Chapter I: No Pleasure Cruise

Daily Life

Day 1

After Monokuma left, we stood on the deck of the Ursa Major, at a loss for what to do. Now that the only adult authority figure available to us was gone, we were just a group of fifteen teenagers and one pre-teen whose skills were entirely unsuited to the situation. We were standing on a ship that was heading somewhere none of us wanted to go... with the possible exception of the traitor amongst us. All that was disturbing enough in and of itself, even before you took into account the killing game, which we'd have to deal with sooner or later.

"So... what should we do now?" Nagato said, clearly speaking for all- or at least most- of us.

"We should read the rules and commit them to memory," Mihama said. "Monokuma may not have any legal authority or concern for our well-being, but he does seem to have the power to punish us for disobeying him, and is unlikely to accept ignorance as an excuse."

We all then opened up our handbooks and started looking at the rules. It was obvious that Monokuma could have killed Nagato-sensei if he'd wanted, so the fact that he could do the same to us went without saying.

I checked the handbook and saw the rules that had been there when I first opened it up, along with several new ones.

Rule 5: Students will remain with the cruise until they graduate.

In other words, we were stuck here. Monokuma had made that abundantly clear, but it still was hard to accept it.

Rule 6: Certain areas will be off limits during Night Time, which lasts from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Students may only sleep in their cabins.

"Certain areas?" I said.

"The pool seems to be one," Kumakura said, "although it's only inside the pool, not on the side of it. Apparently, the areas in question are marked with specific signs."

I saw a square sign with a crossed out crescent moon on the pool.

Rule 7: On days when the Ursa Major is in port, students must spend most of the day on the island. They will be allowed to leave the Ursa Major starting at 8 a.m. and must be off the ship by 9 a.m. They will be allowed to return to the Ursa Major starting at 8 p.m. and must be back on the ship by 9 p.m. Monokuma will announce exceptions to this rule.

Rule 8: Apart from these restrictions, students may explore the Ursa Major and any islands that it stops at freely.

"So we're going to get off this ship at some point," Kojima said.

"Do not expect too much, Kojima-san," Mihama said. "If Monokuma is willing to allow us to leave the ship, it is most likely that he has measures in place to prevent us from getting too far away or calling for help."

Those "measures" were probably the Monodrones that we saw earlier, but they probably weren't the only ones at his disposal.

"You make a good point, Miharu-chan," Sasaki said, "but at the same time, I'm grateful for the opportunity to set foot on land."

Even though I was uneasy about what Monokuma had in store for us, I had to agree. There was no telling how long we'd be sailing- it might be days, but it could very well be weeks- so even the chance to stand on dry land would be a welcome change of pace.

Rule 9: Students may not attack Monokuma or destroy property. The latter includes surveillance cameras and Monodrones. Likewise, Monokuma cannot harm students unless they have violated a rule.

Rule 10: Students may not attempt to free or harm the prisoner. The prisoner may not leave her cell without Monokuma's permission.

As Nagato read Rule 10, she looked despondent. If we were going to find a way to escape this cruise together, we'd have to get Nagato-sensei out of her cell first. Even if we found some way to escape the Ursa Major, we'd almost certainly have to leave Nagato-sensei behind.

Rule 11: If a student kills another student, a class trial will be held.

Rule 12: A Body Disccovery Announcement will be sent to all students' handbooks once three or more people, apart from the blackened, find a body.

Rule 13: If the blackened is convicted at a class trial, decided by majority vote, they alone will be executed. If the blackened is not convicted, or there is a tie, the spotless, as well as the prisoner, will be executed and the blackened will graduate.

Rule 14: Only one student will be allowed to graduate. In the event of more than one murder, the blackened may only graduate if they find and convict the other blackened while also not being convicted for their own murder.

Rule 15: No student can kill more than two people.

Rule 16: If there is not a living blackened to execute at the end of the trial, the spotless must select someone to execute in the blackened's place.

The rules related to the class trial mostly were self-explanatory, so no one asked any questions, probably so they wouldn't have to think about it.

"No living blackened?" Kurogane said. "What do you suppose they mean by that?"

"I can think of a few scenarios," Mihama said. "For example, one student might kill another student before committing suicide. Alternatively, two students might kill each other- one might die instantly, while the other would die of their wounds not long afterward."

While it seemed like almost a given that people would end up dead on this trip, I desperately hoped that we wouldn't have to sacrifice an innocent person because the murderer was dead by the time of the trial.

Rule 17: Captain Monokuma may add rules as he sees fit.

As if the rules so far weren't bad enough, the fact that there might be more of them was even worse. The only apparent limit seemed to be Monokuma's imagination, and if the sick bastard came up with the idea of a killing game, there was no telling how horrible the rules could become.

"So it looks like that's it for the rules," I said. "In other words, we're trapped in here for the foreseeable future."

"Yeah," Yamazaki said. "In theory, we could just ride this cruise out for as long as possible, until Monokuma lets us go."

"I highly doubt it," Kojima said. "In any game, there are plenty of incentives to 'encourage' participation. Monokuma will probably give us a push if we don't prove willing to kill each other."

"I don't doubt that, Kojima-kun," Taiga said. "But does anything justify killing a classmate and letting the other fourteen of us, as well as Nagato-sensei, die?"

Some of us nodded in agreement, although I had no idea how many of them were honest. After all, no one could say with a good conscience that they valued their life above those of all their classmates, but no one wanted to die, either. Kirisihima, however, shook his head.

"An apt question, Taiga-kun," Kirishima said, "but as long as the status quo goes on, the sixteen of us will remain trapped here. It is not difficult to imagine someone reaching their breaking point and committing murder to graduate."

"Are we really all trapped here?" Asakura said. "Monokuma mentioned that one of us is a traitor, someone who knew the danger and let us come here anyway. When it comes to liars, I can't think of anyone better in here than the con artist."

As much as I hated to acknowledge it, Asakura's suspicions weren't wrong. Of course, considering how little evidence we had, it was likely that at best, he was just making knee-jerk reactions, and at worst, he was trying to stir the shit.

"I will admit that Karita-san is suspicious," Himemiya said, "but I'm less worried about him than I am about someone who would recklessly point fingers in a situation in which anyone could end up committing murder. Even if you aren't the traitor, "

"Yeah, and 'anyone' includes you, Himemiya," Asakura said. "You might not be my top choice for the traitor, but I think you're pretty damn suspicious."

"How dare you?" Tsukimura said. "Himeno-sama would never even consider harming her classmates!"

An argument broke out, and people began talking over each other, apparently not even caring whether anyone could hear or was listening to what they were saying. Initially, it was just Karita, Asakura, Himemiya and Tsukimura, but by the end, everyone else had joined in, too... except Higurashi, who tried to break it up.

"Enough, everyone!" Higurashi said. "This is not the time or the place for bickering!"

Everyone shut up for a moment after hearing that, but while Higurashi had gotten their attention, he hadn't convinced them. What he'd said was nothing more than an empty platitude, and the rest of the class knew that- he'd just said it forcefully and convincingly enough that we couldn't ignore him.

"I don't think so either," I said, "but what do you expect in a situation in which people are scared for their lives, don't trust each other and have no idea what to do next?"

"Azuki-san is right," Himemiya said. "To be blunt, do you really think we can trust any one person here?"

"You both raise good questions," Mihama said, "but at the same time, Higurashi-san is correct. Since we know little about our surroundings, it would be imprudent to do anything rash, especially when a misstep could cost any- or all- of us our lives."

"I think we should listen to Miharu-chan," Sasaki said. "Everyone, let's calm down and take a deep breath."

We stopped to take a deep breath. Doing so didn't change reality- that we were stuck on the Ursa Major, surrounded by people we didn't trust and encouraged to kill each other- but it helped us look at it differently. Rather than assuming we were all doomed, we could see it as a problem to be overcome.

"That's better," Sasaki said. "Nobuhiro-kun, I'm interested in hearing any ideas you may have."

"Thank you, Sasaki-san," Higurashi said. "As Mihama-san said, we know next to nothing about the ship we are on, so the first step should be to learn more about our situation. For the next two hours, we will split into pairs, with each person partnered with their roommate, and all of us will familiarize ourselves with the ship."

"A logical suggestion," Kirishima said. "I doubt we will find any basis for hope, but gathering information about our surroundings should be our first priority. Doing so will be necessary for us to make informed decisions about how to proceed from here."

Some of the others nodded, and Higurashi faintly smiled, as the discussion moved in a more constructive direction.

"That's true," Tatsuki said, "but does anyone have any idea what a good place to start would be?"

"Perhaps we should start by finding our cabins," Higurashi said. "After that, we should look around the rest of the ship and meet up in the dining hall."

"Cabins are a good place to start," Kumakura said, "but we should also find out where we can get our food, water or everything else we need for our life on the cruise ship."

The rest of us tacitly agreed and set off for our rooms, while Kirishima stuck with Higurashi. It wasn't that we necessarily agreed with Higurashi- none of us had seemed to have any better ideas. I couldn't tell what was worse- bickering over what course of action to take passively going along with whatever someone proposed- but I could tell that this group was far from ideal when it came to the killing game.

Luckily, it wasn't hard to find the way to our cabins. Near the bow of the ship, there was a staircase leading down inside the ship, to a corridor that connected the cabins. The girls' cabins were on the left while the boys' were on our rigt.

Nagato and I headed to our cabin, which was near the front of the ship on the starboard side, with the other girls' cabins; from what I heard, the guys were on the port side. The cabins were numbered F1 to F4, in ascending order from left to right, and had windows facing the ocean.

