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Dust blew in through the open window as the bus barrelled down the road. From her seat near the back of the bus, Mukuro could see practically the entire class. It was an hour and a half into what was promised to be the ‘best school trip ever,’ and Mukuro was bored out of her mind. She couldn’t even talk to Junko, which is what she would have done, had the blonde not been four seats ahead of her, talking Naegi’s ear off.She leaned back in her seat and cranked up her music, trying to be amused by something. She had already counted all the dents in the roof of the bus, (twenty-three), and the wads of gum under her seat (fourteen). Mondo’s shoe brushed the side of her head, and she quickly jerked away. The biker had fallen asleep ten minutes into the bus ride, but not before putting his feet up on the back of Mukuro’s seat. Even though she was now a few inches away, she felt that the scent of motor oil that radiated from him would now cling to her.Maybe letting Junko talk her into this field trip last second wasn’t such a good idea after all.Her eyes flickered up to her twin sister. She was still chatting animatedly to a weary looking Naegi, seemingly not a care in the world. Mukuro’s nails dug into her coat.To distract herself, she looked around the bus again. A little less than half the class was sitting on their own, like she was. It made her feel a little better, knowing that she wasn’t the only one who was alone. Truthfully, she wanted someone to sit with, but she had absolutely no plans to join anyone who was currently partnerless. Celeste and Kirigiri would have refused her instantly, Ishimaru would lecture her about bus safety - (‘Standing up while a vehicle is in motion is one of the most dangerous actions that one can perform in that situation!’) - and Yamada was too invested in whatever show he was watching on his tablet to look up.And Mondo was fast asleep.Mukuro bit down on her lip until the blood slithered into her mouth in a thin stream.-Three furious knocks hit the door of her room.Mukuro raised her head and looked over towards the door to her dormitory room. According to the clock on her desk, it was just after ten at night, meaning that students were expected to remain in their own rooms after this point. For someone to be out at this time was a risk, especially if they were making that much noise. In fact, the knocking hadn’t stopped since it began. Mukuro rolled her eyes, realizing that it was probably Junko.Scratch that. Nobody else would ever come to her room, especially at this time of night. It was definitely Junko, beyond a shadow of a doubt.At the banging got more intense, Mukuro got to her feet and dragged herself over to the door. She opened it, only for Junko to knock onto her forehead.“Oops!” she cried, her hands flying to her face, “I didn’t get you too bad, did I?”Mukuro rubbed the painful spot, “Hi, Junko-chan. Do you need something?”Junko nodded and pushed past her, standing in the centre of the room, “Can I see what you’ve packed so far? I want to be able to coordinate our outfits!”Mukuro blinked and turned around, closing the door as she did so, “What?”“Your hearing is getting worse and worse,” Junko responded, “I said that I want our outfits to be coordinated!”Mukuro shook her head, “No, I heard that. What the hell are you talking about?”Junko rolled her eyes, “Uh, the class trip? What else would I mean?”Mukuro furrowed her brow, “What class trip? I don’t have a clue what’s going on right now.”“Hold on,” Junko said, reaching into her bra and producing a piece of crumpled paper. Mukuro scowled as her sister handed it to her, to which Junko stuck out her tongue, “I don’t have any pockets in this stupid thing! Where else am I supposed to store my crap?”Mukuro unraveled the paper. It looked to be a standard field trip sign up sheet. As she read through it, she recognized it as the two week trip to Kyoto that had been advertised during the beginning of the year that she had ignored. Two weeks wasn’t a long time to be away for - her Fenrir training used to have her working for months at a time - but she had no interest in the trip as a whole.“I didn’t sign up for this,” she mumbled.Junko bounced on her heels, “I handed in forms for both of us. I thought it would be a fun experience for us.”Mukuro flipped the page, then said, “This requires a student signature to- Did you forge my signature for this?!”