[MONOKUMA THEATRE]
"If you think your story is growing stagnant or boring, switch things up a little."
"Add dragons into the story."
"Even if you're writing a Workplace Health and Safety manual for your local accounting office, you can make it at least ten percent more exciting if you add dragons."
"Dragons are great."
"Switch out the protagonist for a boom mic. That also makes for an interesting story. The life of a boom mic is a story that's just begging to be written."
[MONOKUMA THEATRE]
I woke up and sat up in my bed, shoving the covers off of my body, before feeling a stabbing pain enter my skull.
Gah… another headache. Must've gotten up too fast.
I groaned, and laid back down on my bed, staring blankly at my ceiling while I waited for the pain to subside.
Waiting…
Waiting…
Waiting…
…
I heard my doorbell ring, and raised my head to it. "Er, come in?"
I got no response. Right… the doors lock and unlock with the key Monokuma gave me. Groaning, I stood up, vaguely aware I was a mess, and opened the door.
I probably should've guessed Hisoka would be on the other side.
"Morning, Maemi!" He greeted me. He looked as though a night's sleep did him well, at the very least. "Er, did you get enough sleep? You're a mess."
"Morning, Hisoka… I got enough sleep, but I just woke up, and I've got a massive headache," I replied.
"Ouch… I called out to you after ringing the doorbell, so that probably didn't help," Hisoka replied.
"I said you could come in after you did that. Even if the door was locked, shouldn't you have heard me and told me it was locked?" I asked.
"I should've… maybe our rooms are soundproof?" Hisoka suggested.
"Here, I'll close the door again, and we can test it," I said.
"What about your headache, Maemi?" Hisoka asked.
"I think it's going away… I should be fine now." I closed the door slowly, leaving open a crack to say one more thing. "Okay, take a deep breath, and then start screaming." I then shut the door entirely.
I took a deep breath, and then…
… started screaming at the top of my lungs, as loudly as I could. Wordlessly. Like I was being chased by a man with an axe and wearing a mask and desperately needed help… I screamed, and screamed, and screamed.
I couldn't hear Hisoka screaming on the other side.
Was I drowning him out? I stopped for a moment, and still heard nothing. Maybe he'd stopped as well? Had… had something happened to him…?
With trembling hands, I opened the door again.
"What the absolute fuck are you doing?" I heard a voice on the other side ask. Even from here, I could see Kokuro's black pigtails and black and white dress.
"Well… we thought the rooms were soundproof, so Maemi closed the door, and I started screaming at it," Hisoka explained. "I couldn't hear her on the other side, though."
"Bizarre behaviour. Why not just use your phone?" Kokuro asked, before placing a finger to her temple. "Though I suppose that it resulted in useful information." Kokuro dusted off her dress. "Whatever the case, I'm going to get breakfast."
So Hisoka was screaming on the other side…
"So… yeah, I think the rooms are soundproof. I couldn't hear you at all," I said.
"I wasn't able to hear you either. So, definitely soundproof," Hisoka said.
"Should we tell the others?" I asked.
"Well, yeah, but Kokuro's got the right idea. Let's get some breakfast first, considering we only had a coffee for dinner last night," Hisoka said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," I said, before heading towards the dining hall.
We arrived at the dining hall to discover most of the others were already there, with plates of cinnamon rolls, pastries, and small bowls of more traditional Japanese breakfasts piled neatly onto the table. Though Kokuro kept a table to herself with her fork stuck in her cinnamon roll, and Korin and Satoko sat together with a bowl each, everyone else had pushed tables into the centre of the room. I think they were trying to create a large communal table. I looked around, but I couldn't see Tae with them.
"Ah, you're here. Last to arrive again," Seiryo said.
"Yeah, I slept in, I guess," I replied.
"No, you didn't. You only came in a few minutes after most of us," Kadiri said, and I noticed a stick in her mouth. It looked more like a candy cigarette than an actual cigarette –for the best, I told myself. "Except for Tae. She's been up since the kitchen unlocked."
"Unlocked?" I asked, confused.
"Kadiri's only half-right when she said that you didn't sleep in," Kenji said. "The truth is, everyone but Tae slept through the Monokuma announcement."
"Monokuma announcement?" Hisoka asked.
"Well, aren't you the king and queen of repeating the last thing said to you?" Kokuro interjected.
"… Tae said there was an announcement at 7am. The kitchen and dining hall lock up at 10pm every night, and unlock again at 7am. That's what she reported to me." Delawyn scratched behind her neck.
