[center][b][u]Himura Chikako and Matsuo Hibiki[/u][/b][/center]

Chikako wasn’t able to keep herself still. She stared at the ceiling, using her legs to push herself off of the table and balance on the hind legs of the chair.

She didn’t understand how Hibiki was able to handle something so [i]boring[/i]—and he kept coming back here, too! She had thought maybe he had gotten all the “being boring” out of his system yesterday, when she was first forced here, but nope! Here they were!

None of this was panning out like she thought it would. She just wanted to find a way out, but it seemed like Hibiki was more interested in sitting around doing… uh…

“What the hell are you doing, anyway?” She asked.

Hibiki slowly lifted his eyes off the page and up to the shorter girl. It was much harder for light to come in through the windows, forfeiting any barrier to keep him from looking Chikako in the eye. [color=turquoise]“I’m comparing psychology and sociology to help understand the other Ultimates and the motive.”[/color] He scratched the back of his head and took a sip of the cold water he had brought with him from the mess hall. [color=turquoise]“It’s... interesting that we would all be paired together for the motive.” [/color]

Spread out on the table were scattered papers filled with meticulous notes including color and personality profiles of each of the ultimates along with books stacked next to a handwritten copy of the Killing Game’s rules. Next to each rule was a brainstorming of explanations. On top of the Ultimate pages was a tier list of some kind, valuing Ginshi and Flare at the top and Snow at the bottom. 

Chikako’s name was not on the tier list.

Chikako just shrugged off the commentary, not really bothering to dissect the language, “Yeah, okay, whatever,” She lowered herself down, looking at the materials gathered. Her gaze landed on the list, and she yanked it from off the table, a smirk on her face, “So is this like your ‘to bang’ list?” She asked, amusement filling her words. 

Hibiki closed the book with a snap and set it lightly down on top of a leaning tower of other books. He then leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, with his chin resting on his right hand, a small smile curving up his lips, [color=turquoise]“...Are you unhappy that you aren’t on the list?”[/color]

Chikako’s eyes widened, and she looked down to double-check the list. Sure enough, she was the only one not on it. Chikako frowned, throwing the list on the ground with pretend carelessness, “Man, whatever, I don’t want you to want to fuck me anyway! You’d be boring,” She crossed her arms, turning her head away, trying to project an aura of coldness, “... But… I am curious… Why am I not on it?”

Hibiki hadn’t thought past his response, so he changed back to his normal expression while she was looking away, [color=turquoise]“Purely to save face... People don’t like to be written about behind their backs.”[/color] If anyone looked around, they would know he hadn’t made a personality chart for her either. [color=turquoise]“I suspected we would be spending a lot of time together.”[/color] Hibiki took another sip and pulled at his collar, wishing for shorter sleeves. He stared down at the list, willing it to move with his pure laziness, only to give up after .2 seconds. 

Chikako huffed, pulling further into herself, “Yeah, alright, sure. Whatever,” She said, further attempting to project her stone cold angst, scrunching her face in an almost comical impersonation of anguish.

As Hibiki watched her continue to pretend, he rubbed at the back of his neck. It wouldn’t do for the atmosphere to get anymore sticky, [color=turquoise]“...Do you wish to gossip about the other Ultimates? Or would you prefer a different conversational topic?”[/color]

As he stood up, he rearranged the almost toppling stack of books and finally picked up the list on the floor, taking a moment to dust it off.

Chikako immediately perked up, her energy resurfacing as if my magic, “Oh, Hibiki, how naughty! Gossiping about the other Ultimates!?” She exclaimed, “Well, if you insist, I’ve definitely had some thoughts I haven’t had the time to air out. Like, what’s up with Shirou hopping on everyone’s dick all the time with his hero schtick? Like, what’s he trying to prove, you know? And like, why are half of the girls here so shitty? I’m like trying to form my girl gang and everything and like so many of them are just so bitchy all the time, you know?” She said, allowing herself to monologue with the excuse given to her.

