Kokichi's POV:

I find myself in a familiar situation once more: being deathly bored in class. Only a whisper of the excitement from yesterday remained in the air, as everyone who was intent on being here gave all of their attention to the teacher. I was the polar opposite to that, my head planted firmly in one hand as I stare dully at the door.

I begin to tune out the rest of the class, as my thoughts engulf my world for a moment. My mind floats from subject to subject, ranging from possible things to do later today, to pranks that I can instruct my group to perform while I'm away. Thinking about my group brought my thoughts around to the events of yesterday, and that heist that number 2 had mentioned. And thinking about the events of yesterday had me thinking about...

How oddly Mikan had been acting.

At the time my initial thoughts were that of "who am I to take away somebody's lies", but I'd be lying to myself if I said that I wasn't at the very least interested in finding out. I mean whatever happened had her shaken to the core. Now, maybe she was telling the truth: Maybe she really did just attend an internship at a hospital, and maybe she saw something there that shook her up. But little ticks in her body language that I still remembered lead me to believe otherwise. Such a jumpy person being scared easily isn't all that surprising: However, someone as seemingly truthful as her lying for any reason was all too intriguing.

I wind up becoming fixated on this idea, the more thought put into it the more it sucks me in. It wouldn't hurt to give our local nurse a visit now, would it? Nah, it wouldn't. So I decided that once more, I would walk out of the classroom in search of the nurse's office. I'm sure it was late enough in the morning that she would be there by now. And the open door when I got there seemed to support that theory. So thinking of an ailment to use as an excuse, I open the door prepared to ham it up and-

"...where is she?" I wonder to myself. When she wasn't in the nurse's office, Mikan usually had the door locked thanks to all the medicines in there. So being able to walk in, and not find her? It was odd. But maybe she was just out for a moment, and forgot to lock it. She's certainly clumsy enough to do that. So I further walk in with the intent of sitting down to wait for her. But as I walked in, I noticed yet another odd thing: a trash can, placed just beside one of the beds. And the bed itself seemed to have a bottle of some kind of... well it looked like antiseptic.

My curiosity piqued, I look inside the trash can.

"Bandages...?" I say aloud, piecing together these parts of information. That was all that was inside the trash can. Used bandages... really used. With that question answered, albeit only raising more questions, I go to a chair to sit and wait for Mikan to come back, and look around the room, bored. Other than that one bed, there wasn't much to look at in the office. Just simple and standard medical supplies, accompanied by a refrigerator. I was starting to think that coming here wasn't worth it.

Funny thing though, the way timing works. Just as I began to think that, Mikan walked into the room. She seemed to be pretty cautious as she did so, meaning that the unlocked door was probably an accident. When she finally notices I was already in the room, she screams. "K-Kokichi?! What- w-what are you doing here?!" she asks. That was my queue to start the show.

I stand up, sniffling and rubbing my nose. "I think I'm siiick. Everything hurts, a-and I've been *cough* coughing n-non stoooop" I say, putting on the waterworks for some added effect. Mikan begins to freak out, doing her normal fussing. She starts to ramble about stuff that she needs to get, and instructs me to sit on one of the beds. I do so, and observe her as she gets supplies to check my condition. She really does have an entirely different persona when she's taking care of somebody, doesn't she? But then I notice something...

Mikan was wearing more bandages than usual. So then, it'd be safe to assume that...

"Hey, Mikan *sniff*. Did you change your look recently?" I ask, curious as to what her answer would be. She seems to tense up, fiddling with whatever was in her hand. "N-No- we um, don't see each other t-that often... maybe you j-just only now noticed something?" she says, turning around with a thermometer. I resist the urge to make a face of pure disbelief, figuring now wasn't the best time. "Yeah, *cough* must be"

Mikan performs her inspection, and I wait through it. She finishes by putting the thermometer in my mouth. When she takes it out, she frowns. "Um... I d-don't want to accuse you of a-anything but... you were... lying when you said you were sick, w-weren't you?" she says. I perk up, finally dropping the act. "Yup! Geeze, I was expecting you to realize that sooner, nishishi!" Mikan cringes a bit as I say that. "S-Sorry- my m-minds been um... a bit out of sorts today," she says, fiddling with her hands. "Hah- Yeah, I can see that" I respond, prompting Mikan to cringe once more.

