Monokuma had just made the morning announcement. 7 a.m. At 8:30, Stevie had arranged for everyone to meet up in the dining hall but Monokuma had something else planned...

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Kirari woke up, feeling drowsy. She quickly dressed, brushed her hair and promptly tripped over her own feet.

"Ugh! WHY ME?!" She groaned, rubbing her head.

While looking around the room trying to get ideas on how to decorate, she noticed a note.

"Huh?" She raised a brow.

The note read,'Hi! Come to the dining hall at 8:30 for breakfast. I figured it would be good to have everyone in one place for breakfast, so we can keep track of everyone.'

- Stevie

"Oh! This must've been here since yesterday!" Kirari rushed out of her dorm, satchel swinging crazily, heading towards the dining hall.

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Ash's eyes blinked open and felt light seeping through the curtains. She sat up and yawned, stretching. She stepped into the hallway, made her way into the kitchen and spotted Stevie and Ray, deciding to go speak with them.

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Jay was lying in their bed, staring at the ceiling. They were exhausted from the long night of reading and their door was locked.

"You up?" Terishi asked, knocking on their door.

"No." Jay groaned.

"Too bad, we're gonna be late." Terishi sighed.

"For what?" Jay asked.

"The Caregiver girl wants us to all meet up for breakfast." Terishi explained.

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Ray got out of bed, stifling a yawn. He stretched, put on his suit, tied his hair in a braid instead of a ponytail and left his dorm to head to the diner.

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Stevie was already in the kitchen, setting out plates and trying to forget what happened a few hours earlier.

"Yo, Stevie!" Ray called, running up to her.

Stevie flinched before turning around,"Oh, good morning."

"You good? You seem... Off, mon ami." Ray asked skeptically.

"I'm fine, there's no need to worry." Stevie shook her head.

"Stevie, you're clearly anxious. What the hell happened and do you want to talk about it?" Ray asked, genuinely concerned.

"N-nothing happened." Stevie turned away.

Ray placed a hand on her back and sighed,"I know I'm not the type to give motivational speeches or comforting hugs but just know that if you ever need someone, you've got a friend in me."

Stevie was silent for a bit before speaking,"Thanks, Ray."

"Alrighty then, never tell anyone I said that otherwise I won't seem intimidating. Now then, what shall we do? Cooking! You like cooking, right? I know my little sister liked cooking..." Ray mumbled that last part under his breath.  

"Yeah, most of the preparation was done before I went to bed last night." Stevie nodded.

"Well then, let's go call some people! Wait a second... Stevie." Ray said in a whisper,"You weren't allowed outside last night."

"I wasn't?" She blinked,"I mean, technically it wasn't against the rules so..."

"Technically, but you weren't allowed to sleep anywhere but your dorm, missy. What if you fell asleep? Or... Who came to you last night? What did they do?" Ray deducted.

"I'm telling you, nothing happened." Stevie sighed.

"If someone hurt you, I'll beat the shit out of them." Ray growled,"Fine, I won't bug you about that topic. Now tell me, did you sleep at all last night?"

"Yeah." Stevie nodded,"Probably a little later than I should've, but I did sleep."

"Hi!" Ash spoke,"Do you know when breakfast will be ready?"

"Actually, breakfast is already ready, we just need to set it out!" Ray sent a last worried glance at Stevie and turned towards Ash,"Care to join?"

"Sure!" Ash exclaimed, thinking as she followed them,"Someone's inviting me to eat with them! This is already starting off great!"

"You're the flower child, right?" Stevie asked.

Ray set out all the things made by Stevie in a line,"People can come in, grab some grub and out it on their plates! Easy breakfast. Anywho, let's let the one who made all of this choose what she wants first, shall we?

"No, you guys go first. I don't mind." Stevie smiled.

"Well, I insist on not being first so what about you, Ash? Would you like to grab food first?" Ray offered.

"I don't really care, you guys can get food first!" Ash said, ignoring Stevie's first question.

"I'm not hungry, you guys eat." Stevie pointed.

Ray looked at them both before speaking pointedly,"Vous êtes étrange.

"Am not." Stevie shook her head.

"What does that mean?" Ash asked, confused.

Sancia entered the kitchen, flinching slightly when she spotted Stevie. There were two others in the room as well. Ray and... Ash? She hadn't spoken with her yet so she was unsure. She wasn't really sure what to say so she simply stood quietly, fiddling with her shirt.

"He said we're strange." Stevie informed her before spotting Sancia,"Oh, Cia! Come here and get something to eat."

