Chapter 5
After an actually nice day at the beach, with Komaeda out of all people, Hinata went back to her cottage to change. It was a little harder, due to the swimsuit trying to stick to her body.
Her policy of no looking stood as she changed.
After she finished, she sat down and glanced at the time. It was about 5pm. She made a quick plan to get dinner around 7, and to just relax the rest of the time. The beach had definitely worn her out.
She flopped onto her bed. She thought she could read until 7, but a wave of tiredness washed over her. She wanted to sleep.
Sighing, she got up and walked to the restaurant. Nobody was there, so she quickly made herself some food and walked back to her cottage. Quickly eating, she made a mental note to return the dishes later before falling asleep.
~
Hinata woke to the sound of the morning announcement. Confused, she got off her bed, but regretted it. A dizzy spell hit her hard and she almost fell, suddenly becoming greatful for the bed posts as she caught herself on it. After catching herself, she glanced at how she was gripping the bed post.
More specifically, her arms. Even more specifically, her wrist. Her wrist had a small black bracelet on it.
"What is that...?" She muttered. Standing normally now, with the dizzy spell gone, she looked at the bracelet. It had lettering on it, the kanji translating into 'Tsundere.'
"Tsundere...?" Hinata wondered aloud. However, she soon focused on the dishes from last night, remembering she had to return them.
"Ah, shit, that." She swore before quickly grabbing them and jogging towards the restaurant. Upon entering, she saw most of the people there, a few with similar bracelets to her. But only one person truly caught her eyes.
Komaeda.
She didn't see her bracelet flash as she walked up to her. She noted how Komaeda didn't have much food on her plate.
"Hey, you should eat more than that." Komaeda turned to her and smiled her carefree smile.
"Ah, for an Ultimate like you ti be worrying about someone like me! If it would make you happy, I'll have more!" She smiled.
Hinata felt heat rise to her cheeks. "W-Whatever. Just eat before you starve yourself, dumbass..."
~
Hinata didn't notice her strange behavior, but everyone else did. As she huffed after most things she said to just Komaeda, how she stuttered infront of Komaeda, and how her face was the color of a tomato.
"You don't think he- erm, she has it too, do you?" Souda asked.
"Normally, Hinata isn't like this. With a few others like this, it may be safe to say she has whatever is effecting the others." Nanami answered.
"You act like you're not fuckin' off..." Kuzuryu muttered. Nanami answered with a head tilt.
~
"Komaedaaaaaa..." Hinata said while standing behind her. "A glass of water isn't food, dummy."
"I could say the same about orange juice..."
"H-Hey!" Hinata flushed again. "Orange juice has vitamins!"
"Mhm... Sure..."
Hinata pouted. "Pay attention to me..." She muttered quietly, but Komaeda still heard.
"Hm? You want me to pay more attention to you?" She places her glass of water down. "Believe me, I could never ignore an Ultimate like you."
Hinata squeaked and punched Komaeda in the arm. "I-I never said that!" She said quickly, earning a small giggle from Komaeda. "S-Shut it!"
As the giggling continued, another giggle joined. But it was more of a sinister giggle, from a sinister bear.
"Upupupupu!" He laughed. "Ah, this is so entertaining to watch!"
"Monokuma...?" Hinata said, suddenly out of her trance.
"The one and only!" The bear smiled. "You liking the new accessories some of you have?" At the sentence, all that had the bracelet looked at it. The people who had it were only Hinata, Tsumiki, Nanami, and Mioda. None of the four responded.
"Wooow, so rude! I go through all the trouble of giving you guys people to love and you don't even thank me?"
"H-Huh...?" Tsumiki stuttered.
"The lucky bastards who have those bracelets have been acting off, no?" The bear asked.
Glances where shot at the four.
"Weeeeeelllll, this is apart of the motive! You thought it would be as simple as going to the beach? Ha! Everyone with a bracelet has a someone new personality and a person unfortunate to have to suffer through it! The new personality only comes out around the person's artificial crush, and the people acting like that don't know they're doing that!" He smiled again.
"What? I haven't acted different at all today!" Hinata protested.
"Proving my point." Monokuma said as he pointed at her. "The artificial crush is on the underside of the bracelet, so if you honestly don't know, just look. It changes everyday, giving different people different personalities and 'crushes!' Also if your feelings become real, not my problem." With that, he left.
'An... Artificial crush? I haven't acted any different today, so it must be a hoax...' Even with that in mind, she looked at the name on the bracelet. Oh. Of course. Komaeda. She quickly covered her wrist.
"I think... We should share what we have on our bracelets." Nanami said.
"Ibuki agrees!" Mioda cheered.
"I-I suppose..." Tsumiki agreed.
Hinata sighed. "I guess..."
"Okay, I'll go first." Nanami started. "I'd assume the personality is at the top, which simply says Lovey. The name I have is Sonia." Sonia smiled at this.
"Ibuki next!" Mioda shouted. "I have Shy with Kazuichi!" Souda sighed, not ready to deal with a Dandere Mioda.
"I-I have O-Obsessive... With M-Mioda." Tsumiki said, earning some worried glances.
"Tsundere. Komaeda." Hinata said quickly and quietly. But apparently, not quiet enough.
"So the foul demon bear has brought out the spiky mortals inner form?" Tanaka asked.
"What-?" Hinata asked as well, confused.
"I think Tanaka said Monokuma brought out your true Tsundere we all knew you are, Hinata." Souda laughed. Hinata lightly flushed.
"And Komaeda out of all people... I almost feel sorry for you!" Saionji sneered.
"H-Hey, it's only one day. Besides, she isn't so bad."
"Ah, you don't need to sugarcoat things Hinata!" Komaeda said. Hinata's bracelet flashed again.
"I'm not sugarcoating anything, idiot. You're just to dense to realize that not everyone hates you here, a-and..." She flushed deeper. "A-And some people care about you."
It was Komaeda's turn to flush before turning away. Hinata shrugged and turned back to the group to be met with shocked expressions all around. "...what?"
"It sounded so natural!" Sonia said to break the silence.
"Well, Hinata is suffering from Tsundere Bitch Disease every day..." Souda agreed.
What??" Hinata tried again.
"She even got the creep to flush from embarrassment!" Saionji laughed.
"S-Saonji...! T-That's m-mean!" Tsumiki countered.
"Nobody asked the trashy skank!" Tsumiki squealed and hid in his hands.
Hinata never got an answer.
~
It was now around 10am, and with nothing else to do, Hinata returned to her room. She, like always when she tries to relax, heard a knock on the door.
'I really don't want to embarrass myself so please don't be-'
She opened the door.
'Damnit.'