Haruto

"Are you sure it's me you want around? Not Tozen or Azumi?"

"Chimon, how am I supposed to surprise them if they're here with me? Besides, you're the first person I met here! I wanna spend time with you!" I reassure.

He raises an eyebrow skeptically. "I mean, thanks, but I don't know how useful I'll be if something goes wrong."

"Then I just make double— no, triple sure that nothing goes wrong!" I decide, adjusting my glasses.

Monoinu suddenly climbs up onto my head. "Do you need back-up? One of my goals as camp counselor is to provide supervision where needed! I also come equipped with many items and services in case of emergencies!"

"Because you're a good pup, right?" I smile, scritching the top of his head.

"Agh, I hope hive mind doesn't take notice of my joy, otherwise they might come to try and steal all the your pets from me!"

"Well, see, Chimon? Now I can TOTALLY make brownies without being an absolute disaster!"

"That's what you're gonna try and make?"

"Yeah! Like, those broccoli brownies parents make to convince their kids to eat veggies! I figured Tozen would like them better that way!" I beam. "Only problem... I don't really have a recipe... Agh, I should've thought about that."

"There's a new library, right? I'm sure there must be cookbooks. Let's go get one! It'll be like a field trip!" Chimon smiles. So we look through the library until we find a brownie recipe, and then Chimon recommends a cup of broccoli purée. Seems he has a bit more experience in the kitchen than I would've expected!

I gather ingredients and put an incredible amount of effort into not covering myself in flour or dropping the egg carton. I'm NOT gonna screw this up. I'm gonna show everyone that I'm learning!

It is quite a bit harder with Monoinu still perched on my head, though. He makes my balance weird, and it would be hilarious if it wasn't so scary. After a while of total silence, Chimon asks the question I've been wondering. "So, Monoinu. You don't usually deviate and hang out with us unless something important is happening. Why are you here?"

He heaves a little digital sigh; he sounds a lot more robotic when he's right next to my ears. "I have something... really, really weird to report."

"Weird? What do you mean?" I ask.

"Boss— I mean, Monokuma— was acting very strange the day after the trial. It LOOKED like he was powered down, but I occasionally heard weird ravings... like someone kept accidentally turning on the mic when they were trying to stay muted."

"What?! Ravings?! What did he say?" Chimon demands, leaning in with intense curiosity. I try to divide my attention between the conversation and measuring dry ingredients to exact levels.

"He said something like, 'I can't believe I forgot to say it! How could I have been such an idiot?! The public will...' And then it cut out. And then like... 'Their precious hopes...' And that was about it."

"Forgot to say something? And what's this about the public? Are we being watched?" I ask.

"I kind of figured we probably were, but what is the public going to DO? And why has nobody come to rescue us? Are they just that helpless to stop it?" Chimon ponders.

Monoinu suddenly stiffens up. "Moninu the hive mind can tell someone's stressed. That's not good. We need to throw them off."

"I've always wondered if robots are ticklish. If you can feel pets, it seems likely!!" I announce. I plop onto the floor and grab Monoinu, tickling him mercilessly. Chimon joins in, muttering about how we're all safe and it's okay to relax. The little crackly giggles fade into a sigh of contentedness as he scrambles back onto my shoulders.

"Besides. If they come in here, we can tell them you got stressed cause Bisque over here has to purée broccoli. It wouldn't even be a lie," Chimon points out, tilting his hat.

"I am very stress-inducing!" I admit, amused by how cheerful my own tone is. I drop the broccoli into the blender, being sure not to get my fingers anywhere NEAR the blades and pushing the lid on with all my strength before turning it on.

"Suspicions are dying down. Honestly, as terrifying it is, it's actually kind of fun breaking the rules! I'm a rebel!"

"Don't you mean a re-bull? Y'know, like a bulldog, or a pitbull or something?" I laugh awkwardly at my own awful joke.

Chimon groans. "You're spending way too much time with Yuu."

"No, he's not rubbing off on me... If he was, it would be significantly funnier..." I self-deprecate.

"But anyway... glad you're feeling good about this, pup. You're obviously the coolest camp counselor in this entire place."

