Chapter 11- Wanted Privacy

The next day came by fast. Faster than I expected anyways. My dreams were haunted that night with flashes of the deaths of Leon, Junko, and Sayaka. The way Sayaka's body was leaning against the bathroom wall as she laid helplessly with a knife sticking out of her. How Junko had spears sticking out of her stomach and blood gushing out of the fresh holes as she fell to the ground dead. And then Leon, ties to that pole with baseballs hitting every part of him, ending his life.

Their deaths haunted me. None of us deserved to go through this. What did I do to make me part of this killing game? I was innocent, we all were. I don't remember doing one bad thing in my life and yet I was here... forced to kill my classmates and keep hope that there was an escape. But was hope really helping me right now?

After the trial, we all went our separate ways and to our dorms straight after. Everyone like me seemed to be haunted by the image of their deaths. When I came back to my dorm, I found myself hovering over a toilet and vomiting out my breakfast. Seeing death always made me this way. That nauseating and sick feeling followed me as I went to bed and I tossed and turned throughout the night as I tried my hardest to get the terrifying horrors of death and despair out of my mind.

As soon as morning came, I woke up feeling slightly dizzy still as I moved out of bed and walked over to the bathroom to look at my reflection in the small mirror.

My white hair falling down my face as my cheeks gave a slight tint of pink and my clothes seemed to be all messed up as my belt laid on the ground beside me, I must've left it there last night. I picked it up and quickly put it around my waist and tightened it to get a firm grip around my skirt as I fixed my hair into its usual braid. I wasn't someone to leave my hair down on most days, just allowing somebody to see me with my hair down seemed a little embarrassing since my hair was so long.

If I ever got out of here, maybe I'll cut it.

But I shoved the useless thoughts out of my mind as I fixed my earrings. The golden circle hanging from the chain as a silver jewel barely touched the tip of my cheek. Something about these earrings made to never take them off. So, I left them be as I moved out of my bathroom and into my room as I gazed around aimlessly. What now...

It seemed as if my question was answered as I then heard the screen in my room turn on as Monokuma's face appeared on the screen. "Every time you sad-sacks service a death-match with Lady Justice, you get a shiny prize. It's a whole new world! Don't you dare close your eyes! As much as I'd love to split open from chins to cha-chas, it's my principal-y duty to stimulate that oatmeal you call brains... Happy hunting, children! And don't say I never gave you nothing."

I looked confused up at the screen as it turned off and showed it's regular blackness I see usually unless Monokuma is giving his usual morning announcement or night time announcement as well.

A whole new world? What did Monokuma mean by that? Was there an escape to outside of here?! I quickly ran out of the room to meet up with the others, and as soon as I left the room, I felt someone's arms wrap around me tightly as someone seemed to hop up in down on a cheery mood while grasping me tightly.

"There's a new floor! New floor!" The beaming voice said happily as I recognized Aoi being the one tightening her grip on me as she squealed in happiness. I looked at her confused.

"What... do you mean... new floor...?" I tried to say as I felt like all the air was being squeezed out of me by her.

"The new floor opened up!" She answered as she finally released me and I felt the air enter my lungs again. "Did you not hear the announcement?"

"So that's what he meant..." I said in a sigh as I stood up straight and looked over at Aoi calmly as she gave me a beaming smile. She seemed really happy that we were able to travel to the new floor. I too was genuinely curious about what could be up there as well.

"I came to get you so we could explore together! There may be an escape!" Aoi said happily as she grasped hold of my hand tightly.

"Alright. Alright. I'll come with you. But please don't break my bones before we make it up to the new floor," I said sarcastically as Aoi then let go of my hand and gave me a nervous smile.

So, a new floor opened up, huh? I wondered what was up there. Perhaps an escape. But, yet again, Monokuma probably thought this through and made sure there was no way out. But, it didn't hurt to look a little bit.

I allowed Aoi lead the way as she seemed in a positive mood as we moved up the stairs that were blocked off by the fence earlier. I moved up with her as I entered the new floor.

I looked around. It looked like one of the normal school hallways here as the haunting colors still illuminated the weird patterns against the wall as we moved passed other classmates who seemed to be looking around as well.

