Chapter Text
The Tokyo auditions for season fifty-three of Danganronpa were open for five days only. They began in the afternoon, to account for the fact that a large portion of the prospective applicants were high school seniors; despite that fact, many young hopefuls were known to skip class to get a good spot in line. It was first come, first serve, after all—when the doors finally opened, each person got an audition number from 1 to 500. If you were later than that, they would tell you to try again and come back the next day.
Miu should have been one of them. She should have been first in line—one of the kids who cut class for it. The only reason she wasn't…
Disgust curled at the edge of Miu's lips. “You can't be fucking serious.”
“Language,” her teacher, Sugiura, chastised. Exasperated, he ran a hand through his messy hair. “And I'm dead serious. Forging your father's signature, forging a doctor's signature… you've already ditched twenty-nine days this year. Did you know that? Twenty-nine! You're lucky that I'm letting you off the hook this easily, to be honest.”
Miu rolled her eyes. “What's it matter, anyways? I ace all my tests.”
“Good grades don't cancel out attendance requirements. If you ditch even one more time, you'll have to do the whole year over. A week of detention doesn't sound so bad by comparison, then, yeah?”
“Tch.” She crossed her arms over her chest before responding. “Fine. Whatever. But does it have to be this week? I've got shit to do.”
“This week…” His eyes narrowed, and he paused for a moment before speaking again, letting the swear slide. “Maybe you should have thought about that before forging your doctor's note. I'm not going to bend your punishment around what's most convenient for you. So, yes, it has to be this week.”
“Wait, seriously?” Miu's eyebrows shot up, her arns dropping and her hands balling into fists at her sides. “I thought you said you were letting me off easy. You know I can't be here during—”
“Auditions will happen again next year. And if you actually graduate on time, you won't have to worry about missing them.”
“I'm not—that's not fair! You can't do this to me, just. Just move it by one day, alright? I don't need the whole week! Let me leave on time on Friday and I'll stay in detention on Monday, or something!”
“I've shown you more than enough grace this far.” Sugiura sighed. “You’re young. You've got plenty of time to audition in the future. It's not worth getting held back. You're a smart girl, Iruma. You do the math.”
The looming threat of repeating a grade was something that even getting into Danganronpa couldn't save her from. If she got held back, she would need to do senior year all over again. If she dropped out entirely, she would need to get a GED instead of a diploma—and Iruma Miu, of all people, was not getting a damn GED.
“Fuckin’ genius is what I am,” she muttered under her breath. She avoided his gaze, opting to glare at the wall instead.
“Language.” He opened his mouth to speak again, but something caught his eye; his features softened as he turned towards the door. “Oh, Harukawa! There you are. Come in, come in. Don't just stand there.”
Sure enough, when Miu glanced to her right, she spotted the class president, Harukawa Maki. She was lingering in the doorframe with a stack of papers in her arms, but the moment the teacher called her over, she obeyed without any further hesitation.
“You seemed busy.” She didn't even look at Miu as she spoke, her full attention directed at their teacher. “I didn't want to interrupt.”
Miu felt her temple start to throb—who did this girl think she was, acting like she wasn't even there? Before she could lash out and insult her, Sugiura stood up at his desk.
“I was waiting for you, actually.” He tugged his sleeve down to check his watch, then glanced back at the door. “Just put the worksheets on the desk for now. Harukawa, you typically stay in the library after school to do your homework, don't you?”
Maki stared at him blankly for a moment, blinking once before placing the stack of papers down. “...Typically.”
Sugiura smiled, sheepish and placating, before clapping his hands together and slightly bowing his head. “You wouldn't mind taking over detention for me this week, would you? You'd just have to sit here with her until time's up. You can do your homework at my desk if you want. Just let me know if she ditches or not. She knows what the consequences are, she'll stay if she knows what's best for her.”
“What?!” Miu blanched, staring at Sugiura with wide, wild eyes. “Are you joking? You're making us both stay and you're not even gonna be here?! Hey, Harukawa, you don't wanna—”
The words died in Miu's throat as she turned to face Maki. She thought she would have to convince the other girl to say no—teacher's pet that she was—but to her surprise, Maki looked conflicted. Almost… upset?
