"Wow! Another fun day!" Maki fell back on the couches again

"You're telling me," Kirumi smiled at her

"Hey guys, I think some of us are missing," Tenko pointed

Kokichi then proceeded to count everyone that was present in the lounge in a very exaggerated way,
"Hmmm, there's only 13 of us! What a shame, looks like 5 of us were already killed off!"

"You shouldn't joke about that," Kaede told him as she walked into the room

"Kids these days," Merodi sighed as she followed behind but instead of joining the cast on the couches, she leaned against a counter

"Hey, where's the others?" Ryoma asked them

"Beats me, probably hanging around somewhere," Merodi shrugged as she took out a can of soda out from the mini fridge

"Like Ibuki and Sayori-" Kokichi said before Kaito slapped his mouth harshly

"Did someone say Sayori?!" Kireina skipped in happily, though she was completely covered in splatters of paint

"Did someone say hanging?" Ketsueki marched in almost immediately after

"Anyways, we're here," Kiibo announced as he walked in, covered in splatters of paint too

"So no need to worry," Tsuki sighed as she entered the room, a few small cuts on her face

"Woah, what the hell happened to you?" Gonta looked at the two as they sat on the couches

"Kireina wanted me to watch her while she painted," Kiibo explained, scratching a few dots of dried paint on his blazer

"I was training with Karadashi, hence the minor injuries," Tsuki leaned against the couch

"...Yeah I'm not going with Ketsueki anytime soon," Kokichi commented

"Watch your mouth you rat," Ketsueki snapped from the other side of the room

"So where's Angie-chan and Tori-kun?" Maki asked

"We're here," Angie walked in, Tanoshi trailing behind slightly

"Yeah, sorry for being late. Angie didn't want to go until she finished the first castle in Mario," Tanoshi laughed

"Shut up!"

"Forgive me for making us both late," Kira spoke as she and Tori came in, "Blame me for the delay,"

"Hey, how comes you guys have fun with them?!" Shuichi complained

"We weren't having fun," Angie crossed her arms, "We just did some coding, nothing fun,"

"Apart from us playing video games," Tanoshi laughed as Angie tried to kick him

"I wasn't having fun! Merodi kept yelling at me every time I pressed a wrong note on the piano!" Kaede insisted

"Hey! It's not my fault you couldn't remember where Middle fucking C was!" Merodi interjected

"Kira just taught me some basic skills for planning out tactics," Tori explained

"Yeah, nothing much. Just top tips because of his upcoming ultimate talent," Kira agreed

"Kireina wanted to show me some of her drawings as well as watching her paint," Kiibo told everyone

"Yup yup! Nothing suspicious!" Kireina grinned

"Like I said, I was training. Unless you enjoy being slammed to the ground, it wasn't fun," Tsuki sighed

"Does anyone else feel like they want to challenge me?" Ketsueki smirked

"Nope," Everyone looked away from the serial killer

"Jeez Kireina, you're covered in paint," Merodi pointed out the obvious as she picked out pieces of dried paint from Kireina's blue hair

"I'm sorry! I guess I got too excited because Kiibo-kun was watching me!" she cried out

"Hmm? Already calling one of those kids by nicknames?" Ketsueki laughed, "But seriously, go take a shower, Loli,"

"Yeah, it's best you clean yourself off," Kira advised

"But I don't wanna miss anything exciting!" Kireina whined, "I always miss out on everything!"

"We promise we won't do anything exciting while you're gone," Tanoshi reassured her

"Go on now," Merodi gently but firmly pushed Kireina away

"You better keep your promise!" Kireina cried as she rushed away

"Make sure to wash your hair!" Merodi shouted after her

"Great, now the child is gone," Kokichi grinned slightly

"Don't you guys sometimes get sick of looking after her so much?" Miu asked them

"Nah not really. Guess we all took on the role of being adults and taking care of them," Merodi picked at her nails

"Can't complain though, without her, the group wouldn't feel the same," Tanoshi smiled

"Sure she's annoying but like what the gamer dude said, it wouldn't be the same without her," Ketsueki crossed her arms but her face softened

"I'm sure some of us wouldn't admit it but we all enjoy looking after her," Kira laughed slightly

"Yeah but for some reason she took a real shine to me," Merodi said with hints of a smile on her face

"Which I still don't understand because I'm nicer than you," Tanoshi scowled bitterly

"I mean, who wouldn't love me?" Merodi smirked, "Apart from you of course,"

Tanoshi rolled his eyes as he drained a whole can of coke.

