“Fine, what about you Sayaka? You have a dream to accomplish, right? Even if the outside world might be in shambles, there are still survivors. If you play your cards right, you can win this killing game and accomplish your dreams.” said Byakuya calmly. 

“No, I’m…” muttered Sayaka. 

“Don’t feel guilty. I can understand why you did what you did. It is simply human to kill. Follow my words and you will be freed from this horrible nightmare.” said Byakuya calmly.  

Sayaka could do nothing but stare down at the floor. She raised her head to look at Makoto who opened his mouth in response but quickly looked away.

Biting her lips, Sayaka moved forward. But not towards Makoto but Byakuya.

“Fine. I want to return to my friends and idol team. And if they have been killed by Monokuma…I want to make my own idol team, I will do whatever I can to achieve my dreams.” said Sayaka confidently.

“Yes, you are strong.” said Byakuya with a complimentary look. 

“You witch! Stop looking at my white knight’s eyes. It’s infuriating how much you look better than me!” cried Toko and got in between them.

“I’m not interested in lovey dovey business.” said Byakuya, annoyed.

“But you need to repopulate the Togami bloodline, right my love? My hips can pump out children more than any crappy idol can.” said Toko while drooling and blushing.

She approached Byakuya while giggling. 

“No.” said Byakuya and walked away from her. 

Byakuya looked at Chihiro who was quietly twiddling his thumb during this moment. 

“How about you? I assume you’re not fine with being murdered because of your weakness?”

“I…yes. But I don’t want to hurt others. That’s not something I want.” said Chihiro with tear in his eyes.

“We need a computer genius such as yourself in this war. Don’t do something you would regret. Your work could prevent many deaths caused by the other killing game students or by Monokuma.” 

“Yes, I will try my best but-” 

“But he isn’t going to follow your bossy orders” said Mondo while cracking your knuckles. 

“You don’t have the right to put words in his mouth, considering what you did in the past” said Byakuya coldly. 

Guilt and pain was seen in Mondo's expression. He went quiet for a while but soon opened his eyes. He turned around to Chihiro and muttered “Tch, Yeah, It was stupid of me to do that. I’m sorry. I was a weak man. But Chihiro, you’re strong. You don’t have to listen to his orders to do what is right.”

“Mondo, I…I don’t want to hurt others. E-even if they are strangers, it just means we haven’t seen the goodness in them yet. We can’t think ill of others before we even get to know them!” yelled Chihiro.               

“Hmph. It’s not about thinking ill of them. Any sane person would think to kill strangers to save their friends or themselves.” said Byakuya.

“What do you know about being sane or insane? You just assume others will be selfish simply because you’re selfish and petty yourself” cried out Aoi.

“Sure, I may have been selfish. And I may have taken a bit of liking to this killing game before. But trust me, I did so because I have lived in a death game before. I consider Hope’s peak academy’s killing to be just a regular tuesday. Because I have seen my brothers and sisters killing one another. Businessmen and politicians lying and cheating to get whatever they desire. Rules and regulations being written to manipulate the masses to their favor. You’re all just…kids compared to me.”           

He quickly turned around to face Sakura and said “I assume you wouldn’t be working to fight offensively against the strangers which is why I didn’t ask you to join me.”

“You guessed correctly. Unlike you, I do not long for murder.” said Sakura boldly. 

“But I still have a favor to ask of you. Defend the portal in the entrance hall when the 1 hour time limit ends. Even if you’re a pacifist, you should at least be willing to do that, right?” said Byakuya. 

“You didn’t need to say it. I was already thinking of doing that.” said Sakura calmly.                   

Byakuya turned around to face his followers and said “First scatter around the school and search for any items that could be useful in the war. We’ll meet in an hour.”

“Wait, you can’t seriously be thinking of attacking, right? They looked like they were students just like us. Why assume so many bad things about them before talking to them?” said Aoi. 

“We are preparing for the worst” said Byakuya and walked out of the dining hall followed by Toko and his followers.

“That guy seriously pisses me off” yelled Aoi.

Aoi kicked the ground and turned around to Makoto, frustrated. 

“Makoto! Why didn’t you say anything to Sayaka? She was your friend, right?” she asked.