"Hey Mikan, mind telling me why that may be?" I ask, slyly placing my head in my hands. Once more she tenses up, the subject obviously being sore for her. She nervously fumbles with her hands some more, the gears turning in her head practically audible. After a few seconds passed, which felt more like minutes, she finally responds.

"I'm sorry... I r-really am but I... can't say" she says softly, tugging at those all too familiar bandages on her arm. Her face itself was almost like an admission of guilt: something bad had indeed happened to her. I would have pried more, but something about the look on her face told me she thought she had already said too much. As much of a bummer as it was, I wouldn't get much farther with this line of questioning without making her trust me a bit more. "Ah well, that's a shame" I say complacently, heaving an overdramatic sigh. I then stretch my back a bit. "WELP! I think I'm going to hang out here for a bit" I say, leaning back on the bed I was sitting on. Mikan looks like she wants to say something, but timidly nods her head, only saying "O-Okay" in response.

I smile wide in response, before closing my eyes and just thinking to myself. While very little, the conversation that just happened did divulge some food for thought. First off- something was definitely up with Mikan, more so than usual. If I had to guess, it was most likely something in her past caught up with her- and based off my last time in this office, that definitely wasn't a good thing. It would explain the bandages though. So the next question was: what do I do with this knowledge.

If I was being honest with myself, I wasn't sure about that part. I mean all I had was inferences based off evidence that could be explained away. And even if I was right, I still don't really know the full situation. Whatever, I guess it wasn't really my place anyways. It would just be a bother to dig deeper than that...

The situation struck a chord with me, though. It was an all too familiar and nauseating realization that others were abusing their power. I had come to this realization at several points in my life, and each time had been compelled to do something about it. So maybe that was why I was so stuck on this. I mean I stuck with all the other times this kind of situation reared its ugly head.

"Um, K...Kokichi? I think that I'm... going to head out for a bit. I'm g-going to have to lock the door so um- since you aren't r-really sick..." Mikan says softly. Getting what she was trying to say, I sit up a stretch. "Alrighty then, I'll get out of your hair. What are ya doing though?" I ask, genuinely curious. "Um... the garden. I was there the other day and... i-it's really nice" she says, wringing her hands nervously.

"Mind if I go with you?" I ask in the moment. Mikan seems shocked for a second. "Wha- you'd... really want to go?" she asks apprehensively. Shrugging, I nod. "Why not. I don't wanna go to class cuz that's boring, and being on my own is pretty boring too. I have nothing better to do" I say nonchalantly. Those words seemed to bring a smile to Mikan's lips though. "Then um... p-please! I would... enjoy the company" she says softly. I jump off the bed. "Then what are we waiting for- oh, and, don't forget to lock the door this time" I say, snickering.

Mikan laughs nervously at that, and the two of us head out of the room, Mikan locking the door behind us and placing a notice sign she had made last minute on it. When we finally make it to the garden, she takes in a deep breath. She was looking a lot more relaxed already, a small smile stretched on her face as she walks in. I follow, taking a look around. This was the first time I had ever been to the outdoor garden, and I had to say: I was impressed. Whoever was doing the upkeep around this place must have been an ultimate, because I don't think I'd ever seen one quite this intricate before. Then again, I haven't been to many gardens period. Mikan seemed to be in her own little world as she looked at all the different flowers, while I kind of just aimlessly wandered about.

"So, you really like this place, huh?" I ask, walking around a rather pretty bush of purple flowers. Mikan's head perks up from above the bush she was inspecting. "Huh? I um... g-guess I do... Gonta showed it to me last time I went out" she says softly. I gasp, pretending to be offended. "You and Gonta hung out... without me?" I ask, bringing crocodile tears to my eyes. Mikan panics, standing up straight and waving her hands around. "Y-Yes but it wasn't p-planned or anything I swear- we didn't mean to leave you out-" she says hurriedly.

"Man, you're really bad at recognizing lies, huh?" I ask, chuckling a bit. Mikan blinked in astonishment for a few moments, mouth agape in shock. "You... w-were lying?" she asks cautiously. I shrug, laughing "Maybe, maybe not. Why don't you figure it out for yourself?" I ask. Mikan looks at me for a moment, contemplating her next words. After fiddling with her hands for what felt like forever, she finally opens her mouth.