"Strange?" Ash wondered aloud,"I'm not strange."

Ray chuckled, shaking his head.

"Come on, let's just have breakfast." Stevie smiled.

Ray grabbed his plate, a few fruits and juice before heading to the table. Stevie shrugged, taking two slices of toast and pouring herself a glass of milk before sitting at the table with Ray. Kirari then rushed in, hair in her face.

"Sorry I'm late! I just saw the note." She said, wheezing.

"Oh, it's fine. Just take what you need." Stevie smiled.

"Thank you!" Kiara replied, beaming.

She grabbed a plate, put some toast with jam on it, took a glass of orange juice and sat beside Ash,"Hey, Ash!"

"Hey, what's up?" Ash asked Kirari between bites of her eggs and toast.

"Oh, nothing much! What do you want to do today?" Kirari replied, taking a sip of her juice.

"Jesus Christ, you guys are both so awkward." Ray snickered.

Kirari shot him an annoyed look,"Bruh, I don't even know you. You have no reason."

She gulped the rest of her juice, took out a sketchbook from her satchel and drew a bunch of tornadoes.

"Ok." Kirari thought,"I'll be honest. These aren't tornadoes, they're angry scribbles."

That's when Daiko stumbled in, being dragged by Akira. One was full of energy and the other, well...

"Morning." Daiko mumbled.

"Good morning!" Kirari said, keeping up her energised act while mentally screaming about how her head hurt from tripping.

"Oh, you guys are pretty." Akira nodded, sitting beside Ray.

"The name's Ray." He grinned, giving a small salutation to Daiko and Akira.

Daiko nodded in response, sitting down and almost immediately face planting on the table.

"Are you okay? Did you get enough sleep?" Kirari asked, concerned.

"He didn't." Akira pointed,"He spent all night researching in the library."

"That's not good! You need to get enough sleep to function properly! Make sure to get enough sleep tonight." Kirari lectured.

"I'll make sure he does." Stevie assured her.

Two more people then entered, Scott and someone else. The other person was clearly uninterested, occasionally glancing around the room.

"Hello." Kirari smiled, greeting the two people.

"'Sup!" Scott smiled, instantly heading towards the food,"Go on, introduce yourself!"

The other person sighed,"I go by Jeff."

"Nice to meet you, Jeff! I'm Kirari." She replied.

"Yeah, nice to meet you." Ray said.

Ash just sat there watching them talk. She didn't see anywhere she could add something and so stayed quiet.

"Pleasure." Jeff nodded, rolling their eyes when they saw Scott run over with plates.

Kirari brushed through her hair with her fingers and winced when she touched her head, quickly covering it up with a smile.

"Ray." Akira tugged on his sleeve,"I have something to tell you."

"Is it private or...?" Ray asked.

"That depends. It should probably... Wait until later." Akira glanced at an oblivious Stevie.

Ray nodded and Daiko yawned, looking up from the table. Akira slid him a cup and he began to drink from it. Kirari began to make a plan for how she was going to decorate her room.

She took a bite of her toast and brightened,"This is really good! Did you make it, Stevie?"

"Mhm." She nodded.

"Wow! That's a lot of food!" Kirari thought before speaking,"That's a lot of food... Did you get enough sleep? And yes, I WILL ask everyone here that."

"Who's the Ultimate Caregiver?" Stevie looked around.

"I thought it was you. Wait, I'm not trying to take over your job! Did I say something wrong? I can make you a necklace as an apology." Kirari rambled.

"Quiet, child." Stevie pointed,"It's fine, I'm just letting you know that I know how to take care of myself."

Ray finished his grapes and stood up,"Yo, Akira. Whenever you're ready to talk, I'll be outside the dining hall doors. See y'all later!"

"Hold on!" Monokuma popped up.

"What do you need, stuffed drool toy?" Ray asked impatiently.

"Why is nobody dead yet?" Monokuma looked around.

"Should we be?" Kirari asked.

"The power of friendship." Ray commented sarcastically, walking off.

"For the love of God." Monokuma muttered,"Everyone, meet me in the video room at your earliest convenience!"

And with that, he disappeared.

"Should we go?" Daiko asked slowly

"No idea." Kirari answered.

"I'm sure it can't be that bad." Stevie smiled.

"It's a teddy bear that's trapped us in a death game. I'm pretty sure it can be that bad." Kirari spoke thoughtfully,"It's best to prepare for the worst."

"Let's just go." Akira got up and skipped out of the room.

"Alright." Kirari sighed.