Ikusaba Quest [Danganronpa/SMAC] - an Exodus story

For continuity reasons, the mission initiation has been moved here, with the bulk of the rest of the mission, instead of several chapters back.
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"Sorry. I was just taking a look around..." You mutter, shrinking slightly.

"Ooh." Makoto says teasingly. "First time in a guys room?"

"No."

The succinct answer leaves little extra room for conversation, and you keep glancing around the room, eventuallly managing to start the conversation again.

"Is the woman in the picture frame family?" You ask.

Makoto glances at the picture, and his face visibly softens. "Yeah. That's my mom."

"Your mom?" You blink in surprise.

"Yeah. Well, adopted. I think I've been adopted like, three times by now." Makoto rubs the back of his head. "She died about a year ago, in the-... In a fire. That photo's most of everything I have left of her."

You bow your head. "Sorry." You say shortly.

"It's not your fault. I... In any case, I'm not still in mourning over it."

"What was her name?" You ask.

"...Miriam."

Miriam Naegi. It's a bit of an odd name to say, but you're used to foreign tongues. "So it's her necklace?"

"Technically, it's more like a rosary." Makoto says.

"But it was hers?"

Makoto shoots you a stink eye. "It's not unique, if that's what your asking. It's factory made."

You scowl, hurt. "That's not what I was asking. I'm not going to steal it."

"Sorry. Can we talk about something else?"

You shake your head. "...I'm sorry."

The conversation dies there, and you spend a few minutes glancing back and forth uselessly, fiddling with one of the small bits and bobs on the countertop. It's only after the silence has grown very oppressive indeed that Makoto speaks up.

"Hey, Mukuro." He says, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"What?" You flinch at yourself, hoping he doesn't take it as harsh rebuffment.

Makoto is quiet for a second, and then swallows. "You... Look cute today."

"H-huh?"

"I dunno if it's a haircut, or something, but you look good. Just... Thought I might want to bring that up. In case you didn't know." Sure to Junko's word, every ounce of body language you know says Makoto is calm as a cucumber. And yet, when he spoke just now, you swear he sounded nervous.

"...Even though I've got... Blemishes, and-"

"I think your freckles are cute." Makoto says quickly, and then blinks, just once. "I mean, whatever. If you're good to walk, you should go."

"U-uh, yeah."

(-10% JUNKO DEPENDENCY, -10% DESPAIR)

You have a mission to prepare for anyway.




MISSION BEGIN
TIMELOG (2134 JAPAN STANDARD TIME)

"Hey, man. Pass me a light."

"You didn't bring your own?" His companion complains, passing the lighter and bringing the stinking cigarette to his lips.

"Didn't realize the kid would be out this late." Replies the suited man, passing the flame over his own cancer stick.

"Malish." The duskier one replies in Egyptian Arabic. "The pay's too good to pass up either way."

"True that. Although Gertrud's vaping might be... Hey, Gertrud, where'd you go?"

"Over the rainbow." You reply from behind, and then kick the leg out from underneath the Egyptian.

The other, true to Togami quality, immediately snaps to his radio, but before he can do more than press the button, you grab his head and slam it into the side of a dumpster. Mukuro Ikusaba doesn't do half measures, and the man is stunned into releasing his radio. the Egyptian forgoing struggling to his feet in favor of leveling his gun towards you. You don't give the weapon a chance to bark, kicking it down inhumanly fast, actually slightly warping the stainless steel barrel when you drive it into the concrete. That accomplished, your foot lances out and connects with the Egyptian's face, knocking him back into a bag of sand which bursts open and pours all over him.

The other man is no longer stunned, and once again goes for his radio. Your knife is out in an instant, lashing first to cut the wire between the receiver on his chest and the actual radio, and then bringing the handle back around in an elegant swipe that drives the pommel into his temple.

