I've Got A Bad Case Of Loving You - Seiko Kimura x Male Reader (Danganronpa)

Chapter 9: Trial And Error

Hope's Peak Academy - Ultimate Marine Biologist's Research Lab, Two Weeks Later...

In the time that you and Seiko began to work together on your project, the two of you eventually reached a decision for your project. One that would hopefully not endanger the fish involved in the experiment.

Seiko decided that she was going to test the effects of mood stabilizers on the niche and behavior across different species of fish, which you agreed to. You thought this was an interesting idea, mostly because if it worked, it could show how some of the patterns the natural fish experienced differed in comparison with the mood stabilizer. You also wanted to test to see if normally aggressive fish could be made passive.

The second part of the project would go over the effect of stimulants on the growth rate of fish over time. Two groups of the same species of fish would be kept in separate tanks with similar conditions, but only one would be exposed to the effects of the stimulants. This would ensure that you and Seiko could measure the changes between the two groups accurately. Seiko wanted to see if her growth stimulant drug would be effective in time for midterms, so she decided to let you borrow a small dosage amount for the experiment.

Right now, Seiko was right beside you, holding a plastic bag filled with water that contained a small yet wonderfully bright red Siamese fighting fish. This fish was notorious for the males being very territorial, and being prone to attack and kill each other if two males were housed in the same tank. Often, if there were no means of escape, it would result in the death of either one or both fish. Luckily, Seiko exposed it to the mood stabilizer, so she hoped it wouldn't end bloody for the other fish.

"You sure this will work, Y/N? I-I made sure to give both fish the proper stabilizers, yet I c-can't help but feel like something will go wrong," she told you. It was no secret to you that Seiko tended to be somewhat pessimistic, but you knew she was trying to improve.

"Hey, don't worry, Seiko. I'm sure this will turn out fine. And if it doesn't, then we'll just have to figure out what we did wrong. That's what experiments are for: to test whether our hypothesis is right or wrong," you tried to reassure her. She seemed to be slightly comforted by your words. As she approached the small fish tank where the other (indigo-colored) Siamese fighting fish was waiting, you helped her gently take ahold of the water bag and release the red fish into the tank. You knew that you had to be extremely careful when transporting a fish into a new tank, so you did your best to guide her.

The red fish and the indigo fish were aware of each other's presence now. They stared at each other, each ominously waiting to see what the other would do first. You and Seiko decided to wait a few minutes to see what would happen. She told you before you began experimenting that the mood stabilizers often took a few minutes to function properly. Neither of the Siamese fighting fish attacked each other. You made sure to check both of them were male beforehand, and yet, they weren't doing anything. They were acting surprisingly passive.

"I-it worked? It really worked?," Seiko said, surprised. "I-I can't believe it. It's actually working!"

"It appears so. We should probably wait to see what happens in a few more minutes, though. Maybe we should give them half an hour and we'll see if it's truly working then. But don't give up hope yet, Seiko. It looks like we're on to something", you told her. You noticed that her eyes beamed with joy at the sight of this.

"Y-yeah, you're right. Let's go see how the other fish are doing," she told you, before you both headed over to the second fish tank. This one was larger than the first, mostly because it held much larger fish. This tank was home to four deadly fish that could definitely injure either you or Seiko if you weren't careful around them. These were piranhas, one of the most aggressive fish species across the globe. Despite their small size, an entire shoal of these miniature river monsters was enough to tear a chicken apart in minutes. You heard the stories about some of their attacks on humans in South America along the Amazon River. Although it usually only happens when the fish are stressed out, like during breeding season.