Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Monokuma Theatre

"Under normal circumstances, this would be the part where Mr. Monokuma gives a boring speech about how he wants his students to strive to refine their ideals.

And while these goals are still important, instead I must talk about something urgent: a warning of the highest sort.

You see, we here at Hope's Peak believe in aiming for a new tomorrow!

But some of us don't agree on what that looks like.

I believe in focusing all our efforts onto the cream of the crop. They'll be the ones controlling the future after all, so it makes sense to focus on them, doesn't it?

Of course, not everyone's a genius like I am…

One of my former colleagues believes that we should extend the same courtesy to the less deserving, 'rehabilitating' and 'helping' the people who'll only end up running off to ruin things for everyone else.

Because of this imbecile, we've been forced to accept a scary predator into the mix, one that's lurking amongst you all.

And this isn't just any old predator!

It's an apex predator!

A lean, mean, killing machine that will wipe out towns if it wants to.

Sadly, you have no choice but to allow it into your new home… and you have the head of the Hope's Peak Scouting Team to thank for this, so please direct all your complaints and legal actions towards him…

Now, Mr. Monokuma will do his best to keep the beast in line and turn it into an upstanding citizen similar to you all, but for the safety of my precious students, I felt that it was in your best interest to give you a heads up about this unfortunate situation.

Be careful out there, and cheers to the start of your paths towards a new tomorrow!"

0000

*Ding dong, bing bong*

"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

*Buop*

Stowing his weapons in his pockets, Naegi sighed. Having showered and taken his medication prior to the morning announcement going off, the boy was ready to face the new day.

Well, as ready as one could be considering the circumstances.

'I should probably get breakfast before I do anything else…'

As much as he wanted to continue searching around the school, he knew that getting something in his stomach would be the best thing for him to do right about now, especially since he exercised recently.

Now, he could function coherently without food for several days, having been forced to do so in the past, but that didn't mean the soldier wanted to, especially in a situation such as this.

'At least I know the food's not poisoned… '

He did eat that apple yesterday and he felt just fine today, so he at least knew Monokuma was telling the truth about not poisoning them.

'For now…'

With the way things were as of now, a normal person in this situation would take a while before reaching the point of considering murder.

Monokuma didn't seem like the type who's willing to wait that long. It was only a matter of time before he got bored and started adding more to this twisted 'game' of his.

And what better way to get the ball rolling than by tampering with their food and water?

Naegi's seen what a lack of food and water could do to someone. Even the most morally upstanding person would abandon all their principles to eat after being starved for days.

'Which is why I'm surprised he's feeding us…'

Monokuma's actions continued to confuse him.

Shaking his head, the boy pushed those thoughts to the side.

'I need to focus on the present right now…'

Doing so, he pressed on.

When he arrived at the cafeteria, he found it empty, something which was of no surprise to him. He had woken up far before the morning announcement, and unless someone else had a similar idea, then it meant that everyone else were still asleep or were getting ready to head out themselves.

'Which means I have the whole kitchen to myself.'

Swiftly making his way to said kitchen, Naegi glanced around, doing a quick recount of all the cooking supplies. Even though he believed that no one had cracked yet, humans were unpredictable at the end of the day.

'Nothing was touched…'

Everything was where they needed to be, with none of the equipment having any signs of having been used for anything strenuous.

'Good…'

Done with his little survey, the boy started making himself breakfast. Having completed a workout session that would make even an Olympian athlete cry, he knew that some protein was in order.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for him to find just the thing in one of the fridges, and that was eggs.

'Thank god…'

Living on rations and canned foods for most of his life meant that Naegi was no chef. He could hunt and cook a carcass to the point where he wouldn't get food poisoning, but that was something he only did in emergencies. Preparing eggs required little to no skill to make edible and they were high on nutrients, making them the perfect food for someone like him.

Quickly whipping up some scrambled eggs, the boy ate in silence, still alone in the cafeteria. It remained this way even after he finished eating and picked up after himself. It was only right when he took a seat again that someone finally joined him.

"Ah, Naegi! Good morning!" Ishimaru shouted, entering the dining hall.

"Morning."

The other boy smiled at the greeting.

"Yes, morning greetings are quite a delight! Such an energizing way to start the day!"

Naegi never got the chance to respond as Ishimaru continued to speak.

"So you got here first, huh?"

A disappointed look suddenly formed on his face.

"Too bad… I was sure I'd beat everyone here."

The black haired boy clenched his teeth before pointing towards his classmate.

"I guess that just means I don't have enough fighting spirit yet."

"I don't think it has anything to do with that," Naegi quickly countered. "I just like to wake up early. I've been up since before the announcement went off."

"Is that so…"

The taller of the two gave his classmate an approving look.

"It seems I have a rival in regards to my dedication!"

"Huh?"

"I won't give up! Next time, I swear I'll win no matter what it takes! Justice shall always prevail!"

'What is he even talking about?'

"Make sure not to overdo it though," Ishimaru continued, meaning Naegi would never get an answer to his question.

"A good night's rest is important if you wish to remain in top form."

The soldier nodded.

"Don't worry, I get plenty of sleep."

Once more, the other boy shot him an approving glance.

"Good! Now if you excuse me, I wish to get some breakfast."

The next person to arrive did so just as Ishimaru left the kitchen with the breakfast he had just made himself.

"Good morning Naegi," Maizono said, greeting the boy.

She then turned to Ishimaru.

"Good morning Ishimaru."

The girl took a quick glance around the room, searching for anyone who she had not noticed previously. Not seeing anyone, her attention shifted back to the other occupants of the cafeteria.

"Am I early?"

"Indeed you are," Ishimaru replied, impressed. "It's great to know that you too understand the importance of punctuality and the benefits of waking up at this time."

"Well, with my line of work, I'm used to it," the idol casually informed the two boys. "If I want to accomplish all that I want to, then I can't afford to sleep in late."

Her words clearly pleased the Ultimate Moral Compass.

"Impressive! As expected from the Ultimate Idol, your work ethic is outstanding!"

He then sighed.

"I wish I could say that I was the first to arrive, but can you believe that Naegi beat me here?"

Maizono shot a curious glance at the boy in question.

"Really?"

The former soldier shrank in his seat, embarrassed at the praise and having no idea why the other boy was so passionate about this specific topic.

"It's really not that big of a deal. It's like I told Ishimaru earlier, I just like to wake up early."

The idol nodded in understanding. Glancing at the other two Ultimates, she gave them one of her trademark smiles.

"I'm going to make breakfast real quick."

Her attention shifted solely towards Naegi.

"Save me a seat?"

The boy blinked at her request. Although it was becoming super cliché at this point, he was still getting used to the fact that she, one of Japan's biggest celebrities, wanted to hang around him.

"Sure?"

Maizono's smile grew, pleased with his answer.

