A New Body, A Lingering Past

I locked the door behind me and stepped into the bathroom, ready for a shower, yet like a virgin, I hesitated to shed my underwear.

Perhaps I was confronting the monster within, or maybe I was simply too shy to proceed.

Ahem, regardless, I had been a virgin before, and facing this situation was proving utterly overwhelming.

However, shyness would solve nothing, so I resolved to appreciate my body as it was!

****

The impact was immense! Overwhelming!

My face flushed crimson, burning hot, while my hands, driven by an almost desperate hunger, traced its contours. What—what was this sensation?! An inexplicable rush of excitement and stimulation surged through my mind, like a tempestuous wave crashing forth with the force of a charging tiger!

Unable to suppress my curiosity, I gave the adorable one a gentle squeeze!!…

Before I knew it, I found myself instinctively crouching on the floor.

What… what was this?! Why were my legs involuntarily weakening?! The sensation had been akin to an electric current spreading from below, tingling deliciously throughout my entire body! Utterly addictive!

Ah, I was utterly done for…

If this continued, I truly might perish; I had to stop myself in time…

As I turned on the shower and rinsed my body, my hand glided over my smooth back, and then I felt a strange sense of… dissonance.

It was a scar, approximately ten centimeters long.

Scars form during the repair process of collagen fibers. Generally, even a moderately severe knife wound, if treated properly, would not leave an unsightly mark. However, if the wound becomes infected by other factors or suffers secondary trauma during the healing process, scar formation becomes an inevitable consequence.

Could it be that…

I lowered my gaze, inspecting every part of my body, and discovered unsightly scars beneath both my forearms.

What kind of suffering had this girl endured in her past? Somehow, the more I pondered it, the more my head throbbed. I simply couldn’t recall any past memories, as if they had been deliberately erased.

****

“My dear girl, you must have endured immense hardship to live until now…”

“Since that is the case, rest easy and depart. I will protect this body for you!”

Gently, I embraced ‘myself’ with both hands, and at the same time, I felt ‘myself’ embracing me in return.

Nearly an hour had passed by the time I finished my shower.

Opening the wardrobe, I searched for a change of clothes, only to find that everything was the same style as what I was currently wearing. Did this mean I could only wear skirts?

And… this… bra? How was I supposed to wear it?

For the sake of future convenience, I dedicated nearly half an hour to studying it, finally grasping its mechanism precisely at ten o’clock.

[Ding-dong… Ding-dong]

“Oh… the school broadcast. It’s ten o’clock at night. We are now entering ‘Nighttime’. The restaurant doors will soon be locked, and entry is forbidden to everyone.”

Monokuma, it seemed, had installed monitors and surveillance cameras everywhere; there was absolutely no privacy. This feeling of being constantly and comprehensively monitored, without a single blind spot, was profoundly unsettling.

Still in my underwear, I climbed into bed and switched off the lights. My long-standing habit of staying up late meant I felt no trace of sleepiness.

I tossed and turned, growing increasingly restless, my chest feeling particularly stuffy and uncomfortable. Driven by this vexation, I removed the bear-bra and set it aside. Freed from its confines, I instantly felt an immense coolness and ease! Perhaps I should just sleep like this from now on… Furthermore, resetting a chaotic biological clock was bound to be an agonizing process…

No, forcing myself to sleep felt utterly tormenting. I retrieved the electronic student ID from my pocket. While it was called a phone, it barely qualified, displaying neither time nor date, and possessing only the functions to view personal profiles and take photos—not even a simple game.

Ah… how I longed for my phone and computer games, and I wondered how my family back home was doing…

If only everything I was experiencing now were fictitious. I pinched my thigh with a little force, “Hiss!”

The real pain, transmitted through various sensors to my brain, confirmed that I was not in a fictional world; this was reality…

After my internal struggle, a hint of drowsiness finally crept over me, and my eyes peacefully closed.

****

“Good morning, everyone! It’s morning, 7 AM! Time to get up~ So, let’s go all out today, too~!” Monokuma drawled lazily from his rocking chair.

I gazed at the ceiling through bleary eyes. Back home, whenever I overslept, my mom would always be the one to wake me; now, Monokuma had become my mother. What a… what a niche joke…

Rising from bed, I stretched languidly, then, as usual, headed to the restroom to attend to nature’s call.

Still half-asleep, I groggily lifted the toilet lid, then reached for my “little brother”… Ah, it was gone.

I stood frozen before the toilet for roughly ten seconds, during which I contemplated the major affairs of my life.

Ultimately, I conceded to reality, removing my underwear and sitting on the toilet. After all, true strength lies in never complaining about one’s circumstances. I could still accept a change of this magnitude.

I used tissue to wipe myself clean, then dressed, washed my face, and brushed my teeth, before heading to the mirror to tidy my appearance. Between letting my hair down or tying it up, I leaned towards my initial impression, so I used the red hair tie I had used previously to secure my hair.

I had always wanted to complain about one thing regarding hair: washing and styling long hair was exceptionally troublesome! Now, I could personally attest to the struggles girls faced with their appearance; girls took far more effort in getting ready than boys.

I considered cutting my hair short, but then quickly dismissed the thought. For what truly accentuated a girl’s beauty was her exquisite, veil-like hair! If I were to do that, how could I ever do justice to ‘her’ long hair, which she had grown out since childhood?

To adapt to future life, I could only silently endure and grow accustomed to it.

Glancing at the clock in the room, I saw that merely getting ready had already consumed twenty minutes.

I should head to the restaurant for a bite first…

The first sight that greeted me upon entering the restaurant was Chisaka Erin serving sashimi.

“Ah, Kamimura Anko. You’re here for breakfast, aren’t you? Please, take a seat and wait for a moment; I’m just finishing up everyone’s breakfast now,” she said with a smile.

“…Mm, you’re working hard, Chisaka Erin.”

“Hehe (＾ν＾), it’s no trouble at all.”

I glanced around, but no one else had arrived.

“Chisaka Erin, you’re truly an early riser. Did you always make breakfast at this hour every day before?”

“Yes, it’s a habit I developed from working as a waitress for a long time. Whether at home or at my part-time job, I always do my best to prepare breakfast for my family and customers.”

“Given how considerate you are, your family must cherish you deeply.”

“Yes, they cherish me deeply. Every day when I returned home, my parents would tell me, ‘You’ve worked hard, my daughter.’ Even for the most trivial things, my parents would pay special attention. But now… I don’t know how they are… They must be so worried about my whereabouts…”

“…I believe they will surely be alright. As long as we work together and escape from here, you will still have hope of seeing them.”

“Yes… as long as everyone works together, I will definitely, definitely see them.”

Chisaka Erin’s fervent hope intensified my own desire to escape. Indeed, powerful hope could serve as our wings of salvation; of this, I was absolutely convinced. I only prayed… I only prayed that each and every one of us could escape Monokuma’s clutches…