely didn’t forget to announce this earlier!” Kurokuma played a fake laugh track through the speakers.

Chihiro looked genuinely confused, “How was that even supposed to be funny?” she asked Angie, who giggled and said she found it kinda funny.

“Maybe it is funny because it is so not funny?” Sonia said, tilting her head to the side.

“Y-Yeah! That!” the black bear responded,

“…You done?” Junko asks the speaker, bored.

“…Yeah. Kurokuma, signing out!” There’s a click, and silence.

There’s a few moments of silence as everyone processes the nonsense that just unfolded, broken by someone standing up.

“‘m done eating. See ya later,” Ryoma says to the room at large, getting off his chair and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Not yet,” Byakuya tells him between mouthfuls, “Don’t go yet.”

Ryoma looks over at the large man with an annoyed expression, “Why not?” he asks, not bothering to hide his irritable tone.

Byakuya looks over at him in return, “Because I have something to discuss with everyone when we’re finished eating,” he tells the tennis pro, “It shouldn’t take too long. Please be seated.”

Ryoma grumbled something under his breath, but did as he was told.

Nagito smiles at the exchange, and looks over at Byakuya, “What is it-”

“Finish eating,” Byakuya cuts him off with a stern expression, “I’ll explain then.”

Looking around, Junko could see that everyone’s at least mildly interested in what Byakuya has to say. The more impatient or fidgety people, Miu, Hiro, Angie, and Junko herself, scarfed down the rest of their food. Thankfully, Junko’s focus was on her food, and not Kurokuma’s return, so she missed that fun conversation between him and Shirokuma.

Once Nagito places down his knife and fork after taking his sweet ass time, much to the annoyance of Miu, Byakuya stood up. “Very well. Everyone, please follow me,” and everyone stood up to do so.

“Where are we going?” Sonia asks interestedly.

Byakuya, now heading to the door, did not turn back when he answered, “Just outside.”

Sayaka asked, “What’s just outside the dining hall?”

Makoto answered, “Just the stage I think…”

“Maybe Byakuya found something at the stage!” Angie pitched in with a smile, “It is where Monokuma disappeared behind last night, right?”

“Actually, that’s true…” Chihiro mused aloud, “We should have a look there later regardless…”

Now that we were outside, Byakuya made a sharp left turn, directing us towards-

“Oh, the fog?” Junko asked the heir, who nodded in response.

Hiro barked out a laugh, “I’m kinda surprised none of you brought this up yet!”

Junko gave the clairvoyant the side eye, “Why didn’t you?”

“…I forgot.” Brilliant.

“Who has stepped into the fog?” Byakuya asks out of nowhere.

Caught off guard, it took Junko a sec to raise her hand, “Oh, uh, me.”

Nekomaru barked out a “Yeah!” Junko forgot that Hiro mentioned he had also gone into it.

“Nekomaru, Junko,” Kirumi addressed the two of them, “Can you please describe the effects of the fog for those of us who don’t know what it does?”

“Not something I really wanna remember, but I’ll try…” Junko mumbled, noticing everyone looking at her, “W-well… the first thing I remember is my eyes burning. Like, burning.”

“Yeah,” Nekomaru nodded, a slight grimace on his face, “Made my throat burn like hell as well,” he looked down at his feet, mildly embarrassed, “This, uh, might just be a me thing, but I started coughing like hell as well. I could taste a bit of blood.”

“Should- should we have checked-” Shuichi started to say with concern, but Nekomaru cut him off.

“No,” he said, strangely quietly, “Trust me. It’s nothing that you’ll be able to fix.”

Junko tilted her head at that last bit, “No, I hacked up my lungs as well, but I didn’t taste blood.” She had an idea what he was talking about, but didn’t press the subject. Nekomaru just nodded again in response.

Sakura raised her head, “Was describing the effects of the fog what you brought us all here for?” she asked Byakuya, who shook his head.

He cleared his throat, “No, it’s not all I brought you here for,” he said, gesturing towards the fog in spite of what he had just said, “No, I have been wracking my brain about this, but I cannot understand it.”

Peko adjusts her glasses, “Do you not understand how it has this effect on us?”

Byakuya shook his head, “I’ve not even had time to think about that…!” he said, looking increasingly frustrated, “No, I don’t understand just how the fog stays precisely where it is, without so much as a- a-,” he searches for a word for a second, “A whiff of it getting into this area! It makes no sense…!”

“Now you mention it…” Ryoma thinks out loud, “That is true. None of it comes over here.”

“And that’s precisely what I’m confused about!” Byakuya shouts, startling everyone, before composing himself. This had clearly been bugging him for the better part of the day at least, “Miu, have you got any ideas?”

“Hah?” Miu looks up at the affluent progeny, not having been paying too much attention, “About the fog staying where it is?”

“Of course, what else?” Byakuya scoffs.

“Don’t take that tone with me, bitchy bitch,” Miu shoots back, “Why’re you asking me anyways?”

Byakuya, brushing off the insult like a pro, responds calmly, “You’re the Ultimate Inventor, are you not?” he asks, “In other words, a scientist. I’d like to hear your opinion.”

Miu shrugged, “Thought about it myself but couldn’t think of anything,” she said, much to Byakuya’s annoyance, “Best I could come up with is invisible walls.”

Byakuya looked borderline irate at her attitude, but he bit his tongue. Hiro, meanwhile, picked up a nearby stone and pegged it into the fog. It went through without stopping, creating a small hole that was swiftly filled with more fog, “Can confirm, no invisible walls!” he said, looking mighty proud of himself for his scientific breakthrough.

“Dude, if there were any sort of walls, Nekomaru and I wouldn’t have been able to walk into the fog,” Junko reminded him. He deflated like a balloon.

Miu poked her in the back, “Hey, he’s a moron, I agree with that,” she said, and Hiro looked hurt, “But in my defence,” she thumbed her chest, “I hadn’t seen you or shitface stumble into the fucken thing, and I wasn’t stupid enough to try myself!”

“Yes,” Sonia said, having overheard the conversation since Miu was about as subtle as an atomic bomb, “But I am unsure if invisible walls even exist…”

“Nyahahaha!” Angie laughed, “With the power of Atua, anything is possible,” she lowered her voice to a stage whisper, “Even invisible walls!”

“…You guys are aware that glass exists, right?” Chihiro asks her friends, a small amount of concern in her voice. Angie and Sonia laughed happily.

“Yes, yes, well that’s all well and good,” Byakuya snaps at the off-topic conversation, “But that still doesn’t explain how the hell the fog is doing that!”

In a move that could only infuriate Byakuya further, Kurokuma is the one who responded, tipping his hat at the heir, “Anything’s possible, my dude.”

Miu whirled around at him, “Uh, no the fuck it isn’t?” Kurokuma just laughed, showing his gold teeth. Shirokuma sighed, but said nothing to stop his brother.

Byakuya pinches the bridge of his nose, looking about ready to punt Kurokuma again, which would be hilarious, but he calmed himself and, with a strained voice said, “Dismissed,” through his teeth.

“Finally,” Ryoma grumbled, heading in the direction of the cabins, Miu doing the same.

Junko decided to join them. She was about ready for a nap. If she had cared enough, she’d have forced Byakuya to do the same. Unfortunately, she does not, so she didn’t. Because that’s how it works.

She arrived at her cabin, crawled into bed, and closed her eyes. It was nap time, and nothing was gonna stop her…

…

..

.

“…Gyahaha!”

The sound of laughter stopped her.

Junko groaned at sat up. Someone was laughing not too far from her cabin. Judging by the voice, she could only assume it was Nekomaru. Sounded like he was having a hearty guffaw.

Leaning over to check the clock on her bedside table, Junko realized that she didn’t fucking have one, so she whipped out her Monophone. According to it, it’s two in the afternoon. Since lunch finished at about one or so, she’s been out for an hour. Only an hour.

Promising herself that she’ll murder Nekomaru and whoever else woke her up, Junko sprung to her feet and marched out the cabin door. Now she was outside, she heard a few more voices, Angie’s and Hiro’s the most prominent.

Two new two targets in mind, Junko walked through the trees that were directly in front of her cabin, and to the sound of the laughter.

“Nicely done, princess!” Hiro shouted, “It’s four a piece now!”

“Yes!” Sonia’s voice responded, “We will, um… dominate them!”

Junko stepped through the trees and near the basketball court, and marvelled at the sight in front of her. On the other side of the court stood Nekomaru, who had his whistle in hand and a mighty grin on his face, clearly acting as the referee for whatever was happening here.

Hiro and Sonia stood to the left, the latter looking incredibly fired up, and the former looking like he was having fun in spite of himself.

“Nyahaha! You may have tied the score, but you have not won yet! Do not celebrate too early!” Their opponents, on the right, were Angie and Nagito. Angie looked like she was having mounds of fun, and Nagito looked happy just to be standing there.

“You tell ‘em,” Nagito told the artist, who had the ball in her hands, and she nodded.

Deciding to step in before playing resumed, Junko addressed Nekomaru. “What’s goin’ on?”

“JUNKO!” he shouted, breaking her ears. Her own fault for not coving ‘em in his presence. “Welcome to the game!”

Miu’s head poke out from behind Nekomaru, “These dipshits also wake you up?” she asked, looking tired, but grinning ear to ear despite that. She was sitting in the stands, clearly watching the game.

Junko nodded in the affirmative. “I am so sorry for waking you!” Sonia said, “But we were having too much fun! Right Hiro?”

The clairvoyant nodded much too vigorously, “Yeah, sure am!” he said, though he looked directly into Junko’s eyes, and she could see that he was dragged into this against his will.

“Would you like to watch the game, Junko?” Angie asked, bouncing the ball with her hand, keeping an eye on it so she doesn’t drop it.

“Fuck it, I’m up now. Sure,” Junko said, waltzing across the court and plopping down next to Miu. As Nekomaru blew the whistle to signify play, she looked over at the inventor, “You look like you’re having fun.”

She grins, “Bitch, you should have seen some of the shots Nagito took!” she said, pointing at the lucky student, “He bounced it off of Angie’s, Sonia’s and Hiro’s head to get it in the hoop!”

Junko’s head whipped over to Nagito, who looked to be playing defence. Angie was up front dribbling the ball in Hiro’s and Sonia’s half. She shoots… and misses.

“What’s the score?” Junko asks, as Sonia scoops up the ball and starts dribbling.

“Four all! It’s first to five, so next point gets it!” Nekomaru answers, grinning broadly.

The fashionista tilts her head, “I coulda sworn that the scoring system is a bit more complicated than ‘get it in the hoop,’ right?”

Nekomaru nods, “Yep! But none of them have ever really even played before, so we’re keeping it simple!” he says, pointing at Hiro, who looked panicked at Sonia passing the ball to him.

Miu leans into Junko, “Hiro’s fallen on his ass three times now!” she says with glee, “It’s great!”

“I heard that!” the clairvoyant shouts at us, making a wild shot at the hoop, which…

FWEEET!

Nekomaru blew the whistle. The ball had bounced off Nagito’s head now, landing in his own hoop.

“Hiro!” Sonia shouted, “You did it!”

“Whahuh?” Hiro said, whirling around on the spot to stare at the ball. “Hell yeah!” he shouted, giving his teammate a high-five in celebration.

Angie did a fake little pout, still grinning broadly, “Aw no, Nagito, we lost!”

“Yep,” the luckster said simply, “Guess after that shot I made earlier, my luck was bound to run out, huh?”

Nekomaru laughed again, before turning and looking at the peanut gallery, “You two wanna play the winners?”

Miu scoffed, “Hell-”

“Absolutely!” Junko shouted, getting to her feet.

“What!?” Miu screeched at me, “Fuck that noise!”

Hiro, who just a second ago had looked scared at the prospect of playing again, grinned widely, “Hah! You’re too scared to face us!”

“Yes!” Sonia shouted, “She knows that we are simply just better than her!”

Miu shot up, staring daggers at Hiro specifically, “Woah woah woah,” she said, marching down to the shuddering clairvoyant, “I am not scared to face you, you fuckin’ bum!”

As Hiro shot back at the insult, Angie turned to Nagito excitedly, “This will be fun! Atua is telling me to watch the match!”

Nagito’s grin became scarily wide, “I wouldn’t miss a match between Ultimates for the world!” he said, and he and his teammate took seats behind referee Nekomaru, who blew his whistle and told us to get in position.

Hiro and Sonia stayed on their side, while Junko and Miu took Angie’s and Nagito’s. “Wait,” Junko held out her hands, “Who starts with the ball?”

Nekomaru thought for a moment, “I’ll give it to the newbies!” he turns to the champs, “You two got any problems with that!?”

While he hadn’t meant to sound threatening, Hiro’s frequent run ins with loan sharks probably conditioned him to when a big scary man asks you a question while yelling, you answer the way they want. “No sir!” Hiro saluted.

“Yes!” Sonia shouted in agreement, “We do not need to start with the ball, we will destroy them all the same!”

Nekomaru nodded and threw the ball to Junko. She caught it and gave it a bounce. It’d been a while since she’d touched a basketball… last time was when she once played in P.E. class, though this time she won’t have Mukuro on her team…

“Woot, woot!” Angie shouted from the stands, “Go Junko!”

Miu put her hands on her hips, “And what about me, huh!?”

Nagito cupped his mouth with his hands, “You can do it, Miu!” he shouted, his grin widening.

Miu cackled her cackle, “Damn straight, Nagicuck!”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Junko grumbled at her nickname choices.

“Shut up!” Miu snapped back.

And without further ado…

“Ready!?” Nekomaru shouted, “Set…!”

FWEEET!

“Game on!”

Junko starts dribbling the ball towards the other side of the court, Miu following to her left.

Sonia comes up to her, blocking her way.

Junko throws the ball to Miu, but it’s intercepted by Hiro, the tall bastard.

“Damn!” Miu shouted, trying to claw the ball back from him, but he’s already running down the court.

Hiro gets near the pole; he jumps and throws the ball to the hoop. It hits the backboard… and lands in it.

The whistle blows.

“That’s how it’s done!” Hiro shouted, giving Sonia a hard high-five when she signals for one.

They walk back down to their side of the court, throwing the ball to Miu. Junko leaned in to talk to her, “Look,” Junko said, “Hiro’s fast as fuck.”

“You’re tellin’ me…” she says, having just ran the length of the court cursing his descendants as she chased him. “What’s the fucking plan?”

“Keep it away from Speedy Gonzales at all costs, yeah?”

“Right on!”

“Ready!?” Nekomaru shouts, before blowing the whistle again.

Miu starts with the ball this time, and like last time, Sonia runs to block her off.

She’s looking for a pass, but Hiro’s right in front of Junko, his arms out to block the ball. Junko ran back and to the side, getting out from behind him before he notices a thing. Miu, seeing this, threw her the ball.

Junko caught it, and ran directly in front of the hoop with the ball. She steels herself for a moment, before throwing the ball, and…

The whistle blows. Angie and Nagito cheer. The ball hit the backboard, and fell into the hoop.

“Damn it all to hell!” Sonia curses, startling everyone on the court. “S-sorry…,” she says sheepishly, “I can get very competitive…”

Miu runs up and gives Junko a high-five, “Fuck yeah!”

Hiro walks over and whispers something to Sonia. He might have figured us out- he’s dumb, but he has his moments of minor intellect, so I’m a bit worried he knows that we’re keeping the ball from him.

They return to the middle, where Hiro has the ball to start.

The whistle blows, and the game resumes.

Hiro runs up to Miu, who’s directly in front of him. She stands her ground, and blocks him off.

Junko’s following Sonia, who’s running directly behind the inventor, ready to receive Hiro’s pass.

Hiro throws the ball over Miu’s head, and she ducks to avoid it, despite how it was nowhere near her. She trips, and falls on her ass.

This distracts Junko from Sonia, who didn’t see the tumble. She receives the pass since Junko’s not blocking her, turns on a dime, and throws the ball in the hoop.

Nekomaru blows his whistle, as Angie boos.

As Hiro went to celebrate with his teammate, Junko went to help Miu up, “You alright?” Junko asked, knowing she will be since she fell from a ducking position.

Junko reached out her hand to help her, “Yeah,” she says, swinging her hand to take the fashionista’s, but slightly missing.

“Fuck!” Junko hissed. Miu missed grabbing her hand, and her nails scratched a long cut along her palm, “Son of a bitch, when’s the last time you cut those things!?”

Miu scrambled to her feet, “Shit- I dunno! Fuck, I’m sorry!”

“What happened?” Nekomaru asked, having come over once he realized something was up. Blood was trickling down her hand now.

“Cat Claws here scratched the fuck outta me is what!” Junko shouted despite herself. Nekomaru maintained his composure and looked over the hand.

Sonia and Hiro came over to see what was happening, “That does not look good…” Sonia mumbled.

Hiro nodded, “How’d that even happen?” he asked shakily.

“Because,” Miu said, pointing at Hiro, “You knocked me over!”

Hiro recoiled, “What!? I didn’t knock you over!”

“Yes you did!” Miu shouted back.

Sonia put her arm between them, “Both of you, stop!” she commanded, “Hiro threw the ball over your head, and you fell down,” she told Miu, “But how it happened does not matter, what is important right now is that Junko is hurt.”

“Hm,” Nekomaru nodded to himself, “The cut’s not too deep, thankfully,” he said, looking up at Junko, “But it is bleeding a fair bit. I’d go get it wrapped up at the health centre, there should be some bandages there.”

“Aww, but the game!” Angie whined from the stands.

Junko stood up and looked at her, “You or Nagito can replace me!” she shouted, not really because she was mad, but because she was annoyed at Angie’s indifference. She turned back to Nekomaru, “Can I wrap this up on my own?”

Nekomaru nodded, “You should be able to, yeah. Sure you want to though? I don’t mind going,” he sounded concerned.

Junko shook her head, “Nah, I don’t wanna ruin the game. I’ll be fine, you guys have fun.” Junko didn’t say this, but she was also a bit annoyed at everyone at the moment, so she didn’t really wanna talk to anyone.

“Alright, just make sure to wash the wound before you wrap it up,” Nekomaru conceded, signalling Nagito down to join Miu’s team.

“See ya Junko!” Hiro waved.

“Goodbye!” Sonia said, “Please make sure it does not get infected!”

“Really fucken sorry…” Miu mumbled.

Junko shook her off, “It’s fine, really,” she said, “Just make sure to beat Hiro’s ass for me, yeah?”

“Why is it always me!?” Hiro whined.

Miu laughed, and ruffled Nagito’s hair aggressively, “We’ve got this, don’t we Nagicuck!?”

“Yep,” Nagito says, totally unconcerned at his predicament, “You can count on us, Junko!”

Junko smiled at them, waved to everyone, and headed off to the health centre.

Chapter Text

“Shuichi?”

Upon entering the health centre, Junko noticed Shuichi holding a glass of… something that she can only assume to be medicine. Miraculously, when Junko said his name, he didn’t drop it.

“Ah! J-Junko…” the detective said shyly, placing the medicine back on a shelf… that now she thought about it, wasn’t there before… Shuichi spots her hand, “Wh-what happened!?”

“Sports injury,” Junko shrugged, waltzing over to the sink to clean the cuts, “Miu’s gotta cut her fucking nails,” she turned the tap on and ran her hand under the water. It’s cold, so she turned up the heat a bit. “Whatcha lookin’ at?”

Shuichi gives a shaky sigh, and looks hesitant to answer. Just as she’s thinking we may have another Nekomaru on our hands, he talks, “…Cyanide.”

“Fucking what!?” Junko shouted, startling the poor man as she whirled around on him, “Sorry, sorry,” she said, as he tugs his hat down over his eyes, “But isn’t cyanide like… poisonous or some shit!?” As she’s saying this, Junko tries and fails to keep her voice quiet.

Junko grabbed some bandages and wrapped it around her hand haphazardly. It’ll probably come loose later, but she could worry about that then, there were bigger issues at hand.

Shuichi doesn’t say anything, and instead gestures to the new shelf that he just put the cyanide on. Junko read some of the labels out loud, “Anthrax, Sarin, Tetrodotoxin, Cyanide, Mercury, Strychnine…” She trailed off, before turning to the detective, “Is this shit all poison?” she asked hesitantly, scared of the answer.

Shuichi shifts his weight from foot to foot uncomfortably, “…I’m afraid so…” he said quietly, before jumping into an explanation, “I-I only just noticed that it was here… I doubt either Shirokuma or K-Kurokuma has the authority to do something like this, so… I can only assume that M-Monokuma is behind this.”

“‘Course he fuckin’ is,” Junko said bitterly, “The stuffed fucker wants us to kill each other…” She looked over the shelf with distain, before a lightbulb went off in her head, “Heeeey…” she whispered to the detective, “What’s to stop us from just… destroying all this shit?”

The curtains surrounding a nearby bed whipped open, “RAAAWR!” shouts Monokuma, startling Shuichi and sending him falling flat on his ass without so much as a sound.

Admittedly, the bear scared Junko a decent bit as well, but she wasn’t about to give him any satisfaction, “How long have you been there!?” She shouted at him accusingly.

“Dude, like all day!” Monokuma shouts, equally angry as Junko was, “It took you guys a ridiculous amount of time to notice this shelf!”

Shuichi climbs back to his feet, “W-Were you just waiting for someone to notice it all day?”

“Nope!” Monokuma says, suddenly as happy as a clam, “Nope, I’ve been waiting for someone to mention destroying the poisons!” he says, gesturing to Junko with his paw.

She rolls her eyes, “And what were you gonna do if no one said anything?”

“Stay here forever!” the two-toned asshole exclaimed happily, “But you set me free of that curse!” he said, looking directly at Junko, who proceeded to give him the middle finger.

Shuichi cleared his throat feebly, “Um… why were you waiting for someone to mention destroying the, uh, poisons?”

Monokuma, who had extended his middle claw at Junko in retaliation, retracted it and turns to look at the capped detective, “To tell any delinquents,” he shoots the fashionista the side eye, but she had yet to retract her finger, so the joke’s on him, “That there’s no point in destroying the poisons because I’ll just restock them the next day!”

Junko raised her eyebrows, and she thinks Shuichi does too, “H-How much stock do you have?” the man asks.

“Don’t worry about it,” the bear responds with a wink… somehow.

Junko does her best shit-eating grin, “Well then, I’ll just destroy the poisons every day,” she said gloatingly, “You’re bound to run out of stock sometime!”

Monokuma looked stun locked… guess he didn’t consider this!

“Well…” the bear trailed off, “You make a good argument,” he concedes, “However, I respond,” ‘PING!’ “With that!”

Junko swiftly pulled out the origin of the pinging sound, her Monophone. There was a notification on the front that says ‘Rule Change! Upupupu…’ Junko tapped on it, and it shockingly took her to the rules section. She scrolled to the bottom of the section, and…

17. Intentionally breaking anything found within the health centre is strictly forbitten.

“…The fuck is this!?” Junko shouted, waving her phone in the bear’s face, “You had this planned out from the start!?”

Monokuma just laughs in her face, but Shuichi’s head snaps up from his Monophone, “Monokuma, when do you replenish the poisons?”

Monokuma ceases laughing, and both he and Junko look inquisitively at the detective, “What,” the bear starts, “You wanna know what time?”

“No,” Shuichi says, before grabbing something off of the shelf, “I’m asking what constitutes you replenishing the poisons. I just took this…” he reads the label, “Thallium off of the shelf. Is this enough for you to restock?”

Monokuma stares at the boy for a moment, “Upupupu… Nope!” he exclaims, “The poison needs to be used for me to restock it. Don’t want any hoarders!”

“Define ‘used,’” Shuichi shoots back.

“X,” Monokuma responds.

Shuichi, losing the confidence he had just gained, just responds with “…What?”

“X!” Monokuma repeats, as if that helps. “I’m not just gonna tell you everything! What, you planning something?”

“Of course he’s not,” Junko told the bear, looking back at Shuichi, who’s staring coldly at Monokuma, “Now get lost.”

Monokuma laughs at them again, and backflips out of the health centre. Yeah, Junko chose not to address that.

Shuichi replaces the Thallium on the shelf, and looks meticulously over everything there with a worried look on his face.

“So…” Junko started, her tone conversational despite her recent fury, “What’s the plan with the poison?” she asked, trying not to sound too concerned.

Shuichi closes his eyes, and takes a long, shaky breath in, “I intend to tell Byakuya of this later,” he says, “From there… it’s up to him if he wants to tell everyone else.”

Junko tilted her head in confusion, “Wait, why wouldn’t Byakuya wanna tell everyone of this?”

“Because,” Shuichi explains, “Telling people will put them on guard, of course… but it also tells everyone that the poison is here… actually,” he says, having just realized something, “The rule addition is bound to alert people to the fac this is here itself, so keeping it quiet isn’t an option anymore…”

“That sucks,” Junko mumbled out loud. She was starting to get sick of all of this negativity. She wanted to take her mind off of it somehow…

“Hey Shuichi,” Junko asked, snapping him out of his stupor, “What do you do as a detective most of the time?”

“Uh- Huh!?” the detective looks startled, “Wh- what’s brought this on!?”

Junko sighed. “All this Killing Game talk is necessary, sure,” she said, “But it’s a real downer. So, I’m deciding to get you to open up a little bit." The fashionista was confused by the unreadable expression on the detective’s face.

He decides to give a strained chuckle, “I- I don’t suppose there’s a way to persuade you from doing that, is there?”

Junko shook her head, “Nuh uh, so get talkin’,” she said with a smile.

Shuichi smiles in spite of himself, “Alright, alright…” he said, resigning himself to his fate, “W-Well… I work for my uncle’s detective agency, and I n-normally take infidelity or petty theft cases…”

Junko gestured for him to continue, but he just shrugs with a nervous smile. “Is uh… that it?” Shuichi nods, “Wow,” Junko whistled, “I gotta admit, I sorta expected you to like smoke a pipe and wear one of them detective hats and read novels and shit.”

Shuichi gives a slight chuckle, “W-Well I obviously do wear a hat,” he says, laughing slightly, “And I do quite like reading mystery novels, but I’m not quite old enough to be smoking a pipe…”

“Have you ever dealt with anything high-profile before?” Junko asked plainly, “Like, I dunno, an assault or abuse charge, or a murder or somethin’?” she ends optimistically.

Shuichi tugs his cap over his eyes, “I-I’ve…” he took a breath in, “I’ve only dealt with one murder before. It had a very significant impact on my life…” he trails off.

Junko stared at him. “Well!?” she half shouted.

Shuichi flinches, but continues, “It’s the case that both got me recognized as an Ultimate Detective…” he trails off again, “…And was the catalyst for my decision to wear this cap…”

“Oh yeah?” Junko asked, her curiosity peaked. “What happened?”

“It… it’s rather a sore subject. One I don’t want to talk about right now,” he says, as he stood up straighter and adopted a look of resolve, “I- I’d like to go and speak to Byakuya about this rule addition.” And without waiting for Junko’s input, marched feebly to the door of the health centre.

Junko followed him, “Alright, I won’t bring it up again,” she said, and he gives her a small jerk of the head that she could only assume is a nod, “But I do wanna go and see Byakuya with you, if that’s cool?”

Shuichi just nods affirmative, which is good enough for Junko to follow him.

She expected them to cut through the softball court to get to Byakuya’s cabin, but Shuichi instead makes a sharp right in order to follow the path down past the office.

“Hey,” Junko began, “Why aren’t we crossing the softball court? Wouldn’t it be quicker?”

Shuichi takes an intake of breath, “I-I’d rather avoid running into anyone,” he said, and left it at that.

They walk down the path in silence. Junko noticed Sakura pulling a Nekomaru and doing laps around the softball court. If she were anyone else, Junko would have assumed her to be the reason that Shuichi didn’t want to cross the pitch, but considering how Shuichi seems to be comfortable exclusively around Sakura, Junko guessed is that he didn’t know she was there. That, or he wanted to minimize distractions- that was pretty important after all.

Once they arrived at Byakuya’s door, Shuichi indicates for Junko to knock. Seems he was too nervous to do it himself. Junko wondered what the odds were that this is why he was okay with her joining him. With an unintentional roll of her eyes, that thankfully Shuichi didn’t see, Junko marched up and knocked. Within a few seconds, the large, round form of Byakuya Togami was standing before their eyes.

“Well,” he said, his tone relatively casual despite his crossed arms and stern expression, “Isn’t this an odd duo?”

“Byakuya,” Shuichi said before Junko could, “W-We have something important we’d like to discuss,” he reached for the brim of his hat out of habit, but didn’t pull it down, “Can we come in?”

The Ultimate Affluent Progeny tiled his head up to look down at them. “I have my suspicions as to what this is about,” he said tonelessly, “And if it is what I think it is, then yes, you are more than welcome to enter.” He stepped out of the doorway, and Junko entered, followed by a shuffling Shuichi.

The room looked very similar to Junko’s own cabin: two desks, two drawers, and the door to the bathroom. There also, however, seemed to be a refrigerator. Byakuya probably got that himself, or else asked Monokuma to get it for him.

Byakuya scanned the room for a moment, and, with a resounding sigh, sits down cross-legged at the foot of his bed.

“No chairs?” Junko asked, noting for the first time that these cabins, do not, in fact, have any chairs within them.

