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Chapter Text

The obnoxious sound of the Morning Announcement had awoken the girl from her slumber. A former tone made her brows furrow in annoyance.

It was the least comforting that she'd grown used to it for how long they've been here.

A sigh left her lips, sitting up and dragging her body of the warm blankets. Looking down for her slippers and slipping them on.

'Another day here.. you got this, Kaede..'

Body feeling refreshed from the warm shower, she brushed her teeth and looked in her mirror.

'Eyebags? I'll need to get more relax.. Maybe Tojo-San has something for sleep.'

She sipped water into her mouth and spat it back into the sink, making sure there was nothing left and her teeth were nice and clean.

Slowly rubbing the towel on her head, letting it fall down to her shoulders. The comical ahoge of hers sprang back to life.

Her hands searched the space by the sink and picked up the hair clippers. Drying them off with the spare towel, she pulled her bangs up using them.

She'd look through the wardrobe everyday in hopes for something new but there would only be dozens of the same copies of her day attire and night attire.

It broke her pride as a girl but it'd have to do.

"Okay Kaede, Remember, This time we'll talk things out a bit more instead of things on our own. We need to at least put trust into our friends a bit more."

She whispered to herself, convincing not to do things on her own again. Last time, Rantaro could have really..

Kirumi's food was absolutely delicious, as expected of the ultimate maid. With the ability to prepare so many places of food for everyone's tastes.

But Kaede's mouth didn't water at the sight today, her stomach felt twisted while forcing more spoonfuls of rice. 

The girl still felt guilty for her past actions but the person who she could have hurt still forgave her.

Not only that.

Monokuma has been quiet with his motives.

Too quiet for their own liking.

Shuichi looked at his friend's plate, how her movements were awkward and tense.

"Akamatsu-san?" He whispered, not wanting to put too much attention on her so early in the morning after everything.

Her eyes turned to him, pupils diluted before relaxing.

He hid his gaze with his hat, still having the fear of meeting the other's eyes.

She wondered how long he was waiting for a response.

"Yes, Saihara-Kun? Was I too loud?" She played with her hair, feeling embarrassed that she possibly disturbed his meal.

He thought on what to say. But he wasn't really the best at socialising, maybe he could tell her about what he heard this morning.

He'd like to be more useful as the Ultimate Detective, despite not feeling like one.

"No.. I just wanted to say.. this morning, when I entered the dining hall. It was quiet at first till I heard odd noises, then when I went to investigate.. everyone was already coming in here.. well, not everyone.."

She listened, finding this suspicious. But it could mean Monokuma's up to something again.

And not everyone?

She looked around the hall.

'Not everyone'

A familiar voice that would nitpick at her chest or possibly squirm if she was harshly came to mind.

'Where's Iruma-San?'

She went to both the inventor's lab and room, yet there was nothing.

No noises, no yelling. No inappropriate insult from the other side of the door. Nothing.

'Odd.'

She didn't want to think of the obvious reason so she just kept on denying it.

Walking to the gym hall cause of Monokuma's voice ringing in her ears.

'That stupid audio of his!'

Her feet carried her to the large doors, slapping her cheeks to get her to focus.

Pushing them opened, she slipped through the doors and made her way to the group.

The wait was about a hour, standing with Shuichi in a onesided conversation and Rantaro came and spoke to them as well.

It was awkward but they slowly got used to talking together again.

The Monokubs came from behind the stage, lifting enormous present about their heads and putting it down.

The sound of something heavy hitting the ground inside was heard too.

'Something is definitely in there.'

They all stared at it. hesitated, confused, weary and so on.

The red one Monokub, she faintly remember how it called Miu it's mother and Miu just let it do as it pleased, was now staring at the present with a sad expression.

Well as sad as it could look with it's permanent expression.

The present itself was brown, white and wrapped in orange bows.

'Odd choice in colour.'

Suddenly..

POOF!!

Monokuma hit down onto the stage, did he come from the ceiling?

His famous laugh echoed in the quiet room.

"Pupupuhuhu!~ Morning my dear students! I've come to the realisation that my last attempt to motivate you all was a failure. Too bland! So I created a new and improved motive!"

He used his paws to make himself look cute, it wasn't working on them.

"Why would we listen to you?! None of us want to die or kill just for your entertainment!"

Kaito yelled, it was not surprising for him to say something like that.

He was overly positive and confidently trusted others, wearing his heart on his sleeve.

"I wasn't finished talking! As I was saying! This motive is reinvented, different! I'll call it the Pre-Game Motive!"

He giggled at the confused faces.

'Pre-Game?'

"As you all know! You have faulty memories here and there! So all I've done is selected one of my students their memories back! But! they'll have no recollection of their time here before~"

Kaede was confused but listening to his words and finally accepting the truth.

She knew from the start.

He had selected that person for the motive.

Iruma Miu.

Monokuma left them to their own devices with the present. They all looked and listened for anything inside, hearing movement and breathing.

