Chapter Text
“Good morning, students! It is now 7am! Nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!”
Mukuro yawned and stretched out her arms. Blinking the sleep away, quickly slid out of bed and stretched her back. It popped with every lean further back. Sighing in relief, she side-eyed the book she had placed on her desk.
(Would it be weird if I brought that book to breakfast? Then again, I’m pretty sure everyone would understand.)
The soldier quickly slid out of bed, bringing the book along with her. In the bathroom, she multi-tasked in between reading and brushing her teeth, overlooking a section going over the Nightshade family. After completing her routine, the soldier made her way back to the Dining Hall with everyone already grouping up. Leon was the first one to notice her arrival. “Yo, what’s up Mukuro?” he greeted with a finger gun.
“Hey, Leon,” she murmured back with her attention still on the book. She walked over to one of the circular tables Chihiro was at and sat next to her.
“T-That’s an interesting book you have there…” the programmer trailed off, pointing at the suspicious cover.
Mukuro looked up from the book and turned it around to see what she was gesturing towards. “Oh, yeah,” the freckled girl acknowledged. “Sorry, I know it doesn’t seem like ideal reading material to bring. But, with the 4th floor opening up, especially with all of those poisons, I need to be ready to identify if someone has symptoms.”
“Huh, that’s…smart,” the shorter girl briefly hummed.
“Oookayyy!! Breakfast is heeeere!!!” yelled a chipper voice from the Kitchen. Shortly after, Junko strutted out with a large tray. There were eight bowls of tamagodon topped with sauce, sliced carrots, and shredded nori. “Made with love from yours truly! A.K.A Me!”
“And me also!” Hina appeared in the back with a large plate of fresh donuts. Mukuro’s eyebrows raised in surprise at her sister’s generous offer. She felt like she didn’t deserve to have her sister. The fashionista began passing around individual bowls to everyone and Hina set the large plate of donuts at the long table for people to get.
Junko skipped her way over to her sister and Chihiro, gleefully setting down two bowls in front of each person. “Here ya two go!” she brightly chirped. Mukuro closed her book and set it down on the table.
“This is very nice of you and Hina to do,” she replied, picking up the bowl and chopsticks. “Did you two get up before the Morning Announcement to do this?”
“Of course we did!” the pink haired fashionista confirmed with a slight bounce in her voice. “We both wanted to do something to soothe everyone’s nerves about how things have been getting more and more complicated with the more we learn about this place. Is it a crime to be nice?”
The older twin gave an amused chuckle and shook her head. “No, it’s not.” Her eyes darted down to the food bowl as her smile faded slightly. “If you needed an extra hand, I could have helped with cooking prep.”
“I could have,” the younger of the two nodded in agreement, “buuuut, I know how much you’ve been repressing stuff ever since coming here. Besides, you’ve been helping make everyone food, so I figured I’d also give it a try!”
On the other side of the table, Chihiro had taken a bite of the rice bowl and gave a noise of approval. “This is really tasty!” she complimented. “The sauce goes really well with the carrot and nori.”
“Toooold yaaaa!” Junko drawled out with a glint of pride in her eyes. Mukuro, on the other hand, looked back down at the tamagodon. While she was glad her sister was able to provide for herself and others, the additional mention of how the soldier was keeping her feelings of doubt made her feel lower. As a soldier, it was her duty to provide for others and ensure the people she was protecting felt safe and cared for. Ever since birth, she had made it her role in life. This feeling only magnified during that summer she spent touring with her mercenary group.
“There’s that look again.”
“Huh?” the soldier’s head quickly shot up to look at her sister. The fashionista’s arms were crossed with a stern look.
“You’re making that face when you overthink things,” she noted, pointing a finger to her face and moving it in a circular motion.
“What face?” Mukuro asked, setting down her bowl.
“Listen, Murky,” Junko began, leaning forwards to rest her elbows on the table. “I appreciate ya for how much you’ve been doing for everyone here. But, please. Let other people here help you relax for once.”
“And, do you remember what happened the day after I started relaxing?” the freckled soldier mentioned.
The other girl straightened up from the table. Her lips pursed together in thought as she held up a hand behind her. “Hina! Nut me!” On cue, a donut was flung into the fashionista’s hand. She leaned back down to her older sister and held out the pastry in front of her. “It won’t be like that. Pretty sure everyone now has enough common sense to not kill anyone else here.”
“Junko, as much as I appreciate your optimis-” her words were cut off by the sweet treat being shoved in her mouth. Junko leaned in closer and began petting her confused sister’s head.
“Shhshshshhhh. Chill out for once.”
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With everyone fed and content, the other students all dispersed to carry out their day. Except for Mukuro. She didn’t really have anything else to do, except for training with Chihiro. Although, that was scheduled for later in the afternoon, so there was still more than enough time to spend. Laying down in her room wasn’t much of an option either. The poison book was already fully memorized and hammered into her brain. Sighing while putting away the last of the dishes, Mukuro closed her eyes and began tapping a finger on the countertop in thought.
