A trip to the kitchen

Makoto honestly wasn't sure how he was going to manage any of this. Sure, he could stumble into it. He WAS the ultimate lucky student. But he never exactly felt all that lucky.

That said, he also had next to no idea how he could possibly arrange for any of these events to happen. How was he supposed to see Celeste with her hair down? Or Toko without glasses? Break into thier rooms at night? Yeah right. That was his thought process, anyway.

Thankfully, he stumbled onto the perfect opportunity.

Makoto made his way into the kitchen, looking for something to snack on. He figured maybe a nutritious bite to eat would get a plan going for how he would accomplish any of this. Thankfully, he was luckier than he thought.

As he entered, he saw Kyoko. She was down on her hands and knees underneath one of the counters, digging around.

"Hey uh... Kyoko?" he questioned.

She didn't reply. She was in the zone. Makoto didn't exactly understand, and hadn't known her all that long, but he had seen her do this. She was so focused on whatever she was doing that his presence was irrelevant.

Makoto sighed and walked over to the fridge, opening it and beginning to scan through it. Grabbing a can of soda and an apple, Makoto began to walk off. As he stepped away from the fridge, Kyoko stood up.

"Oh. Makoto." she stated blandly.

"Hi. You seemed busy. I said hi to you but you were kinda distracted" he stammered

"Oh... Yes. I was investigating" she affirmed.

"Investigating what? The dish soap?"

Kyoko didn't realize he was joking. In fact, she barely registered what had come from his mouth. Instead she brushed by him, moving towards the sink. She looked underneath it, scanning.

"What are you doing now?" he asked. Again, no reply. "Kyoko!"

"Hm?" she responded

"I asked what you're doing now."

She pulled up from the underside of the sink and lowered her head down into the basin, looking at the drain.

"It seems normal but... hm... Does this sink seem strange to you?" she asked.

Makoto had no clue what she was getting at. On instinct he turned the handle. He could hear the water coming up through the pipe, slowly.

"No. Seems normal to me--" he said, before the water came rushing out and smacking Kyoko in the back of the head

"Ah!" she groaned as the cold water slammed into her.

"Oh! Oh crap! I am so sorry! Are you okay?!" he asked. But there was no reply. Kyoko just... remained there. Her head under the faucet. Water running down the back of her head. Some going down her neck, some dripping into the sink below.

"U-uh... Kyoko?" he asked.

"Action Successful" Kyoko droned, in a voice much more monotonous than usual. "Passive Trigger Unlocked: Attendant. Cleanup time: Two minutes"

"Wait... did I just..?" Makoto said, a bit of excitement in his voice.

He looked at his handbook, and Kyoko's status had updated.

The first thing that he noticed was that the action required for a new trigger from Kyoko had changed.

(1) Kyoko Kirigiri: Distract her when she's focused. (Red)

"Wait... THAT is a red?" he thought to himself "Well... I guess it does seem hard to distract her."

He scrolled down to see her current triggers.

Kyoko Kirigiri Triggers:

- Attendant (Passive): You've gained a new follower!

"What does that even mean?" he muttered aloud.

"What does what mean?" a voice called out from behind him.

"WAAH!" Makoto boomed, jumping back in fear. Turning to see Monokuma behind him.

"Hey hey there Mr. Scaredy!" he teased

"Not funny, Monokuma!" Makoto hissed. "But since you're here, I have questions"

"Maybe I have answers! Or maybe I have more questions... I can never tell" Mokokuma said in his usual blissfully ignorant way.

"First: What is wrong with her?" he asked, pointing to Kyoko, whose head was still under the running water.

"Oh! That? Well she's in cleanup! Everyone around you will freeze in their tracks during cleanup time. It lets you undo whatever you did to get a trigger unlocked. Pretty nifty, right? Riiiiight?"

Makoto sighed. "It was helpful but I wish he was less... himself.. about it" he thought.

"That all? We're running out of time before she uh... wakes up. Phuhuhuh."

"One more thing. What does this trigger mean?" he asked.

"What what? It means what it says! You have a new follower!" Monokuma laughed.

"That doesn't help me!"

"Oh come on kid! You're really ruffling my fur here. Be adventurous! See for yourself! BUT I will give you a liiiittle tidbit..."

Makoto sat and waited in anticipation.

"Each girls triggers are a little... specific" he said

"Specific?"

"Well... they all fall under certain categories. For example; maybe one girls' triggers all make her an exhibitionist or something. And each girl has her own. You just got your little toes wet with Kyoko here. And speaking of wet. You miiiight want to turn that water off" he snickered

Makoto turned and rushed to Kyoko's side, slamming the valve closed as the water came to a stop.

"Seeee ya later!" Monokuma laughed as he vanished.

Makoto sat in silence for another few seconds before Kyoko's hands reached up and grabbed her hair. She sat up, confused.

"How did I..?" she started to question.

"Uh... while you were investigating the sink it turned on?" Makoto lied, trying to sound convincing.

Kyoko looked towards the sink, then to Makoto as she rung out her hair. The two stood there in silence for a bit.

"Well?" she asked after a time

"Well what?"

"Well where to next?"

Makoto looked at her in confusion

"Uh... you were the one looking around though" he said

"Right. We were looking around. You're the one leading here. I'm just following you" she said.

It struck Makoto right then and there. "You've gained a new follower". She was just gonna... follow him around? Was that really it?

"Well we should... go to the cafeteria next." he said.

As he began walking towards the door, Kyoko rushed ahead and opened the door for him. He didn't think it was strange until he tried to sit down, and she ran over to pull his seat out.

"Attendant" he thought to himself "So she's kind of like... a really polite NPC companion from a game"

"Hey Kyoko... why are you following me around?" he asked

"What a strange question. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked

"If I told you not to follow me, would you?"

"I suppose. At least until you asked me to follow you again. But... I'm not sure how I'd feel about it..." she said, ponderously.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just you mentioning me leaving your side made me feel... strange." she said, beginning to think hard "I wonder why that is?"

Makoto was fine with this. She wasn't exactly going to be an issue. If anything he could use her to unwittingly help him with the other girls.

The two sat there in the dining hall as Makoto ate his apple in silence. As he finished, Kyoko took the core and threw it away for him.

With his first trigger done, and an "attendant" now obtained...