The heir shook his head, “Unfortunately not,” he waved an arm at the ground, “This will have to suffice. I’d remain standing, but I have the distinct feeling that this conversation may take some time.”

Junko shrugged and took a seat adjacent to Byakuya, sitting on her knees as to not flash him. Shuichi does the same, however also cross-legged.

Now that everyone was in place, Byakuya jumped into interrogation mode. “I presume,” he begins, “That this pertains to the new rule that Monokuma recently added? The one about breaking anything in the health centre?”

“Y-Yes,” Shuichi nods, “Not too long before the rule addition, I discovered a new shelf in the health centre stocked with nothing but a large variety of poisons,” he said, and without awaiting a response, continued. “J-Junko arrived not too long later, suggested breaking them, and Monokuma appeared, and, well,” he trailed off, looking at Junko, signalling her to explain her part in this.

She sighed, “Monokuma and I had a back and forth because he’s a prick,” Junko explained, “I suggested just breaking the poisons whenever he restocks them- because he said he would, and he added the rule to stop me. Like an asshole.”

Junko had expected Byakuya to look surprised, or even angry, but the large man just closed his eyes expressionlessly. He seemed to be thinking something over. Then his eyes reopened, “I must admit that I expected something like this would happen,” he said simply.

“Wait, really!?” Junko shouted, looking over to Shuichi, who didn’t look surprised in the least, “Why didn’t you say something like this might happen?”

“Because it wasn’t guaranteed,” Byakuya said, “And on the off chance that Monokuma or whomever is controlling him didn’t think of this, I elected to not bring it up. Not to mention the fact that it would inevitably cause mass panic.” Junko thought about Hiro and Miu, and couldn’t help but agree with the notion that this would cause panic.

Shuichi cleared his throat, “Have you come up with a way of combatting this?” he asked Byakuya, a tinge of hope in his otherwise level- if not slightly nervous voice.

To their surprise, Byakuya nodded. “Yes,” he said, now smiling, “It’s simple really. I will personally take inventory of the poisons thrice a day, once before breakfast, lunch, and dinner respectively. If I notice something missing, I will alert everyone at once, and I will ensure that no one eats anything that could have been tampered with until I have found the offender.”

“That’s…” Junko mumbled, stunned at Byakuya’s preparedness. “Fuck, I’m glad you’re our leader,” she said in amazement.

Byakuya gave her a curt not, “As you should be,” he said smiling smugly. After saying that, however, his face became stern, “However, I see a bigger issue here.”

“O-Oh?” Shuichi tilts his head, making his hat obscure his face more, “What’s that?”

Byakuya stood up, and without explaining his actions, shouted. “Monokuma!”

Monokuma slammed open the bathroom door, startling Junko and Shuichi. They both scrambled to their feet. “Yo,” said the bear, lazily waving a paw at us.

Junko pointed an accusing finger at the bear, “What the fuck is he doing here?”

Monokuma nodded profusely. “Yeah, yeah, what she said!” he asked, also pointing at himself, “Whaddaya want, fatass?”

“Monokuma,” Byakuya addresses the bear, sufficiently ignoring both Junko herself and the bear’s insult, “Do you think that it’s fair to spring a rule change onto everyone with absolutely no warning?” he asks, with a cold voice.

“Sounds like a you problem, bro,” Monokuma says dismissively.

Junko squinted at Byakuya, not having caught on to what he’s doing yet, but she knew that he was up to something, and knowing Byakuya, it was important. She decided to play along for the time being. “That’s not even an answer to that question!”

Junko noticed Shuichi’s eyes light up in realization, and she knew then that she was the dumbest person in the room. “If your participants believe that the game is unfair, we won’t have any incentive to play,” he tells Monokuma, “No one wants to play a game that’s rigged against them.”

The bear pauses as he tries to form a comeback to the detective’s words, but comes up short. He seems to have realized that Shuichi had a point. “Alright, alright, I see what you’re getting at,” he says, thoroughly annoying Junko, who was still trying to understand what Byakuya was doing, “What do you suggest I do about it?”

Despite the question being addressed to Shuichi, Byakuya answers, “I suggest adding a rule, citing that five minutes after half of the students know that a rule change, removal, or addition exists, it comes into effect.”

And it clicked in Junko’s mind. Byakuya was doing this to take a bit of power away from Monokuma. If things stay the way they are, Monokuma could just add a rule whenever someone is about to do something he doesn’t like, like exploit an oversight or something, like breaking the poisons. What this does is make it fairer to the participants by giving them time to act before they can’t anymore. Five minutes isn’t long, but it’s still enough time to get shit done. Shuichi realized this earlier than Junko did, and decided to use the premise of making the game fairer for the participants to give them more motivation to play.

All of this made Junko really realize that she was surrounded by geniuses. Even Monokuma got it before she did. He’s probably aware of exactly what they’re trying to do. It’s just a question of if or not he’ll go along with it.

Monokuma stares at Byakuya for a couple of moments, probably trying to think over what the best course of action would be. And then… he spoke. “…Fine,” he said begrudgingly, and with a wave of his paw, a ‘PING!’ sounded three times simultaneously.

Junko, Byakuya, and Shuichi all pulled out their Monophones. Junko flicked over to the rules section for the second time in an hour.

18. When a rule is added, removed, or changed, it does not go into effect until five minutes after half of the remaining students are aware of it.

“Anything else ya want?” Monokuma grumpily asked Byakuya, adding “Asshole…” under his breath.

Byakuya dons what could only be described as a smug grin. “No, I don’t. Please leave,” he told the bear, a tone to match his grin.

Monokuma crawled under Byakuya’s bed and out of sight without saying another word.

“What the fuck is he doing?” Junko asked plainly, briskly walking over to the side of Byakuya’s bed. She leaned down to look-

“STOP!” Junko stood back up to her full height, and looked over at the guys. Shuichi had reeled back after Byakuya’s shout, and the heir himself had a palm outstretched towards Junko. There were a few beads of sweat on his forehead.

“Dude, what the fuck?” Junko asked the large man, who was striding over to the opposite side of his bed. He leaned down to look under, and was back up as quickly as he had gone down.

“Monokuma is gone. I have no idea how he does that,” he said, clearly trying to avoid talking about his outburst.

Shuichi tugged his cap down over his eye, “What’s under your bed?” he asked, his one visible eye narrowed, and his voice firmer than Junko had ever heard it.

Byakuya noted the firmness of Shuichi’s voice too, Junko was sure of it. He looked mildly disturbed for a few moments before answering him. “There are… personal effects under there that I’d rather not have anyone lay eyes upon,” he said, and Junko could swear he looked embarrassed as he spoke, “However that is neither here nor there. Our discussion is over. Please leave,” he ordered plainly, ushering the duo out of the cabin.

“Byakuya, dude,” Junko started, but as soon as they were outside, he shut the door behind them without another word. “Rude. What do you think that was about?” Junko asked Shuichi.

“I’m…” he hesitated, “Not sure…” he said, a hand over his mouth and deep in thought.

Did Byakuya have something… weird underneath his bed? What could it have been? Hell, even having anything so strange seemed so… un-Byakuyish in the first place. What the hell could he have to hide here of all places? In Camp Kuma? Junko knew that he had secrets, everyone does, but something physical…

Shuichi tapped Junko on the shoulder, shaking her from her stupor, “What’s up?”

“I-I’m going back to my cabin,” Shuichi declared nervously, shooting Junko an apologetic look, “I’ll see you at dinner. I intend to announce that we found poison then, and I’d appreciate if you would corroborate what I say.”

Junko smiled at the guy. “‘Course man,” she said, patting him on the shoulder with her uninjured hand. “Now get some rest ‘till then dude, you look tired.”

Shuichi gave a thankful smile, nodded, and walked over to his own cabin. From the perspective on Byakuya’s doorstep, it was the only cabin to the right.

Junko stepped onto the path herself, wondering what she should do next. She’d had a mildly successful discussion with Byakuya and Shuichi, and they even managed to one-up Monokuma. She pulled out her Monophone again. There was still some time before dinner.

‘Well,’ she thought to herself, ‘Time to find something to do…’

“Yo, whatcha doin’?”

“Relaxing after my workout. Do you wish to join me?”

“…Yeah sure, why not?”

Junko recalled that she had seen Sakura running around the softball field earlier, so she decided to pay her a visit. When Junko got here, Sakura was just sitting down on the field with her eyes closed, seeming at ease. Junko was hesitant to bother her, but then decided: ‘fuck it.’

Junko sat across from the martial artist, realizing that this is the only time she’d seen Sakura without Shuichi. Sure, she’d only known both for less than two days, but still.

Sakura, her yes now open, peered over at Junko, assessing her appearance. Her gaze fixed itself upon her bandaged hand. “What happened there?” she asked, concern evident in her tone.

Junko shrugged. “Sports injury,” she said, repeating the same answer that she had given Shuichi earlier.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, “A sports injury?” she asked curiously, “What sport have you been playing?”

“I was playing basketball with some of the others earlier,” Junko said, before chuckling internally. “There were some insane shots from Nagito, Hiro being Hiro, and Miu scratched my hand with her claws.”

The martial artist gave a dry chuckle, “I certainly hope that Nekomaru was involved, he would be devastated if some of his athletes participated in a game of basketball without him… Though,” she considered for a moment, “He may also be happy that you all showed the initiative to do that without him…”

Junko thanked god internally that Nekomaru was there, because regardless of what he was feeling, there was a good chance that she’d never hear the end of it. “He was there,” Junko assured the woman sitting across from her, “So were Angie and Sonia. Had a merry time, we did,” she nodded wisely.

Sakura smiled, “I’m glad to hear it. It’s good to get physical activity.”

“Yeah?” Junko asked, “How often do you exercise?”

“Every morning,” Sakura answered, before adding, “At a minimum. I often do more if I have the time.”

Junko raised her eyebrows, “Damn, for real?” she asked, mildly impressed, “Never missed a day or anything?”

Sakura smiled, “Of course I have missed days when my schedule completely didn’t allow me the time, however I always feel restless all day when I do so, and find myself having difficulty sleeping,” she said, and Junko noticed that she started drumming her fingers against her leg, and considering how still she had been the entire conversation, the thought really did make her uncomfortable.

“Woooow,” Junko said in awe, now very impressed, “Does it get tough or are you used to it by now?” she asked curiously, sitting up a little straighter.

“It does not matter,” she said with resolve, “I do it so I can get stronger. My destiny is to fight. I have fought my father, with boxing champions, and even with wrestling gold medallists.”

Junko’s eyes opened even wider, “Gold medallists!?” she almost shouted, “That’s fuckin’ sick as!”

Sakura cracked a smile. “Yes, fighting any one of them was certainly hard at first, but after some time they were no match for me,” she said, lowering her head in what seemed to be a sign of respect.

“How’d you manage that?”

Sakura promptly launched into an explanation, “My specialty is solid stand-up that transitions into grappling and a strong ground game,” she said, “Essentially, it’s a complete approach that covers most counterattacks.”

Junko nodded along, trying to pretend that she understand anything that Sakura was saying. In reality, Junko understand so little, that when Sakura said ‘stand-up,’ she momentarily thought that she was talking about comedy. The fashionista decided to say something that included basically the only style of her profession that she really knew of. “So… you’re basically a mixed martial arts fighter?” she hesitantly asked, trying to sound smart.

Sakura nods, and Junko inwardly patted herself on the back for a bluff well done. “Correct. It’s the most effective real world fighting style. I do not wish to be the best martial artist in the world. No, I wish to be the strongest human on earth.” Sakura’s fist clenched as she was talking. Junko could tell that she meant this from the bottom of her heart.

“Well then, I’ve got some good news for you!” Junko said jovially, “I think you may have already achieved your dreams! And at such a young age,” she added pleasantly.

Sakura gives a small and genuine laugh, but her smile is one of sadness, “I appreciate your confidence, but there is still someone that I have yet to surpass,” she says, her tone unnaturally even, “And I will not be the strongest person on earth until I surpass him.”

Sakura’s expression slips momentarily into one of regret, but it was near imperceptible, and she was back to her normal expressionless expression a moment later. “I have already beaten my father, as I was destined to do. My family’s dojo has been passed down the generations for three centuries, and as the youngest member and heir, it’s my duty to protect our legacy.” Junko was of the opinion that it’s quite a lot to be thrust upon a young girl, and Sakura must see something like that in her expression, “It is a duty and honour that I take in stride, and as a woman, I work even harder than if I were a man. Because I was able to beat my father even as a woman, I firmly believe that I am able to become the strongest.”

“You go girl, it’s damn impressive for you to do all of that,” Junko told her genuinely.

Sakura allowed another chuckle to escape her lips at Junko’s comment, “Thank you for saying that. I must admit, a large factor that made up my willpower was the desire to prove the doubters wrong,” she confessed, looking very pleased with herself. “I beat my father at the age of fourteen. I did and still do feel guilty, as my father too desired to be the strongest human alive, however…” she searched for her words for a moment, “As I wanted to be the strongest, I had to beat him if I wished to claim the title for myself. It was inevitable. It is my destiny,” she says, trailing off and looking at the sky with determination. She abruptly stands up, “I’m sorry to cut this short,” she says, “But I’d like to shower before dinner begins.”

Junko stood up too, dusting off her backside for stray blades of grass, “Yeah, no problem, though you gotta tell me about the guy you still gotta beat next time, yeah?”

Sakura looked at the ground, and spoke with a brave attempt at a casual tone, “We will see. Goodbye, Junko.” She walked across the field to her cabin.

Junko wondered why she didn’t bring up the guy just now? It seemed like she was intentionally avoiding it, and she left once any other avenues of conversation died out…

Junko pondered for a moment on what to do next, before recalling a comment from Chihiro after lunch. Monokuma disappeared that first time behind the stage, right? Granted, he had disappeared both in the health centre and in Byakuya’s cabin as well, but Junko wasn’t about to risk breaking anything in the former even if it wasn’t against the rules to do so accidentally- Junko felt like Monokuma was spiteful enough at her to punish her regardless of intent, and she definitely can’t barge into Byakuya’s cabin again, and she’s not stupid enough to try doing so.

Cracking her neck and stretching her arms, Junko began her way over to the stage.

Walking past the dining hall, she noticed that most of the basketball crew were inside through a window. Hiro looked very pleased with himself, whereas Miu looked very miffed. Junko could only assume the former won the game. Nekomaru was laughing at something and ruffling Nagito’s hair. Both the lucky student and Angie looked pleasantly happy. The only person absent was Sonia, but in her place was Makoto and Sayaka, both clearly enjoying listening to what could only be a play-by-play of the match from Hiro, if him standing up and doing a ‘swish’ was anything to go by.

Junko realized pretty quickly where Sonia was at. She noticed the princess on top of the stage, inspecting one of the speakers for one thing or another.

Noticing Junko’s arrival, the princess waved her over, her expression shifting from one of focus to concern.

“Junko!” The princess shouted, running to the end of the stage, “Is your hand okay!?”

Junko nodded, waving the bandaged hand in a nonchalant way, “Yeah, it’s cool. Cleaned it all up so it should be fine,” she said, jumping up on stage and taking a seat on the edge, “What’re you doing here anyway?”

Sonia elegantly took a seat next to her. “I recalled that Monokuma disappeared from here last night after announcing the game, so I came here to investigate and see if I could find anything,” she paused, before adding, “Unfortunately, my efforts amounted to nothing.”

“Shit, I had the same idea actually, it’s why I came here,” Junko said, and Sonia nodded sagely, before looking up towards the sky as Sakura had done a short time previously.

Sonia’s eyes widened slightly, “This camp is really a beautiful place, is it not?” she asked, but she continued before Junko could give an answer, “The weather is calm, the temperature is cool, and the sky is a beautiful blue… It’s an all-around pleasant setting. If only we weren’t forced to be here…”

Junko raised an eyebrow at her, “You seem to be pretty calm about all this,” she said, before adding, “Granted, I’m pretty calm myself, but still.”

Sonia looked over at her, “I firmly believe that what happens next depends on us. If no one succumbs to the game, if no one kills… everyone will be fine,” she says, her conviction clear on her face and in her tone.

Sonia was really good at speaking her mind, to the extent that if she didn’t know any better, Junko might have believed it. She had a lot of faith in their motley crew of jackasses, which is an optimism that Junko wished she had, but being in the industry she’s in… Junko knew how greedy people can fucking be.

In Junko’s silence, Sonia continued speaking. “I decided to accept Hope’s Peak Academy’s invitation in order to accomplish two things,” she says, her tone lightening significantly now that the topic of the killing game had come and gone, “To learn about the country of Japan, a place that I have had an interest in since I was a young child, and to socialize with people my own age on equal footing for the first time in my entire life, and to varying extends, I can achieve both of these things within Camp Kuma.” Sonia pauses, and takes a long breath in, “To that end… I do not intend on dying. I will not kill anyone, nor will I be killed. If anyone attempts to take me for an easy target, they will be sorely surprised.”

“Damn,” Junko said, taking everything she said in, “You’re feisty.” For whatever reason, Junko believed her wholeheartedly. She didn’t seem to be trying to convince her, so all of this was just passive and unintentional persuasion, which was as concerning as it was admirable. Junko put it in the back of her mind.

Sonia’s eyes light up in delight at Junko’s comment, “Yes, I am feisty!” she said happily, simultaneously turning her body to face her completely, before calming down somewhat. “I believe that it would be best to cooperate with each other so that everyone can leave quickly. If you have any ideas, please do not hesitate to confide in me,” she said, placing a comforting hand on Junko’s, “I may not be as capable or as reliable as Byakuya, but a princess still needs to have leadership qualities.”

Junko simply smiled at what she said. It’s good to know that if something happens to Byakuya, there’s someone else willing to step up to the plate to lead everyone. “You’re making me feel really optimistic, Sonia,” Junko told her truthfully. Her words make Junko feel like shit could end up going well.

“I am honoured that I am able to make you feel that way!” The princess says, her happiness unmistakably genuine.

All that Sonia’s been talking about so far is the Killing Game and, for lack of better term, current events. Junko made the decision to ask about her day-to-day life, since this could very well be the only time she got to talk to an actual honest to god princess. “What’s life like in… what’s it called, Novoselic?”

“Correct, I’m happy you remembered,” Sonia told her, putting her hands together, her tone true to her word, “But it is very nice. Novoselic is an extremely small country, governed by an absolute monarchy. Though it has a small population, the economy is thriving, so all is well.” She speaks fondly of her nation, her eyes filling with pride.

Junko wracked her brain for the definition of monarchy for a second, before vaguely remembering that it was something like one family controlling the country or something. “Are people, like, pissy or annoyed that they’re lorded over by a monarchy? Wouldn’t people want a democracy or something?”

Sonia shook her head, and looked distressed, “I can assure you that my people are more than happy to allow a monarchy to remain,” she says vehemently, “We have protected the kingdom and its people from all neighbouring countries, so everyone has complete trust in the royal family!” her tone became increasingly more upbeat as she explained her people’s content, showing how happy she is that they feel that way about her family.

Junko nodded and smiled at her happiness, before asking the question that she couldn’t believe that she didn’t ask before, “Do you live in a castle!?” the fashionista asked excitedly.

“Oh, yes!” Sonia responded, almost as excited to answer the question as Junko was to ask it, “Yes, my family has been living in the royal castle for over one thousand years,” she said fondly, “Though it may be old and small, it’s a wonderful and historic building, with subterranean labyrinths and fully equipped barracks!”

Trying to pretend she knew what barracks ware, Junko nodded. “Nice, nice.”

“I am glad you think so!” Sonia says happily, “I-” she stopped talking and looked up at the sky, “Oh my, it’s rather dark, isn’t it!?” she said with surprise.

Following her gaze, Junko, too, noticed how dark it had gotten, “Shit, yeah, we should probably get to dinner, huh? Byakuya’ll tear into us if we’re late,” she jumped onto the ground and stretched her legs, Sonia doing the same quickly afterwards.

“Yes, yes,” she said, “I am rather hungry, so let us go together!” She grabbed Junko’s hand and swiftly marched towards the dining hall.

Junko and Sonia were the last two to dinner. Everyone was split off at their chosen tables. Ryoma, Peko, Nekomaru, and Kurokuma were at one of the smaller tables. Sakura and Shuichi were at a different one. Everyone else, including Kirumi and Shirokuma, were at the large table. Once the latter two saw the two newcomers, they got up and headed to the kitchen, likely to bring out their food.

“Hey, bitcheeees!” Miu called out, waving a hand obnoxiously, “Not like you two to rock up late. What kinda gay shit were you two up to?”

Ryoma gave a pronounced sigh, “Iruma, shut up,” he said simply from the other table.

Miu was gonna respond, but the expression on Ryoma’s face scared her, so she just continued eating her food, a scowl on her face.

“Junko, how’s your hand?” Nagito asked simply, with his ever-present smile on his face.

Hiro looked up at that, as if he had completely forgotten about that minor incident. As he was now looking up, Junko noticed that he was wearing a flimsy looking, but not at all physically displeasing paper crown, “Oh crap, yeah what happened with that?” he said dumbly, food still on his fork… looked like chicken, “Everything okay?”

Junko sat down next to Miu, who looked guilty considering that she was the one who had done that to her hand. “Yeah,” Junko said, flourishing her injured appendage, “It’s fine. Doesn’t even hurt anymore. Looked much worse than it was.” Miu looked visibly relieved at that, and started looking much happier.

“Gyahahaha!” Nekomaru guffawed, but had the decency to keep it pretty quiet… for him, anyway, “I knew that you were a strong one!”

Peko raised an eyebrow, “And how did you figure that?”

“TEAM MANAGER’S INTUITIOOOOON!” So much for him keeping it quiet.

Kirumi and Shirokuma returned with their food. Junko thanked the both of them for their help.

“It is my pleasure,” Kirumi said, giving an elegant bow.

“I’m happy to be able to help,” Shirokuma said, smiling.

Angie bounded to her feet, and ran around behind Sonia. She put another one of the silly little crowns on to her head, “This is for you, Sonia!”

Sonia gave a very happy gasp of surprise, running to the nearest window to look at her reflection, “Angie, I love it!” she said, “Thank you!”

“I take it you and Hiro were the victors of your basketball game?” Sakura asked with a small smile on her face. The nearby Shuichi looked incredibly deep in thought, so much so that he didn’t look to have any idea what the nearby conversation was about.

Hiro gave a self-satisfied little nod, “Yep, the princess and I make a good team, don’t we?”

Sonia nodded profusely, grabbing Hiro up to look at them both together in the reflection of the window. Hiro threw an arm around her, and they both smiled at the sight, “Yes we do! We destroyed them!”

“Alright, you can fuck off,” Miu said, half irritable, half amused, “The only reason that the two of you won is because Nagito managed to shoot in his own hoop fucking twice!”

“Bahahaha!” Kurokuma laughed from Hiro’s now unoccupied seat, having waddled over there the second the clairvoyant stood up, “How the fuck did you manage that?”

Nagito shrugged an exaggerated shrug, “Just my luck,” he told us, “After the good luck I had before with bouncing the ball off of Hiro, I was due for something bad.”

“Had I known about your batshit luck, I’d have asked for Angie instead!” Miu shouted at the luckster, who looked unabashed.

“Atua told me that spectating the game would be best!” the artist proclaimed, without explaining why.

Sayaka gave a little giggle, “It sounds like you guys had a blast,” she said, and conversation lulled again as everyone agreed.

Well, except Hiro, who was trying his best to coax Kurokuma out of his seat.

A “Would you like me to kick you again?” from Byakuya scared the bear enough to get him to scurry back to his original table, and peace was restored for a time.

Everyone ate in comfort, but Junko knew that it wouldn’t last. Byakuya had news, and no one was gonna be happy about being told to stay and wait again, especially…

“Togami,” Ryoma addressed the heir over the crowd,  “You got anything to tell us? I’m about ready to leave.”

Byakuya stopped moving, before placing down the chicken leg that he was eating. “Unfortunately,” the heir said, “I do have some news.”

“‘Course you do,” Ryoma mumbled, rolling his eyes. He hadn’t even gotten up to leave.

Peko placed down her fork, “This wouldn’t happen to be about the new rules that were added, would it?”

As Byakuya nodded towards her, other people spoke over him, “Wait, what?” Sayaka asked blankly, her eyes widening slightly.

“What new rules?” Makoto inquired as he pulled out his Monophone, “Wait, what…?” he said, having assumedly seen rules seventeen and eighteen.

A few other people did the same thing, but the only ones who looked surprised other than Makoto and Sayaka were Hiro, Sonia, Angie, Miu, and weirdly enough Kurokuma, who was looking at Nekomaru’s Monophone.

“When the fuck did this happen!?” The Ultimate Inventor shouted to the room at large, “Why did nobody fucking tell me!?”

Byakuya looked irritable towards the inventor, “If you decided to pay even a modicum of attention to anyone besides yourself, then perhaps you would have noticed that you received notifications on your Monophone both times a rule was added,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Miu stood up and slammed both of her hands down on the table, “What the fuck did you say!?”

“Both of you!” Kirumi shouted, “Cease this nonsense. Byakuya, multiple people were unaware of the rule additions, not just Miu.” Miu looked pleased at being defended, but her expression very quickly became sour, “And Miu, there is no need to act like that.”

Miu looked absolutely livid, “No, fuck you!” she shouted at the maid, and she began striding towards the dining hall entrance.

“Miu,” Junko stopped her, “I know what Byakuya has to say, and believe me, you’ll want to hear it.” Junko was of course referring to the poison in the health centre, but she wasn’t about to bring it up when Miu was in this volatile of a mood.

Miu shook her head profusely, “If it comes from that fat fucking narcissist’s mouth, I don’t wanna fucking hear it,” she proclaimed, and she continued walking towards the dining hall entrance.

“We found poison in the health centre.”

Junko’s head snapped towards the direction of Shuichi Saihara. Even over all of the noise that Miu was making, his quiet voice managed to stop her dead in her tracks. What the fuck was he thinking blurting it out like that?

“What!?” Hiro shouted, dropping his fork like it was made of fire, “I ate poison!?”

Miu marched over to Shuichi with a livid expression on her face, “What the fuck were you hiding from us, you asshole!?”

Shuichi recoiled back from her, “N-Nothing!” he said feebly, “It-It’s just that Rule seventeen relates directly to that, and it’s important so I told you-” he was tripping over his words at this point, and Junko couldn’t blame him. Miu looked murderous.

Sakura stood up, towering over the inventor. “Step back. Now,” she said, her voice threatening.

Miu did so reluctantly, before adding one last snide comment. “Must suck to be so fucking weak that you have to have someone else fight your battles.”

Junko knew at once that her comment had hit home.

Shuichi pulled his hat so low over his face that it was impossible to tell what expression that he was making… but the quaking of his shoulders gave it away.

“Stop!” Byakuya shouted, knowing full well that Miu had gone too far.

Junko got to her feet and marched over to the inventor, grabbing her, and trying to pull her back. She shook her off, “I’ll go back to the table on my own. Piss off.”

True to her word, she marched back to her seat and sat down. Junko gave Shuichi an apologetic look, but he couldn’t see her. Sakura was whispering something in his ear, her arm around his shoulders. Junko returned to her seat.

Everyone was shook by the confrontation. Ryoma and Peko both looked uncomfortable, though Ryoma shot a disdainful look at Miu as well. Nekomaru looked regretful. He probably thought that  if he had stepped in, this could have been avoided. Even Kurokuma looked like he felt bad for Shuichi, though Junko wasn’t quite sure how she got that vibe from him.

Sayaka and Sonia looked pitifully at the detective, whereas Makoto, Chihiro, and Shirokuma looked torn between staying still and standing up to console him.

Kirumi was staring daggers at Miu, and Byakuya looked incredibly annoyed at the whole scene. Hiro looked like he simply didn’t know what to do, and Angie’s smile faltered slightly as she looked at Shuichi. Only Nagito looked unperturbed, his expression akin to that of a spectator of a sports event. It’s impossible to tell what goes on inside his head.

“Get on with it,” Miu told Byakuya, her voice quiet as she ignored the animosity that the entire room felt towards her.

Junko could tell that Byakuya wanted to argue at her giving him orders, but likely to avoid another confrontation, he swallowed his pride and spoke. “I can assure you that none of the food is poisoned,” he said, looking specifically at Hiro as he said this, “I oversaw Kirumi and Shirokuma preparing it, and neither of them did anything suspect. I have taken inventory of the poisons, so I will know when something has been taken, and we will make the necessary precautions in that event.”

Chihiro raised her hand before speaking, “What kind of precautions do you have in mind?”

“Never you mind,” Byakuya told her. He was firm, but not unkind, and Chihiro knew that he had a reason not to tell her, “Rule seventeen was created specifically to stop people from destroying the poisons. This was a case if Monokuma exerting his power over us, so I decided to try and beat him at his own game.”

Ryoma’s head perked up at this, as did the heads of multiple others. “Elaborate,” he asked of the heir, who did so.

“Rule eighteen, the one dictating that only five minutes after half of us are aware of any rule addition, removal, or change, does anything actually come into play,” he said, giving everyone else the necessary backstory, “I politely asked him if he thought it was fair to spring new rules on us, as that is a power he can, has, and will abuse. With the help of Junko and Shuichi,” he nodded towards the two of them, “I managed to persuade him to add this rule in order to make it fairer for us.”