I saw my and Nagato's names on the right-most door, along with crude pixelated portraits of us. The other three doors each had two portraits on them- Cabin F1 had the twins, Cabin F2 had Sasaki and Mihama, and Cabin F3 had Himemiya and Tsukimura. At the end of the hall, there was a bathroom for the girls, which had a sign indicating that it would be off limits during Night Time.

We opened the door with our room keys, and saw that the cabin was decently sized. There were two beds, each on opposite sides of the room- Nagato's was on the left and mine was on the right- along with a desk and chair for each. There was a closet on Nagato's side, and a bathroom and shower on my side. The room was mostly bare of decorations, but there was a calendar, with Day 1 starting on what looked like a Monday, and day 31 on a Wednesday, plus extra blank squares. I didn't know what month it was supposed to be, but it certainly wasn't April, since that month only had thirty days. Like all other rooms on the ship, our cabin had a surveillance camera and a monitor.

"So we'll be staying here while we're on the ship," I said. "It seems decent enough, all things considered."

"I agree," Nagato said. "We have beds to sleep in, a place to store our belongings, a bathroom and a shower. This room has everything we need- or at least everything that Monokuma is willing to give us."

I realized that giving us a place to live probably furthered the killing game. If Monokuma had wanted, he could have dropped some weapons on the deck and told us to kill each other right then and there, resulting in a bloodbath that would continue until only one of us was left. It was obvious that Monokuma wanted the killing game to be a slow burn, and he enjoyed seeing us suffer in despair as we waited for the next murder to occur.

"That's right," I said. "Let's drop off our suitcases here and check out the rest of the ship."

We left our suitcases by our beds, and decided to put off unpacking until we were done investigating the Ursa Major. It wasn't all that large, but we didn't want to drag around our bags any longer than necessary, so we left them in the safest place we could find before continuing our investigation.

We then headed to the hallway near the boys' cabins, which were laid out similarly to the girls'. Cabin M1 had Kumakura and Yamazaki, Cabin M2 had Kurogane and Kojima, Cabin M3 had Kirishima and Higurashi, and Cabin M4 had Karita and Asakura. Like with the girls' half, the boys' bathroom was at the end of the hall.

Nagato groaned as I saw the roommate assignments for the fourth cabin.

"Things look like they'll be fairly... interesting in Cabin M4," Nagato said.

"You said it," I said. "I can only think of one reason why they'd put the biggest asshole with the con artist- no one else would want them."

"Why am I not surprised to hear that from you?" Asakura said.

Nagato and I whirled around and saw Asakura and Karita together. As I did, I made a mental note to be more aware of my surroundings in a killing game.

"Asakura-san!" Nagato said, similarly surprised, adding "...and Karita-san," a few seconds later.

Asakura gave Nagato a withering stare, while Karita offered a brief "Hello, ladies." After a moment, Asakura cleared his throat and replied as though he'd been talking with us all along.

"To be perfectly honest, I'm not thrilled at the idea of having a roommate, period," Asakura said. "No sane person would want to go to bed with someone who could kill them in their sleep."

As if it weren't obvious enough what Asakura was getting at, he gave Karita a dirty look. While I had to admit that Karita wasn't exactly trustworthy and gave me the creeps when I talked to him, if only because of his title, antagonizing anyone in this killing game wasn't a good idea. Between that and openly declaring him a suspect for the traitor while we were on the deck minutes ago, I guessed that Asakura had a death wish. Leaping overboard would probably be an easier way to go, but maybe Asakura wanted to take Karita down with him.

"If it's any consolation, your killer wouldn't live much longer," Karita said, "since if he's the only one who could get into your room, then it's almost a given that he'll be convicted at the class trial. Besides, that goes both ways, which is why I'm at least reasonably sure that you aren't stupid enough to kill me... unless you're in the mood to prove me wrong."

"Karita's right," I said. "You can't put much faith in your classmates' morals, but you can trust that their sense of self-preservation is good enough that if their lives are on the line, they wouldn't half-ass their one shot at graduation."

Asakura shook his head.

"That's assuming that we aren't dealing with a total moron," Asakura said. "I wouldn't give a shit whether my killer gets caught if I'm the one who gets killed."

"I disagree, Asakura-san," Nagato said. "Even if I end up getting killed, then if the killer gets caught, then my mother and all the other spotless can live."

I nodded in agreement. I was tempted to ask "What if your mom's the killer?" but realized that this was impossible. Even if Nagato-sensei was the type who would be willing to kill her own daughter, she couldn't do so as long as Monokuma kept her as a prisoner and spectator in the killing game.

"How touching," Asakura said, "but I do have to wonder how much you'll care for your mother when the pressure is getting to you."

"Spoken like someone who's liable to snap," I said. "Let's go, Nagato."

Nagato and I quickly walked off, eager to get away from this conversation, even though we both knew this would only be a short reprieve. As long as we were on this ship, we'd never be more than a kilometer away from those two. Since Asakura was a total prick who already hated Nagato, and Karita clearly had no qualms with lying to and using others, both of them were ticking time bombs. The only questions were when they'd blow up and who'd be caught up in the blast.

We returned to where we'd come in, and saw that there were two elevators. One looked like a standard elevator, with a steel gray door that was about the usual size. The other had a red set of double doors.

"Looks like we've got some elevators," I said. "Where do they go?"

"Why not take a ride and find out, Azuki-san?" Monokuma said. "At least on the elevator you can use."

I nearly jumped out of my skin upon hearing Monokuma, and seeing him standing almost right next to me. Nagato, who was standing near me, wasn't any less surprised.

"Monokuma!" I said. "What do you mean 'the one I can use'?"

"You don't need to worry about the red one right now," Monokuma said, "since no one's killed anyone yet. Once that does happen, you'll all meet up there and take the elevator down to the courtroom for the class trial. Once you're done, some of you are gonna take the elevator back up."

Monokuma seemed fairly confident that the killing game would get going fairly soon, confidence that was more well-founded than I wanted to admit to myself. Of course, even as bad as things were, no one was desperate enough to snap and commit murder less than an hour into the "game."

"I understand," Nagato said, "but what about the other one?"

"That takes you to where your mom's being held," Monokuma said. "Feel free to visit her if you'd like, but just remember Rule 10. Ta ta for now!"

Monokuma then vanished. Maybe it was because he was so small, but he had a knack for coming and going without being noticed. It was pretty damn unsettling, even with the knowledge that he couldn't hurt us as long as we followed the rules.

We took a moment to compose ourselves, but once we had, I saw Nagato looking at me with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Azuki-san, can we please go see my mom?" Nagato said. "I'd like to just make sure she's okay."

"Sure," I said. "We've got plenty of time- worst case scenario, we can save the investigation of the ship for later."

Nagato smiled faintly, and said, "Thank you." While it was unwise to take Monokuma's words at face value, it was most likely that we'd be on this ship for days, and it would take, at most, a few hours to completely explore the ship.

We then got in the elevator and saw only two buttons- "Main Deck" and "Prison." Nagato pushed the latter, and the elevator carried us down to our destination.

At the base of the elevator was a small room with a holding cell, which was to our left after stepping out of the elevator and going forward a few paces. The door was barred, except for a small slot that was used for giving the prisoner food. There was a small bed against the wall to my right, a desk and a chair against the wall to the left, and a small shower in the back-left the cell, there was a bench that could seat four people comfortably. It was a bit amazing that there was even a room like this on a cruise ship, although it probably would come in handy if someone committed a crime on the ship and got arrested.

Upon noticing us approach, Nagato-sensei pulled up her chair to the cell door, and we sat down on the bench against the wall. She was still wearing her suit, rather than some kind of prison uniform, probably because she'd been taken straight to her cell.

"Mom..." Nagato said. "Er... I mean, Sensei..."

"You don't have to call me 'Sensei' here, Chiyuri," Nagato-sensei said. "As far as Monokuma is concerned, I'm just a prisoner on this ship, and my position as a teacher means nothing."

Nagato nodded, and relaxed slightly.

"All right," Nagato said. "So, Mom, how are you finding your 'accommodations'?"

"If nothing else, my needs will be met," Nagato-sensei said. "Monokuma said I will be brought three meals a day, and he has offered to wash my clothes. I am not allowed to leave the cell as long as the ship is at sea, though, or I will be punished."

"That lines up with what we've been told," I said. "Rule 9 says we aren't allowed to free or harm you, so we can't help you. I'm guessing Monokuma has some reason for keeping you alive."

"Possibly to serve as a hostage," Nagato-sensei said. "The fact that I'll be executed if someone else graduates may be an extra 'incentive' for Chiyuri to find the blackened."

Technically, it was possible for Nagato herself to become the blackened, but to do so, she'd have to be willing to sacrifice her mother. Considering who I was talking with, though, I hesitated to openly raise that question.

After a moment, the conversation ground to a halt, so I decided to ask about something that had been bothering me since we were at the hotel. It was probably insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but I still wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"By the way, I'm curious about something," I said. "Why does Nagato have the same Ultimate title as Asakura?"

"I honestly don't know," Nagato-sensei said. "I may work for Talent High School, but I play no role in admissions decisions, and was not on the panel that evaluated Chiyuri or Asakura-san. The administration doesn't have a rule against board members judging their own relatives, but teachers generally play no role in admissions decisions unless they have a related talent."

Nagato nodded to concur.

"In other words, Asakura-san was wrong," Nagato said. "I didn't get the title just because Mom's a teacher at the school."

