So...Storm Doris was a thing this week...the compost bin we have in our back garden nearly blew away from the wind (though we did find it), part of next door's trampoline ended up in the garden opposite to them, and of course as with all adverse weather conditions, there were transport delays everywhere. And actually, I had to put up with a whole bunch of public transport delays in getting to uni this week in general. Fun times =P

But anyway, I changed my mind somewhat about waiting for my survivor spot to fill up before doing the next chapter-mostly because it felt like too long of an interval between chapters. So yeah, I'm still looking for one more survivor, and three dead, and for now the deadline is the 12th of March-two weeks from now. As always, the more up-to-date info about this SYOC is on my profile, so if you're going to submit a new character, make sure to check what I've said there before proceeding.

I've not got much else to say this chapter, so as always, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please do leave feedback.

Akira

"There's someone here to see you, Kazama-san."

"There is?" Surprised, I took a quick look at the open diary on my desk, and then at the time. "Who is it?"

"Er…a Kazuki Kita-san?"

"Ah, okay. Let him in, in that case. " I couldn't think of a reason he'd visit me today, but I liked him well enough that I didn't mind anyway. And it would be a welcome break from going through emails and then preparing for the afternoon's meeting.

"Oh, you know him?" my colleague asked, looking slightly startled.

"Yeah, I do." When my colleague remained standing there, looking unsure, I sighed resignedly, reminding myself to give him some leeway, given that he was new.

"Really, it's fine."

"Oh, well, if you say so, Kazama-san…"

My colleague scurried away, and a few moments later Kazuki appeared in the doorway.

"Hello there, Akira-kun. You are free right now, right?"

"Yes, sure, I'm not doing anything particularly important…you may as well come in properly, close the door behind you. "

"Sure thing." Kazuki closed the door and then headed straight to the chair opposite my desk, plopping heavily into it before adjusting himself and looking at me. I stared back and waited, curious.

"How are things at the Foundation, then, Kita-san?" I asked politely after a moment.

"Ehh, same as usual, I suppose. We were able to locate someone else today, identify him and return him to his family. A father of two-his youngest never got the chance to meet him…."

Kazuki trailed off and looked up at the ceiling of my office, lost in thought, and that's how I knew that this father of two had been found dead, and not as a living, breathing person. I supposed it was a small mercy that he'd found and returned in the first place but…I could understand how that felt like a failure anyway, something I knew far too well.

Because I didn't protect you, Hibiki.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But at least that family knows now, they know what happened to him, thanks to you and the others."

"Yeah….I know. I know." Kazuki shrugged heavily. "That doesn't help the way it feels though, you know. Then again, I guess you do, that's why you never worked with us, while you were still Foundation."

At that, he shrugged heavily again, but straightened and returned his gaze to me.

"Pretty much, yes." I agreed. "I still admire you all for persevering with it."

"Yes, well, someone has to, don't they?" Kazuki pulled a face. "And besides, as long as Hikari is still out there, waiting to be found, it's not like I can stop."

I nodded once at the mention of Kazuki and Masashi's little sister, who had gone missing during the worst of the riots that had preceded the Mutual Killing Game. As long as you don't know, there's still hope. I didn't have that hope. There was no possibility that Hibiki could be okay, that she could ever walk back through the door to drag me into escapades and constantly call me 'Rika-Chin' in the manner that always used to annoy me so much, or ask me to help her with revising for exams, or have me watch her bring beloved characters to life. That would never happen.

But still, I couldn't envy Masashi and Kazuki for the possibilities they still had. It was just a different type of hurt, after all. And none of us Survivors escaped unscathed. We all lost something, during those times.

"But in any case, that's not really why I'm here."

"I suspected that was the case."

"Yeah. But anyway, Masashi mentioned something about how you think that maybe schools are teaching about the stuff you guys went through?"

I had to think a moment, and then I remembered that's what we'd all been talking about on the group chat, before we'd decided that we were going to have a reunion. I'd been meaning to make some phone calls to the friends I'd made while I had still been at the Future Foundation to find out about that, but then I'd been swept up in work and forgotten. Though, to be fair, it had only been a few days or so.

"Yeah….?" Idly, I plucked a pen from my desk tidy and fiddled with it.

"Nah, it was just something he mentioned in passing at dinner time, and he did say you would probably try to ask, but I figured I could poke around, given that I'm still actually there, you know? That sort of thing isn't really in my remit, but I didn't mind doing it."