"I see, I see… seems there's still a lot we don't know about this place," I said, giving a nervous chuckle.
"Well, obviously," Kadiri said, tossing a lilac pigtail behind her shoulder.
"Anyway… should we sit down with you guys?" Hisoka asked.
"Yeah, duh. Tae's in the kitchen making coffee, if you're wondering where she is," Kinzo said.
"We even saved you lovebirds seats across from each other," Airou said.
"Hey, it's nothing like that! We met less than 24 hours ago! We're not in some trash romance novel!" I replied.
"Kidding, kidding," Airou chuckled. Shaking my head, I sat down in one of the spare seats, and Hisoka sat down in the other. I rested my chin on my hands.
"… Have we found anything new?" Delawyn asked, leaning across onto the table.
"Maybe we should wait for Tae to get back before we talk about that," Dai said.
As if on cue, I heard her sunny voice call out from the door to the kitchen.
"I'm back!" Tae announced, and I saw… three entire trays of coffee in her hands, balanced on her head and both her hands.
"Isn't that dangerous? It could cause severe burns on your skin if you lose your balance," Seiryo said.
"Don't worry about it! I've done this so many times before, on roller skates, in places way more crowded than this, and I've never spilled a drop of coffee, let alone on myself!" Tae gave a smile as she slid the coffee trays onto the table in front of us, before taking off the one on her head and heading towards those sitting at other tables.
I watched the others grab the coffees from the tray… there were so many different kinds. But in the end, there were two cups remaining on one of the trays.
"Ehe… after you, Hisoka." I gestured towards the cups.
"Well, if you insist," Hisoka replied, grabbing the one closest to him, and I grabbed the other one.
"… Now that Tae's back, I'll repeat myself. Have we found anything new?" Delawyn asked.
I cleared my throat and spoke up first.
"Hisoka and I found out that our rooms are completely soundproof. I tested it after waking up this morning. We screamed at each other from either side of my bedroom door, and neither of us could hear the other," I explained.
"I can verify that. I still have the headache from it." Kokuro rested her head in her hand and took a sip of coffee.
"If you've got a headache, you shouldn't be drinking coffee. The caffeine would only stimulate the pain," Seiryo said, pushing up his glasses.
"Your voice only stimulates the pain," Kokuro retorted.
"The library has enough books to last a lifetime, so at the very least we won't have to worry about boredom. Not to mention I found a private study off of the main room," Mokichi said. "It's got an A/V section inside. It's hidden behind one of the bookcases though, so I suspect that it was either a private office for the faculty before this place was abandoned, or a former solitary confinement room."
"Either way, it's good to know it's there…" Kenji said, arms leaned across the table. "… I guess."
"Oh, I found something in the kitchen!" Tae spoke up.
"Tae, if you're gonna mention that, you really shouldn't-" Hisoka began, but Tae talked over him.
"While going through the cupboards, alongside the knives and forks and other kitchen utensils, I found a box of rat poison. I already told Hisoka and Maemi about it, but I thought the rest of you should know too," Tae explained.
"Wouldn't telling us about it make us more inclined to give in to Monokuma's wishes?" Aeko asked. "I mean, it's rat poison!"
"Rat poison is hardly deadly to humans, especially in smaller doses," Seiryo said. "I don't think anyone here would be able to consume enough to kill themselves unknowingly."
"You're right… But still, it could be dangerous. Maybe I should take it and hide it in my room somewhere?" Tae suggested.
"I would hope you're not planning to give into Monokuma's wishes," Mokichi said.
"I doubt that if she had the rat poison locked up in her room, she would be stupid enough to use it on somebody," Delawyn said. "It would make her the most obvious suspect."
"Exactly!" Tae said. "And besides, I'm not the kind of girl to kill someone…"
"It's still a concern," Kadiri said. "Maybe just leave it where it is?"
"That's even more dangerous… if we left it out in the open, now we know about it, we couldn't track someone down based on who has it…" Kenji said.
This discussion was getting seriously out of hand…!
"Guys, we're not going to use the rat poison! Or stab each other, or do anything to kill each other!" I yelled, pushing myself to my feet. "Geez, it took less than 24 hours for us all to get paranoid about each other! That's exactly what Monokuma wants from us!"
"He wants us to kill each other if we want to leave. Isn't that reason enough to be paranoid?" Kokuro asked. "I don't plan on dying here."