With three of your six targets now out cold, you take the time to sabotage the two losers' radios properly, using your knife to pop open the back and crush the internals of both radios. The men, when they awake in a couple of minutes, will have to find phones to contact their fellows. If, you muse as you pull their expensive cell phones from their pockets and crush them beneath your heel, they even remember their friends' phone numbers. Hashtag millennial problems.

The defeated's communications successfully cut, you peek out from the alleyway. Togami is inside a vehicle sale place, some "Tesla" business, conversing snootily with the store manager. Perhaps it's a subsidiary?

It doesn't matter. What does matter is that the store manager has joined the remaining fragments of Togami's bodyguard unit in their designation of "obstacle". His own problem, you suppose.

Your problem right now is how to go about this. There's a few options, all of which, you think privately, ought to be rather fun, and none of which offer much risk. But then, for you, nothing ever does...



In that case, efficiency. You'll enter through the door, stungun everybody, and drag Togami out and into the car playing absurdly loud music outside. Simple.

The glass doors to the dealership shatter beneath your boot as you kick through, swiping your foot through the shattered glass to clear a hole to step and shoot through at the same time, ignoring the sharp fragments as they cannot pierce your thick boot. Two tasers, dual wielded, pop, and two Togami Corp losers drop to the floor, stunned by shocking electricity. You drop the tasers like a renaissance knight dropping pistols, whipping out two more.

But you don't fire quite yet. Your eyes whip back and forth, analyzing and interpreting the combat situation in an instant. A hyperspecialized variant of your own sister's general Analysis, you know exactly where and when to step to force both Togami agents to miss with their semiautomatic pistols. Like an action movie, you sidestep both bullets, quickly but without hurry. The emotionally stunned Togami agents are quickly physically stunned, sharp barbs punching through their suits and into the vulnerable flesh beneath, where they're made indefinitely into living circuit breakers.

Togami himself steps back, but has nowhere to run and less time to do it. He still makes an admirable attempt, for a corporate toady, managing to reach the back of the car dealership while you spend a quarter second knocking out the owner. You advance slowly as Togami curses; the door is locked.

Less than a second passes, and you're there. Togami's arm snaps out in a strong, quick jab, but you dodge. Instead, two quick jabs of your own are planted in his stomach, and then a haymaker crashes into his temple. Togami falls, but to his credit is awake before he hits the ground, and rolls out of the way when you move to scoop him up. It's no matter. Your knee catches the thin boy in the chin, and while Togami tries to tank it, it's only a distraction from your other knee arcing around. This kick is stronger than your haymaker, something more like a roundhouse than a normal kick, and Togami is finally out cold.

You hoist him up, and head outside. the car doors fly open, causing the driver to start and turn to find your gun pointed directly into his eyeball.

You finish strapping yourself and Togami into the seat, the boys head lolling, before you give the driver a simple, quiet order.

"Drive. 53rd Mission Street."






"Jesus Christ, you killed him!" Crows Junko as you drag the unconscious Togami through the door, along with the corpse of the driver.

"He was a liability." You explain, motioning to the driver. "I'll handle the wetwork."

"Not that loser, Togami!" Junko snaps, grabbing the heir with both hands and dragging him through the empty warehouse to a chair, which has been nailed to the floor and fitted with restraints. A television has been placed in front of the chair, equipped with an ancient VHS player. "You're so bad!"

"He's not dead..." You say, not really feeling it. You glance around for any bleach or other material.

"It's in the back, murderer." Junko says, grinning maniacally. She kneels in front of Togami and begins strapping him into the chair. "Make it quick, I want you to see this!"

Sure enough, there's a few large bins of what seems to be hyperchlorinated water in the back of the warehouse, alongside some garbage bags. You force the corpse into a garbage bag, divesting it of it's personal effects and smashing the electronics, before opening one of the bins and filling the bag with the foul-smelling liquid. Thinking for a moment, you then dump the whole bag into one of the bins. It's whatever, right?