Sakura, who had done all she could to console Shuichi, raised an eyebrow, “Do you think doing this upset Monokuma?”

“Probably,” Byakuya admitted, unconcerned.

Makoto looked disconcerted at this answer, “Do you think that Monokuma will retaliate?” he asked, and Junko was annoyed to admit that she hadn’t really considered that.

Sayaka placed a hand on his shoulder in a consoling manner, “The rules say that Monokuma can’t hurt us, right?” she asked, and she received a few nods in confirmation. “Well… I don’t know what he could really do…”

And as if on cue…

Bing, Bong, Bing, Bong

“Oh you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Junko said, exasperated, “He was waiting for this.”

Sonia spoke up everyone’s worries, “What… what do you think that this is?”

“Eh,” Kurokuma brushed off her concerns, “It’s probably just me giving an announcement again,” he said. He then looked down at himself, up at the speaker again, around the room he was in, and back up to the speaker, “Wait…”

“Attention students!” Monokuma’s voice blared through the speakers. His light tone, as usual, only made him seem more threatening, “Could I please ask you all to assemble at the stage for a very special announcement! Tardiness will not be tolerated, so make sure you’re there~ Upupupu~”

Everyone looked worried at the bear’s orders, and understandably so. They had pulled one over on him, and they were going to pay for it.

Byakuya stood up, “Prepare yourselves,” he said, seeming very worried himself. He signalled for everyone to follow him, and he walked out of the dining hall doors.

Ryoma, Miu, and Peko were on their feet immediately, and out the door right behind the heir.

Everyone else looked more apprehensive.

“This won’t be good,” Hiro thought aloud, before standing up. “We might as well get it over with…”

Everyone else seemingly shared that same thought, as they all followed Hiro’s actions. They stood up, and left the dining hall.

The walk to the stage was silent. Everyone was stuck in their own heads, worrying about what the hell Monokuma has in store for us.

They had pissed him off. The question is if it was worth it or not. Rule eighteen is nice, yeah, but is it worth whatever was coming?

Arriving at the stage, Junko noticed that Monokuma was pacing back and forth. She could hear him grumbling incoherently about something, but she obviously couldn’t tell what.

Byakuya was tapping his foot impatiently waiting for them all to show up. Once the last two, Sakura and a still shaken Shuichi, arrived, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny turned to look at Monokuma. “Well!?” he questioned sharply.

Monokuma stopped moving and glared at the group, but still didn’t say anything. He was breathing heavily and was clearly in a towering temper.

“Why the fuck are we here!?” Miu shouted at him, still in a bad mood from earlier.

Monokuma continued glaring for a few moments, but then he spoke. “I was going to do this tomorrow night,” he said, his voice low and contorted with rage, “But you kids have forced my hand.”

Byakuya scoffed, “By forcing your hand do you mean upsetting you?” he said irritably.

“Because of you,” the bear says to the heir, “I had to nix my costume because I accidentally destroyed it while I was in a bad mood!”

It was Kirumi’s turn to scoff, “I fail to see how that is his- or any of our problems for that matter,” she said, distain radiating off of her in the presence of Monokuma.

“What was your costume of?” Sonia asks, tilting her head to the side curiously.

Monokuma grumbled, “I was gonna be an eshay! I had this whole bit planned out where I threatened to fuckin’ stab ya!” he said, clearly annoyed that his grand idea had to be scrapped.

“The fuck is an eshay?” Junko asked, but Monokuma ignored her.

Nekomaru gave an annoyed grunt, “Can we please get a move on? My athletes have some thinking to do,” he said, giving a nod in the direction of Miu, who rolled her eyes.

“Shut up,” was Monokuma’s only response.

“Oh, oh!” Kurokuma waves a hand at his boss, “Is this a motive!? Is it, is it!?” he added excitedly.

Motive? Junko had a shrewd idea as to what this could be, but she really, really hoped that she was wrong. She could see that some like Byakuya and Kirumi were also unnerved by the black bear’s words.

Monokuma’s response was to pull out a remote. He pressed a couple of buttons, and-

KZZRRT!

Kurokuma fell to the floor. Ryoma, who Kurokuma had been pretty much stalking, swiftly stepped away from the convulsing bear as to avoid being electrocuted. “What the hell?”

“Not like I’m complaining,” Sayaka started, “But what was that for?” she said, leaning closer to Makoto, who stood firm despite looking scared.

Shirokuma sighed loudly, “The boss reserves the right to electrocute… or even kill the two of us if we become a hassle,” and instead of looking scared, he looked exasperated. Junko didn’t dwell on it for now, but she was absolutely going to interrogate Shirokuma about that later. Could be useful.

Junko didn’t get the chance to ask Shirokuma about it now, because everyone had some shit to clear up with our captor.

“I’m sorry,” Peko says, looking not at all sorry, and instead disinterested at Kurokuma’s fainting spiel, “But what did he mean by ‘motive?’”

“It sounds,” Nagito started, before pausing slightly to assemble his thoughts, “…Like he wants to give us more motivation to participate in the killing game…”

Everyone thought over his words. Well, almost everyone. “Nah, that can’t be it,” Hiro proclaimed with confidence.

“Oh?” Angie asks absently, “Atua wants to know why you think that, Hiro,” she said, leaning left and right as she talked. This motive talk was getting obviously to her. Her fidgeting had increased tenfold, and her smile looked oddly forced.

Hiro looked like he thought everyone would immediately agree with him, as if his reasons were plainly obvious. “Well, isn’t the idea of being like, murdered at any time, and the possibility of escape motive enough? Right?” he added, sounding much less confident now.

“Puhuhuhu…,” Monokuma laughed, likely at Hiro’s stupidity, “Nope, the wackjob’s right!” he said, pointing a paw at Nagito, who frowned for the first time at the nickname, “I’ve got a motive to make you kiddos wanna kill someone!”

“Can you please cease the theatrics and tell us what you want to tell us?” Kirumi asked in annoyance, clearly fed up with Monokuma’s shenanigans.

“Okay!” Monokuma agrees heartily, “One of you is working for me!”

…Shit.

“Wh- What!?” Makoto shouted, moving a hand in front of him in an instinctual gesture, “What do you mean!?”

Sonia frantically placed her hands to her mouth, “It cannot be!” she shouted in disbelief.

Shuichi’s head whipped up, though he didn’t look that surprised beyond his eyes widening, but Sakura clenched both of her fists and raised her eyebrows. “No…” she said quietly.

“You’re lying!” Nekomaru bellowed in complete disbelief, gripping the sides of his head, “No one here would betray the group like that!”

Monokuma just laughed in response of everyone’s reactions, “Sorry to give you the heartache big guy, but it’s totally true!” The bear was grinning with an insane amount of glee, and seemed to be shivering in delight, “I went and gave someone a visit on the first night here, and after soooome convincing, I managed to get them to cooperate with me!”

“U- Um,” I heard from Shuchi, who understandably looked nervous, “What- What do you mean by co- cooperate?” he asks, somewhat hesitant of what the answer could be.

Chihiro, who was standing nearby Junko, tensed, as if she’d figured out what this ‘cooperation’ was. It’s possible that the traitor is meant to keep tabs on everyone, to stop them from doing anything hidden from their kidnappers, though that would be the worst case scenario, since it means that no matter what everyone does in terms of escape plans, they were fucked.

Monokuma stopped moving. His expression became somehow blank. His voice was low, missing its usual light tone, which made what he was about to say sound even more threatening than it already is.

“The traitor is going to kill someone of their choosing.”

There was a moment of silence.

And then all hell broke loose.

“WHAT!?” Nekomaru bellowed.

Miu shuddered, “Are you fucking kidding me!?”

Angie dropped to her knees and started praying in silence, her expression one of forced neutrality.

“You bastard!” Sakura shouted, and she looked ready to lunge at the bear.

“Damn it…!” Byakuya muttered, and he looked in almost physical pain at the news.

Hiro was gripping his head and rambling, “Nononononono…”

Shirokuma lowered his head at the reactions of everyone, and he decided to drag is brother’s unconscious body in the direction of the lodge. Junko couldn’t blame him, honestly.

“You- You can’t do that!” Makoto shouted, throwing one of his hands to the side in outrage.

Monokuma tilted his head, seeming honestly confused. “Hah? Why not?” he asked, putting a paw to his mouth.

Sayaka pointed accusingly at Monokuma, her expression wild, “Because it’s unfair!” she said, too riled up to elaborate any further.

“Well I don’t think so,” Monokuma responds, nonchalant and clearly unconcerned.

Peko shot back with, “And why exactly do you think that? This is clearly taking any decision to not play the game away from us.” She was absentmindedly reaching behind her back for her sword, but didn’t actually touch it.

“Well…,” Monokuma considered, “I guess it would be pretty unfair had I not told you,” he relented, “But since I did, and since there technically is something that you guys can do to combat this, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal,” Monokuma finished, before adding, “Oh, and I also don’t care what you think.”

“There’s something that we can do…?” Nagito thinks aloud, and Monokuma giggles, but doesn’t otherwise answer.

This is bad. How the fuck did Junko not think of this? It’s Monokuma’s perfect strategy. Once someone kills, it’ll be a domino effect of paranoia and distrust. If they want the game to end pre-emptively, it has to be now, and they have to work together… Monokuma’s just ensured that they can’t do that. He’s got them beat here, and they all knew it.

“Wait,” Nagito piped up, “Do we have any proof of this?” he asked, raising a finger close to his temple, “It’s entirely possible that you’re lying about this entirely in order to instil distrust into us. I just don’t see any of the Ultimates doing something like this,” he adds, making an unsubtle glance at Makoto, who didn’t notice.

The monochrome bear shakes his head, “Nope! Have you never heard the saying?” he asks, adopting a faux confused inflection to his voice, “That bears don’t lie?”

He’s greeted by some scoffs, groans, and even a “Fuck you!” from Miu, but Junko took note of it.

“Everyone!” Byakuya shouts over the ruckus, “This is a troubling revelation, I will admit,” he says, adjusting his glasses and thinking his words over carefully as he spoke, “I think it would be best if everyone returns to your cabin for the time being to think this all over. We will discuss this tomorrow,” he proclaims. “Ensure you lock your doors,” he adds, as somewhat of an afterthought.

Everyone mulls the request over as Chihiro raises her hand, “Um, can we still do training tomorrow?" she asks shyly.

“You may,” he says with a nod, “As long as everyone stays together.” This answer put a momentary smile on Chihiro’s face.

Monokuma grumbled about everyone ignoring him, but Junko paid it no mind, nor did anyone else.

“How the fuck are you all so calm!?” Miu shouts in anger, “Someone’s out to kill us all, and you’re all just having a lovely fucking chat!”

Kirumi whirled around on her, “None of us are calm!” she’s not shouting, but her voice is raised to a higher volume than normal, “We’re attempting not to make a scene and to remain civil! Something that you could do with learning,” she adds, pissing Miu off further.

“Fuck you, you condescending bitch! Don’t tell me what to do!” Miu shouts at the maid, before turning to the rest of the ‘class’, “Did you not hear what this whore just said to me!?” she asks, receiving some glares, “Are none of you going to defend me!?”

“Why would we do that? You’re clearly in the wrong,” Ryoma spat, some vitriol in his voice.

Miu takes an angry step towards him, but stops at the gaze of both him and Peko, who made a retaliatory step forward. “You have caused enough trouble today,” the swordswoman tells her, “Unless you want things to escalate into something beyond words, I’d suggest leaving.” She made a subtle nod to her sword.

Miu looked like she wanted to shout some more, but with one bitter glare at Peko and Ryoma, and Shuichi and Sakura, she turned towards the direction of the cabins. “Fuck you,” she spat, before swiftly walking herself away.

Ryoma looked at her leaving form, and then looked up at Monokuma, who didn’t stop her from going, “Are we allowed to leave?” he asked the bear.

“Puhuhu. Sure, I’ve got what I wanted,” the bear said gleefully.

Ryoma nodded, turning to address the group. “I’ll see you all at breakfast tomorrow, don’t bother me until then,” he said, firmly, but not unkindly, before walking away.

Byakuya nodded at his retreating form, but the tennis player didn’t see. Peko looked over at the heir, and he nodded to her as well, and she followed him to the cabins. Shuichi and Sakura silently followed, neither of them looking at all happy.

“I apologize,” Kirumi says, giving everyone a bow, “But I have some thinking to do. I will see you all at breakfast tomorrow,” she said, turning and walking away.

Hiro had managed to pull himself together enough to form a coherent sentence, “I’m gonna…” he started, but didn’t know what else to say, “I gotta go…” He left.

“Everyone…” Sonia said, hurt in her voice. As Junko looked around, she noticed that both Angie and Nagito had silently slinked away as well.

“We’re all falling apart…” Sayaka sobbed, Makoto consoling her as he apologized for both of them and left as well.

Junko gave a pronounced sigh, “I’m gonna bounce now,” she said, and without waiting for a response, she headed in the direction of her cabin.

The walk alone was silent, the darkness seeming all the more dangerous now that Junko knew that someone she knew had bad intentions was out there.

Junko was about to enter her cabin as she heard Chihiro’s voice from behind her. “Junko!” she shouted, and Junko noticed that Nekomaru was with her as well. The team manager looked absolutely heartbroken.

“Yeah?” Junko asked, voice neither kind nor unkind. She was pissy, yeah, but neither of them had anything to do with that.

“Can… can you please come to the training tomorrow?” the programmer asked, a pleading tone in her voice, “I know that you expressed some interest, and I think that getting along is really important now!” she said, conviction slipping into her voice’s tone.

Junko was in no mood to argue, and she also didn’t really have any objections to the training, so she agreed. “Sure, you can count me in,” she said kindly.

Before Chihiro could say anything, Nekomaru spoke up. “Thank you, Junko,” he said, his voice alarmingly quiet as he spoke, “I’m glad that at least some of my athletes are still team players…”

“Yeah, thank you,” Chihiro added humbly.

She nodded to both of them. “You’re welcome,” Junko said, and she closed the door to her cabin.

Chapter Text

“Alright… I’ll put him here… her there… aaaaand, we’re done!”

I took a step back and admired by handiwork.

After the announcement of the motive, Junko couldn’t sleep. After a while, she decided it just wasn’t gonna happen. She tried to sleep for a while, and got interrupted by Kurokuma doing a nighttime announcement, which was really just him bitching about missing out on the motive reveal.

After ‘waking up’ an hour or so later because she had rolled off of her bed, Junko decided to tire herself out by doing some other shit.

She wanted to organize her thoughts by deciding who she considered trustworthy or not. not just who she thought might be the traitor or not. The traitor was the primary issue, yeah, but anyone could be a threat if they wanted.

After deciding on doing that, Junko wanted some visual way of organizing everything, so she asked Monokuma to give her a whiteboard and some pictures of everyone, and surprisingly enough, he did so without much fanfare. She didn’t ask for pictures of the bears, they just came with everyone else, and considering how Kuro and Shiro hang with the participants most of the time, she decided there was no harm in incorporating them into her thoughts.

While organizing everyone into one of three categories, being untrustworthy, unknown, and trustworthy, she recalled something that Monokuma had said.

“The traitor is going to kill someone of their choosing.”

Junko found myself considering who would be most likely to be targeted by the traitor, since they’re allowed to kill whoever they feel like, and it’s implied that Monokuma won’t interfere with who.

Looking at everyone’s picture, she backtracked and recalled why she put everyone where she put them.

The untrustworthy category had six people- well, four people and two bears:

Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student. He shared a talent with Makoto, which makes him immediately stand out. There was no real concrete reason to distrust Nagito, he just rubbed Junko the wrong way. He seemed to dislike himself, or at the very least doesn’t value himself. He values both Ultimate status and hope, if some of the few times Junko had seen him show any level of emotion was any indication. It’s doubtful that he’s the traitor, but Junko didn’t trust him not to make any sort of drastic move regardless. He’s someone who the traitor mightn’t target, but they also might. Neutral, in other words. He seems unpredictable, if that luck streak that he mentioned to Junko during their introduction was any indication, though the only people who knew that were Junko herself, Hiro, and Ryoma. He’s also pretty frail, and there’s a chance that he wouldn’t fight back, so Junko didn’t really know what to make of him in that regard.

Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective. He generally keeps his detective abilities to himself, only chiming in when he sees it necessary. He doesn’t talk about himself too much, and it’s difficult to trust him because of that. He seems like the sort to want to keep information to himself, and Junko honestly had to wonder that if she hadn’t rocked up in the health centre earlier today, he’d have kept his trap shut on the whole poison issue, because she was pretty sure that he had something on his mind that he didn’t tell Junko when they were there. He’s someone Junko’s gonna treat with caution, but not dislike, because he seems like an alright guy beyond that. He’d be a very likely target for a traitor, or any killer for that matter. He’s the Ultimate Detective, so he’d obviously be helpful during investigations and trials, so a smart killer would take him out before he had the chance to use his abilities. However, there’s something that happened today that puts him in even more danger: Miu’s actions. Miu chewed Shuichi out at dinner today, and it’s pretty obvious that she dislikes him. If someone wanted to frame Miu for murder, they’d kill Shuichi for sure. All in all, he is one of, if not the most likely person that someone would target.

Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist. Angie’s in a similar tier to Nagito. She just rubbed Junko the wrong way. She kinda creeped Junko out, and she had an odd sense of trust in the group. She seemed fidgety, and could form friendships pretty swiftly. She either didn’t understand the killing game, or just isn’t taking it seriously enough, though Junko was leaning towards the latter. It’s possible her affection for the group is fake, and she’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Most of this was just Junko’s gut feeling, but she’d learnt that her gut tended to be right, or at least nor overtly wrong, so she decided to keep her at an arm’s length. On another note, she’s small and trusting, so it’s entirely possible that someone who wants to kill her would use that to their advantage to get her to isolate herself with them, giving someone an opportunity to strike.

Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny. Junko sincerely doubted that he’s the traitor, since he willingly put himself in the spotlight by taking becoming their leader, though this could also be a ploy to take control of the group. A large reason Junko put him here was because he’s the leader. It’s necessary to doubt him because depending on his actions, he has the capabilities to either save, or doom everyone. Junko’s reason for putting him here is only solidified by his actions in his cabin earlier. Again, doubtful he’s the traitor, but he definitely has something to hide. Byakuya is their leader, and someone who wants to target him could infer from his stature that he’s either physically slow or weak. That, or they’d want to destabilize the group, so they’d still be picking up the pieces during the trial, allowing for a relatively easy victory, so he’s a likely target for any potential killer.

Shirokuma, Co-Host of the killing game. He’s untrustworthy because of his polite and quiet nature. Kurokuma is predictable in his bullshittery, but Shirokuma is relatively reserved. He could be entirely genuine for all Junko knows, but he’s still one of Monokuma’s accomplices. Junko will keep treating him nice, but she didn’t trust him.

Monokuma, Host of the killing game. Self-explanatory. Their kidnapper, and unapologetic about it. Doesn’t even seem to value his own accomplices, if him paralysing Kurokuma was any indication. An absolute asshole.

After them comes the group who Junko’s not sure whether to trust or not:

Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Team Manager. He’s Loud and abrasive, but, seems like a pretty okay dude. Junko felt like she could trust him a fair amount, but that’s a gut feeling, there’s nothing concrete. He’s confided a few personal stories to her, which is more than some other people, but he’s a bit difficult to get a read on because of his boisterous personality. He’s definitely on the higher end of the unknown tier, and she felt like he’s someone who she’d be able to trust completely in the future. Nekomaru’s one of the least likely people to be targeted for murder in Junko’s opinion. Sure, he may be a bit annoying on occasion, but he’s also an absolute fucking unit. You’d be stupid to try and go against him using conventional means. It’s possible that he’d unknowingly put himself into a dangerous situation, but that he would be able to fight his way out if it ever came down to that.

Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Swordswoman. Peko has told Junko that she’s been raised from birth as a swordswoman. That’s about all she knew about her. She’s yet to hang out with her one on one, and maybe afterwards the stance might change. She’s not done anything overtly distrustful, but neither has she done anything that shows that she’s trustworthy. She seems reliable and dependable based on her personality. Peko’s the Ultimate Swordswoman. She’s strong, readily equipped with a weapon, and is very well trained with it. She’s probably one of the most risky people to target as a victim, along with Sakura and Ryoma.

Kirumi Tojo, the Ultimate Maid. Imagine Peko’s reliable and dependable nature but on cocaine. She takes it to a whole new level, but that is her talent. Her motivations seem to be entirely selfless, but it’s also possible that if she thinks that she’s doing the right thing, she may make an unfortunate decision. She is extremely neutral at the moment- second only to Makoto. Kirumi is strong and calm. Not an ideal victim. She has a pretty linear schedule that someone could plan around, yeah, but from what Junko’s seen, she’s always around someone- and that includes Shirokuma.

Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess. Sonia is someone Junko trusted a fair bit. She’s made it very clear that she does not intend to neither kill nor be killed. The problem? She has an entire nation to care for. If Monokuma’s next motive threatens her people or something, she’s the one with the most to lose. She’s not a danger in general, but in the right set of circumstances? It’d be good to watch out. Sonia is pretty strong, but it’s possible not everyone knows that. Not to mention, she’s clearly very trusting and naïve, and anyone could potentially take advantage of that.

Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation. Sayaka’s nice, and she’s close to Makoto. That’s about it. She puts up a strong front, but isn’t taking the killing game as good as she pretends. Junko would need to talk to her more to form an actual opinion, but she’s currently the only one here who’s close enough to someone else to really care that they’d die, as opposed to the guilt for an acquaintance. Sayaka is famous and stands out because of it, but she’s nether strong nor weak. Not to mention, she’s stuck to Makoto by the hip. Basically, no one would target her specifically, but they also wouldn’t go out of their way to not target her.

Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor. Junko still liked Miu. Doubt the same can be said for everyone else. She’s the most likely to do something out of desperation, she probably won’t be making a move anytime soon. She’s on the more untrustworthy end of the unknown tier, but other than being paranoid as fuck, and the constant starting of arguments, she hasn’t done anything to prove that she’s a danger except be a massive asshole. Miu is smart, loud, and crude. People will target her because she’s smart, and out of everyone here, she’s the one that someone would be most likely to have a grudge against, especially after what happened today with Shuichi, and her little argument with Kirumi after the motive announcement.

Sakura Ogami, the Ultimate Martial Artist. If Sakura decides to take everyone out, it’d be over in a second. However, she’s not displayed any abnormal level of wanting to escape. She seems like a very noble person. Unless Yogi Bear has something big over her, she’s not going to turn traitor. However, she’s also guarded enough with herself to be suspicious. In terms of her being a target… Sakura is the Ultimate Martial Artist, the strongest woman in the world. Look at her. Enough said.

Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Lucky Student. Makoto is unbelievably average, which is to be expected of someone with his talent… despite what Junko knew about Nagito. He’s got no remarkable backstory, and everything about him displays that. That’s why it’s the perfect cover for a traitor to have. Though it is possible that he is just that normal, so he’s neither trustworthy nor untrustworthy yet. Makoto is average to the last letter. No one would hold a grudge against him, and despite him being slightly below average in height, there are multiple other people who are shorter and weaker, so he’s neutral in terms of being targeted.

Kurokuma, Co-Host of the Killing Game. The main reason that Kurokuma isn’t in the untrustworthy section with Shiro and Monokuma is simple: he’s stupid. Kurokuma has shown that he’s pretty dumb, forgetful, and most importantly, predictable. He’s shown before that he can’t hide his feelings, which is very good for a known enemy. He clearly has some knowledge on the inner workings of the game, and Junko’s positive that if it comes out of his mouth, it’s the truth, and she’s confident that she’d be able to tell straight away if it’s not.

Finally, is the group who Junko thought that she can trust… at least, to a certain extent:

Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant. Junko trusted Hiro. He’s a greedy guy, but that’s about it. He’s also a bit stupid, and she doubted he’d be able to lie and get away with it if someone put a gun to his head. Beneath his initial one-note nature, he seems like a chill, if not a paranoid guy. Though, he might do something stupid, but someone would probably be able to tell if he’s about to do something dumb. Overall,  Junko thought that she could trust him for whatever reason. She’d met guys like him before, and they might make some dumb decisions, but they’ve all been genuinely good dudes, and she got that exact vibe from him. Not much, but Junko trusted her gut a fair amount… Though he is the first person she saw when she woke up here, so it may be a bit of bias, but fuck it. Hiro is fast and tall. That’s about all he has going for him. He’s skinny, weak, frail, and most of all, dumb. If someone’s going to put themselves in a dumb situation, it’ll be him, so he mightn’t be a in a good position.

Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro. Ryoma has been pretty candid about his past. He doesn’t like to talk about it much, but he’s also not hiding anything about it. Junko didn’t see him killing anyone, but whether or not he’d let someone kill him is up for debate. He didn’t take to someone betraying the group too nicely, and he probably didn’t have the motivation to do it himself. He has nothing to lose, so why would he betray the group? If Junko can get him to start caring more, he’d be a valuable ally. Ryoma’s short, but everyone knows his past. That mixed with his speed-based talent makes him unlikely to be targeted. He’s resorted to murder before, if his life’s in danger, it’s entirely possible he’d do it again. He also has little regard for his own life, so the prospect of getting executed wouldn’t bother him. Overall, one of the most risky picks, along with Peko and Sakura.

Chihiro Fujisaki, the Ultimate Programmer. Call it a gut feeling, but she seems insanely genuine and kind. She’s probably one of the most normal people here besides Big Mac, which makes her just nice to talk to, since Makoto doesn’t have much of a personality. Junko had nothing solid in the form of a solid reason to trust her, but crossing people off is important, and if she didn’t consider gut feeling, only herself and Ryoma would be who she considered trustworthy, and that’s not too much of a lineup. Chihiro is small and smart. If someone wants an easy victim and to kill someone who’d be able to help in the trial, she’d be the one someone would go after. The only caveat here is that she’s smart enough to not go alone with someone willingly.

Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Fashionista. Obviously not the traitor, she’d know if she was. Monokuma recruited the traitor last night, and that definitely didn’t happen, so that’s just that. Junko’s not gonna kill anyone. If it comes to a battle of self-defence, she’ll try her best not to kill them, just escape unharmed and go find either a witness, or someone who’d be able to put a stop to it more effectively. As far as the traitor- or anyone else for that matter, going out of their way to kill her… she’d put herself as neutral. She’s neither particularly strong nor particularly weak. She was on good terms with everyone, which completely removes any chance of someone killing her over a grudge. However, because she had that good relationship with everyone, anyone could potentially stab her in the back, so she had to stay on her toes, but that’s good to do anyway.

Aaaand that’s it, really. Sorted everything out, organized her thoughts, and most importantly, tired herself out.

Kurokuma’s nighttime announcement already aired, so it’s a good time to go to sleep.

Junko lied down and closed her eyes, hoping for a quiet night of rest…

…

..

.

Knock, Knock, Knock

…

Knock, Knock, Knock

This had better be fucking important.

Junko rose up like a zombie from a coffin, rubbing sleep from her eyes all the while.

She wandered over to the door and opened it. Chihiro awaited her on the other side.

“Ah, Junko!” she said happily, a wide, genuine smile on her face.

Junko continued rubbing sleep from her eyes, before mumbling sleepily, “Chihiro? What time is it…?”

“It’s a quarter to six,” the programmer tells the fashionista, “And we start training at six on the dot.”

Junko’s eyes widened, and she realized that Chihiro was wearing a tracksuit instead of her normal clothes. Really shows how small she is. “Oh yeah, I did promise to do that…” she mumbled, more to herself.

Chihiro’s face fell, having clearly just overheard what Junko had said. “Oh…” she said sadly, “Well, if you don’t wanna go…”

Snapping back to reality, “Oh nah, I wanna go,” Junko assured her, “I’m just tired as shit and it slipped my mind… Where’d you get the tracksuit, by the way?”

“Found it in my closet this morning,” she says, “So did everyone else who decided to join in on training. I guess Monokuma decided to give some to us.”

Junko rolled her eyes, “How magnanimous of him,” she said sarcastically, before adding with a grin, “Yeah, big word, I know, I’m just that good.” In reality, Junko had looked at what her sister was reading once and had her explain the biggest word on the page, but Cheerio didn’t need to know that.

Chihiro giggled and looked very happy again. “You should get dressed and head over to the softball court, Nekomaru will never let you hear the end of it if you don’t,” and with another giggle and a wave, she turned and walked away.

Junko’s tracksuit was, indeed, in her closet, though it came equipped with a sticky note with a middle finger drawn on it. Courtesy of Monokuma, of course.

She got dressed and headed over to the court, noticing a circle of people each doing various stretches and wearing tracksuits.

Peko was sitting down with her legs spread out, leaning to touch the toes of her feet, while Nekomaru had a furiously focused look on his face as he jogged on the spot.

Sakura and Shuichi were running on the spot, bringing their legs up enough to touch her palms, which they had out at around their midsection. Shuichi looked to be enjoying himself, but was clearly pushing himself as well.

Finally, Nagito and Chihiro were doing lunges together, having what looked to be a pleasant conversation all the while.

