Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, I'm still having trouble mustering up the energy to write. I don't know what it is about 2020 that seems to take away the creative flow, but it's there, at least for me personally. Hopefully, whatever's draining that flow will go away soon. And that 2021 fills me up with much more energy.

Anyways, this chapter is gonna be filled with free time events, and most likely will be the only chapter that has these events. Apologies if the chapter isn't up to my usual quality, but still, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

Chapter 71: Watching Chapter 4: All Star Apologies Part 5

"Hey…!" Makoto turned toward the direction of the call to see Toko staring at him in the staff room. "I want to t-talk to you."

Once again, future Toko caught the group by surprise. "First she willingly went into the dining hall…" Leon started, eyebrows raised, "Now she's wanting to talk to Makoto?"

"But she was eager to talk to him before," Taka pointed out.

"Yeah, but she was never this direct," the baseball star remarked, "Usually it's Makoto who has to start out the conversation."

'Huh?' Makoto couldn't help but think. 'That's strange. Toko never wants to talk to me. I thought she hated my guts.'

"Are you l-listening to me?"

"Oh, sorry!" Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Makoto went inside the staff room with Toko. "Yeah, I'm listening!"

"I just w-wanted to clear something up. I mean, I h-have to clear it up," the writer began, "What I said before… I d-don't want you to get the wrong idea, o-okay?"

"Huh? What did you say?" the luckster asked.

"About not having any love in r-real life," Toko reminded him. "I don't want you thinking I-I don't have any experience a-at all!"

"Wait a minute… are you saying that you actually dated somebody Miss Fukuwa?!" Hifumi cried out in shock.

"Don't get too excited," Junko cut in, "Ten bucks says that it's a depressing story."

"Suckers bet there," Leon snorted, ignoring the bitter glare aimed at him.

"Even someone likes m-me has… gone on a date."

"Oh…" was all the luckster could say.

"It's true! I'm not lying!" Toko insisted, "I'll tell you all about it if y-you really wanna hear!"

"Don't do it, man!" Hiro cried out, "You'll get sucked into a vortex of depression and anxiety!"

"S-shut up!" Toko shouted back, "L-Like your past is a-any better!"

"Um, no, it's okay…" Makoto quickly declined.

"I was in junior h-high, and out of nowhere this g-guy from another class just asked me out."

'Okay, I guess I'm hearing it anyway…' Makoto couldn't but think a bit dryly.

"He asked m-me to make plans for the date," Toko continued, "I stayed up all n-night for three days planning it. And what I came up with w-was a movie. Pretty cool, right? You go w-watch it, then afterward talk about it all p-personally. In other words, it's i-ideal first-date material."

"...It took you three fucking days to think of that?" Mondo asked blankly. "Even I could come up with something like that in an hour, at least."

That got Toko flushing before aiming a glare at the biker. "I-I was nervous, okay?! Don't j-judge me!"

'You stayed up for three days, and that's what you came up with…?' Makoto couldn't help but think in disbelief.

"T-That's what you were thinking when I told y-you that?!"

Makoto could only chuckle sheepishly. "Sorry Toko, but to be fair, it usually doesn't take someone that long to think of a date."

"So you heard this story before Makoto?" Sayaka inquired.

"I did…" the luckster sighed, rubbing the back of his head, "So, I've got a fairly good idea on where this will go."

"Next I had d-decided what to go see," the writer continued, "Since we were in junior h-high, we couldn't go see some kid's m-movie, right? I wanted something really a-action packed."

"Yeah, a guy would definitely like that kinda thing," Makoto agreed with a nod, "And it could get you both pumped up!"

"That does sound like an ideal date…" Sayaka mused. "An activity both parties will enjoy, a genre that your date would like, and it's something that would get the two of you pumped up and talking about it."

"Does that mean the date went well?" Taka inquired.

His response was Toko turning her head away. "W-Well…"

"So we d-decided to check out a Seijun Suzuki t-triple feature," Toko then revealed, "'Tokyo Drifter', 'Fighting Elegy', and 'Branded to Kill.' I-Irresistible for any guy, right?"

"...What, what, and what now?" Hina asked, with question marks around her head. "I've never heard of those movies."