"Thanks. Be back in a sec."

True to her word, the girl quickly made herself breakfast and took a seat next to the former soldier.

For about a minute, the three teenagers sat in silence, no one having anything in particular they wished to talk about, but that immediately ended once Ishimaru finished eating.

"Alright, it's decided!"

Caught off-guard by the Moral Compass's sudden outburst, Naegi and Maizono stared at him, confused.

"No matter how intensely the stormy seas may batter me, I will not fall as long as my feet are firmly planted!" The boy continued, standing upright.

"...You agree, right?"

The idol tilted her head.

"I guess…?"

Naegi hesitantly nodded alongside her.

'Where's he going with this?'

"And if you can't do it alone, just find someone to support you, and you can support them back! That's how you can overcome any storm!"

The two continued to stare at him as he spoke.

"I was thinking about it last night, and...I decided we all need to really come together. Seeing you two here with me… I've realized something. Every morning from now on, after the morning announcement, everyone should have breakfast together!"

Not bothering to wait for a response, Ishimaru suddenly marched towards the door.

"Please wait here. I have to go let everyone else know the good news!"

With that, he left the cafeteria with a newfound sense of vigour.

Maizono opened her mouth.

"Um…"

As hard as she tried, she was unable to force out any words from her mouth. All she could do was turn to Naegi and give him a befuddled look.

The boy gave her an understanding one in response.

"Yeah, I get that…"

The soldier has only known Ishimaru for less than two days now, yet he could confidently say that the Moral Compass meant well. However, sometimes he was a bit too fervid for his own good.

'He did make a good point…'

As he noted during his exercise session, working as a team was their best shot at escaping.

And the only way they'd be able to work as a team was if they had a sense of unity. Having breakfast together could raise everyone's spirits.

'Though I doubt everyone is willing to wake up this early.'

Celeste, Togami, and Fukawa immediately came to mind.

'Hopefully Ishimaru can convince them…'

Before Naegi could further think on the subject, a timid voice caught his attention.

"Um… good morning…"

Standing at the entrance was a certain Ultimate Programmer, said girl having quite the puzzled expression on her face.

Maizono was the first to greet her.

"Good morning Fujisaki."

Not wanting to be rude, Naegi did the same.

"Morning."

Due to the friendliness of her two classmates, Fujisaki visibly relaxed as she continued the conversation.

"So… I just passed by Ishimaru," she informed them.

"He seemed a bit intense. Is everything alright?"

The idol nodded at her.

"Yeah, don't worry. He's just waking everyone up so that we can all have breakfast together."

Imagining how Ishimaru must've looked as he passed by Fujisaki, the blue haired girl giggled.

"I think he's excited."

The shorter girl's eyes widened. "Ah… well if we're all going to have breakfast together, I should probably start making my own."

Politely bowing, Fujisaki made her way to the kitchen.

One more, silence was all that echoed around the cafeteria for a few seconds, only ending due to Maizono.

"Hey Naegi…"

The soldier turned to face the idol, the girl having an expression on her face indicating that she had been contemplating something important.

"Listen, I have a favor to ask…"

Naegi perked up, curious about what it was that she wanted from him.

"A favor?"

"Yeah. I would've asked you earlier but I don't want the others knowing about this…"

Hearing this caused warning bells to ring inside his head. What kind of favor was it that she wanted to keep it a secret?

"Oh, no, don't worry, it's nothing bad!" Maizono assured him.

'Crap, not again!'

Her intuition was way too strong. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if she was actually a psychic.

"It's just," she continued. "I've been thinking that...there might be something around here I could use for self-defense."

"Ah…"

In a situation such as this, it was completely understandable why someone would want a weapon they could use to defend themselves. He was lucky to have his gun and knife, but unless Monokuma had given the rest of his classmates special items/tools as well, the only thing the idol had in her room that could be used for self-defense was her sewing kit, which still wasn't particularly suitable for that role.

"I'm worried that whoever's keeping us here could show up and attack us at any time. You never know…"

"I understand," Naegi replied.

He gave her a comforting look before continuing.

"I don't think we have to worry about that yet though."

Maizono raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Huh? Why's that?"

"Well, if they wanted to kill us, they would've done so already," the boy began explaining.

"For whatever reason, whoever's controlling Monokuma wants us to do the killing ourselves. Unless we break one of the rules, it doesn't seem like he wants to pull the trigger himself."

Maizono leaned forwards in interest as Naegi proceeded with his analysis.

"If Monokuma really wanted us dead, we would've been locked in smaller rooms with little food and water. To give us our own rooms, to take over Hope's Peak… there's no need to go through all that effort just to kill us. For whatever reason, he really wants us to do each other in. This is all some sick, twisted game to him. He enjoys seeing us suffer and struggle. I don't know if that'll eventually change, but for now I think he's fine with just watching us."

The girl silently stared at him, somewhat shocked as she clearly didn't expect to hear all of that from him.

"…I think I get what you're saying," she replied. "You've really put a lot of thought into this, huh?"

The boy avoided eye contact with her, embarrassed.

"Yeah… I tend to overthink things a lot. Sorry…"

"That's not a bad thing," she told him. "In fact, it makes me more confident about being your assistant."

Naegi tilted his head.

"Really?"

Maizono gave him another one of her signature smiles, this one a bit more upbeat than usual.

"Yep. It means I can trust you to make safe decisions… and not do something stupid like what Owada did yesterday…"

The sound of Monokuma exploding replayed itself in both of their minds.

"Good point."

"But still… I'd like to get something to defend myself," the idol noted. "Just to be safe…"

The boy nodded, understanding her concerns.

"Alright, if you want, after breakfast we can look for something."

The girl's smile grew.

"Really? Thank you!"

'It also lets me explore the school a bit more…' Naegi thought to himself.

Shortly after the conversation ended, several of their classmates started to enter the cafeteria. Fujisaki was first, emerging out of the kitchen with her breakfast. Asahina and Ogami arrived together a few seconds later, the swimmer passionately talking to the martial artist about something the soldier couldn't quite follow. Judging by Asahina's animated posture and Ogami's relaxed one, the boy could tell that the subject wasn't something he had to worry about.

Upon making their way to the central table, the two girls ended their conversation and greeted the rest of the group.

"Mornin'!"

"I suppose we're early."

Ishimaru returned not long after the girls settled in, a satisfied smile adorning his face.

"I've managed to wake everyone up," the Ultimate Moral Compass announced to everyone who was currently in the cafeteria. "They should be here any minute now."

True to his word, everyone did show up, though much to Ishimaru's dismay, they would take quite a bit to do so.

Five whole minutes went by before the next person showed up, that person being one grumpy Mondo Owada. Judging by the gang leader's demeanor, he wasn't happy about being up so early.

"Yo."

Thankfully, he didn't make a scene, simply grunting out a halfhearted greeting before getting food.

