It was midnight, 3:36 A.M to be exact, Chihiro Fujisaki; The Ultimate Programmer had stood up to code one of his greatest pieces of work yet; Alter Ego.
Although, why was he staying up so late?
One of his closer friends, Mondo Oowada had passed.
See, Chihiro Fujisaki had a secret, one that he...held dearly.
This secret was, well...
He had hid his true gender behind a mask.
At a young age, Chihiro had been far too weak to play with his friends and such.
The constant misfortune of being weak, and being told that he was weak for that matter caused him to, well, change.
He had changed who he was completely, masquerading as a girl to show that his weakness was normal.
...But, after a motive from Monokuma involving everyones true secrets was shown, Chihiro knew he had to do something...
He had met up with Mondo Oowada after making his way towards the boys locker room, and in that moment, he had told Mondo about his secret.
...Upon hearing his secret, the taller, immensely stronger male had thrown a dumbbell at a camera in an enraged manner, causing Monokuma to, well, destroy him.
...It's been around a week since then, and Chihiro has taken the blame entirely, and feels like he's absolutely guilty in that regard.
The true reason that he stood up was all too simple.
He wanted to be useful.
If he couldn't be strong physically, then he had to be strong in the only way that he knew how to be; With a keyboard.
Around his room stood multipile opened soda cans, thrown around clothes, and just a clear indicator that Chihiro had been fully destroyed by the whole ordeal.
For once in his life, he had to dedicate himself to being strong.
He didn't want to let anything stop him, so...for the past week or so, he had stood in his room, only leaving now and then to refill on drinks and snacks.
Wrappers from candy bars, protein bars, and the like had been scattered across his room as well.
...As he used one hand to rapidly type away at his keyboard, he had used the other to reach for another drink, opening it with one hand, but...
He had ever so slightly struggled upon getting it open, and as he did so, he proceeded to accidentally spill sugary drink atop his lap, and his desk.
This would, well, cause him to go into a state of panic, lifting up the keyboard that he had been typing away on, but the bottom of his multipile monitors would seemingly get covered with the liquid, causing
tears to quickly well up in his eyes, as he quickly ran over towards his bathroom, and gathered quite a few paper towels, trying his best to wipe away the sugary beverage away before it stuck itself onto anything else.
...He /hated/ this.
He hated being here, he hated cleaning up after himself, he hated his endless journey to get stronger, he hated how his clothes were sticky now, he,-
He sat himself down onto his bed, and picked up his grippers, sobbing to himself as he squeezed them tightly, trying his best not to squeeze too hard and risk hurting his fingers.
..He whined to himself, waiting a few more moments as he continued to squeeze his grippers, before standing up to continue wiping down his accident.
...He sighed to himself, eventually getting most of it out, and making sure none of his monitors were broken.
...A sniffle would escape him, as he set down his grippers, and went on over to his bed, going to bed in his dirty clothing.
How long exactly had he been in that outfit? three? four days?
It didn't matter to him, but he had to shower tomorrow, considering he...did want to go over to the dining hall, even if it was just for a bit.
...Another sobbing session started, as he held onto his pillow tightly, burying his face directly into it.
He had yelled out so much in the span of a few moments, trying his best to let out his anger.
Multipile obscenities, blaming himself for everything,-
...He stopped midway through, getting short of breath in the span of seconds.
That only made him even angrier, realizing that he wasn't even strong enough to get mad.
In the midst of his anger, he would rest his eyes for just a moment...
As he did so, he then opened his eyes quickly, taking note of the time, and hearing that awful wake-up call.
"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m and nightti-"
He had heard it so many times that it was far too easy to just block out of his brain.
He groggily picked himself up from his bed, moving himself towards the shower, as he slowly took off his overworn outfit, taking note of his frail figure.
Ah, right.
He hated every single little thing about his body, down to the way he walked, down to the way that he smiled.
...Ever since Mondo had passed, his self-loathing had gotten worse and worse.
That much was evident just by how much time the boy had spend nitpicking his frame.
But, no matter, he got himself within the shower, having to mess around with the showers tempature for a few moments before actually getting it to his liking.
He leaned against the wall, rubbing his hands up and down his arms and waist.
...Even though he had washed himself, he felt dirty.
Not on the outside, but on the inside.
...He couldn't stop thinking about how Mondo died right before his eyes.
...He buried his face into his palms, sobbing as the warm water soaked his hair.
The warm water and warm tears streamed down his face, as he looked up at the ceiling.
..What would he even say if he saw him like this?
He would be called weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak...
That one word that couldn't seem to stop following him kept going through his mind, as he continued to bury his face into his hands, sniffling and groaning ever so loudly.
...He let out a shaky sigh, before bringing himself up and wet his hair, quickly placing quite a large amount of shampoo within it.
