Day 4

Nagato and I woke up, exchanging a "Good morning, Azuki-san," and a "Morning, Nagato," respectively. This exchange of morning greetings was starting to become a familiar ritual.

As we got dressed, we saw the announcement come on.

"Good morning, everyone," Monokuma said. "We will be arriving at the first stop on our cruise today by 8 AM, and will stay at this island for a while. Luckily for you, it'll be sunny and warm all day today."

The monitor shut off.

"So... we're finally here," I said. "The first stop on this killing school trip."

"That's right," Nagato said. "How do you feel about it?"

I shrugged. Pretty much everyone could tell where they stood on the killing game, but now that we'd actually arrived at the first major event of our trip, I had a hard time deciding how to feel.

"I honestly can't say," I said. "I'm definitely not excited, since Monokuma probably has something nasty in store for us. On the other hand, I know we can't just go on sailing the seas forever."

Nagato nodded. As anxious as we were about the prospect of the killing started, what would happen if it never did? Would we keep sailing the seas forever, until we grew old or the ship broke down? Obviously, this cruise had to end someday, and the only question was how.

"So do I," Nagato said. "We should head to breakfast, and meet with Higurashi-san and the others. I'm sure we'll come up with some plan together."

Before leaving our room, I wrote "Arrived at Island 1" on Day 4 of our calendar. Keeping track of data would likely prove useful in the long term, in case we started noticing patterns. Perhaps there might not be a "long term," but there was no better time to start collecting data.

We arrived at breakfast and, at Nagato's request, met up with Higurashi, who'd started serving breakfast. We could see the island out the dining room's windows, although it was still some ways away, so it was hard to make out specific details.

"Good morning, Higurashi-san, Kirishima-san," Nagato said. "I suppose you've heard the announcement?"

"We have, Nagato-san," Higurashi said. "Once everyone's here, I'd like to discuss it."

The rest of the class entered the dining hall two at a time and sat down. Once everyone was seated, Monokuma arrived, jumping onto the table Nagato and I shared with Higurashi and Kirishima.

"Why hello, class," Monokuma said. "I'm grateful that Higurashi-san is able to bring all of you together first thing in the morning."

"Don't give him too much credit," Asakura said. "I only come to the dining hall because I'm hungry, and I'm pretty sure some of the others do so, too."

Asakura's tone made it sound as though he meant "any credit," but he probably conceded that there were at least a few people who bought into what Higurashi was preaching.

"No matter how it happened, this is convenient for me," Monokuma said, "since there's some stuff I'd like to go over with you. As it said in your handbooks, you can leave starting at 8 AM, and got to be off the ship by 9 AM. You can return to the ship starting at 8 PM, and have to be back by 9 PM. Anyone who stays on the ship after 9 AM or on the island after 9 PM never has to leave... since that'll be their final resting place."

"Why are you forcing us to get off the ship?" one of the sisters said.

"Because I'm sure you're sick of staying on the Ursa Major by now," Monokuma said, "and we hope that you'll enjoy the locales where you'll be stopping."

"Of course you do," Karita said. "I'm sure you have some sort of nasty trap in place for us."

"How rude, Karita-san!" Monokuma said. "In this killing game, you students are the ones who are supposed to do the killing. The only people I'm allowed to kill are those who do something that violates the rules... which, as I said before, includes not getting on or off the Ursa Major when you're supposed to."

So getting off the ship could potentially lead to our deaths, but staying on the ship definitely would. It looked like we were fucked either way, and were only slightly less fucked by going along with Monokuma's instructions.

"Anyway, I won't keep you too long," Monokuma said. "Eat up, kids- just be sure to remember to leave the ship on time!"

Monokuma then left.

"So it looks like we have no choice but to get off," Yamazaki said.

"It seems so," Mihama said. "Karita-san raised some valid concerns, but Monokuma made it quite clear that staying on the ship would be certain death."

"Indeed," Higurashi said. "After breakfast, please take whatever you may need and exit the ship in a timely manner, meeting up at the end of the dock."

We ate our meal in silence. The past three days had been relatively peaceful, but they had merely been the lead-up to the main event. The status quo was fragile enough, and it would likely soon be shattered.

Once we were done eating, we took a moment to gather any supplies, while Nagato and Higurashi met with Nagato-sensei. Luckily for us, we didn't really need to change our clothes, since the weather was just right for our uniforms- not so hot that those of us with blazers would need to take them off nor so cold that we'd need to put on extra layers.

We exited the ship through the port side. As we stepped off the Ursa Major and onto a long wooden dock, we saw an island that was a couple kilometers across, and seemed to be like a traditional Japanese town with a few modern buildings thrown in.