Yamada barged in shortly afterwards, in a better mood than the boy who arrived before him.

"My apologies, ladies and gentlemen. My morning, ah, duty took a little longer than usual."

The atmosphere suddenly dipped, Asahina and Owada giving the fanfic writer looks of disgust. Though they tried to hide it, Ogami and Maizono were also noticeably disturbed, the martial artist tensing up ever so slightly while the idol shifted herself more towards the soldier as a means of putting space between herself and the source of her discomfort.

Meanwhile, Ishimaru and Fujisaki appeared to be absolutely clueless about what Yamada was referring to, and Naegi found himself in a similar boat.

'Morning duty?'

Naegi was by no means a sheltered boy. However, having been away from Japan for most of his life, the boy wasn't caught up with some of the popular phrases and expressions people often used.

To him, 'morning duty' was yet another one that he did not understand.

Although, with the sultry tone Yamada used when speaking and how everyone else reacted to his words…

'Maybe I don't want to…'

The appearance of the next person to arrive gave everyone a much needed distraction from the situation.

"Sorry I'm late!" The voice of Enoshima echoed throughout the room. "My makeup just would NOT cooperate this morning!"

With a surprising amount of swiftness to her step, the model took a seat next to the soldier, shooting him a wink.

"Morning Naegi. Sleep well?"

"I guess?"

Once more, Naegi found it odd regarding how fixated she was on him. Ever since entering the cafeteria, she barely glanced at anyone else and she was a little too eager to take the empty seat next to him. And when she sat down, he could've sworn that her eyes started gleaming with some kind of positive yet indiscernible emotion.

"Eh, that's better than bad at least."

"Yeah… hopefully you slept well."

Enoshima beamed at his words.

"Aww, I did! Thank you for asking."

"Yeah…"

What a great conversationalist he was.

The model grinned, clearly amused by his awkwardness.

"You're not good at talking to girls, are you?" She playfully asked him.

Naegi bashfully smiled.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just a bit shy."

"Heh, you do give off herbivore vibes-"

'Herbivore vibes?'

"-but I can't really call you a herbivore after what you did yesterday."

Her smirk grew.

"Ya know, tossing a bomb and fighting Owada… didn't expect all that from someone so adorable."

If getting used to Maizono's friendliness was going to take him some time, it was going to take him even longer to get used to the blonde's easygoing nature.

"Thanks?"

Enoshima impishly laughed at his confusion.

From the corner of his eye, the soldier noticed that Maizono had been listening to their conversation. Her typical smile was still on her face, but she looked less lively than usual, almost as if she was contemplating something.

Naegi decided to check in on her.

"Hey Maizono, everything alright?"

Hearing her name, the idol turned towards him.

"I am," she replied, her eyes regaining their shine. "I was just thinking about something, don't worry."

As much as he wanted to push for more information, the boy knew that the polite thing to do was respect her privacy, so he settled for an understanding nod. The fact that she had perked up when he spoke to her was a good sign that she was doing alright.

Unfortunately, he had caught Enoshima staring at them with a hint of frustration.

'What's up with that?'

If he didn't know any better, he'd believe that him paying attention to Maizono was what triggered the model's sudden mood change.

Before he could check up on her, the sound of heeled footsteps entered the room, stealing his attention.

"…I suppose I'm late," Kirigiri said, her eyes analyzing the cafeteria.

A quick glance at the clock revealed that she was indeed late, having arrived a whole twenty minutes after Ishimaru had woken everyone up.

Without another word, the mysterious Ultimate entered the kitchen.

Almost a minute later, another person arrived.

"Good morning everyone," Celeste greeted with her usual smile. With a small curtsy, she too immediately went to get food.

Kuwata was next, the baseball star looking absolutely exhausted.

"Yo, my bad guys," the redhead apologized. "Took me a bit to get up. Almost fell back asleep."

A few seconds later, Fukawa scurried inside.

"W-what?" The author grumbled, noticing that her presence had caught the attention of some of her classmates.

"I-is it so awful to be l-late?"

Before anyone could try answering, the girl quickly took a seat at one of the smaller tables, keeping some distance between herself and everyone else.

"Morning," Hagakure said with an awkward laugh, having showed up a bit after Fukawa had sat down.

"I didn't oversleep, just so you know. Nope, got lost! I blame the Bermuda Triangle…"

Ishimaru gave him a disappointed glare while everyone else shot him blank expressions.

"What?"

Togami was the last to appear. Not sparing anyone so much as even a glance, the heir took a seat at the unoccupied small table after getting himself breakfast.

With everyone now together, Ishimaru stood up.

"Okay, looks like everyone's here," the moral compass announced.

"So then, let's begin our very first 'breakfast meeting'!"

Quickly making sure that everyone's attention was still on him, he continued.

"First off, I want to thank everyone for making time in your busy schedules to come together."

"I didn't make time for shit," Kuwata stated in a grouchy manner. "You dragged me here…"

Owada huffed in agreement.

Ishimaru paid them no mind.

"I know I already mentioned this earlier, but... In order to get out of here, it is essential that we all cooperate with each other," he further explained.

"And the first step is this breakfast meeting, to allow us to become friends and build trust! So from now on, let's all meet here in the dining hall every morning after the morning announcement! Now then, let's eat!"

"You w-want me to eat breakfast with other p-people?" Fukawa nervously asked him as everyone who hadn't eaten already began to do so. "I've never done that b-before. I'm not s-sure…"

"Yeah, it's been a while for me, too," Kuwata said in between bites.

"Well anyway…" Enoshima began, deciding to get the ball rolling. "Did anyone happen to come up with any clues?"

The silence in the room was enough to give her an answer.

"Seriously? Nothing at all?"

Both her voice and body language started getting more frantic.

"Anything, it can be about how to get out, or who's doing this, nobody has anything!?"

Naegi stood quiet as she spoke.

'Something's off about her…'

The soldier has had many experiences with frantic and panicked people. He's also had tons of experience with people putting on an act.

Enoshima's current state was more akin to someone trying to put on a show rather than that of someone suffering from hysteria.

Why she felt the need to be so dramatic, he didn't know, but it was certainly something that made him more weary of the blonde.

Perhaps he was overthinking things again, but did everything about her have to be such a mystery?

"You are going to die," Celeste bluntly cut in, directing a sharp gaze towards the model.

Enoshima flinched.

"Huh?"

"If you can't stop showing weakness in front of others…" The gambler continued, much to the model's irritation. "You will die."

"W-what the hell? Don't even freaking joke about that!"

The gambler's poker face didn't move.

"I am not joking. Adaptability is survivability. Did I not say so? So you'd better hurry up and get used to your new life here."

"Have you gone completely insane?" Enoshima asked, staring at the other girl as if she had grown a second head. "Adapt to my new life here? Do you have any idea what you're saying?"