Me and Aoi checked almost everywhere on the new floor. We found a lot of stuff while looking. A locker room, a swimming pool, which Aoi was super excited about as she seemed to be in a even brighter mood as we continued looking, and a library, which excited me as I gazed at all the books that laid on the shelves. Finally, I found something that could be entertaining while here. My favorite hobby, reading.

Soon afterwards, Aoi insisted on us having lunch with Sakura, Chihiro, and Celeste as we had a nice lunch together. Chatting and joking around as we ate lunch together.

It seemed like a regular day, I barely even remembered that we were locked up in some murder game as I finished the rest of my sandwich. Being surrounded by my friends seemed better than anything else. I guess something good came out of this killing game. Except for loosing a close friends, I had others as well. And these girls were nice people and I feel like we could live here peacefully together and escape.

"Well, lets say we go for a swim!" Aoi said happily as we all stood up in the cafeteria after having our lunch. "There's a pool upstairs and I wouldn't want it to go to waste!"

"A wonderful idea," Sakura said with a small smile.

"It will do us some good," Celeste said with a small nod.

"Y-Yeah," Chihiro said with a smile as she stood up and looked happily at all of us.

"What about you, Haiyū? Wanna come along?" Aoi asked me as I stood up and brushed some bread crumbs off my skirt.

"No thanks. You girls go on ahead. I was hoping to check out the library. Maybe read while I'm here!" I said with a bright smile as I waved goodbye to my friends and moved out of the cafeteria.

All I really wanted to do when discovering the library was sit down and read a nice book to get my mind off the deaths and imprisonment. I missed reading. It felt like forever since I last picked up a good book and sat down while wasting the hours away trapped in some literature world. I missed that.

I moved up the stairs as I walked passed a few of my classmates and then entered the library.

I looked over shocked as I spotted someone at the only table in here. Byakuya. I tried to move slowly through the bookshelves as to not get noticed by him as I read through all the titles embedded into the book's covers. I finally gazed around the shelves to see a Shakespeare novel. Yes! My favorite!

I grabbed the book eagerly as I looked down at it and scanned and pages. This was perfect! For once, Monokuma actually seemed like a good guy putting these amazing plays into the library.

I walked passed the shelves as I looked for a nice spot to read. I sighed and tried to stop a moan from escaping my mouth as I realized the only place available to sit at was where Byakuya sat at that table.

I would've done anything to avoid sitting at the same table as him. Anything. Just looking at him from where I stood seemed to disgust me as I gazed down at the book in my hands. And I was really looking forward to reading this...

I couldn't believe I was actually going to do this as I moved over to the table Byakuya sat at and avoided eye contact as I sat across from him and immediately looked down at my book to avoid looking at him.

It was an awkward silence as I tried to focus on the words on the page. Each word. Every word. But I couldn't help myself as I gazed up from the book I was reading to look up at Byakuya.

As I gazed up from my book, I felt his eyes meet mine as we looked at each other for a good minute before I broke the silence, "Can I help you with something?"

"Why exactly would you think I need something from you?" Byakuya asked harshly.

"I-It's just that you didn't look away... I just assumed something was wrong... S-Sorry," I said before looking down at my book. Damn this was awkward.

"I was wondering why you aren't with the rest of the group. And, why out of all the places to sit in this library, you chose to sit there," Byakuya explained as I looked up from my book again.

"What do you want me to do? Sit on the floor? It's the only spot open," I answered honestly. I wasn't just going to sit on the floor and read, I rather sit across from this jerk than sit on the floor.

"Just don't be too loud. I don't like to be disturbed," Byakuya sighed as he pushed his glasses back up and looked down at his book.

"Sorry..." I said as I looked back down at my book with a flustered expression showing on my face as I tried to engage myself in the book.

As I read the words, I felt somebody look at me as I looked up slightly to see Byakuya continuing to look at me. I gazed at my book again without making myself obvious.

"For somebody who doesn't enjoy being disturbed, you seem to be looking up quite a bit," I explained as I tried to keep my gaze on my book and the words inside. I honestly never saw Byakuya like this. He was always having such a serious demeanor with his arms crossed and his gaze serious. But, here he looked kind of different when he wasn't acting so tough. Wait, what am I thinking?!

"Am I not allowed to look around from my spot?" Byakuya asked.