“Until what time?” Maki asked.
“Five. And don't worry, I'll give you extra credit, obviously.”
“Mm…” She tugged at one of her pigtails, averting her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Fine.”
Sugiura grinned and handed her his school keyring, then rushed to grab his coat, seemingly eager to get out the door. “Thanks Harukawa, you're the best! Make sure to lock up.”
Finally returning to her senses, Miu snapped at him; “Where the hell are you even going? Why would you give me detention if you had to leave?!”
“Well, you know how it is.” Sugiura shrugged his jacket onto his shoulders. “I've got shit to do.”
With that statement, he was gone, and Miu was left all alone with Maki—and with her anger. The two of them stood there awkwardly for a short pause that felt painfully long before Miu threw her head back and groaned.
“What the fuck do we do now? Sit around with our thumbs up our asses for the next hour and a half?”
Maki frowned, finally sitting down at Sugiura's desk. She slid her bookbag off her shoulders and pulled a different worksheet out of a folder. “I'm going to do my homework. I don't care what you do. Ditch, or don't. But I'll tell him if you leave early.”
“God, of course you would. Of course the class bitch is a snitch!” Miu dropped into a seat in the front row with a bit too much force, nearly tipping it over. The moment it stabilized, she kicked her feet up onto the desk. “You obviously don't wanna be stuck with me either. Just go home and when he asks, tell him we were both here the whole time. Easy.”
Maki glanced up at her for a second, her eyes narrowed, before returning her attention to her textbook. “Why would I do that.”
“Like I said, you clearly don't want to be—”
“Not that. Why would I cover for you?”
Miu's brow furrowed. “What?”
“If I did leave, it's not like I'd have a reason to tell him that you stayed here.”
“That's, uh. Hm.” Miu glared at her, but she didn't look up from her work. “Girl's code?”
“That's not a thing.”
“Oh, come on. Sure it is. Girls gotta look out for each other, and all that jazz.”
“You called me a bitch a minute ago.”
Shit. “Did I?”
“You did.”
Miu snorted. “Well, whatever. So what? I'm a bad bitch too! And bad bitches look out for each other. That's girl code. Bad bitch code.”
Maki finally tore her eyes away from her homework to give Miu a withering look. “You're really annoying.”
“I'm awesome.” Miu leaned further back in her seat with her arms crossed, testing how far back she could tilt the chair. “Not like you're some prize, anyways.”
Maki didn't respond, opting instead to focus entirely on her homework. Miu scoffed but made no attempt to engage further. She looked around the classroom until she got bored of it, then took her phone out and started to scroll through social media. The heavy silence was interspersed with sudden bursts of sound every time Miu scrolled past an autoplaying video. She laughed to herself a bit internally as she watched Maki's eyebrow twitch each time it happened.
After a good thirty minutes of relative quiet, the audition posts she scrolled by were starting to get to her. She groaned and faceplanted into the desk. “I can't take it anymore, c'monnn. Just go home already. Put us both out of our misery.”
“And here I thought you finally decided to be quiet.”
“Y’know what would really shut me up, is if we went our separate ways! Then I'm sure you'll get loads of work done.”
Maki sighed and leaned back in her chair, momentarily putting the pencil down. “Look. If you somehow annoy me into leaving early, I'm definitely telling him that you ditched. So stop it.”
Miu clicked her tongue in annoyance, sinking down in her seat. Before she could respond, though, Maki continued—
“It’s not like I could focus at home, either. Way too loud.”
The statement piqued Miu's attention. “Too loud? What, you got a lot of siblings or something?”
“Or something.”
…Hmm. Miu didn't actually know very much about Maki, she realized. Not that it mattered to her—well, maybe she was a little bit curious. But, more importantly, maybe she could use any information Maki let slip to help convince her to cover for her…
“I mean, if you just want a quiet spot to do your homework, you could stay here after I leave…” Miu shook her head. “But you wouldn't have a reason to lie for me. Right. Whatever…”
Maki didn't deem the remark worthy of a response. As she returned her focus to her work, Miu checked the time–4:26—and began to consider her options more seriously. Even if she ditched now, she probably wouldn't make it in time; nearly every high school senior in the city would be there before her. She couldn't afford to get caught ditching. There would be four more days of auditions, but she needed to convince Maki to cover for her with enough time to spare—by 4 P.M. on Friday, it would already be too late.