Owada angrily scoffed before joining the conversation.

"Yeah, sounds like the girl wants to live here. And hell, more power to her. But shit…"

Body trembling in rage, the boy stood up.

"No way in hell am I living here! I'm gettin' out of here, I don't give a shit!"

'Same,' Naegi thought to himself.

The black haired girl waved him off. "Sure, feel free."

"Okay, so…" Kuwata awkwardly interjected. "Nobody has any clues?"

Asahina suddenly spoke up.

"One thing I can tell you is who's behind all this. Something who's totally weird and messed up. Why else would we be trapped here in the first place?"

The baseball star gave the swimmer a disappointed look in response to her saying something that was already a given.

"Well, sure, it could be something like that. But for right now, actual clues are…"

"U-umm…"

Though soft, the timid voice of Fujisaki was able to grab everyone's attention.

Kuwata raised an eyebrow at her.

"Huh, what's up?"

"If you think in terms of people who are really abnormal or bizarre…" the programmer mumbled. "Do you think maybe the person responsible for all this could be a certain murderous fiend...?"

Naegi stared at her with curiosity.

'A certain murderous fiend?'

The title was far too vague for him to know who she was referencing.

"I can't really be certain," she continued. "But…"

"Certainty is not a concern right now," Ishimaru reassured her. "I'll allow whatever remarks you may have!"

"O-okay, well…"

Fujisaki took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts before speaking again.

"Have you guys heard of Genocide Jack?"

Nearly everyone's eyes widened, suggesting that the figure in question was one many of them had heard about.

"The monstrous villain who's murdered scores of victims in a brutally bizarre fashion…" Togami noted as his eyes started gleaming with intrigue.

"The word 'bloodlust' was left at each murder scene, written in the victim's own blood."

Fukawa suddenly flinched, an action that went largely ignored.

"Whoever he is, he's like a ghost. He strikes without warning, and disappears without a trace. And on the Internet, they started calling him… Genocider Jack."

It was quite disturbing how passionately the heir spoke about the topic, being a far cry from the apathetic demeanor the class has come to expect from him.

Hagakure shuddered. "They say he's claimed over a thousand victims…"

'That's not true…'

With Genocider Jack having made waves throughout all of Japan, Naegi knew a bit about the mysterious serial killer from routinely watching the news with his parents. Although it was a popular myth that they killed over a thousand people, their confirmed kill count was currently thirty seven. A high number, but nowhere near a thousand.

'And even then…'

He highly doubted that Genocider Jack was involved in their situation. As Togami noted, each of their kills were done in the same, twisted manner. A killing game was way out of their usual M.O.

Plus, where would they get enough money and resources to take over Hope's Peak?

No, whoever was behind this was far more powerful than a rogue serial killer, and that was a terrifying thought to have…

…But not as terrifying as being reminded once again that if his secret were to come out, everyone would turn against him.

If they were reacting to Genocider Jack this way, then he couldn't even imagine what would happen if they learned that his kill count was over three thousand.

"That's just an urban legend though, right?" Enoshima asked. "I mean, even like, ten people would be totally insane…"

Another moment of silence followed.

"If I may," Kirigiri suddenly spoke up. "I have a theory of my own."

The class's attention shifted to the girl.

"You may speak," Ishimaru told her.

Nodding, the purple haired girl began to do so.

"To start things off, I've done a bit of research on Hope's Peak prior to coming here, and one thing I learned is that each class is made up of of sixteen students."

"Sixteen?" Yamada asked, confused.

The boy did a quick recount.

"But there's only fifteen of us here…"

"Precisely," Kirigiri affirmed. "We're one short. The person we're missing also happens to be a unique case."

Owada raised an eyebrow.

"The hell are you talking about?"

"Every year, Hope's Peak Academy holds a special raffle where they put down the names of all the upcoming high school students," the girl explained. "Whoever's picked gets to attend the school as the 'Ultimate Lucky Student'."

Kuwata shot her a puzzled glance, one showing that this was the first time that he's heard about the raffle.

"Ultimate lucky student?"

"Hope's Peak thinks luck is a talent worth studying, which is why they hold the raffle every year."

Togami scoffed at the idea of luck being a talent.

Kirigiri paid him no mind.

"As we all know, none of us happen to be that student."

"Are you suggesting that this 'Ultimate Lucky Student' is responsible for our situation?" Celeste asked her.

The unidentified Ultimate nodded.

"Possibly. Either that or they're working together with the person who's orchestrated our kidnappings."

She crossed her arms.

"I have nothing concrete yet, but I think we can all agree that it's strange that this year's Ultimate Lucky Student is nowhere to be seen."

"M-maybe they never showed up for some reason," Enoshima said with a nervous laugh. "I mean, they ARE the Ultimate Lucky Student after all, and I'd say missing out on all this would definitely be lucky…"

"That is likely," Kirigiri agreed. "There's also a chance that there is no Ultimate Lucky Student this year. Hope's Peak keeps a lot of secrets from the public-"

The girl locked eyes with Naegi, an action that went unnoticed by anyone else. The boy could practically feel the hole she was burrowing in his forehead with her glare.

"-and it wouldn't be out of character for them to not notify the world about discontinuing the Ultimate Lucky Student Program. It's not particularly well known after all, so they'd be able to do so without anyone really caring."

Her eyes shifted back to focusing on the class as a whole.

"Either way, all of this is something we should keep in mind for as long as we're stuck here."

'I agree…'

If the Ultimate Lucky Student really was their enemy, then alongside their anonymity, there was also a chance that the Ultimate Lucky Student had insider knowledge about the school, whether it was because they were some sort of spy or they somehow stumbled upon such information due to pure luck. Having someone on the inside would partially explain how the mastermind(s) managed to take over the place.

"So our two biggest suspects are a serial killer and a mysterious person…" Yamada mumbled, speaking his thoughts out loud. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say we're in some sort of strange visual novel…"

Kuwata groaned in frustration.

"Great. Just great. I knew I should'a skipped the first day of classes…"

A wave of silence enveloped the room as the atmosphere grew heavier.

"It's okay! Everything's absolutely, positively, one hundred percent without a doubt gonna be okay!" Asahina spontaneously blurted out. Watching everyone's eyes land on her, she gave them a confident smile.

"Cuz help's gonna be here soon, I'm sure of it!"

"Huh...? H-Help?" Fukawa asked.

The swimmer aggressively nodded.

"Yep! I'm sure people are going to try contacting us sooner or later, and when they find out they can't, they'll surely call the police!"

"AHHH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

A sinister laughter echoed around the room, taking the Ultimates off guard. Following the general direction of where the noise was coming from, they saw that Monokuma was now in the cafeteria with them, managing to appear out of nowhere yet again.

"The police? You're putting your faith in the police!?" He mockingly asked the swimmer.