"Me neither," Leon agreed, looking just as confused. "I've never heard of this Seijun Suzuki guy."

"Do none of you know who Seijun S-Suzuki is?!" Toko griped, "H-He's widely known for his unique blend of colors in his f-films! His one-of-a-kind aesthetics! How did you n-not hear about him?"

"I'm thinking that most people never heard of those movies or the film-maker," Junko pointed out.

"So, we can probably guess how this date is gonna turn out," Celeste sighed.

"Umm… and those are all…?" Makoto asked, looking confused.

"You don't know who S-Seijun Suzuki is?!" Toko exclaimed, "He's world-famous for h-his one-of-a-kind aesthetic, his u-unique blending of color!"

"S-Sorry…"

"The killer's the main character, and he gets r-riled up by the smell of cooking rice," Toko rambled on, "A murder masterpiece!"

"Honestly, I think there's probably not a lot of guys my age who have any idea who he is…" the luckster pointed out.

Toko groaned at that, biting her lips. "You're right… I learned that f-fact the hard way," she admitted. "He musta h-hated it, cuz he disappeared right i-in the middle of the first movie!"

Hina's eyes widened at that. "Are you serious?!"

"He just left you there?!" Taka exclaimed in disapproval.

"Ouch. Running off in the middle of the first date?" Leon winced, "That's low."

"Definitely," Mondo nodded in agreement with his own winces, "Could've at least manned up and said that he wasn't enjoying the date before leaving."

"What?!" Makoto's eyes widened at that, "He just left?! And after you'd put all that effort into planning everything out? That's awful…"

"W-Well, it is what it is," the writer replied with a shrug, "Besides, I found out i-it was just a dare, anyway…"

"A dare…?" Makoto couldn't help but gape at that.

"Yeah. He lost a b-bet with his friends, so he had to go o-out on a date with me…" Toko grumbled, "And there I was, s-spending three days to come up with something for us to d-do…"

Hina also gaped at that. "Again, seriously…?"

"Double ouch." Leon winced once more.

"That's extremely rude of those boys!" Taka shouted in disapproval.

"I know that Toko is… Toko, but still…" Hiro said, shaking his head.

"That's really terrible of them to do that!" Sayaka huffed.

Meanwhile, Toko was slightly stunned at the responses being given. Do they really care about what had happened? Even Leon and Hiro?

She then cried out in frustration. "This is all y-your fault! You made me remember that terrible t-trauma!"

That line put the group through a shocking mood whiplash. "What the-? No he didn't!" Sayaka refuted.

"Yeah! You were the one who went to him and told him," Hina argued.

"He even tried to stop you from telling him!" Leon added.

"Don't start blaming others for your decision!" Taka scolded her.

That got Toko out of her stunned state, as well as making her turn away from the group with bitterness and embarrassment. Makoto, meanwhile, sweat dropped at this. They sure did switch quickly from sympathizing with Toko to scolding her for her actions…

"My fault?!" The luckster exclaimed in shock.

"Do you like h-humiliating me that much? Is th-that how you get your kicks?" Toko ranted, accusation in her voice, "I've finally seen the r-real you…"

"N-No, I…!"

"I c-can't be around you and your perverted f-fetish anymore…!" The writer then marched out of the staff room, glaring at Makoto with hatred. "I'm l-l-leaving!"

"...Are you fucking serious?" Mondo deadpanned, "He didn't do shit!"

"And just when I was feeling bad for you Toko!" Hina groaned. "How could you accuse him of anything when he didn't do anything?"

"Definitely need to work on that paranoia girl…" Junko remarked.

The writer's cheeks burned at that, unable to deny it. Seeing herself from someone else's point of view really did put a lot of things in perspective…

After she left the room, Makoto let out a sigh. "Okay, seriously. Now she's gotta hate me…" Shaking his head morosely, he left the room.

The next scene showed the luckster about to walk past the music room. However, he stopped when he heard a sad sigh, and turned his head to see a depressed looking Hina in one of the chairs.

"Ugh… this sucks…" the swimmer sighed.

The future Hina's depressed state caught the group's attention. "Wow. Hina sure does look depressed," Junko noted, "Even more so than she previously looked."