By roughly 8:30, we all met up in what looked like the parking lot of the docks, standing on dry land for the first time in roughly three days. The others found their way to the meeting location. According to the map I'd just received on my handbook, I could tell that the dock was on the south part of the island.

"Thank you for coming, everyone," Higurashi said. "Nagato-san and I met with Nagato-sensei. While she is concerned about what Monokuma has in store for us on the islands, she believes we should still disembark, if only so that none of us will be senselessly punished for breaking a rule."

"That's good to know," Asakura said, "not that it matters now that we're actually off the ship."

I, along with a few others, glanced back at the dock and saw that the gangplank had already been retracted, meaning that we couldn't return to the ship, even though the deadline hadn't yet passed.

"I do agree with Nagato-sensei, though," Tsukimura said. "I don't want to see anyone come to harm if we can help it."

"That's all well and good, Tsukimura-kun," Kirishima said, "but while strictly following Monokuma's rules will help us prevent him from punishing anyone, simply going with the flow will almost inevitably result in a murder."

When it came down to it, the rules of any game encouraged participation. Even if one side didn't care to win, time limits and other rules discouraged people like them from sitting there passively, causing the game to grind to a halt. Clearly, Monokuma had some incentive to get us to kill each other, and the only question was whether it was a carrot or a stick.

"Mom thought of that, Kirishima-san," Nagato said, "and to that end, she asked us to use our time productively. We should spend the day investigating the island and finding whatever information we can."

"Knock yourselves out," Karita said. "Of course, whatever you're planning, I'm sure Monokuma already knows about it."

Karita gestured overhead, and I could see a Monodrone flying in the sky, a camera pointed at us. A closer investigation of the parking lot revealed a few surveillance cameras, which looked identical to the ones found all over the ship.

"You raise a valid observation, Karita-kun," Higurashi said, "but we aren't 'planning' anything just yet. We simply need more information, and to that end, we will investigate this island, like we did with the Ursa Major on the first day. We should especially focus on finding ways to contact the outside world, possible escape routes or even information on where we are."

"I doubt we'll find any ways out of here," I said. "Even if we did find, say, a boat, we'd need a map, a compass, and enough provisions for days at sea."

"I concur with Azuki-san," Himemiya said. "Monokuma's decision to confiscate our cell phones clearly means that he has considered the possibility of us calling for help, and is taking all steps necessary to prevent us from doing so."

"Perhaps he has thought this through," Higurashi said, "but I highly doubt that he could have thoroughly cleared the entire island of anything that could be used against him. Please investigate the island thoroughly and meet back here at 6 PM."

We split up and fanned out throughout the island. Some of the pairs stuck together, while others split up. Since not all of us were entirely on board with Higurashi's suggestions, it was a bit much for him to ask us to stick together or give us specific assignments as to where we should investigate or what we should look for.

I wondered how things might have gone if Higurashi was at least a decade older and had the title of a teacher. Would he have had as much trouble getting us to listen to what he said? Would he have even bothered holding an election? Would he have demanded that those who didn't use honorifics on him (hell, even those who did) address him as "Higurashi-sensei"? As curious as I was about whether he'd considered any of that, the answer probably was that he hadn't thought about it much. He simply did what he could with what he had, so for now, I decided to do the same, and set about exploring the island.

I walked through the streets, which seemed large enough for a two-lane road- not that there were any cars driving on them. While there were plenty of empty cars scattered throughout the city, there wasn't anything to suggest how many people were supposed to live in, or how densely it was populated. Maybe a fair number of the buildings here were tourist housing, so the population could fluctuate depending on the season... assuming anyone was meant to come here, after all.

I noticed that just like before, there wasn't even a scrap of trash on the streets, at least none that I could see. Maybe this was because of Monokuma's "no littering rule," but it was more likely that it was because no one was on the island. No one was around to clean up the trash, but no one was around to litter, either. On the other hand, there wasn't anyone around to fix stuff when it broke down.

Of course, the buildings looked remarkably well-kept for an abandoned area, which made me wonder who built them and when. Had they just been constructed? Had they been occupied until now, but abandoned recently? Perhaps only Monokuma knew the answer, and he didn't seem like he'd tell me. It was up to me to find the answers myself.

I entered the first building I could find that wasn't locked, which looked like a gift shop. The shelves were stocked with all sorts of merchandise with Monokuma's likeness on it, from T-shirts to mugs to plushies. Tucked among the latter was a hidden Monokuma.

Moments after I picked it up, Monokuma popped up behind me. Even considering that

"Congratulations, Azuki-san!" Monokuma said. "That's two down, four to go."