Nagito, having noticed that Junko arrived, nudges Chihiro and points her out, and they both wave her over with varying levels of enthusiasm.

“Glad to see you made it,” Chihiro said happily.

“Hello there,” Nagito greeted simply.

“Junko,” Sakura nodded, as Shuichi gave a little wave.

“WELCOME!” Nekomaru shouted, because of course he did.

“Junko, good morning,” Peko said politely, “How did you sleep?”

Junko shrugged, “Well, after organizing my thoughts after the whole traitor thing, It was fine.”

And just like that, the mood became awkward. Evidently, no one had brought up the traitor yet.

“Oh shit,” Junko mumbled, realizing her mistake, “I’m so-”

“Who do you guys think the traitor is?”

In one fell swoop, the remaining pleasant mood in the area died completely. Everyone looked over to Nagito, who looked at everyone in return. His smile still hadn’t left his face, despite the fact that the looks that he was receiving were ranging from angry to awkward.

“Nagito…” Sakura said, somewhat unsure of how to handle this, “I am not sure if this is the correct moment to-”

“I sincerely apologize if this is not my place,” Nagito said, cutting Sakura off completely, “But I believe that now is the perfect time to talk about this.”

Nekomaru narrowed his eyes, a light scowl forming on his face, “Oh yeah?” he grunted, “How’d you arrive at this?”

Nagito explained. “Well, this group is very level-headed, so it’s the perfect time to have this conversation before the more… aggressive, or impatient, members of the class show up.”

Junko pondered that, and arrived at the conclusion that this would be the best group to have a civilised discussion with- maybe adding Byakuya and Ryoma would make it better, but you can’t have everything. Despite this sounding unreasonable, Nagito had a pretty good point.

And then he said it.

The lucky student’s smile broadens, as he declared, “I believe that the traitor is Makoto Naegi.”

“Fucking what?” Junko spat, too caught off guard at the blunt confession to raise her voice. Everyone else’s eyebrows were unsurprisingly raised. “Why do you think that?”

Sakura nodded, “Yes, that is a very serious accusation,” that martial artist said, narrowing her one open eye at Nagito, “I’d suggest explaining your reasoning for making it.”

Nagito did so gladly. “Makoto is not a true Ultimate student. He isn’t a beacon of hope like the rest of you,” he said, a mildly manic gleam in his eyes, “And as such, I believe that he is the only one who would stoop to the despair of working with Monokuma.” Weirdly enough, his tone became just slightly less happy as he spoke of the word ‘despair.’

Shuichi raised his head so one of his eyes could be seen from under his cap, “Th- the two of you share the same talent, right?” he asked, his voice uncharacteristically confident as he does so.

Nagito nods.

Chihiro continued, “Using your own logic, wouldn’t you also be suspicious?” she sounded hesitant to speak, as if it would validate the supposed ‘logic’ that Nagito was building off of, but decided to talk anyway.

Naito raised his arms out to his side, “If I were in your position, I would probably think the same thing!” he said jubilantly, clearly having considered the question some sort of validation. Chihiro winces slightly. “But you see, I can rule myself out, because, well, I am me.”

Junko rolled her eyes, “Checks out,” she mumbled sarcastically.

Peko narrowed her eyes at the man, “I noticed that you didn’t explicitly deny being the traitor.” Her voice was coated with suspicion, as she reached back for her sword.

Nagito just shrugged, “Well that would be an essentially baseless claim,” he said sagely, “As I have no proof to back it up.”

Junko decided to pipe up, “Would accusing you of being the traitor in the first place be a baseless claim?” she asked incredulously.

“Well as Makoto and I share a talent, we’re both intrinsically suspicious already, so it’s by definition not baseless,” he explained, weirdly enough sounding condescending as he does so.

Just as Junko was formulating a response: “THAT’S ENOUGH!” Nekomaru shouted, already on his feet, signalling the end of that conversation.

Shuichi got to his feet next, “Wh- What will we be doing?”

Nekomaru explained as the rest of them got to their feet, “We’ll just be doing some simple stuff today,” he said gruffly, “We’ll start with doing some push-ups, and then we’ll do some light jogging around the court.”

“Oh, so that conversation’s over?” Junko mumbled. She looked over to Nagito, who just shrugged with his signature smile.

Chihiro raised her hand. “Um… how many should we do?” she asks nervously, and Nekomaru smiled at her.

“Just do as many as you can,” he said kindly. Still loud, but kindly. “But we’ll max out at a hundred.”

“Very well,” said Sakura and Peko, almost in unison, as the both of them, Nagito, and a hesitant Shuichi got into position.

Nekomaru signals for Junko and Chihiro to do the same, and they do so, albeit with less enthusiasm than the other four.

Nekomaru gets into position, “Everybody ready!?”

Everyone affirms, either with a nod or saying some variation of ‘Yeah,’ and Nekomaru shouts for everyone to begin.

“Haven’t done one of these in a while,” Junko thought to herself, as she lowered herself to the ground before pushing back up. “Huh, seems pretty easy.”

…

By the time she’s on number fifteen, however… “Yeah, I take that back.” Her arms and legs were starting to hurt at that point, but she powered through regardless.

…

After the twenty-eighth time, Junko looked around and noticed that half of them were already and either sitting up watching everyone else or lying on the ground. Junko decided that she was really happy with twenty-eight, and stopped doing it.

“Ahh that was fucking awful,” Junko mumbled to Chihiro, who was sat up and staring at the three people who were still going.

Nekomaru, Sakura, and Peko were all blurs, going up and down in such quick succession that it was impossible to keep count of where they were at. Nagito and Shuichi were also watching them, the former’s expression as blank as ever, and the latter with raised eyebrows.

After a while, Sakura stopped and sat up, taking a sip of some water that she must’ve brought. Junko noticed that someone placed a bottle of water next to her, so she decided to drink some.

Peko stopped next, and then Nekomaru. “So,” the team manager asked, his breath ragged, “How many we all get?”

“A hundred,” Sakura and Peko said, again, in unison, but neither address it.

“Twenty-eight,” Junko said, an edge of smugness to her voice, since it’s much more than she thought she’d get.

“Twenty-four.”  Nagito took a swig from his bottle of water. There’s a cooler behind him.

“E- Eighteen,” Shuichi told everyone, reaching to tug his hat down over his face before deciding against it. Sakura gave him a smile, which he returned.

Chihiro hesitated before answering, but eventually informed the group that she did, “Thirteen…,” but her face fell as she said it.

“Hey, don’t look so down,” Nekomaru said to her, noticing her upset, “Did you do as many as you could?”

Chihiro nodded hesitantly.

“THEN THAT’S ALL YOU NEEDED TO DO!” the coach shouted, and to Nekomaru’s credit, Chihiro did look rather happier than before.

“Alright,” Sakura said, “Let’s all take a breather before we jog,” and they all nod, Junko internally thanking her.

Junko lied down, relaxing her limbs before a thought came to her. She sit up straighter, and looked over at the Ultimate Detective. “Hey, Shuichi?”

The detective looks over at the fashionista. “Y- Yeah?”

Junko hesitated to ask what she wanted to, but she’s already started the conversation. In for a penny, in for a pound. “How’re you doing after the whole Miu business yesterday?”

In hindsight, it was probably a bit tactless to bring this up in front of five other people. Peko and Chihiro both looked over at Junko with some apprehension, and Nekomaru and Nagito looked over at Shuichi, the former with the same apprehension. But Junko was surprised. Shuichi not only didn’t flinch away; he also didn’t even look uncomfortable. No, he was wearing a strong and resolute expression, and for possibly the first time since Junko met him, he looks her directly in the eyes.

“Junko,” Sakura says, eyeing the detective warily, “This is not-”

“I’m doing fine,” Shuichi cut her off, firmly, but not impolitely. Sakura looked sceptical, but allowed him to continue speaking.

Shuichi shied away as everyone’s eyes remained on him, but he pushed through regardless. “What Miu said hurt. It did, and she didn’t have my best interest at heart. But regardless… it was true.”

Chihiro piped up, “Shuichi-”

“However,” Shuichi continued, his voice incredibly firm, “I’m not going to allow her to get to me. I intend to push myself to become more confident, and use my talent to become an asset to the group.” He paused, and added on one more thing before finishing what he wanted to say:

“I will become stronger.”

The eyes of pretty much everyone there opened wider. “Wow…” Chihiro muttered under her breath.

“That is a good mentality to have,” Peko said, nodding her head at the detective.

“AGREEEED!” Nekomaru shouted, his smile showing just how proud he was of his athlete.

Nagito’s smile broadened, “Just as expected of an Ultimate! To overcome such hardships-”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it Nagito,” Junko said, cutting the luckster off, however he doesn’t look at all upset. Junko turned to look at the man with the cap, “Well done, dude,” she said genuinely.

Finally, as Shuichi looked overwhelmed by the compliments he’s getting, Sakura piped up, a small and proud smile on her face. “I am very proud of the way you’re taking this. It shows true strength to be able to turn someone’s awful words into a way to grow stronger. I commend you for that.”

Junko could only guess that Shuichi’s face was beet red, if how much he was covering it with his hat was any indication. He stammered out some nonsensical words before gulping and looking up. His face beet red as expected, and a wide smile on his face, “Th- Thank you!” he said, genuinely. “Thank you all!”

Exercise was relatively uneventful after that. They did some light jogging while having light conversation all the while.

By the time it hit 6:40 they had done a few laps, and they decided to call it there before breakfast began.

Junko excused myself to go and shower before breakfast.

‘Well…’ she thought, ‘This went… better than expected…’

Bing, Bong, Bing, Bong

“Good mornin’, Douchebags! This is the official start of the Kurokuma radio show!”

“…Unfortunately, I’m alone today… But that won’t be for long! After today, for every morning announcement that I do, I’ll be getting one of you chumps to co-host with me!”

“So uh… about that motive, huh? Pretty interesting first one to throw at you… Honestly, I thought that the memory one would be first, not this one! I guess the higher-ups considered it too OP to have a traitor just runnin’ around!”

“I wonder who the traitor is? The most obvious answer would be one of the two talent-sharing lameasses, but that’d be really obvious… like I said before. Maybe that detective dude? That’d be a twist! Or the clairvoyant! Is he just pretending to be dumb!? Who knoooows…”

“Anyway, I’m getting bored, so I’ll sign off for now! Have a killer day!”

Click!

‘Sure hope I’m not one of the people that moron decides to victimise with his radio show,’ Junko thought as she walked into the dining hall. She exchanged some waves and took her usual seat. Hiro was to her left, and Miu’s seat was empty, though that’s not at all surprising.

Looking around, she noticed that one of the smaller tables now contained everyone who previously split off from the large table. Shuichi, Nekomaru, and Sakura had joined Peko, Ryoma, and Kurokuma. The bear and the detective were each sat on either end of the table. Kurokuma laughed at something, and Ryoma grumbled, but Junko noted a reluctant smile on the face of everyone else there, Shuichi included.

Everyone else besides Miu, who was AWOL, and Kirumi and Shirokuma, who were still in the kitchen, were sat at the large table as usual.

Shirokuma waddled up to Junko, holding a plate of food and a drink on a platter. She nodded at the bear, “Thanks bud.” She grabbed her food and dug in.

“No problem,” Shirokuma said happily, before scurrying back to the kitchen.

 Angie raised her hand, gathering the attention of most people, “Hey, hey, what are we going to do about Miu once she arrives?” she asked, her tone conversational.

Sonia slowly set down her fork, and a few other people look disconcerted by Angie’s question. “I… what do you mean?” the princess asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Welllll, are we going to allow her to stay here with us? After the things she said to poor Shuichi and Kirumi yesterday, I am not sure if she should be welcome!” Angie answered, happy tone unwavering even with the seriousness of her words.

Sayaka shifted uncomfortably, her hands in her lap, “I guess it depends on how she acts if she decides to show up…”

Makoto nodded in agreement, “Yeah, if she’s genuinely apologetic, then I think that she deserves a second chance,” he said genuinely.

Hesitantly, Chihiro pipes up, “I mean… she did only lash out during two moments of high stress,” she rationalized, before adding, “But no one else did something like that, so I’m conflicted…”

“I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” Nagito said reasonably, and Junko nodded in agreement.

Byakuya was simply observing the room while he was eating. He’s been suspiciously quiet, so Junko knew he had something big to talk about later, though she could easily guess what it is.

The conversation at the large table lulls, and shit starts to get pretty monotonous as everyone ate. Junko overheard Ryoma asking Peko something interesting, and she tuned in to the other table to satiate her boredom.

“So,” Ryoma started conversationally, “How was exercise this morning?”

Peko raised an eyebrow, “Oh? If you were interested in joining us, you should have said so.”

Ryoma shook his head, “No dice,” he said plainly, “Seems like it’d be a pain. I was just curious,” he took a sip of his drink, “Besides, I’m not an athlete anymore.”

“That’s incorrect!” Nekomaru told him heatedly, animated enough to bump into Sakura as he spoke, “Everyone at this camp is my athlete at the very least!”

“Besides,” Shuichi said, his voice notably light and happy, “Most of us who showed up aren’t athletes in the first place.”

Ryoma sighed, “Leave it to the detective to dismantle my argument,” he grinned, earning a smile from the detective in question, “Though who even did show up?” he added.

“Everyone at this table with the exceptions of yourself and Kurokuma,” Sakura started, “Along with Junko, Chihiro, and Nagito.”

Angrily, Kurokuma spoke up, “I would have gone if I had gotten an invite, but you guys must have forgotten about my greatness and about the fact that your lives would be like, heaps better with me there!”

“Technically,” Peko said with a smirk, “You did get an invitation, as Sakura announced it to everyone in the dining hall, yourself included, however you declined because of your responsibilities regarding the morning announcement.”

“Not to mention,” Nekomaru grunted, “That we were done with training well before the morning announcement was even aired.”

Kurokuma gaped, “Well how in the ever-loving fuck was I meant to know that!?”

“Well in fairness, we didn’t know either,” Sakura said, amused.

Kurokuma continued to yap on about his usual bullshit, but she noticed that everyone at that table was talking with him. Hell, they look like they were enjoying talking to him.

‘Goddamnit Miu,’ Junko thought, frustrated, ‘How did you manage to fuck up to the point where people like Kurokuma more than you…’

And right on cue, who enters the dining hall?

Miu Iruma herself.

Everyone’s conversation stops as they look over at the inventor.

The brows of Hiro, Byakuya, Chihiro, Sonia, Sayaka, and Makoto all furrow, cautious of what may or may not happen. Sakura stiffens, and takes a defensive stance, while Ryoma, Peko, and Nekomaru all look wary. Shuichi pointedly looks down at the table, his expression covered by his hat.

Miu didn’t say a word as she walked forward into the dining hall proper, not making eye contact with anyone. She looked around, before spotting Shuchi, and making a beeline towards him.

Sakura stood up and blocked her path. “State your purpose,” she commanded of the inventor, her tone dangerous.

Miu stopped, and looked her dead in the eyes, “I’m not here to cause trouble,” she said plainly, her tone missing its usual abrasiveness, “I just wanna talk to him.”

Hiro leaned in to whisper to Junko. “Whaddaya think’s gonna happen?” he asked tactlessly, and Junko told him to zip it and not to interrupt.

The Ultimate Martial Artist regarded the smaller woman with scepticism, as Ryoma turned to look at the detective. “You cool with that Saihara?” he asked, his voice less gruff than normal.

Shuichi raised his head with a mildly shaky breath, before turning his head to face Miu, but not quite meeting her eyes. “Y-Yeah, it’s fine,” he said after a pause.

“Are you su-”

“I am,” Shuichi said, cutting off Peko as she spoke. The swordswoman didn’t look at all offended to be interrupted, and just nodded to the capped man.

Sakura moved out of the way, allowing Miu to step closer to Shuichi. Once she got closer, she stopped, looking down at the man before her.

Miu took a deep, calming breath in, steeling herself to say something.

And then…

“I’m so fucking sorry!”

Miu bowed to the detective, shouting her words of apology. Shuichi recoiled in surprise, the eyes of even the more stoic people here widen in shock.

“I said some stupid shit yesterday!” the blonde continued, “And I didn’t mean any of it! I was just fucking upset, and I lashed out at you because of it! I’m sorry…” She said most of it in one breath, and her final apology was breathless.

“Woah, didn’t see that coming!” Hiro shouted obliviously, and Junko, Sayaka, and Sonia, who were sat on either side and opposite him respectively, all shushed him profusely. If selective intelligence was a thing, then this fucking guy is patient zero.

Shuichi looked to be at a loss for words, still processing this completely unforeseen event in his mind.

Nekomaru clears his throat, “Well Shuichi?” he said, catching the detective’s attention, “What d’you say? You’re welcome to accept or deny her apology.”

Miu’s expression was tense, but there was also… another emotion. An unidentifiable one, that was overshadowed by the current mood.

Shuichi took in a breath, and closed his eyes… before he opened them with a small smile. “Very well, Miu,” he said kindly, “I accept your apology.”

“Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou,” Miu repeated, shaking Shuichi’s hand in a wild fashion.

As Sakura tried to pry a grateful Miu away from an uncomfortable but amused Shuichi, Makoto spoke up. “That worked out well, didn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Sayaka nodded, “I’m glad it did.”

“That was honourable of Miu to own up to her mistakes,” Sonia said, looking happy at the mild chaos unfolding at the other table, “Many people would not do such a thing.”

Chihiro nodded, “And it was really nice of Shuichi to accept her apology.”

“He is a better man than I,” Hiro said dramatically, earning a giggle from the girls at the table.

Angie spoke while giggling, “Atua must have given him the strength to let go of his anger!”

“No, I think that strength is his own,” Nagito corrected, “The strength to take someone’s negative words and turn them into positive growth is a trait truly befitting an Ultimate student!”

Junko rolled her eyes with a smile at Nagito’s antics, as Miu walked into the kitchen, likely to apologize to Kirumi as well.

A few minutes later, the inventor, maid, and Shirokuma all returned to the dining hall, all looking happier than before. Miu took her seat next to Junko and the fashionista threw her arm around her shoulders, “Well done,” she said, laughing at how Miu squirmed with the immense contact, “I didn’t think you had it in ya!”

Miu, beet red, responded, “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” she said, embarrassed, “But it was somethin’ I had to do, y’know? It was the right thing,” she adds adamantly.

Junko nodded, and removed her arm so she could eat.

Finally, after a very long while, Byakuya cleared his throat and stood up, gathering the attention of the whole room. “I believe it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room,” he said, and the atmosphere in the room shifts noticeably.

“You mean you!?” Kurokuma heckled, before cackling madly at his own joke.

“I presume you speak of the traitor?” Peko asked, one of the few people unperturbed by the topic. Byakuya nods.

Nagito perked up excitedly, “Should we discuss the identity of the traitor?” he asked restlessly, unsubtly looking at a confused Makoto.

Byakuya sighed quietly, likely expecting this kind of question from someone, “That is irrelevant to our conversation,” cites Byakuya, earning numerous confused looks.

“Really?” Ryoma asked, eyebrow raised, “I’d have thought that that would be subject number one.”

The Ultimate Affluent Progeny shook his head. “If we had any evidence as to the traitor’s identity, that would be true,” he agreed, “However the fact is we don’t, so making a guess as to the traitor’s identity would be naught more than a shot in the dark.”

“It would only be a one in sixteen chance of being correct,” Shirokuma nods, a note of distress in his tone.

Kurokuma laughed, “Nice math skills, bro! Ya fuckin nerd!”

“Well that’s a fuckin’ drag,” Miu mumbled, stabbing her egg with her fork. A few people nodded silently.

Shuichi raised his head, “Are we going to discuss what we should do about the traitor?” the detective asked, his tone not entirely questioning, as if he knew the answer to his question already.

“Correct,” Byakuya nodded, a smirk on his face, “As expected of a detective.”

While Shuichi attempted to digest the compliment that he had just received by their leader, Angie piped up. “Well like, is there anything that we can even do about the traitor without knowing who they are?” the artist wondered aloud.

The large man closed his eyes and crossed his arms, a condescending grin having crept up his face, “I am absolutely certain that there is something we can do about the traitor.”

“How can you be so sure?” Sonia inquired, a reluctant sceptical tone slipping into her voice.

“Eurika!” Miu shouted suddenly, “Remember how yesterday, idol girl told the bear that the motive was unfair?” she asked, earning a few nods from the class, “And remember how he tried to justify it? He specifically said that there was something that we can do!” she finished excitedly.

“He did say something like that, didn’t he…?” Junko mumbled, distracted while deep in thought…

“Well…,” Monokuma considered, “I guess it would be pretty unfair had I not told you,” he relented, “But since I did, and since there technically is something that you guys can do to combat this, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal,” Monokuma finished, before adding, “Oh, and I also don’t care what you think.”

Nodding, Byakuya agreed, “Yes, he specifically said that, and I’m of the opinion that we can believe him. Now, does anyone have any idea what he was talking about?”

Raising her hand as usual, Chihiro responds to the affluent progeny. “Are… are you suggesting that we try and bring the traitor over to our side?” she asks, and Byakuya nods.

“Woah… Is that even possible!?” Hiro asked the room at large, looking around at everyone.

“Yes, the odds are that it is possible,” responded Shuichi, not adding any actual information despite his certainty.

Byakuya crossed his arms again, “When the motive was announced, I made sure to observe everyone’s reaction to the news,” he informed the group.

“And?” Nekomaru grunted, arms crossed with one arm open.

“Everyone was surprised at the reveal,” he revealed, and a silence fell over the room for a short time.

“That’s… definitely interesting,” Sayaka spoke up, “But how does that matter?”

“Oh shit!” Junko shouted, unintentionally standing up, “Not even the traitor knew that this was gonna be the motive! They were left out of the loop by the bear!”

Surprised murmuring erupted in the room, and Junko could tell that most of the class didn’t realize what the heir was getting at.

‘I mightn’t be smarter than Byakuya and Shuichi, but I’m definitely smarter than a lot of us!’

“I had that same thought,” Shuichi nodded in agreement, a smile on his face.

Sakura hummed, mulling the revelation over, “While I agree that is certainly interesting,” Sakura said, scepticism laced in her voice, “However, I do not see where that gets us.”

“Yes!” Angie nodded, “And, and, how do we even know that the traitor is not just a good actor?” she asked, her creepy smile still on her face.

Byakuya answered both questions at once. “Monokuma believes that having a traitor among us is fair. I believe the reason for this is because we can nullify the motive by convincing them to rejoin our side,” he explained seriously, “The motive doesn’t guarantee the death of anyone. That is why it’s fair.”

Ryoma raised an eyebrow, “Is it even possible to convince the traitor?” he asked, receiving a few annoyed looks, “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a good idea in theory, but the traitor made their choice to betray the group. If they’re willing to side with our kidnapper, they’re probably pretty serious.”

“Well…,” Makoto piped up, deep in thought. “It’s possible that the traitor was blackmailed into working with Monokuma. If that’s the case, it should be possible to get them to join our side!” he said, finishing his sentence with renewed vigour.

Ryoma mulled the thought over for a moment, before grunting, “Gotta admit, I didn’t think of that,” he said reluctantly, “Looks like I’ve still got a ways to go…”

“Don’t sweat it, dude,” Junko told the tennis pro, receiving a small nod from him, “It was good to bring up so we’re all on the same page ‘n’ shit.” She turned to Byakuya, “What should we do now? I mean, individually?”

Byakuya indicated his head towards Nagito. “I believe that Nagito brought this up yesterday, saying that we should form bonds with one another,” Nagito perked up noticeably at Byakuya agreeing with him, “Doing so will make the traitor reluctant to betray friends that they have become close to. Now,” he said, changing topic, “To the traitor him or herself.” Everyone looked directly at him after he said that, anticipating what he would say to the hidden threat among the group. “You have thus far done nothing wrong, and I will personally ensure that no one will hold being the traitor against you if you come clean without doing anything. I ask you to please talk to me if you feel like defecting from Monokuma, and I will listen without judgement… That is all.”

Everyone looked around at one another. Some, like Nekomaru, Nagito, Angie, Sonia, and Makoto all looked revitalized, as if believing that there was now a chance to regain some control of the situation, whereas those of Kirumi, Ryoma, Sakura, Peko, and Miu all still looked discomforted, as if unconvinced that the traitor would do such a thing after betraying them. Shuichi, Chihiro, Hiro, and Sayaka all looked torn, clearly wanting to believe that there was a chance of that happening, but clearly had some doubt. Junko would probably put herself in the latter group.

To end off breakfast, Ryoma asks his usual question. “We done here?”

And Byakuya nodded.

Chapter Text

“Heeeeey Pekopeko. How you doin’?”

Peko opened her eyes and looked up at Junko, her expression blank, “I am simply resting.”

And resting she was. She was sitting on a log at the grove. When Junko arrived, her eyes were closed, and a sole ray of sunlight was baring down upon her through the trees. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

“Yeah?” Junko said, sitting down next to her, “Mind if I join you?”

Peko turned to look at her, “It seems you have already decided to do so, not that I mind,” she nodded, before closing her eyes again.

Junko noticed how quiet it was in the grove. Nothing but the sound of the wind. There were no birds, no bugs, no nothing. It was strange, honestly, how there was absolutely no wildlife in the campsite.

Junko decided to look up at the sun-

“Ah fuck!” Junko shouted, covering her eyes.

Peko quickly whipped her head up, looking at the fashionista and quickly realizing what she had just done. “What was the point of that?” she asked, disappointedly.

Re-opening her sore eyes, she looked over at the swordswoman and saw her disappointed expression, “I got caught up in the atmosphere okay?” she explained lamely.

Peko nodded curtly, and went back to shutting her eyes and looking down. Junko decide to do the same. It was peaceful.

Peaceful.

Peaceful…

…

…

Fucking boring.

“So how’s your life outside of Camp Kuma?” Junko broke the silence, her tone conversational.

Peko, again, opened her eyes and turned to look at Junko. “My life consists primarily of practising with the sword,” she said simply, her expression now blank again.

“Yeah?” Junko said, hoping but not expecting any more of an answer, “Manage to get any practise done while you’ve been here?”

Peko nodded, “Yes. I have been doing some in the early mornings before we convene at the dining hall for breakfast.”

“Get some done before training this morning then?”

“Yes.”

Junko racked her brain for a moment, thinking of another avenue of conversation. Fuck, this was like talking to a brick wall. “Have you, uh… got any interests outside of your talent?” she asked, trying her best to get the stoic swordswoman to open up to her, even if just a little.

“Distractions such as that are unnecessary,” Peko answers neutrally.

Junko’s eyes widened slightly in spite of herself. “Really?” she asked in surprise, “That kinda thinking leads to a really boring and monotonous life, y’know?”

Peko looked over at Junko again, her gaze slightly sharper than before, “My only purpose in life is to be fluent with the sword, to the extent that I could be considered one myself.”

Wow, edgelord much?

“Alrighty then, I’ve got a question,” Junko said, and Peko inclined her head for her to ask it, “What are we doing right now?”

Peko narrowed her eyes, tilting her head slightly as she attempts to decipher the question. “I am… unsure what you mean,” she finally said, clearly confused.

Junko smile inwardly to herself, “Now correct me if I’m wrong,” Junko started, earning an even more confused look from the swordswoman, “But last I checked, a sword couldn’t talk. So tell me Pekopeko; who am I talking to right now?”

Peko sighed, “I wasn’t being literal, as I suspect you know.” She rolled her eyes.

“Well if that’s the case,” Junko said triumphantly, “If you aren’t a literal sword, then wouldn’t having interests, like, not be unnecessary?”

Peko stayed still, as if trying to come up with a response that could properly refute what Junko had said. “I… am unsure how to respond to that without repeating myself,” she said quietly, slightly stumbling over her words.

Junko audibly sighed, making sure Peko could hear her, “Jeez, you’re as stubborn as Ryoma, y’know?”

Peko’s eyes widened curiously, “Oh? Elaborate on that, please.”

And so, Junko elaborated, “Well, I was talking to Ryoma like, yesterday or something about his own life, and he was reaaaally adamant about having nothing to live for and stuff. But,” Junko raised her voice slightly, “I managed to get him to tell me about his cat.”

Peko notably perked up at the mention of the feline, but very quickly tries to compose herself.

Junko gasped giddily, “Oh my god, you like cats too!” she shouted, happy to have found something to latch onto with the normally stoic woman.

Peko’s cheeks reddened, and she shakes her head, “N- No, of course I don’t! That’s unbecoming of- of me!” she said adamantly, clearly very embarrassed.

“Oh yes you do!” Junko goaded her, “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!”

Peko swiftly stood up, wiping the smile off of Junko’s face. “I- I have something I must do. Goodbye, Junko.” She swiftly strode away towards her cabin.

“What- no no, I’m sorry!” Junko shouted, but she’s ignored by the retreating form of Peko.

‘Damn, guess I went too far… Hope she’s not too mad at me…’

Junko sighed, now alone sitting on a log in the sunshine. It was a bit hot, so she decided to go indoors next. Maybe the lodge? If someone’s in there, it must be entertaining, right?

‘I’ll talk to Ryoma about helping me to get Peko to open up later… Yeah, yeah, that’s what I’ll do.’

