Chapter Text
Ding dong, bing bong!
Makoto awoke to the semi-familiar sound of an announcement going off. Gosh, he was only a few days into his weird new life trapped inside this school, and yet he’s already regarding the usual quirks as ‘familiar’. Despite this, he sits up in bed as the grating voice of a robotic bear plays over the speakers.
“Gooood morning everyone! It is now 7 a.m., and therefore nighttime is officially over! Before we can face the day, though… I have a VERY special announcement for you all, puhuhu! So, please make your way to the gymnasium… IMMEDIATELY!”
Ah. Well, he supposes it can’t be avoided in the current situation, although it’d sure be nice if they weren’t in this situation at all. He quickly makes himself semi-presentable and hurries his way to the gym.
He waves at his… roommates? Schoolmates? Ah, whatever - he waves at the others as he passes them in the hall, trying to push down any sense of dread that has been lingering since he’s woken up here.
Once everyone is gathered, the collectively hated monochromatic bear springs up on the stage, drawing up a paw to his mouth with a giggle.
“Puhuhu, good morning, students! I’ve gathered you here today because I realized this killing game is kinda, well, boring. Due to the lack of, y’know, killing. So I have a delightful motive for you all, to shake things up a bit!”
A collective murmur of worry spread throughout the group at the thought. They’ve been ignoring the killing part of this "game" so far, but… what if this motive pushes someone to do something?
“Yes, yes, quiet down. Y’see, the motive is…” The bear moves his arms as if to do jazz hands, er, jazz paws? “…children!”
As if on cue, a gaggle of children - sixteen, to be exact - poked their heads out from backstage. A lot of them looked scared, nervous…though what child wouldn’t be? They all looked to be about seven years old… wait, where did Monokuma even get these children, anyway?
Either way, collective protests sounded out across the group.
“Where did you get these children?!”
“Wait- children , children?”
“This is not a safe environment for children! …Or anybody, for that matter.”
“We’re - We’re not fit to raise children , we’re high-schoolers !”
These comments didn't seem to bother Monokuma, but since when did he care about what they had to say?
“Upupu, that’s right! You all will be taking care of children! Oh, the trials and tribulations of parenthood. Will you students be able to navigate them? Who knows! You better learn quickly… unless you’re willing to murder someone, upupu! Once a student becomes blackened, all of these kids will swiftly be placed with skilled, experienced caretakers! Well, that’s it from me, for now! Upupu, seeya!” And like that, the robotic bear was gone again. The children, on the other hand, were not.
Unsurprisingly, the first to step up was Aoi. Her beaming optimism seemed to be a hit with the kids, and Makoto vaguely remembers her mentioning that she has a younger brother.
The swimmer squatted down in front of the children, eyes and voice softening to fit her demeanor.
“Hey, you guys! I know this is probably really really scary, but we promise we’ll do our best to take care of you, kay? As for introductions, I’m Aoi Asahina! You can ask my classmates here for their names, too.”
A girl with dark green braids braved to approach the older girl, pumping a fist with determination and donning an excited look on her face.
“Hello, um, Miss Aoi! I’m Tenko Chabishira! By the way, I’m gonna be a super duper popular aikido master one day! You seem nice …I think I’ll decide to place my trust in you, for now!"
Aoi smiled at that, noticing another, smaller girl approach, slightly hiding behind Tenko.
“Nyeh… if Tenko is trusting you, I guess I can trust you too. Himiko Yumeno… I’m a mage. Maybe once my mana replenishes, I can try to get us outta here… I don’t think I have a spell that strong in my skill set, though…”
Slowly, more and more of the children went up to the older students, introducing themselves and their quirks.
Makoto watched as a blonde girl tugged on the sleeve of a boy with dark blue hair- or maybe it was simply so black it shone blue? Either way, she tugged on his sleeve and approached the lucky student.
“Hi! Um um um, Shuichi and I noticed you kinda have funny hair, like us! Well, ours is more flimsy and less spiky, but still! Um um um, oh yeah, I’m Kaede Akamatsu! I’m an aspiring pianist - I wonder if there’s a piano here? - and this is Shuichi Saihara! He’s really shy, though.” The energetic girl bounced around and showed the boy off like he was a trophy. Said boy was practically hiding under his hat, staring at the ground.
Makoto chuckled, crouching down to their level.
“Well, Kaede, I think you would get along well with my friend Sayaka over there. She’s a pop idol, so maybe you can talk about music with her? If anyone knows if there’s a piano here, it’d be her.” Kaede nodded enthusiastically, tugging on Shuichi’s sleeve once more.
“Shuichi, are you fine to stay here with him? I don’t wanna keep dragging you around too much,” she frets. Shuichi simply nods, stepping closer to the kneeling Makoto as a nonverbal response. Kaede smiles.
“Alright, have fun! I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Shuichi gives a weak wave to the leaving blonde, as does Makoto.
“Ah- I just noticed, I forgot to introduce myself, how rude of me. I’m Makoto Naegi!” The smaller boy stayed silent, simply nodding in response. He seemed content to just stand next to Makoto, so the lucky student observed his surroundings once more.
Chihiro had been approached by two children, one seemingly a robot and the other a loud and boisterous blonde who seemed to be rambling to them about something already. Tenko had moved over to talk with Sakura, discussing aikido, probably. A girl with gray hair and dressed surprisingly formally silently watched them. Aoi still had the small “mage” girl clinging to her side, but was now trying to coax a girl with dark pigtails and a sharp glare into conversing with her.
Kiyotaka was chasing around a short boy with purple hair, and Mondo was watching a different boy with purple hair passionately discuss stars and space , with an oddly fond look on the biker’s face. Toko and a boy with long hair and a mask were standing peacefully next to one another. Junko had an incredibly short boy standing silently next to her. Celestia was solemnly conversing with a girl with blue hair, who seemed very excited about the gambler’s dress. Hifumi was nervously listening to an enthusiastic girl with a yellow coat talk to him, nervous of frightening her. Yasuhiro was listening to a surprisingly strong looking boy with green hair gently talk to him.
Well, that must settle it. This killing game has turned into a crash course in parenting, emphasis on the crash. He bets something is bound to break within the next 10 minutes-
CRASH!
…Yup, there it is.