"Thanks, I guess," I said. "Of course, I'm probably going to have to lug this thing around all day."

"Then let me take it off your hands," Monokuma said. "I'll drop it off in your cabin."

Monokuma then left with the Hidden Monokuma, and I resumed looking at the merchandise. While I was browsing, Kirishima showed up.

"Hello, Azuki-kun," Kirishima said. "Have you found anything useful here?"

"Nope," I said. "I'm guessing you're looking for a map or something like that?"

"You could say that," Kirishima said, "or anything that would give us a clue as to where in the world we are. As far as I can tell, we have been traveling east all this time, so we are presumably somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Judging from my calculations, we have potentially traveled as much as 2,000 kilometers."

From this, I could gather two things. First, we were probably in international waters by this point. Second, and more obviously, we were a hell of a long way from home. If anyone was looking for us, they'd probably be hard-pressed to find us unless we ended up staying on the island for a long time.

"And we ended up on an island in the middle of nowhere," I said. "Great place to build an inn resort."

Kirishima simply nodded, but didn't laugh or even smile. I had to wonder if he considered anything funny, but then again, I might be disturbed by what he did consider funny.

"Seriously, though," I said, "I honestly don't get why the hotel and this island are all totally abandoned. All these places that were designed to look like a tourist town without actually being one kind of makes this place look like a movie set."

"An apt comparison, Azuki-kun," Kirishima said. "Perhaps, if this killing game is like a show, these buildings were specifically built for us to use in the course of it, a bit like a set for a movie or TV show. After all, just as boxers and wrestlers need a ring, we need an arena to participate in this so-called killing game."

"True," I said, "but I can't imagine any construction crew that'd willingly take on a job like this, or anyone who'd shell out that much money."

"Try thinking about it differently," Kirishima said. "Perhaps the construction crew was deceived about their projects' true purpose, or perhaps enslaved. The latter would account for their cooperation, and mean that Monokuma would not have to pay for the labor costs of such an endeavor. Alternatively, it is simply possible that Monokuma killed the workers when their job was finished."

Kirishima coolly recounted each increasingly disturbing scenario, giving me the chills in the process. It was as though he'd forgotten that his life was on the line, too, or that he didn't care about it.

"But you don't know that, right?" I said.

"No, unfortunately," Kirishima said. "Monokuma is clearly working hard to keep us in the dark, or perhaps is planning on revealing the truth when the time is right."

I parted ways with Kirishima, once again having conflicting feelings about him. On the one hand, he seemed a bit too at ease and knowledgeable about the killing game, possibly because he was the traitor. On the other hand, if he wasn't the traitor, then we could make use of his insights... assuming that he didn't end up betraying us and killing someone to graduate.

I proceeded to the Kumasutra Inn, a large building in the middle of the island that looked a bit like a plus sign. The south end of the building was the entrance, and there was a small lobby with a check-in area. The center of the building was square-shaped, with a hallway going around the area, with a dining and common area in the center. On the western side of the building, there were two rooms for the boys, each of which could house four people, as well as a laundry room in the southwestern corner. The eastern part of the hallway was somewhat similar, with two rooms for the girls, and a bathroom in the northeastern part. At the north end of the inn, there was a door leading to a changing area and an outdoor hot spring, as well as a corridor leading to a nearby gymnasium.

Once inside the inn, I found Sasaki in the common area, which had a few tables and a ping pong table. It was decently sized, but too small for the sixteen of us. Sasaki was busy investigating.

"Hello, Akira-chan," Sasaki said.

"Hey, Sasaki," I said. "I see you found the inn."

"Of course," Sasaki said. "It's not too surprising that I'd seek it out, since it's apparently the main attraction on the island. Naturally, I plan on inspecting the rest of the island but I decided to start here."

"Good plan," I said. "Monokuma mentioned that this was all about the 'Inn Holiday.'"

"Exactly," Sasaki said. "Having seen trips to places like this in various anime and manga, I've always wanted to go to an inn like this, even though I wish the circumstances were different."

I nodded. As fishy as the circumstances behind the trip were, it seemed like it'd be pretty fun if it were actually real.

"Yeah," I said. "Then again, it's kind of odd when you think about it. Why didn't Monokuma have us end up into the worst hellhole possible, to make us so desperate to get out that we'd want to kill each other?"

"Good question," Sasaki said. "If I had to guess, I'd say that he wants us to get comfortable enough that we aren't on edge all the time, possibly enough to become complacent and vulnerable. He seems like the kind to take things slow and savor the killing game. After all, if we ended up killing each other in a bloody free-for-all, he'd run out of players for this killing game."