The lodge is immediately noisy, as Junko heard an animated conversation between two people.

Upon the edge of the stage sat Angie and Hiro. Angie was talking loudly, her voice carrying to the door, and while Junko couldn’t see Hiro’s face, she could see him nodding along intently, clearly listening hard.

Having noticed her, Angie ceases her babbling and waved Junko over, Hiro quickly whipping his head around as well.

“Heeeey, Junkoooo!” Angie shouted, waving furiously at the new occupant.

“Junko!” Hiro shouted, also waving with a smile, “Come join us, yeah?”

Junko gave them both a wave, and then shrug in an accepting gesture, “Yeah sure.” She walked over to the stage, taking a seat on the edge next to Hiro. “What’re you guys talking about?”

“Angie’s telling me about her island!” Hiro jovially explained, a large smile on his face, “It’s pretty interesting actually.”

Angie nodded, “Yes, yes,” she said happily, “Hiro is such a wonderful listener~.”

“Really?” Junko asked, looking at the clairvoyant sceptically, “Never would’ve guessed that from this dipshit.” She pat Hiro on the back after she finished her sentence.

Hiro’s face falls slightly, but returns to his happy state after he realizes that Junko was just fucking with him. “Well come on then, Ang. Let’s hear some more,” he said, turning to the now giggling artist.

“Well, I will start from the beginning!” she announced, before jumping into her story, “Well, my island is veeeeery small, even though it used to be a lot larger,” she said, moving her arms to gesture small and large as she spoke the words.

Hiro piped up at this, clearly not having heard this little tidbit earlier, “Really? How’d that happen?”

“Well,” Angie said, “Atua decided that he would cause a natural disaster in order to make the island smaller, since he believes that it looks cuter that way!” Despite Angie’s harsh words, her smile didn’t waver even slightly. Because of course it didn’t.

“What the fuck…” Junko whispered quietly, but she decided that that’s a rabbit hole that she’d rather not jump down, “Whatever, let’s move on. What else is there?”

“Uhhhh…,” Angie thought for a few moments, dragging out the sound until she perked up suddenly, “Oh! We have a variety of plants and flowers that like to attack people!” she says happily.

“Woah…” Hiro mutters, amazed.

Junko was less amazed, and more morbidly curious, “Aaaare they like Venus flytraps or something?”

Hiro whipped his head around to face Junko, “Oh, are those the ones that eat flies?” he asked, and Junko nodded in affirmation.

“I do not know what those are,” Angie informed the duo, “But our plants and flowers don’t eat flies. They will usually only eat animals, but the occasional person will also be eaten.”

Hiro clutched his head in panic, “Woah, ain’t that bad!?” the man shouted hysterically.

“Uh, yeah it is,” Junko told the ridiculous man, before turning back to Angie, “Yeah, that shit’s fucked, but we’re gonna move on, yeah?”

Angie looked a little confused, but nodded regardless and allowed the topic change. “Uhm… Oh! The island is very far out in the middle of the sea!” she informed.

Hesitantly, Junko asked a question, “Really? How much contact do you have with the rest of the world?”

Angie nodded hilariously, “Yes yes yes! I frequently use an online shopping website in order to get stuff that I can’t find on my island,” the artist said happily.

Junko formed an ‘o’ shape with her mouth, “D’you mean like eBay or Amazon or something?”

“Ssssomething like that,” the artist concurs, “But it is called DeepSea, and I do not think that it is very popular outside of my island.”

“I only recognize eBay,” Hiro informed.

Junko shook her head. “I’ve got a lot to teach you about the ‘net once we escape, bud,” she told the clairvoyant, who did a little pout but otherwise looked like he’s enjoying himself. Junko turned back to Angie, “What sorta crap do you normally buy? Art products or like, what?”

“That is right!” Angie applauded, “I personally normally buy art supplies, food, and clothing,” she told us with glee, “But there are many, many other things that can be bought!”

“What else can you buy?” Hiro asked, clearly relatively unfamiliar with online shopping despite knowing of eBay.

“Well you can buy organ meat, medicine, blood, and even children!” Angie told the duo in delight.

“…What?” Junko and Hiro both asked simultaneously, because what other fucking responses can you have to that information.

Angie nodded profusely again, “Yes, you can buy pretty much everything! Unfortunately, you can’t find OOPArts on there…”

“Woah, you like OOPArts?” Hiro asked in surprise, seemingly forgetting the possible human trafficking operation that they’d just learned about.

Junko could actually feel her face contort with confusion at the last thirty seconds of conversation, “What the fuck are…,” she began to ask, but upon seeing the excited looks on the face of both Hiro and Angie, decided that it was yet another rabbit hole that she’d rather avoid diving in to. “Y’know what? Nevermind, I’ll leave you two to your OP arts or whatever it is. See ya later,” she said, jumping off of the stage and waving to the strange duo.

They both wave back. “It’s actually OOPArts,” Angie corrected on Junko’s way out.

“Yeah Junko, it’s OOPArts,” Hiro addded obnoxiously with a grin.

As Junko opened the door to the lodge, she turned back to the fashion-less man, “Oh, I’ll get you back for that one later,” she said with an evil grin.

As Angie giggles, Hiro replied in challenge. “I’d like to see you try!”

Junko stuck her tongue out at him, and shut the lodge door behind her.

Hiro didn’t know just how petty Junko Enoshima could be…

As Junko was trekking the path back to her cabin in order to think up diabolical schemes in order to enact her petty revenge upon the Ultimate Clairvoyant, she ran into Makoto and Sayaka, once again sat outside of the former’s cabin.

Seeing her, the lucky student waved Junko over, swiftly followed by the pop idol. Deciding on the spot that her revenge plan could wait for later, she sat on one of the two unoccupied lawn chairs. The one next to Sayaka, to be exact.

“You two seem to be having a nice conversation,” Junko observed after exchanging hellos.

Sayaka smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, we were just talking about our friends, family and relationships and stuff,” she said happily.

“Relationships, eh?” Junko repeated with intrigue, getting an idea on the spot. She stood up and ran behind Makoto, putting her hands on his shoulders.

Makoto stiffened under her hands. “J-Junko!?”

Junko stared straight into Sayaka’s eyes with a cheshire grin on her face, “Makoto~” she purred, “Are you crushing on Sayaka?”

Sayaka’s pale, doll-like face immediately filled with colour, and she swiftly averted her eyes from the other two of them. As for Makoto, Junko could physically feel the heat rising up his body. “Wh- Junko- I- uh-” he sputtered, clearly not expecting this to happen when he innocently waved someone over.

“Oh?” Sayaka said, recovering quickly despite her blush, “Speak up please, Makoto,” the pop sensation asked teasingly, a grin gracing her pretty features.

Junko cackled out an evil laugh, shaking the short man seated in front of her, “Yeah Big Mac, speak up!”

Makoto sputters out another unintelligible response, but once Junko ceased shaking him, his voice becomes understandable. “W-Well, it doesn’t matter does it?” he said, and upon seeing the confused and borderline hurt look from Sayaka, launched into an explanation, “I-I just mean, you probably have a boyfriend, right? So what chance would someone as average as me have?”

Sayaka’s blush remained, but her expression became firm, “I don’t have a whole lot of time for things like that, so I’d have to like someone a lot in order for me to decide to put that kind of effort into dating someone… Though I do have someone I’m interested in at that level at the moment…,” she shyly added, looking down at her lap and subtly wringing her hands together.

Makoto adopted a sad smile, “He must be one lucky guy…”

Junko gaped behind the ‘lucky guy,’ and thankfully he couldn’t see her. She look at Sayaka, and mouthed to her, “Is he really this dense?”

“Ya,” Sayaka mouthed back, clearly a bit frustrated.

Makoto notices this, and he whipped his head around back to look at me, and then back to Sayaka, and back to me again. “What?” Makoto asked, dumbly, “Did I miss something?”

“No, nothing,” Junko shook her head, ruffling Makoto’s hair, before walking in front of him. “Cough, Get a clue Cough,” And as soon as she see the angrily embarrassed expression on Sayaka’s face, she waved goodbye and decided to skedaddle.

“What was that about?” Junko heard Makoto ask as she was walking away, and she could’ve sworn to god that she heard Sayaka slap a hand to her forehead.

Seeing that she didn’t have a whole lot of time left before lunch, Junko decided to rock up to the dining hall early.

She swiftly came to realize that she wasn’t the only one who had that idea. Unsurprisingly, Byakuya had shown up early, but what was weird was that he was playing a card game with Miu of all people.

Junko decided to investigate further. Upon doing so, she realized that this card game was in fact Uno.

“Would’ve never expected to see you playing something as childish as this, Byakuya,” Junko mused, earning a bark of laughter from Miu.

Byakuya gave a grunt of acknowledgement, shuffling the cards as a round seemed to have just ended. “Normally, I wouldn’t even consider participating in activity such as this,” the heir concured, before elaborating, “However, I was the one who requested everyone to get along in order to convince the traitor to ally with us, so it would have been immensely hypocritical to turn down an opportunity to do so that was handed to me on a silver platter.”

“I’m gonna ignore the not-so-subtle hint that I could be the traitor,” Miu grumbled, before perking up again, “Junko, you wanna join us?”

As she was about to answer, Junko noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Shirokuma had just poked his head out from the kitchen, clearly interested in what people are doing here early.

Miu, seeing that the fashionista’s attention was elsewhere, followed her gaze to see the white bear shyly standing there. “What, you wanna join in too?” the inventor bluntly asked.

“If… if you wouldn’t mind having me…!” Shiro shyly, but excitedly said.

Junko smiled broadly, “Yeah, c’mon bud!” she told Shiro, “But just so you know, you’re gonna lose to me~”

Shiro had no visible reaction to the taunting except for a nod.

As the bear and Junko both sat down, she noticed how strange it was to see Shiro without Kirumi. She decided to speak up on it, “Yo, where’s Kirumi?”

Shiro sagged slightly in his chair, “Oh… she’s gone to clean places like the lodge and office and whatnot…,” he said, before adding, “I also noticed that she seemed a bit antsy…”

As Miu begins dealing the cards, Byakuya inadvertently soothed Shiro’s apparent nerves, “It’s probably her way of coping with the stress of our situation,” the heir says simply.

Junko pick up her hand, and she noticed that it was literal dogshit. Not a single wild card was there, and the best thing she had was a single draw two. “So who goes first?”

“It’s normally the youngest, right?” Miu asks, and Junko nodded in affirmation.

Byakuya cleared his throat, “Then when are your birthdays? Mine is May 5^th.”

Miu cackled triumphantly, “November 16^th, bitches! Read it and weep!”

They both turn to look at Junko, Miu slowly losing her gloating grin. “Yeah, you laugh now,” she said, earning a horrified look from the Ultimate Inventor, “December 24^th!”

“Damn it…!” Miu hissed, placing her forehead on the table, before quickly whipping it back up, “Shiro, how ‘bout you?”

“Um… I’m technically only two years old, so…”

Junko stifled a laugh, “Yeah alright, he wins!” Junko said through her laughter.

So, it was decided that the game would start with Shirokuma, and then goes left to Byakuya, Miu, and then Junko.

The first two rounds were boring, to the extent that the only non-numbered card played was Shiro skipping Byakuya, much to Miu’s amusement.

“Hey Miu,” Junko piped up, bored as shit, “What sorta inventions have you made, as the Ultimate Inventor?”

Miu gave a pronounced sigh as she plays a card, “Nothin’ since we’ve been here. There’re fuck all materials to make anything in this shitthole.”

“I think Junko meant before coming here,” Shirokuma informed her.

Miu wordlessly made an ‘o’ shape with her mouth, and Byakuya rolled his eyes.

“In that case,” the inventor begun, “I’ve made something that I like to call, ‘the hookup counter,’” Miu said, sounding very proud of herself.

Byakuya furrowed his brow, “What on earth could that name mean?”

“I’ve got a shrewd idea,” Junko mumbled, before adding apologetically, “Sorry, dude,” to Shiro, seeing as she had just placed down a draw four.

“When you point the hookup counter at someone, it shows you how many people that they’ve fucked- or gotten fucked by!” Miu explained proudly.

Byakuya gaped in shock, “Wh- Wha- How did you even-”

“I’m not sure we’d like to know the answer to that…” Shiro said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.

Junko giggled, and Miu cackled at their reactions, “Hahaha- Hey, fuck you!” she shouted at Byakuya as he played a draw two.

“Pst,” Junko whispered, leaning in towards the blonde woman next to her, “What do you think Byakuya’s number is?” she asked, as the heir glares at her, having obviously heard.

“I dunno,” Miu said as she drew her cards, “But I feel like he’d be a bit freaky-”

“If the two of you wish to keep your careers,” Byakuya cut us off, “I would highly recommend ceasing this line of conversation. Move on. Now.”

Miu put her hands up in a peaceful gesture, “Fine, fine, chill out, dude,” she said, rolling her eyes in exasperation. She thought for a moment, before perking up again, “I’ve made some glasses that could play erotic videos that only the wearer could see,” and adds, “So you can get your rocks off on the go!”

Junko, again, laughed at Miu’s words, and even Shirokuma seemed to find this invention funny, if his giggle was any indication. Much to Junko’s surprise, Byakuya actually looked pretty interested. “That’s rather advanced technology,” he mused, “And watching something non-erotic on the go could be rather useful…”

Shiro played down a reverse, as he asked the important question, “Is it even possible to actually watch something non-erotic?” Despite asking the question, it was clear that he already expected what the answer was.

Miu barked out a laugh, “‘Course not. It’s hardcoded into the glasses to play erotic content.”

Byakuya just looked exasperated at this information, but not entirely surprised, “Why on earth would you do something so unnecessary and stupid,” he asked.

“Hey, if I made it, I can do whatever I want with it,” the inventor replied dismissively, earning an eye roll from Byakuya.

Shirokuma played a card, “Uno.”

“What!?” Miu shouted, looking down at her hand of cards in distain.

“Moving swiftly onward,” Junko said, trying to stop the potential threat of Miu throttling the bear, “Let’s hear one more invention before Shiro wins, shall we?”

Miu mumbled some obscenities about the card game, but then decided on the final invention that she wanted to tell everyone about, “I made eye drop contacts,” she said, annoyed.

Both Junko and Shirokuma looked confused, not being immediately able to see the innuendo. Byakuya just rolled his eyes, “What’s the catch?” he asked.

“There are none,” Miu said simply with a shrug.

Byakuya looked sceptical, “How on earth have I never heard of such a useful product?”

“Well, they cause mild irritation at the moment,” Miu explained, mildly upset at her own words, “So before I release it to the public, I wanna iron out that one caveat. It’s gotta be perfect, y’know?”

Byakuya looked surprised, “That… is oddly righteous of you,” Byakuya complimented… At least it sounded like a compliment.

Miu didn’t seem to notice the insulting undertones, “Well yeah, most of my inventions are just me fucking around and having fun, but behind the scenes I put my golden brain to good use.”

“You’re a good person,” Shiro told her, genuinely.

“Thank you,” Miu said happily, “I’m glad that you’ve finally noticed my- oh you motherfucker!” she shouted, as Shirokuma played the winning card.

As Miu cussed out Shiro, the bear looked to be some mixture of smug and scared. Junko and Byakuya both laughed as they watch the scene unfold.

Right after Kirumi handed Junko her food for lunch, she noticed Ryoma walking into the dining hall. She stood up, ignoring the inquires of Miu and Hiro, and walk over to the tennis player.

Junko gestured him to come aside, and he obliged. “What’s up?”

“I need you to bring up cats around Peko,” she said simply.

Ryoma’s expression was just blank. “You want me to bring up cats around Pekoyama?”

Junko nodded.

“Yeah, uh, why?”

 “Well,” Junko explained, “I was chatting to her earlier, and the only time she really showed any real emotion was when I brought up a cat.”

Ryoma gave her a small chuckle, “I’ll think about it,” he promised.

Junko thanked him with a smile.

Fuck all happened during lunch. Hiro was bumbling fool as always, Miu was doing her best to be nice, Angie and Nagito made everyone mildly uncomfortable, and Chihiro was doing her best to keep things within the realm of reason.

Once everyone was finished eating, Junko decided to hang back with Byakuya, since they’d never really had a one-on-one conversation, and this seemed to her like a good opportunity.

Junko plopped down next to the leader and give him an upward nod. “Sup?”

Byakuya slowly turns his head to face Junko, an unimpressed expression on his broad face. “‘What is up’ is certainly not your weight,” Byakuya observed, “Have you been eating correctly? If we were in a less hospitable environment, you’d likely freeze to death,” he added bluntly.

“Oh, okay, wow,” Junko blanched, not entirely sure what else she was supposed to say to such a proclamation.

Byakuya sighed and shook his head, before hesitantly asking a more serious question, “Junko… please be honest with me. Do you believe that a murder will occur?”

Junko lowered her eyes. “Want my honest answer?” she asked, and Byakuya gave a resolute nod. “Then yeah. This game is designed to make us break. Even if this traitor thing doesn’t work, Yogi Bear’ll just throw something else at us- and don’t forget the constant threat of someone killing us, and the idea that we’re trapped here forever…” she lowered her voice, becoming depressed as she finished the thought, “…Honestly, it’s only a matter of time…”

The heir nodded slowly, lost in thought. “Thank you, Junko, for your candidness.”

“No worries, dude,” Junko pat him on the shoulder with a grim smile, “Though I’d like to know what you think? If you agree with me, then why would you bother trying to keep us alive even though it wouldn’t matter?”

“I believe that my way of operating makes the chances of someone deciding to commit murder as low as possible,” he said, proudly, before sadly admitting, “But I do not believe that anything at all can be done to completely nullify the chances.”

Junko smiled at the big guy, “You’re a good leader, Byakuya,” she told him genuinely.

The man’s face broke into a reluctant grin, before going blanker than she had ever seen it.

“Byakuya?” Junko questioned worriedly, noticing his discomfort.

“…Junko?” Byakuya asked, refusing to make eye contact with the fashionista, “How… how much do you believe that a person’s name matters?”

Junko was left momentarily speechless by the strangeness of his question. Does he worry that his name defines who he is? Being the heir to a massive conglomerate could do that to a guy, but Byakuya never struck Junko as someone who would worry about that shit. “Well… I dunno for sure I guess, but if I had to say…? A name matters in the sense that everyone would contribute everything that, like, is you to that name; like everything you’ve done, who you are as a person, all that jazz. That being said, your name doesn’t define you as a person. You might be Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny, but you’re also our leader, regardless of your name.”

Byakuya looked at Junko, stunned silent by her answer. He crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and adopted a warm smile, “Thank you, Junko. I truly appreciate your kind words.”

Junko and Byakuya both depart the dining hall together. The latter decided to head to his cabin, but the former noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

Shirokuma was just lying on the stage. Just lying there, spread eagled. Needless to say, Junko was curious when she saw a walking talking stuffed animal lying in a defeated pose on the stage, staring at the sky.

She hopped onstage and lied down next to the bear. Junko noticed him turn his head to look at her, and then stare back at the sky again.

“What’s wrong, dude?” Junko asked, also staring at the blue sky.

Shiro gave her a big sigh. “I just…” he hesitated, before continuing, “I just don’t wanna be here.”

Junko raised an eyebrow, turning her head only slightly, “Really? You were forced to be here? Why?”

“I can’t tell you the reason why,” he said, “But as consolation, I’ll tell you some other stuff if you want. Like, bro and I are both failed Monokuma units.”

“Yeah?” Junko mumbled, mildly interested. This meant that there were more than one Monokuma. Not too much of a shock, honestly, it made sense for him to have backups, because if he didn’t, if someone like Sakura or Peko or Ryoma or something decided to off him, that’d be it. This was an interesting topic, sure, but it doesn’t sound particularly useful. “How’d that happen?”

Shiro sat up, and turns his body to face Junko. She did the same, sitting cross-legged, facing the bear. “Well,” he said, “When my bro was being created, something happened that caused his personality to be split in two. Half went to him, and half remained, which got given to me.”

“So basically, put you both together, and you’re Monokuma?” Junko reasoned, an obvious tone of disgust in her voice.

Shiro put his hands up in a defensive gesture, “N- No!” he said adamantly, before amending, “Well… not exactly. Strictly speaking, yes, that’s what we are, but seeing as we both had a life after our creation, we’ve got more memories and emotions than Monokuma does,” he said, revealing a big fact about his life.

Junko held a hand up, “Wait, wait, wait,” she stopped the bear, halting the conversation. “So you had a life outside the game? What was that like?” she inquired curiously. This didn’t seem like it would lead to anything particularly helpful, but she was curious about her little uno buddy. She wanted to know more about him.

Shiro looked away from Junko. He wringed his paws nervously, hesitating to answer, as if suspecting that she wouldn’t like the answer. “Okay, look, I can’t say too much on the topic, but I’ll give you the cliff notes. Before I was brought here, I lived in a city that had a lot of… political conflict- to the point where a large group of people were forced underground in some sort of resistance. I was one of them…,” he told her unhappily, trailing off reminiscently.

“Hah?” Junko made a confused noise, primarily because there was one thing in the story that she found very curious, “What’s a random Monokuma unit doing in a city outside? Surely that’d get some sort of media attention, right?”

The white bear looked away again. Clearly Junko had asked another question that she wouldn’t get a straight answer of. “Well… there were more than just me, but that’s all I’ll say. Please don’t ask again,” he told her, apologetically.

“Okay, I’ll ask one more thing,” Junko said, asking probably the most important question that she could, “Do you want to help us?”

Shiro didn’t skip a beat. He nodded, “I do. I really, really do.”

“Then please,” she begged, “Give me a piece of useful information. Anything at all.”

He stared at her for a few moments, and just as she had begun to think he wouldn’t be saying anything; “Both I and my bro know a large portion of the background of all of the participants of the game. Including some things that certain people would like to hide,” he told Junko worriedly, clearly line-dancing on what he should and shouldn’t be talking about.

“How does that help?” Junko asked, curiously. She already kinda suspected that they had some insider info on all of them, but she didn’t really know what to do with that information.

“Think about it,” he said, standing up and walking to the edge of the stage, “I’m going to the lodge for a while. If you need me, I’ll be in my room. Goodbye,” he waved, jumping off the stage and waddling over to his destination.

Junko called “Goodbye!” after him. Shiro seemed to think that the fact that he and Kuro know about everyone was important. Junko decided to mull it over later.

Bored out of her fucking mind, Junko decided to go look around the director’s cottage, seeing as she hadn’t been there since before the announcement of the killing game.

Evidently, Nagito had had a similar idea, as upon entering, Junko had noticed him emerging from the left hallway. Looked kinda creepy to be honest, to see his lanky figure emerging from a dark hallway. It was mitigated only slightly by the fact that he decided to poke his head out from around the corner first, which was admittedly kinda funny.

“Ah, Junko!” Nagito greeted, waving to her with a smile, “It’s good to see you!”

Junko nodded back at the guy, “Same to you. How’re doing?” she asked conversationally.

Nagito’s smile fell, and he tilted his head in apparent confusion, “Junko, are you feeling okay?” he asked in concern.

It was Junko’s turn to tilt her head at that point. “Why’d you ask that?”

“Well it’s just that someone like you deciding to talk to someone like me is strange,” he said, genuinely, “So I’m concerned that you’re feeling unwell…”

Junko pronouncedly rolled her eyes, “Seriously dude?” she asked exasperatedly, “Why’re you like this, man?”

Nagito scratched his cheek, embarrassment clear on his face, “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what you mean,” he said, absolutely nothing about his tone indicating that he’s confused.

Junko shook her head in disappointment, “Well, you’re really self-depreciating, but you seem like an okay guy, so it’s unwarranted,” she said, “I just don’t get why you do it.”

The luckster nodded in understanding, “Junko…,” he started, with an air of a man having to explain something simple, “It’s just that I’m worthless trash, unworthy of even being in the presence of fourteen Ultimate students, let alone living in isolation with them!”

Junko rolled her eyes. ‘Fourteen, huh? Wonder who he skipped over.’ “Dude, no one thinks that you’re worthless. It’s legit just you. No one honestly thinks that they’re better than anyone else just because they’re talented,” she told him, though she severely doubted that he’d listen.

“Ah, you Ultimate students are all so incredibly humble and magnanimous,” Nagito complimented, his smile becoming manic. Yeah, shocker.

Junko rolled her eyes for the seventy-sixth time. She had gained fuck all from this conversation. Seeing as she was getting nowhere fast, she decided that it was time to change the topic. “What’re you doing in here, anyway?”

Nagito’s smile returned to its normal relaxed state. “Oh, I just decided to look around, since I had nothing better to do,” he explained, adding, “Though I was most interested in the ambiguously locked door at the end of the hallway,” he pointed behind him, down at the hallway that he previously emerged from.

Junko walked down the hall to the door and jiggled the doorknob. Shockingly, it didn’t open.

Nagito skulked up behind her, peering over her shoulder with a smile, “Monokuma showed up earlier. He told me that it’d open up later.”

“Any chance he said when?” Junko asked, still stubbornly jiggling the doorknob despite knowing how futile the act was.

“Nope.”

She sighed, walking away from the door at last. “Yeah, that’d be too helpful of him,” Junko mumbled sarcastically. Nagito chuckled tiredly.

The Ultimate Lucky Student headed towards the front door, “I’m rather tired, so I’m gonna have a rest in my cabin before dinner,” he said, giving Junko a wave goodbye.

Junko waved back as he left, “Fair enough, see you later, dude.”

She stood around awkwardly for a while, before coming to her senses and deciding to head off for the other place that she hadn’t really investigated since the first day here: the office.

As Junko walked outside, she spotted Nagito heading off in the distance. She looked towards the sky. It’ll be dinner soon, so she had better make this quick.

Junko follow the path the short way to the office, not spotting anyone else on her trek there.

She open the door to see a surprising but not all unexpected sight.

“Wheeeee!”

Kurokuma was spinning around and around on a wheely chair, having the time of his fucking life.

Mid-spin, he spotted Junko. He immediately shut up. He tried to stop himself from spinning by grabbing onto the nearby desk, but it failed. He tried it again the next time around, and succeeded. However, he also fell off of the chair, onto the ground. He scrambled back onto the chair. He then adopted a business-like stance, looking deeply at Junko, and said in a deep voice; “So you’ve come.”

Junko stood there, dumbfounded. “What in the actual fuck was that?”

“How do you know my language?” Kuro asked suspiciously.

Electing that it would be best to not play into his bullshit, Junko got straight down to business, “I know that you had a life before the killing game.”

“Eh?” the bear grunted, confused enough to break whatever character he seemed to be playing, “How the fuck d’you know that?” he said, standing up angrily.

“Your bro,” Junko responded simply, waving dismissively.

Kurokuma sat back down, “Oh yeah, that checks out,” he said in realization. “Y’here to hear my epic backstory or something?” he asked, perking up excitedly.

“As a matter of fact,” Junko said smugly, “I am.” She wasn’t there for that specifically, but if she got him to ramble enough, he might spill something important… Actually, that was probably the hint that Shiro gave to her earlier! Kurokuma was prone to rambling and saying shit that he shouldn’t, so getting him to slip up should be easy.

Kuro jumped up and down excitedly, “Alright! Ask whatever questions you want, whenever you want,” he told her, excited to have an attentive audience at long last, “Well, before coming here I pretty much babysat a group of kids who ran a city.”

Junko immediately had many questions, but she decided that she probably won’t get a whole lot of answers… well she might, but this didn’t seem important. It seemed stupid, in fact.

“There were five of them,” he continued, “All super smart and shit, and I was there help them achieve their goals!”

“Yeah?” Junko question, somewhat interested in this conversation, “What were their goals?”

Kuro’s grin broadened, “They wanted to beat the adults!” he said, oddly cryptically.

Junko smiled, ignoring the feeling of unease that those words made her feel, “Aw. That’s kinda cute.”

Kurokuma stared into space reminiscently, “Y’know? It kinda was…,” he mumbled happily.

“What’re you even doing in the killing game anyway?” Junko asked, hoping against hope that Kuro would be more willing to talk than Shiro.

“Huh?” the black bear asked, shook out of his stupor by the question, “Oh! Well some dude with long hair came one day and took me here. Then the boss gave me an objective!”

Good. He was talking. “Yeah? What’s the objective?”

Kuro shook his head, “Nuh uh, no dice,” he said sagely, “Been told in no uncertain terms that I can’t say nuttin’. Don’t matter anyway, since I can’t do it right now…” he trailed off.

Very interesting. Whatever it was that he was supposed to do, he couldn’t do it right now. Good to know. “Who’s the long-haired guy?” Junko asked, as this dude seemed to be someone involved with the game.

Annoyingly, Kuro shrugged, “Dunno his name,” he told her, “But I think that he’s the Ultimate Hope or sumshit.”

“‘Ultimate Hope?’” Junko echoed, tilting her head in confusion, “What kinda talent is that?”

The bear’s proverbial eyebrows raised, “What kinda talent is the Ultimate Princess?” he asked, “Or hell, the Ultimate Lucky Student? There’re two of those bastards here!”

“Touché,” Junko nodded, “Touché.”