He washed his hair, and let out a small, refreshed sigh.
"...Just...tell everyone that you felt sick after seeing Mondo like that.
Y-you wouldn't really be...lying, I mean...look at you, you're a mess right now, Chihiro..!
...H-hnnn..."
His heart almost felt like it was shaking as they said his name.
...But, no matter, he finished washing his hair, and stepping out of the shower, trying his best not to slip and hurt himself.
...He wiped off the cloudy-looking residue that built up on the mirror after his shower, taking note of a patch of stubble that had grown onto his chin.
In a matter of moments, he shaved it off, and brush his teeth, spraying some sort of mens body-spray onto himself, before then drying himself off, and looking for a spare of his normal outfit.
He eventually found it, but before he had left his dorm, he took note of his room.
..It was so..messy.
"...I'll take care of it when I get back."
He most likely won't.
He slowly but surely made his way towards the dining hall, noticing his surviving friends discussing things, and enjoying some breakfast.
...Celeste.
Makoto.
Kyoko.
Yasuhiro.
Kiyotaka.
Toko.
Byakuya.
Hifumi.
Sakura.
...He noticed Byakuya's gaze hit him almost instantly, as a quiet, but heart-piercing chuckle escaped the heir to the Togami family's lips, fixing his glasses before looking over towards the shorter 'girl.'
"Ah? The meek little mouse has finally escaped out of their hole?"
In that moment, Chihiro's face turned ever so slightly pale, as they began to look down, nodding.
"S-sorry, I.."
The heir to the Togami family shook his head, sighing.
"Shut it, you have no excuse for missing so many meetings."
...Chihiro simply nodded there head, and seemed to take the others words to heart.
...They sat directly by Makoto, noticing as he was talking to Kyoko, his eyes kept drifting towards Kiyotaka...
Chihiro's eyes did the same, noticing a much more pale, drained male in his presence.
"M-makoto, um..
Is he okay?..."
Makoto laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with a ever so slightly worried tone in his voice.
"I wouldn't really...say he is! But, uh...
Hey, are you alright? You've been...in you're room for the past few days."
This caused the 'girls' face to turn a soft shade of magenta, as tears began to well up in his eyes once more, looking directly down at the ground as they twiddled their fingers.
"...N-no, I...I'm not."
Makoto's expression instantly changed, more to one of...unease, and worry.
"O-oh, um...yeah, sorry, I...stupid question, right?
You're...really upset about Mondo, I know,-"
Chihiro sniffled, instantly deciding to move their chair and storm off, not wanting to participate in anymore social activities for the time being.
...As they did so, Byakuya scoffed, taking a sip of tea, as he glared over at Makoto.
"You truly aren't the best at speaking with that mouth of yours, are you?"
...Celestia took a sip of her own tea, letting her eyes focus on the running 'girl'.
...Something about that whole ordeal bothered her, but not in the usual way.
...She didn't want to pay it no mind.
Eventually, the boy would reach his room, shakily placing the key back into his doorknob, and opening and closing the door, sitting onto his bed.
...His blanket was so messy, he hated it.
And his room still reeked of spilled soda, and someone who didn't wash for more then a week.
...He tried to pay it no mind, but eventually moved a majority of things off of his bed, trying his best to rest.
...Eventually, he slept through the day.
He would truly wake up around 9:30 P.M., it being evident that he ever so clearly overslept.
But, as he brought himself up, he noticed a note underneath his door...
He picked it up, reading it out for himself...
Goodness, the handwriting is fancy.
"? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾗ? ﾝﾖﾘ? ? ﾝﾖﾍ? ﾝﾖﾍ? ﾝﾖﾗ?, ? ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾗ? ? ﾝﾖﾔ?'? ﾝﾖﾊ ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾓ ? ﾝﾖﾓ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ? ﾝﾖﾍ? ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾙ? ﾝﾖﾊ?, ? ﾝﾖﾒ?
? ﾝﾖﾋ ? ﾝﾖﾙ'? ? ﾝﾖﾔ ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ﾝﾖﾗ ? ﾝﾖﾎ? ﾝﾖﾎ? ﾝﾖﾌ, ? ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ﾝﾖﾑ? ? ﾝﾖﾎ? ﾝﾖﾊ ? ﾝﾖﾔ ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾎ? ﾝﾖﾊ ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ﾝﾖﾓ, ? ﾝﾖﾘ ? ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ﾝﾖﾎ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ﾝﾖﾗ ? ﾝﾖﾆ? ﾝﾖﾗ ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ﾝﾖﾐ? ﾝﾖﾓ? ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾘ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ? ﾝﾖﾍ? ﾝﾖﾓ ? ﾝﾖﾘ? ﾝﾖﾆ?.
? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾍ? ﾝﾖﾕ? ? ? ﾝﾖﾆ? ? ﾝﾖﾎ? ﾝﾖﾊ ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ﾝﾖﾊ ? ﾝﾖﾉ? ﾝﾖﾎ? ﾝﾖﾊ ? ﾝﾖﾓ ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ? ﾝﾖﾔ ? ﾝﾖﾎ? ? ﾝﾖﾙ, ? ﾝﾖﾓ? ? ﾝﾖﾙ? ﾝﾖﾑ? ﾝﾖﾟ? ? ﾝﾖﾙ ? ? ﾝﾖﾎ? ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ﾝﾖﾊ ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾙ? ﾝﾖﾞ? ? ﾝﾖﾆ? ﾝﾖﾍ? ﾝﾖﾗ ? ﾝﾖﾍ? ﾝﾖﾓ ? ﾝﾖﾚ? ﾝﾖﾙ ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ? ﾝﾖﾎ? ﾝﾖﾎ? ﾝﾖﾌ ? ﾝﾖﾙ ? ﾝﾖﾙ ? ﾝﾖﾑ?
- ? ﾝﾖﾔ? ﾝﾖﾗ? ? ﾝﾖﾗ? ﾝﾖﾑ?, ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾙ? ﾝﾖﾆ ? ﾝﾖﾚ? ﾝﾖﾊ? ﾝﾖﾇ? ﾝﾖﾗ?. "
...He's gonna ignore the comments about his hair, mainly because she's a bit right, but...
He wouldn't mind going over to Celeste's, even just for a few moments...
He wasn't all too close with her, but...hey, it seemed like a nice distraction rather then sleeping and coding all day.
..He looked at the time, and sighed.
Well, it was evident that she was probably gonna fix his hair up, so...
He looked around for something comfy to wear..
Evidently, he wasn't considering WHO he was going to see, so he decided to put on a comfy pair of pajama pants, and...an oversized t-shirt showing off some sort of
anime-esque girl on it, one with long blue hair, and a black dress.
...He opened up his door, and look directly at Celestia's very own.
Slowly, but surely, he made his way towards the others dorm.
He gently placed a finger atop the doorbell.
As the sound was heard, Celestia came rushing in, looking at 'her' with that...ever so creepy glare that she gives just about everyone.
"There you are."
She said, instantly dragging 'her' into her room.
He winced from just how tightly she held onto 'her', as she then sat him down onto her bed.
"Tch, you're making me waste time out of my day, and you can't even wear something presentable?..."
Chihiro winced once more, looking down and twiddling there fingers, sighing.
"B-but...you offered...-"
She shook her head, moving behind 'her'.
She was clad in a black nightgown, something that she had worn rather often during the lonely nights that they experienced within the hell that they called 'Hopes Peak Academy.'
But, nonetheless, she reached for a brush.
"Hm.
Lets just..."
She ran her brush through the others hair, noticing just how...hard it was to get her brush through it.
"So thin, but so...rough!
How do you manage this!?"
Chihiro whined loudly, kicking around a bit, before huffing.
"I-i don't! Like you said!"
"I could tell!"
After more then a while of struggling, she eventually was able to get rid of Chihiro's frizzy hair, and ever so slightly straighten it out.
...She couldn't lie for once, she was pretty dang proud of just how nice she got it to look.
...Chihiro looked at himself within her bathrooms mirrors, blinking at himself.
For the first time in a while, he looked, and sort of felt like himself.
...Huh.
...They held there hands together, looking away shyly.
"I-is that all you wanted to do?..I-"
"Far from it, I've actually been meaning to ask you a few things."
...Oh boy.
Chihiro had sat down atop the others bed, looking directly at the taller, paler female in front of him.
...He had forgotten about the rule that involved boys and girls in the same room, but...
He doubted that it really broke the rules if he was someone who was /like/ a girl, right?...
Celeste had chuckled to herself, as she patted her lap, holding her comb tightly.
"We aren't done with you're hair either, I need to get it perfect straightened."
..He reluctantly placed his head atop the others lap, causing a look of disgust to form across her face for a split moment, before sighing.
...If she was truly going to carry out a plan of murder, she had decided that she might as well entertain herself for a bit, rolling her eyes as she decided to pry the other for some...
questions.
"Number one.
I noticed that you don't work out often with Sakura and Hina, why is that, hmm?"
They froze up for a moment, but nodded, as the other continued to comb through 'her' hair.
He cleared his throat, nodding.
"I-I, um...
W-well...I, um...I like working out on my own?..."
She nods, but hums quietly, snickering ever so softly.
"Is that why you had a blue tracksuit coming out of your bag the last time we truly saw eachother?...
Although, the color choice is rather interesting, is it not? I mean, you are a /girl/ after all, why choose the males tracksuits...?"
'Her' face flared up slightly, as 'her heart began to race.
"I-I, um!...
I...I-I like the color, okay? W-when are you gonna be done?"