I smiled, vindicated, even if Nagato didn't seem to feel entirely the same way. It wasn't conclusive proof, so I couldn't rub that in Asakura's face, but it was nice to see that he was full of shit. Of course, something else was bothering me.

"Then again, Sensei, something's weird," I said. "As teacher, shouldn't you have gotten a list of students before the year started?"

"I did, Azuki-san," Nagato-sensei said. "By that point, though, both Chiyuri and Asakura-san had been officially enrolled, and it was too late for the administration to rescind either. I... didn't know how to tell her."

"So the administration fucked up," I said. "In any case, it doesn't seem like either of you are at fault."

Both of the Nagatos seemed uncomfortable, whether because of my foul language or because I'd somehow hit a nerve.

"You seem disappointed, Azuki-san," Nagato said.

"I was hoping for a clue of some sort," I said. "Maybe if one of us wasn't on the class list, or was lying about having gotten a title, that person could be the traitor."

"Maybe," Nagato said. "Of course, Monokuma did say that only people connected with Talent High School could come on the trip."

"True," Nagato-sensei said, showing us her own handbook, which had the same rules ours did. "In any case, I suppose it hardly matters whether Chiyuri or Asakura-san is the 'real' Ultimate Tech Support."

"I guess," Chiyuri said, "but Asakura-san certainly feels otherwise."

Nagato-sensei turned to Chiyuri.

"Chiyuri, please at least be polite to Asakura-san," Nagato-sensei said. "Even though tensions are running high now- or rather, especially because of that- it would be best for you to remember that you are classmates."

"I will, Mom," Nagato said.

Nagato-sensei smiled.

"The same goes for you, Azuki-san," Nagato-sensei said. "It's probably too much for you to ask him to like him, but he's as much your classmate as he is Chiyuri's."

"I'll do what I can," I said, "but given what an asshole is, I can't promise too much."

"I respect your honesty," Nagato-sensei said. "I will ask him to try to behave if I see him."

I appreciated that Nagato-sensei was willing to hold Asakura to the same standards as us, but to be frank, I didn't see him coming down to visit her, much less listening to her.

"There's something else that's bothering me," Nagato said. "I don't clearly remember what happened in the days leading up to the trip. The last memory I have is going to bed in our apartment."

"I can't remember anything else from just before the trip, either," I said. "Sensei, what about you?"

"Unfortunately, I'm no different," Nagato-sensei said. "I do remember knowing about the trip, but only a vague suggestion. It's possible that someone has tampered with our memories, and all of us have been affected."

So assuming Nagato-sensei was telling the truth, she was as much in the dark as the rest of us. If this was true, then Nagato's comments about her mother's leadership made perfect sense. Nagato-sensei, despite being confused, still strove to be the kind of teacher her students could rely on.

"Well, almost all of us," I said. "It's possible that the traitor is lying."

"Or maybe they aren't, Azuki-san," Nagato said. "It's possible they erased their memory along with everyone else's to avoid arousing suspicion, or because Monokuma didn't make exceptions."

"Possibly," I said, "although only the traitor would know."

I checked my watch and saw that almost 20 minutes had passed since the start of our investigation.

"We should probably get going for now," I said, "since we've got the rest of the ship to check out. Are you ready to leave, Nagato?"

Nagato nodded hesitantly.

"I... I am," Nagato said. "I'll come back to see you soon, Mom."

"Thank you for coming, Chiyuri, Azuki-san," Nagato-sensei said. "I'll look forward to seeing you again."

As we left, I realized that while it was possible that Nagato-sensei was our traitor, that was only one possibility out of sixteen (or seventeen if I counted myself), none of which we had any hard evidence to prove. Of course, considering how things were, maybe some of us wouldn't wait for definite proof, and that worried me more than anything.

Past the elevators, there were two corridors leading toward the aft-most part of the Ursa Major, and we started with the starboard side. Each corridor ran along the side of the ship and had several portholes looking out at sea.

First, we saw a laundry room, which had several washing machines and dryers, as well as what looked like a computer. We found the Tachibana sisters there. One was holding her nose, and her blazer was off, while the other was standing by, watching her sister with a concerned look on her face..

"Are you all right, Tachibana-san?" Nagato said.

The sister who was holding her nose said "Uh-huh."

"She's fine," Tatsuki said, "since it's just a nosebleed. But why don't I do the talking, Taiga?"

"Ogay," Taiga said.

Taiga seemed like she'd loosened up a bit since we'd first met. She was probably one of those types who was unused to strangers but got along well with her friends, even if it was a bit soon to be calling anyone here that.

"So, what've you found?" I said.

"The laundry room," Tatsuki said. "Just drop your clothes in there, and within a day, they'll be delivered to your room, completely clean."

The computer screen showed a spreadsheet listing everyone who had used the service so far- only one person, apparently- as well as the items they brought in to be washed, and what time they were received and returned. Most of the spreadsheet was black text on a white background, but I noticed that the "Navy Blazer" descriptor for Taiga's clothing was in red, and since it was still in the washer, the "Time Returned" slot was blank.

"Why's Taiga's blazer in red text?" I said.

"Because it has blood on it," Tatsuki said, "otherwise it would just be black like all the other clothing. Monokuma explained that this was meant to make things fair in case someone committed a crime and washed blood off their clothing."

I chuckled bitterly.

"Yeah, it's not like half of us bleed out of our vaginas once a month," I said.

"Good point, Azuki-san," Tatsuki said, "but I'm sure we'll be fine. I don't think anyone would find it strange for you to put your bloody underwear in the laundry, since it's not as though you'd get blood on it if you stabbed and killed someone."

"True," I said. "Of course, I bet someone's going to be dumb enough to try to wash their bloody clothes in the laundry, and it'll be easy to find out who."

While some items of clothing were fairly common, such as button-down shirts and blazers, they were easy to tell apart by color. Some of us even had unique styles of clothing that nobody else did, such as Tsukimura's kimono or Himemiya's archery attire.

"You're talking like someone's going to get murdered," Tatsuki said.

"Am I wrong?" I said. "You know what's at stake and how much pressure we're under, so I know someone's going to crack."

"I can't argue with that," Tatsuki said, "but at the same time, I hope things will never come to that."

"Me too, Tatsuki-san," Nagato said.

I nodded, since it wasn't hard to see why each of them felt that way. No person was an island, and not only would Tatsuki or Nagato die if someone graduated, but they'd also lose their sister and their mother, respectively. Of course, while I was an only child of a single mother, I realized that not only would my mother be heartbroken if she lost me, but everyone here was someone's child, and some of us had siblings, too. I had no desire to cause pain to other people by murdering one of their loved ones, even if I couldn't trust the others to do the same.

Down the hall from the laundry room was a nurse's office, which seemed to have two beds, a cabinet full of medical supplies and other equipment. Kirishima and Higurashi were investigating it.

"Ah, hello, Azuki-san, Nagato-san," Higurashi said. "How goes the exploration?"

"We've looked into a few places around the ship," Nagato said, "and I got to see my mother for a little while."

Higurashi smiled approvingly.

"Good," Higurashi said. "Unless there's something we absolutely need to know about, you can share your findings once we meet up."

"Thanks," I said. "What about you guys?"

"As you can see, we found a trove of medical supplies," Higurashi said. "The good news is that no one will die due to lack of equipment that could be used to save them."

"Assuming anyone possesses the skills necessary to use them," Kiriishima said. "That is the bad news, and the worse news is that it is entirely likely that most murder victims will perish before encountering anyone who could help them. As such, it is not realistic to hope that we can save the murder victims."

"Perhaps not, Kirishima-kun," Higurashi said. "But we can work together to stop murders from occurring."

I sighed and shook my head.

"If you say so," I said. "Don't get me wrong; I don't want any murders, but that isn't up to us. It's up to whoever snaps and decides to graduate."

"I suppose so," Higurashi said, "but ask yourself this- will they succeed while acting alone and trying to outwit all of the spotless?"

I had to think about that for a moment. As tempting as it was to say "Yeah," or "Probably," this question was too serious to be dismissed so flippantly.

"I... actually don't know," I said, "but it's easy to pose as a spotless and try to throw the investigation off. It isn't always easy to tell the difference between someone who's wrong and someone who's trying to mislead us."

"That may be so," Kirishima said, "but all of us have the capacity for critical thinking, and the ability to discern truth from lies."

"I'm a bit surprised, Kirishima-san," Nagato-san said. "I didn't think you'd take Higurashi-san's side."

Kirishima frowned and shook his head, almost offended at what I was suggesting.

"I do not share Higurashi-kun's optimism," Kirishima said, "merely his belief in the power of rational thought to solve the problems that will undoubtedly arise. I doubt that he, or any one individual, can help convince us to put aside our differences and our fears to cooperate."

"I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree, then," Higurashi said. "That said, Kirishima-kun, I'll be counting on your help when the time comes. Same goes for you, Azuki-san, Nagato-san."

We nodded. Since this was a difficult situation, it would be in our best interests to work well with others. The only question was whether we could count on our classmates to do the same.

We left the nurse's office and returned to the hallway. After reaching the end of the starboard hallway, we saw the kitchen and the stairs to the dining hall. Before going there, we decided to go back and check the port corridor first.

While in the corridor, we found a small lounge, and next to it, there was a pair of bathrooms- one for the boys, the other for the girls.