"Why... do you lie so much? Ah um- i-it's not like I mind it- really, I don't- but... it... doesn't m-make sense to me..." she says in a soft voice.

Well, it's not like I could have expected the question would never come up. I mean I'm aware that it's not "normal" behavior. Still, it caught me a bit off guard, and I wasn't too keen on answering it. But it also wouldn't do to let the question hang in the air like this.
"Well, I need to have some secrets, don't I?" I say, answering her question with one of my own. Mikan's expression grows frustrated, as my response seemed to only confuse her more. "B-But it's like- your entire life is a secret. Doesn't that... get lonely?" she asks. I stay silent for a moment, thinking the question over. "So? Better lonely than hurt, right?" I ask. And then I remember who I was talking to. "Though I guess that isn't something that makes much sense to you, huh?"

Mikan shakes her head. "No... it... d-doesn't" she says softly, shrinking into herself. I shrug. "Difference of opinions I guess. I mean we're both still living so it's working out for us" I say, walking over to a patch of white, delicate flowers. "I g-guess that's true... I just... can't imagine not wanting to be open with other people" she says, her voice silent and pensive. I laugh a bit- "Hey don't act like you're entirely open with others either- I mean you still won't tell me what's been troubling you since last night" I shoot back. Mikan wilts, realizing part of her hypocrisy. "That's... true... maybe we should just drop this" she says, walking over to a bush that seemed to have a kind of berry on it. "Yeah, that's probably for the best," I say, moving onto a new plant as well.

From there, we observed the garden in silence. There were four different sections of the garden, each housing different types of plants, so Mikan and I moved from the first to the second once we finished the one we started in. As time passed, the tension that hung in the air from the previous conversation lifted a bit, and the both of us started to enjoy ourselves a bit more. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Mikan smile as she delicately cups a pink flower in her hands. Though I had seen it before, it was still a rare sight to see the nurse so at peace in any situation. When she was, she had a kind of glow about her, as cheesy as that sounds. Part of me wished she was like this more often.

"Soooo, you mentioned you've been here before with that teddy bear Gonta. What was that like?" I ask, trying to start up some kind of conversation. Mikan had been in her own little world at the time it seems, because she startles at my voice. "H-Huh? Well um... I guess it was... much like this. I don't think it gets a lot of visitors, because it was p-pretty empty that day too... except for..." Mikan trails off. I raise an eyebrow and look back at her, intrigued. "Except fooooor?" I ask, egging her on.

"Um... w-well there was one other person there... I think his name was... Korekiyo. I know it's r-really rude but- he.... Really unsettled me" she says, wringing her hands nervously. "Oh heeey I know him! Yeah, he's totally creepy" I say, fully turning so I could have a conversation with the girl across from me, who looked highly relieved. "So it wasn't just me? I'm... happy about that but... I just- I don't know why I got so unnerved by him" she explains. I shrug "I mean he's stated a couple of times in class that he's aware of how creepy he is, so I don't think he really cares, if that makes you feel any better about it" I say. Mikan is silent for a moment, before seeming to become less tense. "I... g-guess that does make me feel a bit better" she says softly.

"Sooo, since I told you about someone in my class, howabout you tell me about someone in yours? Ohoh, how about that scene girl you were talking to? The one who referred to herself in the third person. Ibuki." I ask energetically. "Her...?" she asks. "Um... well she's... very energetic, for sure. And can be a um... t-tiny bit scatterbrained at times but... she's one of the kindest people I've met too. And she... she always tries her best to make sure everyone's included. I'm really h-happy that she's friends with someone like me" Mikan says, a faint smile on her face as she described the girl. What she said wasn't really a surprise to me- Ibuki was pretty open about who she was. But, it was nice to see Mikan thinking about something that made her happy.

"Hey hey, wanna talk about our classmates for the rest of the time we're here? I don't know about you, but I have quiiiiiite a few stories from my class that I could tell" I suggest. Mikan nods in response. "T-That sounds nice! I... c-can't even count how many times one of m-my classmates has had to visit me because something ridiculous happened" she says, sounding a bit relieved to have someone to talk about this with. "Alright- then why don't you go first. I have to say I'm curious about all the crashing sounds that I hear from your classroom" I say with a smug smile. Mikan tenses up, sighing. "That... w-would be Akane and Nekomaru. We ask them n-not to but... sometimes they spar in the classroom and it... c-causes a lot of damage" she says, looking like the event had scared her quite a bit.