“Maybe,” Junko admitted. At the sight of her twin’s fallen face, she added, “Listen, it’s gonna be great! There’s gonna be a trip into Nijojo Castle… You like nerdy historical stuff, right?”Mukuro replied, “History is cool.”Junko stuck out her tongue, “Wrong! There’s other, cooler stuff too, like a fancy dinner event. Plus, the whole class is going. If you didn’t come with us, then you’d be all alone for two weeks.”Mukuro sighed and slumped against the door, “You’re not going to leave unless I start packing for this trip, are you?”Junko replied, “Nope.”“When is it?” Mukuro asked, half to herself as she examined the paper again.Junko said, “We leave tomorrow at nine! Better rise and shine early, Muku-chan!”Mukuro rubbed her temples, “Great. Why am I letting you do this?”Junko giggled, “Because you care about your little sister’s happiness! Thanks, nee-chan! Also, don’t pack that camo jacket you have. It’s super ugly and it doesn’t go with anything I own.”“You wound me,” Mukuro muttered, moving away from the door and over to her closet. As she pulled open the doors and tugged out the one suitcase she had, Junko made her way towards the door.“Thank you~!” she called out, “I’ll come by early tomorrow so that I can critique what you packed.”Mukuro rolled her eyes again as her sister made her exit. She waited a couple moments as her sister’s footsteps echoed in the hallway, then pulled her camouflage jacket out of her closet and shoved it into her suitcase out of spite.-[[Hey, Junko-chan?]][[owo?]][[Never mind.]][[i’m HURT]][[I don’t have the energy to talk to you anymore.]][[:c]]Mukuro shoved her phone back in her tote bag, despite the message alerts that continued to appear on her phone from Junko. While she had initially planned to ask about how much longer the bus ride would be, she decided that it really wasn’t worth it.Whatever. Maybe she could actually get some sleep during the time remaining.Her plans to nap were soon interrupted by the frequency of the messages on her phone. Mukuro yanked out her headphones and pulled her phone out of her bag, scowling. In the past eight minutes, she had missed fifteen texts from Junko.[[what the hell don’t ignore me]][[i make one joke and you lose it!!!!]][[you’re going to RUIN this trip >:c]][[i’m sorry that was mean]][[muku-chan?]][[muku-chan!!!!!]][[IM SORRY OKAY PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!!!]][[listen i promise this is gonna be the greatest trip ever but only bc ur there]][[i don’t know what i’d do without you okay]][[you’re the greatest sibling ever!!!!!!!]][[please please please don’t hate me]][[I LOVE YOU OKAY]][[MUKU-CHAN!!!!!!]][[i look up to you way more than i’d like to admit.]][[im sorry :c]]And one text from Naegi.[[ah, hey Ikusaba-san!! i hope i’m not bothering you but, well, Enoshima-san is crying and i don’t know what to do. please help]]Mukuro fired back a quick text to Naegi, then opened her messages to her sister once more.[[I was trying to sleep. Sorry if I worried you.]][[NEVER DO THAT EVER AGAIN]][[i mean]][[sorry for freaking out dfghjkl]]Mukuro rolled her eyes, then sent a heart emoji before shutting off her phone. Maybe now she could actually fall asleep, though considering how bumpy the bus was, she kind of doubted it.-The bus came to a sudden stop, jolting Mukuro awake. She didn’t have a clue how long she had been asleep for, and quickly dabbed at her mouth with her sleeve, hoping that she wasn’t drooling. According to Junko, she had a bad habit of doing that when she slept.Her classmate’s chatter was loud as they pressed their noses against the bus windows. Mukuro wearily glanced over, only for her eyes to widen at the sight of the hotel that loomed before them.“We’re staying here?” she murmured to herself, “How expensive was this field trip?!”From the front of the bus, she heard her instructor’s voice above the calamity, which ceased after a moment. Koichi Kizakura, Class 78’s teacher, was leaning all too casually against one of the seats. With a slightly unsettling smile, he said, “Everyone, please exit the bus in a manner befitting a student of Hope’s Peak Academy. In the hotel lobby, your room assignments will be given to you by Kirigiri-sensei. All your luggage has already been delivered to your rooms. And please, don’t embarrass the headmaster. He’s already dying of stress.”There were a couple uncomfortable laughs that soon quieted when they realized that Kizakura wasn’t entirely joking.Mukuro got to her feet, snatching her tote, and slid out of the aisle. One by one, the students exited the bus and headed for the lobby. As she hit the ground after leaping down the last couple stairs, Junko swung an arm around her neck.