When you emerge, rubbing one of your hands where the caustic fluid burnt you slightly, Junko is slipping into a jumpsuit. As she zips it up past her perfect bust, you glance at your own clothing, feeling lacking in a simple black turtleneck, ski mask, and a few layers of thick black pants. You're even wearing your old Fenris boots.

"Quit moping and get over here!" Junko demands, somehow making even the pure black jumpsuit look flattering and fashionable as she pulls on a black bike helmet. A strange, modified voice issues from it, before you realize that at some point she must have fit it with a modulator. "We're about to wake him up!"

Junko produces a big bucket, and you can feel her smile through the emotionless black visage of her bike helmet. The red tape eye on one side, spiny and inhuman but still certainly an eye, doesn't help make it more comfortable... You push back the regret, and join her.







Togami

You come to with a jerk, literal ice water flooding your senses with biting, icy cold. You sputter by instinct, struggling to take breaths through the shock.

Your vision is still swimming from the fight. To beat a Togami heir in personal combat wasn't unheard of - you were a business man, after all, not a fighter, that was what hired guns were for - but it was exceptional. Whoever wanted you kidnapped clearly had a budget. As expected of an enemy of Togami Corporation.

And yet, as your vision clears, you're given no sign or idea of who has you. The warehouse, for it is a warehouse, is barren steel and concrete, save for your small interrogation area, complete with a television. There's the faint stench of chlorine in the air, but it tells you nothing. Everyone has access to chlorine.

Your only clue is the red, shaped tape on the helmet that hides the face of one of your new "friends". The other, the one that captured you, waits at the corner of your vision, slowly being obscured by your blackening eye.

"I think he's awake!" Chirps the red-eyed one, in a clearly artificial and cheerful tone, like a childish robot. "Told you the second time would work."

That would explain why your clothing was already soaked through.

The other simply nods.

"Good morning, Mister Togami!" The first says, as if meeting you for tea. "My name is Grue!"

"Fuck you." You mutter, already tired of the cheery facade.

"Well golly gee, Mister, that was rude!" Grue says, pulling away from your dripping wet face. "Fortunately, we have ways of making sure you stay polite during the viewing."

Lightning rips through you, searing pain in every limb. The ice water had salt added to it. Initially, you had thought it was only to make it colder. But now you realize that Grue had planned this from the beginning. Your vision starts to fade, but then a second, weaker jolt reawakens you.

You cough.

"See, nice and polite!" Grue says cheerfully. "Imp, wouldja get that VCR running?"

The other, Imp, kneels silently to fiddle with the VCR.

"what do you want from me?!" You growl, looking Grue in the grotesque eye.

"From you? Nothing much. Just an audience."

"What?" You don't understand. Do they mean to force you to watch something grotesque?

"I'm a director!" Grue chirps, irritatingly chipper despite the smell of chlorine, blood on the concrete from where a corpse was dragged, and the dismally bleak surroundings. "See, I've got a real neato new cartoon I want to show you, that I think you will enjoy very, very much..."

Cartoon?! These two were obviously mad. Still, perhaps there was something to be gained by letting them think they won.

"Fine." You snap. "So long as you let me go afterwards."

"Oh, sure, sure. We'll let you go~." Grue chirps, as the VCR spins up and an image appears on screen. You don't miss either of the two turning away from the screen, but you can't think of why that woul-

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What happened yesterday? You don't recall. You woke up this morning in bed, with a painful ringing in your ears, and a deep seated disgust at nothing that you couldn't explain. Disgust. Dismay. Hatred. Somehow, these emotions have stained your heart, ever so slightly.

You've slapped Fukawa. You don't know why... Just the hate. An old friend from yesterday...




Mukuro

(+25% Despair)

That is how your weekend went. Junko told you she was planning on moving forward with the Plan. And then, you went to sleep.

Nothing different for the Ultimate Soldier.