"I wonder what's got her so down…" Sayaka commented with slight concern.

"Yeah…" Makoto nodded in agreement, a frown on his face, "Doesn't look like anything too serious though…"

"I hope it isn't," Hina groaned worriedly, biting her lip. Sakura also looked concern, but not too much.

'Huh? What happened to her?' Makoto thought in slight concern. 'She seems way more depressed than usual.'

"Hey Hina?" The luckster spoke up, walking towards the girl, "What's wrong?"

"Oh…" The swimmer jolted a bit when she noticed Makoto. "Well… I try to convince myself I was imagining it, but I totally wasn't imagining it…"

"Imagining what?"

"I… I got fat," Hina moaned sadly.

"WHAT?!" Hina shouted, causing several of her classmates to jump in surprise. The girl looked horrified, as if told that she only had a week to live. "I gained weight?!"

"...Are you really that surprised?" Celeste deadpanned, "Considering your ghastly meal plan, it's a wonder that you haven't gained weight already."

"Hey!" The girl protested, blushing, "I'm not that bad!"

"We did mention how much of a glutton you are previously, did we not?" Byakuya remarked dryly, provoking a deeper blush from the swimmer.

'I figured…' Makoto deadpanned.

"Makoto!"

The luckster winced, holding his hand up in surrender. "Sorry Hina. But to be fair, you do eat fattening stuff like Tonkotsu ramen a lot of the time. You're bound to end up gaining a little weight eventually."

Hina couldn't help but pout, the red tint on her cheeks not letting up.

"I'm so fat! Fat from every angle!" The swimmer cried out in anguish. "I hate this… hate it! I may as well just accept it and embrace my new fat fatty attitude…"

"But what if I just keep getting fatter and fatter and it never stops?!" Hina said, continuing to panic, "I just get disgustingly, morbidly obese, and then nobody wants to marry me! Which makes me depressed, and I get even fatter." The more she talked, the more gloomy she became. "Eventually I can't even stand up on my own… and then I die, sad and alone. Nobody notices. I finally lose weight when my body starts to rot…"

The group was… taken aback by Hina's depressing rant, to say the least. Even Hina was surprised by her own self-deprecating speech. She never noticed it before, but does she really get this… emotional?

"And I thought only Toko could make a rant this depressing…" Hiro couldn't help but murmur.

"U-Um… I think your future self is taking this a little bit too seriously, Hina," Chihiro pointed out with concern, "I don't think it's as bad as she claims it to be."

"Yeah," Leon nodded in agreement, "You look pretty much the same." He would say that she looks as hot as ever… but he'd rather not get throttled by Sakura.

"Y-Yeah…" The swimmer could only agree, rubbing the back of her head. "Guess future me is overreacting, huh?"

"Don't worry about it too much, Hina," Sayaka reassured the girl, "I think most of us are bound to react like that at least once or twice."

"I-I think maybe you're worrying a little too much…" Makoto told her. "Besides, as far as I can tell, you look exactly the same."

"You're just saying that," Hina argued, "I'm a total chub monster! I'm a perfect circle…"

"No, seriously. I'm not just saying that," the luckster insisted.

"Then… I'm still hot?"

Makoto, who was taking a sip of his drink, couldn't help but choke on it once he heard what Hina said. "H-Hina?!"

"Did you really just say that?" Leon gawked.

"Oh my…" Celeste lightly covered her mouth in shock.

"Never thought you would say something like that," Mondo said in surprise.

"Such a remarkable amount of self-awareness," Hifumi remarked in astonishment.

"Have to agree with Hifumi there." Even Junko was taken by slight surprise, something which made her inwardly giddy. "Never thought you would say that about yourself."

"Well, yeah, I know I'm good looking," Hina huffed, crossing her arms, "I may be a bit airheaded, but I'm aware of how hot I am."

"T-Then why did you act so i-innocent when Makoto mentioned t-that people talk about you?" Toko questioned bitterly.

The swimmer blushed. "W-Well, I didn't think that people would talk openly about my figure, okay? It just took me off guard!"

"W-Well, I mean uh… yeah…" Makoto replied, looking away with a blush.

"Really?! Then I might still make it out alive?!" Hina replied eagerly.