"Well, if we all calm down, stay where we are, and adapt to our new situation, we won't have a problem with that," Airou replied.
"Yeah… now that I think about it, both Maemi and Airou have a point. We've only been here for less than a day and we're already paranoid! So, everyone! No running near the fish tank!" Aeko said.
"No running near the fish tank? What the fuck does that mean?" Kinzo asked.
"I think she means that if we let our paranoia get the better of us, we'll fall into Monokuma's trap. That's what you meant, right Aeko?" Dai asked.
"Yeah, that's exactly right!" Aeko replied. "It was a rule I gave to the kids when they came to my aquarium!"
"We can't let ourselves fall into Monokuma's trap. Let's all calm down for now, and assure each other that we won't kill each other," Hisoka said.
We all opened our mouths to make our promise to everyone, when…
"Geez, all this lovey-dovey friendship stuff is becoming un-bear-able!"
Before I had a chance to process where that voice came from, Monokuma was standing on the table in front of us. My brain caught up, and I figured that the voice came from him.
"Geez- what the fuck do you want now? Just go away already!" Kinzo shouted.
"Aw, I just wanted to join in!" Monokuma replied. "Y'know, with the whole 'We won't kill each other' emotional crap! Seeing my lovely class work together just warms my fuzzy little heart!"
"… What do you really want?" Korin asked.
"… … … Fine, I'll tell you! First things first… What's in the box of rat poison will definitely kill rats, but it's not actually rat poison." Monokuma said.
"'First things first' implies you have more to say," Delawyn said, her arms folded. "What else do you have to tell us?"
"I'm getting to that, geez! Keep your skin on. I heard you guys were planning on just keeping calm and living the rest of your lives here. That might be fine for you guys, but it's just way too boring for me. And you wouldn't like me when I'm bored." Monokuma held his claw in front of his face.
"We don't like you anyway," Kokuro said.
"Geez, I come in with letters from your families, and you're telling me that you don't like me even a little bit? That hurts my fuzzy little heart, y'know."
"You don't have a heart…" Kenji lowered his head.
"Letters from our families?" Korin scowled. "Keep mine and Satoko's. I have no interest in what our parents have to say, and neither does Satoko. Right, Satoko?"
Satoko shook her head.
"It wouldn't be fair if I didn't give them to everybody!" Monokuma said, as he thrust envelopes into our hands. "Enjoy!"
"Enjoy? What's the purpose of giving us letters from our families?" Aeko asked.
"Upupupu…" Monokuma laughed. "… You know why."
"… No, we don't. Why- hey!" Hisoka stood up as Monokuma slid off the table and ran out of the room.
"It's not worth it, Hisoka. Sit down," Delawyn instructed.
"Gah… always running away, the little coward," Hisoka groaned, before sitting back down.
"So, what should we do about the letters?" Dai asked.
"I'm throwing mine away. I do not care what our parents have to say to us." Korin stood up, ripping his envelope in half.
"Where are you going to throw them away…?" Kenji asked.
"There's a bin in all of our rooms. I'm going to throw my letter away, and I suspect Satoko will do the same." Korin replied. He and Satoko stood up, and both of them left the dining hall.
"I won't deny I'm curious as to what my siblings have to say," Airou said with a chuckle. To our surprise… he slid his nail across his envelope, and we all heard the rip of the paper, as he pulled it out.
Then, Airou did something truly weird.
He read his letter out in front of all of us.
"Dear Airou… oh, we've been searching for you for ages! For the last week you've just been despair-inducingly untraceable! We're throwing this letter out there in the hopes that you'll find it, somehow, wherever you are! Please, come back to us! Signed, Etsuko," Airou said. "Aw, how sweet! They miss me."
"What are you playing at? First you say you want to adapt to our situation, and now you're getting sentimental about your siblings?" Hisoka frowned.
"I love my siblings lots, that much is true. But I can adapt to my life here without them," Airou replied. "So, what about the rest of you? I bet two hundred yen that the rest of you are all at least curious about what's in your letters."
"You're trying to push us into reading them, aren't you…" Kenji said, resting his head on the table.
"Push you? No, no. If you decide to read yours, it's your own choice." Airou leaned back, placing his feet onto the table.
"You can stop that, now." Delawyn folded her arms. "It's pretty clear that's a lie. You want to create a situation in which we're all distrustful of each other. Which is strange, for someone saying they'd rather we all adapt."
