A Reason to Care

Chapter 2: A Hidden Motive?

Chihime brought her hands to her lap and started twiddling with her fingers. Some of the students had looked shocked upon her appearance, others confused, while a few remained their calm composure. It wouldn't be long before their faces morphed into a similar expression.

The look of suspicion.

"What are you trying to do?" Byakuya asked.

Chihime smiled. Of course. The Ultimate Affluent Progeny is the one who voiced out their thoughts first. As expected of the oh so great heir of the Togami empire.

"Are you.....a spy for Monokuma, perhaps?" Celeste said, continuing the train of distrust towards her.

"Y-you're the one who placed us into this situation, a-aren't you!"

"Showing up like that....that's definitely suspicious!"

"Tell us how to leave this place instantly!" Taka yelled, jabbing his finger at the girl. Chihime slowly blinked at the people throwing accusations at her. She was about to answer when......

"Now, now! Inside voices please!" Monokuma popped out of nowhere, "We don't want to startle the new transfer student!"

"Oh, it's you," Chihime said, "I could explain everything by myself, you know..."

"Did ya miss me? I bet ya miss me!" Monokuma grinned, "As the headmaster, l wouldn't want the new transfer student to be overwhelmed, wouldn't l? In fact, if l weren't here, you would end up in the bottom rung of the social ladder!"

Chihime pointed at the robotic bear. "As you can see, Monokuma is right here. I'm not the one controlling him, nor am I the one who is behind this killing game."

"Yeah! There's no way a pathetic student like you can have the guts to orchestrate this heart-racing killing game!"

"But.....," Toko said, "H-how do we know she's not working with yo-"

"Didn't you hear what l said?!? There's no way l would let such a useless shrimp like her work for me!" Monokuma interrupted angrily, "She doesn't even have a talent like you Ultimates! Truly useless!"

She....doesn't have an Ultimate Talent?

Makoto's thoughts are written all over his face. Chihime can see why Sayaka can read him so easily. Or maybe she's just psychic like her.

"Monokuma, explain the meaning behind this....transfer student," Byakuya sharply commanded.

"Phuhuhu. But it's quite simple!" Monokuma giggled, "This is your prize for giving me such a fantastic murder case yesterday!"

Monokuma's red eye gleamed as he held his paw into a fist. "A new student without a talent, and dare l say, without the ability to walk, would make an excellent murder victim, wouldn't you agree? I wouldn't have to make new motives with her around!"

"So it appears my intuition is correct," Byakuya smirked, "Monokuma had provided us with another motive for this game to begin again."

"Phuhuhu! My motives aren't as weak as this invalid here!" Monokuma spun the said person's wheelchair, causing her to yelp, "Take it as a prize from your beloved headmaster, Monokuma!"

"I'm pretty sure they won't!" Chihime said when she regained her composure, "They are Ultimate students after all! They wouldn't stoop that low!"

"Phuhuhu! Have you forgotten about the first case?" Monokuma said, "Well, expected from a worthless newcomer! It's a good thing I placed you here with these Ultimates, right? Maybe you'll get to climb up the social ladder by half a rung. Not like you would be able to do that with legs like yours, anyways!"

Monokuma disappeared as quickly as he had came.

Chihime let out a sigh. Of course she remembered about the first case. If it weren't for the rules that Monokuma had set, she would have been out of this school by now.

"Well, I suppose I should explain some things first," she turned to the students, "It might not be much, but I hope I can gain your trust!"

"My name is Chihime Tsutsumi, like I said before. It is true that I don't have an Ultimate Talent like you, but I really admire you! The last memory I had is falling asleep at home...on this same wheelchair! After that.....I woke up here, and this strange bear told me that I must join a killing game."

She placed a finger to her cheek, frowning a bit before continuing. "He set up a monitor and forced me to watch the killing game through it. It was so terrible......to think that someone was murdered and I can't do anything to help......But that's alright now! I am here now, and I can make friends with everyone!"

Chihime hated every second of silence that followed with her explanation. It was unoriginal and shallow. The kind of talks that a politician would give before dragging the whole country into endless debt. Still, it was surprising that no one interrupted her. She'll give the class 10 points for that. From what she had seen from the monitor, someone would interrupt whenever a person makes a speech by asking pointless questions or repeating whatever they said.

"...make f-friends with everyone....?" Toko said.

There it is.

"Don't act like you're out of the clear y-yet!" she continued, "I still think y-you're suspicious!"

"Oh? That's fine I guess," Chihime smiled at the dumbfounded student. She tried to wheel herself away from the group. A look around the first floor would be nice, as well as a shower since Monokuma only provided food for her.

Key word, tried.

"Stop right there! Where do you think you are going?" Taka shouted. You know, Taka, that's a very common catchphrase for one of those policemen in mystery dramas. The person being yelled at never stops, though.

"Hmm?" Chihime, however, turns her wheelchair around to face the model student. "I'm planning to explore the first floor! It just opened up for me, you know.."

"How do we know that Monokuma didn't lie to us and was covering you as the traitor?" Kyoko asked.

"She's right! It would be dangerous to leave a suspicious person like you wandering around!" Taka agreed, "In that case, let me follow you to make sure you won't be doing anything strange!"

Chihime stared at the boy blankly. "Well, in that case, l changed my mind!"

"Huh?"

"I....realized that I should show everyone around on the second floor since I was already there," Chihime continued. "And...I didn't want to cause any trouble for you...."

"It's no trouble for me! I was planning to double-check the first floor anyw-" Taka said.

"Oh, then that's great!" Chihime clapsed her hands together, "I suppose l might join you later....for the rest of you, let's explore the second floor together!"

She ignored Taka and scanned her eyes over the crowd of students. Taka is alright, it's just that...she can't deal with a hall monitor screaming non-stop into her eardrums right now. With that, Chihime pointed her finger to a certain student.

"You there! With the funny hair sticking out!" she called out. "Please help me up the stairs! It's harder to climb back up, you know...."

Makoto made a face that very clearly said 'Eh? Why me? ' To that, Chihime gave him an innocent smile, only drumming her fingers on her lap as she waited for his eventual help.

Word Count: 1,182 words