Ogami glared at him.

"What are you doing here?!"

Monokuma ignored her.

"You guys, seriously... Do you understand what role the police exist to fill?"

He smirked.

"All they're good for is being a foil, playing against a villain or anti-hero or evil organization. The bad guys come along and destroy them, and that shows just how badass they really are. Are you sure you wanna rely on such an unreliable group of losers?"

The bear's red eye brightened up as he continued flashing the teens his infamous, sinister grin.

It was one they were all getting tired of seeing.

"I mean, come on. If you really, REALLY, wanna get out of here, all you have to do is kill."

Hagakure suddenly laughed, an odd reaction for such a tense moment.

"Why the hell are you laughing?" Kuwata asked the fortune teller, bewildered.

"I'm just impressed at the total commitment to this whole act."

Enoshima gawked at him, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"…You're still going on with that?"

Owada snarled. For a moment, it seemed that he was going to lunge at the older boy. Thankfully, he decided to direct his anger towards the one keeping them captive.

"So you piece of shit, what the hell do you want?!"

Monokuma groaned in annoyance.

"God, how many times do I have to say this? I want you all to kill each other."

The bear made a motion mimicking that of someone rolling their eyes.

"You really need to get your ears cleaned."

He then sulked.

"Back to business… your life here has already started and nobody's killing anybody. Hell, no one's even made any plans yet. You've just been blindly trusting each other to behave."

A sigh escaped from him.

"Man… and here I thought y'all would've at least been smart enough to start hunting for the Coyote."

Naegi felt the air grow heavier. Everyone once again began eyeing each other suspiciously upon being reminded of yet another enemy they may have to face.

Ishimaru winced.

"I…forgot about that…"

"Whelp, it's a good thing I reminded you all," Monokuma chirped, clearly happy that his words had the desired effect on the class. "Don't forget that they have their own special way of graduating, and let me tell you, when you find out what it is, you’re not gonna like it."

The bear brightened up with glee. "They're probably already planning their next move. I'm so excited!"

"Not counting them, there's fourteen of us," Ogami noted. "How do you expect them to fight against so many people?"

The animatronic giggled.

"Upupupu!"

He turned himself to where his black half was facing everyone.

"Now I can't be giving everything away now, can I? I will say this; things are heavily favored for the Coyote. Don't forget that they do get special perks."

His red eye briefly flashed.

"But even if that wasn't the case… well, I'll let you find out for yourselves."

"…"

Once more, fear and anger dominated the atmosphere. Savoring their reactions, Monokuma laughed.

"Have fun now! And maybe consider dealing with the Coyote before they decide they want out. Remember, whoever does 'em in gets to instantly graduate, so if you want to leave and don't have the balls to kill someone else, maybe consider that."

The bear began waddling out of the room.

"Anyways, I gotta go do some stuff. See ya soon!"

With Monokuma gone, everyone felt like they could breathe once more.

'Well, that happened…'

As the Coyote himself, Naegi desperately wished he could let everyone know that he had no plans of going after them and that he too wanted to work together to beat Monokuma.

'But I highly doubt they'd believe me…'

Even if he came clean about everything regarding the role, he knew that most of them would rightfully distrust and fear him. Mix that with the automatic graduation that comes with killing him… well, there was a good chance that someone would eventually target him if their situation doesn't improve.

If he wanted to survive, the best chance he had at doing so was by keeping his mouth shut and making sure nobody learns that he's the Coyote.

That or he could wipe everyone out.

'Not going to happen.'

He was no longer that person. The only blood he was going to be spilling was that of the people who were responsible for his situation… and that was if they gave him no other choice. He would much rather they rot in jail than him having to take more lives.

However, he wasn't going to stand around and let them end his, nor was he going to sacrifice the safety of his classmates due to not being willing to put a bad guy down.

Whether the person/people controlling Monokuma live or die… it was up to them.

"So…" Kuwata awkwardly drawled. "What now?"

Ishimaru stood tall.

"Okay then...everyone close your eyes, and whoever's the Coyote, raise your hand!"

His words caused several stupefied stares to be thrown his way.

Owada pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Don't be a goddamn idiot. Why the hell would anyone do that?"

Scoffing, Togami stood up, having finished his breakfast.

"Well, if nobody has anything useful to say, then my business here is done."

The blonde started making his way to the kitchen.

A certain biker gang leader snarled.

"Hey! Where do you think-"

Ishimaru quickly intervened.

"Leave him. I believe we've discussed all that we needed to for today."

He turned to the rest of the class.

"You're all dismissed. If anyone finds anything of interest, don't hesitate to inform the rest of us."

With that, everyone began going their separate ways.

Only two remained.

"Do you still want to look for something that you can use to protect yourself?" Naegi asked the idol.

The girl nodded.

"Yeah. You know anywhere that we could find something?"

The soldier began thinking to himself. Immediately, the kitchen came to mind. There were several kinds of knives that they could pick from if they so desired.

'But do I want to suggest that?'

Giving a knife to anyone didn't seem particularly wise. He liked to think that he could trust Maizono not to use it for anything other than self defense, but with how unstable their situation was, there was always the chance that something would push her to do so.

'I'd know if she does so though…'

Only he and Maizono would have possession of a knife, her with a kitchen knife and him with his switchblade. If someone were to die, all he'd have to do is check to see if any other knife from the kitchen had been used. If none of them weren't, then he would be able to conclude that the idol was the culprit.

'Still… better to prevent something from happening…'

With the knives being removed from the equation, the boy focused his attention to some of the other utensils in the kitchen.

'A frying pan wouldn't be bad…'

While not the ideal weapon, a blunt, metal object was going to hurt anyone who was hit by it, but unless it was a particularly good hit, the chances of someone dying was relatively low.

He definitely felt more comfortable giving the girl that over a knife.

"Wait right here," Naegi told her before entering the kitchen. A few seconds later, he came out with a medium sized frying pan.

"Will this work?"

Maizono curiously eyed him, raising an eyebrow.

"A…frying pan?"

"Doesn't take much to knock someone out with it," the boy said, twirling the pan around in his hand as if it were a baton.

While the idol looked impressed by his little trick, he could tell that she was also trying to hold in a laugh.

'If nothing else, at least it seems like I've raised her spirits a bit…'

"I… don't think this is what I'm looking for," she informed him, gesturing to the object in his hand.

"We can probably find something somewhere else," the former soldier reasoned. "But you might as well hold onto it for now."

With a nod, Maizono took the pan.

"Thanks."

She placed a hand on her chin as an idea popped into her head.

"How about we check the trophy display case in the gym?" the girl suggested. "Maybe we could find something like that sword you had yesterday. It came from there, right?"

"Yeah…"

He didn't remember seeing anything of note other than the replica sword, but double checking wouldn't hurt.

"Alright, let's go."