“Yeah, so I-” the bear continued speaking, but caught sight of the clock on the wall, “Oh shit! We’ll be late for dinner! I can’t let people have a meal without gracing them with my presence!” he shouted, scrambling off of the chair and over the desk, rushing out the door without looking back.

Junko laughed loudly at the bear’s departure, seeing as he had completely forgot about her presence.

She followed the bear outside, and noticed how it had become darker. Because that’s how time worked.

Junko absently noticed the bandage on her hand, and slowly unravelled it. She looked at the scratch that Miu had given her. It had stopped bleeding completely, but still looked somewhat grizzly, so she made a detour to the health centre to get more so that she didn’t have to look at it.

“Hey Byakuya? Did the traitor come forward yet?” Angie piped up about halfway through dinner, after a particularly quiet lull in the conversation.

The tension in the room went from quietly relaxed to as tense as a bow about to be fired.

“Yeah, wait!” Hiro almost shouted, “I totally forgot about that!”

Junko noticed everyone listening intently. Shuichi and Ryoma especially looked intrigued by the answer, which made sense. As the Ultimate Detective, Shuichi obviously would have a vested interest in whether or not the traitor came forward, whereas Ryoma had shown that he had some… strong feelings about the traitor.

Byakuya shook his head sadly, “Unfortunately, the traitor has not revealed themselves to me,” he informed the group disappointedly.

Sayaka wrung her hands together uncomfortably, “Will the traitor really come forward?” he asked hesitantly, “If they haven’t stepped forward yet, then maybe they just… won’t?”

“No, I’m sure they will!” Makoto said with conviction, “We need to believe in the good of us if we wanna make it out of here,” he added, explaining his reasoning.

Miu rolled her eyes, “That’s a nice sentiment and all, but you’re being too naïve. They’re clearly not fuckin’ talking, so we should start worrying about them killing someone,” she said, uncharacteristically seriously.

“You could do with being more positive,” Nekomaru grunted in disapproval, eyeing Miu with one of his eyes, the other one closed.

Ryoma sighed, “Why bother with that?” he said, pulling his beanie down over his face, “Iruma’s right. If they’ve not come forward yet, we really need to consider the possibility that they’ve decided to kill someone.”

“I agree,” Shuichi concurred, somewhat surprisingly, “It’s an option that we absolutely need to consider. Everyone should act with care.”

Peko raised an eyebrow, “I would have thought that we should be doing that regardless,” she noted, her tone border lining on questioning.

Chihiro stuttered slightly at the start of her sentence, “I- think that he means that we should be more careful, now that there’s a more immediately present danger.” Shuichi nodded in agreement.

Everyone else nodded sagely, all thinking things over in their own heads. Junko didn’t know what she should do. She’d like to say something to brighten the mood, but she didn’t know what. It sucked.

“Wow!” Kuro shouted out of nowhere, “You guys really are up shit creek without a paddle, huh?”

Sakura looked over at him dangerously, “We have tolerated your presence until now, but such an honour could easily be revoked,” she all but growled at the bear.

“Yeah,” Shiro agreed swiftly, “Please behave yourself, big bro. Hanging out with everyone is nice, and I don’t want you to be kicked out.”

Sonia smiled brightly at the white bear, “You are too kind!” she said happily.

Kurokuma didn’t say anything. He seemed to have decided to keep his mouth closed. “Not gonna say anything?” Junko asked, knowing that there was a good chance that she’d get a rise out of him.

As expected, Kuro rose to her provocations, “I don’t need anyone but myself!” he shouted defiantly.

“Then why not leave?” Kirumi suggested without looking over at him, all while elegantly sipping her tea.

“I couldn’t do that to you guys,” the black bear said magnanimously, shaking his head slowly.

Ryoma rolled his eyes, “How nice of you,” he mumbled sarcastically.

Byakuya stood up, having finished eating his food, “Everyone, please ensure that you keep your doors locked tonight,” he said seriously, “Remain safe, keep vigilant, and I expect to see you all here tomorrow. You are dismissed.” He walked out of the dining hall without another word.

Junko looked down at her plate, and noted the complete absence of food situated upon it. Seeing as she had also finished eating, she had nothing better to do here. Junko stood up, deciding to leave for her cabin as well, “Aight, imma head out,” she told everyone, waving as she began her walk to the door.

A chorus of goodbyes follow after her, and a couple of people waved back.

Miu spoke up loudly, “Junko, wai-”

“See you Junko!” Hiro shouted, having had a full mouth when everyone else bid their goodbyes.

Junko knew that she should probably hear what Miu had to say, but she was too tired to really care. There was always tomorrow.

Making sure to lock the cabin door, Junko crawled into bed without changing- though she obviously removed her shoes and bows. She was too tired to care right now, she’ll shower in the morning.

Just as she was nodding off, Junko heard Kurokuma’s nighttime announcement blare, waking her up again. She defiantly ignored it, and once peace and quiet reigned supreme yet again, she fell asleep at last.

…

..

.

Knock Knock Knock

…

Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock

…

Dude, what the fuck?

Junko rolled over and grabbed her Monophone. The light strained her eyes as she looked at the time. It read ‘12:23PM.’ Who the fuck would be here this late?

Figuring that it could be important, Junko rolled outta bed and answered the door.

Junko languidly pull the door open, and she saw the figure of Miu on the other side. “The fuck’re you doing here?” she tiredly asked her.

“Junko, hey…” Miu nervously said. Maybe being out this late was nerve wracking, “Can you like… come with me to the dining hall for a bit? I’d like to talk over a soda or something…”

“Huh?” Junko asked, and unexpectedness of the question properly woke her up, “Yeah, yeah sure.”

Miu nodded and gulped, “Cool, cool,” she looked Junko up and down, and notices that she was already dressed, “Let’s go then.”

Junko close the door behind her. The walk to the dining hall was in silence. Junko was somewhat tense about being out this late, but the fact that she was with someone else and extremely tired was making her feel a little less worried.

They walked into the dining hall, and Miu indicated for Junko to sit down at one of the small tables, before going into the kitchen to grab them their sodas.

While she was waiting, her eyes tried to adjust to the bright lights in the room. Junko wondered what this was all about. Miu might just wanna talk to her about some worries that she has about our situation. It wouldn’t be that surprising to be honest. She might be more open to talk in a communal area like the dining hall, as opposed to a cabin.

After a while, Miu emerged from the kitchen. She was holding two glasses of a fizzing pink liquid, which Junko could only assume to be creaming sodas. Nice of her to get something caffeine free.

She handed Junko her drink and sat down next to her. They both take a sip, and she enjoyed the sweet taste on her tongue, rushing down her throat.

After setting down the glasses, Miu spoke up, her voice neutral, but laced with what could only be anxiety. “Junko, I’m scared.”

Junko turned over to look at her, and noted the forced calm expression on her face, “Yeah? Why- I mean, other than the obvious?” she asked, somewhat confused as to if this is the only reason that she’s brought her here.

“Well- look- it’s just that…,” she stumbled, hesitating with almost every word, “Like… because of the shit that happened yesterday… I’m worried that I might be a target- for anyone, not even just the fucking traitor…”

Junko tilted her head, “You think that someone other than the traitor would kill?” she asked curiously. It’s not like the thought is outlandish, but she would like to hear her reasoning.

“Junko,” Miu said sternly, “Everyone wants outta here, regardless of how good they are at hiding it. And because of what went down yesterday, everyone has a potential motive to wanna kill me.”

Well, there’s a major problem with what Miu was saying: she’s not entirely wrong. Junko decided to play into her ego in order to ease her worry, “Well, there’s no point in worrying,” she said nonchalantly, “You’re like, suuuper smart, right? You’ll be able to find a way to beat the attacker or find help, no?”

Miu perked up in apparent realization, “Wait, yeah!” she said happily, “You’re right! What was I worrying about!? Hey! Let’s skull this shit!” she said, indicating to the sodas.

Junko nodded, and they both skull their beverages. The fizz made Junko’s eyes water slightly, Miu let out a loud belch, and they both laugh as if it were the funniest shit in the world, though it’s probably just because they’re so tired.

They promise each other that it’ll all be okay… and for some reason, Junko believed her.

…

…

…

Junko found herself back at her cabin. She didn’t really remember how she got back… She felt really tired.

Junko saw Miu off. She looks uncomfortable for some reason. She didn’t really care. She was tired.

Junko make sure to lock her door, because she can’t have anyone killing her as she slept.

She stumbled towards her bed, her view darkening with every step…

She fell down on her bed…

And then…

Fell…

Asleep…

…

..

.

.

..

…

Bing, Bong, Bong, Bing

Hiro groaned loudly after the loud noise from the speakers woke him up… Isn’t it a little early for the morning announcement?

Hiro grab at the bedside table for his Monophone, and he heard glass shatter, waking him properly.

“Damn it!” he shouted, having broken yet another crystal ball, “That’s the third one since I got here!” Hiro was starting to think that these things were fake… Damn it, Byakuya might have been right…

His attention turns back to the sound of the speakers. He expected to hear Kurokuma talking about his radio show… ‘I wonder who he managed to convince to join him?’

“A body has been discovered!”

…Huh? That wasn’t Kurokuma… That’s Monokuma! He had no idea what was happening.

He frantically looked up at the speaker, completely ignoring the now shattered crystal- or glass ball.

“Everyone, please gather in the kitchen!” Monokuma’s loud voice finished, the speaker shutting off with an audible click.

Hiro processed what he said for a few seconds. What he just said…

Someone’s dead!?

Hiro scrambled out of bed, grabbing his Monophone from the table, dropping it, picking it up, and bolting out the front door, leaving it ajar.

He run left down the pathway, waiting until he get to the softball court so that he didn’t have to run through the trees, because he knew that he’d trip on a root or something… he had learned that the hard way.

Just as he was about to run onto the court, he saw someone coming out from his cabin. Ryoma notices Hiro and walked over, looking concerned. “Hagakure,” he said briskly, “You have any idea what happened?”

Hiro shook his head frantically, “No, I’ve got no idea!” he said, his voice louder than he had meant it to be, “You… you don’t really think that someone’s dead, right?”

Ryoma pulled his beanie down and shooke his head, “Only one way to find out, isn’t there?” and without waiting for a reply, he started across the softball court, Hiro scrambling behind him to catch up.

Across the court, Sonia entered the dining hall, clearly worried outta her mind. Hiro and Ryoma both sped up a little bit.

The door was left ajar, and they entered at a run. A shaken Sayaka was being consoled by an evenly shaken Makoto, and Angie was trying to help Chihiro to stop crying. Peko stands nearby, looking grim.

Ryoma only glanced at the five, and made his way into the kitchen, Hiro hot on his heels.

Shuichi was breathing heavily, trying to remain calm, while Sakura and Nekomaru stood nearby. Sakura’s head was held low as she grit her teeth, and Nekomaru was doing something similar, but crying a whole bunch while he was at it.

Sonia ran from the freezer, covering her face as tears streamed down. She burst through the other kitchen door, Kirumi swiftly walking after her.

Ryoma turned to Sakura, “I take it that the body…,” he said, vaguely indicating to the freezer.

Sakura nodded sagely, but didn’t say a word. Ryoma walked in with only mild hesitation. Following his example, Hiro did the same.

Cold air hit him straight away. To Hiro’s immediate left stood Nagito, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His normal smile is missing, but other than that his expression is normal. Neither sad nor happy.

Ryoma swerved left, moving past the large white form of Byakuya, who was standing in straight in front of Hiro.

“Shit…” Ryoma muttered heavily.

Byakuya clenched his fists tightly. “Damn it…!” he hissed quietly.

Hiro apprehensively stepped around him.

Lying on the middle of the freezer floor, a small pool of blood under the back of her blonde head, her hands completely missing, stumps and two pools of blood where they should have been, and a horrified expression on her face…

Miu Iruma was dead.

Chapter Text

“I’m the gorgeous girl genius whose good looks and golden brains will go down in history! I’m the one, the only, the legendary Ultimate Inventor herself- Miu Iruma!”

“Must suck to be so fucking weak that you have to have someone else fight your battles.”

“I’m so fucking sorry!”

Hiro dropped to his knees.

“There’s… there’s no way this can be happening, right?

Miu… Miu can’t be dead.

It’s just… not possible, right?

There’s no way that she’s dead, in this freezer, blood pooling around her head, her hands just… gone.

She was only around for a few days, and during that time she annoyed everyone, angered everyone, upset everyone, and surprised everyone.

And now all that just… doesn’t matter.

She’s gone.”

“No way no way no way no way no way no way-”

“Cool it,” Ryoma grunted in Hiro’s direction, pointedly averting his eyes from the corpse in front of them, “There’s no use denying what’s happening.”

Byakuya winced at his words, “Unfortunately Hiro,” he said, looking down at the clairvoyant, “Ryoma is right. There is no use in denying it. Miu is dead.”

Hiro just stared owlishly into our leader’s eyes. He looked defeated.

“So…,” Hiro mumbled, turning slowly back to Miu’s body, “It’s true…?”

Ryoma sighed, and looked down at his feet, fiddling with the candy cigarette in his hand. Hiro couldn’t see behind him, but he was pretty sure Byakuya had a similar reaction.

He saw a flourish of greyish green beside him, noticing the figure heading towards what’s left of Miu.

Nagito stood over Miu, his hands in his pockets, with an unsettlingly neutral expression on his pale face.

Hiro could see his breath in the cold. Mist exhaled through his nose.

Nagito breathed in slowly, exhaling a large amount air in a misty gust.

Then, without warning, he removed his hands from his jacket, and leaned down close to the body, swiftly moving some hair away from her neck.

“Nagito!” Byakuya shouted, enraged with indignation and surprise at the lucky student’s brazen action, “What the hell are you doing!? Don’t interfere with the crime scene!”

Nagito swiftly retracted his hand, his eyes widening in what seemed like surprise. “Ah, you’re right,” he said apologetically, “I just noticed something that caught my eye, is all,” he explained with a dismissive shrug.

Ryoma raised an eyebrow and surveyed Nagito with thinly veiled distain, but otherwise said nothing.

Byakuya walks to Hiro’s right, reaching a hand down to the man. “Come. We need to gather everyone together, preferably away from the crime scene.”

Hiro grabbed Byakuya’s hand, and was hoisted to his feet by the large man. Hiro noticed that he was trembling a little bit, and he didn’t think that it was because of the cold.

Hiro look over at Miu again. “This is so messed up...!” he said, trying to keep himself as calm as he could. He didn’t wasn’t doing too well.

Byakuya ushered the boys out of the freezer. Both Nagito and Ryoma left without a fuss. He had to stop himself from looking back at Miu again.

The kitchen was the same as when Hiro had passed through earlier. Shuichi was holding his eyes shut, as Sakura tried her best to console both herself and him, while Nekomaru wiped his tears on the arms of his tracksuit.

Byakuya continued pushing them through the kitchen, but stopped as he addressed the other three, “We’re all going to the main area to talk. There’s more room there, and it’s away from the body, so it’ll be… more productive,” Byakuya said, becoming increasingly quiet as he continued his sentence.

All three of them nodded, but it was Sakura who spoke, “Yes, that’s likely for the best,” she said, gesturing to her companions to follow her out of the nearby door, which is the one the freezer was furthest away from.

Hiro, Nagito, and Ryoma were pushed out of the kitchen by Byakuya. The former stumbled out of the door and wildly looked around. Sonia was sat at one of the tables, her head shaking back and forth in her hands. Kirumi was stood behind her, rubbing her hand in a circular motion on her back.

“How could this have happened?” Sonia mumbled through tears, “We were getting along… Miu had apologized… why would someone kill her?”

Kirumi shook her head slowly, “I’m not sure…,” she said, searching for something else to say… but falling short, and closing her mouth, her expression painful.

Shirokuma was also in the room. He was sitting at one of the smaller tables, his head down, staring directly at the table. He was as still as a statue.

Ryoma and Nagito both sat at separate tables. Hiro decided to join Ryoma, just as everyone else came from around the corner. Sakura was in the lead, stone faced as Shuichi trailed behind her, looking a bit calmer now.

Peko’s face was as grim as it was earlier. She didn’t look at anyone, and instead went into the far corner of the room, and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes, and crossing her arms.

Angie’s smile was still on her face, but even Hiro could see how forced it was. The smile didn’t reach her eyes, and she was much, much less bouncy than normal. Chihiro didn’t look to be much better than before. She was still trembling, but at least she’d stopped crying. That’s good, right?

The same couldn’t be said for Sayaka though. She was covering her face with both of her hands, her shoulders shaking as she cried. Makoto was, unsurprisingly, still consoling her, putting on the bravest face that he can.

Last and not least, Nekomaru rounded the corner, immediately taking a seat at the large table. He wasn’t crying anymore, but he was still sniffling. He wasn’t even trying to put on a brave face.

Everyone was talking amongst themselves in a panic.

Angie patted Chihiro’s shoulder, “Everything will be okay. Miu is in a better place now,” she said, trying to comfort her friend… but she didn’t sound very convinced.

“We’ll find out who did this!” Makoto told Sayaka strongly.

Sayaka shook her head wildly, “But- but what if we can’t!?”

And that’s when it hit Hiro. What if they didn’t find out who killed Miu? That’d mean…

“Oh no!” Hiro shouted, clutching his head again, “We’ve gotta go through a trial! We’re so dead, man!”

Ryoma moved his feet, causing the chain on his ankle to jingle, “Cool it. Panicking isn’t gonna help anyone. We’ve still got a ways to go, so we’ve gotta be level-headed,” he said calmly.

Byakuya nodded, “Quite,” he agreed, “There is still much that we have to do. Firstly, where is-”

The door to the dining hall burst open. “Holy shit, who died!?” shouted the loud and annoying voice of Kurokuma, speeding his way into the larger area of the dining hall where everyone was. He looked around wildly, trying to determine who was dead. His gaze lingered on both Ryoma and Shuichi for a little longer than anyone else.

Ryoma noticed this, and knowing that Kurokuma liked him more than everyone else, decided to put a stop to whatever he might do before it started, “I’m just gonna say this now. Stay outta this unless you’re gonna keep it down, yeah?” he asked the bear, who tilted his head in confusion.

“Huh? I was just gonna ask which one of the blondes snuffed it. The inventor with the nice rack, or the fashionista-”

Hiro’s head snapped up, and he looked around the room in a panic, completely drowning out whatever else Kurokuma was saying. “Where’s Junko!?” he shouted, only just realizing that he hadn’t seen her all morning.

Everyone else looked around, but it wasn’t the fact that they were looking around that worried Hiro. No, it was the fear in their eyes. Everyone had the exact same thought:

“What if she’s dead…?”

Hiro shot to his feet, and scrambled towards the entrance of the dining hall, his mind completely filled with concern.

“Hiro!” Someone shouted after him, but he didn’t even register that anyone had said something.

He was out of the door before anyone else could get a word in.

Vaguely remembering that Junko’s cabin was closest to the dining hall, Hiro beelined round the building towards the nearest cabin.

As he passed the side of the dining hall at a blazing speed, he heard some footsteps behind him, but he didn’t turn around to see who was following him.

Hiro bounded up the steps to her cabin door and bashed on the door. “Junko! Junko, wake up!” he shouted, trying to get her attention. Because there was no way that she wasn’t fine. She had to be!

After about five seconds of this, Hiro realized that he wasn’t gonna get an answer, so he decided to try and open the door. He tried to turn the doorknob… but the door didn’t open.

Hiro jiggled the doorknob, still calling out Junko’s name in an attempt to wake her.

Someone put their hand on his shoulder. Hiro yelped and jumped back about a foot. This musta been who was running outta the dining hall after him.

Sakura looked at him sympathetically, before looking over at the door that he was attempting to open. “Is the door locked?” she asked seriously, her tone calming enough to help Hiro himself calm down.

He nod his head furiously. “Yeah! Yeah it is!” Hiro told her, thankful that she’s taking this seriously.

Sakura placed her ear on the door for a few seconds, trying to hear inside.

“Anything!?” Hiro questioned concernedly.

Sakura closed her eyes and shook her head.

Hiro started tapping his foot in frustration, “Damn it, man! What’re we gonna do!?”

Sakura steeled herself in front of the door, “Step back,” she told Hiro. He realized what she was doing and did what she said. “Junko, if you’re in behind the door right now, I’d like you to step back!” Sakura shouted, maybe on the off chance that Junko was playing some really mean prank.

Sakura took a step back, and got into a stance. She held the position for a second or two, and then…

BANG!

…She kicked the door in.

Hiro ran inside, jumping over the door now on the floor. And then he stopped.

Junko was lying on her bed, on top of the covers, her feet dangling over the edge of her bed.

And she wasn’t moving.

“…Junko?” Hiro whispered, walking to look over at her face. She didn’t react.

…But if she was gonna react, it woulda been when the door got kicked in.

Hiro fell backwards and backed up against a wall. He clutched his head without realizing it. “Nonononononono, this can’t be happening, man…”

He didn’t even register Sakura show up. She was standing in the middle of the room, looking down at Junko, her expression one of frustration and self-hatred. She clenched her fists.

Hiro vaguely heard footsteps running up the steps. Shuichi launched himself into the room, completely out of breath.

“Hah… hah…,” the detective panted, “Is… is Junko…?”

He looked up, and his expression fell.

“Is Junko… dead?” he tentatively asked, his head whipping to the speaker in the room for some reason.

Sakura took a few steps forward, and placed two fingers on her neck. And after a few seconds, she spoke:

“She’s alive.”

Hiro’s head snapped up at the sound of the two words. “What?” he asked quietly, bounding to his feet, and running over to look at Junko’s face again. He put his hand near her nose, and felt a small amount of air coming out. “She’s breathing!” he shouted happily to Shuichi, who gave the man a nod.

“I thought so,” Shuichi said, indicating to the speaker in the corner, “Monokuma’s body discovery announcement would have gone off as soon as I saw her if she was dead.”

“Oh yeah,” Hiro said dumbly, realizing that he was right, “But if she’s alive… then what’s wrong with her?”

Shuichi walked up to Junko’s face, and hesitated. He steels himself, and pried open one of her eyelids. Junko didn’t budge.

Shuichi stood up, and jumped into an explanation after seeing the confused look on Hiro’s face. “I was just checking if that would wake her,” he said in defence, “She had no reaction. I think that she might be unconscious,” he tugged his hat down slightly.

Hiro gaped at his words, and looked over at Sakura, who nodded in confirmation. “How the hell did that happen!?” he asked, panic returning.

Sakura shook her head, “I am unsure,” she said, scooping Junko into her arms in a bridal carry, “But we should take her to the health centre, just to keep her safe while we’re investigating.”

Hiro furrowed his eyebrows in concern, “Do you think that someone did this to her?”

Sakura closed her eyes, but neither nodded nor shook her head. “I’m unsure, but it’s best to taker her regardless. Just as a precautionary measure,” she reasoned. Shuichi nodded in agreement.

“Yeah…,” Hiro mumbled, before speaking up properly, “Yeah, okay.”

Shuichi moved back from the door, allowing Hiro and Sakura to walk about before him.

They cut through the grass, ignoring the actual path. They didn’t see into the windows of the dining hall because of this.

“Why didn’t anyone else come after us?” Hiro wondered aloud. Surely some of the more caring people like Nekomaru or Sonia would’ve decided to come check on Junko’s situation, right?

Shuichi perked up, clearly knowing the answer to the question. He answered as he opens the health centre door for Hiro and Sakura. “Byakuya didn’t want too many people to go. After you and Sakura ran out, he let me go after you and held everyone else back. I think he allowed three people to go in particular, just in case, well…” he trailed off uncomfortably.

“In case she was dead, to set off the announcement,” Sakura finished for the detective, as she lied Junko down on the bed.

Hiro put a hand to his forehead, “Damn it, man,” he mumbled to the room at large, “What in the hell happened last night?”

“Well I think that should be pretty obvious! I murder, that’s what!”

Hiro looked down to his left, and leaped back for the second time in a day. Standing there, clearly gleeful despite still having his normal expression, was Monokuma.

“You!” growled Sakura.

“Me!” Monokuma jovially replied.

Shuichi tugged on the brim of his cap, “Wh-What are you doing here?”

Monokuma stamped his foot angrily, “I’m here to get you three jerks and take you back to the dining hall! I don’t wanna have to explain stuff twice!”

“We were all there before,” Shuichi noted hesitantly, “Why didn’t you talk to us then?”

Monokuma pointed at Junko, “I knew that someone would realize that blondie was missing,” he then points over at Hiro, “And I also knew that someone would book it over to see if she was okay, regardless of if I was there or not, so I figured it was better to let it happen before I got interrupted.”

Sakura narrowed her eyes, “I take it that you’re here to force us to return to the dining hall?”

Monokuma nodded, waddles over to the door, and opens it up.

“What about Junko?” Hiro asked the bear in protest.

“Not my problem,” Monokuma responded bluntly.

Sakura placed a hand on Hiro’s shoulder. “We will have someone return shortly. No one can do anything to her if we’re all together,” she said kindly, “Let’s do what he says for now.”

“Not like we can do anything else…,” Shuichi mumbled. Sakura nodded frustratedly.

They made the walk to the dining hall in silence, mainly because no one felt like making small talk while Monokuma was there.

As soon as they entered the dining hall, Sonia and Angie stood up and ran over to the trio.

“Where is Junko?” Sonia asked, trying to be as calm as she can, despite her worries.

Angie bounced around anxiously. “She is alive, isn’t she?” she asked impatiently, “Isn’t she, isn’t she?”

“Of course she is,” Byakuya told her, annoyed, “If she had died, the three of them would have more than likely set off the body discovery announcement.” Despite him saying this confidently, he looked over at Shuichi for confirmation.

Shuichi nodded at him, a wry smile on his face, “She’s alive,” he told the group, and a few people like Chihiro let out a breath that they probably didn’t know they were holding.

Chihiro spoke up hesitantly, “That’s a relief,” she said, sounding oddly worried despite her words, “But she’s still not here…”

“Yeah,” Ryoma nodded, “Even if she slept through Monokuma’s announcement, soon as you lot showed up telling her that someone died, she’s the sort to have beelined over here. So? What’s the deal?” he raised an eyebrow.

Hiro rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s kinda, sorta… knocked out…,” he mumbled, but audibly enough to still be heard by everyone.

“Wait, what!?” Nekomaru shouted, clutching at his head in a panic.

“Junko’s unconscious!?” Makoto asked, eyes wide as Sayaka clutched his sleeve.

Kirumi cleared her throat, “Please elaborate on what you mean,” the maid asked sharply, eyes narrowing at Hiro. Hiro decided to believe that her suspicion was out of concern, rather than actually believing that he had done something to Junko.

“No, shut up,” Monokuma said, stepping out from behind the trio to reveal himself to everyone else, “You’ve wasted enough time with sleeping ugly, so I’ll take the explanation from here, capiche?”

Byakuya’s attention snapped to the bear, “How long have you been there!?” he asked angrily, earning only a dismissive wave of the paw from Monokuma.

“W- we should probably just let him talk,” Sayaka said, “Who knows what he might do if we don’t…”

Kurokuma nodded in approval, “Smart broad, that one.” Sayaka does not look pleased at the compliment.

Monokuma also nodded, and began his explanation. “As I’m sure you’re all aware; a murder has finally occurred!” he said gleefully, earning a glare from numerous people and an eyeroll from Byakuya, “I’ll send you an autopsy on your Monophones shortly. As soon as I do that, you’ll have an hour to investigate before the class trial officially begins! You all remember how it works, riiiight?” he asked with a tilt of the head that he thought was meant to be cute.

The bear received numerous nods. “Good!” he said happily, “I’ll send you the file! See you in an hour!”

“W- wait!” Chihiro piped up, “J- Junko’s unconscious, right? Will she have to participate in the trial?”

Monokuma shook his head, “If she’s still out cold by then, she can stay in the health centre for the duration of the trial,” he said, before adding, “But if she wakes up, I don’t care how delirious she is, she’s rocking up whether she likes it or not!”

“Will Junko receive the same punishment as everyone else if we… fail the trial?” Sonia asked hesitantly, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of screwing up the trial.

Monokuma nodded this time, “Junko will face the same punishment as everybody else, regardless of if she’s there or not.”

“Does this mean that Junko can be ruled out as a suspect?” Peko asked calmly, her expression completely neutral despite the situation.

“No,” Monokuma said harshly, impatient with the constant questioning, “If you morons decide that she’s the culprit, you can just vote for her the same way as you would anyone else. Are there any more questions?”

Angie’s hand shot up, much to Monokuma’s dismay. “Like, how do we know that you didn’t kill Miu just to start the killing game?”

Byakuya shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous,” the heir scoffed, “That’s much too convenient of an outcome.”

“Agreed,” Shuichi said firmly, “As much as we’d all like to think that Monokuma did this, it’s explicitly against the rules for him to kill any of us. We can’t turn away from the facts. One of us did this.”

Such a statement from Shuichi of all people stunned everyone all into silence. It really hit Hiro hard after he said it.

“One of us is a murderer.”

Hell, someone might be an attempted murderer too! Look at Junko! No way was that an accident.

Everyone else had similar looks of uncomfortable realizations. And everything was silent for a short time.

A silence broken by the one man who didn’t seem all that bummed out by the death of a classmate.

