Monterio

I run my hand along the metallic letters: WDR. We barely found any information, considering we had no idea what to be looking for. There are hundreds if not thousands of books in the library, and the Warehouse, though lucrative when it comes to finding pretty much anything, isn't the most organized place in the world. What we know is that it's highly, highly unlikely that a single person could pull off all of this, so WDR is probably either a wealthy family/group of families, or an organization. With an acronym like that, it sounds more like the latter.

I know that I won't be the only person to give this a shot. Ideally, it would be smart to check out conversations from multiple people, including your strongest ally and the person you know the least. If I'm being honest, though, I'm not feeling particularly keen on finding out if anyone secretly dislikes me. It's stupid, I know, since that information could keep me alive in this situation, but being here is exhausting, and my goal since the end of the third trial has just been to keep myself and my friends as happy as possible. I wouldn't normally promote blissful ignorance, but if there's any place for it, it's probably here.

"Has Kana talked about me?" I ask, though it's more of a rhetorical question.

"Obviously. We have several conversations with Fujiko, one with Ren, and one with Gou on file."

"Just pick a random one with Fujiko," I request. With that, I take the pliers into my hand and stare at my other one. Okay. Okay, I'm really doing this. I take an anticipatory breath as I align the pliers with my pinky nail, shut my eyes tight, and yank. I yell out and cuss loudly; it's like opening a can of straight agony. I take out the water bottle, antibacterial cream, and bandages that I prepared ahead of time. But before I can do anything to tend to myself, a group of medical Moninu take care of it for me. After the pain rolls from, "Fuck me, I'm gonna die," to, "Ow, shit, 8/10 on the pain radar," I drop the nail into the box.

He shows me a phone with a single app on it, clicks it, and scrolls through files until he finds the one he wants. He then locks it on the one screen and hands it (and a pair of earbuds) to me. I plug them in and press play, closing my eyes in anticipation.

"So, I never did properly apologize to you for the schism. I'm really sorry, Fujiko. I was unfair to you. Your feelings were yours to handle, and I really shouldn't have insisted that you do things my way."

"It's okay! Honestly, I really should've just talked to you guys like you said. Monterio was way more understanding of it than I thought he would be, and you guys even got together! Which, again, Eeee! How freaking cute! I knew you guys are soul mates!" she squeals in return, and I smile imagining her bouncing with joy.

"Stooooop, you're gonna make me blush with all that soul mate stuff! But I guess that means I also have to thank you. He told me that realizing that he could have lost me made him understand that he wanted me to be his girlfriend. It was seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire existence! He was all flustered and everything!"

"So? Did you kiss him?!"

"Of course I kissed him. I practically ate face!" I can't help but laugh at her mildly crude description of making out. Yep, this girl is mine. "It was fucking fireworks, you have no idea! I love the way he plays with my hair when we kiss!"

"Daaaaaaaaang, girl! That's stunning. I swear, I don't swing that way, but that man is a hell of a catch! He's kind and gentle--"

"And protective and intelligent. And funny. And the best listener," my life partner interjects insistently.

"And you guys are like peanut butter and jelly, or like, mint and chocolate. Ooh! Or fries and honey!" I can practically see Kana's what-the-fuck face burned into my memory, and I laugh mischeivously. "What? It's actually really yummy! I'm gonna me you try it so you know what I mean!"

"Dozens of condiments and you decide to eat your fries with HONEY?"

"We're moving on!" Fujiko insists.

"But yeah... being honest, I'd barely even thought about it until he was confessing to me, but I think the weeks I spent without him— during the code competition and during the schism— I noticed how badly I miss him when he's gone. My heart feels this dull ache, and I really can't imagine anyone else being for me. He changed my life, after all, forever and always." There's a tenderness to her tone, a wispiness that I adore and want to hold to my chest for eternity. I rub the ring on my left pointer finger, one of a pair that we gave to each other the day after she cut it off with her former friends.