"Wow, that sounds so crazy it could be a lie!" I exclaim. Mikan sighs and shakes her head "P-Part of me wishes it was... I w-wound up having to take care of them after, and t-the entire class had to clean up from the debris" she says with a solemn tone. She... was actually serious about this. Well, that would explain some stuff I head from that room I guess. "Hah, well compared to that I'm worried my stories going to sound boring! Buuut it's my turn so-"

"Mikan!"

Just then, Ibuki ran into the garden, an urgent look on her face. "Thisisreallyreallyimpor-" "Ibuki- s-slow down-" interrupts Mikan, who was starting to look rather nervous herself. Ibuki stood there out of breath for a few moments, before straightening out, finally ready to give Mikan the proper form of whatever message she had. "Miss Chisa said to come get you right away- there's an announcement that she needs everybody in the classroom for!" Ibuki says. Mikan's eyes widen in surprise, as she looks at me for a moment, before looking back at Ibuki. "I'll b-be there right away- um, sorry!" she calls back to me, before rushing back to her classroom with Ibuki.

I stand in the garden for a few moments, processing what the hell just happened. After thinking about it though, I shrug off the encounter as something personal to that class. That was, until I hear footsteps in the garden once again, and turn around to see Kaede. "Oh, so this is where you were- I didn't expect you to actually be in this kind of place" she says. I laugh it off- "Aww, really? I love gardens, didn't you know?" I tease, before walking closer. "So what is it?" I ask, cocking my head to the side.

"Well, the teacher said that they had an announcement for the entire class to hear. Some of us said that they were fine with you not being there but- well, the teacher refused to start until everyone was there. We've been looking for you for a bit now" she says, sounding a bit exasperated. I raise an eyebrow. "Huh, you know Ibuki just came in here saying the same thing to Mikan- any clue what this is about?" I probe. Kaede shrugs and sighs. "Right now? No clue. They said they didn't want to say anything about it until everyone was there. So um, we should probably head back" she says. Agreeing with her, the two of us make our way back to the classroom.

I wonder what this could possibly be about...

Mikan's POV:

I rush along with Ibuki towards the classroom, embarrassed that I had to make someone go out of their way to get me for this- maybe I should have just stayed in the nurse's office... but it was too late for that now. "D-Do you know what this is about?" I ask nervously. Ibuki shakes her head, furrowing her eyebrows. "No, Ibuki doesn't but... Miss Chisa seemed really upset" she explains as we pass by the pool area. When we finally make it back to the classroom, the low buzz of conversation that was there silences, as everyone turns to see us. "Alright... that's everybody then" says Miss Chisa from the front of the class.

Ibuki and I nervously take our seats, as the buzz of conversation once more arises. This continues for a few moments more, before Miss Chisa quiets us down. "Please, settle down. This is... something you're all going to want to be able to hear well." she says, her train of thought trailing off at the end. Everyone sits up in their seats, eager to hear what this mysterious announcement is. Miss Chisa takes a deep breath, before finally starting.

"A Hope's Peak Academy employee's body was discovered 2 hours ago" she says finally.

The classroom erupts into chatter, as everyone looks between each other with worried looks on their faces. Before this goes on for too long, Miss Chisa quiets us again. "Please, please. Now, due to the state of the body, we suspect that it was... a murder. And a... very specific one at that" she says, trailing off. "You may have heard of them on the news. "Roses thorn". They have become quite infamous as of late" she explains. This catches the attention of Sonia, who stands up from her seat. "Roses thorn was able to get to an employee of Hope's Peak? But- how?!" she asks. The fact that Sonia, who had seemed to have researched this person quite a bit, was surprised at this surprised me. Did she... really not think such a thing was possible? If that's the case...

"We don't know yet how it was done. However, what we do know is this: This school's top priority is the cultivation of talent in its students. As such, your safety is also our top priority. Because we intend to keep these statements true, Hope's Peak will be increasing security." she says. A light murmer goes throughout the class as to what this could mean, but is once again quickly silenced once Miss Chisa starts speaking again. "This means that we shall be hiring more guards to help patrol the school during the night. We also urge students to be careful when staying out later, and to be back by the dorms by 7 P.M., so as to be as safe as possible" she says, her face stern. That look... felt so foreign on the face of our normally cheery teacher. It must have felt off to everyone as well, because the room fell into an eerie silence.