Something living was inside and they didn't know if it was a danger or not.

That's what the others must be thinking.

Will Kaede was completely certain it was Iruma Miu in there. 

'She's missing in the room, some have took notice and probably stayed quiet.'

They came to the final decision to have Gonta and Tenko pull at the bows and ribbons, opening the box.

They were the strongest here as the group knew and they were strong enough to fight and defend.

When the walls hit the floor with the crash, echoing around the room. 

They finally saw what was inside, it was a living being but..

It was their classmate.

Well, Looks like their classmate but different now.

Dressed different and looked so frightened and scared, gripping at her hair tightly.

Miu Iruma, a high schooler at a all girl's school, who was part of the robotics club.

Woke up in a dark, trapped space. No doors or way out. All alone. From waking up from the ground moving and then being put back down on the ground.

'I didn't feel much pain.. may the last effects of the drug I took this morning..?'

She remembered walking down the street to..

Her hands gripped onto her head, she wasn't on the street anymore! She was in the dark with no escape!

It was so scary, it was dark and scary!

"I.. I!" She teared up, all she wanted was to see her beloved.

She  would know what to do. Her beloved was braver than her. Something she admired.

Clear blue eyes looked around frantically, searching for a exit, a escape.

Soon the walls fell down and she was partly blinded by the bright.. stage lights?

She looked around for something she could use or scrapes that she could crafted something small but can be used as a weapon.

She looked, looked more and looked even more till she saw something that she's  been wanting at this moment instead.

Her legs stiffened from being asleep for so long but she had to keep moving, even if she has to practically diving against the other body.

"Kaede-Chan! You're here! You're actually here! Thank goodness!" She cried tears of joy into her shoulder, holding her tightly.

Kaede looked up at her, bewildered, this was definitely not the girl she knew.

Iruma-San was never this soft or open. She didn't speak in a polite manner with a bit of casualty.

She'd never be so happy to see Kaede or be so.. vulnerable in front of others.

She always looked like she was putting up a front, puffing out her chest like an angry bird, yet this looked so odd to actually see what's possible underneath.

The pianist was snapped into reality when the arms around her started holding her more.. intimate. A hand slipping under her bag pack.

"Kaede-Chan.. I'm so confused.. I was so  scared.. and.. and.. I didn't know what was going on..! B.. but you're here! You know what to do! You always know what to do! You're the bravest person I know!" She smiled at her, looking at her with such.. love.

It made the shorter girl in embarrassed, everything was going to quickly and it was hard to catch up with.

"M.. Miu-Chan..?" Her voice was awkward with addressing the girl more casually but the girl looked at her with a bright smile.

Hugging her even tighter while Kaede looked back to see expressions with as much confusion as she had.

This was going to be something alright.

Chapter Text

Monokuma laughed at the interactions. Him and the Mastermind thought of using the Pre-game videos at the last trial.

Revealing that they're all fiction. That they were all in a simulation and the backstories that have were just code.

The Pre-Game being the real them. And the some of the Pre-game videos have some fucked up reasons to audition for Danganronpa!~

Sitting in his secret room, he drank down soda that wouldn't kill him. He can't really be killed!

But back to the motive, he'll modify Kaede's room, making it larger for two people. She'll be the one responsibility for this Pre-game, who would cause some trouble.

Since the people she knew before are different from who she knows now~

Still won't be able to adapt to them easily, and that would probably make the others question themselves.

__

Kaede was officially drained.

First.

From the questions in her own, having the new.. Miu?

She has to call her by her first name.

What was their relationship before?

She thought possibly best friends or.. friends with benefits but the other option in the back of her mind was too embarrassing to think about properly.

Second.

When she came back to her dorm, the room had a lot more room than before.

Two wardrobes, two bathrooms, a two desks each side of the bed..

'Monokuma!'

Her cheeks were red, of course she's had sleepover before but now it's like the two are living together!

And it was a queen size bed.

That bear wants me to know I'm taking care of.. Miu, from now on. Even when we're in the night.

__

Miu's eyes fluttered open, her eyes moved lazily before setting sights on Kaede.

Her face was bright red, the obvious feeling of soft fabric on top of them and a more hard sheets under them.

She was in a bed.

With Kaede.

Alone.

It's so embarrassing but.. she doesn't feel dirty.

Kaede makes her feel clean.. even when she feels like one day Kaede will find out how dirty her skin is.

The Kaede she knows has a cold, almost cruel perspective of life.

That Humanity is unfaithful to her.

But Miu still follows her even after she said that, even if they're both bound by humanity.

Miu loves Kaede. She's her everything. 

Even when she says mean things or looks at her with a sadistic smile.

Her actions are different, even if she's verbally cruel, she isn't too rough.

She doesn't push her too hard against the wall, she smokes away from Miu cause Miu doesn't like the smell of smoke. Her intimate touches always feel hesitant, a bit tough but still giving Miu the strength to push her off if she doesn't feel comfortable.