[ ] WEEKEND PLANS:
-[ ] Go out with someone (they must consider you a friend, or be interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with you. At rank -E, this action may fail)
-[ ] Hang out with Junko (possible event, -10% Despair, +5% JUNKO DEPENDENCY)
-[ ] Visit a classmate
--[ ] Who?
-[ ] Read the Spartan Survival Manual (???)
-[ ] Stalk Makoto

[ ]Dream:
-[ ] Red
-[ ] Baby Blue
-[ ] Yellow

[ ] At class, make an effort to:
-[ ] Concentrate on schoolwork
-[ ] Observe your classmates
-[ ] Interact with your classmates
--[ ] Specifically interact with a student
--[ ] who?

"Ah-Ahhhh!" You gasp, jolting awake.

Well, it probably doesn't matter.







Sayaka Maizono glares at you with malice, her smile failing to reach her eyes at all. A thin, dainty hand reaches to her lip, her thumb swiping away a tiny droplet of sweat nonchalantly, as if the lights aren't the reason you both are so hot.

"So you would try to tell me..." Sayaka says slowly, the words dripping venom despite their elegance. "...That you would rather live under the tyranny of something inhuman than rebel against your abuser?"

"Uh, did I... S-say that?" You say, checking your notes. The clap of Sensei's palm striking her face echos through the auditorium, further shattering your already battered confidence.

"Mukuro-chan." Sayaka says, abandoning her inflected venom in favor of a stern look. "You're supposed to be defending your position!"

You quiver and shrink slightly. "I told you, I don't have any strong feelings on God-"

"Then pretend like you do!" Sayaka says, driving her fist into her palm lightly. "You can't just speak offensively for the whole debate!"

You wince. "I-I'm just not really suited for-"

"Of course you are! I think you'll be a wonderful leader, once you get over your self-esteem issues."

You wince and look away. "I don't have self-esteem issues..." You mutter.

"HAVE CONFIDENCE!" Booms Ishimaru, slamming his foot down on the stage. He looks like Captain Morgan when he does that. A really silly Captain Morgan. "You, Ikusaba, are a strong and independent woman! Let no-one separate you from your heart!"

"Uh, thanks?" Wrong on both counts, Ishimaru.

"Ishimaru-kun is right." Sensei says, making marks on her clipboard with one hand while idly rubbing some kind of rosary with the other. "Speaking is a lot like acting. You can't win if you flinch at the first sign of danger."

"That... Really sounds more like fighting to me." You say slowly, a growing epiphany in your head.

"Of course!" Sayaka says brightly. "Debates are fights, just not with guns and bullets."

Guns and bullets are way more fun though... You think. But, a fight?

"Hang on." You rearrange your notes, looking over them again. You had to write them all down last night, after thinking long and hard about how to argue for something you didn't believe in. But if you think about it like a fight... No, these notes are all wrong. There's no fight in them - just spineless preachiness. Analyzing them with Combat Analysis gives... Nothing. Well, duh. But you do think you have a hole to exploit. Something. A chink in Maizono's armor. "Can we... Start over?"

"Sure." Sayaka says, shrugging. She produces a handkerchief from somewhere and dabs at her forehead without seeming to realize what she's doing at all. "Take two."

"Two wha- oh. Sorry. Uh, I think I'm ready." You toss a sheaf of useless papers to the side, scattering them. Sensei pouts.

"You're going to have to clean that up." She says. "Before the gremlins get into them."

"Yes Ma'am." You say, before turning back to Sayaka. "Let's do it."


Fifteen minutes later...


"Mukuro, please get off the floor."

"No, let me mope."

"Please, Mukuro, you have to go to your next class. You did way better than before, so please stop moping!"

"I still lost, though." You close your eyes. "I think I'm going to stay here a while."

"Oh, just stand up already! It's embarassing seeing the Ultimate Soldier laying on the floor!"

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing! Get up!"

The battlefield has changed, and you have been left behind. A fleeting outcry of a dying system. War... Has changed.