The lounge had a sofa and a few comfortable chairs. scattered around. There was a vending machine that had a variety of drinks, but didn't seem to accept- or need- money, as well as a water cooler. There were a few magazines that seemed fairly recent, including one magazine with Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Fashionista, on the cover. There were also some bookshelves nearby, with a good amount of reading material. I could see at least one book related to each of our talents on it, from a collection of short plays to a textbook on genetics. There was also a surprising amount of murder mystery stories and crime novels, including a few of the Aiko Aizawa books, by some girl called Sae Edogawa. They also had a copy of the New International Version of the Bible, which Nagato seemed interested in.

While we were looking, Sasaki and Mihama stopped by.

"Ah, it looks like you've found the lounge," Sasaki said.

"Yeah," I said. "It's got a little bit of everything when it comes to reading material."

Sasaki then looked at the shelf intently.

"Wow, it looks like it has my manga," Sasaki said. "But wait a minute...I don't think I've actually gotten this far yet. Around the time I was recruited, I was only up to Chapter 33. Judging from the amount of volumes, at least two years have passed."

"Maybe someone else took over and wrote your work," I said.

Sasaki shook her head, then opened it up.

"This looks like something I'd have drawn," Sasaki said, "or at least someone who's very skilled at imitating my style. But why is it here?"

I shrugged, and the other two stared blankly.

"I do not know, Sasaki-san," Mihama said, "but it is strange that they would leave something like this lying around where anyone could find it. The only explanation I can think of is that two years have passed since we first got here."

"That's possible, Mihama-san," Nagato said, "but you're still growing, aren't you? If you turned thirteen, you should have grown at least a few centimeters."

Nagato was certainly on to something, assuming Mihama was actually eleven, after all. She was certainly mature for her age, but maybe she was older than she actually seemed.

"An astute observation, Nagato-san," Mihama said. "My proposal was only a theory, after all. If we forgot the past two years, it would explain why we did not remember arriving at the hotel, but we would be missing many other memories, such as our high school graduation."

"Good point," I said. "We'll probably have to look into this more.

We dropped the subject for now, since Sasaki's manga was the only piece of evidence we had right now that could explain anything, but it left us with a lot to think about. If we wanted to get out of here, we'd have to find out how we ended up here in the first place, since depending on the circumstances, escaping could prove a lot more difficult than we anticipated. Of course, considering that right now, the only reason we considered it "virtually impossible" rather than "completely impossible" was that we didn't want to believe it was the latter, that wasn't much consolation.

At the rear of the ship, there was the stairway leading up to the dining hall, as well as two rooms. The first we investigated looked like a warehouse. It was two stories tall, and there was a small staircase down from the door to the floor of the warehouse.

The warehouse had a surprisingly good selection of items, from tools to pieces of clothing and other gear. Most of the stuff was what you wouldn't expect to find on a cruise ship- either they expected you to bring it with you, or you wouldn't need it.

Of course, knowing Monokuma, there was no shortage of potential murder weapons in here. There were toolkits with heavy metal objects that could be used as bludgeons. Ropes could be used to strangle people or made into nooses. Canisters of household chemicals could be used to poison people. The list went on and on.

Unfortunately, while there were many things that could harm us, there wasn't anything that could help us in the way we'd hoped. Obviously, there wasn't anything that could be used to sail away from the ship, but they also were careful to avoid leaving things that could be used to call for help- cell phones, signal flares and the like.

I picked out a notebook and a pen, and jotted down some of my observations so far into the notebook while they were still fresh on my mind. After all, one could never know when a small tidbit of information could become vitally important. I grabbed a tote bag and put some of my supplies inside it.

As I was searching the warehouse, I found Monokuma… or at least what looked like him. It was probably half his size. A moment later, the real Monokuma popped out.

"Congratulations, Azuki-san," Monokuma said. "You just found the first Hidden Monokuma out of six!"

"Thanks," I said. "What do I get if I complete the collection?"

"I won't let you graduate, if that's what you're asking," Monokuma said, "but if you find all six- the one you found in the ship and one on the first five islands- you get a sense of accomplishment. Happy hunting!"

Monokuma then left.

"So in other words, there's no reward," Nagato said.

"Doesn't look like it," I said, "but at least I'll have something to work towards... assuming we live that long."

It was odd what the killing game could do to a person's sense of time. In my old life, not only did I have to meticulously plan my life in the short term, but I also had to think ahead to the future, from when my shooting my latest project would begin to entrance exams. Here, I realized I could be dead by tomorrow, so I didn't even have the luxury of thinking about the future.

Of course, thinking about that scared me shitless, so I put that thought out of my head, and got my head back in the game. Right now, my job was to investigate this ship and learn everything I could.

Across from the warehouse was the kitchen, a decently sized facility with everything you'd need- a refrigerator, a freezer, a good selection of utensils, a cutting surface, a stove, an oven, a sink. Tsukimura and Himemiya were busy investigating it.

"So this is the kitchen?" I said.

"It is," Tsukimura said, "but like all the other facilities around here, no one is around to operate it."

Tsukimura sounded like she'd know a lot about what it took to run a cruise liner like this. She'd probably worked with the other staff at the Himemiyas' place, and maybe she could get a job on another cruise ship if she ever got out of this one.

"What about the actual food?" Nagato said. "I'm worried about running out, since Monokuma might want us to run short and fight over the food."

"Apparently, Monokuma will see to it that the ship has adequate food supplies, and will regularly replenish the food on the ship," Tsukimura said. "However, it is up to us to prepare our own meals."

So that was another piece of evidence supporting my belief that Monokuma didn't just want to force us into a deathmatch until one person was left alive. Of course, Monokuma wasn't stupid, so every decision he made clearly was done for the purpose of furthering the killing game.

"So in other words, he wants to give our cook the chance to poison someone," I said.

"That's possible," Himemiya said, "but at the same time, if there is only one cook, then we would easily be able to identify a prime suspect. All we would have to do is identify the cook, and determine whether anyone else touched the food before the murder."

"Quite true, Himeno-sama," Tsukimura said, "but even a best-case scenario would involve the murderer being executed, in addition to the person who was killed."

"Better one killer than the rest of us," Himemiya said. "But I do agree that I'd rather not see it come to that."

"Neither do I," I said. "Of course, we'll probably have to prepare ourselves for dealing with a murder."

We fell silent. Of course, while saying that we'd have to be ready to deal with a murder was all well and good, none of us knew what we'd actually do to be ready for that- and it certainly didn't help that none of us could really accept that it would happen.

"Speaking of the kitchen," Tsukimura said, "Higurashi-san volunteered to cook our meals, which is good. I know some cooking, but since the Himemiyas have a chef, I don't get the opportunity to use my skills very much, so I'm glad he stepped up."

"That's good," Nagato said. "I would recommend my mom, but... you know..."

The others nodded. I didn't know whether Himemiya and Tsukimura had stopped by Nagato-sensei's cell, but they clearly knew about her predicament... and ours. All of our lives had been put on hold, and we didn't know when- or whether- we'd be able to get back to our homes, our schools, and our families and friends. There was no benefit to dwelling on this, though, so we did the only thing that could help us keep focused- getting back to the task of investigating the ship.

We went upstairs, into the dining hall, and took a look around. There were four square tables around, each of which could comfortably seat four people. It seemed as though the dining room had been designed specifically for the sixteen of us.

We saw Kurogane and Kojima. Luckily, the latter was in less of a mood to woo me.

"So it looks like we have our meeting space here," I said. "If nothing else, it's got enough seats for sixteen people."

"Yes, it does," Kurogane said, "but in my experience, putting this many wildly different individuals in the same room can yield some... interesting results. I know it from my family gatherings."

Nagato and I looked at each other and shrugged. I guess neither of us had nearly as many relatives as Kurogane did.

"You said it," Kojima said, "but a lot of projects, like video games, can't be accomplished without a big team working together."

"And movies," I said, "at least the big-budget blockbusters, or even anything that would be widely released. I don't have anything against student films, but they're just stepping stones to launch a bigger career."

Kojima grinned, evidently quite pleased that I'd agreed with him. Maybe it was just me, but he seemed a little too happy.

"I know," Kurogane said. "I'm sure we have our differences- life experiences, skillsets, personal beliefs, you name it- but we all have a shared interest in getting out of here."

"I guess," I said, "but that means that everyone's desperate to get out. Monokuma's counting on us to compete with and sacrifice each other to achieve that goal."

"That's true, Azuki-san," Nagato said, "but it's up to us to prove him wrong."

As we got back to our investigation, I was left to think about how we could get along as a group. Obviously, working together was a bit much to ask for, but we could do what we could to get along. I'd at least try to get along with Kojima, who was one of the more reasonable members, even if I'd still make it clear that I was out of his league.

We climbed to the top of the stairs at the back of the dining hall and saw the door leading to the bridge. It was a thick, sturdy door that had a small porthole and was guarded by ceiling-mounted Gatling guns. A small porthole was nearby, and gazing through it, we couldn't see anyone. A sign on the door said "OFF LIMITS TO STUDENTS", and there was a keypad controlling the lock.

"Well, there goes any hope of turning this ship around," I said, glancing out a window behind us. By now, the city where this ship had been docked was completely out of sight.

"Do you mean because the door is locked?" Nagato said. "Or because there doesn't seem to be anyone operating the ship?"

"Both," I said. "We obviously can't get in, and even if we could, the controls for the ship are probably not designed for humans to operate. It doesn't help that we don't have an Ultimate Ship Captain or Ultimate Navigator among us."

While pretty much anything could become an Ultimate title, to the point at which I wouldn't be surprised if the administration made up Ultimate titles for their kids, there obviously had to be limits. A lot of titles were in occupations that only adults could practice, which was why Mihama couldn't be recognized as the Ultimate Lawyer.