I can feel his tail wagging in delight on my neck. This is so freaking weird, but at least he's happy. It dawns on me, suddenly. "Shit, I didn't grease this pan before pouring the batter in! They're gonna stick to the bottom! I— I don't know what to do! What do I do?! I was being so careful! Why do I always make such dumb mistakes, I should know better!" I ramble, feeling myself slip into panic mode.

"Bisque, it's fine! Don't worry! Just get another pan, spray it, and transfer the batter from the first pan to the second," Chimon instructs. He gives me a cute little hug and I can feel my heartbeat start to slow down.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry. Common sense flies out the window when I'm nervous. I just... people yell at you to pay more attention when you make mistakes."

"It's all good here, dude. No judgement from me, at least."

"Yes!" Monoinu chimes in. "Even if Boss's goal is different from mine... hell, even if the hive mind's goal is different than mine... what I want is to facilitate a supportive and welcoming atmosphere! If I can't help you escape, I can at least try to make this place better for you in the meantime!"

"You guys are so nice to me," I smile. I put the pan into the oven (which I've even preheated!) and let myself relax a little for the first time in like an hour. Now, as long as I don't burn the hell out of these brownies, it should all be okay. I can't wait to surprise Azumi and Tozen. And it'll be just like Azumi said, way back at the beginning. Even if I can't show my BIRTH mom, I can still go up and say, "Look, Mom, I cooked a lot and everything was okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kana

Normally, the stuff we dance to falls into one of two categories: jazzy or spicy. Y'know, something high energy. But today, Monterio gently guided me into the parlor and started to play his personal playlist, which is full of gentle, thought-provoking instrumentals. He sets his right hand gently in mine and slides his left to my waist. I lean ever so slightly into him and nudge his left hand down, down, until it's on my hip. "I hate being emotional so I hate when you get like this but I love when you're emotional so I love when you get like this," I ramble.

"Legitimately... how are you? It's been a while since I've checked in," he murmurs softly, twirling and dipping me in motions so smooth that there's not a hint of whiplash.

"I'm... scared. A lot of people have lost someone really important to them, and I just... I worry that we've gotten off too easy. When will we have to suffer a major loss? When will you and I have to go through pain like Ren and Joanie and Yuu?" I admit.

He pulls me even closer to him so that I'm nearly pressed up to his chest. "You and I have an advantage. Cause we're each other's safe place." I don't say what I'm thinking next, but I can't really hide anything from him. He squishes my hand, one of our typical soothing gestures, and finally closes that small bit of distance between us. I can hear his heartbeat, calm and slow. It's honestly remarkable how much ease I can feel in his demeanor.

"How are you so assured right now? Considering you used to tell me that you're generally anxious about most things, you've been really relaxed ever since we got here," I point out.

He takes a deep breath, and I feel it in his chest. "I'm letting myself be... happily helpless."

"Happily helpless... so you mean... because we can't do anything about our situation, we can just let ourselves be, right? There's no pressure, because ultimately, it doesn't look like we can escape yet. And... there will be pain and suffering, cause that's just what happens when we get dropped into a killing game. But we may as well not taint every moment with despair. Gosh, you're so sentimental," I murmur. He gives a slight laugh. "Okay, enough moping around. You're doing just fine and we got all my bullshit out of the way. Play something more fun and swing me around this damn room like our lives depend on it!"

"Losing you already?"

"I'm the confident one of the two of us, and I'm not gonna be beat by your wonderful, stupid optimism!" I grunt, squeezing his hand. He laughs even louder. I detract just long enough to hijack the music and turn it to electro swing, and then we drag each other into an aggressive bout of swing dancing.

I throw all my fear into it, all my strife. This is the most healthy way I've ever dealt with any of my shit. I made so many bad choices just to lead to this one solid form of release. We go until we're both tired, and then my life partner gets a mischievous look on his face. He changes the music once again to a bunch of songs from musicals, and we just embrace the chaos. We're not the greatest singers, but it doesn't even matter. Musical Theatre just makes for a grand ol' fucking time, I swear.

The door flies open, and Fujiko just yells, "MUSICALS?!" She then immediately shrinks upon seeing what's happening. "Oh! Hi, guys! You seem to be having a ton of fun!" I take her by the hand and drag her over. "H-Huh? Wait, stop! What—?"

