It had been a month since The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juvenile's History. Miu had decided that everyone should share anything they were comfortable with since three of the students had bravely volunteered earlier that day. Some didn't say much, like Tenko or Kaito, but some did open up, like Maki who has serious burn scars on her back or Kirumi who was the only one in her family who could make money. Shuichi felt bad. Except for his first murder case where he was glared at aggressively, he's had a very normal life.
Speaking of Shuichi, he had decided to swim alone today. He'd usually hang out with someone but felt the need to go by himself. He did walk with Kaede, Tsumugi, and Miu, who were all heading to Kaede's lab to learn some piano songs, but left them at the school entrance and headed for the pool. Ryoma was chilling in his lab and happened to be in the bathroom when Shuichi walked in. The two waved to each other before Ryoma headed back into the main lab and Shuichi pulled off his shirt and jumped in the pool. He would've been alone if it weren't for something... or someone...
"Are you still not all hanging out?"
"Yes, now please leave me alone sir."
The headmaster of the academy, Monokuma, had noticed his students not communicating and decided to step in and fix that. He knew Shuichi would be easy to crack, so of course, Monokuma pressured him the most out of everyone else.
"I have a very hope-filled plan fer ya!" The bear said excitedly.
"Does it involve us all getting back together," Shuichi glared at his headmaster.
"Yessssss!"
"Sorry, as much as I'd love for everyone to be back together, I don't think it'll work out-"
"Come onnn, Shuichi! Just lemme tell ya my idea!"
"No, sir. If you excuse me, I'm going to go find Kaito and Maki..."
In the blink of an eye, all windows and doors were locked and dark, making the pool area seem like a meeting area. With the widest grin he could pull off, Monokuma stepped towards Shuichi with his red eye glimmering.
"You will listen, Shuichi. Principal's orders!~"
--------------
"Oh, hi Shuichi!" Gonta smiled a pure smile. He was looking for bugs near the pool when Shuichi left his "meeting".
"Oh... um... hey, Gonta..." Holy crap this is going to be hard. I already feel terrible for doing this. "So, um, I was wondering if you could find the Atua-sketeers? I want to round everyone up in the gym but Tenko probably wouldn't listen to me, despite Himiko's wishes..."
"Gonta will do it!" The gentle giant pat Shuichi's back (although it did feel like a rock was being smashed into his back). "Gonta want friends to be together again! He misses them."
Oh, Shuichi's poor heart.
Gonta headed off to Tenko's lab. He probably saw them head over there. Shuichi didn't question it and went to the casino, where he knew the Memesquad was. Those three idiots decided to challenge Ryoma to some casino games. Shuichi was almost too scared to go downstairs because of how embarrassing the scene will look. And oh boy was he right.
Rantaro was crouched against a machine with his head leaning back, Kokichi was lying face-first on the floor like a starfish, and Korekiyo was hitting his head against the wall in defeat. Ryoma sat at the Monoslots machine like a king overlooking his people when his eyes landed on Shuichi. The detective waved slightly and Ryoma nodded a welcome. As soon as Shuichi inhaled to speak, Kokichi's head snapped up and he ran over to Shuichi, attacking him with a hug.
"Oh my God, Shuichi where have you been?!" The shorter one snuggled into the back of the emo one.
"Kokichi, it's been 2 hours..." Shuichi sighed.
"That's too long."
"What'cha doing here, Shuichi?" Rantaro balanced himself on his feet.
"I want everyone to gather in the gym," Shuichi lightly shook the purple gremlin off. "-If you guys aren't busy, that is!"
"We were just finishing up actually!" Korekiyo whipped around from the wall like a model. "What do you plan to do there?"
"I'll explain later, I have to get the others first."
"So... meet you there?" Rantaro asked.
"Sure!" Shuichi nodded and the four boys said goodbye to each other. Why four, you may ask?
"Where to next, Shushu?" Kokichi skipped beside his tall boyfriend.
"Well, I was thinking Maki and Kaito because they're hanging out in the dorms right now..."
"Ooooooh!!!" Kokichi's sudden noise made Shuichi jump. "What are they doing in there?"
"Shut up, flamer."
"Says the boy who wears make-up," There was a sudden awkward silence, but Kokichi quickly fixed that. "Not that I don't find it hot or anything..."
"That's kinda gay."
"We've been dating for a month and cuddling for three!"
This continued until the duo reached the dorms. The question remained: which dorm were they in. Before Shuichi could even knock on Maki's door, a squeaking sound made the pair turn around. Maki opened Kaito's door and gestured them over. Shuichi was impressed by Maki's ability to sense their presence, but then again she is an assassin. Kaito wasn't in there but Maki stood at the door with a cold expression.
"'Sup?"
"Where's Kaito?"
"Kaito made a terrible dad joke so I... 'accidentally' spilled my coffee on him."
"You drink coffee?" Shuichi was quite surprised.
"No wonder you're so salty in the morning!" Kokichi piped up. "You haven't drank your coffee yet!"
Maki stared at Kokichi. In a flash, the purple-haired boy was knocked out and Maki was standing as normal as ever in the door frame. Shuichi looked back and forth between the two.
"How did you-"
"He's my sidekick. I know how to handle him. Just let me know if you need tips," She winked and Shuichi just chuckled. "What are you here for anyway?"
