A painful smile stretched across Chihime's face as she took in the sight of a beautiful phenomenon. Taka and Mondo, who have been up on each other's necks to this point, have become bros.
"So, uh, what circumstances led to this?"
Makoto shrugged as he chewed on some poorly made toast, as in 'bread dumped into a toaster for 30 seconds and slathered with butter that is still rock hard' toast. A brief thought arose on the possibility of cooking breakfast to win over trust among her classmates. "I don't know. They told me last night that they were having a sauna contest and wanted me to judge them, but I left after a while, and then this happened."
"What- how do you simply leave in the middle of a contest if you're the judge?"
"I don't think I could have stayed there all night..."
You just didn't want to be responsible if they died from overheating in that sauna overnight.
"Well, at least that didn't happen and they have the good sense to not stay in there for too long," Chihime poked the egg on her toast, causing it to spill on her toast everywhere, "And they get along now...which is great!"
That was a lie. Why on earth would she be happy with the two loudest people becoming best friends? At least when they were in conflict they would avoid each other. Now they will be hanging out all the time, talking in over the top voices about how awesome their friendship is. It's better than unwanted tensions, but it's still dreadfully annoying to withstand in the early hours of the morning.
The only other worst possible scenario is if they fused together and become one annoying person altogether, but that will never happen, right?
Scuffing down her meal, Chihime left the table to free herself from their booming voices. She was reminded to throw her laundry to wash later as she cleaned the plates and utensils of its mess.
She had only used two sets of clothes since her stay in the academy, but she would never understand why one would let their dirty laundry pile up. Having a large mound of clothes sitting on her lap as she wheeled herself to the laundry room felt like a repulsive sight for someone to see. Chihime dried the tableware off and replaced them back into the cupboard where they belong, staring wistfully at a mixing machine next to a pile of dishes before closing the door to deal with more important matters at hand.
Chihime spotted Chihiro at the corner of the room when she entered and gave her a nod, which the programmer responded with a shy wave. As she dumped her clothes into the washing machine, she was given a small glimpse of Chihiro checking her arm when she thought she wasn't looking.
"Did you hurt your arm, Chihiro?" She kept her tone kind and soft, knowing that direct confrontation would scare Chihiro off.
"Oh, not really. It's just that a mosquito bit me a few days ago, but it still hasn't gone away yet."
"Hmm, mosquito bites take less than a week to recover, though I might be remembering it wrong. May I take a look?" Chihime scowled at the angry red spot on her friend's arm, "It's fading, but it seems like the mosquito left a big mark. Didn't you notice it?"
"No, I noticed. But..." Chihiro paused.
"Go on..."
"Well, I felt it bite me, and I looked down at it. But I didn't do anything. I just sat there and watched it suck my blood..."
"Chihiro, I know this whole ordeal is stressful for you, but that doesn't mean you should hurt yourself. There are other ways for coping-"
"Oh, I didn't mean to hurt myself! It's just...the mosquito must have been really hungry to suck that much blood. If it was that hungry, it would've been really sad not to let it have anything."
"Chihiro," Chihime sighed, crossing her arms across her lap, "Mosquitoes don't suck blood to feed themselves. They suck blood to prepare themselves for reproduction. They feed on nectar for their food like other insects."
Chihiro's face turned to one of upset, "Do they? I'm sorry, I didn't know...I thought it might be starving, and since the mosquito is trapped in here with us-"
"It's alright, Chihiro. I know you have a kind heart, and you do try to help at all times, but others' intentions aren't as pure as yours. You shouldn't assume that everyone, or in this case everything, strives for the better. Just make sure that in the process of helping, you don't hurt yourself."
"But, does that also mean-" Chihiro was interrupted by Monokuma's voice ringing through the speakers.
"Monokuma has an announcement again? What a nuisance," Chihime gently tugged Chihiro's sleeve, motioning to the door. "Let's continue our little conversation some other time. Let's go see what that troublesome bear wants from us now."
Turns out, Monokuma had an announcement to make in the school hall. From what Chihime had gathered from last night, it's probably another motive. Without a motive for herself and no one else to kill, the bear would want to add more pressure onto them. She stared thoughtfully at a camera, snippets of the discussion around her being tuned in now and then.