"It'll be your decision if you snap under the pressure. I won't, and I can hope the rest of you won't, but if nobody does, the game is boring," Airou replied.
As much as that annoyed me, I couldn't deny that the curiosity was getting the better of me… but I didn't want to open my letter in front of everybody.
Someone's curiosity did get the better of them, though. I heard another envelope become peeled open. I felt my chest grow tight, before investigating its source… Hiroshi had opened his letter.
"Dear Hiroshi…" He began, frowning as he read it. However, as he finished, his face drained of blood.
"What's the matter, Hiro?" Kadiri asked.
"I… I'm going to go to the courtyard. I need some fresh air and to be around some plant life for a while," Hiroshi said, pushing himself to his feet and ducking out of the door.
I stared back down at my letter again…
… and finally, couldn't take it anymore, company be damned. I ripped open the envelope, and began reading silently to myself.
Dear Maemi,
I worry about you every day. I'm searching for you endlessly across the entire country. I can only hope to be reunited with you soon. Please be alright.
-Mineko Akemi
I felt my blood run cold at the sight of the letter. Mother…
I felt my eyes begin to water.
"Maemi?" I heard Hisoka's voice, but… I couldn't look up at him. I just stared down at my mother's words…
"Don't let it get to you," I heard Dai's voice say. Despite my wish to just sit and cry, and despite ignoring Hisoka… I felt my eyes drawn to her, and I saw her envelope in her hands, open with the letter sticking out. "… It'd just be disastrous if you did."
"Dai's got a point," Hisoka said. "We've gotta do our best. I'm not asking you to not care about your mother, but don't play into Monokuma's motive."
"Monokuma's motive…?" Aeko looked up from her letter, her face similar to Hiroshi's after he read his own – drained of blood.
"Duh! He just gives out letters from our families. He's gotta be trying to get us to kill each other, by promising reunion with our loved ones if we kill and get away with it. We can't play into Monokuma's motive!"
"But is it as easy said as done?" Kadiri asked. "We all just read ours to ourselves. The only one we all know of is Airou's."
"It doesn't matter if it's that easy or not!" Tae said. "Hisoka's right, we can't just play into Monokuma's hands like that if we want to all be rescued!"
"But the chance of that murder happening is already here. Maemi and Hiroshi's reactions to their letters are proof enough of that," Mokichi said. "The question now isn't if someone commits murder. It's when."
I stood up, palms pressed into the table. "Nobody's going to kill anyone! Not me, not Hiroshi, not anybody!"
"You can speak for yourself, certainly. But you cannot speak for anyone else," Mokichi replied. "Especially not for someone who isn't here."
"Maybe I can't speak for them, but I've got faith in everyone! We're not going to kill each other!" I yelled back.
"Enough of this blindly optimistic nonsense. I'm going to go to the study." Mokichi picked up his coffee and headed towards the door. "Maybe I'll find more sense in the books than in my apparent classmates."
"Mokichi!" I shouted, but my protest was ignored. He left the room without another word. "God, he sounds just like Monokuma right now!"
"I wouldn't worry on it too much, Maemi," Dai said. "You can't fix people like him."
"He'd be way more likeable if he would just be more optimistic..." Kinzo said. "Gah, I need time out. I'm gonna go see if there's a ball or something ball-like and start kicking it around in the c'yard."
"I guess that means breakfast is over, then." Tae lowered her head, beginning to pick up the empty coffee cups.
"I guess that leaves us with whatever we're gonna do for the day," Seiryo said. I lowered my own head, nodding.
"I… I'm going to head back to my room for a while," I said, standing up and bowing. "Thank you for the coffee, Tae."
"No problem, I hope you feel better soon!" Tae smiled as though she were a beam of sunlight. I returned the smile nervously, and walked back to my room.
I threw myself onto my bed and let myself sink into the soft covers, and let every scream that had compressed itself in my throat free.
I screamed, and screamed, and screamed. In frustration, in anxiety, in misery. In worry for my mother. In worry for my new friends. In worry for Hisoka. I screamed until my throat began to hurt.
And then, for a few moments, I just laid in my bed, waiting for the burning sensation to subside from my throat. As it finally did, I sighed.
I remained laid back on my bed for a bit, before I eventually decided that I should probably go talk to someone for the day – spending it all screaming was probably the fastest way to kill my voice permanently. I pushed myself to my feet, leaving my room and heading out.