Mahiru hesitantly breaks the silence. "If it's okay to ask... who were they?" she asks. Miss Chisa sighs. "They were a scientist that was helping with one of Hope's Peak's personal projects. I can't say I knew them well but... it has a lot of the staff here worried... But! You... probably don't need to worry as much. This really is just for safety, so even with these new security measures, try and live your teenage lives to the fullest" she says, a somewhat weak smile on her face. "That should be the end of the announcement. Thank you for your attention"

With that, all of the groups that had formed in the class got together to discuss what we just heard. This meant that Ibuki, Mahiru, Hiyoko and I all turned to each other. "Ibuki's sure we'll be fine. I mean- they don't have any reason to try and kill us, right?" she says, trying to rationalize. Hiyoko scoffs- "Easy enough for you to say! Nobody knows who you are. Someone actually famous like me has more to worry about!" she snaps. "Come on now- I mean whenever we see them on the news, the victim is normally an adult, right? We... probably have nothing to worry about" says Mahiru, trying to diffuse the situation. "Y-Yeah- I mean... people like them... n-normally have a um... type that they go after, right?" I say, though I wasn't too confident.

"Exactly" Mahiru says, smiling at me. "Oh, so does this mean we can still go to the amusement park this Sunday?" asks Ibuki excitedly. Hiyoko laughs "As if some serial killer could stop us! Although, Mikan's stench might" she says, snickering. I lower my head just a bit, but we were past the point where Mahiru was able to scold Hiyoko for every little thing, so we all just let it slide. "Oh, speaking of witch- you all have some cute casual clothes you can wear, right? Because I plan on taking a lot of pictures of your smiles" says Mahiru, smiling as well. Everyone nods, and we all start talking about our plans for this Sunday, the previous topic quickly slipping out of our minds as we did so. Eventually an hour passes, and I realize- "O-Oh no, I've been out of the nurse's office for much too long- I n-need to get going!" I say, quickly standing up.

Waving goodbye to the class, I quickly rush back to the nurse's office, taking my keys out of my pocket and unlocking the door, taking down the sign on the door as I do so. Everything was just as I had left it, thank god. I leave the door open behind me, and quickly throw out the note into a nearby trash can. That's when I notice the trash can by the bed- I had left it there this entire time- that... probably wasn't good. I take a deep breath as I go over to it and put it back where it belongs. But... I couldn't help but linger, looking inside.

Up until a few hours ago, those bandages that were in there were on me. I still remember taking them off for the first time since yesterday, cringing at the bruises that were underneath. It... wasn't as bad as it could have been, that was for sure. But at the same time, the fact that I had to use bandages like this this heavily again... it had a nasty kind of nostalgia. Had I really gotten so used to the way that people treated me here...? I had developed a nasty habit of thinking that this... was normal. That how wonderful this place was was normal. It was more like a dream than anything, and that was something that I had to remember as I talked with the people from outside this school.

I move those depressing thoughts out of my mind though- I had responsibilities that I had to take care of, and staring at that can would only arouse suspicion. It had at the very least clued Kokichi onto the fact that something was happening...

I thought back to today with Kokichi, and the conversation that I had with him. It felt... really casual in comparison to ones we've had in the past- well, aside from when we were talking about his lying. It didn't feel like it had any weight to it it just... felt inconsequential. I find that... I kind of like talking about inconsequential things with him. I wonder what story of his class he wanted to share with me... I somehow doubt that it was actually less interesting than the one I had told, solely for the reason that I'm not very good at story-telling. Maybe... I could ask him about it when I got back to our dorm?

I couldn't help but hold that as something to look forward to. Even if he can be scary or worrying at times, I did like talking to Kokichi. It was strange... Like, he would still tease me a bit but... it never felt all that mean. And with someone with a reputation like his, I would have expected him to be on a similar level to Hiyoko- so whenever he talked to me like I was a person... like I was just the same as everyone else... it made me feel kind of special, in a way.

Ohhh what am I thinking? I'm going to make things weird if I keep thinking like this. I need to find something to do...

I wait out the rest of my shift in the office, only taking care of two or three minor injuries for the rest of the day. It was finally time to head back to my dorm...

I wonder if he's really going to be willing to talk to me like that again...