Danganronpa: ReProgrammed

Boys Life of Despair: Part 7

"Good morning everyone! It is now 7am, and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine!"

The usual morning announcement woke Chihiro up as it usually did...She'd cried herself to sleep last night, still unable to get over the events that had transpired within the second floor library. However, the morning announcement wasn't the only thing that was part of the morning ritual. Chihiro still had to get to the cafeteria, or everyone would worry.

She arrived earlier than a few of the other students, and eventually, Taka prepared to start the morning meeting...However, one could not help but notice the sudden change in attendance. Taka himself was the first person to point it out.

"According to my attendance record, this should be everyone..." he sighed "however, our ranks have thinned out quite considerably...This table...has gotten larger...Or rather...well, you know..."

"Yeah...when we had our first meeting, there were 15 of us...now there's 11..." Makoto added "with 4 less people around, it's only natural it seems bigger..."

"Could've been 5 if you hadn't saved me that one time..." Junko commented.

Chihiro sadly looked around at the now slightly more spacious table. Not only were both Leon and Sayaka now dead, but neither Byakuya nor Toko had decided to show up for the morning meeting. Byakuya had claimed that he no longer intended to cooperate with everyone, and it seemed Toko shared the sentiment, for she had not shown either...

"Um...I know Byakuya said that he wouldn't show, and to be honest, I don't wanna go talk to him..." Hina said "but wouldn't it be better if someone went and grabbed Toko?"

"And risk her and Junko getting into another spat?" Hiro asked "nah dude..."

"Don't act like I'm the only one who she bugs the shit out of!" Junko snapped.

"I never said that...to be honest, I agree with you..." Hiro told her honestly.

"Seems like some of us are in sour moods..." Celeste quirked "have you been eating too much sour cream?"

"Sour cream is creamier than it is sour!" Taka boomed.

"Like, what the hell does that mean?" Junko frowned.

"Either way, no matter how you look at it, that Byakuya asshole is gonna be a real problem if we don't keep 'em in check..." Mondo scratched the back of his head "he's got that violent look in his eyes. Leave the dude unchecked and he'll definitely kill someone..."

"What do you suggest we do about it?" Sakura asked. Mondo shrugged.

"I dunno!? Like...tie him up or something!?"

"That's...probably going a bit too far..." Makoto chimed in.

"He's right!" Taka added "in a situation like ours, internal strife is the worst thing that could possibly happen to us! Or have you not heard the stories of stuff like that happening in Student Movements?"

"Movements?" Mondo asked "the fuck does that mean? You mean you want me to tie him up and drag him around?"

"A-Are you some kind of idiot!?" Taka snapped.

"Who the fuck are you calling an idiot, you bastard...!" Mondo leered back at the honor student. However, their argument was cut short when Mondo suddenly noticed the tiny programming girl trembling next to him.

"What's up Chihiro?" Makoto asked "something got you down?"

"I'm just...doing a bit of self-loathing right now..." Chihiro admitted "what happened with Byakuya yesterday...I got so scared...and couldn't say anything back to him...and then Junk and Mondo had to come to my rescue...and Mondo chewed him our for "bullying people weaker than him"...I definitely feel like a weakling...I-I always have...I can't keep being like this..."

"So, to sum it up..." Hina raised an eyebrow "you're feeling like crap and it's Mondo's fault?"

"WHAT!?" Mondo's face turned blue "how is it MY fault!? I didn't mean any harm when I said all that shit! I mean, look at you, of course you're weak!"

This, frankly, didn't make Chihiro feel any better. It only made everything worse...Of course, Hina was right, and it was mainly because of what Mondo said that was making her feel this way...But she could hardly blame Mondo for the way she was feeling right now either...

"H-Hey..." Mondo's eyes widened in surprise "are you...crying?"

"Well, you WERE being brash and loud and rude and a little sexist too..." Hina pouted.

The silence in the cafeteria was deafening. Chihiro cursed her weakness. It was because of this weakness that she was now crying, and because she was crying, everyone else in the room was now feeling as terrible as her...Mondo clearly realized there was something he had to do about this situation, so, without directly looking Chihiro in the eyes, he sighed and said his piece.

"Look...don't cry...I-I'm sorry...I won't yell anymore..." he said "I promise..."

"Oh, is that so?" Junko asked "I know I can hardly claim innocence since I asked you to beat Togami, but forgive me if I don't believe you..."

"I-If you're gonna go that far...!" Mondo clenched his fist "then I give you a promise as a man...!"

"A promise...as a man?" Chihiro parroted. 

"Yeah, that's right," Mondo explained "I said this before, remember? When I was a little twerp, my big brother kept drilling this into my head..."A real man's gotta keep his promises, no matter what, even if it kills him." Those words're important to me...they're all I really have left of him..."

"All you have left...?" Hifumi repeated "do you mean...?"

"Yeah..." Mondo put his hands on his hips and stared down sadly... "He's...he's gone..."

"Oh..." Makoto became awkward "I'm...sorry..."

"Meh, it ain't your fault, so don't apologize..." Mondo sighed "that ain't important right now anyway...Moods already dark enough. But the point is, I swear on my mans honor that I won't shout again, so you gotta promise me you won't cry in exchange, got that?"

Chihiro paused for a moment and reached up, wiping her eyes with her sleeves. Her eyes still a little bit teary though, she forced herself to stop crying, and eventually broke into a smile.

"O-Ok..." she grinned "thanks so much Mondo..."

"S-Sure..." Mondo turned his head away to hide his blush.

"Hm? What's up biker boy?" Junko teased "shell hard heart gone soft?"

"Sh-Shut up...!" was Mondo's only response.

"E-Even so..." Chihiro spoke up again "even so, I can't go on like this...I need to get stronger...I'm a crybaby and a weakling, and I need to stop that..."

"W-Well, it's not like you can force yourself to get stronger or anything..." Makoto assured her.

"No, you misunderstand," Chihiro said "being stronger, physically and emotionally, is something that I want. Something I've wanted for a while, but never even had the strength to do something about it...Hm...Maybe I could start exercising?"

"Should you ever wish to exercise, I will gladly lend you my assistance..." Sakura smiled.

"NO! Darling Chihiro would be crushed and destroyed at your hand!" Hifumi squealed.

"You shut up...!" Hina threatened "and she's not your darling!"

"Huh?" Hiro asked suddenly "Fuji-Bean, is that a smile I see?"

Chihiro didn't even realize it herself, but this color commentary and motivational words from her peers had brought a smile to her face. A natural one, and one that wasn't teary-eyed this time.

"Y-Yeah..." she blushed "thanks a lot guys..."