I wandered around the facility for a bit, before I finally ran into Dai.
"… An archery range of some kind would be enjoyable, but I suppose that is a large request to make," She seemed to be talking to herself.
"Hey, Dai, do you want to spend some time together?" I asked.
"Oh? Sure. Perhaps we can build a makeshift range in the courtyard together," Dai replied.
I spent some time building a basic dart board with Dai…
It seems me and Dai got a little closer today.
For a moment, we stood in complete silence. Neither of us said anything to the other. Dai… now that I'm completely alone with her, I've realised she's kind of intimidating.
"Are you feeling okay, Maemi?" Dai asked.
"Oh- ah, yeah," I replied.
"I see," Dai said. And… we went straight back to standing in silence. God, I couldn't keep letting this happen, no matter how anxious I felt!
"… So, when did you learn how to shoot a bow and arrow?" I asked.
"For as long as I can remember, I believe. Since I was a young girl," Dai replied. "My mother was a world-famous archer, and she wanted to keep that accomplishment in the family name. So, she trained me to shoot since I was very little."
"That's amazing!" I said. "Are you able to split an apple with an arrow from on top of someone's head?"
"That's… I could, I believe, but that's generally something seen in the movies," Dai said. "That, and archery doesn't always involve standing still and aiming at a still target. A lot of what I do is aiming my bow at moving targets, while moving myself. Sometimes, I'll be firing an arrow while holding the bow with my foot, clinging to life from a cliff face. Archery is more strenuous on the body than the movies may make it seem." She held her right arm out to me. "Go on, touch my bicep if you don't believe me."
"Is it really okay?" I said, though I couldn't deny I was curious…
"Of course. I wouldn't be offering if it wasn't," Dai said.
"Right, right…" I said, before placing my hands on her bicep. Wow… it was really firm and toned, the muscles plainly rigid despite her uniform.
"You must be pretty strong…" was the only comment I could make.
"Shooting an arrow over 300 metres at all isn't a task easily accomplished by those physically weak, let alone hitting a target," Dai replied as I let go of her.
"I can't imagine it would be easy…" I said. "I played with a water pistol once, and even aiming with that wa-"
Dai cut me off. "A gun is the weapon of a coward."
"O-Oh, sorry!" I stammered out, hands held up defensively.
"… I apologize. I am aware this attitude towards guns is generally seen as edgy. But archery, while used in the past to kill, was also and is now, a show of skill and expertise, usually for performance. Conversely, the sole purpose of legitimate firearms seems to be killing others," Dai replied. "Not only that, but anybody can fire a gun. Even little children, unfortunately."
"Y-Yeah… sorry. It's probably a sensitive topic for you," I said.
"Do not worry your pretty little head, Maemi." Dai gently petted my head. "I will take care in the future to avoid the topic. But for now, I think it's best we part ways."
"Y-Yeah… okay," I said, turning and waving goodbye.
I turned to the monitor as I parted ways with Dai. I still had some time before night time… so I began wandering the asylum again. Blindly, and hoping to run into somebody while walking aimlessly. Eventually, my feet carried me into the library for the 3rd time, and I looked up and saw Seiryo browsing through some of the books.
"A lot of these titles seem pretty old… and for the library of an insane asylum, there are a lot of fictional books in easy grabbing reach of the patients," Seiryo mused to himself.
"Hey, Seiryo, do you want to spend some time together?" I asked.
"Huh? Oh, sure, Maemi. Maybe you can help me colour-code the bookshelves to separate fiction from non-fiction for everybody else," Seiryo replied.
I spent some time applying red and green stickers to the bookshelves with Seiryo…
It looks like me and Seiryo got a little closer today.
"Hey, so," I began, placing my hands on my hips. "Have you had any thoughts as to what your talent might be?"
"Hah, who knows? Maybe I don't even have one," Seiryo replied. "It's something I'm concerned with, but it's neither the only thing on my mind, nor anything you need to concern yourself with."
"I know that," I said. "I was just wondering if you had any thoughts. Anything that might lead you towards it?"
"I already said," Seiryo pushed up his glasses before folding his arms, "it's nothing you need to concern yourself with."
"I don't need to concern myself with it, but I'm still allowed to, and I want to," I pouted. "It's not fair that one of us is left in the dark about their talent."
"Maybe. But I don't know what help a shadow puppeteer could be in rediscovering my talent," Seiryo said.
