Phantom Thieves of Hope - A Danganronpa X Persona 5 Story.

Chapter 78: Occupational Hazard

Beautiful Days - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

"I seriously can't believe you..."

"You don't go to school; quit complaining."

"I might not be in school, but I'm still scholarly enough to know that this is a shitty thing to do."

"I'm sorry, okay!? But I've been busy! You know how much has been happening with Kotoko lately, and the Phantom Thieves haven't exactly been giving me a break!"

Hajime let out an exasperated sigh, his hands gripping the sides of his head as he stared down at the mess of papers strewn in front of him. Komaru, sitting across from him, offered a sheepish grin as she twirled her pencil in her fingers.

"Yeah, but summer homework?" Hajime shot back, glaring at the half-finished math problems on the paper in front of him, "Yeah, you rescuing me and rescuing Kotoko would be time-consuming, but you had ALL SUMMER, Komaru! How could you wait until the last week?"

Komaru's smile faltered for a second, and she glanced down at her paper, fidgeting with her pencil.

"Well...I mean, with Toko's emotional episode recently, I couldn't exactly ask her for help. And Shuichi's been busy with his own stuff, too!" she shot a pleading look at Shuichi Saihara, who sat beside her, quietly reading through a textbook.

Shuichi sighed softly, closing the book and setting it aside.

"I've been busy, yes, but...Hajime's right, Komaru. You could have spread this out over the summer when you had free time," he said, with a tone of voice that wasn't as sharp as Hajime's, but the hint of disappointment was still there, "Cramming it all in now isn't exactly ideal."

Komaru pouted, crossing her arms.

"I know, I know...but with everything that's been going on...! I mean, there's SO MUCH!" She paused, letting out a deep breath, "I guess I didn't manage my time well."

Before Hajime could retort, a high-pitched voice interrupted the tension.

"Alright, class, let's focus!" Monomi chirped, floating just above the table, her little feet padding as she hopped over Komaru's homework sheet. She pointed a tiny paw at the math problem in front of them, "This one's simple! You just need to isolate the variable on one side of the equation!"

"Simple, she says..."Hajime groaned, leaning back in his cushion. Komaru looked up at Monomi with a hopeful smile.

"See? We've got Monomi here to help us! It won't be that bad!" she nudged Shuichi gently. "Right?"

Shuichi glanced at her, his expression softening.

"I suppose Monomi is a good tutor...but that doesn't mean we should've waited until now," he leaned forward, picking up his pencil, "but we're here now, so let's get this over with."

Hajime rolled his eyes but reluctantly grabbed his pencil as well.

"Fine. But if I have to deal with another quadratic equation, I'm out."

Monomi giggled, bouncing in the air.

"I'm afraid that you still need to study to keep your brain in shape, especially now that you've...dropped out...of school," Monomi asserted, "Don't worry! By the time we're done, you'll be math experts! Now, let's start with problem number three..."

Komaru shot Hajime a grateful smile before diving back into her homework. Shuichi, ever the mediator, kept his focus on the task at hand. As they worked, the golden light of the setting sun gradually gave way to twilight, casting long shadows over the café.