((Midori's POV))

I walked as quickly as I could to the Reserve Course building. I was meeting Hajime for lunch, and I made a bento box with his favorite food, kusamochi. I really hope he likes it, I thought. I've never tried making kusamochi before. I shook that thought from my mind. "No, I'm sure he'll like it!" I said, smiling brightly. As I got closer to Hajime's class, I could hear him talking to someone else.  

"And I meant every word of it! I'm the Ultimate Little Sister, and this place is Loserville," a woman's voice said. "You've totally heard of us. The chivalrous organization with over 30,000 members, the Kuzuryu Clan." 

"Wait, you mean...Like, the Yakuza?!" Hajime said, surprised. I see now, I thought. Ultimate Little Sister, Kuzuryu Clan...She must be Fuyuhiko's little sister! Fuyuhiko's sister spoke again, snapping me from my thoughts. "My dad's the one calling the shots," she said. "But someday that's going to fall to my big brother. The Ultimate Yakuza himself!" 

"Wait, that's talent?" Hajime said. "And since big bro is such a talented guy, that means I've gotta be the Ultimate Little Sister!" Fuyuhiko's sister added. "Go on. You can tell me how right I am now." "But you're in here with the rest of us," Hajime said. "You'd be over with the others if you were an elite." 

Fuyuhiko's sister growled angrily. "Just because they haven't let me in yet doesn't mean they're not gonna!" she said. "Some of us haven't given up on the future yet!" "What the hell?!" Hajime said angrily. "I'm not...giving up." At that point, I'd had enough and stepped inside the classroom. "Leave him alone!" I said. "Don't take your frustrations at not being able to get into the Main Course on Hajime! It's not his fault you aren't accepted!" 

Fuyuhiko's little sister scoffed and turned away from me. "Useless meatheads, every last one of 'em," she said. "I'm getting into the Main Course, and I don't care who I've gotta step on to do it!" Then, she smirked evilly. "What if one of those guys dropped out of the program? Then there'd be an open slot, huh? And there's a certain freckle-faced bitch who comes to mind right away!" I gasped. She was talking about Mahiru! How dare she even think something like that! I thought angrily. She's even more relentless than Fuyuhiko! 

Suddenly, a hand slammed onto the desk between me and Fuyuhiko's sister. A woman with dark, wavy hair and violet eyes glared at her angrily. "Natsumi! I'm on to you! Whatever crap you're planning, just leave it alone!" she said angrily. Natsumi faked a smile. "Hey Sato. Long time no see," she said. "Small world, huh? You weren't...eavesdropping on me, were ya?" 

Sato's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Save the smile for someone who actually buys it!" she said angrily. "You're up to something! I can see it in your eyes!" Natsumi smirked and shook her head. "Wow. Paranoid much, Sato?" Sato growled angrily. She was quite obviously pissed off! And I couldn't blame her. Mahiru is my friend too, and I can't stand to hear her be berated like this!

"You two...know each other?" Hajime said, confused. Natsumi shrugged. "More or less," she said. "She was in the photography club in my last school, is all." Sato's fists clenched at her side. "I don't care who your family is! If you hurt her, I'm gonna make you pay!" 

Natsumi growled angrily. "Don't you get in my face and threaten me, like I'm some basic bitch!" she yelled. "Leave Mahiru alone, and we won't have any problems!" Sato yelled back. "I'll do whatever the hell I want!" Natsumi retorted. Sato shook her head, not giving an inch. "What are you gonna do?! Sick one of your Yakuza flunkies on me?!" 

Mahiru ran in and stepped between Natsumi and Sato. "Sato, don't do this," she pleaded. "Mahiru..." Sato said, her eyes full of concern. "Well, well, well. We were just talking about you," Natsumi said, smirking. "I can't imagine why you two elites from the Main Course would come down here!" 

"I'm giving my friend a specially made lunch, if that's okay with you," I said angrily. "And I told Sato I would-" Mahiru was cut off by Natsumi. "Wait, let me guess. You wanted to go slumming it so you could show off to these talentless meat-sacks!" she said. 

I gasped as Hajime's classmates looked my and Mahiru's way. Sato growled angrily and her fists were clenched hard, her nails biting into her palms. "Hey come on! Enough already!" Hajime said, trying to diffuse the situation. 