"Still, something's odd," Nagato said. "When we were on the deck, meeting Monokuma for the first time, the ship had already started sailing away, didn't it? How could Monokuma do that if he wasn't up on the bridge at the time?"

"Maybe he started the ship just after the announcement, then went out to greet us," I said. "He didn't necessarily have to control it."

"That's possible," Nagato said, "or maybe someone's up there, out of sight, controlling Monokuma and this ship."

"In other words, a possible eighteenth person on this ship," I said. "There's a lot we don't know about our situation."

While we'd explored the entire ship, we'd only answered a small fraction of the questions we had. Maybe we'd figure some things out by discussing our findings with the rest of the class, but we felt like we were a long way from the truth.

Having examined all the areas of the Ursa Major that were available to us, Nagato and I dropped the Hidden Monokuma off in my room, then returned to the deck, and sat down for a little while. Eventually, Yamazaki and Kumakura passed through.

"Oh, hello, you two," Kumakura said. "How goes the search?"

"We've thoroughly investigated the ship, Yamazaki-san," Nagato said. "What about you and Kumakura-san?"

"We're just passing through," Yamazaki said, "trying to see if we can learn anything else about this ship. Have you seen any lifeboats?"

Nagato and I shook our heads.

"No," Nagato said. "Why do you ask?"

"Personal curiosity," Yamazaki said. "I wanted to see if we'd have any way to get to safety if the Ursa Major hit an iceberg and sunk, or if only the women and the children could be saved."

"I don't think anyone would survive if that happened," I said. "And don't even think of asking me to stand at the bow with you, saying 'I'm flying!'"

Yamazaki chuckled. If nothing else, he was different from Kojima, who would've eagerly taken me upon that.

"Not at all," Yamazaki said. "I guess that when I'm on a ship like this, I can't help but think of that movie."

"I know," I said. "This situation doesn't feel real, almost like it's a manga or anime. But in the end, we have to accept that it's happening to us, and understand what it means- even if we don't want to admit it."

"I know," Yamazaki said. "You can hope for the best if you want, as long as you don't let that keep you from doing what you have to do."

Kumakura checked his watch, and I followed suit.

"We should head back to the dining hall," Kumakura said. "The others should be meeting there soon."

"I agree," Nagato said. "We'll have time to investigate the ship more later."

Nagato and I got up and followed Kumakura and Yamazaki into the dining hall.

We met up again in the dining hall to discuss our findings. By this point, Taiga- the sister who wasn't wearing a blazer- had gotten over her nosebleed, but she still had a tissue handy. Most of the others had seen everything we'd seen, since we covered the same ground, so there wasn't too much difference in what we brought to the table.

Each of us shared our findings, primarily focusing on the basics- the rooms where we were staying, how we'd get our food and the supplies we could get from the warehouse. Several people had noticed that the bridge was not only locked, but also was apparently unmanned, although no one had any idea for how to get the door open or see whether anyone was inside. Some of us, like Yamazaki, pointed out that there was no way to leave the ship apart from jumping overboard and swimming with it, which would probably result in us drowning or being killed by the Monodrones.

"So in conclusion, while we are trapped on this ship, all our needs are provided for," Higurashi said. "While this is undeniably a bad situation, as long as we follow the rules, the only immediate danger to our lives comes from each other. Because of that, we must stay calm and work together."

That was all well and good, if a bit much to ask from us, since the killing game was obviously meant to discourage us from doing either.

"Something seems odd about this ship," Tsukimura said. "Apart from this level and the top deck, there don't seem to be any stairs up and down. There are only two elevators- the one to Nagato-sensei's cell, and the one Monokuma said will take us to the courtroom. It seems as though these are the only areas we have access to."

Now that I thought about it, the accessible portion of the Ursa Major was fairly small for a ship this large. While the passengers of a normal cruise liner obviously couldn't fool around in the areas of the ship reserved for the crew, there were a lot more areas.

"It is certainly strange that the ship's vital machinery cannot be reached," Kirishima said. "This ship appears to be moving itself, but we would be in great peril if the machinery broke down."

"I agree, Kirishima-san," Tsukimura said. "If the ship stopped in the middle of the ocean, we would eventually die of starvation or dehydration, unless a passing ship rescued us."

Now that I thought about it, Monokuma ran the risk of the Ursa Major running into ships out at sea, and us being rescued. It was a massive hole in his plan, one he had to have thought of in advance. But how could he eliminate that risk? I honestly didn't know, so I kept quiet for a moment, until Mihama changed the subject.

"Speaking of which," Mihama said, "I believe Monokuma mentioned something about an itinerary for the trip, did he not? We should look at that."

We got out our handbooks once again and opened up the documents page.

Killing School Trip Itinerary

The Killing School Trip is meant to be a fun and educational opportunity for the students of Class 32 of Talent High School.

The First Half: Fun

Island 1: Inn Holiday. Students go to a traditional tourist attraction and stay a night in a traditional inn with an onsen.

Island 2: Party City. Kick back, relax and celebrate in a city that's known for holding awesome parties!

Island 3: Back To Nature. Camp out, relax on the beach and take nature walks on this beautiful island paradise.

The Second Half: Education

Island 4: Career Planning. Explore a variety of career options and find the best way to use your talent to make a living.

Island 5: Higher Education In A Changing World. Visit a college campus and see how it can help you achieve your career goals.

Island 6: Unknown. This one's a surprise!

I shuddered. All this seemed fairly normal, but it was easy to give a technically honest description that hid each island's true purpose, if not outright lie. Monokuma likely would have more than a few nasty twists in store.

"Why is the 'Higher Education' island after the 'Career Center' island?" one of the Tachibana sisters said.

"Probably because not all of us are planning on going on to college," Sasaki said. "People tend to find out what career you want first, then figure out whether they need a college degree for it."

It was a reasonable enough point, but largely irrelevant to our situation. We didn't have the luxury of thinking about where we'd be two years from now when any of us could die today.

"I am personally curious about the 'surprise' island," Tsukimura said, "and why it is part of the 'educational' portion of the trip."

"Me too," I said. "We can only assume that it's going to be a pretty nasty surprise... assuming we last long enough to make it there."

Of course, at this point, we knew next to nothing about the other five stops on our cruise, so we didn't have all that much to go on when it came to speculating about those. In fact, since we had yet to arrive at the first island, we were probably getting ahead of ourselves.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder why the sixth island was different, and noticed that according to Monokuma, it was the only one without a Hidden Monokuma. Maybe he didn't think we'd make it that far, or maybe he had something big planned for us, and didn't want us to be distracted.

"So essentially, this is our situation," Higurashi said. "We are trapped on this ship as it sails the high seas, told that the only way out is to graduate and encouraged to kill each other. If a murder does occur, one of two outcomes will result- either the spotless will sacrifice the blackened to live, or the blackened sacrifices the spotless to survive and escape."

"That's about right," I said. "It's not exactly an environment that's conducive to cooperation or where it's' safe to trust each other."

"Maybe not," Higurashi said, "but if you try to graduate and fail, you will only get yourself and your victim killed, causing us to lose two members and gain nothing. Besides, it's in the spotless' interest to work together in a trial, since it is highly unlikely that any one of us can uncover the truth alone."

I agreed with Higurashi, but probably not for the reason he'd intended. If only one of us was capable of solving the mysteries, then it would likely only be a matter of time before that person betrayed the group and committed a murder, confident in the knowledge that their intellectually inferior classmates couldn't figure it out.

"Of course," Karita said with a grin on his face. "And it's in the blackened's best interest to pretend to play along. All of us working together is all well and good if we can manage it, but even if we achieve that, then at least one of us betrayed the group... to say nothing of the actual traitor."

"That may be true," Higurashi said, "but since those seeking to graduate are motivated by self-interest, then they have no choice but to act alone. Since they would be the only one to benefit from their schemes, no one would help them."

What Higurashi was saying made a certain amount of sense. The rules of the killing game, particularly what was at stake, discouraged cooperation, and encouraged everyone to be out for themselves. If we managed to unite as a class, then there was no way a single blackened could deceive all of us... or was there?

"You have a point," I said. "No rational person would willingly help a blackened get away with murder... at least not knowingly. It's possible for a blackened to manipulate people into unwittingly helping them in some way or another, like laying the groundwork and hiding evidence."

"I agree with Azuki-san," Taiga said. "Besides, if the accomplice might be willing to help someone else graduate if they valued that person's life more than their own... or everyone else's."

"I'm not so sure, Taiga-san," Karita said. "I don't know if we have anyone that selfless around here. Most people are out for their own survival."

I didn't really think "selfless" was the right word. Sure, the accomplice might be willing to die for the sake of another person, but screwing over everyone else to save the one person they cared about could be seen as them sacrificing a hell of a lot of people to get what they wanted. Besides, who could say that the beneficiary actually wanted their help?

"You have a point, Karita-kun," Higurashi-kun said. "Because most of us want to live, it is in the spotless' interest to work together and find the blackened during the class trial- or better yet, prevent it from coming to that. Committing murder gives you a chance to graduate, but it will more likely get you killed."

"Fair enough," I said, "but then we're going back to the idea of thinking rationally. If someone was willing to risk their life to get out of here, they'd be willing to do whatever it took. A lot of us here aren't good at thinking on their own, so it's only natural that they'd get desperate and... do something rash."

Higurashi nodded, unable to contest that point. Of course, since he didn't seem all that put out, he was ready to make a point of his own.