"Ah, I see." Ah, that's a relief.

"So, what did you find out?"

"Well, as you suspected, not that much of a big deal." Kazuki leaned back in his chair and stretched before continuing.

"It's a new topic they're testing out, as part of the Social Studies syllabus. It's not just about what you guys went through specifically, but the entire thing, everything about the Remnants of Despair and what they tried to do. And I think they're also trying to raise awareness of cults, particularly the dangerous ones like the Remnants, given so many kids got caught up with them, the idea being to try and prevent something like that from happening through teaching them the impact. I don't really know about how education works, so I'm probably explaining that badly, but does that make sense?"

"Yeah, no, that does make sense to me." I said slowly. "Something they're testing, you say?"

"Yeah, that's right. They're mostly testing it out on the schools in Towa, and if after a suitable interval they think it works, they'll be working with schools in the rest of Japan to try and implement it nation-wide. With that being said, it's not something they're making a huge deal about-they're just trying to do it unobtrusively, so it just becomes a normal topic, and I heard from Takeda-san that the entire process will probably take over a few years. So as far as getting new unwanted attention goes, I wouldn't worry too much."

"Ah, I see. I see. You didn't need to do this for me, Kita-san." I replied. Kazuki shook his head firmly.

"It's no trouble at all, Akira-kun. Not just because you're Masashi's friend, but also because you're mine, as well."

I smiled at that.

"In which case, thank you."

"So anyway, Masashi also mentioned you guys are having a little reunion thing in the summer." Kazuki changed the subject swiftly.

"Yeah, in August, when it's the summer holidays. I'm looking forward to it. Are….you concerned about that?" the thought suddenly occurred to me, but once again, Kazuki shook his head.

"Don't be silly, Akira-kun. I think it'll be good for Masashi to do something a little different for a change, especially with you guys. "He replied, grinning. "So you guys make sure that you have fun, okay? Ah, and before that, let's go out to eat sometime, alright? Some of the other guys are saying it'd be cool to hang out a little too, for old times' sake."

"That sounds like a good idea. When are you next free?" I asked, pulling my diary to me and starting to flick through. We spent a few moments negotiating a date, and then once we had agreed on it, Kazuki got up and left, stating that he didn't want to keep me from work longer than need be.

Once he had left, the office felt almost hollow in its silence, and I just sat there for a moment, not quite ready to get back to working. Idly, I scanned the different items on my table, and my eyes fell on the photo on my desk, a family photo taken just before Hibiki and I had left for Hope's Peak. Mum, Dad, Yasu, Hibiki and then me. A happy family of five. Now, there were only two of us left.

It shouldn't have been like that.

I could still remember it, the moment that I had discovered Hibiki's body, in the kitchen of Hope's Peak Academy. I had been looking for her, because it was nearly night-time according to the rules we were forced into, and nobody seemed to know where she was, and I had found her.

Then, after escaping, waking up and remembering everything, yet not fully being able to understand that it meant Hibiki was no longer with me, until I searched my friends' faces looking for hers and came up empty. And later, in the process of recovering, sitting in one of the hospital's visitor rooms as Naegi gravely informed me that while I had been trapped, Mum and Dad had died, turning my world upside down once again, shaking it and tipping out the contents.

I remembered it all.

But it was strange. Finding out about my parents had been devastating, and I still missed them. But I could make sense of their deaths, I could understand and accept it had happened. That wasn't the case with Hibiki. That was not something I could really understand, or ever make sense of. How does one make sense of a situation like that anyway? And, my main motivation for going to Hope's Peak with her in the first place had been to look after her-but I had failed in that, completely and utterly.

I'm sorry, Hibiki. I'm so, so, sorry.

"No, stop it." I let out a deep breath, rubbed my head.

Hibiki continued to beam sunnily at me through the photograph, and I turned it away and then turned my head deliberately. On a logical level, I knew that this, too, was something that I couldn't have controlled. But it was different. As Hibiki's brother, and as the leader of the class. There had to have been something, surely, something that I could have done, but yet I hadn't-this was the thought that had wormed its way into my heart and grown there, and no amount of logic would ever displace it. And I deserve that.