"Jeez, do you guys always argue like this?" Kaede asked

"Yes," All four of them instantly replied

"Maybe it would work much better if you all had something in common," Ryoma suggested, "That's not Danganronpa,"

"What are you talking about?" Tsumugi butted in, "These kinds of friendship groups are the best! The ones where all the friends are so different! You know, like the gang in Higurashi When They Cry?"

"Yet another anime reference none of us gets," Kokichi yawned

"Wait, you know Higurashi?" Ketsueki looked at Tsumugi, "Wait, what am I saying? Of course a weeb like you would know it!"

"Why do I feel like she only likes it for the gore?" Kaito muttered

"Hey guys! I'm back I'm back I'm back!" Kireina shouted as she ran into the room, dressed in what everyone assumed was night clothes and her blue hair still dripping with water.

"Loli, did you even dry your hair?" Ketsueki looked at her

"I told you all already! I wanted you guys to do it! You make me look so nice when you do it!" Kireina then shoved a dry towel and hairbrush at Merodi, "Please please please do the special hairstyle again!"

"God, you're so demanding," Merodi sighed but she dried off Kireina's hair and started brushing it

Kireina however, was moving her arms in a weird animated sort of manner. She kept moving a lot so Merodi had to grip onto her tightly so she could actually brush the knots out.

"Kireina, seriously, stop moving. You're making my life hard," she told her

"Sorry! I was just copying the moves from this cool team!" Kireina jumped up and down before Merodi had to force her to calm down

"Why are you copying moves from a lame team when you already got one right here?" Ketsueki looked at her, crossing her arms

"But you guys don't do cool stuff like they do!"

"The fuck are you talking about?! We go on fucking missions for your information!"

"Who is this team you're talking about?" Miu asked Kireina

"HRTT of course!" Kireina then imitated a few more moves but it just looked like she was swinging her arms wildly, "They're so cool!"

"Heart? I've never heard of that before," Kiibo said

"Oh! You mean HRTT, the anime team with these four cool heroes right?!" Tsumugi jumped up in excitement

"Yep yep! They're the best!"

"Doesn't that anime have a lot of killings in it?" Angie muttered

"Well, you are talking to a survivor of Danganronpa..." Tori told her

"Hey Kireina, Ketsueki is right. You already have your own personal team right here," Tanoshi smiled at her

"Can you do the super cool tactical moves?" Kireina asked him, "Do you have their super cool weapons? Oh! My favourite weapon is the one with the fans! It's so cool! You should see it in action!"

"Oh my god, yes! But all the weapons are equally amazing!" Tsumugi leaned forward to discuss the anime with Kireina

"Well we might not have all their weapons and we may not be able to pull off all those stunts but we're still a good team," Kira spoke, "Ketsueki can protect all of us at the same time, I can get us out of any sticky situation, Tanoshi is able to code entire Danganronpa seasons, Merodi can play pretty much any instrument in the world and your art skills are way advanced for someone like you,"

"Really?" Kireina's eyes shone in admiration

"How about you guys make a team name for yourselves?" Ryoma suggested

"Oh yay! Let's see. HRTT is built up on the first letter of their names," Kireina told them

"So that's, K, K, M, T and K," Kaede said, "Not much we can work with,"

"How about last names?" Maki then thought hard, "It's A, O, G, G and K, right?"

"Yeah but still something we can't work with," Merodi said as she braided Kireina's hair into a crown braid, wrapped it around her forehead and pinned it in place.

"Oh! I got it! I got it!" Kireina excitedly jumped up and down, "How about we use our talents then?!"

"Hmm, good idea Loli," Ketsueki admitted, "How about MMATE?"

"I get it, Team MMATE," Gonta realised the meaning of it, "As in 'teammate',"

"I think we all got it before you," Angie yawned as she leaned on her hand

"What does it stand for then?" Himiko asked them

The 5 past survivors of Danganronpa looked at each other. A silent understanding passed between all of them as they all smiled and turned back to the teenagers.

"M for Murder," Ketsueki smirked

"M for Music," Merodi winked at them

"A for Anime or Art!" Kireina clapped her hands

"T for Technician," Tanoshi gave a thumbs up

"And E for Escape," Kira smiled as she finished it off

"Team MMATE... It has a nice ring to it," Kaito said

"Can we call you that from now on?!" Shuichi asked them but he was shouting in excitement

"You know what? That's going to be our name from now on," Ketsueki cracked her knuckles

"Yeah, it sounds like a good team name," Tanoshi smiled

"It shows that we will always be together, no matter what," Kira sighed gently in a nostalgic way

"But you're only allowed to call us by that if you're not going to use our actual names!" Merodi told them

"Yay! Konichuwa everyone! We are Team MMATE!" Kireina cheered, "It's a pleasure meeting all of you!"