(You have ranked up your Social Maneuver skill. It is now rank zero.)







One of the good things about Hope's Peak being so sparsely populated is that even a pop star like Maizono doesn't get mobbed at lunch. Hope's Peak being organized somewhat like a western school rather than a eastern one means you do have a bit of a jog to get to the Cafeteria (which is by the dorms), but you were of course never one to shirk her exercise. You find her there with one of the cafeteria's actually quite good lunches, a bit of stew complemented by some bread and a soft drink. Unfortunately, you also find her with Kuwata. Sayaka seems to share your sentiment, giving Kuwata a look ingrained in females everywhere for situations like this.

"-So I was like, screw baseball, I wanna be a rock star!" He's saying. "But I didn't have the time left to get into HPA doing that, and besides Mioda-senpai's already here, so I decided to suck it up for another year and then get here. And I was like, cool, now I can do what I wanna do, and there's a gorgeous babe here who's already pretty rockin' so, like, why don't I just ask her for advice? And that's why I'm here."

"Cool story, bro." Sayaka deadpans, taking a bite of her stew without looking at Kuwata, who's sat next to her.

"I know, right?! Badass!" Kuwata grins, running a hand through his red hair. "I just wanna get to know you a little better, maybe get some tutoring on how to like, do music, you know?"

"Hello, Sayaka. Who's this?"

Sayaka giggles, while Kuwata looks scandalized.

"Leon Kuwata! I'm in your class man! Sheesh."

"You're in our class?" Sayaka asks as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. "I don't remember..." It takes a bit of effort, but you manage not to smile.

"Huh? You too now!?" Leon says, looking between you and Sayaka frantically. "Come on now! I-I've been with you guys this whole time!"

"That sound kind of creepy." You say bluntly.

"Yeah, that sounds like something my stalkers would say." Sayaka says grimly.

"H-hey! I ain't no stalker!" Leon says. You have him on the back foot now! No mercy.

"Do you need him removed, Sayaka-c-chan?" You manage not to flinch when you stutter.

"Maybe..." Sayaka demurs, putting a finger to her lips. "...It wouldn't do to let a stalker keep on being in the school..."

Leon races out of his seat. "H-hey, okay okay, I get it man! I'll get goin'! Jeeze, freakin' women..."

You and Sayaka give him a moment to filter out of the cafeteria before you both bust into laughter.

"Did you see his face?" Sayaka sputters. "He was like, 'oh no, she thinks I'm a stalker now!'"

You join her in giggling. "Keh heh heh. What was he even here for anyway?"

"I think he wanted singing lessons." Sayaka says, shrugging. "What are you here for, Mukuro-chan?"

You fight back a wince, recognizing the teasing for what it is. "It's just... Well, I figured we could talk about Makoto."

Sayaka's grin fades a bit. "Oh. Okay."

"N-not that you have to. I just thought... Something happened, you might want to know, yeah?"

"Well, then, spit it out!" Sayaka says, and the grin is back, if a bit brittle. "Did he ask you out or something?"

"H-huh?! N-no!" You backpedal, but then you catch yourself. Coughing off to the side, you recenter yourself before pressing on. Then you realize what you're about to say is even more embarrassing. "I-I... Last weekend, I went to a party with some of our senpai-"

"Oh, right! I heard all about that from Mioda-chan." Sayaka says, putting her head on a fist and leaning on the table. "I guess someone spiked the soup?"

"Uh... Yes. A girl named 'Saionji'." You confirm.

"Oh, I think I've met her. She teaches the Dance course... Kind of."

"She's a teacher?" You ask, shocked.

"Oh, no. She's a student. But, like, I teach music. I assume you teach something combat related? Like that."

"Oh." Right, you almost forgot about Combatives. Not that you've missed a session, but Training is such an integral part of your life it kind of got meshed with your off time. "Anyway, you probably know what happened. Everyone... Um... Got dosed. It was pretty bad - and then Makoto was there."

