A Reason to Care

Chapter 4: Pricks

Chihime kept mental notes on the meeting at the dining hall: Hifumi and Aoi shared their findings on the second floor. Mr. Hall Monitor had discovered the warehouse and bathhouse on the first floor had been opened. Unfortunately, there were no signs of any escape.

"Who gives a shit if we have a goddamn pool now!? Or a warehouse, or whatever the fuck!" Mondo yelled, causing Chihime, who was sitting next to him, to flinch.

"We're still trapped in this piece of shit school! We need to find a goddamn way OUT!"

"Now, now. There is no point in taking your anger out on us. Adaptation is the key, yes? For now, we must each find a way to enjoy our current situation," Celeste took the chance to promote her adaptation propaganda again, but it took several good points brought out by others for Mondo to calm down.

This led them to discuss the next problem. Which is, of course, Chihime sighed, Me.

"So, what should we do with this nuisance here?" She was unsure whether she should be grateful or insulted by Byakuya's obvious distaste of her. On one hand, she didn't have to deal with forced formalities but on the other hand, well, what person would enjoy having people against them?

"It is apparent that she's quite dubious," Celeste's agreement only added to the negative views of her existence.

"But, she hasn't done anything bad so far!" Aoi said in her defense, "Chihime was very nice, and even though she made Chihiro cry, she apologized and comforted her!" She turned to Chihiro, who nodded bashfully.

I really appreciate all this, but can you not act like I'm not here in front of you? Chihime smiled awkwardly at the argument taking place.

"That's enough now," Kyoko said, "Though she does appear suspicious, Chihime has not done anything that might harm us yet." The detective stared at her, causing the girl to squirm in her wheelchair. "I suggest that we keep a close eye on her in the meantime."

After the group agreed to look out and report to the group if Chihime did anything worth investigating, they decided to disperse for the night. Chihime rubbed her ears, frowning slightly. She never dealt well with loud noises, and Mondo's shouting was no exception.

She approached a sheepish Taka, having been berated by Mondo a few moments ago. "Hey, Taka right? Can you show me around the first floor tomorrow? You suggested that when we first met..."

The boy instantly reverted to his normal self. "Of course! I can help you and make sure you don't get into any suspicious activity at the same time! Let me show you where the dorm rooms now!"

"Sure, just save the rest of the tour for later..." Chihime grimaced as they headed towards the dorm rooms, "And do keep your voice down. I don't do well with people shouting."

Once there, they found Monokuma hurriedly nailing a nameplate on one of the room's doors. "Hey, HEY! I finished setting up the room for the transfer student." the bear gestured to the door next to it, "You'll be staying here for now, bee girl!"

Chihime wheeled herself towards the door. On it was a nameplate with her name and a pixel image of her. She took note of her neighbors, Makoto and Toko.

"....Isn't this Sayaka's dorm room?"

"Phuhuhu! You got that right! Tell me if she decided to haunt you for sleeping there!"

"Hey! This isn't how you should treat the deceased!" Taka shoved himself in front of the robotic menace.

"Well, this school is running low on suitable dorm rooms, and no one wants to share their rooms with a lowly freshman," he shrugged, unfazed.

"You-!"

"Taka, that's enough. Monokuma just wants to provoke you," Chihime held up her hand, "There's nowhere else to rest in, and I haven't slept in a proper bed in days, so I don't have any issues with it."

She hurriedly rushed into the room before he objected any further. As she closed the door, Chihime let out a lengthy breath, the stress of today's events wearing her out. She wasn't used to dealing with so many people at once, since she has been closeted at home most of her life.

Her eyes fell on the notepad lying on the table next to the bed. She picked it up, along with the pen beside it. Her mind began whirling with what she planned to put into it: maps of the school floors, student profiles, certain clues regarding the killing game..., and she began jotting them down.

Chihime had never been the best at taking notes, and staring at the incomplete pages of handwriting, she couldn't help but notice how chaotic they are. Ideas that have no relation whatsoever jumped from one place to the next without any order. Still, it was better than having her thoughts all jumbled up in her mind, wasn't it?

___

With the ringing of her doorbell blazing through the room, Chihime groaned as she dragged her wheelchair to the door. She found it hard to discern what the visitor, who was being way too noisy for this early in the morning, wanted from her.

"Be there in a minute," she mumbled before shutting the door at them, probably still yelling mid-sentence. Please. I can't handle with whatever shenanigans you're pulling right now. She propped one of the bed's pillows behind her back and returned to her sleep, too tired to climb back onto her bed.

Chihime did get up and wheeled herself to the dining hall eventually. The hallways were eerily silent, everyone probably in the cafeteria to enjoy breakfast. If anyone were to attack her now, they would only have to push her wheelchair to the ground and strike an effective blow to her head before she could alert someone, thus silencing her permanently-

"Chihime?" Her eyes met bright blue as she locked stares with Aoi, who was leaning in quite close to where she's positioned, "Earth to Chihime! Are you here with me now?"

"Oh! I didn't see you there, Aoi," She threw a gaze to a corner of the halls, a little flustered by the proximity, "Are you heading to the cafeteria too?"

Thankfully, the swimmer backed away a little at Chihime's response, preventing any embarrassment could actually be made evident by her expression. "Nah, l already went there! We're all trying to find Byakuya since he didn't show up just then. Except for Celeste and Hifumi, that is. You didn't happen to see him, did you?"

"Nope, no sign at all! Why are Celeste and Hifumi excluded?"

"Celeste said she wasn't in the mood to do anything without her morning tea. Hifumi tried to make some just now, but he did it all wrong apparently," Aoi crossed her arms, her eyes glancing to the side as she recalled what happened. "Celeste went super mad after that. She even threw her cup to the wall!"

"I guess the saying that people are not themselves without their morning coffee...or tea in this case, is somehow true," Recollecting herself, Chihime was able to face Aoi again. "Let's no waste any time in finding Byakuya then. Where did you search?"

"I checked the pool of course! But unless he's all holed up in the boys' locker room, he was definitely not planning for a morning swim. I came back here to see if he's in the cafeteria now."

Hmm...of course Aoi would visit the pool first. She was most likely thinking about where she would be instead of where Byakuya would be. As insufferable as he is, Chihime tried to put herself in his shoes for a second, which shouldn't be hard since she doesn't wear any.

If she remembered correctly, Byakuya had always remained a distance away from the group, and though he's quick to give a retort on how much better he is compared to the rest of them, he felt it unnecessary to interact as it would be a waste of time in his eyes.

In simpler words, Byakuya preferred to be left alone.

So what destination would serve his needs? A place where he can have a peace of mind without anyone barging in and disturbing the tranquility of his time?

"Let's take a look in the library, Aoi."

___

Word Count: 1,388 words

Yes, I am aware that this is a filler chapter. I haven't written anything in a long time, so progress will be much slower. Hopefully, I can get the next chapter out before the end of the month.

Edit: REWRITTEN!