With that, Maizono began leading Naegi to the gymnasium.

0000

'As I thought…'

A second search yielded no results. All the trophies in the display case were less suitable than the frying pan when it came to being used as an improvised weapon.

All except for the golden katana.

'This should be fine for self defense…'

The blade was significantly less sharp than the kitchen knives and his own knife, so much so that someone would have to use a lot of force to cut through skin. It still could injure someone just like any blunt object would, so someone could use it to kill, but it didn't look like it could take a lot of punishment.

Even so, it wasn't a bad option. Even someone with no combat training could feasibly ward off an attacker with the fauxe weapon.

That is, as long as their opponent wasn't someone like Ogami.

"Do you want to take the sword?" Naegi asked the idol.

The girl stared at the katana, contemplating on whether she wanted to or not.

"It doesn't really look that strong," she noted.

She glanced at the frying pan in her hand.

"But it's probably better than this."

Her head turned towards him.

"How about you? It could help liven up your room a little, and I'd feel better if you had something to defend yourself with too."

The fact the idol wanted him to be safe caused his heartbeat to spike for a moment.

"I think I'm fine," the soldier told her. "I have a hammer in my toolkit I can use."

He also had his gun and knife, but he wasn't going to share that information with her.

"Okay. I'll take it then."

The idol went to grab the sword, recoiling when some of the coating got onto her hand.

"We should probably wrap this in something."

"Yeah…"

Maizono dusted off the paint.

"Well, we can do that later."

She then flashed him a warm smile.

"While we're here, let's hang out a bit more."

"Sounds good to me."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

An awkward moment of silence ensued.

"Umm… I know I said I wanted to talk to you," Maizono said, breaking the silence. "But now that we're here… I don't really know what to talk about."

Naegi rubbed the back of his neck.

"Same…"

The past few days were the most socialization he's done with people outside of his family.

His time in war didn't count, unless being ordered around was considered a form of socializing.

The idol sighed.

"And I was the one who invited you to come with me, too. Sorry…"

"Hey, it's alright," the boy reassured her. "I'm not going anywhere. Just take your time."

The girl visibly relaxed due to his words.

Another moment of silence occurred, this one being far less awkward than the one a few minutes ago.

"Hey, um…" Maizono mumbled. "This kinda out of nowhere, but… Naegi, do you have a dream?"

"A dream?"

Makoto Naegi most certainly had a dream and he was only alive because of that dream.

Returning to his family… that had been his dream, and against all odds, it was one he managed to accomplish.

'Though now I'm stuck here…'

"I guess… I want to live my days peacefully with my family," the boy answered.

The idol looked surprised.

"Huh… that's pretty tame…"

The soldier laughed.

"Yeah, I'm not a very exciting person."

"Oh no, I didn't mean that as a bad thing," Maizono assured him. "I just wasn't expecting that from an Ultimate."

He understood her line of thinking. This was a school for the most talented, and with talent usually comes ambition. Most of his classmates were probably shooting for the stars.

"What about you? What's your dream?"

"I... My dream is... I've always wanted to be a star, as long as I can remember," she told him.

"I grew up without a mother, you know... And my dad worked really late every night. I was always home alone... I was just a kid, ya know?"

The girl closed her eyes, reminiscing on her life's story.

"So I was really lonely. But that all changed when I saw a pop star on TV for the first time. She was so pretty, like a princess. And she could sing, and dance… but more than anything…"

Her eyes opened, baby blue eyes shining with passion.

"But more than anything else, there was her smile. Looking at her smile, I could feel my loneliness melting away. I decided that's what I wanted to be someday. I wanted to give that kind of encouragement to others."

She took a deep breath and smiled.

"Eventually that became my dream."

Naegi stared at her with awe. The amount of work that had to be put into making her dream a reality… he couldn't even begin to imagine.

And unlike him, her dream wasn't completely selfish.

He honestly couldn't help but admire her.

"That's so amazing. You were able to actually fulfill your lifelong dream. Honestly, it's really incredible."

"…"

The girl looked down at the floor.

For some reason, Naegi felt the atmosphere change, having grown heavier.

Analyzing the idol's face, he immediately noticed that her pupils were dilated, lacking the shine they usually held.

"I honestly believed that as long as you kept chasing your dreams, someday they had to come true," she explained, her tone solem.

"But to do that, you can't take your eyes off of your dream, not even for a second. Even if sometimes it's a bad dream…"

Her eyes dilated even more.

"Whether you're awake, whether you're asleep... To make your dream a reality, you have to keep your gaze fixed on it no matter what."

Naegi hated how familiar those words sounded.

"In that world, if you lose focus for even a split second, you get left behind. You have to keep on swimming against the current, without even taking time to breathe... That's the kind of world my dream lives in."

The boy suppressed a shudder. He didn't like the way she was talking. It was very reminiscent of how he felt regarding what he had to do to claw his way back to Japan.

"…I did whatever it took to reach that dream," she informed him, voice tense. "I mean it."

'I did too…'

Was it him, or was it getting harder to breathe?

"Even some things that…"

The idol winced, a wince that made it seem as if she had been injured.

"…weren't so pleasant."

Naegi looked off to the side, unable to face her.

'I understand…'

The actions he took constantly haunted him, haunted him to the point where he couldn't even look at himself in the mirror.

It didn't matter whether he was asleep or awake, the atrocities that he committed would always worm themselves back into his consciousness like a parasite entering an animal's body.

To achieve his dream, he had to end the lives of others, cutting their own dreams in the process.

The looks they gave him…

The screams they yelled…

Someone like him didn't deserve to have their dreams become reality, much less live.

He knew he was selfish, living a dream many have died trying to achieve when he should've been one of the uncountable corpses lying on the ground.

Yet despite all that, he persisted, hoping that one day, he'd be able to enjoy life to the fullest.

'But sometimes, it's tough to do so…'

"Naegi!"

The boy jumped upwards. The girl's words had made him aware that his body was shaking and he was struggling to breathe.

"Are you okay?"

'Crap…'

Of course he had to have a panic attack in front of the idol.

Thankfully, this one was relatively minor.

'Still, I can't be doing that in front of other people…'

The former soldier took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to interrupt. Please continue."

"Are you sure?" Maizono asked, shooting him a worried look. "You don't seem to be doing well."

Now he felt bad. The girl was clearly venting to him about her own struggles and here he was, having a panic attack. He couldn't imagine how rude he must've been.

"I'm fine," Naegi told her. "Just a small migraine. I get those from time to time."

The idol gave him a hesitant look.

"Was it really that tough to chase your dream?" The boy asked her as a means of steering the conversation back on topic. "Is it no fun at all?"

"Oh, no, don't get the wrong idea," she hastily replied. "It's super fun!"

Thankfully it seemed that his tactic succeeded.