"Happily helpless! Let's just have some fucking fun, Fujiko!"

She giggles almost manically, face going bright red. "Fine, fine! I'll sing with you guys!"

We get all dramatic and shit with it, dancing and posing and fake crying, or yelling, all of it, depending on what the song needs. As we go, more and more members of the group get curious and pop in. Some of them join in (Ren, obviously, as well as Gou, Azumi, and Bisque), and the rest just watch us with amusement. Ren has a ton of fun singing literally every single love song we come across and roping in a different person to duet with him each time, and even when it's not a love song, he keeps blowing kisses at the audience.

Suddenly, Fujiko calls an intermission and then starts frantically doing everyone's make up. Soon enough, it starts to become an improvised show of all the performance-based talents. I keep catching glances at Monterio, who seems to be... pleasantly overwhelmed, if that's a thing. This is what you asked for, bucko, I think, raising my eyebrows at him. He laughs.

Azumi does a routine that she's apparently done quite a few times at her circus using balancing balls. It's freaking incredible, and it's almost astonishing what she can do when she doesn't have to deal with the anticipation phase. Her performance face is more lively and free than I've ever seen from her, and the shit she does should be physically impossible.

Ren plays a few songs. His variety is amazing— he changes from a hyped-up rock song on an electric guitar, switches to his acoustic to do a gentle ballad, and then suddenly throws us into utter astonishment by throwing in an original song with incredible technical skills involved. His fingers FLY across those strings.

When Monterio and I are up, we do a pasodoble, cause we're somehow still high on adrenaline and our flair for the dramatic is showing. It's not easy to try and improvise ballroom dance, since both partners would be required to both adapt and essentially mind meld here or there. But hey. That's what makes us the professionals. We feed off each other's energy, as well as the crowd's. "I" get lost in the moment. All of my individual thoughts and emotions pale in comparison to the thing I'm creating with him. And I can't get any more specific than that. It's just a thing. A living, breathing being, informed by our body language and fluidity. A being born of happy helplessness.

I couldn't have imagined that celebration— jovial, genuinely joyful celebration— could happen here, but I was proven wrong. By the end, it looks like everyone is smiling and chatting, even people who don't normally interact much. Yuu frantically hops from person to person, complimenting the shit out of them and even asking us if he wants us to make shoes that'll be even more comfortable for dance while still being stylish. Ren is showing Haruto some basic chords, Tozen drags Monterio away from me to ask about how he prepares for competitions. Chimon, Joanie, and Fujiko discuss something, looking to be deep in conversation— though, what has them fascinated, I'm not sure. Because Azumi has already started to chat my ear off about how much fun she's had and how much she admires our passion.

I look to Monterio one last time from across the room, and there's that warmth. Hell. Where would I be without him?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joanie

Today, I feel fan-fucking-tastic. I got some good sleep. Breakfast was great, as always. Last night was a riot, full of decisions that the world clearly was not ready for, as evidenced by everyone's performances being so kick-ass. I'm not always very enthusiastic about shit, so I'm not about to let this feeling fade. I'm gonna push it on for as long as possible.

"Gou!" I call out.

"Oh! Joanie! What's up? You don't normally approach me."

"Yo, can I have a go in the race car? You always look like you're having so much fun!"

"You of all people? I mean, hell freaking yeah, own it, be your best frickin self, sis, but I just didn't expect it!" His smile is infectious.

"I... want to be a better version of me. Try to like, recapture that childish sort of joy and all that good shit. Y'know?"

"Love that for you! We're gonna need to get someone to strap us in, though."

"I got just the ticket," I reassure him. I take him over to the dining room, where Wakumi is napping on the table. Because I'm the worst kind of person, I poke her repeatedly until she slowly opens her eyes.

"You're a bilge-suckin' scallywag and I hate ye with all me heart, Ginny," she murmurs, still waking up.

"I hate you, too. Wanna take turns on the race car?"