I often had to remind myself that while Monokuma was a psychopath who looked like a cartoon character, he wasn't stupid. He'd clearly thought out this killing game quite well.

"That makes sense," I said, "but in the end, he expects us to kill each other, doesn't he?"

"Yes," Sasaki said. "I suspect that he'll realize graduation isn't enough of an incentive for everyone, and start getting creative."

Shortly afterward, Mihama came back to get Sasaki, having investigated the rest of the inn, and they went on their way. As if our situation was bad enough, the sole person in charge of the rules made no secret about his desire for us to kill each other, and had no concept of fair play. When it came to survival, we all had similar chances, but when it came to outsmarting Monokuma, he had the overwhelming advantage.

The inn had a weight room inside, with various athletic gear, as well as a small gymnasium. As expected, I saw Kumakura inside the former.

"Hello, Azuki-san," Kumakura said.

"Hey, Kumakura," I said. "You seem right at home in here."

"You bet I am," Kumakura said. "It's not often that one finds an area so well suited to their talent. I believe Himemiya-san would be happy to find an archery dojo, and Tachibana-san- both of them, probably- would be glad to find a music venue."

I had to admit that the Kumakura and the two girls he mentioned were lucky in some ways. They and some of the others could practice their talents alone with the right equipment and facilities. As for me, practicing my lines by myself was the most I could do without costars or an audience. Practice was an important part of the job, albeit a boring one, but it was ultimately just preparation for the real thing.

"I get that," I said, "but aren't you concerned that these weights could be used as murder weapons?"

"Yes," Kumakura said, "but so could any large and heavy blunt object- not to mention anything that's sharp, poisonous, able to be wrapped around someone's neck, and so on and so forth. Virtually anything could be used for murder, and it's possible to kill someone with your bare hands."

"That's a comforting thought," I said sarcastically, "especially from the guy who's best suited to the job."

Kumakura nervously chuckled.

"It has to be said," Kumakura said. "At least we don't have any hand-to-hand combat specialists here."

I had to agree. It was bad enough that a lot of stuff could be used as murder weapons, but it would be even worse to have people whose bodies had become deadly weapons.

As I talked with Kumakura, I took a look around the weight room. Inspecting the rest of the equipment, I saw various other pieces of gear. There were dumbbells, medicine balls, baseball bats and other equipment. Picking up a shot put, I was amazed by how much it weighed.

"Wow, these are heavy," I said.

"Of course they are," Kumakura said. "Throwing the shot put is a test of strength and technique. It wouldn't be any fun if it was easy to throw."

"I guess not," I said, "but would it be possible to throw one and hit someone in the head?"

Kumakura shrugged.

"Yes, it would be possible," Kumakura said, "but I'm not so sure it would be feasible. Shot put balls are thrown as far as possible, not at a specific target. Still, where there's a will, there's a way, and a killer could think of another way to use this."

"As they say, an ounce of prevention's worth a pound of cure," I said. "Why not seal the room?"

"We can't," Kumakura said. "There's no lock on the door, and if we tried to dispose of the weights, it would be littering. I checked with Monokuma, and he said that if anything is 'not in its proper place', it would count as littering. He then asked me if my mom ever taught me to pick up my toys, saying he'd be sure to do that if he had a kid."

"Sounds like Monokuma," I said. "Then again, as you said, where there's a will, there's a way. If one of us snaps and decides to kill someone, I'm sure they'll find a way to do so- the only question is whether they'll get away with it."

Kumakura nodded, and I soon left him in order to continue my investigation. In the end, we were our own worst enemies, and all Monokuma could do was provide us with the reasons and the means to kill each other- the killing part was up to us.

I headed to the laundry room and saw Yamazaki inside. Since none of the machines seemed to be running, he wasn't here to wash any clothes.

"Hey, Azuki," Yamazaki said. "Here to check out the laundry room?"

"I am," I said. "Is it like the one on the ship?"

"Yeah," Yamazaki said. "Monokuma stopped by earlier, and he said any clothing you wash here will be delivered back to your cabin on the ship once it's done."

"That's pretty convenient," I said.

"You said it," Yamazaki said. "After all, if your laundry finished after curfew, then you wouldn't be able to get it."

I doubted a situation like that would ever arise, unless someone wasn't good with monitoring time. Since we had eleven hours on the island assuming we left as late as possible and got back as early as possible, then it would be easy to fit laundry into there somewhere. Alternatively, we could just use our laundry room back on the Ursa Major.

"I guess it's nice to have these facilities around," I said, "but really, we won't be staying here forever."