"I'm not saying that's the case," I said in a sigh as I tried coming up with an excuse as to why I said that earlier. "It's just... I don't know... It's just weird seeing you act so calm..."

"Fretting in tough situations just makes it harder on yourself," Byakuya said with a small smile as he pushed up his glasses again.

"I'm not fretting!" I said with anger showing in my voice as I gave him a disgusted look.

"Sounds like it," Byakuya said calmly. I rolled my eyes. Some people don't always plan what they're going to say...

"I just don't usually talk to people who stare so intensely at me," I said as an excuse.

"I'm just examining the people I'm stuck with for the time being," Byakuya said while rolling his eyes and looking back down at his book.

"You don't seem to enjoy the company..." I mumbled to myself, half hoping that Byakuya wouldn't hear what I said.

"Exactly why I'm examine you and the others, to find out how to ignore you morons," Byakuya explained as I looked offended by that. Morons?! If anything he was the moron here.

"Maybe you should try and get to know some of us instead of ignoring the rest of us entirely!" I argued.

"And why exactly should I?" Byakuya asked with a furrowed brow. Wow, he didn't know a single thing about friendship, I wasn't surprised.

"So we can find a way to get the hell out of here. People will start blaming you for murder if you stay too far away from the group," I explained. When Sayaka died, I honestly felt suspicious of him. How he isolated himself away from everyone and thought so highly of himself, it didn't surprise me if he was the one to stab Sayaka.

"As I thought. Is that really the only reason?" Byakuya asked as I watched him smirk slightly.

"W-What other reason would there be?" I asked while sounding nervous. Why was I nervous?! It was Byakuya, I shouldn't have sounded so nervous...

"Well, for starters, you're an actor, the Ultimate Actor, if I am correct? Faking an emotion is easy, yes? If anything you could put up with me. I don't trust anyone but myself," Byakuya explained as I rolled my eyes. Sure, I deceived people easily with acting so calm, but it seemed to be different around him... For some reason... I didn't understand it... Why couldn't I stay calm?!

"There's always simple ways to tell between acting and emotions," I said softly as I tried to snap out of whatever attitude I was in. I could stay calm around everyone else, why is it that I suddenly broke character here?!

"Do I look like the person who cares about that? It's called taking precautions, thank you," Byakuya said harshly as he gazed back down at his book.

His attitude was precautions?! Or was that just an excuse for being an annoying rich brat? Either way, I didn't buy it. Maybe the reason he acted like this was because he didn't have any friends, or perhaps something else...

"It's better to at least turn to someone for trust... to know you aren't alone," I said softly as I looked down at my book.

"I'm used to being alone," Byakuya said as I watched him shift in his seat and fix his glasses again. I felt myself start to feel a little bad for Byakuya. He just didn't know how to make friends... Wait, I shouldn't care about that!

"I wonder why that is," I said sarcastically. His attitude and behavior showed exactly why.

"It is a rather long story, which I don't think you would get," Byakuya chuckled softly and went back to reading.

"You would be surprised at what I know," I said softly again as I looked down at my book. I've had quite a life before this all happened, but some of it seemed to be a blur to me, but when I thought about it, I could tell it was tragic...

I looked back down at the words as I tried to embrace myself in the story. I mumbled some of the words softly to myself when remembering some good parts of my childhood. Performing in front of everyone when I was a little girl and did these plays. Those seemed like so long ago, when I smiled and said the lines with feeling and meaning as everyone seemed moved by my performances. But, it was the only good part of my childhood.

"Shakespeare fan?" I heard Byakuya say this as I looked up with a furrowed brow. Did he just try and start a conversation with me...

"I-It's good writing... Do you have a problem with it?" I asked as I felt myself become nervous when looking at him. This didn't make any sense though... Why was I acting like this?!

"No," Byakuya answered before looking back down at his book.

"G-Good," I said before looking back down at my book and feeling my face tint slightly with color. What the hell?! Why was I acting like this?!

Silence fell on us once again as I looked down at my book, but I couldn't feel myself focus on the words as something seemed to keep crossing my mind when reading the words. I looked up at Byakuya. I mean, we were having a conversation, and I needed a distraction from my thoughts, why not continue it...