That's the Kaede she knows and loves.

Maybe she can love this one to?

Her fingers brushed against the other girl's hair, it was as well taken care of as she remembered.

Miu shifted just closer to Kaede, a bit daring before going back to sleep. 

She hopes she can still be loved by Kaede even if she's different now..

__

Magenta opened up to strawberry hair, giving her a little shock.

'She must of moved closer while I passed out.'

She was still confused of how to treat this girl but she seemed to have a few boundaries, when she was awake, she's more clingy to Kaede, when she was asleep, she seemed to sleep away, as if not to make Kaede uncomfortable.

'Sleeping next to her is not as bad as I thought.. I thought she'd just as clingy when she's sleeping too. But it looks like she isn't.'

A smile grew on her face, at least she won't be suffocated all the time.

The peace was broke by the morning alarm.

Bursting Kaede's eardrums as usual but Miu woke up in a panic, falling off the bed with a loud thud.

The sound was so loud, nothing like school bells or the tools she uses in her club time.

Motion to cover her eyes had stopped when she felt a hand in her vision.

"Miu.. Miu.. Miu."

A hand touched her, she looked up to see her beloved Kaede.

'She looks so beautiful..'

Slowly, she calmed her breathing, holding her beloved's hand for comfort.

".. Thank you.. It was so loud.."

Her voice small and soft, Kaede helped the girl up and hugged her.

'Was this really the Miu before we were locked away here? She's so.. timid in a way.'

__

The two bathe in their separate bathrooms, Kaede didn't change Miu last night out of respect for her privacy.

Once they were done getting dressed, there was a big difference between their clothes.

Kaede's looked customised with symbols and a bag always on her back. Miu had a normal school uniform, a bit exposure at the collarbone. She had a orange band on her wrist and a orange hairpin on her curly  bangs.

There were habits Kaede picked up on, brushing through her hair.

'Maybe that's why it's curly like that?'

Looking in the mirror for anything on her face or.. eyes?

Massaging her joints and waist.

Even quietly mumbling.

'Is she resigning the laws of Gravity?'

__

Today, Miu was actually behaving well. She hasn't spoken anyone but me and I had to order food for her so Kirumi didn't have to wait for a answer.

But she was quite pleasant, not as clingy as before. Maybe the stress yesterday was getting to her and the me she knew helped her calm down.

'But was the other me uncomfortable with the touch or did she like it?'

Her ears turned a tint of red, possibles that the other her was more.. opened with Miu.

Kaede looked at me, who looked back with a excited smile that she was looking at her.

'She's cute..'

___

Miu followed Kaede to where she sat, a group she sat with.

'I get to sit and eat lunch with Kaede! We're in different schools so we don't get to do that..'

She hummed, smiling before sitting down next to Kaede.

Her heart felt so warm right now!

Even though Miu doesn't eat most of the time.. 

If I lose weight.. He won't bother me anymore. He doesn't like girls that are too skinny..

She dug her fork into the food, looking at the amount before eating it.

It was.. delicious.

This food is mouth watering. But she can't eat so much.

But it's so good!

Ugh!

Her thinking was disrupted by a voice. Not Kaede's voice.

A voice that has given her.. chills.., that made her freeze in place on multiple occasions.

"I.. Iruma-San.. Are you okay? Y.. Yesterday must have been.. um.. I just wanted you t.. to know that.. y.. you can ask us anything.."

His tone and manners of speaking was different, but the exact voice made her scared.

"S.. Saihara-Kun..? Y.. You're here too?"

Miu posture had changed in a instant, tense and alert. 

She was glad that that this new habit of hiding his eyes with hat was formed.

She knows the people here are different now but she can't help the subconscious reactions, emotions felt for these people of before and the needy to be close or far from them.

"I didn't notice.. s.. sorry.."

She apologised, but didn't look directly at his face.

'He's different now! Everyone is! H.. He's not scary.. or frightening anymore! H.. He's the opposite.. d.. don't be scared.'

But convincing herself isn't easy when she remembers a complete version of him.

"Y.. you look a bit more pale than u.. usual.. d.. do you want to rest..?"

Miu was scared. The version of him she knows, used words that meant different meanings. And they usually weren't the most sane meanings.

"You're the one that Akamatsu-san trying to hide from me?~ Never knew she could be the possessive type. To even hide you, who's best  friends with my dear Koki, Since we know each other now, let's get along."

She trembled, shifting away on the seat. She needed to get out. She needed something. She needed to take it now. She needed her dr-

"Iruma-San. Breath in."

A new voice spoke, it didn't scare me. I took a deep breath.

"Breath Out."

She let it out, feeling calmer, less frightened.

This repeated several more times before she could see properly.

Tojo-San?

No wonder she felt so calm, she was the rich, kind yet sad girl who'd supply her with drugs.