Chapter 11

The moment I stepped inside the dining hall, everyone looked at me in relief. I guess they must be pretty worried.

"Mirai! You're finally here! Why are you so late?" Kaede immediately approached me with a worried look on her face.

"I am sorry to make you all worried. I just overslept this morning."

"That's a relief!"

"Is your body fine, Mirai? If you want, I can give you a body massage that may alleviate your tiredness," Kirumi asked me while tilting her head.

"I am fine, Kirumi. Thank you for the offer, though."

"Gonta is so worried about Mirai. Gonta wanted to go check, but Rantaro said to wait here with everyone." Gonta also approached me with a dejected face.

"That's so sweet of you, Gonta. Thank you."

"Hmph, you are the one who told us to gather here but made all of us wait. You are such a bother," said Kokichi with his usual not-so-serious face.

"Keh. I don't have time to wait for an ugly bitch like you. My time is too precious for that!" said Miu while clicking her tongue.

"Kehehe. It can't be helped if you oversleep. However I must implore everyone to be punctual next time, so we don't have to be worried if anyone has become a victim," said Kiyo.

"Hey degenerate over there! Stop jinxing it!" Tenko shouted as she pointed her finger at Kiyo.

"My mana has been recovered in full, I can cast my magic on you, but I can't guarantee your safety though," said Himiko.

"You are so amazing, Himiko!" Tenko exclaimed.

"You change so fast, Tenko," said Tsumugi.

"I guess I am relieved to see everyone's surviving the first night," said Ryoma with his low voice. He appeared calm as always.

"Nyahahaha! I know! Let's pray for Atua together for everyone's health," said Angie.

"According to my manual, a proportionate rest needs to be balanced with a good diet to produce maximum results. That's why everyone should always sleep and eat properly," said Keebo.

"Not that robot knows the meaning of sleeping and eating properly, though," said Kokichi.

"How rude! I always make sure I was charged to 100% before starting my day every day."

I just giggled at everyone's antics, "You guys are as energetic as usual. It's good to see you being spirited again. I will put your advice in my mind."

"Now that we are all here, can we start the meeting already?" said Maki, who stand separately from the others.

"Oh yeah! Now that I am fully energized, let's get this meeting started!" said Kaito while pumping his fist.

"By the way, are you okay, Kaede?" asked Kokichi while folding his hands behind his head.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Kaede.

"I mean, you are pretty down after everyone started blaming you yesterday." Kokichi grinned as he walked closer to Kaede.

He must be up to something again. "Kokichi, why do you bring this up-"

My words were cut by Kokichi as he hung his head, "Seriously, you guys are so mean. Poor Kaede.." Kokichi lifted his head and gazed at everyone accusingly, "She just tried her best to encourage everyone, but you sore losers got mad at her and ganging up on her."

"What are you planning now? Why do you bring this up again?" said Keebo with an anxious expression.

"Actually! Didn't YOU blame Kaede first?!" Tenko shouted. She put her legs in front of him with both hands in her hips.

"E-eh? Now you guys started to blame me? Are you ganging up on me now?" asked Kokichi while looking frightened. In the next moment, he started bawling, "WAAAAAAAAHHH!! You guys are so mean! So cruel!"

"Hmph, cut it out. You are too noisy," said Ryoma as if he could care less about Kokichi.

"But he is telling some truth. Everyone just started blaming Kaede without taking any responsibility themselves," said Kaito.

"Now, now. Everyone was just too tired yesterday," said Rantaro, trying to calm Kaito down.

"Shut it! That's no excuse!"

We have just started in a good mood, but everyone was slowly growing agitated again. So much for a good night's rest.

"Stop! It's okay! It doesn't bother me!" said Kaede, "I...should've been more considerate to everyone's feelings. I was too focused on our goal, so I'm sorry." Kaede flashed a weak smile.

I hoped I could say something to her, but I knew it would just put her in a more difficult position.

Kaito was silent for a moment while looking at Kaede before he sighed in resignation. "Alright... Well, if you're okay with it, then so am I."

Even Kaito realized that any more than this would only torment Kaede more. I didn't think of Kaito as a bad person, he was just too outspoken and...reckless sometimes.

As if nothing had happened, Kokichi stopped crying and smiled widely, "Phew, good. Now everything's settled!"

"You know that you're the one who starts blaming her, don't you?" asked Keebo.

"Oh, that's a lie. You know, those kinds of lies that make us feel more united or whatever. Didn't you know that half of my lies are actually told with a good intention?"

"Now THAT sounds like a lie," said Himiko.

"Let's just forget about it and discuss something else," said Kaede. "Let's discuss how to get out of here."

Suddenly, a black-white figure fell in the middle of the dining hall. "Before you start doing that, I have an announcement!" said Monokuma.

"Aaaaaaahhh!" Tsumugi screamed out loud at Monokuma's appearance, startling the others in the process.

"Puhuhuhu, I didn't mean to not surprise you."

As everyone looked at Monokuma vigilantly, Rantaro stepped forward with an impatient look on his face, "Well? Your announcement?"

"It's not that important, but it's easier to stay alive by being an obvious goody two shoes, right? Just because you guys are forced into this, doesn't mean you will start killing immediately. That's why I thought I can give you a little bit of push by giving you the motivation to kill."