Rubbing my head again, I got up rapidly. Stop that, just stop. I needed to get out of the room for a while, clear my head. I wouldn't be able to work properly with all of this swimming in the forefront of my mind. Not that it would ever disappear, but if I could push it back, then I could continue to function. Walking over to my coat hook, I rummaged through the pockets of my coat, but didn't find any cigarette packet. No big deal. I could just incorporate a cigarette break into a short walk to buy some more-there was the shop just down the end of the road, after all.

So I went back to my desk and unlocked the bottom drawer to take out my bag and find my wallet. Once I had, I put everything else back, then went back to my coat and took it down, shrugging it on and slipping my wallet into the pocket. I considered things for a moment, then quickly returned to my desk once again to readjust the position of the photo. Because once I had cleared my head, I knew I'd want to easily see them again, no matter how much my guilt taunted me.

…

Chieko

I paused for a moment at the entrance, needing a moment to work up the courage. Florists, garden stores, I used to visit them with such frequency that I suppose it could be said I was haunting them. But now, of course, it would be more apt to say that such places haunted me now, instead.

"Chie-Chan, are you okay?" I looked over at Ana, and mustered a smile as I nodded.

"Yeah, I am. " I took in a deep breath, and then looked down at Shizuka, who had been watching us both expectantly. "Shall we go and choose some flowers for Daddy then?"

"Yeah." Shizuka asserted earnestly, as we went in and started to look around. This particular florists was small, but reasonably well stocked with a range of different flowers-a lot of bright ones, this time around, considering it was the summer. I'd come here a few times before in the past back when I had been gardening, but now this seemed to be my main place to go for cemetery-visit flowers.

"Do you see anything you like?" Ana asked me after a moment.

"I'm not sure…." They're all so pretty. That much, I could still appreciate. But it was always hard to choose which ones to take to Koutarou-he'd never really been interested in anything to do with gardens to have a strong opinion of any kind of flower. But even so, I always deliberated carefully. I want it to be just right.

"Shizu-Chan, "Ana called suddenly to Shizuka, who was crouching and intensely studying a display of cheerful yellow marigolds. "D'you want to choose the flowers this time?"

Shizuka whipped around at that, and had to push some of her fringe out of her eyes.

"Can I? I can choose? The colours and everything?" she asked eagerly as she bounced back up and over to us. I couldn't help but laugh at her excitement.

"Yes, the colours and everything. It's up to you."

"Okay!" she turned right back around and spun in a slow circle, as if taking in her measure of the shop. A couple of other customers busy browsing some of the roses looked over and chuckled before going back to their own business.

"I don't know which ones are prettier….but can we get purple flowers, Mummy?"

"Of course we can. Let's look at all of them properly, so you can decide which purple flowers to choose."

So we walked around the shop a few times, closely examining all the purple flowers that the florists had to offer and debating their merits patiently while I tried not to be reminded of the different places I had planted each of them at one time or another. Eventually, Shizuka decided on a mixed bouquet, and I rushed to wait outside while Ana kept Shizuka with her, and paid for them, before coming out, carrying the flowers in a bag. Shizuka skipped up to me and took my hand, and then we started to walk down to the cemetery.

"Mummy, why did you wait outside?" Shizuka asked me after a few moments.

"Ah…well….." Because beautiful things make me sad and sometimes I can't bear it. "It was a little bit stuffy in there."

"Stuffy?"

"Sort of hot, when the air feels kind of thick?" I attempted to explain. Shizuka frowned at me.

"It wasn't hot in there, Mummy!"

"Yes, well….." I struggled for a moment, and then shrugged, exchanging a look with Ana. Shizuka caught the look, and frowned comically at us, but she didn't ask anything more and just left it at that.

We chatted for a bit as we walked, the conversation mostly prompted by Ana and carried on by Shizuka, but after a while Shizuka got bored and wanted to go a little further, so with a reminder that she had to wait by the crossings and not go too far, I let her joyfully skip ahead, seeing something about the scenery around her that I didn't, something that made it seem exciting and playful as she almost danced around.

"I wonder what she's seeing." I mused to Ana.

"I wonder this, too." Ana agreed. "But then I watch and I get so caught up in the watching I forget to wonder. Childhood's a special time, don't ya think?"

"Yeah…."

It was, in a way, wasn't it? Not perfect, there was no such thing really. But I had enjoyed my childhood, it had definitely been a happy time, almost idyllic until Mum had ended up in hospital. I had so many memories of my childhood and the happy moments it had been filled with, but yet I found myself wondering if I had ever skipped through life the way Shizuka was doing now. Somehow, it didn't feel like it.