“Muku-chan~!” Junko sing-songed, “I missed you on the bus ride!”Mukuro freed herself from her sister’s iron grip, “Why didn’t you sit with me, then?”Junko shrugged, “I needed a change of pace, y’know? All you would have done was listen to your emo music the whole time anyways.”“It’s not emo!” Mukuro quickly defended, “And I would have talked to you, if you were there.”Junko tugged her into the lobby without responding.The black haired girl planned to argue, but all thoughts left her head at the sight of the lobby. High ceilings adorned with shining chandeliers perfectly complimented luxurious sofas and carpets. White marble pillars supported the room, and everything looked so expensive that she was terrified to touch it. It was absolutely the fanciest place that she had ever been in.“Wow…”Her classmates seemed to have the same impressions of the place - excluding Togami, who appeared to be bored.Out of the corner of her eye, Mukuro spotted someone waving. She turned to see Jin Kirigiri, the headmaster himself, holding a clipboard and looking ill. She grabbed Junko - who was still staring up at the chandeliers - by the wrist and pulled her over to where the headmaster was standing. The rest of her class soon followed suit.“Thank you very much,” he said, looking down at his clipboard, “I have your room assignments here. There will be no switching allowed, unless you personally come to me with a very good reason. ‘I don’t like this person,’ or ‘I want to be in a room with my friend,’ are not valid.”There were a couple disgruntled mutters within the crowd.The headmaster sighed, “I set up these assignments with the help of Kizakura-sensei, who helped me ensure that you would at least be paired with people that you do not despise. While you may not be with your best friend, you’ll still see them every day anyways. So don’t despair please.”“I do what I want,” Junko mumbled.He ignored her comment and began to read, “In room 4001, Asahina-san and Celeste-san.”Asahina seemed to deflate as she clutched Sakura’s arm.“Across the hall in 4002, Togami-kun and Kuwata-kun.”Mukuro heard a grumble from Leon that sounded suspiciously like a mean curse.“Oogami-san and Kirigiri-san are in 4003, and Hagakure-kun and Yamada-kun in 4004.”Mukuro gulped. She still had a chance of rooming with Junko, as there were only a few rooms left to assign. Of course, there was still the off chance that she would be thrown with someone she hardly knew. Admittedly, there were very few people in the class that she considered more than acquaintances.“Maizono-san and Ikusaba-san will be in 4005,” the headmaster read out, causing Mukuro’s breath to hitch.She glanced over at the blue haired girl, who seemed to take it well. Mukuro tried not to frown, but she knew absolutely nothing about Sayaka sans the fact that she was the Super High-School Level Idol, and that she was probably nice. Naegi was friends with her, but Naegi was friends with the whole class, it seemed.“-in 4006, Enoshima-san and Fukawa-san in 4007, and Ishimaru-kun and Oowada-kun in 4008. I hope this is satisfactory for you all.”Junko looked sadly over to Mukuro, “So close! I’ll be right next door though, in case you want to tap Morse Code on the wall at night.”Mukuro raised an eyebrow, “Since when do you know Morse Code?”“I don’t!” Junko beamed.Mukuro rolled her eyes, “Okay. Whatever, it’s not like we’ll be apart the entire time, like Kirigiri-sensei said. Maybe it’ll even be a… what did you say? A fun experience?”Junko nodded, the ends of her massive pigtails hitting Mukuro’s arm, “Yeah, yeah! I’m so proud of you, Muku-chan! Putting a positive spin on it and everything.”Mukuro smiled, then said, “We should get going. Don’t want to be left behind on the first day, right?”“Right!” Junko shouted, sprinting after the people who were already leaving.Mukuro jogged over to Sayaka, who was walking slowly, looking around at all the fancy decorations. She waited a moment, her breath shallow, then said, “Er, hi, Maizono-san.”Sayaka jumped, “Oh! Ikusaba-san, I didn’t realize that you were there, sorry!”Mukuro waved her hand, “It’s no problem. I just wanted to walk up with you, is all.”“I see!” Sayaka said, smiling widely. She quickened her pace to match Mukuro’s, as they headed for the staircase.For some reason, something about how the idol was acting made her nervous, and Mukuro didn’t have a clue why.