What she really needed was a serious plan. Maki wasn't going to budge without a good reason. She needed to give her something in return. Something Maki actually wanted. She just… had no idea what that could be.
Money, maybe? Miu twirled a strand of hair between her fingers. It was worth a shot, she supposed. She could bring her full stash tomorrow. She had just blown a lot of it at the mall last week, though… while skipping class.
It might work. It might not. She squinted at Maki as though attempting to read her mind; what do you want? All she knew that Maki wanted was a quiet place away from home to do her work, and that clearly wouldn't be a good enough bargaining chip. She was the notorious ice queen of their class; cold, harsh, quiet. She hardly ever spoke about herself. It felt ludicrous, but Miu considered that her only chance at escape might be to get to know her captor better.
“So,” she began, then cleared her throat. “What, uh… what class is that for?”
Without moving her head, Maki's eyes flicked upwards. “What?”
“The homework. What subject is it for.”
Maki's eyes narrowed. “Currently? Science. I finished history and language already. Why?”
Miu perked up, clapping her hands together. Finally, she saw a potential way out. “Oh, I'm a fucking whiz at science. Actually, I'm pretty great at everything.”
“I know.”
“You–huh?”
Maki shrugged. “I help grade tests sometimes. I've seen yours.”
“Oh.” Miu's face was hot, suddenly; the statement was lackluster as far as praise went, but it was completely genuine. Stated as matter-of-fact. Somehow, that dull sincerity was even more significant to her than actual flattery. “Um. Good! Then you know this deal is fuckin’ worth it. If you let me go early tomorrow, I'll do your homework for you for a week—no, two! All of it, every subject. Whaddaya think?”
“No.”
Miu's smile dropped. “You didn't even consider it!”
“I don't need someone to do my homework for me. I get by just fine.” As if to emphasize her point, Maki finished the first side of the sheet she was working on, flipping it over to answer the questions on the back.
“I'll do it for a month,” she offered. “Shit, I'll do it for the rest of the year. Just think about it! No more homework! You don't have to stay after school in the library every day, slaving away over worksheets!”
“I like the library.”
Miu buried her face in her hands, her elbows propped up onto the desk. “God, you're impossible.”
Once again, Maki didn't respond. Miu watched her pencil move in abject misery, until it didn't anymore; she glanced at Maki's face and found her staring at the clock.
“It's five. Go home.”
“Wait, seriously?” Miu swiveled around to check the clock herself. Sure enough, it was 5 P.M. exactly. “Fuck yes!” She hopped out of her seat without hesitation, swinging her bag over her shoulder. She was ready to book it out of there—she could try again tomorrow, with the money, okay—but Maki wasn't budging from her spot at the teacher's desk. “You coming?”
“No. I haven't finished my work yet. No thanks to you for the distraction.” Her attention was already returned to the worksheet.
Miu snorted. “Yeah, yeah. You really gonna sit here until it's done? However late that is?”
“Yeah.”
“...Whatever. It's your funeral. I'm getting out of here.”
“Good, I was counting on that.”
Miu stared at her for a moment. It was honestly a little bit funny how openly hostile the other girl was to her at all times. “See you tomorrow.”
“Unfortunately.” Stony-faced as ever, Maki simply nodded and kept working. “Later.”
Miu bit her tongue. She was attempting to hold back on insults slightly, at least until her audition was secured. When she really thought about it, the mutual disrespect between them was kind of ridiculous. She laughed to herself as she left the classroom, all the way down the hall—Jesus, what the fuck was she even going to do about this? How do you convince someone who doesn't like you to do you a favor, when they seemingly want nothing from you?
Miu had four days left to buy her freedom. There had to be something. Whatever it was, she would figure it out—or else she might make an incredibly stupid decision, and Iruma Miu was not stupid.
She would get what she wanted, sooner or later.