"Do you think I'll ever find someone like that?" Fujiko asks. Her voice sounds less confident than I've ever heard it, and that's saying a lot.

"Of course you will! You're beautiful, kind, funny... devoted! You're definitely gonna find a girl who'll treat you right. And I'll smack the shit out of any bitch who breaks your heart!"

She giggles. "Thanks. Oh! I need to go! I told Ren that I'd show him some cool eyeliner looks! Go find your boyfriend!"

"Heh. Boyfriend. It's still surreal."

"Kiss him again! Love ya, bye!"

The audio cuts out. I sit there, soaking it all in. And then I go to find my girlfriend so that I can pepper her with kisses. I feel like I'm glowing. Obviously, I believe her when she tells me that she loves me to my face. I love her, too, with everything I have. But there's something so uplifting about hearing people say kind things about you to other people. You know what? I'm gonna write nice notes for people and hide them around the building. If this motive's goal is to make us distrust each other, then I'll do my best to counter it!

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

Yuu

It's the morning, and my head is everywhere. I keep thinking about my old friends and the life I used to live. It's mid-October. This whole debacle started mid-July, so we've been trapped here for three months. School started up a long time ago, and the world has been moving without us. I put some sugar in my tea absentmindedly as conversation stirs up around me. Breakfast today is onigirazu, and it tastes good as always, but I'm not paying too much attention to it. I bring the teacup to my lips.

And suddenly Azumi slams her fist onto the table, making me spill it in surprise and leading everyone to fall silent. "What the hell was that for?!" I yell, frantically standing up and totally blanking on where the paper towels are. My pants are stained at the leg.

"I-I sincerely apologize! You had put salt into your tea instead of sugar, and you were so deep inside your own head that you could not hear me warn you! I panicked! A-Allow me to wash those for you immediately. I will also attend to cleaning the table and floor, so you may swiftly get changed out of those," she explains quickly, already buzzing about to fetch some paper towels. My cheeks heat up in embarrassment, since the fault was my own. I don't make eye contact with anyone, but I can feel everyone staring at me. It's completely silent. My chest starts to tighten and I wince.

But then I laugh a little. Of course I do. "Hehehe. I'm a fucking idiot." If you can't laugh at your own embarrassment, you're doing life wrong. At least I try to tell myself that, but I would've felt a lot better if anyone else laughed with me. I take a hard gulp and laugh a little more before walking out of the dining hall, trying not to drop my last shreds of dignity. As soon as I'm out of eye-view, I sprint through the hall, looking up and blinking obsessively to prevent any impending tears from spilling out. I fumble with my door for half a second before making it into my room. I down the remainder of a water bottle on my nightstand and change my pants before running back down the hall to hand them to Azumi.

She gently places my plate into my hands to assure me that I can eat in my room, which I'm grateful for. It's rough trying to run through the hallway while attempting to prevent my food from sliding off, but I manage. I eat, cooping myself up in my room for who knows how long. And then the doorbell rings.

I open up. It's Azumi again. Jeez. "I have washed your pants! And with that, the incident is all done and over with." She wears a warm smile.

"Thank you... I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"Ah, that is water under the bridge, I assure you."

"Cool. See you later." I go to shut the door, but she makes noises to get my attention and make me stop. "Before you say anything, I'm just gonna repeat what I always say. I don't need or want pity."

"Well then, you are in luck! It is not pity that I wish to offer. It is help."

This piques my interest. "How do you think you can help?"

"Advice, and perhaps some meditation, if you will indulge me. Believe me, I have grappled with humiliation on many an occasion. I am a performer by trade, after all, and one with mild performance anxiety, at that."

"Damn, what a combination!" I joke. The instant the words leave my mouth, I start to panic and consider if it was out of line.