"That leads me to my next proposal," Higurashi said. "I would like to serve as your leader, someone all of you can rely on and look to for guidance. I know it is not prudent to trust any one person, but I would like to help moderate group discussions, serve as a liaison to the teacher, and be a person the rest of you can look to for guidance."

"This is all well and good," Kirishima said, "but the only question is whether you can, in fact, provide that guidance."

"I believe so," Higurashi said, "but it isn't up to me. In keeping with the principles of democracy, I would like to suggest that we choose our leader through popular vote, and also make our decisions that way. If anyone would like to announce their candidacy for leader, please do so now."

No one, not even those who'd expressed skepticism about what Higurashi was saying, spoke up. That was hardly surprising, since most of their objections had been to the ideals he expressed, rather than his ability to live up to them.

"I see," Higurashi said. "Please raise your hands if you would like me to lead you. I will only become your leader if at least eight out of the fifteen of you choose me- if not, I will rethink my approach and try to come up with a proposal you will support"

Nine of us raised our hands- Nagato, Tsukimura, the twins, Sasaki, Mihama, Kumakura, Kurogane and Kojima. It was a majority, but a pretty crappy one. Higurashi had won by his own rules, but actually leading the group would be another matter. If he'd gotten the other fourteen students' votes, I would have raised my hand as a belated vote, but if five of us agreed with me, then it'd be best for me to keep my hand down.

Higurashi didn't seem to mind, though, and bowed graciously.

"Thank you," Higurashi said. "I will do my best to live up to the expectations of those who voted for me, and win over those who did not."

"Knock yourself out," Karita said. "I don't really expect much of you, so I won't be disappointed if you fail."

Higurashi winced. While Karita seemed friendly enough, this was just one reminder that he wasn't actually a good person. I was actually grateful for it, since it reminded me not to let my guard down around him.

"This meeting is adjourned for now," Higurashi said. "Nagato-san, please come with me. I would like to discuss this with our teacher, and would like you around to verify what we discussed."

Nagato nodded eagerly, and it wasn't hard to see why she was chosen. She was probably one of the more upstanding and honest-seeming members of our class, at least going off first impressions. It also didn't hurt that this way, she'd have a chance to see her mother again.

"Yes, sir," Nagato said.

Nagato and Higurashi got up and headed downstairs, and after a moment, I followed him.

I caught up with Higurashi in the corridor near the kitchen.

"Do you have a minute, Higurashi?" I said.

"Certainly, Azuki-san," Higurashi said. "I was hoping I could talk with you. You can go on ahead, Nagato-san."

"Understood, Higurashi-san," Nagato-san said. "Please come see us when you're done."

Nagato nodded, and walked down the hall.

"Let me guess," I said. "This is because I didn't vote for you, is it?"

"Partially," Higurashi said. "You don't have to like me, but I would appreciate your trust and your support, so I would like to know how best to win it."

I thought over what I had to say for a moment. Clearly, Higurashi didn't see me as a lost cause when it came to approval, and was willing to listen to me, so I could possibly get through to him. Then again, I also didn't want to mince words, either.

"You're a pretty good public speaker, I'll give you that," I said. "It's just that your sales pitch sucks."

Higurashi nervously chuckled.

"That's certainly blunt," Higurashi said. "Could you please elaborate?"

"It's simple," I said. "Us getting along and working well as a group requires all of us to pitch in and work together... and it only takes one person to screw us over by committing murder, causing us to end up in a class trial."

"I'm well aware of that," Higurashi said, "which is why I'd like to make sure that no one ends up killing any of their classmates."

I sighed. I didn't disagree with his goals, merely his belief in his ability to achieve them.

"I feel the same way," I said, "but you're only human, after all. Six people, including myself, didn't vote for you, so it's obvious that you can't convince everyone to do what you say. It's entirely possible that the first killer will be one of the six who have no faith in your ability to lead... or maybe one of the nine who said otherwise."

"That's possible," Higurashi said, not commenting on how, in hindsight, it was technically a tautology. "Then again, I do hope that I can win them over."

I shrugged. As things stood now, no one would win in an argument between us. Higurashi's optimism was groundless, but at the same time, while our circumstances were certainly bleak, I didn't have any evidence he didn't know about. He wasn't stupid enough to not know that a lot of people hadn't voted for him, or that the killing game encouraged betrayal, so there wasn't any point in reminding him of those.

"Maybe you can," I said, "but like I said earlier, it's not like you're a bad speaker or even a bad leader. It's just that the task you've taken is doomed from the start. You remind me of an actor I once heard of, who got a starring role in a rather stupid kids' movie. He gave a great performance as the lead, but the movie was a pile of shit, so it flopped and his career never really recovered."

"So in other words, you believe that my goal is a lost cause?" Higurashi said.

"I believe so," I said, "since you can't win this battle by yourself, and not everyone's willing to fight it with you."

Higurashi shook his head.

"I don't think you're wrong, Azuki-san," Higurashi said, "but it's' still a fight worth fighting, even if I'm doomed to lose. If nothing else, I have to do something about this situation."

I sighed. I still thought Higurashi was naïve, but at the very least, he knew his limits.

"I guess I can't talk you out of this," I said. "Just... don't do anything reckless, or you might end up making things worse for everything else."

"Deal," Higurashi said.

I parted ways with Higurashi not fully reassured. Obviously, the selfish pricks who were only out for themselves gave us enough to worry about, but what about the well-intentioned but misguided types? Would it be possible that at least one murder might result from the actions of the latter group, not just the former group?

Not long after talking with Higurashi, I headed to the deck to get some fresh air, and saw one of the Tachibana sisters (I think it was Taiga) on the deck. She was wearing her blazer, but since I'd seen Taiga heading to the laundry room, maybe she'd picked it up after it finished being cleaned, or got a spare blazer from her suitcase.

"Oh, Azuki-san," Tachibana said.

"Is something wrong, Tachibana?" I said.

Tachibana nodded.

"Think about our situation for a moment," Tachibana said, "namely, the graduation rule. Either the status quo is upheld, with the gradually dwindling class remaining trapped in here, or one person graduates and everyone else dies. Do you have some idea what I'm getting at?"

"Yeah," I said. "There's no way you and your sister are getting out of here together."

"That's part of it," Tachibana said, "but also, neither of us would be willing to let everyone else die so that we could graduate. We know what we have to do, but all the same, it's difficult to do."

"I know," I said. "Of course, you're not the only one in this situation. Nagato's stuck in here with her mom, and Himemiya and Tsukimura have known each other since they were little."

Tachibana nodded.

"Exactly," Tachibana said. "Even if there was a way for me to graduate with my sister, we'd be selfishly prioritizing our own survival over a lot of other people like us. Our only solution is to hold together, and realize that we're all in the same boat together- literally."

"That's right," I said. "Is that why you voted for Higurashi?"

"It is," Tachibana said. "I know that it's not realistic to believe that uniting under one leader will solve our problems, but it's our only hope. Even if you disagree with Higurashi-kun, please at least try to support him."

"Got it," I said. "I talked with him just now, and while I still don't agree with him, he does at least seem honest."

Tachibana smiled.

"I'm glad, Azuki-san," Tachibana said. "I don't think Higurashi-kun's asking too much of us- just that we cooperate and trust him- so I think it's only fair that we work with him."

As I parted ways with Tachibana for now, I realized that maybe, Higurashi's supporters weren't as naïve as I'd thought. It wasn't enough to get me to change my vote, but at the very least, I could cut him some slack.

I headed back into the ship and stopped by the lounge to see Yamazaki, one of my fellow "no" voters(the others being Asakura, Himemiya, Karita and Kirishima). He was sitting in a chair and reading an entertainment magazine, evidently trying to brush up on his facts.

"Hey, Yamazaki," I said. "I wanted to ask you about your thoughts about Higurashi."

Yamazaki looked up, shut the magazine and thought over his answer for a moment.

"It's not that I don't trust him," Yamazaki said, "or maybe it's more accurate to say that I don't distrust him more than anyone else. It's just that I don't think people like us can achieve much through cooperation."

"Because we could turn on and kill each other?" I said.

I expected Yamazaki to say "Yes" immediately, but surprisingly enough, he actually had to think about it

"That's only part of it," Yamazaki said. "To use an analogy, a movie requires a lot of talented people working together- not just the actors, but also the production crews, the directors and writers, the business executives and promoters... you name it."

I didn't need my professional experience with making a movie, or the earlier discussion with the Kojima-Kurogane duo to know what he meant. One of my first memories was seeing a movie together with my mom and dad, back when the latter was still alive, and being amazed at how many names were in the credits. I couldn't count high enough to get all the names, but I knew that movies were big projects.

"Yeah," I said. "Kojima and I talked about this earlier. He said that big undertakings require a lot of people working together."

Yamazaki frowned. He could probably tell from my tone that I wasn't nearly as sanguine about the prospect of working together as Kojima was, but I wasn't sure whether hea greed.

"He's right," Yamazaki said, "but as I'm sure you know, a movie doesn't just need a lot of people, but also people with a wide range of useful skills who are good at their jobs. What's more, they also need to work well together- they don't have to be best friends, but they have to at least be able to tolerate each other."

"Which rules out a lot of people," I said, "Asakura and Nagato, Asakura and Karita, Asakura and Himemiya...hell, we could just say Asakura's the problem. As for talents, I can't think of any sort of undertaking we could do together that would involve all our talents."

Yamazaki nodded.