It'll be different for Shizuka though. I'll do everything in my power to ensure that.

"Ah, sorry." I turned to see Ana stare at me, sweet face stricken. "Was that the wrong thing to say?"

"No, no, it's fine, it's fine, I was just thinking…"

"Well, okay, if you are sure."

"But I'm wondering if it's a good idea to take her with me." I blurted out, suddenly.

"Take her….with you?"

"I'm meeting up with the others in August, we're having a reunion. You know, Wakana-Chan and everybody."

"Ahhh." Ana nodded sagely. "Wakana-Chan seemed a nice girl, the last time I saw her. And that other boy, the one who came with her back then…Akira-kun, was it? They seem good people. I'm glad that Kou-Chan was friends with them."

"Yeah…"

Friends…huh? I suppose so. Everyone in that class accepted him in a way others hadn't done before, up until that moment, I know that for sure.

"Ah, and you, of course, Chie-Chan. I'm glad ya keeping in touch with them and all-it's nice." Ana added. "Is it that you want Shizu-Chan to meet them?"

"Well, yeah, I suppose. I would like that. But I'm not sure…."

"How long are you all going to be together for?"

"Two weeks. We might extend it to a few days beyond that, but no more than three weeks at the most, and definitely two weeks minimum."

"If you wanted to go alone, you know I'd be more than happy to look after her for that amount of time." Ana pointed out.

"Yeah." At that point, we approached a crossing, and I called out to Shizuka. She stopped and waited for us to catch up, and then when the green man came up, she grabbed onto our hands for as long as it took to cross, before taking off again.

"Dad offered the same, so it's not as if you'd need to look after her alone."

"Oh, no, it's never any trouble." Ana reassured, smiling. "I love having Shizu-Chan around, we have a lot of fun together."

I chuckled at that.

"Thanks, Ana-san. " I hesitated. I was lucky. Not only had Dad also been quick to reassure me that he'd be fine with looking after Shizuka for the duration, but Misa had floated the idea of having her over to stay at her own place, and Grandma had offered something similar when I'd mentioned the issue to her over the phone. It was not as if I was bereft of support networks if I did want to go alone. Or even generally. I doubted I would be in a place to be thinking these things if it wasn't for Dad and Misa and Ana, and Grandma as well. But it wasn't the support networks that had me hesitating.

I'd talked about this with Doctor Yamamoto too, during an appointment, and she'd pointed out that I was Shizuka's mother, and I could decide what was best for her-and that I was more than capable. That it would not make me a bad mother to have her looked after by a family member while I went. And though admittedly, those worries had also been in my mind, it wasn't those that were making me hesitate, either.

"Perhaps it's biased of me, but I'd say take her with ya." Ana said eventually, after a long pause in which I had remained silent. I regarded her curiously.

"Biased?"

"I like the idea of Shizu-Chan getting showered with attention by other people who knew Kou-Chan." She admitted after a moment.

Ah, there it is. The source of my hesitation. I wanted that too-I wanted her to meet them, and I wanted them to meet her, not just so she could know them as my friends, but so they could tell her things they remembered about Koutarou, the things that I couldn't tell her about him, the things that I did not always have the words for. She'd had so many questions lately, and it would be nice to provide answers.

And yet….so many of the things that I could not say and did not have the words for were the same things I didn't want her to find out yet, not while she was young enough to see and hear things that we were all too old to experience but that made her float. That would be cruel. And when thinking of it like that, suddenly it did not seem so nice.

"But maybe ask her." Ana concluded, distracting me from this train of thought.

"Ask her?" I repeated, feeling that had come out from left-field. "You mean, literally?"

"Yes. It is….not so strange, is it? After all-she chose the flowers for you today, didn't she?"

"That's not….." I looked at the bag Ana was carrying, at the different shades of purple poking out, and noticed that there were hydrangeas amongst the different flowers of the bouquet. Purple hydrangeas, just like the first flowers I had ever chosen for Mum's garden. Oh. Maybe it is….

I looked ahead of me. We were approaching the gate to the cemetery, and Shizuka had slowed down, looking up at it. Eventually, right at the gate, she came to a stop and turned around to look for us.

"Mummy! Grandma Ana!" she waved at us. Ana called back and beamed, and I lifted a hand to wave back as we caught up to her. Maybe it is the same thing.

"Yeah, perhaps I will ask her then." I told Ana.