"I was wondering if we could gather everyone in the gym. For something important."
"Sure. How many more people need to know?"
"Let's see... Kaede, Miu, Tsumugi, Kirumi, Kiibo... five more."
"We can get the Bi-ce Girls. You can focus your energy on Kirumi and Kiibo. I think they're in the kitchen."
"Thank you! And... Bi-ce Girls?"
"Like Spice Girls, and the gals are bi... you know... whatever, just go get those two!"
Maki shut the door. Shuichi turned around to leave but was interrupted by Maki opening the door and saying they'll take blacked-out Kokichi too. Good. At least with Maki, it'd look like she killed him instead of making it look like Shuichi had drugged him with his lab's drugs or even fucked the gremlin. Just the thought made him freak out. Slapping his cheeks to get rid of the negative thoughts, he marched over to the kitchen to find Kirumi and Kiibo working on lunch. Kiibo happened to notice Shuichi as he took what looked like pizza rolls out of the microwave.
"Oh, hello Shuichi!" Kiibo greeted him with a warm smile.
"Well, nice to see you, Shuichi," Kirumi noticed the detective and waved briefly before getting back to work.
"What do you need?" Kiibo set down the rolls and walked over to Shuichi.
"Is it alright for you and Kirumi to go to the gym for a moment?" Shuichi asked. "It's kind of important..."
"Let me see," Kiibo turned to Kirumi. "How are the salads going?"
"I'm almost done," The maid replied without looking up.
"Just a few more minutes?" Shuichi guessed.
"That would be lovely!" Kiibo grinned. Ahh, why did he have to be so precious?
Shuichi decided to go to the gym after bidding farewell to the two hard at work. A few of the students were already there, such as Gonta and the Atua-sketeers, but a few were still missing. Shuichi went backstage to sike himself up. Monokuma's speech was engraved into his brain. If he screwed this up, their entire class relationship would be over. This was the speech that decided the fate of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. It's do or die now. Kaito came backstage to let him know everyone was here and to also encourage his sidekick (Maki suspected Shuichi was going to give some "stupid" speech). Kaito gave him a fistbump before jumping offstage to join the others. Clearing his throat, Shuichi headed to the middle of the stage and the speech began.
"As most of you know, it has been about a month since we last texted," Shuichi took all the looks in before continuing. "After we shared our secrets, many of us had some time to think," Maki gave an encouraging nod. "While others just spent the time enjoying themselves and the people around them," He looked down at a pissed Kokichi who wanted to be on stage with Shuichi. "And yes, while I do enjoy this amount of free time I'm also kinda sad. Sad that my friends won't talk to each other over our pasts!" Angie gave a firm nod. "So, that's why I gathered you today.
"When Rantaro made that chatgroup, we were all distant from each other," Rantaro gave a thumbs up in agreement. "He brought us together to be more than classmates... to be close friends, and if we're not chatting then... who are we?" Tsumugi rubbed her chin as if to think. "We are strangers. It may not seem like this, but think: have we ever all hung out outside of the chatgroup except to eat?" Kaede shook her head. "I believe we're closer as friends when we are in that chatgroup, so I want us all to get back into the texting game!" A short silence. "If... that's ok with you guys?"
Well, Shuichi had failed. He felt embarrassed to death. But, what's this? Three loud clapping sources were heard. Shuichi looked up to see Maki, Kaito, and Kokichi all clapping for him with everyone else slowly joining in. Shuichi did it. He got everyone back! He looked over at Monokuma, who was hiding behind the stage curtains, and smiled at him. The bear upupupu'd and returned a thumbs up to Shuichi.
He should listen to his Headmaster more often, huh?
--------------
Hell Within Hell
dicedicebaby: First
amamicado: First to change my name
nochromo: First to reply third
shumai: First to get everyone back here
spacejam: First to tell you all to SHUT UP!!!
spacejam: Except you Sidekick, you do you :)
shumai: Thank you :)
cat-astrophe: let's make this last a while my dudes
praisebetoatua: I'll get the other two to come on more! :D
pianoqueen: Ummm....
cumininhot: Yeah that's not a good idea.
cumininhot: Look at my fucking name.
praisebetoatua: Oh, I suppose (_ _|||)
praisebetoatua: But I'll be on more often :3
makiroll: you're always welcome, angie :)
praisebetoatua: I know :P
k1b0: Well that sounded ominous.
spacejam: Nooo not you too ;-;
k1b0: Don't worry, I've been hanging out with Kirumi a lot so I won't bother you guys too much. :)
pianoqueen: Aaaaaaaaaaaaa too precious ༼☯﹏☯༽
gentlebug: Gonta's gonna be on more often too :D
dicedicebaby: fuuuuuuuuuuuuu (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
nochromo: Don't you dare finish that.
pianoqueen: No, Gonta. Please no.
--------------
Words: 1850
The boys are back, the boys are back
The boys are back, gonna do it again
Gonna wake up the neighborhood
The boys are back, the boys are back
Climbing up the walls anytime we want
No need to worry
'Cause the boys are back, the boys are back
The boys are back, gonna do it again
And we make it look good
The boys are back, the boys are back
Tearing down the walls, anytime we want
I'm sure that you know by now
The boys are back