Recap / How I Met Your Mother (And How I Met Your Father) Despair Arc Chapter Seven: Junko’s Second Bonding Exercise!

Despair Arc Chapter Seven: Junko’s Second Bonding Exercise!

Original Release: September 21, 2020 (Fanfiction.net), September 22, 2020 (AO3)

Summary

To apologize for how her original Bonding Exercise caused Makoto and Sayaka to have a breakdown, Junko proposes a second one. Will the class agree?

Tropes

• Call-Forward: Junko suggests that everyone share their secrets as another bonding exercise, which would be used as the second motive for the Killing Game.
• Friendship Moment: When Junko tries to pry another secret out of Chihiro, despite everyone already knowing his biggest secret of being a Wholesome Crossdresser, Mondo and Makoto get Junko to stop messing with him.
  Junko: Alright Chihiro, what’s your secret?
  Chihiro: Well…my only real secret is that I’m a boy, and you guys already know that, so…
  Junko: Aww, come on, you must have some other secret to share! So…
  Makoto: Junko, stop it! Chihiro shared with us an extremely painful secret; it would be extremely distasteful of us to ask him to dig up more of them!
  Mondo: Makoto’s right! We agreed to this fuckin’ exercise to bond as a class, not to humiliate ourselves for your amusement, Junko! So give Chihiro a free pass, okay?!
  Chihiro: Makoto… Mondo… Thank you…
• Internal Reveal: While everyone's revealing their secrets to each other, some of these secrets (Mondo's, Celeste's, Chihiro's, Toko's, and Makoto's) should already be known to those whose played the first game.
• Open Secret: When Celeste reveals that "Celestia Ludenberg" wasn't her real name, no one's really surprised about it.
• Pet the Dog: When Aoi becomes sad while talking about her previous weight issues, Byakuya (in his own way) gives her some reassurance.
  Byakuya: Hmph, that’s your embarrassing secret? How plebian…
  Aoi: What did you say, you jerk?
  Byakuya: Obesity is a such a common fear among the 99% that it’s not even worth worrying about in here. And obviously your training regimen has worked, so clearly you’ve been more successful at beating it than most commoners…
  Aoi: O…oh…
• The Reveal: Outside of Chihiro and Toko, who's secrets are already known to everyone, everyone else reveal their secrets:
  • Junko: Her and Mukuro were homeless, though it's unknown whether or not it's actually true.
  • Sayaka: She had to pose naked for photos for a porno magazine when she started her idol career.
  • Leon: His first kiss was with his cousin Kanon, though he clarified that it was a Forceful Kiss from her.
  • Mondo: He accidentally caused the death of his brother Daiya.
  • Taka: He cheated on one of his tests in elementary school.
  • Hifumi: He used to hate anime and manga until he happened upon Princess Piggles.
  • Celeste: Her name is actually "Taeko Yasuhiro" instead of "Celestia Ludenberg".
  • Sakura: She used to be a bully before she met her boyfriend Kenshiro.
  • Aoi: She got into sports because she used to be overweight from eating donuts and tried to lose weight.
  • Byakuya: He never knew his mother.
  • Hiro: He only washes his hair once a season^note Once every three months.
  • Kyoko: She's ticklish (She omitted talking about her burnt hands).
  • Makoto: He used to wet the bed until the fifth grade.