…

"Shizuka," I began. "Can I ask you something?"

Shizuka didn't answer straight away as she chewed on her mouthful of rice and curry.

"What is it, Mummy?"

"What do you…?" I hesitated and looked at Dad, who nodded.

"What do you think about going on holiday with me?" I asked, using the wording I had decided upon later, while walking back from the cemetery visit.

"But Mummy, I still have school. And you say that school is important." Shizuka pointed out. Dad chuckled at that, and I smiled encouragingly.

"Not now, but when you break up from school for the summer holidays." I explained. "So you wouldn't miss any school."

"Ohhhh." Shizuka considered this. "Are we going far, far away?"

"No, not very far. To one of my friends' houses. I haven't seen this friend for a long time, and there are some of our other friends too, so we're all meeting up to see each other again for a while."

Shizuka blinked at that as she scooped up another mouthful.

"Oh, I get it now, Mummy! You're going to go on a really long sleepover."

"Yes, I suppose I am." Huh, I hadn't thought of it like that. "And I'm wondering if you'd like to come with me, on this sleepover."

Shizuka looked baffled.

"But Mummy, we're not friends." When I stared, she quickly rushed to clarify. "Don't look sad about that, Mummy. I love you lots and lots, but as a Mummy! Not as a friend!"

Trying hard not to burst out laughing when she was being deadly serious about this, I somehow managed to recover myself enough to speak.

"Why is that a problem, Shizuka?"

"Because usually you go to sleep over with people you're friends with. " Shizuka said this as if this was obvious, before shovelling in another spoonful of food.

"Well, yes, that's right." I said, measuring my words carefully now that I had reached the difficult part. "But…because they're my friends, and some of them haven't met you yet, and would like to meet you, I thought it would be nice if they could."

"…They know about me?"

"Yup. I've told them all about you." There's no way they couldn't know. "And you remember Wakana-Chan, don't you?"

"Wakana-san? One of the friends is Wakana-san?" Shizuka's eyes widened suddenly.

"Yup." I nodded.

"Can I play with Wakana-san, if I come? I haven't seen her for ages!" Shizuka bounced around in her seat a little at the thought.

"Sure you can. In fact, I'm sure my other friends will be pleased to play with you as well, once they meet you."

"Oooooh." Again, Shizuka took a moment to consider this. "Okay then!"

"Okay?" I asked carefully. Shizuka beamed at me excitedly.

"I want to come with you! Well, if that's really okay, anyway."

"Yes, it's definitely okay."

"Yay!"

Well, okay, that was easier than I could have hoped. I looked over at Dad, who nodded and smiled to back me up. There were still the finer details to iron out in relation to having her with me during this reunion, and some of my concern still remained, but now that the decision had been made, somehow I felt like I could rest easier for it. And that just made me even more excited for the day to come.

…

Masashi

I quickly checked the bus to make sure nobody had fallen asleep on the journey-something which happened with more frequently than I thought possible-then got back into the driver's seat and drove it the very short distance from the final stop to the depot and carefully parked it in one of the garages before getting out. Ah, I need sleep.

"Hey, Kita, you're on your way out?"

"Huh?" I turned to see a fellow bus-driver. "Yeah. I am."

"Cool, okay. You were on since five, weren't you?" he asked. "God, that sucks."

"Yeah, but it's still better than being on one of the night routes, right?" I shrugged.

"True, true."

"So anyway, when are you on, Kanai-tan?"

"Uhh…about 20 minutes. I'm taking over from Kamiya's route." He said after a moment to check his watch.

"Ahh, I see." I nodded absently as I grabbed my bag and signed myself out. Then, just as I was about to leave, I thought of something.

"Hey, you have a kid, don't you? A little girl?"

"Yes, that's right-Masami." Kanai raised an eyebrow at me. "Why?"

"Do you have any idea what six year old girls like these days?" I asked, regretting it almost as soon as I did. Why are you doing this to yourself, Masashi?

"…a niece's birthday, or something?" Kanai asked after a moment. I shook my head.

"No, my friend's little girl. I'm going up to see them in the summer, and I thought it'd be nice to get something for the kid, you know."

"Well…" Kanai thought about this. "How well do you know the girl? Do you know anything about what she's interested in?"