“Well then,” said Nagito, as he got to his feet and pulled out his Monophone with a small smile on his face, “Shall we get started?”

“May as well,” mumbled Ryoma, pulling out another candy cigarette.

Byakuya nodded, and turned to Monokuma. “Give us the file,” he ordered.

PING!

“Done, and, done!” Monokuma wiped his hands together after a job well done.

Hiro pull out his Monophone as it buzzes. It showed a notification called ‘Monokuma File 1.’ He clicked on it, and a new page or something shows up.

The file had a bunch of useless stuff, like her height, weight, blood type, birthday, and chest size for some reason… 99cm, huh?

Shaking his head, Hiro read the more important parts of the file.

The victim is Miu Iruma, the Ultimate Inventor.

The time of death is unknown.

The cause of death is strangulation.

The victim suffered additional injuries to the back of her head, and her hands are completely missing.

There are no traces of foreign substances found within her system.

As Hiro raised his head, he saw everyone else looking at their Monophones at the file. Shirokuma was peering at the nearby Chihiro’s phone, while Ryoma reluctantly shared his with Kurokuma.

“We can just like, see all of this!” Hiro shouted in annoyance, “How does this help!?”

Shuichi reluctantly nodded his head, “You’re right… a lot of this is pretty obvious, but the part about the cause of death saves us the time of having to determine it at least,” he said, clearly using his detectivey skills to find out what was useful and what wasn’t.

Kirumi raised her hand, realized that she didn’t want to give Monokuma respect, and just started talking. “Will Shirokuma and Kurokuma be investigating?” she asked, earning a comeback from Kurokuma that went pretty much ignored by Monokuma.

“Hmmmmm…” Monokuma hummed, mulling it over, “Yeah, I don’t see why not,” he said dismissively, “Seeing as they know nothing about the murder and all.”

“Hell yeah!” Kurokuma shouted, raising his hand for a high-five from Ryoma. Ryoma reluctantly gave him the high-five, much to the bear’s delight.

Hiro tried to calm myself once more. He took a breath in… And took a breath out.

Time to investigate.

Hiro heard the dining hall door close behind him. Looking down, he noticed that Monokuma wasn’t there anymore.

Nekomaru sniffled, wiping a stray tear off of his cheek, “Well Byakuya?” he said, turning to the Ultimate Affluent Progeny, “What do we do?”

Byakuya raised his eyebrows in surprise. Strangely enough, he looked conflicted at Nekomaru’s words, when he normally would have either scoffed or dove into an explanation.

“Byakuya,” Sakura said firmly, “I’m sure that this situation has made you question your ability to lead us, but now more than ever, we need you. You haven’t failed us yet, but questioning yourself now would be disastrous.”

Byakuya closed his eyes. It’s silent for a few moments. He took a breath in. “Shuichi? Are you able to perform an autopsy?” he asked the detective.

Shuichi looked surprised to be addressed so suddenly, but quickly recovered and nodded. “I could, yes. Though I’ve only read up on the theory, so I don’t know exactly how detailed it would be,” he added, sounding less confident with each word.

“You’ll still be the best suited for the job,” Byakuya nodded, earning a smile from Shuichi. “Now, I’m going to split everyone into groups, just to ensure that no one tampers with any evidence,” he looked over at Shuichi, “Detective, I want you to perform your autopsy. Sakura will join you to guard the crime scene. Seeing as you’re both in tracksuits, it should keep you somewhat warm.”

Shuichi and Sakura both nodded, and head to the freezer. Hiro noticed that Byakuya was right: Shuichi, Sakura, Nagito, Nekomaru, Peko, and Chihiro were all wearing tracksuits.

Byakuya turned to someone else, “Kirumi. I want you, Sonia, and Shirokuma to remain here in the dining hall, awaiting further instructions. Wait for me in the kitchen.”

“Very well,” Sonia nodded firmly. Kirumi nodded curtly, and both girls move towards the waiting place.

“Right- I’ll do what I can!” Shirokuma said hesitantly, probably worried about how much he can actually do to help, as he followed the girls.

Byakuya turned to Nekomaru, “I want you and Nagito to watch over Junko in the health centre. Give the place a once-over while you’re there just in case anything is off.”

Nekomaru pumped his fists together, “Alright then!” he said, turning to look at his partner, “Let’s go, Nagito!”

Nagito smiled, and the duo rushed out of the dining hall.

“Makoto, Sayaka. I want the two of you to follow them, retrieve Junko’s keys, and look over her cabin.”

Hiro interrupted Byakuya. “Door’s kicked in, man.”

“So… we’ll just head straight there?” Makoto asked with a tilt of the head.

Byakuya nodded. “Let’s go, Makoto. I don’t wanna stay in here for longer than I have to…,” Sayaka said, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the dining hall.

Angie raised her hand and bounced on the balls of her feet, “Ooh, ooh! Me next, me next!”

With a roll of the eyes, Byakuya obliged. “Chihiro, I want you to take Angie to Miu’s cabin,” he said, before indicating the to the kitchen, “Go and ask Shuichi if Miu has her keys on her, and then go look for anything out of place.”

“Alrighty!” Angie cheerfully shouted, bouncing her way over to the freezer. Chihiro stood still hesitantly, not knowing if she was properly dismissed or not. Byakuya, clearly not wanting Angie off on her own, jabbed a finger at the kitchen door, and Chihiro scrambled after her.

Byakuya sighed, and turned to Ryoma, “I want you and Peko to give everywhere else a once over. I made sure to send everyone else to locations immediately relevant to the current situation, but I don’t know for sure if they’re the only places of importance.”

“Is there anything in particular that we should look for?” Peko asked, shifting to get into a more mobile position.

Byakuya thought for a moment. “Anything out of place, but a potential murder weapon or Miu’s hands in particular,” he said, thinking a little more and then nodding, satisfied with his shortlist. “Oh, and babysit Kurokuma,” he added, waving in the general direction of the black bear.

Kurokuma lit up as he grabbed Ryoma’s arm, “Yeaaaaah! Let’s go buddy!”

“Greeeeat,” Ryoma sighed, as he got dragged out of the dining hall by the bear. Peko marches after them, giving Byakuya and Hiro a nod.

Hiro stared at Byakuya, waiting for his assignment. “Hiro,” Byakuya began, pausing for a moment, “You’re with me.”

“Yeah, okay,” Hiro nodded, “But what’re we gonna do? And why me of all people?”

A smug grin appeared on Byakuya’s face. “Micromanagement is one of the many areas of which I excel. Due to this, our primary job will be to speak to everyone as they investigate, and gather whatever information they happen to have,” he explained proudly, before adding with a condescending tone, “Your reason for being with me is because you’re too stupid to let out of my sight.”

Hiro blanched at the large man, “Hey! I mightn’t be smart, but I’m not stupid!”

“Well you’ll have your chance to prove that in the upcoming trial,” the heir said humourlessly, as he strode over to the kitchen door, not waiting for Hiro to catch up.

“…Aw crap.”

Hiro scramble after him, reopening the door that Byakuya didn’t bother to keep open.

Shirokuma was looking in every nook and cranny of the kitchen, opening drawers and cabinets to see if he could find something. Meanwhile, Sonia and Kirumi were already talking to Byakuya. Dude was quick with it.

“I see that Shirokuma is already pulling his weight,” Byakuya noted with a self-satisfied expression.

“Yes!” Sonia agrees happily, “He is very useful!”

“Thank you!” Hiro heard coming from inside of a cabinet on the other side of the room.

Kirumi nodded, “Yes, he is certainly conducting a thorough search.”

“I would like the two of you to follow his example. Seeing as this building is where the body was found, it’s very likely that there is some evidence here, hidden or otherwise,” Byakuya said with a focussed expression.

Both Kirumi and Sonia nodded, but the latter also spoke up, “While I am more than happy to do that,” the princess proclaimed, “I have a question that I would like answered.”

“Shoot,” Hiro told her, earning a side-eye from Byakuya. He got the impression that the heir doesn’t like him doing things, but the fact that he didn’t tell him off probably meant that he was gonna let Sonia ask her question regardless.

The Ultimate Princess nodded appreciatively, but her expression was stern, “I would like to know who discovered the body, and how it came to happen.”

“That’s a good question actually,” Hiro mumbled, a little louder than he had intended.

“Byakuya, Shirokuma, and I were the first to discover the body,” Kirumi answered the question, “I was preparing waffles,” she pointed to the waffle-maker on a bench, “Shortly after Byakuya’s arrival, Shirokuma entered the freezer and notified us of… Miu’s fate.”

Sonia clasped a hand over her mouth, “I am sorry that you had to go through that…”

Kirumi placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, as Byakuya took over the story, “After I saw the scene, I told Kirumi and Shirokuma to stay put as I went and alerted the exercise group.”

“I must say Byakuya,” Kirumi said, “You’re much faster than I would have expected.”

Byakuya didn’t comment.

“Well what happened next?” Hiro asked curiously.

This was answered by Shirokuma, who had apparently decided to join the conversation, “Nekomaru and Peko got here first. After that, everyone else showed up, with you and Ryoma being second last.”

Hiro nodded, “Sounds about right.” When he and Ryoma showed up, everyone else was here- except Kurokuma, who Hiro saw rock up.

“Yes, thank you for answering my question,” Sonia said gratefully.

Byakuya nodded, before turning and walking towards the freezer. Taking that as his cue to leave, Hiro waved goodbye to the other three, and followed the heir.

The cold air him Hiro again as he entered. Byakuya glanced at Shuichi and walked over to Sakura, who was at the back of the room looking through stuff. Shuichi, for his part, was leaning over Miu’s body, probably doing his autopsy.

“Hey Shuichi! How’s the autopsy going?” Hiro asked, trying his best to keep his tone light, because literally everything else in the room was depressing. Mainly the body on the floor.

Shuichi answered without looking up, “It’s… going,” he said uncertainly, adding that “It’ll probably take a while though, so you should probably investigate elsewhere. Oh, and Sakura told me that Miu’s hands are nowhere in the room, so finding them would be for the best.”

Hiro screwed his face up in thought, “Yeah, about that. Why’d the killer cut her hands off anyway?”

“It certainly is strange,” agreed Byakuya, walking over after talking with Sakura, “I can think of very few reasons as to why her hands in particular are mysteriously missing,” he said, tapping his foot in frustration.

“Could the killer have like, wanted Miu to suffer?” Hiro asked, trying his best to find an answer to one of their many questions.

“Doubtful,” Sakura piped up from the corner, “If the killer’s goal was to get away with murder, taking such a glaringly obvious action is unnecessary.”

Shuichi mumbled a response, since he was still focused on doing his autopsy, “Could be a red herring…”

Byakuya shook his head, “Regardless, I don’t think that’s a line of questioning that we need to take seriously. While Miu certainly wasn’t the most popular person here, I doubt that anyone would go out of their way to torture her by amputation, especially when their life is on the line,” he said pointedly not looking at Miu’s corpse as he spoke.

Hiro shuddered at the thought of being tortured by amputation.

“Byakuya,” Sakura shouted out, “I’ve found something.”

With a raised eyebrow, Byakuya walked back over to the martial artist, and Hiro followed curiously.

Sakura pointed over to behind a box of something or other. “Ah, good find,” Byakuya commended with a nod.

Following his gaze, Hiro spot a bloodied saw hidden vaguely behind the boxes. “Oh Jesus! The hell is that!?”

“A bone saw. Likely what was used to remove Miu’s hands,” Byakuya said, leaning to pick up the bloodied saw, “We need to discover where this came from.”

“Agreed,” Sakura nodded, arms crossed.

Byakuya turned around with the saw in hand, “Shuichi!” he shouted, slightly startling the detective.

“Y- yes?” he asked, reeling back once he saw the saw in Byakuya’s hand. “Ah…! Is that…?”

“What was used to remove Miu’s hands?” Byakuya finished for the detective, “Presumably. I would like you to confirm if it did so as part of your autopsy.”

Shuichi nodded, “Will do,” he said, taking the saw from Byakuya and returning to Miu.

Byakuya, seeing Shuichi and Sakura go back to what they were doing, headed towards the exit of the freezer. Before following him, Hiro cupped his mouth with his hands, “Keep up the good work!” he shouted to the duo, earning a nod from each of them. He follow Byakuya back into the kitchen.

“Y’know, you could do with being nicer to people.”

“We don’t have time for that,” Byakuya responded harshly.

Hiro raised an eyebrow, “I can manage it.”

Byakuya rolled his eyes and ordered Kirumi over.

“Did you find anything amiss in the dining hall?” Byakuya asked plainly.

Kirumi shook her head, “I believe that this is a conversation for Shirokuma,” she said, just as Shirokuma conveniently entered the kitchen, “He was the last one here last night, so he would be most knowledgeable on what is or isn’t wrong.”

Hiro turned to the bear, who had waddled up to the trio, “You hear what we said, man?”

The white bear nodded, “Yeah.”

“Go on then,” Byakuya pushed with an air of impatience.

“Other than what Kirumi and I did this morning, there’s nothing off.”

Hiro tilted his head, “Wait, what? Nothing at all?” he asked in confusion.

He shook his head, “No, nothing. If Miu wasn’t in the freezer, it would have been just as I left it last night…”

“Hm… good to know,” Byakuya nodded, “Thank you for your assistance,” he told the bear, who smiled happily at the praise.

Hiro turned to their leader, “Hey, we’re done here, right?” Byakuya looked at him suspiciously and nodded. “Can we stop by the health centre to check on Junko? It’s real close by.”

Byakuya raised an eyebrow, “Do you distrust Nagito and Nekomaru?”

Hiro shook his head, “Nah man, I trust Nekomaru… maybe not Nagito, but Nekomaru for sure, but we can ask them both what they did last night while we’re there.”

Byakuya lowered his head and closed his eyes. He opened them, and looked Hiro in the eyes, “Very well. Let’s go.” He walks towards the exit without another word.

Hiro was about to say goodbye to Shirokuma and Kirumi, but noticed that they were back to looking around for anything they might’ve missed, as diligent as ever.

Not wanting to bother them, Hiro followed Byakuya outside.

Byakuya entered the health centre, and Hiro followed behind him.

Nekomaru was sitting on a chair nearby Junko’s bed, keeping a close eye on her. Nagito was inspecting the poison cabinet with his hands in his pockets, which Hiro really, really didn’t like the idea of.

Byakuya was clearly thinking upon those same lines. “Nagito, get away from there,” Byakuya ordered harshly.

“Ah! Of course, Byakuya!” Nagito responded happily, taking an overly dramatic step back from the cabinet.

Sighing, Byakuya walked over towards Junko. Hiro followed as he opened Junko’s eyelids, just as Shuichi did before. “Has anyone else made an appearance here?” Byakuya asked Nekomaru.

The team manager nodded, “Peko and her group showed up before and gave the room a quick once over, but they left pretty quickly.”

Byakuya also nodded, probably not finding that news problematic in any way. “Guess they’re doing their job, eh?” Hiro said to no one in particular.

“I think I know the answer, but just to clarify; who is a part of the morning workout group?” Byakuya asked, ignoring what Hiro had just said.

Nekomaru clenched his teeth before answering, “Yesterday, it was myself, Sakura, Shuichi, Peko, Chihiro, and…,” he clenched his fist, and looked sadly over to the bed, “Junko… I should’ve known that something was wrong when she didn’t show up…,” his face warped into an agonised expression, “Maybe I could’ve prevented this…!”

It’s at this point that Nagito seemed to decide that it was a good idea to insert himself into the conversation, “I wouldn’t be so sure. It’s entirely possible that this happened earlier into the night,” he said, his tone conversational as opposed to consoling as literally anyone else’s would have been.

Nekomaru didn’t look at all happier. “Yeah, thanks Nagito dude,” Hiro said sarcastically, before adding, “I’m worried about how like, she’s like, like this, but not hurt, y’know?”

“That’s a lot of commas!” Nagito observed with a smile.

Hiro narrowed his eyes at him, “Shut up, dude.”

Nagito mimed zipping his lips.

“While what you said is certainly interesting Hiro, I need Nagito to unzip his lips for a moment,” Byakuya declared, properly upsetting the Ultimate Clairvoyant.

Nagito’s smile broadened so much that he looked like a jack-o’-lantern, “You’re really too kind!” he saod, throwing his arms out in pure glee.

Rolling his eyes, Byakuya continued, “I’m only asking this because I have the impression that you won’t speak up unless specifically asked, but did you see anything last night, or do you otherwise know anything about the crimes?”

Nagito’s smile returned to its normal size, but his general excitement remained. “Well, I was walking around at around one o'clock this morning-”

“Okay stop right there,” Nekomaru interrupted, standing up and crossing his arms with a stern expression on his face, “Please explain why on earth you were up that early,” he kindly, but firmly asked.

“Oh, I just couldn’t sleep is all,” he responded nonchalantly.

Byakuya gave a pronounced sigh, “As suspicious as that undoubtedly is, please just move on for now.”

Nodding, Nagito continued, “Well as I was walking around, I saw two figures off in the distance!” he explained dramatically, pausing to give someone time to react.

While neither Byakuya nor Nekomaru rose to the obvious bait, Hiro didn’t care enough to keep his trap shut, “Wait, so you’re telling me that you saw two more people skulking around that late at night!?”

“Yep!”

Nekomaru shook his head, “You didn’t go and talk to them, or anything did you?” he asks hesitantly, clearly worried about Nagito’s answer.

Nagito, for his part, simply shook his head in response, “Nope. That would’ve been dangerous, and I don’t particularly feel like dying just yet.”

“Ignoring the ‘just yet’ part, that is a reasonable thought process,” Byakuya agreed, “Did you happen to see who these figures were?”

Nagito thought for a moment, “While I wouldn’t trust the eyesight of someone like me, I think…,” he trailed off, indicating towards Junko’s form on the bed, “That I spotted some particularly large pigtails.”

“Wait, what?” Hiro asked in response, “Why would Junko have been out that late!?”

“More importantly,” Byakuya cut in urgently, “Did you see where they were coming from!?”

Hiro didn’t think it was entirely possible for Nagito’s smile to broaden any more than it already had, but he was swiftly proven wrong. He was almost trembling with excitement as he answered… Giving the one answer that they didn’t want to hear. “They were coming from the dining hall.”

Nekomaru clenched his teeth with a pained expression, “Shit…!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” Hiro mumbled in spite of himself, because he knew this is exactly what Nagito wanted: a reaction. He wanted them to be shocked at his revelation, and they did it for him.

“Damn it…! As soon as we find a good lead, we learn that the person who can give it to us is unconscious!” Byakuya gritted out frustratedly. “Anything else? Either of you?” he asked, glaring at Nagito all the while.

“Stayed in bed all night,” Nekomaru grunted, as Nagito shook his head.

“Very well,” Byakuya nodded, “Let’s go, Hiro,” he said, before heading towards the door.

Hiro waved goodbye to Nekomaru, completely ignoring Nagito, and followed the Ultimate Affluent Progeny outside.

Seeing as he was already walking away, Hiro ran to catch up to Byakuya. “Where’re we headed?” he asked, having caught up with him.

“Junko’s cabin,” Byakuya answered briskly, before adding, “Then we’ll go to Miu’s.”

Hiro nodded. “Makes sense. Junko’s cabin is closer.”

“Quite.”

In the distance, they noticed Makoto appearing from around the side of the cabin. He stared at some point on the wall before continuing his way around. Spotting the duo, he waved them over.

“Why are you outside?” Byakuya asked simply, crossing his arms and scowling.

Makoto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, “Well… I felt uncomfortable looking through a girl’s stuff, so I left that stuff to Sayaka and-”

“Are you honestly telling me that you’re seriously worried about privacy concerns when we’re attempting to solve a murder of one of our own?”

Flustered, the luckster tried his best to respond, “I- um- well…”

Hiro sighed, putting his hands on his hips, “Byakuya, dude…,” he said quietly, “What’s done is done man, and we’re on a time limit. How about we don’t start an argument here?”

Byakuya glared at him. He seemed to dislike being one-upped by Hiro of all people. “Y- yeah, that’s right,” Makoto nodded, “Thanks, Hiro. It’s a good thing I looked out here too, since I found something!”

“Oh?” Byakuya questioned disbelievingly, “Well then, let’s see it.”

Signalling for them to follow him, Makoto walked a short way away, over to a wall near the corner of the cabin.

Byakuya’s eyes widened as they get closer. “Ah, I see. Interesting,” he said, closely looking at some random ass point on the wall.

Squinting, Hiro looked at the same point. Then he saw it. “Holy shit! Is that blood!?”

On the side of the cabin was a relatively small red bloodstain. Hell, stain might be too strong of a word- it was a smear- just a slight discolouring on the paint.

“I think it’s blood,” Makoto informed us, “I mean, I’m not sure what else it could be, but this seems like an odd place for a bloodstain to be.”

“Especially since Junko wasn’t bleeding,” Byakuya distractedly added. “Anything else?”

Nodding, Makoto walked towards the entrance of the cabin, indicating for the two to follow.

The inside of the cabin looked the same as before. The only real difference was that Sayaka was there and looking through stuff.

“Ah, hey boys,” Sayaka greeted, momentarily stopping her search, “Is the investigation going…?”

Hiro nodded, “It’s going. Thanks for asking!” he smiled at her.

Weirdly, Sayaka looked confused at his answer to her question. Sighing, Byakuya spoke up, “It’s going fine. We’ve discovered a good amount of knowledge, and we intend to discover more.”

Hiro raised an eyebrow at Byakuya, “That’s way more info than she asked for, man.”

The heir rolled his eyes, “You’re a buffoon.”

Before Hiro could respond, Makoto tentatively spoke up. “Um… would you mind having a look at the door on the floor?”

Eyebrows raised, Byakuya did so, asking, “Which part exactly?”

“Oh- the lock. Look at the lock,” Makoto specified.

Homing in on the lock, Byakuya’s eyes narrowed.

Hiro kneeled down too, also looking at the lock. There were numerous scratches on the doorknob around the lock. “Woah, what the hell?”

“Do you have any idea what it could be?” Makoto asked, standing over the taller two and also looking down.

Byakuya nodded, “Yes. These scratches are reminiscent of an amateur lockpicker.”

Sayaka gasped, “Makoto thought the same thing!” she said, a little too excitedly, “It seems like whoever it was failed to get in though…”

“Yeah… other than being unconscious, she was fine, right?” Hiro asked Byakuya. He knew the answer was yes, but he figured that he should double check.

Lo and behold, Byakuya nodded while standing up and turning to Sayaka, “Was there anything off within the room?”

Sayaka shook her head, “No actually, the room is perfectly fine…”

“That’s bizarre…” Makoto mumbled, earning a few nods from Sayaka.

Thinking for a few moments, Byakuya whirled around on Hiro. “Was Junko under the covers when you found her?”

“Wha?” Hiro mumbled, caught off guard, “Oh, uh, no,” he shook his head, “She was on top of her blankets, towards the end of her bed.”

Thinking, Byakuya lowered his head and closed his eyes. “That is an incredibly important detail.”

“It is?” Hiro asked confusedly, tilting his head all the while. He was so confused about everything.

“Hm,” Byakuya grunted, turning to speak to Makoto and Sayaka again, “Did either of you see anything last night?”

Makoto shook his head, “No, I stayed asleep in my cabin all night.”

Sayaka nodded in agreement with Makoto, “Yeah, same here. Who would go outside during the night in a situation like this?” she asked, half-jokingly, “You’d have to be insane!”

“Funny you should say that…,” Hiro mumbled to himself, the face of a certain white-haired nutjob appearing in his imagination.

Clearly thinking upon the same lines as Hiro was, Byakuya sighed deeply. He turned towards the exit, his back to everyone else as he spoke, “Keep up the good work, you two.”

“Wait!” Makoto shouted, stopping both Byakuya and Hiro in their tracks, as he had begun to follow the heir, “Do you just want us to keep looking around here?”

Byakuya nodded, “Yes. You have found some very useful information, and there may be some more to be discovered here. I have other places to be, so I’ll be leaving now,” he said, not waiting for a response as he stepped out of the door.

“I… okay, then…,” Makoto mumbled, a little confused.

“Let’s just keep looking around, Makoto,” Sayaka said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Realizing that he was too busy listening to Big Mac and Sayaka that Byakuya was already a little way away, Hiro bid them both goodbye and ran after the bespectacled man.

He caught up to Byakuya in front of the cabin next to Junko’s. Going just from memory, Hiro thought it was Sakura’s… though it could’ve been Sayaka’s… he was pretty sure it was one of the two.

“Which one is Miu’s cabin again?” Hiro asked Byakuya distractedly.

“The next- why are you asking me when you’re actively checking?”

Being too distracted with his Monophone, Hiro didn’t hear Byakuya’s response. Turns out that the cabin they just walked past was Sakura’s. Knew it!

And Miu’s cabin… was right next to hers. Hiro stopped in his tracks as Byakuya turned to the entrance.

“Dude, you coulda told me it was only two cabins away!” Hiro shouted as he stomped after Byakuya, annoyed.

Despite not seeing his face, Hiro knew that Byakuya was scowling, “Cease your complaining!”

“Oh, I’ll show you complaining…!”

“Ooooh… It seems like you two are getting along~” cooed Angie as she poked her head out from Miu’s cabin door. Much to Hiro’s pleasure, she did this just before Byakuya was gonna go inside, making him stumble.

Regaining his footing, Byakuya rudely pushed past her and into the cabin. “Kinda rude, dude,” Hiro said from behind him.

“I have no time for politeness. There are lives on the line.”

Angie tilted her head, “That does not stop the rest of us from being kind!” she said, getting on her tippy toes to get closer to his face.

“Um… can we stop arguing please?” Chihiro asked meekly, “Especially in…,” she gestures vaguely around the room, “Here…?”

She was right. Miu had just died, and they were arguing in her cabin instead of solving her murder. It’s not only like, super disrespectful, but it could also be bad juju… In this situation especially, Hiro didn’t feel like getting cursed.

Hiro nodded with a guilty expression, “You’re right Cheerio. I’m sorry…” He also apologized to any spirits nearby. Wasn’t cool of him.

Looking considerably less guilty than Hiro did, Byakuya also nodded, “You’re right. I apologize for my tactlessness.”

“Good boys!” Angie said, patting Hiro on the head. She went to do the same to Byakuya, but he moved out of her way, like, really gracefully. Who knew such a big guy was so slick?

Chihiro smiled slightly in spite of herself, “Thank you…”

“You can thank me by telling me if you heard or saw anything last night,” Byakuya said to the programmer, before turning to Angie and adding, “You too. Anything at all.”

Angie pouted with a clearly forced frown, “Are you sure you do not want to know what we found in here?” she asked tantalizingly, “We have found some veeeeery interesting things~!”

Hiro raised an eyebrow at the artist, “You sound like, extremely unbothered to be ransacking a dead chick’s room, dude,” he told her, trying his best to keep the suspicious tone out of his voice.

Angie turns to look at Hiro fully, and he only then noticed that her smile didn’t completely reach her eyes. “Hiro, please don’t misunderstand. I am very upset by Miu’s passing, and despite her recent behaviour, I am positive that Atua will welcome her into his kingdom with open arms!” she explained tonelessly, opening her arms wide to accentuate the end of her sentence.

With a very sad smile, Chihiro gave her a reassuring nod, “That’s very nice of you Angie. I also hope that she’s… resting peacefully…” Chihiro started that sentence positively… but she was crying now.

Hiro walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, man, it’ll be okay, yeah?” he told her, trying to reassure himself just as much as her, “I know it sucks- this whole thing sucks a whole lot, but we’ll get through it. We’re strong, we can do this,” he said, voice full of conviction that he didn’t have, “We’ll find the killer and live.”

Chihiro looked up at him with wide and teary eyes, “We’re… strong…?”

Hiro mustered his best smile, “Hell yeah we are!” he said, starting to believe it himself, “We’ve got Byakuya as our leader,” he indicated to the man standing there with his arms crossed, observing the scene, “We’ve got Shuichi, the literal Ultimate Detective- and then we’ve got you!”

Her eyes widened in surprise, “What…? Me…?”

Hiro nodded a few too many times, “Yeah! You’re the Ultimate Programmer, right? You’ve gotta be smart and like, logical and stuff. You mightn’t have like, super special knowledge on murders like Shuichi, but you’ll be able to help us piece stuff together. You’ll help us survive.”

Chihiro took in every word Hiro said, staring at him with those wide eyes all the while. Honestly, Hiro found it sorta off putting, having such a cute girl staring at him with such… admiration? He didn’t think he said anything particularly good, so he might be misreading things…

The programmer finally closed her eyes. She took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. She wiped the tears from her eyes before she opened them, and she looked directly at Byakuya. “I didn’t see anything last night, but I can tell you what happened this morning.”

Byakuya’s eyes narrowed in concentration, “What happened this morning?” Surprisingly, he didn’t comment on how much they had got sidetracked. Hiro kinda expected some snarky comment from him, to be honest.

Chihiro swallowed, voice wavering slightly, “Well, strictly speaking, nothing,” she hesitated, but continued speaking after seeing the look on Byakuya’s face, “I went to Junko’s cabin before we did our exercise, and I tried to wake her up. N- needless to say…” she trailed off, shoulders dropping as she finishes her account.

