Chapter Text
With that, the group dispersed, Fuyuhiko still unaccounted for. Hajime wandered over to the old building, meeting Byakyua at the door.
“Hmm, I’m glad you’re at least punctual,” Byuakyua scoffed, giving Hajime a side-long glance. “Let’s begin by inspecting the premises; we can gather the necessary supplies from the market after the fact.”
With that, together they forced the door open, and a great cloud of dust erupted, leaving them both spluttering for air. Stepping into the building, Hajime glanced around in despair.
I’m supposed to clean all this by tonight?
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Lunchtime came by much faster than Hajime expected, as hours of cleaning ticked by. Five hours later, he stumbled into the restaurant, dirty and exhausted. Checking his tablet, the time read just past midday. Byuakyua was strict and picky in his instruction, and Hajime felt like dust had sunk into his every pore.
Wandering into the restaurant, he spotted a few familiar faces. Peko stood by the entrance, seemingly lost in thought. Hajime gave her a polite greeting, which she returned with a slight smile.
She doesn’t seem in the mood to talk…
Hiyoko stood alone in the room, a half-eaten plate of different pastries abandoned on a nearby table. She was standing in front of a jug filled with a bunch of colourful flowers. She fiddled with the petals, and lent in to sniff the fragrance.
Those weren’t here this morning…did Hiyoko bring them in?
Hajime hesitated just inside the entrance. Curiosity battled his wariness of a sharp tongue lashing. Eventually he stepped inside, approaching the table of perpetually present food, as well as Hiyoko and the vase of flowers placed upon it.
He compromised with a simple greeting.
“H-Hey. Afternoon Hiyoko.” He grabbed a plate, pretending to scan the food.
Hiyoko let out a short shriek, stumbling in shock.
“Y-You-! Sneaking up me like that! I knew it, with such a shady face, you’re just a creep! Pedo! Perv!”
I knew this would happen. God, now she’s crying. What do I do?!
“Please stop crying…” Hajime asked awkwardly. He panicked, flustered, grabbing a napkin from the table and holding it out as an offering. With a withering glare, she snatched it from his hand, blowing her nose loudly.
“If you didn’t want me to cry, you shouldn't've yelled at me in the first place, Hajime you meanie!”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I-I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that. I just wanted to ask you about these flowers. Did you gather these flowers yourself, Hiyoko?”
Her expression brightened immediately, her entire demeanour doing a full 180.
“Hmph. Impressed, huh? They’re pretty right?”
“They are,” Hajime responded absentmindedly. The flowers are indeed, gorgeous. The vase was unusually tall and narrow, accommodating the unusual flower arrangement. There were a few types in the vase; some were purple, star shaped and velveted. Some were small and white, connected to thick clumps of green foliage. And the most unusual were the largest in the bunch. Each flower was a deep golden colour, with deep, green glossy leaves connected to the stems. What made them so unusual were how they hung straight down, like lights from a chandelier. A fragrance hung in the air, somewhat sweet and buttery.
“We were gonna use them to decorate that dusty old building, but decided it would be a waste. So we put them here so everyone could see them!”
We…?
“Anyway, I want dessert, so see ya!” And with that, Hiyoko slipped through the doors, heading god-knows-where.
Hajime shrugged, grabbing lunch and noting the empty restaurant. He finished his food in silence, enjoying the cool air.
I’ll head to the supermarket to stock up on cleaning supplies.
Hajime spared no time in trotting across the island, waving hello to a wandering Mahiru before stepping through the automatic doors.
The inside of the store was surprisingly crowded. On a quick look, he spotted Nagito, as well as the missing Hiyoko and even Peko in the very back.
Making his way to the cleaning isle, he pondered if the supermarket would run out of supplies. They were on an island, after all. Every breakfast, lunch and dinner, food would appear unprompted in the restaurant. But even so, it didn’t look like the supermarket was losing the ingredients it would take to feed sixteen growing teenagers three times a day. In fact, it looked relatively untouched. There were some shelves where items had obviously been disturbed. The toy aisle had been messed with and a bit of scattered flour meant someone had lingered in the baking aisle. The refrigerated meat section, as well as the fresh fruit and vegetables had also been somewhat ransacked. It was unsurprising; Teruteru had claimed that he would be whipping up a feast for the party that night. But food he often saw at breakfast, such as eggs, sausages, bread and cereal were all filled to the very edge of the shelf.
Which meant that either the food for the restaurant didn’t come from the supermarket, or it was restocked regularly.
Grabbing a box of snack bars, Hajime flipped it over and examined it. It looked like an ordinary box. The contents shifted when he shook it, and even the brand was one he recognised.
If you’re curious, oftentimes the most direct route is to simply ask.
Ask? Ask who, exactly? You? The mysterious voice inside my head?
You could. Or you could just ask the manager.
“ The manager?” Hajime mumbled.
“ Yeeeeeees? You called?”
Hajime let out a decidedly unmanly scream and jumped. Summoned from the void, stood Monokuma. This time, he was wearing a little nametag pinned onto it’s…fur? Fabric? The tag read ‘Manager’.
“Hello, my beary dearest customer. How may I, manager Monokuma, help you today?”
Of COURSE its Monokuma. How does he keep appearing like that? Is there a secret trapdoor or something?
Hajime didn’t want to talk to Monokuma. Fuck, he didn’t even want to look at Monokuma. But since Izuru suggested asking so clearly…
“Monokuma…since you’re the manager, are you in charge or restocking the shelves?”
“Of course! I’m a very hardworking bear after all. I take pride in my work!” Monokuma puffed out his chest, pounding on his heart. The plush texture gave gently at the motion.
“I see… so do you just keep extra supplies in the back or something? I didn’t spot a warehouse or back door.”
Monokuma grinned, and Hajime swore his teeth looked ever so slightly sharper. “Upupupu…that’s a trade secret, pal. Come back when you’re management.”
And with that, he disappeared, as quickly as he arrived.
“Frustrating as always.” Hajime muttered. He grabbed a bag, loading it full of cloths, sprays and an extendable duster he found tucked on a bottom shelf.
It was time to get back to cleaning.