Instantly, I thought to a message on the chat group from yesterday evening that Chieko had sent, a picture of a ruffled looking kitten that was clearly being held by Shizuka with the caption 'I swear, it's like she has some inbuilt stray-cat radar' along with it. I had, for a moment, considered asking Chieko if I could have the cat instead-I figured it would be nice to have a pet to come home through. But I hadn't bothered, what with my apartment being as poky as it is. Fine for me, but possibly not so great for sharing with a cat. Of course, as with every time this happened, Chieko had plans to get the cat to a shelter nearer to her, so it was no big deal, me deciding that. But still, it had me thinking that it would be nice to have a pet…

…And, you're getting off track! Focus, Masashi, you moron!

"Animals. According to her mother, she's always bring stray cats home and the like. She's always having to make trips to the animal shelter, because they're not in a position to have pets right now."

"Ah. Ahhhh." Kanai nodded and slanted a sideways glance at me, which had me glare at him. Unfortunately, he was undeterred and just kept eyeing me in that weird way as he gave me some suggestions.

"Well, in that case, something animal themed? A soft toy, or a craft set of some kind? In fact, any sort of activity set is a good call. Though, if you can't find anything suitable that's animal themed, as long as it's pretty, pink and child-friendly, it's probably fine. My girl loves anything pink, and my experience says most girls do, but don't know if your 'friend's' kid is the same, necessarily."

"Why are you saying it like that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. Kanai just grinned. Goddamit, he's teasing me.

"Ah, nothing, nothing. Good luck, Kita. See you later."

"Yeah, I'd best get going. Later."

Quickly, I walked away, trying to outrun my embarrassment (or out speed-walk it, anyway), and it was only when I was down the road from the depot that I slowed. Argh, am I that obvious? I'd hoped I wasn't, but apparently not. Oh well, as long as the others didn't detect anything unusual when we met up in August. That would just be all sorts of embarrassing.

But anyway, what to do now? I was definitely tired, but I didn't think I was tired enough that a nap would do anything. And I could always take an early night-I only had to be in by eight the next day, and I wasn't going over to Mum's or Kazuki's for dinner or anything, so I could do whatever the hell I wanted. Which was wonderful until you didn't actually know what you wanted to do. Oh, this is fun.

Passing by The Plug-top Octopus, I paused and contemplated the establishment. It didn't look like much, and there had never been a stupider name for a pub in the history of the universe as far as I was concerned, but I liked the place well enough. Their prices were good, and so were their drinks. But it felt a bit sad to me, to go drink on my own in the middle of the afternoon-but you are sad, in a way still, even after all these years-so I ditched that idea and continued walking.

Pink, animal themed. Hmmm….Kanai's suggestions admittedly made sense, so for a moment I considered going to the shopping centre and seeing if there was anything I could buy for Shizuka, but instead, almost without realising, I found myself going to the train station instead, treading a familiar pattern to the platform I needed. After a few moments, the train arrived, and I jumped on and waited the 10 minutes it took to get to the next stop before getting off and heading straight to the graveyard where Hibiki was buried.

Huh, I probably should have brought flowers or something. It was a bit late now, but I suspected it didn't matter. Where Hibiki was concerned, what mattered was the people who came to visit. And as I approached the Kazama family grave, I saw there were plenty of colourful blooms there anyway.

"Good afternoon there." I aimed the greeting at her parents' grave, right next to hers. "Just come to say 'hey' to Hibiki, I hope you don't mind…." Finally stopping and looking down at the grave, I trailed off.

The car pulled up outside Hope's Peak and stopped, and I got out. Mum got out too, and went around to open the boot and take my suitcase and my holdall out.

"There you go, Masashi." She said, handing me the holdall as I grabbed at my suitcase. I balanced the bag on top so it would be easier to drag around, and then looked at her. She smiled.

"I'm proud of you, Masashi. Good luck with your first day."

There were a zillion thoughts zipping around in my mind, but I just shrugged casually.

"Thanks, Mum."

"Well, I'd best be off to work now. Try not to get into trouble now, okay?"

"Muuuum." I rolled my eyes as Mum got back into the car, but remained waiting on the pavement as I watched her drive away. Then, I turned to look at the building.

"Right then….." I unzipped the holdall to find the letter that had the instructions on what do once arrived, and unfolded it to take a look, when I heard the sound of a voice chattering at a dime a dozen, a low but clearly feminine voice that gradually got closer to me.

"Oh! Yo, are you a newbie too?"