'She' sniffled a bit, before moving upwards.
Celestia covered her mouth, giggling ever so softly.
"It's only a question, Dearest Chihiro.
No need to get so offended."
She patted her lap once more, as the other rested there head on the others lap once more.
"Number two.
I heard that you were with Mondo during the time that he got killed by Monokuma, hm?
How could have that been, though?...He was in the males locker room, was he not?"
Chihiro moved upwards once more, looking directly at the woman that stood in front of him.
He froze up, barely being able to get the words out, as tears began to well up in his eyes, as a blank smile stood atop her face.
"Y-you...Y-you already know, don't you?"
She nodded slowly, as tears began to stream down her face, a quiet chuckle escaping her lips.
"It's a bit obvious, isn't it?
You seem much more comfortable being with men, you always reek of some sort of awful body spray, you engage in activities that most women wouldn't...
Tell me, why is that?"
She cupped his chin, taking note of the tears running down his face, as she then wiped them away with her thumbs.
He whimpered ever so quietly, sniffling and shaking a bit.
Why did /SHE/ want to know? /HOW/ did she know? Did she just want to know she could tell everyone!? Did she just want to know to make fun of him, was that it!?
...But...Like Mondo would have told him, he needed to be strong, and not give a damn.
He nodded, shakily huffing.
"I-i..
E-ever since I was younger, I-i..I was bullied, I-I was always told to...be a man, that I was weak, weak, weak...
I.."
He sniffled, looking away.
...Unknown to Celeste herself, her expression would begin to turn a bit softer, not expecting the boy to be so trusting of her word.
"I...I started to dress up as a girl.
I didn't want to be bullied as a weak boy...S-so...I lied.
I...I was too weak to do things a boy usually would, you know?..."
He pulled back, groaning and wiping his eyes, before looking directly at Celeste, his eyes turning watery once more.
"...I-I'm sorry for lying about who I am, I...Y-you're gonna tell everyone, aren't you?..."
He tried to stop himself from shaking and shivering, as Celeste slowly wrapped a shaky arm around the boy's frame.
"Shh."
He stopped shaking upon hearing her voice.
...She leaned closely, rubbing his back, as a means to comfort him.
"Thank you for telling me.
Do you want to hear something, Chihiro?"
He nodded slowly, looking directly at the taller female, as she continued to wipe his tears away with her thumbs.
"...I'm not who I say I am either.
Do you want me show you something as well?"
The boy froze up once more, as he then nodded.
She chuckled to herself.
She wouldn't have imagined that hearing something as simple as a weak boys backstory would make her heart be compelled to do something like...
this.
But...How could she not?
In that moment, he had trusted her with something that he had been hiding since was a child.
She felt only compelled to do so.
She proceeded to undo her extensions, and clear her throat.
"Taeko Yasuhiro.
That is my true name."
...Chihiro had then proceeded to wrap his arms around the others waist, sniffling and sobbing into the others nightgown.
...Had this been any other day, she probably would have snapped and thrown them off of her.
But she felt like it was only right to let the other do so.
...For the past week, she had come to terms with quite a few things.
She considering having had to murder if she wanted to escape and fufill her dream.
..Surely, she's capable of such a feat, but...
In the past few days, she couldn't help but feel worried for her fellow 'classmate.'
They was usually around, giving everyone support, and overall trying to just...be apart of the spotlight.
But as she saw them more or less get destroyed mentally, she couldn't help but feel something eating away at her.
It made her sick to her stomach, she even wanted to CRY, no less.
...She wanted to kill them because of that feeling, right then and there.
But in this moment, this one crucial moment that the boy had placed all of his trust and hope onto her.
Her ice-cold heart couldn't help but melt underneath the boys warm tears.
She ran a hand down the boys back, looking up directly at the ceiling as they continued to rest onto her frame.
"...Chihiro."
He gently moved back, as her crimson eyes then proceeded to rest on the boy, a sigh escaping her throat.
"...I wouldn't want you leaving my dorm with how you are now.
Besides, the others most likely are going to get suspicious of that fact, and assume that we would be making plans to kill someone, or whatever there...idotic brains could muster."
He nodded, barely being able to get a word in, before he laid down alongside his...friend.
For the first time in a good while, he was able to consider someone a friend.
The same went for Celeste,- no.
Taeko.
Ever since she had set foot in this hellhole, she had one motive: get out.
But, for the time being, with a new friend to boot...
She could endure it, just for a bit longer.
She wrapped her arms around the frail males frame, before hearing his quiet, weak voice speak up.
"...Thank you."
...In that moment, she could have burst into tears.
But she decided not to.
"You're welcome."
...He would rest in her grasp, as she stood up to keep an eye on the male.
...She laughed to herself quietly.
Oh, how fate plays with her.
But, she finally has someone to trust.
How strange.