(What should I do with the time I have? I can’t just stand around and do nothing. If I exercise now, I’d just be overexerting myself for this afternoon. Y’know what? I’m actually gonna try enjoying myself. I don’t know how, but I will!)
With a new resolve, Mukuro looked up to the ceiling and hollered a self-encouraging cry, “I’ll actually relax this time!!!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Old habits die hard, huh Murky?” Junko quipped while setting aside a folded shirt.
Mukuro mumbled something under her breath as she started pairing up socks. Her “free-time” wasn’t starting off how she expected. Instead of hanging out with friends, she was busy folding up laundry with her sister. “I know, but you have to admit that I’m trying.”
The fashionista nodded slightly in agreement. “Yeah, but this still ain’t it.”
“Aren’t you also folding laundry with me?”
“Yes, but I earned to do this, silly Murky!” The younger twin playfully booped her sister’s nose a few times. “I routinely hang out with Hina and socialize with other peeps! Or, at least try to. Ya know how it is with ‘Blondie’ and ‘Braidie.’”
“Blondie and Bra-” With the speed of a freight train, the people associated with the nicknames clocked in. “Oooh, them.” The soldier turned back to her pile of assorted laundry. Her hands picked up the next article of clothing. The reveal at what it was made her nose wrinkle in uncertainty. They were pure white briefs. Mukuro inspected the band for who its owner could be. Next to the brand name, ‘Military World,’ there was an embroidered name on the inner part. ‘K. Ishimaru.” This sent a stew of mixed emotions at her.
- Uncomfortability from her holding another person’s underwear.
- Poorly timed sadness for her friend turned murderer.
“Ooh! You found another one!” a voice behind her exclaimed. Mukuro jolted in surprise, not realizing her sister was hovering over her shoulder. “Guess that’s another one for the lineup.” She quickly grabbed the underwear out of her hands and walked away.
“What lineup?” the freckled girl asked, looking back to her sister. It all began to make sense when Junko stood at one of the clotheslines. On it was a row of other people’s undergarments. The soldier walked next to her sister as soon as she finished hanging up Taka’s briefs. Her head turned further to the left at the other articles of clothing. “Are those…”
“Yes,” the younger twin confirmed. “The underwear of everyone who’s died! People’s clothing gets surprisingly mixed up here. Long story short, after Sakura’s trial, I began doing laundry to keep my mind off of…you know. I ended up finding Hiro’s underwear in the load I was doing. Then, I got a little idea to just hang them up here! From left to right!”
The older sister glanced over the third pair of underwear in the row from right to left. They were pink and lacy. Based on the information given and order of deaths, she knew exactly who they belonged to. “So that means…this pair was-” She cleared her throat to push down the poorly timed sadness in the situation. Her head quickly darted away from the clothesline.
….”eerrreeer pervert”…
The soldier’s head quickly perked and looked over at her sister. Her sister’s head was darting around in confusion at the sudden mumbling. “The hell was that?” she questioned. Mukuro began looking around with her. Turning her attention to the doorway, a possible noise source was badly hiding behind. Toko’s body wasn’t even covered properly by the wall.
“Fukawa?” the freckled soldier began, “Why are you…”
“Y-Y-You’re a pervert!” she shrieked, head momentarily poking out before retreating back.
Huffing, Junko rolled her eyes and walked over to the other side of the room to a cluster of laundry baskets. “One sec, I’ll get his clothing ready real quick.” Without another word, the fashionista began placing expensive looking clothes in one of the baskets.
Walking up to her sister, the freckled girl asked, “Are those Togami’s clothes?”
“Yep,” Junko confirmed, placing in a pair of socks. “When I said I was going to do the laundry, Fukawa actually came up to me and asked if she could bring his clothes for him,” the fashionista shrugged, tossing a rolled up belt. “I was like, ‘Of course, girlie! I’ll help you however I can!’ Then she called me a floozy.”
“I assume Togami didn’t want to?”
“Yeppers!” the pink haired girl confirmed. “I asked about it, and he just replied that he didn’t want to do a commoner’s job. Like, hey S.O.B! It’s an essential thing everybody has to do!” Exhaling sharply, Junko stepped away from the basket and presented it to Toko. “Here’s everything! Do you need help carrying this thi-”
“I d-don’t need help!” the skittish writer snapped back. “I’ll do it on m-my own!” Mukuro stepped back to allow her to walk over to the basket. Toko leaned down and grasped the basket’s outer rim. As she lifted, her legs and arm started shaking and her face looked strained. She tried to shift a leg back, but her balance caused her to lean further back, causing her legs to instinctively run backwards. With a yelp, the writer’s back fell into the different types of clotheslines, including the underwear one. She collided with the floor, flinging the basket in the air, and scattering Junko’s hard work all over the room. Toko began flailing around madly, only succeeding in tangling herself up in the clothesline even more.