"Hey- alright, yeah, my talent isn't great! But that doesn't mean that I don't have other qualities!" I said.
"True," Seiryo said. "You should calm down, though."
"Alright, I'm calm." I took a deep breath. "So will you accept my help with finding your talent?"
"Finding my talent, or lack thereof," Seiryo said, with a chuckle on the end. "I don't need your help, but I guess I won't stop you."
"Then it's settled! Do you have any guesses so far?" I asked.
"I'm afraid not. My wardrobe's given no indications, and neither have my room fittings. My glasses aren't for show, and my dreads are neat and tidy. But that doesn't help me at all," Seiryo replied.
"Alright… new plan. I'll say some random talents off the top of my head, and you tell me if you think they fit!" I said. Before Seiryo could argue, I began listing them off. "Uh… Ventriloquist? Adventurer? Detective? Firefighter? Police officer?"
"I don't think high school students are allowed on the police force," Seiryo mused.
"Alright, then… Architect? Linguist? Archaeologist?"
"… No, none of those sound right, either," Seiryo said, with a defeated sigh. "May I suggest we retire this discussion for the time being? I don't think it's going anywhere."
I paused for a moment, before folding my arms and huffing. "Ugh… fine."
"I also think we should part ways for the time being, Maemi. But it was nice speaking with you." Seiryo waved, as he left me alone in the hallways.
I heard the monitor chime on beside me, with Monokuma showing up on it with a champagne glass full of wine in his hand.
"Attention all lunatics: it is now 10pm," He began. "It is now officially nighttime. The doors to the cafeteria and dining hall will lock shortly. Please, all of you have pleasant dreams, and we'll see each other tomorrow morning!" The monitors shut off.
I realised my body was a lot more tired than I had initially gauged, as I slouched off towards my room. I gave a nod of acknowledgement to someone – I think it was Delawyn, judging by the bright red hair – and walked into my room.
I barely wasted time – I took off my shoes and collapsed into my bed face-first, turning my head to the side as I allowed sleep to overtake me. My eyes fell closed, and I embraced the warmth of my bed. I was none the wiser of what was about to unfold…
[MONOKUMA THEATRE]
"Sometimes I like to slather my whole body in honey. It's warm, it's sticky, it's sweet, and it mimics the love that my mother gave me as a cub."
"Oh, how I miss her. Maybe in retrospect, eating her was a bad idea."
"I got a new mother, though. She was even sweeter and more loving than the last."
"Probably shouldn't have eaten her, too."
"Oh well…"
[MONOKUMA THEATRE]
The chimes from the monitor in my room were what woke me up the next day. With bleary eyes still trying to wake up, I looked towards it. Of course, Monokuma appeared, the same as he had the last night.
"Ahem- attention, all lunatics! It is now 7am! The cafeteria and dining hall have been unlocked," Monokuma announced. "Please, let's all have a wonderful day together!" The monitors shut off as Monokuma finished his morning announcement.
I groaned, lying back and trying to get a little more sleep. Monokuma and his antics could wait…
I'm not sure exactly how much later I woke up, but I heard my doorbell ring. I opened it, smiling, and rubbing my eyes.
"Morning, Hiso-" I began, before stopping myself. Hiroshi was standing in front of my door instead. "S-Sorry, Hiroshi…"
"Oh, it's okay, I know you expect to see Hisoka so much, so I'm not surprised by your reaction." Hiroshi bowed his head. "But we should still all gather in the dining hall, right?"
"Right!" I said, smoothing out my skirt and heading into the dining hall.
I scanned the area upon entering – Korin and Satoko sat at a table alone with a cup of coffee each, and everyone else was gathered around the central dining table. Well… 'everyone' wasn't entirely accurate.
"Where's-" I began.
"Kokuro, Seiryo, Tae, Aeko, and Hisoka?" Airou finished. "Kokuro won't come out of her room, Seiryo said he was re-reading his note, and Tae is in the kitchen making breakfast. As for Aeko and Hisoka… Kikiki, I haven't heard from him all morning."
"D-Don't laugh like that before saying you haven't seen them!" I said, and I felt my heart begin to race.
"You can't deny the possibility," Airou replied. "The motives by Monokuma, the rules of the game…"
"A pretty young man like yourself has no business toying with Maemi like that," Korin said.
"Toying with her? No, no, no. I am simply stating a very real possibility," Airou said.
"Still, don't play with Maemi's emotions like that," Hiroshi said.