"Oh! This might not be related but-"
"Then don't say it." Toko said.
"Nope, gonna say it!" Yasuhiro grinned. "It's about last night. I was near the main hall just staring off into space. All of a sudden, I heard it."
"You heard what?"
"A sound that...I don't really know what it was..."
"Just describe it as the first thing you thought of when you heard it," If Chihime could roll her eyes at him, she would, but that won't be too polite.
"Well, if I had to describe it, it was like a construction site."
"A construction site?"
"I mean, I could just be making that up. I only just barely heard anything..."
"Then you d-definitely made it up. M-Must've just been the sound of the ocean in th-that head of your..." Toko was then cut off by a familiar voice.
"Say what!? Whatchoo talkin' about, Toko!?" The speaker then arrived in a over dramatic entrance, smirking at his on-lookers.
"He's arrived..." Kyoko said, adding to the effect.
"What Hiro heard wasn't the sound of construction...but it *could* have been an explosion! Or maybe a machine gun! Puhuhu... That can kinda sound like construction in a way!" The bear laughed, only being interrupted by the confused sounds made by Makoto.
"Ah-ah-ah! Beyond this point my mouth is zipped, my lips are sealed, I am fully puckered! It's a secret little secret!" Monokuma continued to taunt Makoto.
"Fine, then let's move on to what you can tell us. Why did you call us all here?" Kyoko said.
"You don't beat around the ol' bush, do ya!? Ready for me to get to the point, huh? But before that, you mind if I vent a little?" he turned around, as if the burden of his problems prevented him from facing them.
"I'm low on energy these days. My stitching's even losing all its shine and luster... I'm thinking, it's probably because of this ho-hum, boring old everyday life. I'm looking for something with a little more stimulation, something rife with danger and intrigue! Listen, can I just be frank?"
He suddenly turned back, posing in an angry stance. "The next blackened hasn't shown up yet, and I'm getting booooored! So, I've decided to come up with a new way to motivate you!"
So she was right then. Chihime felt her body tensed up. She has been confident during her imprisonment in Hope's Peak Academy, but she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit anxious. Although she had convinced herself that she knew who the biggest threats are in this killing, Chihime knew full well that overwhelming emotion can cloud the judgment of any student, causing them to make irrational decisions.
In contrast to her feelings, Taka has taken a stand against Monokuma. "I don't know what you've got planned, but we're not going to kill each other anymore! No matter what you do, I swear to God we won't!"
"Hmm. That's very big talk. Do your best to back it up, okay? Now then, with your permission, let me begin! So this time it's..." Monokuma started sweating profusely, pretending to be just as nervous as them.
"...embarrassing memories and secrets! As long as you're alive, it's a given that there's things you don't want other people to know about you! So I did a little investigating of my own, and I dug up some of your darkest secrets!"
He raised his hand, presenting envelopes with their names written on them. "And those embarrassing memories and secrets are all contained in the envelopes I have right here... I'm going to hand them out now, so take a second to take a peek!"
As Monokuma spoke, he tossed the envelopes at their feet. Everyone started scrambling to pick up the ones containing their personal secrets. Chihime looked around in distress as she struggled to find hers.
"Oh! I figured out that you can't pick up yours since you're on that wheelchair!" Monokuma pulled out a specific envelope behind his back, "So I am here to present you....DUN DUN DUN! One envelope containing a very personal secret!"
Chihime snatched the envelope from the bear, and gently pulled out the paper. She carefully read what was inside, slowly feeling her body grow rigid as she comprehended the words on the paper.
Celestia Ludenberg's real name is Taeko Yasuhiro.
Chihime stuffed the paper back inside the envelope and dropped it to the floor, while Monokuma giggled his classic laugh. "Phuhuhu! Oops! It appears that I gave you the wrong envelope! Here's the right one this time!"
Chihime stored the envelope inside her skirt's pocket instead of opening it, not trusting him to expose another student's secret. She didn't really know what to do with the new information she just received about Celeste. Her eyes met with those of the gambler in question. Celeste's fingers gently stroked the crumpled paper from the envelope she just picked up, making it apparent that she wasn't the first to read it. Her face morphed into one of resentment, clearly directed at the girl in the wheelchair.
1,747 words.
EDITED!