Byakuya, hand touching his chin in thought, nodded. “Did you happen to notice anything astray? Anything at all?”

Chihiro thought for a few moments, tilting her head, and narrowing her eyes slightly as she thought about the question. “Nnnooo…,” she shook her head again, her voice hesitant but sure, “But I could have missed something, since I wasn’t specifically looking,” she added quickly.

“I am glad that you are feeling better, Chihiro!” Angie clapped, bounding from the other side of the room to give the mousey programmer a hug. Chihiro flushed red, refusing to make eye contact with anyone for the duration of the hug, “Now, would you finally like us to tell you what we have found in here!?” the artist threw her arms out in mock exasperation, tired of being ignored.

Begrudgingly, Byakuya agreed with Angie. “You’re right. We’ve been sidetracked for long enough. Back to business.” He swivelled around and began surveying the room. Realizing that he’d been too distracted to actually investigate, Hiro did the same.

Miu’s cabin looked pretty similar to his own and Junko’s, only with a few key differences. While Hiro’s had crystal balls, and Junko’s had like clothes, or whatever else a fashionista would have, Miu’s cabin had tools strewn around everywhere. Hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, the works. “Lotta tools in here, huh?”

“Yeah, but she… wasn’t able to use them much,” Chihiro said from somewhere behind Hiro. “There aren’t a whole lot of parts to use for gadgets and things like that.”

“That makes sense, this being a summer camp and all,” Byakuya agreed, before looking under the bed, and getting up just as fast with a grimace, “Do not look under there.”

 “You have just made me want to look under there,” Angie said plainly. Hiro nodded profusely in agreement.

Ignoring them, and possibly trying to forget whatever it was he saw under there, Byakuya pointed at Miu’s bed. “Look at the state of her sheets,” he ordered, changing the subject, “It’s similar to Junko’s, is it not?”

Hiro nodded, trying my best to understand. “I guess so…,” he mumbled, “But what does that mean?”

Angie bounced on the soles of her feet, waving her hand in the air with way too much enthusiasm for someone participating in a literal murder investigation. “Oh! Oh! It means that she did not sleep, right?”

“N-not only that,” Chihiro added, the only one in the room who could properly follow along with Byakuya’s train of thought, “The sheets are also crumpled. I think that means that she either sat or lied down on the bed without getting under the covers…?” She looked towards Byakuya for affirmation. In response to her gaze, Byakuya simply nodded, having nothing else to add upon to Chihiro’s deduction.

With the air of a man resigning himself to an unfortunate fate, Byakuya sighed. “Very well, Angie,” he forced out, a slight grimace on his wide, haughty face, “Tell us about what you’ve found.”

Bouncing up and down excitedly, Angie reached into her pockets and pulled out two items: a box, and a glass bottle. Hiro recognised the box immediately; they were sleeping pills- melatonin, judging by the box design. He used to take some to help him sleep, so he knew what the box looked like. The glass bottle though…

“What the hell!?” Byakuya marched over and almost snatched the bottle out of Angie’s hand. For her part, the artist just let him… probably a smart move, considering how Byakuya looked extremely pissed off. He read the logo of the bottle, and then held it up to the light to inspect its contents. His eyes immediately widened, and his head snapped down to look at Angie within an instant. “Where did you find this!?”

Angie threw the box of sleeping pills onto the bed, and pointed down at the drawers behind her, “In there, in there!” She held her hands out in a placating manner. It looked like Byakuya’s anger was able to rattle even her, and she was normally one of the two people who always had a smile plastered on their face, along with Nagito.

Byakuya marched over and riffled through the drawers, looking for something else. Seeing an opportunity to speak up, Hiro did so. “So uh… anyone mind telling me what’s in the bottle?”

“It is Roh-hip-nole!” Angie answered happily, before tilting her head and mumbling, “Or did I pronounce that wrong…?”

“It- it’s pronounced Rohypnol,” Chihiro informed her, earning a bright, thankful smile from the artist.

Hiro nodded slowly. Alright, now he knew what the thing was called. That’s useful. “Yeah, uh, that’s cool and all, but I still don’t know what it does?”

“It’s a drug that can cause drowsiness or ‘blackouts,’ most commonly used in date rapes,” Byakuya said nonchalantly, finally finishing his search of the drawer.

Hiro notice Chihiro flinch and Angie’s smile stumble as his own eyes widened. “Woah… every word in that sentence was like, super bad…” Angie either forgot to or just couldn’t bother putting her cheery tone back into her voice. Not that he could blame her.

“Yeah man, that’s some heavy shit…” Hiro thought for a moment, and then realized something important, “Wait, how’d Miu even manage to get her hands on that stuff!? No way anyone would have just left it lying around the health centre, right!?”

Chihiro stumbled over her words. “U- um… I don’t think I’d put it past Monokuma to leave that lying around for- for any potential killers to use…”

“It’s completely irrelevant if Monokuma would do that or not, because I didn’t leave anything like that lying around.” Frustrated, Byakuya tightened his fist around the bottle, before jumping into his elaboration, “Recall when I discovered and began taking inventory of the poison cabinet. I also searched the health centre for any other dangerous items, but found nothing beyond what you would expect from medical equipment.”

“Liiiiike scalpels and stuff?” Angie questioned, earning a nod from Byakuya.

In the corner of his eye, Hiro noticed Chihiro’s expression go from looking uncomfortable, to fearful. “W- wait… then she must have gotten it before you began taking inventory…,” her eyes widened in horror, “And- and if that’s the case…!”

Byakuya grit his teeth with a nod. “It isn’t a pleasant thought…”

“Hey,” Hiro spoke up, having kinda zoned out, “How much of the Rohypnol was used?”

Byakuya read the label of the bottle, and then held it up to the light again. “Just by eyeballing it, I believe about three doses.”

“That’s… incredibly unnerving…”

Amen, Chihiro. Amen…

“Hey, big dude! Psychic dumbass!” Kurokuma called the duo over as Byakuya and Hiro passed the sports storage. He was standing out the front of the building, waving his hat in an oddly flirty manner, “How you two doin’? Know who the perp is yet!?”

Hiro nodded a few times, “Yeah, investigation’s going well. Thanks for asking,” he smiled at the bear before realizing, “Hey wait! Who you calling psychic dumbass!?”

Kurokuma cackled, wiping a tear from his eye. “Damn, this dude’s a riot!”

“Where are Peko and Ryoma?” Byakuya snapped with folded arms and a stern expression. He clearly wasn’t very happy with the idea of Kurokuma wandering around on his own during the investigation.

With a rattle of the chain around his foot, Ryoma emerged from the sports storage. “Right ‘ere,” he told the heir, shooting a glance at Kurokuma and giving Hiro a nod in greeting.

Byakuya’s face relaxed, but only slightly. “Why was he outside alone?” he inquired sceptically, impatiently drumming his fingers along his arm.

Ryoma sighed and tugged down his hat, taking the candy cigarette out of his mouth. “He said that he wanted to be our bodyguard as we looked around for some reason. Figured that it’d just be easier to let him do it.”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Hiro nodded wisely, before adding with a chuckle, “He didn’t do a very good job at it though. Called us over and everything.”

The aforementioned bodyguard threw his hands out in exasperation. “When’d I ever say that I was good at my job?” He looked at each of them in turn, as if expecting a laugh, or even applause, despite what he said not being funny, like, at all. Goes without saying that he didn’t get one. “Wow, tough crowd!”

Byakuya blinked dumbly for a moment, as if trying to understand Kurokuma’s stupidity. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and looked down to Ryoma, “I assume that Peko is inside?” he asked neutrally, possibly in some attempt to reign the conversation back in.

Ryoma nodded, lowing his head, hunching his shoulders to adjust his jacket, and placing his candy cigarette back in his mouth. Hiro kinda wanted one now. “She said that there was somethin’ that she wanted to take a look at. Somethin’ about a weapon used to take Miu’s hands off?” Hiro noticed Byakuya’s eyebrows shoot up, and he was sure that his did the same thing. Ryoma shrugged, “I’m not too sure on specifics, she was pretty tight lipped.” He bobbed his head back to indicate to the building that he had just left, “But it does sound pretty important, so I’d ask her about it, she might be more open to you considering you’re our leader.”

“Uh, yeah,” Hiro said, rather stupidly nodding his head, “That sounds like, really important.”

Byakuya stepped past Ryoma. “Yes, I’ll be questioning her about that,” he looked back at Hiro, indicating for him to follow, and then pointed at Kurokuma. “Ryoma, will you please keep him outside. I don’t want him interrupting us.” Despite his words being the ones used for a question, his tone was commanding. Seemed like Ryoma didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Already expecting such an assignment, Ryoma gave a deep sigh, already resigned to his fate. “Why’ve I been assigned as his babysitter?” he mumbled irritably, but didn’t tell Byakuya no.

“Because! Look at us! We’re a dynamic duo!” The bear said brightly, using his paw to indicate between the two of them.

As he followed Byakuya further into the building, Hiro heard Ryoma sigh in defeat. As sorry as he felt for the guy, he wasn’t exactly willing to fall on that grenade for him, so he kept walking. He whispered an apology to him.

At the very end of the building, Peko was crouched over a relatively large and inconspicuous box. It looked like she had to move a few others out of the way to find it. From what Hiro could see of her face, she looked mildly unnerved at whatever she was seeing, her face a little scrunched up.

Hearing Byakuya’s loud footsteps in the otherwise quiet building, she stood up and nodded. “I expected you to come in once I heard you and Kurokuma talking,” she told Byakuya, before pointing towards the box she was just inspecting, “Take a look at this.”

Strangely enough, Byakuya smiled at her. “I appreciate you getting right to the point.” He followed her gaze, and again, his eyes wideed. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me…!” he gritted out, teeth clenched. Hiro looked inside.

Inside the box, there were a bunch of tools. Screwdrivers, wrenches, hammers, and drills were among them, along with some other crap Hiro didn’t recognise. What caught his eye the most though? “Woah, is that an axe!?”

Peko nodded gravely. She crossed her arms and grabbed her elbows. “Yes, it is. I also believe that there was once a saw of some description in here,” she turned to Byakuya with an inquisitive look, “Is it possible that a saw could have been used to remove Miu’s hands?”

“Seeing as we found a bloodied bone saw in the freezer, I’d say it’s more than possible.” Byakuya stood up, turning to look back at Peko, “How long have you known about this?” he asked, tone border lining on accusing.

To her credit, Peko was very unphased at his tone, probably willing to be suspected if it meant bringing this piece of evidence to light. “Nekomaru and I found it on the first day of us being here, before the announcement of the killing game,” she informed the boys, her voice neutral. “I elected not to bring it up, seeing as giving people access to dangerous weapons in a situation like this is obviously a bad idea,” she moved one of her pigtails from her shoulder to behind her head, “I am unsure why Nekomaru didn’t bring it up. I find it possible that he honestly forgot.”

Byakuya closed his eyes and considered her explanation, tapping his foot as he thought. “As much as I would’ve liked to have been informed about this, I understand your reasons for keeping quiet.” Despite his words, he gave Peko an approving nod, probably fully aware of the fact that he probably would have done the exact same thing.

Hiro raised an eyebrow. “Since when were you so understanding?” he asked the heir, who promptly ignored him.

Like he had done with everyone else before, Byakuya asked Peko if she saw or heard anything last night. She shook her head, and told him she knew nothing.

Walking back outside to Ryoma and Kurokuma, Byakuya repeated his question.

“Nope,” Ryoma responded, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.

Kurokuma shook his head. “Didn’t see or hear nothin’, except for my own beautiful reflection and the sound of my own beautiful voice~”

“Wow man, thanks for the help,” Hiro rolled his eyes. Despite his obvious sarcasm, Kurokuma nodded and winked at him.

“Actually,” Byakuya started with a smug smile, “That does help.” Ryoma and Hiro both raised an eyebrow, while Peko stared on neutrally, “It tells us that nothing happened at the lodge, since he would have likely heard it. That being said,” he indicated to Peko and Ryoma, “Still give the place a onceover. Hiro and I have to return to the dining hall for the results of Shuichi’s autopsy.”

“Ahhh~” Kurokuma sighed dreamily, grinning up at everyone with his golden teeth. “What would you all do without me?”

A disgruntled Ryoma responded, “Pekoyama and I’d probably be done by now,” he grunted at him, stalking off in the direction of the lodge.

“Wha- Hey! Wait up!” Kurokuma ran after him, flailing his arms in panic despite the fact that Ryoma was barely ten feet away.

Byakuya turned to Peko and sighs, “Please make sure that Ryoma doesn’t murder him,” he asked in exasperation.

With a small, amused grin, Peko nodded. “Very well. Best of luck with the rest of your investigation.” She followed the short duo with her arms crossed, taking large strides to clear growing distance between them.

Hiro stared after the trio, watching Kurokuma excitedly bounce around an increasingly annoyed Ryoma. Laughing internally, he turned to Byakuya, only to realize that he was gone.

“Wha-?” Hiro spun around to try and locate him, and saw him already crossing the tennis court, having decided to take the short way there.

Hiro run to catch up with Byakuya, glaring at him once he fell into step. “Really couldn’t have waited for me?” he stretched his back as he walked, hearing a satisfying crack as he did so.

“You should have been paying more attention,” Byakuya said nonchalantly, not even bothering to look at his investigation partner.

Hiro rolled his eyes, nearly tripping over his own feet. He stumbled, but managed to catch himself. Praying to Jesus that Byakuya didn’t just notice this, Hiro looked back at the heir. His eyes were now on him, but his expression remained unchanged.

Choosing to believe that meant that he didn’t just notice that, Hiro asked a question that he just thought of as they were walking together- a pretty important one at that. “Hey Byakuya?” he spoke up hesitantly, “Do you… d’you think that the traitor is the killer?”

The Ultimate Affluent Progeny answered without skipping a beat. “I don’t particularly care.”

Hiro did a double take. “Wait, what?” he blanched at the large man. “Why not?”

“Do not miss understand,” Byakuya corrected, pushing the rim of his glasses up closer to his face, “While I do believe that the traitor is the culprit, we don’t know their identity, so it doesn’t help us in discovering the killer’s identity.” He elaborated further, turning his head to look at Hiro, “If they happen to be the same person, then that’s the best outcome. If not?” he sighed, “Then we’ll have to deal with them later. The trial comes first.”

Hiro scrunched his face up in thought as he pondered his words. Hiro thought that he was right in the traitor’s identity not mattering, but he still really don’t like the idea of them running around unchecked, since Monokuma himself said that they were gonna kill someone… But he was right about one thing at least. The trial came first…

Hiro grit his teeth, just barely coming to terms with this grim reality. “Fuck, man…”

“No… I didn’t hear anything in the lodge last night,” Shirokuma told Byakuya, who wanted to confirm Kurokuma’s account, seeing as the black bear hadn’t exactly done a whole lot to make himself trustworthy.

Byakuya nodded in satisfaction, a small smile on his face. “Good. That clears one of the largest places that we have access to from suspicion.”

Without hesitation, Byakuya turned on a dime and marched into the freezer.

Hiro sighed, and turned to look down at Shirokuma. “Well, unlike him, I’m polite enough to thank you. So, uh…” Hiro blinked stupidly, having literally just said the two words that he was about to say… he didn’t see the harm in saying it gain though. “Thank you!”

The white bear giggled quietly at Hiro’s words. “D- don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help, and I’m sure he’s under a lot of stress, micromanaging this entire investigation and all…” He gestured vaguely to the freezer, looking apologetic.

“He could still do with being a little less of a jerk,” Hiro mumbled, languidly walking himself over to the freezer. He shivered as the chilly air hit him as he crossed the threshold.

Miu’s body looked the same as it had been at the start of the investigation. The only difference to the whole room is that Shuichi was standing over her body, reading his Monophone as he shot glances at the corpse, Sakura and Byakuya standing over his shoulder doing the same thing.

Hiro give a half-hearted wave as they looked up and spotted me. Shuichi gave a feeble wave in return, and Sakura nodded. “H- hey. You manage to get everything wr- wrapped up?” he asked, stuttering as he shivered.

Shuichi nodsded, wiping some sweat from his forehead, “Yeah, just doing some last-minute checking now.” He spun his Monophone around, showing that his Monophone was displaying the Monokuma File.

“Are you ready to give them your results?” Sakura asked him inquisitively, a hand on his shoulder. She probably already knew most of his deductions, seeing as she was overlooking the autopsy.

“Y- yeah.” Shuichi, looking nervous, pulled his cap down his face. Hiro moved closer, next to Byakuya, as Shuichi started. “N- now, I’d just like to say that you should take everything I say with a grain of salt-”

“Shuchi, stop,” Sakura cut him off, an exasperated expression on her face. She looked like she was actively resisting pinching her eyebrows in frustration. “We discussed this earlier. You explained your deductions to me as you were conducting the autopsy, and I agreed that everything seemed perfectly reasonable.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “There’s no need to preface this explanation with such self-depreciating words.”

Without giving Shuichi a chance to formulate a response, Byakuya cut in. “Shuichi, you are by far the most qualified person to do this, despite your inexperience on the particular subject.” He looked him dead in the eyes. “You’re a detective, a talented one at that. Talented enough to be scouted for Hope’s Peak. Your deductions will likely be more accurate than what anyone else could come up with. So, let’s hear it.” Despite his commanding tone at the end of his spiel, Byakuya’s words were kind, if not a little blunt.

Shuichi took a shaky breath in, clutching the brim of his hat. He was clearly not used to hearing this much praise. He was backed into a corner, scared of being wrong, but he was the only one who could do it. Swallowing his fear, he began speaking.

“T- the Monokuma File is accurate,” the detective began, clearly trying his best to be confident in what he was saying, “Miu’s cause of death is strangulation, though all I can conclude about the weapon is that is wasn’t something conventional like a rope.” He showed the file, pointing to the back of the greyed out Miu’s head, “The wound here on the back of her head was inflicted before she d- died, but wasn’t fatal, and the weapon was something flat- potentially a floor.”

“Reckon it happened in here?” Hiro asked, earning a sharp look from Byakuya for interrupting. “What?” Hiro didn’t throw his arms out because of the cold, but instead made some kind of feeble jerk, “He had finished the sentence! It’s a valid question!” He looked to Sakura for support, and she gave him a non-committal head movement to the side. Hiro groaned in annoyance.

“N- no, it’s a fair question,” Shuichi said, giving Hiro a nod. He beamed at the man, and shoot Byakuya what could only be described as a smug grin. He rolled his eyes. “It’s possible that it happened here, but there’s nothing conclusive,” he pointed to Miu’s greened-out hands, “As for her hands, they were taken off posthumously-”

Seeing the look of confusion on Hiro’s face, Sakura interrupted. “Posthumously means after she died, Hiro.”

Despite the cold, Hiro could feel the heat creeping up his lips, “I- I knew that…,” he said, lying through his chattering teeth, “But thank you for clarifying.”

Exhaling and momentarily focussing on his misty breath, Shuichi continued. “Right. Her hands were taken off by the b- bone saw,” he told Byakuya specifically, who nodded in satisfaction, probably because he found out where it had come from, “And it’s a bit difficult to tell because of the cold, but I…” Shuichi hesitated, taking a breath in, “I think that they were taken off about fifteen minutes after her death.” Tucking away his Monophone, he stared blankly down at Miu’s body, a pained expression on his face. It must’ve be tough to have to be the one to relay all of this information about the death of someone you knew- someone who you could potentially even call a friend. In front of the victim’s body at that. Hiro really felt bad for the dude.

Hiro glanced over at Miu’s hands, but just as quickly looked away. He saw bone. He felt like throwing up. “D’you have any idea why her hands were gotten rid of?”

Shuichi just shook his head.

“There must have been a reason,” Byakuya asserted confidently, the hands of his crossed arms drumming irritably, “And Considering how we didn’t manage to locate them during the investigation, it must have been a good one. Regardless, did either of you see or hear anything last night?” Despite asking the question, Hiro could tell that he considered it basically just a formality at this point. Byakuya looked about ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

Shuichi shook his head slowly, stuck in his own thoughts. He had an unsettled expression, but it was different than before. Before, he looked sad and disgusted, which was understandable considering one of his classmates just died. Now, however, he looked unnerved. Hiro didn’t have time to question it though.

“I believe that I heard something last night, yes.” Sakura unexpectedly said, actually manage to startle Byakuya, who wasn’t paying full attention and fully expecting them both to say no.

Hiro looked up at her, “Woah, really?” he asked, subconsciously moving his fingers up to his mouth. He wasn’t as caught off guard as Byakuya, considering how he had probably already concluded that they’d both say no.

“Explain,” Byakuya ordered, regaining his composure fast and staring at the martial artist.

Sakura nodded, but looked conflicted as she speaks, “Please take this with a grain of salt, as I was extremely tired when this happened, and it’s possible that I imagined it…” As Sakura trails off, Shuichi looked back up, and his expression turns curious. Seeing this, Sakura regained her resolve and continued, “But in the early morning hours of the day, I believe that I heard a loud thud coming from outside. I… I would have gone to see if anything happened, but I was extremely tired, and it simply didn’t occur to me to do so. Had I done so, I may have been able to prevent this. I am sorry.” She lowered her head and clenched her fists and teeth, scrunching up her face in mental agony. She was blaming herself; Shuichi knew it. It was his turn to console her now- to revitalize her like she had done for him before, but unfortunately…

Bing, Bong, Bing, Bong

Electricity cracked through a nearby megaphone, causing all four of them to look up towards it.

“Uh… I’m getting tired of waiting,” Monokuma’s bored voice boomed, making Hiro jump despite the fact that he knew it was coming, “So can everyone please make their way over to the Director’s Cottage!” he asked jovially, before impatiently adding, “And to the workout group. The ones in their dinky little tracksuits.” Hiro subconsciously looked over at Sakura and Shuichi, who are both wearing their dinky little tracksuits, “We’ve got a uniform policy here. You’ve got ten minutes to get back in your usual outfits. Starting… now. Monokuma: out,” and with an audible mic drop, the speakers clicked off.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, “Why would he care about people being in their usual outfits?” As he spoke, he walked out of the freezer, Sakura following close behind.

Shuichi extended a hand towards her retreating form, “W- wait!” Stumbling slightly, he ran out after her.

Hiro walk to the door of the freezer. He turned around, looking at Miu’s body one last time. It was a sad thing. A person’s entire life, gone. Just… gone.

He never had someone he knew die. He wasn’t close to Miu- far from it, in fact. They had barely spoken… but the fact that he would never talk to her again really just hit him now.

Hiro tore his eyes away from Miu, and closed the freezer door behind him, never to see her again.

Hiro wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but the director’s cottage was the same today as it was the first day they got to the campgrounds.

When Monokuma told them to rock up here, Hiro sorta expected the room to have been revamped for a trial, not for it to be the same dark room with a hallway that it was before.

“This does not look like a trial room,” Sonia observed, looking around wide-eyed in the darkness.

Shirokuma waddled over to the left side of the building, pointing to the door at the end of the hall, “The door to the stairwell should be unlocked now. The trial room is down there…”

“Think we should wait for everyone else?” Ryoma mumbled, walking over towards the left side of the room despite his words.

The six who were getting changed from training were obviously not there yet, but Angie, Makoto, and Sayaka were also missing. They were all at the cabins, so they probably had a longer walk, or else got distracted by talking to the training group who showed up to change.

“Bah!” Kurokuma waved his stubby little arm dismissively, marching over to the door to the stairwell and flinging it open, “Someone as amazing as me waits for no one. They know how to walk downstairs!” And without further ado, he walked down the stairs, into even darker darkness.

For a few seconds, they all stood there apprehensively, no one else really wanting to be the one to make the next move.

Sonia clenched her fists and steeled herself, clearly internally willing herself to go first, but someone beat her to the punch.

With a deep sigh, Ryoma stepped forward. “Might as well go. No point delaying the inevitable,” he mumbled, pulling his beanie down further, and walking into the stairwell.

“Well said,” Byakuya called out to the tennis pro, following him down the stairs.

Seeing this, Kirumi turned to Sonia. “Shall we?” she said, bowing her head and indicating to the door.

The princess nodded profusely, “Yes!” she said, a little too loudly. She winced at the volume of her voice, but marched into the door, Kirumi gracefully following behind her.

Shirokuma followed his friends into the stairwell. Seeing that he was the only one left in the room, Hiro scrambled after him.

He heard the echo of footsteps as he entered the stairwell. He looked over one of the railings. “Oh, I really don’t wanna walk all the way down there…” He could see the bottom, but it would still take a solid minute or two to get all the way down there.

“Think any of us do!?” Kurokuma called out from below, his voice echoing up towards the clairvoyant. He was clearly upset that he had to walk down all these stairs despite being a robot that can’t get tired.

Seeing how everyone was getting further and further away from him, Hiro began his descent down the stairs, being extremely sure not to trip with each step that he took. “I can’t help but feel that we’re walking to our deaths…”

A few steps in front of him, Sonia looked back as she continued her descent, a comforting smile on her face. “Hiro, we will be alright… We can do this if we work together!”

“I agree,” Kirumi nodded, brushing some hair out of her face, “Having a positive outlook is important. It can make a lot of difference, after all.”

“A positive outlook won’t keep us alive, a realistic one will,” Ryoma grumbled from even further down, the clinking of his chain dragging against the concrete floor echoing through the stairwell.

Byakuya gave a small smug laugh, “Well realistically, with the investigation we did, along with the combined efforts of myself and the Ultimate Detective, we should have a fighting chance.” Despite his comforting words, condescension dripped from every syllable.

Hiro frowned and crossed his arms. “Hey… I helped too…”

Kurokuma laughs from below him. He probably doubled over in a fit of giggles.

Shirokuma turned around to face Hiro, “If it’s any consolation, I think you helped, Hiro…”

He smiled and at the white bear, adopting a slightly more springy step. “Thanks, man.”

No one else talked until they got to the bottom. No one could come up with anything to talk about.

There was a large concrete room down at the bottom of the stairwell. It was very barren, and only had one defining feature, which Kurokuma kindly pointed out. “See them big red doors?” he said, pointing to the two big garish red velvet doors that stood out like a sore thumb against the grey walls of the room, “Yeah, trial room’s in there.”

“Yeah, thanks professor,” Ryoma grumbled, crunching on his candy cigarette before shoving his hands into his pockets.

Everyone just stood there for a few seconds, staring at the door. Like before, no one wanted to make the first move. And then, without so much as a word of warning, Byakuya pushed the doors open, and the room was filled with light.

The room was shaped like an octagon. In the centre of the room, there was a circle of sixteen podiums. The one directly in front of the door had some sort of stand, facing the centre of the room, and there was another directly opposite that one that did the same thing.

Behind that portrait sat three highchairs. One with Monokuma, kicking his legs in glee, the other two presumably for Shirokuma and Kurokuma.

There was red carpet in a circle around the circle of podiums, with carpet extending in eight directions, reaching the middle of each wall. Each wall was green, multiple walls having red curtains.

On the ground, where there was no carpet, was fake grass, fitting the theme of the campground that was their prison.

“Welcome, welcome!” Monokuma shouted happily, kicking his legs against his chair in excitement. “I’m so glad that you’re here!”

Byakuya scowled at the bear, clenching his fist, “Shut up.”

Kurokuma waddled over to one of the highchairs, giggling all the while. “Hehe, front row seats!” He struggled to climb up, but Shirokuma helped him, and then climbed onto his own chair flawlessly.

Monokuma leered down at the students, “I know that everyone isn’t here yet, but that’s no reason to just stand around like morons! Each podium has a plaque with your name on it, and it should go without saying that you’re meant to stand there!” He gestureed to the podiums in front of them, as if there was any confusion on what he was talking about.

Hiro walked over to the podium closest to the entrance, with the portrait stand. The plaque read ‘Junko Enoshima’.

He turned and looked at the portrait and sure enough, Junko’s face stared back at him, face blank, and colours desaturated. “Woah, what the hell is that!?”

“Yes, I was about to ask the same question,” Sonia piped up from about halfway across the room. Hiro noticed that she isn’t looking where he was though, and was instead pointing towards the podium on the other side of the room. Miu’s desaturated face stared back at Hiro, but there was something different about it. Miu’s face was covered with three crudely drawn red X’s.

Kirumi scowled at the sight. “That’s incredibly distasteful.”

Monokuma waved a dismissive paw, “I’ll explain when everyone else shows up. I hate repeating myself.” Byakuya and Ryoma rolled their eyes.

Hiro continued circling the podiums, looking for his own. ‘Peko Pekoyama’, ‘Kirumi Tojo’, ‘Byakuya Togami’…

The red doors flew open with a boom, startling almost everyone and making Hiro specifically jump. Angie looked around the trial room in amazement, as Sayaka and Makoto trailed in behind her. “Woooooooooah! This room is so grand!”

Sayaka grimaced as she looked around the room. “Grand?” she repeated with thinly veiled distain, “I’d call it tacky and overwhelming.” After she said that, Monokuma whips out his claws. Sayaka squealed and hid behind Makoto, ducking because she was taller than him.

Makoto turned around and held Sayaka’s hands. “Hey, you don’t need to be scared. He can’t hurt you unless you hurt him, remember?”