Shuichi heads out for one mission, but lucks out on another one first

Shuichi left the dormitories, still thinking about the strangeness of the clue he'd lucked out on. Was there even any point in understanding this nearly magical technology that the mastermind used to imprison them? So what if there was a cold wall? It probably didn't point towards anything important.

He found his mind leaving that subject as he noticed the huge frame of Gonta Gokuhara, sitting peacefully in the center courtyard and "communing with nature," surrounded by a gathering swarm of butterflies. It didn't look like the kind of scenario that would be comfortable for anyone but a true bug enthusiast like the Ultimate Entomologist. The boy was tremendous, with a dark brown student's uniform strained across his bulging muscles. That wild, brown hair and his eerie red eyes, along with that body of his, made him intimidating... That was probably why he was alone out here while most of the others were eating lunch together. Knowing what he knew now, Shuichi wouldn't hesitate to approach Gonta, if his time wasn't on such a premium.

Seeing Gonta at ease like this began to give him an odd feeling... Maybe, whatever the end motivation of the mastermind, they'd actually done some good? This was a chance for Gonta to live with the others again without being **** to commit a terrible ****. This wasn't a young man who was a born killer... even at the end, Gonta had been driven by the best of intentions.

In that moment of doubt, a voice suddenly came over the loudspeakers. For a second, Shuichi was certain it was Erokuma, but the voice was actually the nervous rattling of K1-B0. "Everyone! Please, come to the school gymnasium! I have something important to talk to all of you about! And please, don't think anything like 'of course he wants to schedule a meeting during lunch time, he's a robot, so he doesn't need to eat.' Just because I'm a robot doesn't mean I want to have a school meeting during lunch! But this is a necessary evil! How does Monokuma keep these announcements so short? I- gack! I bit my tongue! Luckily, my tongue is reinforced to be stronger than any human muscle... but my teeth are also reinforced to be stronger than any human teeth! Aaieee!"

Shuichi smiled awkwardly as he watched the school building. He wished K1-B0 wouldn't act on his own like that, but he had even less of an idea than the others what was going on right now and probably wanted to make sense of it all. As long as Shuichi could still keep Himiko at pool-side, this actually worked out for the best; it'd keep distractions away while he focused on the missions he needed to complete.

Speaking of missions, he'd already made some progress without even trying to. Shuichi nearly tripped over onto the stone pathway as he ran crotch-first into Monodam, who'd suddenly popped up standing in front of him. "M-Monodam!" he gasped, recoiling slightly and clutching both hands over his throbbing groin.

"NEGATIVE. I-AM-EROTIC-ROBOT-ERODAM. YOU-MUST-HAVE-APPRECIATED-MY-MISSION. YOU-COMPLETED-IT-SO-QUICKLY." The bear stared expressionless at Shuichi as the boy raised his eyebrows in confusion. When Shuichi didn't answer, Erodam continued. "YOU'VE-EARNED-'ANYTIME-DIRTY-TALK.' I-AM-NOT-ALLOWED-TO-TELL-YOU-WHAT-IT-DOES-IN-SPECIFIC-TERMS-BEYOND-THOSE-GIVEN. BUT-YOU-CAN-READ-ABOUT-IT-USING-THE-EROPAD."

Shuichi nodded, then pulled out his school memo. Indeed, it seemed his active triggers had some new text:

Level 1 Anytime Dirty Talk: Activate by cupping your hand to your ear and pointing it towards the target. Assigned to the first target its used upon. The target will never be aware of this Trigger's use, but others around will notice it. Being informed of this Trigger's use will cause the target to interpret it as a slip of the tongue. Repeated use of this Trigger will allow you to assign it to more people. Levels up quickly.

This was the type of thing that was hard to think of any practical use for. Furthermore, there were at least a few around here that were always speaking in sexual terms or innuendos anyway... what would it even do to tell them to talk dirty? "Thanks..?" Shuichi spoke tentatively, tilting his cap down and feeling awkward, both for receiving such a lewd gift and because showing any sort of gratitude towards one of the Erokubs felt off.

"REMEMBER-MY-KINDNESS-HUMAN."

With that, Erodam disappeared, vanishing in a puff of green smoke. Shuichi frowned, now wondering who among his classmates would make sense to assign this to. Should he put it on Himiko, since he'd be interacting with her alone in a moment? It could be a good and relatively harmless chance to test out the Triggers. He decided to wait for now... If possible, he didn't want to put Triggers on anyone. Besides... The thought of Himiko's pouty lips saying dirty things to him was just too weird.

Soon enough, he reached the pool. His eyes widened at what was waiting for him there: the Ultimate Magician had already changed into a blue, one-piece school swimsuit and was standing, dipping her toes into the pool with a look of amazement on her face. "Nyeeeh...!" she gasped to herself, pulling her bare toe back up and then crouching to inspect the water.

Himiko's body wasn't exactly erotic. Even though he'd been assured she was eighteen now, she was small, with unimpressive breasts compared to someone like Miu or Tsumugi. Still... there was a certain appeal in seeing her dressed up in that childish swimsuit, with her bare legs gathered beneath her in a crouch as her butt dipped low towards the pool tile. It didn't look like she was wet, so she probably hadn't actually gone in yet.

Shuichi's stomach was suddenly tied in knots. This would be the perfect opportunity, wouldn't it? He could finish his mission to make her fall into the pool so easily...

He almost felt like he was a murderer, finding the perfect opportunity to orchestrate a kill. It was too good to pass up. Telling himself that this was for everyone's safety, Shuichi walked up quickly without announcing himself and tilting his cap down, as if that would hide his face if anyone was to see him commit the crime. With no warning, the boy reached out, putting his hands onto the other girl's narrow, bare shoulders, then shoved.