"Uh, yeah…" This time, the luckster replied in confusion. "I'm sure you'll make it out alive."

"Thank god…" The swimmer sighed in relief. "Seriously, thank GOD!" She then shook her head, getting a focused look. "But I can't relax now! I'm making an official statement! As of right now, Aoi Asahina is on a diet!"

Leon couldn't help but snort at that. "Yeeeaaahhh, I'm betting she breaks that in the next five minutes."

"I'm betting she only lasts one minute," Mondo deadpanned.

"Thirty seconds or less," Celeste chimed in.

"Hey!" Hina protested, pouting once again, "I can diet!"

"A diet…?"

"Just you watch!" Hina stated with determination, "I'm gonna get so thin it'll scare the crap outta you!"

"W-Well… don't overdo it, okay?" the luckster advised.

"Don't try and stop me! I've made up my mind, and my willpower is rock hard!" the girl continued on, "And now my resolve is even MORE rock hard! But before all that…" The girl began running out the room. "Time to get stuffed on donuts!"

The last line got the group laughing, chuckling, or giggling in amusement, with the more stoic students merely smirking. Hina pouted even more from the laughter at her expense.

"Looks like I won the bet," Celeste stated, with a pleasant smile on her face, "Oh, how I love it when I'm correct."

"I'm not sure if dieting is really in Hina's skillset…" Makoto said to himself.

"Just you wait! One day I'll prove to you guys that I can stick to a diet!" the swimmer declared, "You won't be laughing at me then!"

"Whatever you say, Hina," Leon remarked with an amused grin.

The next scene was in one of the classrooms, with Byakuya and Makoto just looking around. A nearly tense silence was between the two, with one being stoic and the other nervous.

Finally, Byakuya spoke up. "How do you still not understand?"

"...Understand what?" Makoto asked cautiously.

"I've been sacrificing all this valuable time of mine for your sake," the heir stated, "But it all amounted to nothing."

The levity that came from Hina's conversation with Makoto vanished at Byakuya's statement. "Seriously dude?" Leon remarked in annoyance, "You act like just talking to you is the best reward someone could offer."

"Is it not?" the Togami heir asked in retort.

That brought several sighs or groans from the students. Only Byakuya could be this arrogant.

"We simply have nothing to talk about. We could talk forever and a day, and I would gain nothing from it."

"B-But, the more we come to understand each other-" Makoto tried to argue.

But Byakuya wasn't having it. "You and I will never understand each other," he declared, "We live in different worlds. Our ways of life, our ways of thinking are totally incompatible. You're a loser. So go ahead and live your life, make a bunch of loser friends. Then together, you can lick each other's loser wounds."

Once again, Byakuya's insults towards Makoto sparked a fiery anger inside Sayaka. "He's not a loser!" she shouted in anger, glaring at the heir, "He's the kindest, most strong-willed, most adorkable boy you could ever have the pleasure of meeting!"

"Yeah!" Hina agreed, an angry glare across her own face, "Just because most of us aren't heirs of some oh-so massive corporation doesn't mean we're losers!"

"Why must you look down on others just for not being on your level?" Taka questioned in frustration, "How could you view people with such narrow lenses?"

"I really want to whack Byakuya upside the head…" Leon muttered.

"Join the club," Mondo grunted in kind.

The heir himself ignored the comments and questions thrown at him, resisting the urge to let out an annoyed huff. While he could easily rebuke them, and usually did so, they will waste time if he retorts to every single comment his classmates have about his past behavior.

"You don't have to keep saying loser…" Makoto said quietly.

"Whether your self-indulgence is a lie or not, it doesn't matter," the Togami heir continued, "Whatever happens, I'm going to keep on fighting, and I'm going to keep on winning. That's the one thing that will never change."

Kyoko shook her head, speaking up after her long period of silence. "No one can win forever," the detective stated, "Failure is something that's bound to happen to all of us. You should've known this, Byakuya."

"I… suppose." The look on Byakuya's face made it seem like he was eating something revolting.

"But having to win all the time… doesn't that make your life kinda hard?" Makoto questioned in response.

"Such is the fate of the chosen," Byakuya stated simply.

