ジレンマ : 𝐊. 𝐎𝐌𝐀 (HIATUS)

𝟗 : 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐒/𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

The next morning when you awoke, you immediately felt the tears that were stained on your cheeks. Your pillow was also damp with your tears from the night before, and Monokuma's announcement managed to tick you off more than usual.

You slowly got up, dragging yourself out of the bed. The walk to the bathroom was dreadful, as each of your steps felt heavy. Once you made it, you looked at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes were red and puffy, your lips were slightly chapped, your tear stained cheeks...You barely recognized yourself.

In all honesty, you didn't want to go to the dining hall and meet up with everyone. They would just talk about Kaede's death. You didn't need nor want that. You didn't want to remember.

But her last words, specifically to you, gave you the slight motivation you needed.

Shuichi was probably the one affected the most. He and Kaede were the closest out of everyone, it was like a natural friendship. You could only imagine how he felt, the amount of despair that flooded his heart. Kaito punching him probably didn't make him feel better, either. You reminded yourself to make sure it didn't bruise.

You lazily did your morning routine, forgetting to change out of your dirty clothes, then headed to the dining hall. Thankfully, you weren't the last one. You sat down in your usual seat next to Kokichi, even though he wasn't there. It was weird to you since he usually got there first, but you didn't blame him. What happened the previous night was traumatizing. You knew no matter how unaffected Kokichi acted, he was scared too. Anyone would be.

One by one, everyone slowly entered the dining hall and sat in their usual seats. Kokichi eventually made it too, and he entered with an unbothered facial expression. He sat down next to you and grinned. "You look like shit, y'know that?"

"I wonder why." You sarcastically remarked, rolling your eyes.

Gonta suddenly cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "Um...excuse Gonta, everyone? Gonta found writing in grass earlier, and Gonta not know whether or not somebody put it there."

Keebo raised an eyebrow. "Writing?"

"Yeah! Like someone try to hide writing in grass. Weird, right?" Gonta nodded.

Angie hummed, "Atua says it is just grafitti. Now we don't gotta worry about it anymore!"

Kaito scoffed, "Are you guys seriously still talking about that graffiti? It's nothing, so let's just start breakfast already."

You looked up at Kaito, seeing the bright smile on his face. You could only wonder how he managed to do that, considering the events that unfolded the previous night. Next to Kaito, you saw Shuichi. At first, it completely went over your head, but you soon realized that he took his hat off. It was different, but it looked nice. His eyes weren't hidden by the cap of his hat, and he even had a cute little ahoge.

Shuichi awkwardly smiled. "Good morning..."

Kokichi beamed, "You finally got rid of that emo hat! Is this 'cause Kaede died or whatever?"

"Kokichi, that was unnecessary," you mumbled to him.

Shuichi shook his head. "No, it's not because of that. I just felt like it was getting in the way, is all. Either way, you don't have to stare...I just took my hat off. It's not a big deal, right?"

You softly smiled. "You look nice without it, Shuichi."

He smiled back. "Ah, thank you."

"How nice for you," Miu snorted. "Unlike Plain Jane over here, who turns invisible as soon as her glasses come off."