"Well, if they are, they are, correct?" Airou said, before chuckling. "You never know what could've happened to them in this environment."
"I…'m gonna be right back," I said. I passed by a sleepy Aeko on the way in, offering a 'good morning' to her and a sigh of relief to myself that she was OK. But still, Hisoka…!
I turned the corner to the boy's dormitories, and…
…
…
… crashed straight into him.
"Ow!" Hisoka exclaimed, and I grabbed onto his arm to steady both myself and him.
"S-Sorry!" I replied, breathing slow, deep sighs of relief.
"Hey, no harm done, but- Maemi, are you alright?" Hisoka asked, and I felt his hand on my shoulder.
"Y-Yeah. I was stupid, and I listened to Airou when he said that you might be-" I stopped myself, and Hisoka sighed, shaking his head.
"Well, I'm fine. I just took a bit longer than usual to get ready this morning," Hisoka said, before pointing behind me to the dining hall.
"Ah, right, we should go," I said, turning back towards the dining hall, Hisoka right behind me.
"See, Hiroshi? Everything's fine! Airou's just trying to rile you up," came Tae's voice as the two walked back into the hall.
"I-It's not something to joke about, though…!" Hiroshi said, trembling slightly in his seat.
"I know, I know," Tae said. "You can't let him get to you."
"Tae's right. Besides, guys shouldn't turn on each other. We should all be dear friends," Korin said.
"Lighten up a little. I'm having a bit of fun," Airou said. "Besides. Everyone is here, and everyone's turned up OK."
"The death of one of our friends isn't fun, Airou," I said. "Nor is it funny."
"Tsk tsk tsk… what did I just say?" Airou leaned back in his seat.
"Just ignore him," Delawyn said. "Anyway, I've finished my coffee for the time being."
"Oh! Um, who else is finished? I can make another round while you guys eat breakfast!" Tae said. "And someone should probably take breakfast to Seiryo and Kokuro, too."
"I guess I'm done…" Kenji shrugged, pushing his mug forward.
"As am I." Mokichi leaned back, and Tae took the two mugs in her hands.
"I'm finished!" Aeko said, raising her hand with a smile.
"Oh. Uh, Aeko," Kadiri began, before gesturing to the top of her head. "You're missing something."
"Huh?" Aeko frowned, before her hands went to the top of her head. "Oh! Damnit! I left my beanie in my dorm room! I'll be right back." She shoved herself out of her seat.
"I gotta go pee, so I might as well leave while Aeko does to not hold shit up longer than it has to be." Kinzo pushed himself to his feet as well, heading towards the door as soon as Aeko left the room.
"Alright, guess I should go back and make more coffee," Tae said, heading into the kitchen again.
We engaged in conversation with each other for a while, Aeko coming back soon with her beanie and a smile on her face. I took a few sips of the coffee I had, and ate some of the breakfast put out for us. I managed to relax a little and just ignore the situation at hand for a while…
Eventually, both Tae and Kinzo came back at the same time.
"Sorry I took a while. Wound up having to switch halfway through." Kinzo rubbed the back of his neck.
"… Too much information," Kadiri said, looking as though she was about to gag.
"You don't have to tell us…" Kenji said, taking one of the newly made coffees from Tae.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Kinzo sat back down, leaning back and grabbing his half-finished coffee.
"Ugh. The sooner this is over, the better. I'll be taking the AV study after this," Mokichi said, grabbing one of the remaining two coffees.
"What if someone else wants to use it?" Dai asked.
"Do you?" Mokichi returned the question.
"Not myself, particularly," Dai replied.
"Anybody else want to use the AV study?" Mokichi asked. We all remained silent, and he took a sip of coffee while waiting for a response.
"I will assume that means-" Mokichi said, before breaking into a fit of coughs.
"Mokichi?" I asked, frowning. "Are you alright?"
Mokichi continued coughing.
"M-Mokichi…?!" Tae moved to his side, but he just continued coughing, his hands wrapping themselves around his throat.
Aeko and Hiroshi stood up as well, followed by myself and Hisoka… and soon, almost all of us were at our feet.
One of Mokichi's hands let go of his throat and grasped for something unknown…
…and then he slumped down in front of all of us.
A chime on the monitor from Monokuma accompanied our horror…
"Ding-dong-ding-dong! A body has been discovered! Following a brief period of investigation, we shall conduct our Class Trial!"