Natsumi laughed and turned back to Sato and Mahiru. "Jeez, I'm pulling your leg!" she said. "Yeah well, you'd better be! Your brother is in the same class as Mahiru!" Sato said. "That ain't gonna save you," Natsumi said. "Snitches get stitches. Or they end up with toe tags. Catch my drift?" Sato backed off and Mahiru looked at Natsumi, saddened. 

"You haven't changed at all," Mahiru said. "Get off your high horse, you simpering dishrag! You're still the same goody-goody you were in photography club!" Natsumi yelled angrily. Mahiru whimpered and hid behind Sato. 

"I can't believe you, Natsumi,"I said. "Your brother is one thing, but at least he can be friendly at times. You on the other hand, you treat people like they're inferior to you. All because of who your family is!" Natsumi smirked. "Is that supposed to be an insult? Oh wow, that really stings! How 'bout next time you come up with your own comebacks, you bitch!" 

She lunged at me and when I tried to dodge, the bento box I made for Hajime fell to the floor. "Oh no!" I said. When I tried to grab it, Natsumi smirked and stepped on it, breaking the box and scattering its contents across the floor. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she said sarcastically. "Did I break your present for your talentless scum of a friend? How clumsy of me!" Then she laughed. 

I fell to the floor and held the remains of the kusamochi in my hands. I spent hours making this special. It was a present to try and make Hajime feel better. The tears trickled down my cheeks and the drops fell onto the kusamochi. I put everything I had into making this, I thought. Why did she have to break it?! "Midori..." Hajime said, concerned.

Sato growled angrily. "You wanna get into the Main Course so bad, you don't care who you hurt!" she said. "How stupid are you?! The Main Course didn't offer you a spot because you're not special! Get that through your head already! Stop acting like such a bitch! You're no better than anyone else!" Natsumi reared her fist back. "What did you call me?!" Mahiru stood between Sato and Natsumi, preparing from the hit. "No, Sato! Please, just drop it!" she begged. Then, she lead Sato out of the room.

Hajime sighed with relief, happy the argument was finally over, then he turned to me. "Midori, are you okay?" he asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. "How could she do this?" I said, still crying. "I spent...hours....making this special...Because I knew...it was your favorite...It was...a present for you..." Hajime looked down at my hands and saw the ruined kusamochi. "It's kusamochi," he said. 

I nodded. "I made it...To try and make you feel better...And now it's destroyed." Hajime knelt beside me and hugged me close. "Midori...You don't have to make me this to make me feel better," he said. "I-I don't?" I said, drying my eyes. "Of course not! Just be the friend you always are to me, and everything will be alright," he said, smiling. 

I hugged back and smiled as well. He's right, I thought. If I keep being Hajime's friend, he's sure to feel better in no time! 

-Time Skip-

News of the homicide from the Reserve Course spread like wildfire along Hope's Peak's campus. From what I'd gathered, the one who died was Natsumi. And the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like that girl Sato was the one who murdered her. But I didn't dare bring that up to Mahiru. If I told her what I thought, it would break her heart, I thought. I can't do that to a friend. I just can't. 

And the worse part was that, according to Hajime, Sato thought that Natsumi had killed herself because she gave up. I just don't buy that. No more than I believe that Gundham is an immortal demon lord, I thought. I don't know what happened, but I know for a fact that Natsumi was too tough to give up on anything.

-Days later-

Another murder happened. This time, Mahiru's best friend Sato was the one killed. No one knows what happened. They just found Sato's body in one of the Reserve Course classrooms. Poor Mahiru, I thought. She didn't deserve to lose her best friend. She's too caring...too kind to deserve that. 

After a long while of not knowing anything, I decided I needed some answers. I walked up to Mahiru, who was crying. "Mahiru," I said. She turned. "O-oh. Hi, Midori," she said. I hugged her. "I'm really sorry for your loss," I said. "But...I need to ask you...Do you know anything about what happened to Sato?" 

Mahiru shook her head as more tears fell. "I-I can't think of any reason why...anyone would murder her," she said. "I see..." I said. She frowned. "Sorry I wasn't any help, Midori..." I shook my head. "It's alright, Mahiru. You deserve to mourn in peace, so I'll leave you to it." I turned away from her and sat in my desk beside Nagito.

 I looked up at the ceiling and sighed heavily. First Natsumi and now this, I thought. Why is this happening? I sighed again and turned my attention to the front of the room. What is the world coming to? Students getting murdered, and their concerned classmates and friends don't even get an explanation for what happened. Everything is changing...

From hope...to despair.

To be continued..!