"Indeed," she smirks, "however, despite that, I do genuinely love my work." I hesitate for a few seconds before opening the door wider to invite her in. She walks in on the tips of her toes. I still hate that she goes barefoot literally all the time, but the way she moves is somewhat relaxing. Everyone here moves a little bit differently, with different levels of grace, enthusiasm, force. I instinctively take a deep breath. "See? We are already on our way to soothing our mind," she encourages.

Our? It's my mind. She must see my slightly disturbed expression, because she corrects herself. "Your mind. Those are merely the speech patterns that were used on me, so I have inadvertently adopted them."

"Get into a position you will be comfortable in. Perhaps you could lay on the bed in shavasana pose— that is, on your back, with your arms and legs slightly spread out."

"Good. When you said pose, I nearly worried you meant your contortion bullshit, and there's no way in hell I can manage that." She laughs.

"Close your eyes. Deep breaths in for four, out for four. And we'll do this six times." The world vanishes behind my closed eyelids and my lungs fill with air. "Now, you may allow your breathing to return to its nature rhythm, but continue to make it the point of your awareness. You may also focus on the feelings in your body, any tightness. And as you scan your body, simply allow those tense muscles to relax. If at any point, your mind wanders, do not fight it. Simply guide your awareness back to your breaths and your body. The important thing to remember is that embarrassment is not something to control, it is something to acknowledge and allow yourself to fully feel. If you allow it to happen and stop trying to wrangle it, you will cease to fear it, and the cycle will end."

Within my mind's eye, I see that day. Those stares... the hushed, mocking whispers. I instinctively move in to hug myself, and my breathing starts to go wonky. "Yuu. May I touch you?"

"No!" I insist.

"Alright. Refocus on your breaths. In four, out four. Bring yourself back to now. We cannot change the past, so there is no need to dwell on the what ifs and the aches. You are here now."

I obey her instructions and eventually soothe myself just a little. That's... at least a bit better. "I think I should stop."

"Of course. Goodness... was that of any help at all?"

"You did good, Azumi. Thanks." I give her a genuine smile to reassure her.

"Oh, good. Alright. I will take my leave then. Farewell and feel better!"

I check my room to make sure everything is where I left it. I appreciate how clean she is; nothing is even remotely out of place.

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

Tozen

I storm into the room, grab the pliers on the table, and yank the nail from my left thumb so that I can do it before my brain fully comprehends what's happening. It doesn't matter, though, cause since I wasn't sitting down, my body's reaction is to collapse. Screams ring out, and I barely register them as my own, but the pain is raw and it sends all of me completely on-edge. A group of Monoinu hover over me, injecting me with something, washing my wound, using antibacterial stuff and wrapping my thumb up with about as much efficiency as I could possibly hope for. But the efficiency does little to nothing, because it's a scientific THING that the skin under the nails is way more receptive to pain and I'm just trying to keep myself DISTRACTED.

Once it dulls, just a little, I drop the nail into the box. "Yuu?"

"Nada."

"Monterio?"

"One with Chimon."

"I'll save that for another time. First, I should make sure that all is well. We don't want any hidden resentments bubbling up. Azumi?"

"Four with Ren, one with Gou."

"Four? Yeesh. Show me one of those, please."

"Are you sure?" he condescends. I can hear the taunting in his voice.

"I won't fall for your mind games. Play one, now."

"If you say so!" He flips through a phone, chooses a recording, and locks the screen. He hands it to me as well as a pair of earbuds. I plug in.

"Reeeeeeennnn. He hugged me today. Almost completely out of nowhere. I was feeling the slightest bit down on my luck, because I was attempting to touch up the paint on my hair sticks and the spray paint can exploded on me. He had no idea, and I thought that I had been hiding it well, but then he just wrapped his arms around me right before lunchtime. And it felt like all of my tension dissolved into the ether."

"Ah... you lucky, lucky girl. Maybe I need to pop a can," I can hear him tease.

"You will stain your clothes terribly," she responds with a hint of laughter in her voice. "My costume is spandex. If you wish for his affection, you will have to come up with your own ideas."