Sayaka raises an eyebrow, looking serious. "He didn't."

"N-n-no, it's... He didn't do anything. Even... Even though I kind of told him I loved him​..."

Sayaka takes another bite of her soup, her expression unreadable. "So, what happened next?" She says.

"Y-you're not going... Okay. Um... He walked me back to his room..." That earns you another one of Sayaka's glances, but you power on. You aren't losing this fight. "...And then we talked."

"'Talked'." Sayaka quotes dryly.

"Yeah." You say, frowning. "B-but without the snarky quotation marks."

Sayaka huffs. "What did you talk about? How much you love him?"

"N-no!" You flinch again. Talking is hard. "He's got a picture of a woman in there. A redheaded Gaijin woman - he said it was his mother, Miriam Naegi."

"Haah~?" Sayaka says, thinking too deeply to keep her tone civil. Then she shakes her head. "No way. His mother was Japanese."

"I know, you said that. But this one wasn't." You say, leaning in a dropping into a whisper. "He said he was adopted."

"Bullshit."

"It sounded true to me."

Sayaka shakes her head. "Sorry, Mukuro, but you're kinda impressionable, you know? For a soldier, you're actually pretty naive." You flush red. "Not that that's bad, but... I'm pretty sure he was bullshitting." The harsh words almost don't seem natural coming out of the idol's mouth, but at the same time she seems relaxed speaking like this.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think..." Sayaka says slowly. "...That we still need to keep an eye on him. But... I think he definitely knows about the Makoto Naegi I knew. Even the stuff I barely remember. But he's not him. So, I dunno. He's an impersonator of some sort."

"I see." You say, glancing down. "Why though."

"That's the question. Is it just to be in Hope's Peak? Or to be with someone else who's here? What's he planning?" Sayaka shakes her head. "That's the real crux of the issue. I don't know why he's lying. My Makoto would have killed to come here..."

"Do you know where that one lives?" You ask. "Maybe you could go talk to him?"

"Maybe... Keep an eye on this one for me, will you?"

You nod.

(Sayaka Maizono considers you a friend.)








"Amazing! Simply amazing!" Sonia exclaims, twirling in a circle. "A true arcade! Just like in my Japanese animes!"

You huff good-naturedly. "You definitely have these in the Novoselic." You say. It's true - you'd seen some as you rolled through wartorn streets in the last attempted revolution. You wonder if any of them are still in business - last you saw, they were on fire.

"Yes, but this is a Japanese arcade!" As if that makes any difference.

You shake your head, smiling despite yourself. "And that matters, huh."

"Of course! The Novoselic game industry is dominated by Russian games, due to our proximity, and their larger economy." Sonia explains surprisingly in depth for someone dancing like a Disney princess. "So it will be very interesting indeed to play true Japanese games, in their native tongue!"

"You couldn't import them? You're a princess after all." You say, leading Sonia to the back, where the laser shooters are. She follows you like a puppy, eagerly darting between booths, bothering the rare females and distracting the males who are trying to game.

"I did import them, but it will be very different to play them here!"

"I don't know about that. But then I guess I'm not- What."

The game you wanted to play with Sonia is already occupied by a thick girl in a dark hoodie, holding a gamepad in one hand and a laser pistol in the other. Judging from the noises and the way her attention flickers back and forth between both screens, she's playing games on both. It still takes you a second to remember her face as one of your senpai. Chi... something. Chisato?

Sonia smiles. "Oh, it's Nanami-san. Hello!" Oh, that's right. Chiaki Nanami. The Ultimate Gamer. You suppose it's no big surprise to find her here, then.

Nanami says nothing, single-mindedly focused on both of her games. Her wrist flicks back and forth, blasting robots with one hand and... A quick check. Yup, crushing candies with the other.