The pink haired fashionista’s face fell into an even deeper frown and she began furiously tapping her foot, while a hand reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. “I’ll go get more lines from the Warehouse,” she mumbled before storming out, stepping over Toko like she wasn’t even there.
Mukuro on the other hand quickly knelt down by the writer’s side, who was now exhausted from thrashing around. A fearful eye darted up at her. “G-Go ahead!” she stammered. “L-Laugh at me for being such a k-klutz! I’m used to it by now!” Rather than doing such a thing, she carefully reached over, making the tangled girl freeze up in fear. Her fingers carefully hooked on the clothesline wrapped around her left shoulder and began loosening it up. “What's t-this?” Toko stammered in surprise. “W-Why are you untying me?”
“Because, no one deserves to have this happen to them,” the soldier explained, moving on to untangle the lines around her torso.
“B-But, I do!” the writer tried to insist. “I d-deserve all of this, l-like how it was bef-fore!”
The soldier momentarily paused and asked, “Before…like before coming here?”
“W-Why do you even care!?” the skittish girl yelled out loud, briefly pulling her body upwards to get closer to her face.
Although unnerved, Mukuro continued to explain, “Well, I’m not really that busy today. Besides, by the looks of it, it still might take me a while to untangle you.”
While she was still defensive, Toko’s face scrunched up and she looked down. “Fine! I’ll t-talk.” With the okay given, the freckled girl continued untangling as she began explaining. “To be fair, I did d-deserve what h-happened. I was b-being a bad kid. A-Always asking for f-food and crying when s-something bothered me.”
“That just sounds like how every child normally acts,” the soldier replied, fully getting one of the clotheslines unraveled.
“M-My p-parents th-thought so! S-So did my c-classmates! It h-had to be true if everyone was saying it, right!?” The way Toko casually talked about her clearly abusive childhood made her pause for a moment. It sounded…too familiar. Huffing, the writer still continued to speak. “I d-didn’t have a l-lot of friends either. M-My moms and dad told me to suck it up and be quiet.”
The last sentence made the soldier lean back and look up at her in surprise. “Moms?” she questioned while tilting her head.
“Y-Yeah,” Toko confirmed, glumly looking back down. “My two m-moms and my dad. It’s just h-how things were. And I d-didn’t need anyone else! I was just fine on my own!”
“Ooookay,” the soldier trailed off, loosening up the string around the writing prodigy’s arms. “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but that doesn’t sound…necessarily right.”
“Of c-course you’d say that!” the writer stammered. “You were p-probably living it up in the upperc-class, p-piggybacking on y-your pigfaced sister’s s-success!”
“Hey!” Mukuro snapped as a warning. Rather than continue yelling, she took a deep breath and corrected, “Actually, not quite.” Toko’s demeanor moved to cautious confusion. “Our childhood wasn’t really that ideal. Before Junko got her big break, we were in and out of the streets for a while, before our parents found stability. Even after that, they still didn’t like each other. I matured too fast for my age back then.”
For a moment, there was a flicker in the writer’s eyes of something uncertain, before quickly getting defensive again. “W-Why are you telling m-me all of this?”
“It’s just a way of me saying…that I get it.” The freckled girl finally unraveled the last bit of clothesline off of Toko. “And, if you need to talk about it more, I’m available if you need to vent occasionally-”
“I don’t n-need to!” the writer already shrieked, scrambling back to her feet. “Y-Your sympathy won’t w-work on me! Y-You won’t lull me into a false s-sense of security just to off me!”
“Fukawa, that isn’t what I’m trying to-”
Toko immediately covered her ears and began babbling, “La la la la! You can’t get me! I w-won’t be tricked into b-being the next one dead!” With her ears still covered, the skittish girl quickly bolted out of the room. Mukuro gave a sigh of defeat, still kneeling on the floor, surrounded by expensive clothes strewed about.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Ding Dong*
After the doorbell rang, the door of one of the dormitories began opening up. “It’s about time you’ve showed-” The person opening it paused his rambling. The Togami heir was staring face to face with Mukuro holding a laundry basket with his clothes. Needless to say, he was not expecting her to be the one at his door.
“You probably weren't expecting me, huh?” the soldier rhetorically assumed.
“Clearly,” Byakuya answered straightforwardly. “And where is Fukawa? She had to have at least been near you if you're doing her orders.”
“Well, she just…” the girl trailed off, not wanting to expose certain details about what happened in the Laundry Room. “...got…tangled up with something.” She hoped that was vague enough of an answer for the affluent progeny.
The blonde student narrowed his eyes slightly. “By the way you said that, it sounds like she tangled herself up in the clotheslines.”
(Dammit. How the hell did he think that?)