"Anyway, my point is this," Yamazaki said. "If anyone can get through the killing game, it isn't me- I mean us- not with our hodgepodge of talents and conflicting personalities."

"Maybe not," I said. "Still, while I'm not optimistic about Higurashi's chances, we may as well try."

Yamazaki didn't argue with me, and we soon parted ways. While I couldn't fault him for feeling the way he did, not after I also refused to vote for Higurashi, he seemed remarkably pessimistic, even for the killing game. Our circumstances were bleak, and it was dangerous to cling to false hope, but if we fully bought into the belief that graduation was our only way out, then the worst-case scenario would be inevitable.

We met up in the dining hall for dinner. By this point, Nagato and Higurashi had returned from our teacher's cell.

"Nagato-san and I met with our teacher," Higurashi-san said, "and we'd like to propose some rules."

"In case you weren't paying attention to the vote, not everyone wants you to lead us," Asakura said, "so you can forget about telling us what to do."

"I'm fully aware of that, Asakura-kun," Higurashi-san said, "and, in fact, I won't be 'telling' you to do anything. Rather, we will discuss and agree on all rules as a group, and decide them by majority vote. I will admit that following them is up to you, but if you understand what is at stake for yourself and everyone else, you should comply."

So Higurashi was smart enough to know that not everyone would listen to him. Of course, while it was obvious enough that a slip-up would get someone killed in here, not everyone was necessarily aware of that. If I had any money on me, I'd bet it all on the first murder happening because someone- whether the killer or the victim- still didn't realize that they were in a killing game.

"Our first proposal relates to the Night Time rule," Higurashi said. "Nagato-sensei suggested that we all stay in our cabins during Night Time for safety's sake, not just the areas that are off limits during Night Time- namely, the pool and the bathrooms-. Since there is unlikely to be anyone else out at that time, if you go outside, it is likely that someone will murder you, with no one around to witness the crime, much less stop it."

"Because of that," Nagato said, "we won't give out any punishments for violating the rule- not that we have the authority to do so, anyways. If you go out during Night Time, you do so at your own risk. Is everyone in favor of that?"

The vote passed unanimously, although not everyone seemed to vote. Everyone- even Higurashi's supporters and especially Higurashi's critics- knew that he didn't have much power, so we didn't have to worry about getting in trouble with him. In fact, whether or not we supported him came down to one question- how much faith we had in people's common sense and ability to think rationally. Then again, I don't think anyone thought our classmates were stupid enough to needlessly invite danger.

"Next up is the issue of roommates," Higurashi said. "Nagato-sensei, Nagato-san and I discussed this at length, and we concluded that while there is a risk of being killed by one's roommate, as long as only the inhabitants of the room are able to access the room, it will be easy to catch the perpetrator."

"And what if someone wants to have a guest over?" Kojima said.

"We're getting to that, Kojima-san," Nagato said. "Mom had a suggestion- if you want to visit a person in a room, it would be one-on-one, and only with the approval of that person and their roommate. For example, if you wanted to visit Azuki-san in her room, the two of you would need to get permission from me- as Azuki-san's roommate- and your roommate... Kurogane-san, right?"

As Kurogane said "That's right," I barely stifled a bitter chuckle. I knew Nagato was just trying to give an example, but there was no way in hell I was going to let Kojima come over.

As for Higurashi's suggestion, it was a decent idea, since it meant that at least two people would know about any person visiting another's room- two people who would be unlikely to be in cahoots with each other if the visit resulted in the death of the host or the guest. Of course, the more cautious (or paranoid) individuals wouldn't accept any invitations, while nobody but the most stupid would accept invitations from the most untrustworthy people. Because of that, this one also passed more or less unanimously.

"That said," Higurashi said, "we suggest that if you want to see someone besides your roommate, you do so in one of the common areas, so one of you can leave if you so desire. The dining hall, the lounge and the deck would be good choices."

"I think so, too," Sasaki said. "Of course, said locations may not be private."

"That'd be a problem," Karita said, "especially if you and the person you were meeting with were, say, plotting murder."

Sasaki gave Karita a disapproving look. He'd had a point, but a murder plot was only one reason why one of us might want privacy. If she had to meet with her editor to discuss her manga, then the editor's office would be a much better place than somewhere in public, like a diner, considering her subject matter.

"Next up is cooking," Higurashi said. "I will be responsible for cooking for all of you, so if anything... unfortunate happens, it will be my responsibility. Please let me know if you have any dietary restrictions or food allergies."

Nobody spoke up. I wasn't sure whether the others didn't have anything to report, or if they were scared about Higurashi trying to kill them by feeding them something they were allergic to. This proposal also passed almost unanimously, but I heard "Nay" votes from Asakura and Karita."

"We also discussed the dress code," Higurashi said. "Not everyone has a school uniform- much less this school's uniform- so as long as you're not doing anything that would count as indecent exposure, feel free to wear the uniforms and other clothes you have."

"Like we need your permission," Asakura said. "This uniform's the only 'real' clothing I have."

"I'm well aware, Asakura-kun," Higurashi said. "The purpose of this meeting is to clear up any questions we might have about the minor details."

Nagato turned to Higurashi and nodded, seemingly ignoring Asakura's remark.

"I agree, Higurashi-san," Nagato said. "As a teacher, Mom believes it's important that people understand the rules, so if she sees someone breaking a rule, she lets them know. If it's clearly a case of their not understanding the rules, she'll let them off with a warning, unless she's required to punish them."

Asakura nodded. Since he was more or less letting us do what we wanted here, there wasn't any real need for a vote.

"Indeed, Nagato-san," Higurashi said. "Speaking of Nagato-sensei, as you may have heard, she is no longer the official teacher and chaperone in charge of this trip, so you are no longer obligated to treat her as a teacher or do what she says- more specifically, it's fine for Nagato-san to call her 'Mom.'"

"That's right," Nagato said, "but Mom still deserves our respect. Not only is she older than us, but she also is trying to keep us safe, which is why she is working with Higurashi-san and I to guide you all. Because of that, if you have any questions or would like to talk to an adult, please don't hesitate to visit her. I spoke with her, and she'd be glad to see all of you"

Higurashi nodded approvingly.

"Those are all the rules I can think of for right now," Higurashi said. "I'll let you know if there's anything you need to know, but you shouldn't expect any other rules."

"That works for me," Yamazaki said. "I already had to memorize all of Monokuma's rules, so I'd rather not have to memorize yours."

I wondered if Higurashi could have sent us all a list of the rules for our records, but a cursory glance at our handbooks showed that we didn't have any sort of messaging program. I wasn't sure why that was, but maybe it was so that we couldn't clandestinely communicate without the surveillance cameras catching what we said.

"I agree with Yamazaki-san," Mihama said. "Monokuma has already given us his rules, and has threatened to execute rulebreakers, so this class should have guidelines to help ensure that we live peacefully together, rather than ironclad rules."

"I agree, Mihama-san," Nagato said. "What's most important is that we all work together. Essentially, our rules are merely a means to an end, and if there should come a time when breaking them is necessary for the good of our class, those rules should be broken."

Higurashi didn't disagree, although I couldn't think of any scenarios in which the rules could get in the way of our working together. Still, what mattered most was the principle, and for all I disagreed with our leadership, at least they had their priorities in order.

"One last thing," Higurashi said. "During our discussion with Nagato-sensei, we decided to appoint Nagato-san as the vice-leader for the class. If I die, or am otherwise unable to serve as leader, Nagato-san will serve as an interim leader while we hold elections."

No one said anything to that, probably because Higurashi was the only one who wanted to lead us. Maybe some of us imagined that Nagato would kill Higurashi to take his position, but there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell of this happening. Even if Nagato was that kind of person, her killing Higurashi would end in one of two ways- either she'd die or all of us would- and if she somehow survived after killing Higurashi, we'd never trust her again.

Of course, the fact that Higurashi, who'd struck me as a bit idealistic, was acknowledging and preparing for the possibility of his own death said a lot about how serious our situation was.

"That's all," Higurashi said. "Remember, the most important thing is that we work together, so I'll be doing my utmost for the sake of the class, and I'll be counting on all of you to do the same."

We spent the rest of the evening going over the various rules Monokuma had set, making sure everyone knew what they were expected and not allowed to do, which didn't take very long. Higurashi finally decided to adjourn the meeting an hour before Night Time, to give us some free time before we bed.

After dinner, I went to Nagato-sensei's cell, taking up her daughter on her offer. She'd apparently just finished eating, so I had her full attention.

"Oh, good evening, Azuki-san," Nagato-sensei said. "Can I do something for you?"

I nodded and sat down across from Nagato-sensei.

"I'd like to ask something, Nagato-sensei," I said. "Did you really greenlight Higurashi serving as your rep?"

Nagato-sensei nodded.

"I did," Nagato-sensei said. "He explained his proposal, and the fact that most of the class was behind it, so I believed it would be the best possible way of keeping order in our class. Chiyuri came down with him, and will accompany him when he sees me every evening, so no one will suspect that he is lying about what I said"

Technically, there was a possibility that Nagato and Higurashi could be in cahoots, lying to us about what Nagato-sensei said, and vice versa. That said, while Higurashi and Nagato seemed to get along, they weren't exactly friends, and neither seemed to be the sort to lie.

"Fair enough," I said. "To be honest, I'm kind of skeptical about this plan, but at least we aren't placing too much trust in one person. I doubt it'll prevent any murders, but it probably won't cause any, either."

Nagato-sensei silently concurred, but noticed that I was looking at her funny.