"NYEEEH!"

Just like that, Himiko was in the pool. The splash when she hit was so pathetic, it reminded him how light her body was, but it had been pretty comical to watch; she did a perfect flip and rolled forward, hitting the water face-first with her body clutched into a ball.

Immediately afterward, Shuichi regretted his decision. The first reason: because Erosuke didn't appear to award him with anything like Monodam had. The second: because the moment Himiko resurfaced, she didn't rush over to scold him, but instead slapped her hands up and down against the water like a helpless drowner. "Nyeeeh! I can't swim! I'm a goner! I can't believe I'm getting killed this way after I survived the whole game!" she complained, trying to reach for something to hold onto. The pool ledge was just like a foot away... Surely she could grab it?

As her head began to disappear beneath the water, Shuichi realized that wasn't the case. Thinking quickly, he recognized his duty towards her safety before everything else and began to pull himself out of his jacket, his shoes, and his hat, then, cursing, his slacks as well, until all he had on was his black-and-white checked boxers and white undershirt. He couldn't afford to let anything get water damage, whether it was the Eropad or the panties he'd collected so far. He dove into the pool after her, then grabbed one arm around hers. Like a parent rescuing a child from the deep end, he dutifully tugged her towards the shallow side of the pool, while trying to withstand rains of blows from her wildly slapping hands.

It turned out to be too much of a task... He was one of the weakest boys in the school. At this rate, he'd drown along with her! As soon as he was far enough in to do so, he grabbed her flailing arms close to her body, then hugged her into a cradle so he could carry her that way. It was awkward, holding her close while she was clad in just a swimsuit.

"Nyeh, wait... I'll make it easier..." It seemed Himiko didn't object to the way she was being carried and appreciated having a way out of the water. She quickly rearranged her limbs so that her hands were upon his shoulders and her legs were to either side of his body.

Without thinking about it, Shuichi put his hands below her hips to support her.

"N-Nyeh! That's my butt!" Himiko cried, wriggling and red-faced as the boy's hands carelessly rested upon the rear end of her swimsuit.

The boy's eyes widened; there was something important in what just happened, but all he could think about was his regret for stepping out of line. "Agh! Sorry!" Shuichi apologized, dropping her suddenly into the shallow water. They'd nearly reached the shallowest part of the water already.

"My feet still can't touch the bottom! It's not safe yet!"

Sighing, Shuichi dragged her a bit further until they were sitting on the steps down into the shallow end.

Finally, Himiko too breathed a sigh of relief. She then began to clobber Shuichi with her fists. "Shuichiii, nyeeeh! You pushed me into the pool, didn't you?! You know I can't swim!" she complained, doing as much damage as her scrawny arms could manage.

Unable to tell her the real reason, the Ultimate Detective shielded himself with his arms. "I-I was just playing around! You looked so interested in the pool and I forgot you couldn't!" he protested.

"Liar! You're too boring to ever play around, nyeh. I'll bet you just got clumsy and bumped me. That's more in character for you." She seemed to be tiring herself out hitting him, so slowly, she gave up, slumped her shoulders and rested her hands upon her bare thighs. "... You touched my butt though, nyeh."

"... Sorry." The boy reached to tilt his cap over his eyes, then found it missing. It had been in the heat of the moment, but he had to admit, hoisting around her small body and feeling that soft part of her skinny figure had been a good reminder of a certain type of femininity that she had. Awkwardly, he sat in silence, expecting some further retribution for his actions.

"... I gave you a boner?"

Suddenly red-faced, the boy allowed his eyes to shoot down over his clothing. The boxer shorts, wet and flattened to his body, did a poor job of hiding his erection, which had surprisingly awakened at the sight and feeling of the clumsy, useless Ultimate Magician in a swimsuit. "No, this is-!"

"It's okay, Shuichi. I get it," she responded, crossing her arms across her meager chest and smirking. Rather than offended, she seemed a little proud of what she'd accomplished. "Nyeh... As the Ultimate Magician, I'm used to that kind of attention. It's hard for mudbloods to resist when they're in the presence of a real master of magic. Just don't get handsy again or I'll use my magic to punish you. I'll turn you into a three-bean salad."

"W-Why a three-bean salad?"

"Nyeh! Don't question my magic! It works how it works, okay? If my magic wasn't so drained, I'd make it four-bean or five-bean!"

Laughing awkwardly, Shuichi crossed both hands over his lap and waited for his manhood to calm down. In the end, with his damp underclothes sticking to the shape of his pale body, he'd probably ended up giving Himiko more of a show than she had him... "Why were you so interested in the pool, anyway?"

"It just occurred to me: back at the original school, we were forbidden from ever swimming in it. Here, there's no sign like that. It means we can swim all we want. I can't swim, nyeh, but just knowing I could kind of made me want to try... And you were taking too long... So I put on a swimsuit to try it out."

"That was dangerous. What if dipping your toe in had gotten you punished by Monokuma?" Shuichi questioned.

"But he didn't show up, did he? I think he might really be gone..." The smile on Himiko's plump lips at that thought was so peaceful, it was as though she'd already stopped thinking about how they ended up at this strange reconstruction or what the mastermind's real plans might be. "If anything was dangerous, I guess it was planning on swimming when nobody was around to fish me out, nyeh."

Shuichi felt his heart sinking, wishing he could tell his friend that Monokuma was alive and well. Knowing the restrictions were still in place, he instead went to towel off and change back into his things.