I guess she isn't THAT tired. She immediately stands on the table, probably getting dirt all over it, but who expects anything different out of Wakumi at this point? "Aye!!! It'll give ye a head rush! It's almost as good as bein' free on open waters! Or plunderin' a store n' getting off scot-free!" She cackles, amused at herself, and jumps off the table, breaking off in a sprint toward the yard. Gou gives me a high-five, jittering and laughing like a kid. I guess any excuse to be in the race car is enough for him. We chase off after her.

Within minutes flat, Wakumi's buckled me in and pulled the straps so constricting that it feels like I can hardly breathe. She gives me a condescending pat on the head. "Tight enough fer ye, lassie?"

"Don't touch me, you bitch," I snark playfully. With a rev, Gou blasts off. The noise is LOUD, and, even though the types of sounds are nothing like a cheering audience, it reminds me of all those movie premieres I've been blessed to be able to watch. The fast speed gets my heart pumping and I can't help but yell out with excitement. Maybe I need to step out of my comfort zone and make a cheesy road trip movie or an inspirational sports movie or some wholesome shit like that. I avoided that sort of thing for quite a while, cause I wanted to establish a respectable image, and I figured corniness would make people think I was just a dumb kid. But hey. I should be free to make whatever the hell kind of movies I want.

Once I get out of the car, I practically shove Wakumi in and tug at the straps so hard that she starts accusing me of trying to kill her. In revenge for earlier, I pat her on the head and wink. "Tight enough for you?" Gou laughs at my response, and her rapid trail of obscenities and insults glides off into the distance as he drives. We take turns for about an hour, getting more and more smarmy and rude to each other to the point where Gou starts to worry, but then, to make sure he knows it's all in good fun, we start to rope HIM into our bullshit.

Eventually, Gou gets out of the car. "Okay! Now it's my turn! You have to teach me something about directing! Or like, let me act in something you record! Please?"

I sigh, twirling my staff. "Well, I AM Heavenly Blessing-Granter Aika! Who would I be if I didn't honor a wish like that?"

"Really?! Wait, I really didn't expect that to actually work!"

"Ginny, if I'm not in yer movie, I'll cleave ye ta the brisket, y'hear?!" Wakumi insists.

"Fine, fine, you can join, too."

I get my equipment— a couple of boom mics and my professional camera— and start explaining some basics: you want to have clear, concise directions, but you also want to be adaptable enough to let your coworkers and the actors pitch in an idea or two. "Leadership and communication are essential. And honestly, you fit that bill real well," I compliment.

"Aww, thanks!"

"Visual literacy is incredibly important. You have to be able to convey information just in what's happening— through the glances and the body language and stuff like that. Expositioning the hell out of your audience doesn't make for an entertaining film. I'm not a cinematographer, so the visual quality itself might not be perfect, but we can try out a scene real quick!"

I give them a script for a horror movie I've been working on, and they do remarkably well the first run-through, but then I instruct them in small things— the way Wakumi should open her body language up and straighten her spine to look intimidating, and how Gou should twist his body ever so slightly so it looks like he's mere moments from running away. God, I've missed this.

"Hey, Gou?" I ask.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Why're you so interested in everyone else's talents? You're obviously madly in love with the race car," I point out.

He sighs a bit. "Of course I'm madly in love with the race car. I've been doing it forever. But... shit's dangerous, man. If anything ever happens to me, I need a back-up plan. Not to mention, it would probably freak my parents out way less if I do something a little less life-threatening."

"Well. I think you know what your dream is. But if you ever want more director lessons, the wish-granting spirit Aika... and the slowly recovering Joanie Moore... are at your service."

He smiles. And it's a little different from his relentlessly cheerful smile, but the earnestness is just as apparent. "Thanks, Joanie. And thanks for today. I had a blast." He leaves us, then.

Wakumi looks me twice-over like she's studying me. "Aye, Ginny. Somethin's different 'bout ye." I tell her a secret. She raises her eyebrows in surprise, but then shrugs. "Good for ye."

"You're not upset?"

"Are ye still yerself?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Then I really couldn't care less, bein' honest." She even yawns, as if to prove her point about how little this affects her.

"Don't tell anyone."

"No promises."

"Wakumi, I'm serious."

"Fine, Joanie. I'll keep me lips sealed shut. But ye owe me big time, gotcha?"

"Jeez, I'm racking up a list of people I owe. But thank you."