“Sounds just like something that left-footed leech would do.” The heir reached over and grabbed the other end of the basket. “I'll be taking these now. Goodbye.”
Before he could step back, Mukuro's grip tightened to prevent him from moving. Byakuya noticed and looked up in mild irritation. “Before you head out, I think a conversation is overdue.”
A low growl rumbled in the heir's throat. “Very well, I might get this over with.” Taking a deep breath he began spieling, “I apologize for how I treated you while you served under me, I apologize for calling your sister a harlot, and I apologize for tampering with a crime scene.”
“That…wasn't what I was about to say,” the soldier corrected. “But, it was still nice to hear you say that.”
This only seemed to tick off the heir even more. “I don't have all day to guess, so just spit it out already,” he demanded.
“Okay,” Mukuro agreed. “First and foremost, you know if you want something done to your liking, you might as well do it yourself.”
“I don't have the time to do such tasks like that,” the snooty heir snapped back, averting his gaze.
“No time…or will?”
Byakuya's head immediately snapped forward. “I'll have you know I can do it whenever I want to.”
“Why didn't you?” Mukuro slyly asked, leaning forwards.
Angrily grumbling with a scowl, the heir quickly yanked the basket away and stepped back into his room. After the door slammed shut, the freckled girl turned away and immediately left. She had already said what needed to be said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“-I thought it was one of the worst days of my life. That was when Komaru came up to me and told me I had been accepted to Hope's Peak. Little did I know, I would end up in an even worse situation.”
Mukuro looked over her shoulder as she set down a roll of fresh gauze on the counter. “That’s…a lot,” she trailed off, still reeling from the absolutely insane story Makoto told her about what happened before he came to Hope’s Peak. They were currently in the Nurse’s Office, while the soldier was busy taking out supplies. Shutting the cabinet, she fully turned around to him. “If I didn’t see some of the crazy shit that’s happened here, I wouldn’t have fully believed that a juice can you dropped somehow managed to stop a robber on a motorcycle.”
The lucky student gave a small shrug. “Well, even stopping him made me pay a price,” he said. “I ended up missing a televised performance involving Sayaka. Just my luck.”
“It’s still really curious that the school even had an annual drawing for that talent,” the freckled girl mentioned, leaning against the counter.
“So did I,” Makoto replied back. “I don’t really understand what my luck even does. By now, the bad outcomes outweigh the good.”
“Who really even knows anymore. I didn’t even know talents like clairvoyance or doujunshi would even be worthy enough to be-”
A distorted chord suddenly echoed through the room. The soldier and luckster tensed up and looked over to one of the beds.
“Oh, sorry about that!” Leon apologized, holding his guitar. His jacket was currently tied around his waist. “Just tuning this up real quick before the check up.”
“You really shouldn’t be doing that,” Mukuro chided while gathering all of the supplies. She sat down on the rolling chair and propelled herself over by pushing off with her feet. The chair slowed to a stop directly in front of him. Setting down the supplies, she outstretched her hand. “Give me it.” Scowling, the athlete still complied and gave the guitar to her. Her body spun around and she began plucking each string. Her finger continued plucking at one of them as her other hand began fiddling with one of the tuning keys. After it was done, the freckled soldier then strummed a quick melody on the guitar before setting it against a plant in the corner.
Turning back around to the others, both Makoto and Leon’s faces showed slight surprise at what she had just done. “Wow, Mukuro…” The false redhead cleared his throat briefly. “I didn’t know you played.”
Shrugging, the soldier rolled back over, “Well, a few people in my military pack knew how to play.” Mukuro opened up a new box of latex gloves. “I just picked up a few tips from them.” She took out a pair and put them on, over her fingerless gloves.
Leon gave an amused huff. “You really gonna do the check up with your normal gloves like that? You know you can take them off if-”
“No.”
“Alright,” the baseball star quickly dismissed. It was best not to get on the bad side of the person currently examining a severe injury.
“Hold out your arm,” the freckled girl instructed. “You know which one.” The injured athlete glanced away and held out his braced arm. The soldier carefully began undoing the velcro straps wrapped around it and slid it off. Underneath, the gauze seemed to be wrapped up very tight and slightly bleeding through. Everyone’s faces scrunched up at it. “Shotty job,” Mukuro commented, taking out a pair of scissors. “Be prepared for uncomfortability.”
The blades of the scissors carefully went underneath the dressings, loosening up almost instantly. Leon let out a strained groan when they fell off. His current wound still looked irritated, but it wasn’t actively leaking. The tightness of it made the ends have red imprint lines in his skin. Next, Mukuro took out a box of disinfectant wipes and brought one out to wipe across it. “So, Mukuro,” Makoto began to create conversation, “how did you even join a military group? I mean, you were probably pretty young if you joined.”