“But hey, you’re the one who suggested this, so that means you’ve got thoughts of your own. What’s on your mind, Hibiki, hm?”

Immediately a feeling of dread creeped under the blue-haired boy’s skin. Perhaps not the best conversational topic for the both of them... It seems his accommodating tendencies had shown their ugly head again. He moved back to his chair, switching it backwards and resting his arms along the top. [color=turquoise]“A girl gang? It seems like you’ve thought of a great idea Chikako.” [/color]He took a second, swirling Chikako’s question around in his brain, [color=turquoise]“...I wanted to know more about your interactions, since mine can only go so far... What do you think of our Ultimate Hacker, Lilly Hart?”[/color]

From what Hibiki remembered, she seemed to be acting a bit differently after their first meeting with Monokuma. He was missing something in his observation, something had happened to affect her greatly. 

But honestly, Hibiki was soon going to run out of energy for small talk, he usually didn’t speak much outside of lessons. Hibiki reached over and took a longer gulp of water.

Despite Hibiki not answering her question, Chikako happily continued to talk, “Lilly? She’s cool. She’s part of my girl gang so she’s legit, but I don’t think she’s actually a high schooler. She’s [i]gotta[/i] be like 12 or something. What about you, where’s she on your fuck list? Wait, is she on your fuck list? She shouldn’t be, I wouldn’t mess with that.”

When looking over to the list again, Lilly Hart was indeed on the tier list, on the row before top tier in fact. And where the law was concerned, going with the flow was overreaching Hibiki’s boundaries at this point. Luckily he had swallowed most of the water, but Chikako’s words still left him coughing up a storm as he started to choke. [color=turquoise]“...She... [i]*cough cough*[/i] is infact... [i]*cough*[/i] not on that list...” [/color]His face grew red, whether from the conversation or [i]choking,[/i] it was hard to say. [color=turquoise]“She reminds me of an old student of mine.”[/color]

A few coughs later, he took another sip and seemed to get his throat under control, though it sounded slightly raspier, [color=turquoise]“Does she seem kinda down to you?”[/color]

Chikako shrugged, “Nah. She seems fine. And pretty lively since I last spoke with her, anyway. She’s very focused on all those cameras though, but that’s good. The more we can do to form an escape plan, the better,” Chikako said, then leaned back in her chair, having sombered herself by remembering the circumstances they were under.

Sensing the change in atmosphere changing, Hibiki wondered if Chikako was the type of person to be calmed by uncertain promises. He leaned closer to her from his side of the table, [color=turquoise]“...Humans make mistakes...” [/color]He paused as he tried to better formulate his ideas into words, [color=turquoise]“And Monokuma must be controlled by a human. A cage created by mankind is never inescapable.”[/color] Knowing that he was sounding cheezy and childishly optimistic, he stared down at his own handwriting.

“Hmmm…” Chikako hummed, barely acknowledging the thought, “You know what, I’m gonna head to my lab. I need to get some exercise…” Chikako trailed off, disconnected from Hibiki before he could protest, “I’ll be back soon; stay cool, loser,” She said, giving Hibiki a smile before speed-walking out of the room to the world outside.

Hibiki raised his head to follow her out with his eyes, only to be attacked by the rays of sunlight. He let out a little groan before stuffing his head into his arms on the desk. Comforting would never truly be his strong suit.

The blue haired boy had already done quite a lot for the day and decided it was the perfect time for a siesta, he rolled over to the couch, which had been pulled up to the table for easier access and laid down. Under the cushion, he pulled out Chikako’s personality chart and jotted down a few notes before placing it back into it’s hiding spot. The Tutor then hugged one of the pillows, wishing its heartbeat against his like his baby Ritsu.

[center][b][color=AFEEEE]Chikako and Hibiki grew a little closer today![/color][/b][/center]