I looked over at that, and too my surprise saw two identical figures looking at me in curiosity. Or rather, two almost identical features. They pretty much had the same face, but the one who had spoken was clearly a girl, who had long hair down to her waist, black except for the one dyed-pink portion of her fringe on the left side of her face, and was wearing a red hoodie, tan shorts and a black t-shirt with a dog on the front.

"By 'newbie' you mean…."

"You were invited into Hope's Peak this year, to form Class 78." The person spoke up, face almost expressionless. I frowned at them, puzzled. I felt sure they were a boy, given their clothes and shorter hair, but given his strong resemblance to the girl, and a similar dyed-pink strand of their fringe on the right side of their face, it was hard to be entirely sure…

"Huh, yeah, I am…..to state the completely bleeding obvious, I guess the two of you are, as well?"

"Yup!" The girl nodded vigorously. "I'm Hibiki Kazama. The Voice Actor. Nice to meet you!"

"Voice actor, huh? What, like anime and that shit?"

"Yup!" Hibiki said, gleefully. "Want me to demonstrate?"

"Uh…..no thanks. Maybe later."

"Oh, okay! Anyway, Rika-Chin, introduce yourself!"

"Hibiki, please." The other person sighed in exasperation, before turning to me.

"I'm Akira, Student Council President." He said, in a monotone voice, before holding out his hand for me to shake. "And you are?"

Well, I could have guessed that much from the armband, I thought but didn't say as I returned the shake. On the bright side, it now seemed reasonable to guess that Akira was a boy, and that he was related to Hibiki in some way (most likely twins), so that's what I'd go with for now.

"The name's Masashi Kita. My friends call me Masa-well some of them do. It sounds weird, I know. I've been told about fuck 50000 times already."

"No, that's not weird." He said, almost automatically.

"So then, Mohawk! What's your talent?!" Hibiki demanded. I raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? You're calling me by my goddamn fricking hairstyle? I even offered a nickname you could use! But in any case, I'm the SHSL Soccer Player."

"Ohhh, cool!" Hibiki grinned. "Say, you guys, how about we go and look for some of our other new classmates?! "

"Yeah, sure, may as well" I shrugged." We're stuck with them for the next three years anyway."

I sighed, and fidgeted, not knowing what to say. It sometimes felt like I had told them everything already. There were only so many ways one could tell another that they hadn't deserved what had happened to them.

I glanced at her parent's grave again momentarily, and something tugged at me. We had something in common here, Akira and I. We'd both been part of families of five when we'd entered Hope's Peak. Now his family only had two, whereas mine only had three. But still, I believed I was better off. As long as Hikari was still out there somewhere, the possibility she was alive remained. My mother and Kazuki were still living nearby to me. And I certainly had not lost a family member in that killing game. Compared to Akira, I definitely had it easier. I knew this, I believed this, and I was grateful.

But god, this fucking sucks, I swear.

"Maybe I should drop in on your brother-he's probably in work now, and I know my brother did so last week. But you know, it'd be kind of strange to say to a receptionist 'oh, we were trapped in a death game together', whereas Nii-san can say 'oh, we worked together once', so yeah…..still, no big, I guess. But anyway, I wonder, what would you be doing if you'd survived with us? Still voice acting? I'd like to think so-there's enough of us who haven't been able to continue with what we were good at before, thanks to that goddamn bitch Enoshima-excuse my language, you know me..."

I prattled on in that vein for a while, then tired of it, and drove to a halt, before just sighing and shrugging at the gravestone.

"Well then…I'll drop by some other time, Hibiki-tan. See you later, okay?"

I walked away quickly, and went back to the train station. But instead of going back home, I went two stops further, and got off at the station closest to Kanekatsu's grave, and made my way over there.

"Okay, so what the actual fuck is fucking going on?" I demanded, looking around. "Have we all seriously freaking just woken up in random spots all around the goddamn school and been told to meet up in here for an entrance ceremony….even though we started here two weeks ago?What the hell?"

"Yeah, no, none of this makes sense. But let's try not to get so worked up, okay?" Kimihiro suggested.

"Perhaps if we explored a little more we might find a plausible explanation?" Wakana wondered.

"Well, it's nearly 8am, according to that clog-clock there." Chieko pointed. "Maybe whoever wrote these notes will turn up soon."

"They'd better." Koutarou muttered. A few others chimed in with agreement, me included.