“It wasn’t easy to get in at all,” the soldier explained, setting the wipe down and picking up a roll of cotton wool. “I had to prove to a lot of people there that I was worthy enough to fight. Yes, there were women, but they were primarily caretakers.” She began wrapping the athlete’s arm up in the cotton wool. “I actually slipped out in the middle of the night to do a solo mission. When I came back without a scratch, that’s when they really saw who I was.”
Both of the boys gasped in amazement at the story. “That…definately sounds better than mine,” Makoto noted. “Mine wasn’t even worth sharing.”
“C’mon, don’t say that!” Leon hollered. “Yours was a really good story.”
“What about the outcome of it?” the lucky student noted, glumly lowering his head and sitting down next to him on the bed. “I’m still as unlucky here as I was that day. I-It’s like it magnified here! Maybe if I didn’t end up here….then maybe…Sayaka would still-”
“If you’re suggesting it’s your fault, it isn’t!” Makoto’s head quickly shot back up. The look in the athlete’s eyes showed determination. “It’s not anybody’s fault except for Monokuma. He exploited our weaknesses and insecurities to make the blackends commit the crimes. Not from bad luck. And besides,” his eyes glanced downward to his arm. “I’d consider myself pretty unlucky too after the last few days.” Looking back up, he offered a polite smile. “So, you aren’t alone in this either.”
Makoto let out a single tired exhale, resembling a chuckle. His eyes seemed tired, but relieved, and he looked up with an equally exhausted smile. “Thanks for saying that.”
The baseball star’s back straightened up a bit and his smile got a bit wider. The prolonged eye contact made Mukuro stop wrapping and she just darted her gaze in between the both of them. Yes, they were having a moment. But, it was diverting her attention to treating a wound.
“Ahem.”
On cue, the luckster and athlete both turned their attention to the girl with confused looks. “Yeah?” Leon asked.
Mukuro momentarily opened her mouth. Then, her mind blanked on what she was about to say. What was she even gonna say in the first place? “Nevermind,” the soldier quickly dismissed, returning to wrapping. After the cotton was wrapped, the gauze followed, and then the brace was placed back on. The freckled girl stuck on the last strap, making sure it was loose enough to allow circulation, unlike before. “You should be all set for now.”
The false redhead examined the redressed wrappings and grinned. “Dang, it feels so much better than before,” he complimented. “And, how often does this have to happen?”
“Every few days,” the soldier explained. “With an injury that big, it requires routine changes to avoid moisture build up and infection.”
The athlete began standing up from the bed. “Phew! As long as the redressing isn't as tight as before.” He then began untying his jacket from his waist. “I’m gonna head to the Kitchen for a snack. Do either of you wanna join?’
“I’m gonna have to pass,” The dark haired girl replied. “I need to prepare for afternoon training with Chihiro.”
“I could join!” Makoto offered. The luckster walked over to the guitar next to the potted plant. “I can also take your guitar back to your ro-” When he reached down to pick up the instrument, he realized that the guitar strap had gotten pinned underneath the plant’s pot. Furrowing his brow, he reached for the strap and began tugging on it.
The freckled soldier could sense his struggle and began walking up to him. “If you’d like, I can help you-” At that moment, the strap became unlodged from the pot and snapped forward with the guitar. The string instrument flung backwards and collided directly with the lucky student’s face. The force knocked the poor boy down onto the linoleum floor and he was left moaning in pain while clutching his face. Both Mukuro and Leon cringed in sympathy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“With how accident prone you are, I’m surprised that you haven’t sustained any lasting injuries,” Mukuro said, placing a bandage across the luckster’s nose. The area where the guitar hit left six red string lines across his face. Miraculously, the only other injury was a small cut across the bridge of his nose.
The luckster gave a sheepish shrug. “Well, I did say that the bad luck outweighs the good,” he reminisced. Standing back up, he turned around to the baseball star. “I’m ready to go now.”
“Great!” the athlete piped up, now carrying his guitar, and wearing his jacket. Leon turned around to leave and Makoto rushed up to walk up next to him. “How’s that nose feeling?”
“It’s still a bit sore, but it should be better by tomorrow.”
“Maybe kissing it will make it feel better?”
“Uuuuwhaat!?”
The athlete let out a massive cackle and placed a hand on the luckster’s shoulder. “I’m just messing with ya, man!” The shorter boy began sheepishly laughing along with him as they disappeared through the doorway.
…
(Whatever the fuck’s going on between those two needs to be resolved.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A loud whistle echoed in the Pool Room.
“Other way now! Last one!”
Mukuro walked along the side of the pool wearing a one piece swimsuit. Chihiro was doing a butterfly stroke across the water. She was also wearing a suit with swim trunks over them. In between surfacing, there were a few coughs from water accidentally going into her mouth. At last, the programmer made it to the other end of the pool and clung onto the side. The soldier blew the whistle around her neck once again. “That was a good run, Chihiro,” the freckled girl complimented.