"By the way, Azuki-san, I'd like you to be honest with me about something," Nagato-sensei said. "Do you suspect me of being the traitor?"

I shook my head. Even if I thought so, and was willing to say it to Nagato-sensei's face, I didn't have any proof.

"Not exactly, Sensei," I said. "For one, you're stuck in there and can't manipulate the outcome of class trials. For another, it'd be too obvious for the mastermind to act like a goody-two-shoes to deflect suspicion from themselves. It'd be safer to keep a low profile."

"I'm glad you think so," Nagato-sensei said. "It may not narrow down the candidates for the 'traitor' much, but I'm glad you don't suspect me."

Unfortunately, out of the sixteen people besides myself, we could only rule out three people- both Nagatos and Higurashi- on those grounds. In fact, it might even be premature to rule out anyone, so we'd be back to square one.

"You're welcome, Sensei," I said, "but let's be honest. Are you prepared to consider the possibility that one of your students betrayed you and their classmates? Even if it isn't your daughter?"

Nagato-sensei shook her head.

"No," Nagato-sensei said. "It's difficult to accept the idea that someone would do something so horrible, especially when I can't even imagine why."

"Neither can I," I said. "I mean, I could imagine one of us killing to get out of here, but not someone setting up a killing game. Hell, Nagato said most of her schoolmates were shocked when one girl stabbed another."

"So was I," Nagato-sensei said. "As a mother, I'm disturbed by an incident like that happening at my daughter's school. As a teacher, I want to protect my students, which I can't do while I'm stuck in here."

"Higurashi's doing what he can in your stead," I said. "To be honest, I'm not optimistic about his chances, but at least he's trying."

"I suppose that's all he can do," Nagato-sensei said, "but I'm grateful for that. Do your best to ensure that there won't be any killings."

I nodded.

"Yes, ma'am," I said.

I parted ways with Nagato-sensei wondering if the quest to find the traitor was even worth it. As long as the traitor's identity was unknown, we'd live in fear of being betrayed, and once we found out- or worse, when the traitor struck- we'd have to endure the horror of being betrayed. Only one thing was clear- Monokuma would win either way.

As I emerged from the elevator, I saw Karita carrying a can of paint and a brush toward the boys' cabins.

"Evening, Azuki-san," Karita said.

"Hey, Karita," I said. "You mind telling me what you plan on doing with that can of paint?"

"Setting some boundaries," Karita said. "Asakura-kun and I agreed to divide the room into thirds. One is the area with his bed, the other is the area with mine, and the third is the common area, with the shower, closet and door. Obviously, we have to keep to our own halves, and only one of us can be in the neutral area at any given time."

I chuckled softly after I heard "Asakura-kun and I agreed," a phraseI never thought Karita would ever use.

"So you can at least get along with him well enough to make decisions together," Karita said.

"You could say that," Karita said. "We don't exactly trust each other, but we realize that we have an interest in not murdering each other. That's why I try to be at least somewhat civil to him."

"Got it," I said. "But have you ever considered getting a new roommate?"

"Not a bad idea," Karita said, "but who do you have in mind?"

I stopped to think for a moment, and realized that I couldn't think of an answer to his question. The Himemiya-Tsukimura duo and the twins were probably close enough that they wouldn't want to be broken up for any reason, while most of the others seemed content with their choice of roommate. As for me, I couldn't think of anyone besides Nagato that I'd rather have as a roommate.

"You got me," I said. "Sorry; it looks like you guys are stuck together."

"That's all right," Karita said. "Not everyone gets what they want here, you know?"

"You got that right," I said, "otherwise we wouldn't be here."

"Well, most of us," Karita said. "After all, not only does the traitor probably want us to participate in the killing game, but maybe they enjoy participating in it themselves."

"Who knows?" I said. "I guess we'll find out sooner or later, assuming we live that long."

"That sounds right," Karita said. "I've got to get going, so good night, Azuki-san."

I said good night to Karita, and left with a lot on my mind. So far, he'd given me no concrete reason to distrust him, apart from his reputation, but I couldn't help but be wary around him, and everyone else. Not everyone was untrustworthy, but in a place like this, trusting the wrong person would likely be the last mistake I ever made.

I returned to my cabin, and saw Nagato there, sitting on her bed and unpacking her suitcase. Apparently, she'd stopped by the warehouse, since I could see that she'd pinned a Magical Girl Sakura poster to the wall on her side.

"Welcome back, Azuki-san," Nagato said.

"Hey," I said. "Are you getting unpacked?"

"I am," Nagato said. "Apparently, my suitcase has a few changes of clothes for various occasions."

I looked through my suitcase. Like Nagato said, there was a spare uniform or two, a set of pajamas, socks and underwear, and a swimsuit. The selection wasn't great, but we had clothing for every occasion.

"Looks like we're stuck with our uniforms for most of the time," I said, "unless you'd rather come to breakfast in a swimsuit."

"Then I'll wear my uniform," Nagato said. "Luckily for me, it's useful for everything that doesn't involve exercise, require protective clothing or events that I have to dress up for."

I unpacked my suitcase, and we put our clothes into the closet, dividing the space between us. Once we were finished, we took turns taking showers, and when we were done, we put our night time clothes on- Nagato had a pink nightgown, while I had pajamas.

"What's it like to work with Higurashi?" I said.

"I think he's an intelligent and good-hearted young man," Nagato said. "He seems like he'll do his best as our leader."

"I thought you'd say that," I said. "I talked to a couple people after dinner- people who voted for him and people who didn't- so I guess the real question is whether 'his best' will be good enough, or if it even matters."

Nagato sighed.

"I suppose it seems hopeless if you frame it that way," Nagato said, "but Higurashi-san and I think of it differently. In a situation in which we could end up killing each other, do you passively sit by and do nothing, selfishly try to graduate, or try to help your classmates?"

"The latter, I guess," I said, "as long as your efforts actually do end up helping. Like you said, it's all a matter of perspective."

Nagato nodded to concur, and our discussion ended for now. Of course, I had to wonder- how would our perspective change once the killing actually began?

Soon afterward, the monitor came on. This time, we saw Monokuma sitting in the ship's bridge, and could recognize his voice.

"It is now Night Time," Monokuma said. "At this time, certain areas of the ship will be off limits. Good night, and sleep tight."

I checked my watch, and saw that it was a few seconds after 10 PM, showing that my watch had the correct time. In the past, having the correct time was important to keep my appointments, but in here, knowing where I was at what time could become important to solving a murder.

"Well, that sounds like our cue," I said. "Want to call it a night?"

"One minute, please," Nagato said. "Before I go to bed, I'd like to say my prayers."

"Ah, right, you're a Christian," I said. "I could tell from your Catholic school uniform."

Nagato nodded. While blazer-style uniforms were fairly common, hers had a visible cross on the school crest.

"My mom and I are Catholics," Mom said. "For us, being Christians means being the best people we can be, even if we can't be perfect. Both of us are sinners, just like everyone else, but I don't intend to become a murderer."

"I see," I said.

Nagato looked a bit uncomfortable.

"I can tell you don't entirely believe me, Azuki-san," Nagato said. "I don't blame you, though... considering the circumstances."

"Actually, I don't doubt that you believe what you say you do," I said, "but beliefs can be fragile things. Maybe it's because I'm not religious, or maybe because I'm a cynical bitch, but I probably couldn't hold onto my belief in God in a situation like this."

"Fair enough, Azuki-san," I said. "What do you believe in?"

I paused for a moment.

"Tough question," I said. "I guess I believe that my life isn't worth more than that of anyone else here, much less all yours combined, and I don't want to see anyone get killed just because someone's desperate to graduate. I'd like to believe that most of us feel the same way."

"Me too, Azuki-san," Nagato said, before stifling a yawn. "Good night."

"Night, Nagato," I said, and climbed into my bed while Nagato knelt down beside hers to pray.

I had trouble getting to sleep that night. While Nagato wasn't stupid enough to kill her roommate, for all I knew, self-preservation was the only thing staying her hand. Sure, Nagato's graduation would result in her mother being executed, but who said she wasn't fine with that?

There were so many unanswered questions about our situation- why we were here, who was responsible for this and how everything would turn out, among others- and the only answers I could think of depressed the hell out of me. Perhaps mercifully, I was tired enough that I fell asleep before too long.

Monokuma Theater

The term "first time" is really relative, you know?

If you've never heard of something happening before, then the first time you see it may as well be the first time ever.

So it doesn't matter if a work rips off a previous work as long as people see the ripoff first.

In fact, you should probably have your memories erased every night, so that each new day feels like a brand new experience.

Remember this- as long as you can't remember anything, you'll never get bored.

Author's Notes

Thank you for the follows.

This chapter turned out a bit longer than the equivalent in Where Talent Goes To Die, since the ship has more facilities than the first floor of the school does, and I included interactions with each of the other characters this time.

Since Azuki, as a first person narrator, narrates based on her own perspective, there are times when she's less than infallible. For example, she can't give exact measurements as to how large the Ursa Major is, and there are times when she's confused as to which Tachibana sister she's talking with.

I have some bad and good news. The bad news is that while I have a good amount of progress on Parts 2 and 3 of Chapter I, the latter half of the chapter, including the murder, may take longer to write up (although once I finish with the first half, I'll more easily be able to focus on the latter half). The good news, though, is that in the mean time, you'll get to see some of the characters' Free Time Events in the Side Stories for this fic- Nagato's has been posted already, and you may see Higurashi, Karita and Tsukimura's Free Time Events, among others, in the near future.

Next up is a daily life segment.