'The chosen…' Makoto repeated in his head, before speaking out loud. "Listen, I've been meaning to ask you…" he began, "You keep talking about 'the chosen'... what does that mean, exactly? The way you say it, it seems a lot heavier than how I'd normally think of it…"

Byakuya was silent for a moment, his face neutral. After a moment, he said, "Fine. If I'm going to waste my time with you anyway, I may as well explain this one last thing. I'll tell you how I became known as the Ultimate Affluent Progeny…"

That got a few of the students blinking. "There's actually a story behind that?" Leon remarked.

"Does this have to with his previous comment about going into battle…?" Celeste wondered.

That had several straightening up, curiosity dancing in their eyes. Are they actually gonna find out what he meant by that rant? How'd he actually become the Togami heir, if not by birthright?

The heir himself tensed in his usual arms crossed position. Honestly, he knew that this would happen, that it was a possibility that the Togami family's inheritance system would be revealed by his future self, but that didn't mean it was an easy pill to swallow, seeing his family secret be revealed without his consent.

'There's a story behind that…?' Makoto wondered to himself.

"It has to do with the secret to the Togami family's prosperity," the Togami heir continued, "Our success comes from our family's rather… peculiar inheritance system."

"Peculiar inheritance - what do you mean?" Makoto asked, head tilted.

"You see, our family head never takes a wife," Byakuya revealed, "Rather, he couples with exceptional women the world over, in order to bear as many children as possible."

At that, eyes bulged in shock. "Say WHAT?!" Hina exclaimed.

"Your pops slept with several women?!" Leon shouted.

"And he went over the fucking world to do that?!" Mondo added, jaw agape.

"But… why?" Chihiro questioned, turning towards Byakuya, "Why do something like that?"

"Polygamous relationships are illegal!" Taka added right after, "Your father shouldn't even be doing something like that!"

Byakuya merely rolled his eyes. "It isn't polygamous. My father didn't take any of them as his wife," he explained, "He merely bedded those women for children. Nothing more, nothing less."

"That… is repulsive," Celeste stated, disgust clear despite her polite tone.

"Definitely a messed up way to get kids…" Hiro muttered.

"Says the one that was okay with sharing the same love with Makoto," the heir retorted.

"That doesn't answer the why part of the question," Kyoko pointed out, "Why have several different children all across the world?" Despite her question, however, she had already gotten an inkling as to why the practice is done.

Instead of answering, Byakuya merely nodded his head towards the TV, silently telling the others to keep watching.

Unknown to the group, Toko's mind had shut down when she heard the reveal. The Togami head has to sleep with several women? And bear a large number of children? Does that mean her master will have to…?

Soon enough, Toko was lost in her own "little" fantasy.

'All over the world…?' Makoto thought in surprise.

"They then make the children compete, and only one can come out on top," the heir continued, "And whoever it is… earns the right to become the next head of the family."

The luckster's eyes widened in shock. "You mean… you have to fight your own brothers and sisters?!"

A very loud silence then settled upon the group as they digested what they heard. Not only does the Togami head sleep with multiple women around the world... but he also forces his offspring to face each other?!

"...What?" Mondo muttered, stunned.

"You… faced off against your brothers and sisters?" Chihiro questioned in horror, covering his mouth.

"Your own father pitted you and your siblings against each other?" Sayaka exclaimed softly, feeling revolted.

"That's… that's…" Leon stammered, his mind still scrambling with this news.

Makoto grimaced, understanding everyone's shock. Definitely a difficult pill to swallow, knowing that the Togami family does something like that.

Meanwhile, Kyoko maintained her neutral mask, despite the shocking revelation. Looks like her inkling was correct, though she didn't imagine outright battle. A test, or several tests, yes, but not pitting children against one another for the title. 'How were they able to hide such a tradition…?'

"For my battle, there were fifteen of us in total," Byakuya stated, "When all was said and done, only one was still standing - the youngest brother. Me." He smirked to himself. "In the entire history of the Togami family, the youngest male had never won."

'Jeez, that sounds brutal,' Makoto thought to himself, 'I can't even imagine something like that…'

"Indeed," Sakura nodded, her eyes closed, "It must've been a difficult situation." While the Togami's practice for inheritance disgusted her, the fact that Byakuya went through such a situation and persevered, thrived even, warranted her respect.