After finishing their coughing fit, the petite girl looked up at her with a grateful expression. “T-Thanks!” she chirped, finishing it with another cough. “My arms are f-feeling really tired right now.”
Nodding, the soldier then said, “That’s just something your body will get used to. After working out a while, it won’t be as sore anymore.”
Behind her, the door to the Girl’s Locker Room swung open. Hina strutted out, wearing a similar suit as the other girls and holding a towel. “And that’s thirty minutes!” she piped up. “That means I can go swimming again!” The dark skinned swimmer set down her towel over by the bleachers and glanced over to the others. “How’s it going, gals?”
“It’s been going great!” Chihiro replied, still a bit winded. “Other than my arms feeling like they’re about to fall off, I feel good.”
Hina crouched down at the edge of the pool. “I'm guessing ‘butterfly stroke?’” The swimmer gave a small giggle. “Yeah, that'll unexpectedly get you.” She glanced up at the soldier. “Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all,” Mukuro insisted. “It'll be nice to have a swimming expert help coach.”
“Great! I just need to do one thing real quick.” The swimmer began walking all the way to the other end of the pool.
“Hey, can I ask something?” The freckled girl looked down at the petite girl. “I was meaning to ask something to Junko, but can you relay the message?”
“Of course, Chihiro,” the soldier gladly offered.
The programmer looked down at the pool's edge. “W-Well…I wanted to ask if…” her head slowly looked back up with a nervous blush, “if…she could make me some…more…padded bras?”
Mukuro's eyebrows slightly raised up. “Sure…I can definitely do that.”
Chihiro let out a massive sigh of relief. “Thank you! I've…noticed how I don’t really have any proper coverings, other than some tank tops. Junko actually lent me one she just happened to have.”
“That's my sister for you,” the soldier quipped, sitting down on the edge of the pool with her feet in the water. “She's an endless clothes maker. She cranks out three new outfits designs daily on top of other chores. Five if she has caffeine.”
“Wow! And she still makes time to hang out with others?”
The freckled girl gave a content chuckle. “Yep. I'm really proud of her.”
“LADIES! YOUR ATTENTION PLEEEEEASE!!”
Chihiro and Mukuro's head quickly turned around to the end of the pool. Hina was at the top of the diving board waving to them. “Prepare to bear witness to the Ultimate Swimmer's perfect dive!” The swimmer took a few more steps closer to the edge of the diving board. Bracing herself, the dark skinned swimmer took a large bound and quickly rolled into a reverse dive. She did about five rolls in the air before outstretching her body into a perfect dive that caused little to no splashing. Through the water, the swimmer torpedoed herself a little more than halfway and then surfaced, swimming over to the other side in a backstroke.
The soldier and programmer were amazed by such a splash and instinctively began clapping. Hina swam over and smiled warmly at the nonverbal praise. “Thank you, girls!” she giggled. “I told you you'd bear witness to the perfect dive.”
“I could never do something as cool as that,” Chihiro piped up, resting her elbows against the ledge.
Hina blushed and shyly looked away. “Well, swimming is just my favorite out of all the sports I've played.”
“Other sports?” Both girls simultaneously asked, with Mukuro continuing to speak, “What other sports have you played?”
The dark skinned swimmer pulled herself out of the water, sitting on the edge of the pool. “Just a few here and there. Volleyball, basketball, track and field. But, swimming has always been my favorite! The feeling of the refreshing coolness on your body, while gliding through the water. It’s the closest you can get to flying. Then, there’s the absolute thrill of diving into it!”
“I don’t think I’m able to do that,” The petite girl shyly admitted, looking at the intimidating height of the diving board.
“I actually thought so too at first,” Hina admitted. “At first, you don’t expect the height. Once you’re on the board itself, it finally clicks how far up you are, and now long it is to the ground. Your heart pounds in your chest as the adrenaline kicks in. Then…clairity. You remember your purpose. Why you’re there. Taking a deep breath, your body coils up, it springs, and you leap. There’s no fear, because you know the water will catch you. And…you fly a second time.”
After her speech, she glanced over to both of the girls. Both of their eyes shone in fascination at the description. Mukuro began to say, “That was…”
“Too much?” The swimmer quickly questioned nervously.
The soldier slowly shook her head. “It wasn’t. It was very profound, Hina.”
“Profound?” the swimmer piped up. Her cheeks began to darken with red and she bashfully turned away with a hand covering her face. “I…d-didn’t really think so. I was just rambling.”
“Well, it was a pretty good ramble.”
Hina let out a chuckle through her hand and lowered it. “If you think so, then maybe I should do it more often!” she playfully grinned back.
Then, there was a brief cough and both of the girls looked down to Chihiro still clinging on the edge. “Are…we gonna continue training? M-My fingers are getting a bit pruney.”
“Eehehe, sorry ‘bout that,” Mukuro apologized, momentarily coughing in her hand. “Let’s move onto the last part of today’s training. I wanna see how well your legs move in the water, so we’ll practice kicking.”