It's by now that I'm starting to realize what's happening. I shake my head no. "I wanna stop. Turn it off."

He pauses it. "Ah-ah-ah! No refunds. You can't very well shove that nail back into your thumb! I tried to warn you," he smiles wickedly.

"Fuck you."

"Do it yourself!"

"That's disgusting, you bastard." I tear the earbuds out and head for the door. But suddenly, iron bars clamp over it.

"You'll stay here until it finishes, Tozen Chiba! You're not so heartless as to reject the very CONCEPT that they have feelings for you, right?"

"I am NOT heartless! Sh-Shut up, NOW!" I scream, but we both know it's more of a plea than a threat.

"Come back and finish, my friend." The words are vile and disgusting, but regardless, I hobble back to the chair, looking at my bandaged finger and hating myself for making that choice. I shut my eyes and scrunch in on myself before letting him pump the noise back into my head.

"Damn, so I need to get more creative. He's so... attentive."

"You are absolutely correct. He is incredibly observant toward our emotions. It's almost startling, but in a pleasant way."

"Do you remember when I had my panic attack?"

"Of course. How could I possibly forget?"

"You two were both my heroes that day. You coached me out and coaxed me into a better state of mind, and he took care of my responsibility and then nurtured me. I distinctly remember thinking that you two were my 'angels that fell from Heaven.' Ugh, are you sure you and I can't just date and solve this whole thing?" he asks. I can't get a good grasp of how much he's joking and how much is sincere.

"No, we cannot. But, gosh, Ren. He's so kind and gentlemanly." Her voice is filled with affection, and it shakes me to my core.

"Patient... warm. Even when I get pissy and snap at him for reasons beyond his control, he has this subtle way of understanding. AND HE'S CUTE!" he exclaims, volume suddenly peaking.

"He is quite attractive indeed." She makes a "hnnnnnngh" sound.

This is torture. I'm going to disintegrate into thin air right this moment. It's my personal end of the world. I notice that I've been clawing at myself slightly, so I force myself to stop.

"Like, his eyes? They say the eyes are the window to the soul, so it's no wonder that his are golden and beautiful."

"And his dimples? Dimples truly enhance any sort of smile. I just wish I could watch him smile forever."

"Right?! Gosh, bless Tozen Chiba."

"Bless him! Bless him so much!"

"Shit, shit, I think someone's coming, shut up."

The audio cuts out, and I shove the phone back to Monokuma, shaking. "Happy now?"

"What will you do?"

"Ignore it until one of them actually confesses to me. I don't have to deal with any of it until then."

"You knew this all along," he insists. It's as though he's trying to gaslight me.

"I didn't. I didn't because I didn't want to."

The bars raise from the door and I march out, trying and probably failing to look unperturbed. "Yoo, what the fuck happened in there? I dunno how long you were in there before I got here, but it sure took a while. You okay?" Kana asks. Why did it have to be the girl in the relationship?

"I'm doing great. In fact, I'm feeling incredibly productive! I'll do everyone's laundry and cook up a storm today," I resolve. "Maybe even some deep cleaning. I know the Monoinu do it, but I'm just in a cleaning mood."

"Uh... kay. Later."

I head down to the Warehouse to get some cleaning supplies. I reach up to snag a box, and find that there's a piece of paper stuck to the bottom of it.

Tozen (if this isn't Tozen, please give it to him),

I'm guessing if there's any place to hide a note for you, it's with this shit. You're such a workaholic that it's kind of funny, but I swear I'm not here to make fun of you. Honestly, dude, you're just such a good guy. You take care of us really well and I don't want you to feel unappreciated. The way you seem to know what everyone needs is incredibly admirable. So thanks for everything you do.

M.M.

Well, thanks, Monterio, but I'm not really a good guy at all. Why did two of my favorite people have to develop feelings for me, of all things? This whole thing is already way too complicated enough without having to involve those.