She does impressively well. The firing range is fine, but every once in a while you do visit this booth to remind yourself of actual combat with moving targets. It's nothing compared to the rush of adrenaline you get when actually on the hunt, but even you are willing to admit it's a fun game, and one of the few you're actually any good at. But Nanami is on another level - you don't even recognize the level she's on, which means she's past you. And she's playing another game you barely recognize with the other hand!

You had no idea such a powerful opponent attended Hope's Peak. You wonder how she would handle a real gun.

Fortunately for you and Sonia, Nanami soon makes a small mistake, and the unforgiving shooter game quickly capitalizes. Nanami makes a valiant effort to come back, but soon her attention slips, and the handheld blurbles a mistake as well. Her failure cascades for almost five minutes, as Nanami struggles to maintain her edge, but eventually she's defeated on the shooter, and a moment later there's a sad tone from the handheld as well. She glances up.

"Hello, Sonia." She says tiredly, and then yawns.

"You were doing pretty - aaahn~ - good there, Nanami-san." Sonia says, interrupting herself with a yawn. You yawn yourself. Damn contagious things.

"Nah. I just wanted to challenge myself." Nanami says, and her handheld boots up again. Is she - Is she starting another game already?! "I don't normally lose."

"That's true. I guess it would be only okay for the Ultimate Gamer." Sonia says, smiling. "But it was still impressive to watch!"

Nanami nods, and glances at you. "Kouhai." She says.

"Uh, yeah?"

"I forget your name."

You bite back a pout, since you did forget her name just now. "Mukuro Ikusaba."

Nanami looks you in the eye with one of her heavy eyes. "Cool name." She says. "It's like an RPG character name."

Please don't say things like that. "Thank you?"

"Are you tired, Nanami-san?" Sonia asks, concerned.

"A bit. I'll be fine though." Nanami says, shrugging. "Can I stay here and watch you guys though?"

"Sure!" Sonia says brightly. You just shrug.

"Thanks." Nanami says, turning her attention back to her handheld.

You plug some tokens into the machine and begin to play with Sonia. Both of you are skilled with real firearms, so even though you've picked the hardest difficulty, you both manage to sweep through several levels without taking a hit before the game actually grows challenging. It's actually good fun, especially with Sonia present, and you both slip into a militaristic rhythm of shoot, move, and communicate. Sonia surprisingly ends up deferring to you, although the chaos of battle means there's little difference between superior and subordinate. You and Sonia shoot your way through legions of invading robots, only finally biting the dust at the beginning of what you assume was the level Nanami was on, ahead of where you were able to go on your own, and some time after Sonia had lost her last life, leaving you in a desperate downward spiral quite reminiscent of Nanami's own failure.

All through it, Nanami plays her game. Sometimes, you think she's not watching, but then you get that tingle up your spine. The tingle of someone analyzing you. You almost think Junko is here for some reason, before the absurdity of that statement hits and you realize that it must be Nanami.

In either case, it's all good fun, and you leave with Sonia chatting amicably, stutter noticably reduced and Nanami trailing along behind you, paying no attention. It's a good cap to your week.

(-5% Despair)
(You have learned a trait of CHIAKI NANAMI's: General Analysis rank D)






As you get home, you notice a message on your cell phone. It's from Junko.

"Hey, Loser. Remember we put the Plan into action this weekend! Make sure you're outside the Student Council room at 5 PM on Friday, just after school lets out. They'll be having a nice meeting, and we want to be there~. owo

Kill yourself,
Junko "

You suppose that's your weekend shot then. The cleanup on this is going to be egregious.




[X] WEEKEND PLANS:
-[X] Visit the Student Council

[ ]Dream:
-[ ] Baby Blue
-[ ] Yellow

[ ] At class, make an effort to:
-[ ] Concentrate on schoolwork
-[ ] Observe your classmates
-[ ] Interact with your classmates
--[ ] Specifically interact with a student
--[ ] who?




---------------------------------------

It begins.