“Okay!” both the programmer and swimmer agreed. Hina leapt back in the water and got into a similar position as Chihiro.
Standing back out of the water, Mukuro held the whistle to her mouth and blew into it. Immediately, the petite programmer began furiously kicking. Her legs were making tiny splashes in the water, but just barely. Next to her, however, Hina was kicking with enough force that it was practically like a jetski going at full speed and it essentially created a wall of propelled water. Mukuro and Chihiro both looked at the massive splashes and glanced over at each other. By now, the programmer had stopped kicking. Looking back, the soldier announced, “This concludes today’s session.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now with her body clean of chlorinated water after a shower, Mukuro used a hand towel to dry her hair before letting it hang around her neck. Stepping out of her bathroom, her eyes glanced over to the clock mounted on the wall.
(It’s still early for dinner. I might as well go prepare. It might take a while to make everything.)
Tossing the small towel on her bed, the soldier marched out of her room to the Cafeteria. Since Junko made everyone breakfast, it was her turn to make dinner. Stepping into the Kitchen’s doorway, her footsteps stopped at a foreign sight. Byakuya was there. He seemed to be intensely staring at something. With her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, her foot lifted and stomped down to announce her arrival. The heir quickly turned his gaze away in surprise. “Oh. It’s just you,” he remarked with his composure reinstated. With his body turned away, the freckled girl could see the item he was staring at on the counter. It was a bag of tea leaves.
“Are you….making yourself tea?” Mukuro slowly asked, a bit surprised that he actually took her words into consideration.
Turning around more, the progeny crossed his arms and said, “I will give you credit. You did make a fair point about only me knowing what I like. So, I’ve decided to make an effort to do so.”
“‘Togami’ and ‘effort’ in the same context?” the soldier rhetorically asked herself. “That’s a first.”
“Don’t flatter yourself over this,” the heir sneered. “I’m still getting used to having to do this.”
“You don’t even have a kettle out yet,” Mukuro noted. “Do you even know where it is?”
“I’ll figure it out!” he quickly defended, looking back at the tea bag with intensity.
Sighing, the soldier walked over to a cupboard next to the heir and opened it up. “I’ll help get you started,” she offered. The cupboard she opened was filled with miscellaneous cooking equipment, excluding standard pots and pans. Her hand grabbed the handle of a kettle and set it up on the counter. It reached back down and took out a teapot, along with other cups. When the last one was set on the table, the cabinet door was shut and Mukuro stood back up.
…
…
“Well?” the heir questioned. “Aren’t you going to assist me in getting started?”
“This is how it starts,” the soldier shot back. “I provided you with the equipment you need. Now, it’s time for you to start doing it.”
“You cannot be serious,” Byakuya grimaced. “How am I supposed to do this by myself?”
“Well, you’re the tea expert,” the freckled soldier shrugged off. “The next part is all on you.” Mukuro rested a hand on the counter and placed a hand on her hip. “It’s already established that your wealth status means nothing here. You might as well start to learn how to swim, or else you’ll drown. Or, do you want to admit that you can’t do anything by yourself and you’re as defenseless as a newborn deer?”
The Togami heir’s head lifted in surprise by that bold statement. The expression in his eyes was a bubbling brew of offendedness. “The balls you have.”
Mukuro’s head lifted up slightly with a smug smirk. “Between the both of us, I’m the only one who has them.” Without another word spoken, the girl promptly strode over to the produce to prepare dinner, and it continued to remain quiet as she cooked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mukuro carefully placed the pot of curry on the center table. Other dishes were laid out on the table, namely grilled meats, cucumber salad, and a giant bowl of fluffy white rice. There were eight plates and bowls laid out on the table with neatly organized chopsticks lined up. The soldier took a step back to admire the display she created for everyone. Behind her, the door creaked open. Her head glanced back to Makoto poking his head through, now with a face lacking red lines. “Is that curry I smell?”
The freckled girl gave a polite smile and stepped to the side. “Why yes it is,” she revealed, raising her hand to present it.
The Cafeteria door swung open more and Hina lifted her head to take a big sniff. “Mmmm it smells so yummy in here!” she praised. The swimmer fully walked in, followed by Makoto with Leon walking in after. Chihiro, Junko, and Toko stepped in last.
“Wow, this looks freakin’ fantastic!” the pigtailed fashionista perked up with a slight bounce.
“It…d-does smell good,” the skittish writer admitted.
Mukuro’s smile seemed to widen a bit. “In that case, help yourselves! Before it gets too cold!”
The other students’ faces lit up and they all began crowding around the table to get their meals. “Damn, that plate’s like 70% curry!” the baseball star noted while looking at the luckster’s plate.
The freckled boy gave a shy chuckle. “I just really like curry,” he dismissed. Everyone found their own places at the table and began digging in. Makoto gave a pleased hum when he took his first bite of curry. “Mmmm so good!”