"Sounds like something straight out of a manga…" Hifumi couldn't help but murmur. No one attempted to refute that, with a few even agreeing with the claim.

"Well, the old saying is that truth is stranger than fiction…" Celeste said, masking her own shock at what she had heard. It was definitely not something that she could've come up with on her own, that was for certain.

"And now you see that I wasn't born into greatness. Far from it," Byakuya stated, getting the attention of his classmates, "I fought tooth and nail to get to where I am now. I earned my position."

No one was able to deny it or form any sort of arguments at the moment. It's very clear now that Byakuya had earned the title of the Ultimate Affluent Progeny. Still though, the Togami's way of inheritance is not something that settled well with the students. Far from it, in fact.

"So, now do you understand?" Byakuya asked, getting Makoto's attention again, "I won my title in open combat. That is how I became the Ultimate Affluent Progeny. I was not born into greatness. I had to earn it. I put my life on the line, and I earned the right to be called the chosen."

"You put your life on the line…?" The luckster caught that wording. "Then… what about your siblings?"

"Dead."

Once again, eyes enlarged and faces went white. "Dead?!" Chihiro exclaimed.

"They all got killed?!" Hina shouted shrilly.

"You murdered your own family?!" Mondo spat out in shock and anger.

"Or did your father kill them for failing?!" Sayaka asked, sounding as high-pitched as Hina.

Byakuya merely rolled his eyes. "Relax, imbeciles. I didn't mean it literally."

"D-Dead?!"

"I don't mean that literally, of course," Byakuya amended casually, "They become dead to the family, unfit for the name of Togami."

That caused many to relax, color returning to the students' skin. However the last statement still didn't sit well with the students.

"How… how can your family treat each other so cruelly?" Hina questioned emotionally, her fists clenching, "Throwing most of your children away, just because they didn't become number one? Just because they're not heir to your family? That's just… that's awful."

"It's immoral, in every conceivable way," Taka said in agreement, his face expressing a variety of negative emotions, "Even if it isn't illegal, it's extremely unethical to use women and your own children for such a thing."

"Of course, for them it really is like death. They're forced to become one of the 99%. One of you."

"But it must've been really hard, right?" Makoto inquired.

"You can't even imagine," was the heir's answer to his question, "Which is why the survivor is recognized as the chosen. When you take over as the head of the family, all the weight of that family comes to rest on your shoulders." He then stared directly at the lucky student. "That is how dedicated I am. I am forever dedicated to keep on winning. And so I shall. Otherwise, I would feel only pity for those I'd already defeated."

"Wait a minute… does that mean you don't feel pity for your siblings?" Sayaka asked carefully, turning towards the Togami heir.

Byakuya shook his head. "No. If anything, I respect each and every one of my brothers and sisters for at least trying to compete for the title of Togami heir. To be more than the 99%, rather than settle for mediocrity."

That shocked the group, none of them expecting Byakuya to say something like that. About anyone.

Makoto was silent at that, as he processed what had been told to him. After a moment, Byakuya spoke up. "All I say at this point, is that I'm going to win this game, too," he declared, "It's been a long time since I've had so much fun. I need to get as much enjoyment out of it as possible."

And just like that, anger and frustration fueled the students' passions once again. "I still can't understand how he sees this as fun," Hina hissed out.

"Yeah," Leon nodded with a huff, "Even though your family had a competition like that, this shit is too much."

"Like my future self said before, the idea of losing doesn't exist for Byakuya," Celeste stated, "As we heard, he was raised to succeed from the day he was born. And because of that, he sees victory as his destiny, and defeat as an impossibility."

"So it's difficult, perhaps nearly impossible, for him to view this killing game as a threat to himself," Mukuro concluded.

The gambler nodded. "Exactly."

"And in the end, I will stand victorious. I won't lose to the mastermind or you or anyone else. Even as the rest of you fall one by one, I will live, and I will win. As long as my name is Byakuya Togami."