"You know, maybe you could try finding a friend. Things may turn around for you," I sighed as I tried to avoid Byakuya's piercing gaze.

"Why would I need someone that's just going to be another nuisance?" Byakuya asked as he gazed up from his book.

"How would you know friends are like that if you never had one?" I asked as I finally looked over at him. Friends never acted like that. My friends were never annoying or in the way of things. But, I guess Byakuya didn't know friends did that. I didn't have many friends back when I was a kid, so, I guess I couldn't say much.

"Because they seem like nuisances, and I already have enough to deal with at the moment," Byakuya said.

"Well, I'm busy all the time as well. But I take the time to be able to get to know people. To me, you seem like a nuisance yourself," I said, partially lying about getting to know people. I had barely five friends my entire childhood, my sisters included. I guess I wasn't the friendliest. But here, I had about five friends at once, it sounded almost like a goal I accomplished.

"I would rather be a nuisance than let someone rely on me as a 'friend'," Byakuya explained as he looked down at his book.

"Explains a lot," I commented and Byakuya rolled his eyes softly.

I exhaled slowly as I closed the book in front of me and stood up and putting the book back on the shelf before moving towards the door. I barely got to even read one page.

"Well, I don't want to stay here a moment longer. I hope you enjoy not being disturbed," I said harshly as I moved out of the library and into the hallway.

I walked down the staircase and down to the first floor as I tried to think up a plan. Perhaps I could try and make it to the library early and read a few pages before Byakuya shows up. All I wanted to do was read and Byakuya seemed to disturb that. But, I felt like I was letting my guard down when talking to him... It was weird... No, I didn't like him and he still disgusts me...

I walked down the hall and towards my dorm when I heard someone almost yell my name.

I looked down the hall with a furrowed brow as I saw Chihiro's familiar face come walking towards me with a small smile shown on her face.

"I-I wanted to ask you something real quick, if your okay with it that is," She asked me as she walked towards me.

"Uh, sure. What's up?" I said as I looked at her with a furrowed brow. Chihiro was usually always shy near me and barely talked to me. This seemed new.

"You're an actress, right? C-Can you tell me how you do it?" Chihiro asked me softly as I looked even more confused.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Hide your emotions so well! I saw you inside the library earlier with Togami, you practically barely showed how you felt about him!" Chihiro said with a small smile.

"H-How I feel about him...?!" I said nervously as I looked at Chihiro confused. What did she see?! I wasn't hiding anything... I think... "I-I don't know what you m-mean!"

"Really? Because I saw a slight blush on your face when talking to him. And you stuttered quite a bit while talking... Maybe it was just me though..." Chihiro said with her usual smile as I felt myself shaking slightly. Did I feel something towards that jerk?! "But do you have any tips on how to hide how your feeling?"

I looked down at Chihiro. Why did she want that kind of advice?

"Fujisaki, is something wrong?" I asked before giving her any type of advice.

"N-Nothing... Well, I want to know how to be strong and confident like you! Everyone says you hide your emotions well. I want to know how to be like that!" Chihiro said happily as I thought to myself. Is that what people said about me... I didn't know whether to take it in a good way or bad way...

"Well, I guess I just find a way to keep myself calm in difficult moments... I usually take moments to close my eyes and take deep breaths to keep my composure... But, even I reach my... limits," I explained as I remembered the first day here and when I nearly went off the rails with my anger issues.

"Wow, really?! That's seems so cool! No wonder you're the Ultimate Actress!" Chihiro said as I felt her arms wrap around me in a tight hug. I looked confused at first as I wrapped my arms around her as well, still a little confused. "Thanks for the advice, Henka. I'll keep that in mind!"

And with that, she cheerfully walked off as I stood in the hallway confused with my thoughts. I slowly opened the door to my room and walked inside before closing it behind me as I felt myself drop to the floor with my hands on my knees as I thought to myself.

"Really? Because I saw a slight blush on your face when talking to him... And you stuttered quite a bit while talking..."

Chihiro's words echoed in my head as I thought to myself. Did I really act like that near Byakuya?! And why him?! I never acted that way towards anybody before... Did Byakuya notice it?!

I didn't like him. I would never fall in love with someone who's a jerk like he is. Or would I....