Volleyball!

Around 7pm, my buzzer went off. Not expecting company, I went to the door, and was surprised to find Hina standing there, grinning eagerly.

"Heya! Me and Akane are having a volleyball game, and you're invited! We're gonna have teams and everything! Wanna join?"

"Ummmm...sure, why not?" I replied, not having a real reason not to join the others.

"Alright! See ya there!" Hina ran off almost as soon as she finished her sentence, heading down the boys hallway.

I walked through the hallway, then made a left to go towards the double doors separating the dorms from the first floor. I caught up with Keebo in front of the Trash Room, and walked together with him, letting him pick my brain about human emotions. I answered everything I could, until Keebo was reasonably satisfied. We made a left at the end of the hallway, then a right at the Gymnasium.

All the girls were inside, except for Hina. There was now a volleyball net set in the middle of the basketball court. Ibuki, Akane, and Mikan were bumping a volleyball back and forth. Maki was sitting on the bleachers, with a clear "Are you kidding me?" look on her face. I decided to sit next to her and talk for a little bit.

"So, are you looking forward to this?" I asked her.

"This is stupid. Akane said there'd be physical combat involved. I didn't realize it would involve hitting a volleyball."

"What, you don't like volleyball?"

"Well, I used to play volleyball with the younger kids when I lived at the orphanage. It helped my hand-eye coordination, and the younger kids had fun, too. But I haven't played volleyball in years." Maki's eyes seem to reflect a memory of her past, one that was perhaps even pleasant for her.

"Ah, ok. Hina got me out here, and it seemed like it would be fun." I shrugged, but that seemed to irritate Maki.

"Fun? Do you want to die?" Maki glared at me, but made no motion towards me.

"Not particularly. Why?" I asked, a bit annoyed at her reaction.

Maki just sighed. "Never mind. This is still stupid, but since I'm already here, I may as well stay."

The rest of the guys came in, with Hina following them. Well, everyone except Byakuya, though this didn't really surprise me. I excused myself from Maki, who seemed relieved that I was leaving her alone, and walked up to Hina, who seemed bothered by something.

Hina sighed, then raised her eyes to me. "Byakuya wouldn't join us. He called me a mean name, and shut the door in my face."

"Ah, it's alright. I don't think volleyball is his thing anyway," I answered,

"Yeah, I guess not, but that means we have uneven teams now. This sucks!"

Kirumi, hearing us, approached us. She curtsied, then addressed Hina. "Is something wrong, Hina? I can be of assistance, should you wish it."

Hina nodded. "Byakuya won't join us, so now we have an odd number of players. I don't want to force someone to sit out, after we got everyone together for this..."

Kirumi nodded, then responded, "I have a solution. How about I officiate, rather than play? Then there would be even teams, plus we would have a referee to officiate. Besides, I feel it would be difficult for me to play volleyball in heels, and taking my shoes off would be...unbecoming of a maid."

Hina thought for a moment, then her face lit up. "Yeah! Yeah, that's perfect! Thank you, Kirumi!" Hina started smiling and jumping up and down in excitement, but Kirumi merely curtsied and made her way to the side of the net.

Akane called out, "Alright everybody, line up! Me and Hyena are picking teams! This game was my idea, so I choose first!" She and Hina, who looked at her oddly, stood in front of us and started choosing teams, with Akane picking Peko first, followed by Hina picking Gonta. I ended up on Hina's team with her, Keebo, Soda, Gonta, Ibuki, and Mikan, versus Akane's team of her, Peko, Maki, Miu, Nagito, Kokichi, and Taka. Our team took the white side, with the black half of Monokuma's face on it, while Akane's team took the black side of the court, with the white half of Monokuma's face over there.

Kirumi proved to be a very good, yet fair, referee, and though our team ended up losing by 3 points, due to everyone agreeing to end the game at 9pm, it didn't really matter. Gonta was a strong server, scoring 4 consecutive aces at one point. Ibuki and Soda made a strong 1-2 punch, which made up for Mikan tripping over herself and missing two balls. Keebo did alright, with his sharp vision allowing him to let several close balls go out of bounds, allowing us to get the serve back. Me and Hina made a good pair, as well, with me setting her up several times throughout the game.

Everyone had a blast, and it was a great stress reliever for everyone. Kirumi and Gonta put the volleyball net up after the game was called, and stored it underneath the bleachers. The rest of us went to the Dining Room to talk to one another about various things.

Ibuki was comforting Mikan after the game, with Mikan apologizing for feeling like she cost us the game (which, in fairness, she didn't really help us much, but the blame didn't belong to her either). Miu and Soda were arguing over who was going to check out Keebo's features, with Keebo ending up stuck in the middle of it. Akane and Hina were eagerly chatting about the events of the game. Gonta was talking to Taka about being a gentleman, as if Taka was the grandmaster of being a gentleman. Kirumi moved from person to person, ensuring that everyone was taken care of, and that nothing was needed that she couldn't provide. Peko, Maki, Kokichi, and Nagito returned to their dorms, rather than joining us in the Dining Room.

As for me, I mostly just watched everyone else talk, not having much to say beside small talk with Kirumi, who seemed confused by the concept of "small talk", and instead kept assuming that every attempt I made to speak to her meant that I had a request for her to fulfill. This made conversation a little difficult, but I gathered that she was a very capable, intelligent, and incredibly observant woman. I would have to speak to her again at a later time, though, as she kept flitting from one group of people to another, never staying with any group for too long, before taking a rest while watching the room carefully, then resuming her rounds. I got the feeling that she didn't like a lot of "idle time", and that not doing anything made her restless.

When the clock hit 9:45pm, Kirumi reminded us that at 10pm, the Dining Hall would be closed, and that we should all head out. Agreeing, I accompanied Soda, Gonta, Taka, Mikan and Keebo as we headed to our rooms, as Kirumi insisted on being the last to leave. She said that this was necessary to ensure no one needed any assistance from her, and because a maid should always be the last to leave any room upon the conclusion of a meeting, unless directed otherwise.

We all headed to our dorms in great spirits, not realizing the horror that would befall us the very next day...