Each word, each sentence, caused the Ultimate Idol an untold amount of frustration. "Is it bad that I want to see Byakuya lose so badly?" Sayaka hissed quietly to her couchmates, Makoto, Leon, and Kyoko, "That I want to see him fall on his butt so badly? To see him get that heavy dose of reality, to just shut up and realize that whole world doesn't fucking revolve around him?"

"You're not the only one, Sayaka," Leon remarked, looking around the room. Indeed, there were others that looked frustrated with Byakuya's arrogance as well, with Hina literally shaking in anger, while Mondo was clenching an armrest so hard he swore he heard a crack. "Pretty sure everyone wants Byakuya to get a reality check."

"I'm surprise that you're affected this badly," Kyoko noted curiously, "Usually, the most you get with Byakuya is annoyed."

"Yeah, well, I didn't have to deal with him enjoying a killing game!" Sayaka retorted with some heat, "Or mutilating a corpse for his own entertainment! Or constantly insulting Makoto every time he chats with him!"

That got a snort from Leon. "You've gotten pretty overprotective of our luckster, haven't you?" He raised up his hands when Sayaka glared at him.

Makoto could only chuckle uneasily, unsure of what to say. Honestly, while he understood the others' frustrations with Byakuya, in some way he respects the heir's commitment to victory. It's sort of admirable how the heir is determined to see constant success, after fighting tooth and nail to become the successor of the Togami family.

He didn't say that out loud though. No need to draw any attention to himself again.

Byakuya then turned away from Makoto. "Now let me by crystal clear - we no longer have anything to talk about. Do not come to me like this again. Goodbye, loser." With that, he walked away, leaving the luckster alone in the classroom.

The class was then quiet, unsure of what to say. It's clear from several faces that this event was not a pleasant one; some were frustrated, some were angry, and a few were a bit conflicted.

Honestly, some of the Ultimates didn't know how to feel about their current Byakuya. While it's clear, at least somewhat, that he's changed and isn't like his future self with past memories… the fact that he could've been like that months, maybe even only weeks ago, bothered them. Plus, even if it was his future self, it was still Byakuya, the most arrogant jerk any of them had ever come across.

They know that they can't just look at the current Byakuya as if he's his future self… but it's just so hard not to. So hard to differentiate between the current one and the future one.

Junko, meanwhile, was amused by this. Who knew that Byakuya's past would bring this much entertainment? The tension gathered in the air is just oh-so fantastic, that she could just bask in it all day long. 'And the best part? All that effort the Togami's put in probably sunk in the drain, thanks to me. Puhuhuhuhuhu.'

The heir himself had some conflicted feelings. He always carried himself with confidence, with an assurance that he'll always win, and that had hardly changed during his time at Hope's Peak, though it was honed away from becoming merely blind arrogance.

But is this really a game he should aim to win? Does his future self not realize that he's playing into the mastermind's hand? That, perhaps, if he tried to win the game… he could lose everything in the end?

Would he really become this blind to the dangers of the killing game?

Suddenly, the tension was broken with a loud, perverse giggle. And ever so slowly, the group turned to see Toko, with a dopey yet creepy smile, muttering things that probably shouldn't be said aloud.

Slowly, Leon grabbed a baseball, stretched his arm back… and threw a curve back right at Toko's forehead, causing the girl to yelp and grab her forehead in pain, finally broken out of her fantasies.

"W-What was that for?!"

"...Did you hear any of the dialogue on the screen Toko?" Taka asked cautiously.

Toko blushed at that. "W-Well, I heard that the T-Togami head needs to s-sleep with many girls and… I k-kinda phased out after that." That perverse smile on her face, as well as the giggle, told them exactly what she was fantasizing about.

"...Ignore her, and let's continue this," Byakuya groaned. It's official; once they graduate, he's going to place a restraining order on this disgusting being they call a woman.

No one argued and quickly put their focus back on the screen.

And that's the end. Again, apologies if the quality isn't up to snuff. It was really difficult to write natural reactions with this one, though I tried my best. Hopefully, since I'm gonna get back to the main story in the next chapter, it will be easier. And the chapters will come faster.

Next chapter will definitely fuel the tension with both the survivors and the watchers. Review, favorite, and follow, check out my blog Galactic Media, and I will see you guys later.