Either that, or Maizono decided to drop the issue on her own accord.

"But… that's exactly what scares me."

A smile adorned her face.

"I enjoy every single day I wake up and get to do what I do. Everyone in our group is amazing. We're rivals in a way, but they all mean so much to me. We've been performing together since we were young, so they're all like family to me."

The more she spoke, the more heavy her words grew. Her smile had been replaced by a nervous frown and her skin was completely pale.

"Without them, I would have given up on my dream a long time ago. To work together, and fulfill our dreams together, has brought me so much happiness…"

It was Maizono's turn to start trembling, her eyes dulling once more. It was as if all of his nerves had left his body to possess her.

"So that's why I decided to come to Hope's Peak. They say that if you graduate from here, success is basically guaranteed. Which means I could keep on performing with my best friends, forever and ever."

Naegi was getting worried. Her voice lacked any emotion to it whatsoever. Far too monotonous.

"Maizono?"

"At least, that's what I thought," she continued, too absorbed in her own mind to notice him.

"I really did believe that, but...now we're trapped here, with no way out. They're probably waiting for me…"

The idol wrapped her arms around herself.

"While I'm in here, the world out there is forgetting about me. Minute by minute, we're all disappearing-"

"You're not," he suddenly interjected.

Seeing Maizono in this state had ignited something in Naegi's body. The desperation in her words hit way too close to home, and he wasn't going to stand by while someone was experiencing a similar pain to the one that plagued his life.

"You're THE Sayaka Maizono," he told her. His normally timid demeanor had disappeared, being replaced by one of confidence.

"The idol who has smashed nearly every record in the music industry despite being so young."

Crossing his arms, he continued talking.

"Do you really think the world would forget about you? You and your friends are the types of artists that'll be remembered long after you die."

He gave her a smile.

"When you get out of here, people will eagerly be awaiting your comeback. And the day that you're unable to perform anymore, you'll still have many ways to keep your dream alive. You could be a producer, songwriter, a manager for a younger group…"

His brown eyes shined as he spoke, teaming with optimism.

"I know it must've been difficult for you to reach this point, and you're afraid of losing what you've worked so hard for, but Hope's Peak accepted you the Ultimate Idol for a reason. No one's going to take that away from you."

Oh how easy it was for him to help others while resisting being helped himself…

Realizing how fired up he had gotten, the boy awkwardly rubbed his neck as his posture resumed its usual form.

"Sorry if that was a bit much…"

*Sniff*

Tears started falling from the idol's face as she tried her hardest not to break down.

A wave of guilt washed over the boy.

'Great. It hasn't even been two days yet and I've already screwed up…'

It took a moment for Maizono to regain her composure.

"Thank you. I really needed that."

'Huh?'

The girl wiped her eyes.

"You're right, I am the Ultimate Idol."

Although she hadn't instantly reverted to her normally cheerful self, Naegi could practically feel the surge of motivation coming from the idol.

"And once this is all over, I'll have to put on the best performance of my life."

Maizono shot him her signature smile, a genuine one that made Naegi feel happy in return.

"I'll give you a front row ticket, okay?"

"R-really?"

He knew Komaru was going to be so jealous when she heard about this.

"Mhm! We just gotta figure out how to get out…"

The mood began dampening once more.

Not wanting things to go south once more, Naegi spoke up.

"We'll make it through this," he gently declared. Deciding to take a page out of the idol's book, the boy gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"I promise."

Maizono looked like she wanted to challenge his claim. However, she eventually faltered.

"Okay. I'm trusting you."

Her words earned her a nod from the former soldier.

*grumble*

The sound of a stomach growling caught their attention. Naegi instinctively looked around as an embarrassed simper.

"Sorry," the idol sheepishly apologized. "I guess all of this made me hungry."

"It's alright. I know you're under a lot of stress."

"Before we head back, why don't we go to the dining hall and get some food?" Maizono suggested. "I might not look like it, but I'm actually a pretty good cook!"

"Really?" The soldier asked, impressed. "What's your specialty?"

Without warning, she gave him a blank stare.

"Chili oil."

Naegi blinked at her.

"You mean the condiment?!"

His reaction caused the girl to chuckle.

"Haha. Just kidding!"

As she continued to giggle, the boy couldn't help but notice that her earlier mood had disappeared, being replaced by the bright smile he had grown used to seeing from her.

A part of him couldn't help but feel happy to see her in such high spirits.

The other part though…

'How'd she do that so fast?'

Was she really in a better mood? Or was she merely putting on a mask?

He wanted to ask her, but quickly rejected the idea upon realizing that it would be rude of him to do so. If she was pretending, then there was clearly a reason why.

Instead, he decided to let it pass and focus on spending time with his fr-er-companion.

Could he call her a friend yet?

"Since you've got the frying pan, I'll carry the sword for you."

0000

'Why am I doing this again?'

After hanging out in the cafeteria for a bit, Naegi and Maizono went their separate ways, with the idol taking the faux sword with her.

Alone with nothing to do, the boy chose to explore the school again. As expected, he was unable to find anything new.

To finish up his excursion, Naegi decided to check out the shop, or more specifically, the MonoMono machine.

The soldier had a lot of Monocoins lying around in his pockets, and even though the chances of him getting something useful out of the machine were next to zero, he couldn't help but think that maybe Monokuma had hidden some sort of clue he wanted them to find.

Sighing, Naegi inserted a coin into the slot. Rumbling a bit, the machine spat out a capsule.

"A rose whip? What even is that?"

"Here ya go!"

Once more, the boy had to stop himself from roundhouse kicking Monokuma due to being jump scared by his sudden appearance.

The fact that he managed to stop himself meant that his body had already adapted to his new life.

Facing the bear, he noticed that in his hands was indeed a whip.

Hesitantly taking the item, the soldier inspected it, learning that the entire object was made up of roses.

"Well this is useless…"

Monokuma huffed in annoyance.

"Hey, not every roll's gonna be a winner. It would completely ruin the fun."

'I guess…'

Wait? Why the hell was he agreeing with Monokuma?

Shaking his head, he put another coin in the machine.

"Kitten hair clip…"

Monokuma spontaneously burst into laughter.

"HAHAHAHA! I can't believe that you of all people managed to get that! How ironic…"

"Huh?"

The animatronic's words confused him, and that grew when he was handed a simple hair clip that was shaped like a cat.

"It's just a hair clip…"

"Heh, you wouldn't get it," the bear remarked. "I'd tell ya, but that would be stepping into major spoilers territory."

'Is he trying to trick me?'

Why was Monokuma getting so much mileage from him finding a hair clip?

Was he trying to send him on some wild goose chase? Or was there something about the hair clip that he didn't know about? What 'spoilers' was he talking about?

The boy decided to pocket the accessory. He'll figure out what to do about it later.

"So…" the bear chirped. "You wanna give it another go?"