"It would be to their benefit to do so." Kanekatsu spoke up. "After all, from the metal window plates alone, it's clear a lot of effort has been put into this, so if they want something from us, they'd have to explain it."

"That's a good point." Daisuke agreed, nodding. "We just have to hope that whatever it is, we'll be able to leave soon and go back to classes as normal. This has to be a mistake."

"Oh, it's no mistake! Well, not to whoever did this anyway. I'm sure this is precisely what they want!" Erica disagreed. We all stared at her, aghast.

"Is there something you wish to tell us, Cain-san?" Kanekatsu eventually asked. Erika shook her head vigorously, and fiddled with the smiley-face pin on her blazer, before evenly making eye contact with Kanekatsu, hazel meeting chocolate head-on, with no sense of backing down.

Ohhh boy. I let out a breath. Over the past few days, we'd all noticed that these two liked to debate morals and values a lot, even with their very different talents, so we watched them, breath bated. Yashiro, standing next to Kanekatsu, clutched at her cardigan as she watched, eyes wide in slightly shocked fascination.

"No, no, I'm as clueless as you guys! But, history dictates that in events like this, there are no happy endings."

"Why the fuck do you sound so pleased about that?!" I spluttered.

"You have come across a situation specifically like this before, in the past?" Kanekatsu inquired, eyebrow raised. Ah, of course I got ignored. I shrugged exaggeratedly and gave up.

"Well….not like this, as such." Erica replied with a sunny smile. "But I know what the past has to say about things generally like this. And as I said, they really don't end well! But with that being said, you're welcome to prove me wrong, got it?"

"Understood." Kanekatsu sighed. "Then, in that case, I will do my utmost to try and do that with the tools I have at my disposal."

"And I will eagerly await it, Iwafusa-san!"

Kanekatsu's grave was not nearly as crowded over as Hibiki's had been, but again, there were some flowers, and I wondered who had come by. I knew she still had parents surviving, but that she had been an only child. I remember learning that she'd had a boyfriend, too, but I had no idea how serious that had been. Ahh, it doesn't matter, does it? At least I come here. And why the hell am I suddenly so hung up about flowers?

"Gah, I suppose you're not too fussed about them either anyway, right?" I asked. "But I'll remember to bring some next time, okay? It's all I can do, really. You really helped us a lot with stuff, while you were still alive."

I thought of that, the way she had been one of the ones to effortlessly take a leading role, getting right close to the bodies of our fallen classmates each time, to collect evidence to find which one of our other classmates had killed them, to get justice for the victims, right up until she had fallen, herself. We'd been quite lost when she had become a victim, it had been quite hard to wrap our heads around that.

"Why Iwafusa-Chan, you ask? Well, she was the most fitting, wasn't she? "

From the way she said it, it was as if Tyson had asked her for a favour on some trivial errand, as opposed to confronting her over murder. I wanted to shake some sense into her, but like everyone else, all I could do was watch.

"Think about it. It's almost perfect, isn't it, that she would become a sacrificial lamb, in the end."

The words rung in my mind, and I rubbed my head. I thought of the state Kanekatsu's body had been found with, the way we hadn't even noticed her at first, because of everything else that had happened around her death. I mean, we'd found her soon enough and all. But still, god….that was definitely one of the more brutal trials out of all of them. And they'd all been awful.

I closed my eyes and remembered, for a moment. Not that was much of a task-I didn't see myself forgetting, any time soon. But for a moment, I allowed myself to just think of it, to let the horror and sadness wash over me for a while. A breeze brushed my face, and I stood there for a moment longer before opening my eyes again. Sticking my hands in my pocket, I glanced around me, at the different gravestones, feeling a little calmer.

"Next time, Iwafusa-tan, I'll come back with the others, too. All of us. Okay?"

I nodded once to myself, as if to assert that, and then I turned away and walked back out, thinking of the different things I needed to do before meeting my fellow Survivors again.

Characters introduced this chapter:

Survivors

Akira Kazama, former SHSL Student Council President (belongs to: Illusionary Phantom)
Masashi Kita, former SHSL Soccer Player (belongs to: Sp1r1t)

Dead

Hibiki Kazama, former SHSL Voice Actor (belongs to: Illusionary Phantom)
Kanekatsu Iwafusa , former SHSL Forensic Scientist (belongs to: wiseowl99)
Erica Cain, former SHSL Historian (belongs to: tobi-is-an-artist-too)