“Yeah! It’s really nice and flavorful,” Chihiro agreed with the lucky student.
“T-The rice is warm and s-soft,” Toko quivered with a plain bowl of the cooked grains. “I’m g-glad it’s not poisoned.”
Hina took a bite of the cucumber salad and smiled. “The cucumber is so crisp and refreshing!” Swallowing, she continued, “And, the dressing is so delicious.”
Mukuro’s heart swelled with joy and she beamed, “I’m glad it’s to your liking.” Next to her, there was a small tearing sound. The soldier looked next to her to see that her sister had torn a big chunk of pork off of her fork.
The rest of the meat was swiftly devoured and Junko reached for a napkin to wipe off the sauce on her face. “The meat is so flavorful!” she complimented. “Good melty fat, sweet and spicy glaze. You really outdid yourself, Murky!”
“I was just thinking about everyone’s best interest,” the soldier replied.
“You thought really well if you ask me!” Leon cheered back, picking up another helping of grilled pork belly. The comment earned a few chuckles from the other people at the table. Suddenly, there was a new set of footsteps. Mukuro and the others looked in the doorway of the Kitchen to see Byakuya step through. He had a tray with a tea pot and cups. His hair seemed to be a bit frazzled and glasses were askew and slightly foggy.
Mukuro gave a smirk and leaned back in her chair. “So, how was it actually doing something yourself?” she slyly remarked. The heir scrunched up his face at the comment and walked over to the very end of the long table. He grabbed a seat and set the tray down. To the surprise of everyone at the table, minus the soldier, he began pouring his own cup of tea. The pot was set down and the Togami heir took a deep sip. “Is that tea good?” the soldier questioned.
The affluent progeny gave a hardened glance up at the soldier. Despite this, he answered, “Yes. It is better than the disgusting toilet water I’ve had here.” Now with confirmation, the soldier went back to eating her meal.
Junko stared at her sister in surprise. “How…what did-”
Mukuro swallowed her bite and looked up at her sister. “I just gave him a little insight on what I thought about certain things.”
The fashionista gave a hum of intrigue. “Well, you gotta tell me later,” she winked. Mukuro nodded at her sister. Her eyes began scanning across the table at all of the content expressions of everyone. For once, a moment of peace cascaded on the group. No fights, no ill intentions, just eight students co-existing in a standard school li-
*Ding Dong! Bing Bong!*
The moment was quickly annihilated by the sound of the chime’s ringing. All conversation and movement halted. Mukuro felt a sense of dread coursing through her and her curry spoon slowly lowered. “Shiiiit,” Junko whispered next to her. The announcement system sprung to life and Monokuma’s voice cut through the silence.
“Good evening, my dear students! This is an important announcement from your dear headmaster! Once you are all done with your dinner, please report to the Gymnasium for a special presentation by yours truly!”
When the speaker shut off, the quietness returned. Everyone was starting to look ill by the time and stared down at their plates. “I’m…not hungry anymore,” Chihiro spoke up, setting down her utensil.
Leon sighed and pushed his plate away. “Yeah, me neither. I don’t think I wanna eat anything else for the rest of the night.”
Everyone began raising their voices in agreement. The soldier felt a bit of sadness that her work was going to waste and how quickly the moment of peace had left. Her eyes shut and a large exhale emerged from her nostrils. “It’s okay, everyone. I'll put everything away now while you go to the Gym.” Opening her eyes, the freckled girl stood up and reached for the half-eaten plate of cucumber salad. Her arm was intercepted by a hand with long, red nails grabbing onto her wrist.
Mukuro opened her mouth slightly in confusion and glanced over to Junko’s concerned face. “You don’t have to do this, Murky,” she gently said. “You spent so much effort on doing all of this for us. We’ll all handle this from here!”
“Yeah, we will!” Hina cheered, standing up from her chair.
“Absolutely!” the false redhead agreed, pumping his non-injured fist up in the air. “You did a lot for us today, so we should repay you!”
Chihiro and Makoto both raised their voices in agreement at the previous statements. Mukuro felt a slight warmth emerging in her chest. It wasn’t as big as before, but it felt like it was attempting to reignite itself. “Thank you, everyone.”
The pink haired fashionista began petting her sister’s head. “You go ahead and pull up a chair from another table and let us put away all of the food.” The soldier stood up and gave a nod to her sister. Mukuro walked to a round table closest to the long table and turned one of the chairs around to sit in. The soldier watched everyone working together to put away all of the food, making banter in between. Toko placed plastic wrap over the rice, Makoto was sneaking a few last minute bites of curry with Leon playfully calling him out, and Byakuya was even putting things away. Albeit it was only the tea he brought out, but it was something. In spite of the previous announcement, people managed to find comfort and contentness.
Why couldn’t the harmony last?