"…"

Honestly, he did, but there was only so much of Monokuma that he could take.

"Nope."

The boy turned around and left the room.

"Rude!" The animatronic called out to him, only to be ignored in response.

Walking back to the dorms, Naegi took a quick glance at the whip that was in his hand.

"What am I going to even do with this?"

He would receive an answer two seconds later.

"Yo Naegi!" A certain fashionista shouted at him as he entered Hotel Despair. With how close she was to the entrance/exit, he could tell that she was in the midst of leaving the dorms.

"What's up?"

"Uh, nothing much," he admitted. "Tried using the MonoMono machine but all I got was this."

He showed her the whip.

The blonde eyed the item, completely befuddled.

"What is that?"

"Monokuma called it a rose whip," the soldier replied. "I don't know how he managed to find this…"

Enoshima continued to stare at the whip, intrigued.

"It's kinda cute, don't you think?"

"I guess?"

Naegi didn't have any strong feelings about his prize.

"Do you want it?" He asked, noticing her interest in the item.

Said girl's eyes widened, surprised.

"Eh? Really?"

"Yeah, I don't really have a reason to keep it and you seem like you want it."

That and he was fine with giving the whip away as it was too fragile to be used as an actual weapon. Otherwise he would've kept it for himself.

"Heh-heh! Thanks!"

The model happily accepted the gift.

"Lemme give you a little peck on the cheek to say thanks!"

"That… won't be necessary," Naegi awkwardly assured her.

Enoshima huffed.

"Wow, really? You know, most guys would kill to be in your shoes right now."

'I believe it…'

The girl was a superstar after all, so he knew that she'd had her fair share of encounters with guys who were constantly trying to shoot their shot.

Crossing her arms, the blonde sulked

"I'm really offended, I hope you know that."

Naegi had no idea what to say in response. How could he when he didn't even know what he did wrong?

"I'm sorry…?"

Enoshima laughed, her mood doing a complete 180.

"C'mon, I'm just screwing with you!" She informed him. "You didn't take it serious, did you!?"

'Kinda, yeah…'

His confused expression earned him a grin from the girl.

"Aw, I appreciate the thought."

Without warning, she gently ruffled his hair.

'What the hell?'

Naturally, most people hated being touched without their consent, and Naegi was no different there…

However, his aversion to being touched went far beyond the norm.

Any form of physical contact sent his body into overdrive, triggering the battle instincts he's developed due to his time as a soldier. Those who didn't ask for permission beforehand were usually slammed to the ground as the boy unconsciously defended himself from a perceived threat, only recognizing what he had done afterwards.

Something similar happened when Ogami reached out to him, his body going into autopilot mode and grabbing her wrist to stop her.

The only people who could touch him were his family… and it took a few months before he could reach that point with them.

So how was Enoshima, a complete stranger, able to do so without his body reacting negatively?

Even more perplexing, the gesture of her rubbing his hair felt familiar, almost as if she, or someone else, had done this to him numerous times in the past.

'Seriously, who is she?'

Outside of everything relating to the school, she had to be the biggest enigma he's ever encountered, and with his past, that was saying something.

"So, like, I'm going to head back to my room now," the girl told him, snapping him back to reality.

"Stay safe, alright?"

Not wanting to be rude, he responded back to her.

"You too."

With a grin, the model made her way back to her room. Naegi couldn't help but notice that her steps seemed to be quicker than usual.

'Wait a sec, wasn't she leaving the dorms?'

0000

Having decided to return to his room as well, the boy sat down on his bed with a loud sigh.

'Today was… eventful…'

Zoning out, the soldier began mulling over his day.

He started from the beginning; the time he had spent with Maizono.

'I'm glad we were able to find something for her.'

Knowing that the girl had something to defend herself with was soothing.

He hoped she never had to use it though.

Continuing his mental replay, the soldier frowned when he remembered some of what the idol had confided to him.

'What kinds of things did she have to do to get to where she is now?'

Maizono had described those acts as 'unpleasant', but what exactly did that mean?

He highly doubted that she killed somebody like he had. Did those acts involve bribery? Blackmail? Sexual services?

The soldier shuddered at the last one. The girl was still a minor, and even if she wasn't, it would still be horrible.

Naegi decided to change the topic.

'She was very open with me…'

The information that she shared about herself definitely wasn't public knowledge. Not once has she mentioned her fears during the numerous interviews she was featured in, nor has she ever been caught crying in public like she did today.

Everything that was said and done during their conversation…

She had been completely vulnerable with him in a way that would've suggested that they'd known each other for years.

'It's strange…'

Then there was the way she described chasing her dreams…

'Those words could've come out of my mouth…'

That scared him.

To constantly chase a dream, to ignore everything else other than that dream… It was a very dangerous road to go down.

Naegi had done the same thing, and as a result, he spent his childhood never getting to live. He was alive, yes, but being alive wasn't the same as living.

Maizono did have something that he didn't though, and that was companionship. Through her bonds with her friends, she was able to have moments where she could enjoy herself and make positive memories, even when the journey got rough.

Could he confidently say she was living? No. He hasn't known her long enough to make such an assessment.

But she wasn't alone, and that was a huge boon to have in life.

'Alright, I think that's it for now.'

The boy moved on to the latter part of the day, unconsciously pulling out the kitten hair clip he had gotten from the MonoMono machine.

'What's the story with this thing?'

He didn't need to be a fashion expert to know that the clip wasn't anything special. It was just a cute accessory.

'And where do I fit into it?'

For some reason, Monokuma had found it exceptionally humorous that he won that specific prize, calling it ironic.

Naegi didn't have the slightest clue about what he was talking about, and that also went for the 'spoilers'.

'Monokuma's keeping something from me…'

What did the animatronic know that he didn't?

Eventually, the boy moved on to thinking about his encounter with Enoshima.

'I really need to keep an eye on her.'

He was a broken record at this point when it came to the topic, but it was true.

There's something about Junko Enoshima that he didn't know about, and whatever it was, it had to do with why she was so friendly with him.

'She shouldn't have been able to touch me…'

Was he drugged?

'No, I can still feel everything.'

Whelp, he was out of ideas.

One day, he'll have no choice but to confront her and have her give him the answers he's looking for.

Right now though, it was far too early.

For now, he'll play her game.

That is, as long as she doesn't do anything harmful to him or his classmates.

*Ding dong, bing bong*

"Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially night time. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then...sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite…"

*Buop*

'Already?'

The boy was surprised by how quickly the day had passed.

"I guess I should get some rest."

Quickly preparing for bed, Naegi laid down and closed his eyes.

Today had been quite eventful, although he was still as every bit as lost as he was yesterday. Maybe even more so…

There was a lot of things to be done if he wanted out, but there wasn't much left for him to do today but sleep.

'Tomorrow's another day.'