"Maybe not," Yamazaki said, "but you never know how things are going to turn out, especially in a killing game like this. Maybe one of these days, we'll get off the ship, and Monokuma will never let us back on."

"Depending on the final destination, that might not be so bad," I said. "You have to admit that Monokuma could have chosen a much worse place for us to spend the day than this."

While it was obvious that Monokuma wanted us to kill each other, I was actually glad that there was less chance of us dying by accident, as a result of the natural hazards on one of the island. Yamazaki, however, didn't seem to share the feeling.

"Maybe," Yamazaki said, "but I really can't imagine how things could get much worse than they are now. The short answer is that we're trapped here until we're all dead or someone gets away with murder, and the only question is how soon that'll happen."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I let the subject drop. I'd always been pessimistic about this entire killing game, but at the same time, I found it difficult to say it out loud and destroy what hope my classmates had left. Maybe Higurashi didn't have all the answers, and was overly optimistic about our chances, but any classmate spending all their energy in working to find a way out of here was one who wasn't plotting murder.

I exited the inn, and found a clothing store. It was a relatively small venue, the size of a mom-and-pop store, but even those would need more customers than the sixteen of us to stay afloat. Most of the clothes were traditional Japanese clothes, such as kimonos and haoris. Himemiya and Tsukimura were there, browsing.

"Hello, you two," I said. "Is this supposed to be a store?"

"Apparently so, Azuki-san," Tsukimura said, "but it doesn't seem to work like one. You seem to be able to take what you want out of it."

"Wow," I said. "I guess it'd be hard to stay in business."

Himemiya giggled softly.

"Quite true, Azuki-san," Himemiya said. "I did some digging, and I found some documents. Apparently, the inn ordered sixteen yukatas- eight pink and eight blue- but the document doesn't have any names on it."

Himemiya passed me the document, and I skimmed it over to confirm that she was telling the truth before handing it back to her.

"That's weird," I said.

"Indeed," Himemiya said. "I had hoped to figure out whether there were any human employees working for this company, so I could tell how many people were involved with the killing game- maybe the traitor's name was on it. At this point, the only thing I can glean is that the yukatas seem to be out of stock, since the inn got the last sixteen. There doesn't seem to be any fabric around to make any more, unless the store has a supplier somewhere else."

"Could be," I said. "Of course, it'll probably be hard to afford the materials if you don't charge for your merchandise."

I had to wonder how much this killing game would cost and who ended up footing the bill. Movies were insanely expensive to make, which was why a box office bomb could be very, very bad for everyone involved in it. Because of that, it seemed hard to believe that they'd keep this killing game going if no one was paying for it.

We looked around for a little while, but couldn't find any information about where or who the money was coming from. It definitely wasn't coming from the customers, as the cash register seemed to be completely empty.

"By the way," I said during a lull in the conversation, "you two really seem like you're in your element."

"Oh, because of our traditional clothing?" Tsukimura said. "I guess you'd make that conclusion just by looking at us. Himeno-sama sometimes wears a kimono, too, but hers are more expensive than mine. I don't know the details, but her best one cost upwards of a million yen."

"Whoa," I said. "I once rented a kimono for a New Year's Day television appearance, but the studio picked up the bill, and hadn't told me how much it cost."

I wasn't too much of a fan of wearing kimonos, and not just because of the cost- the kimono I wore was pretty damn uncomfortable and hard to move in. My mom wore a suit to her Coming of Age Day ceremony, so I'd probably follow in her example.

"What Kanae didn't mention is that I only wear it on very special occasions," Himeno said. "My family doesn't let us wear casual clothing, but my other outfits aren't that expensive. They may be beyond most girls' price range, but I don't think they're more than 20,000 yen."

"You're damn right that most girls can't shell out that much for clothes," I said. "You really were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, weren't you?"

Himemiya nodded.

"I can't deny that, Azuki-san," Himemiya said, "but at the same time, I don't think I'm necessarily pampered. My parents ensured I would not want for anything, but expected me to work hard in school. Even so, I've prepared for an adulthood in which I live more modestly than my childhood. Maybe that sounds naïve coming from someone who's never wanted for anything, but I've known I couldn't coast by in the lap of luxury forever... even before I wound up here."

"You're no more naïve than I am, Himeno-sama," Tsukimura said. "Even your family's servants are taken care of, and don't have to worry about starving, much less being murdered."

In a twisted way, the killing game was a great equalizer. Wealth, reputation and social status didn't matter- only what you could bring to the table.

"I don't blame either of you," I said. "I think all of us came off as naïve to varying extents before we wound up here, because we never imagined something like this was possible...most of us."

"That's true," Tsukimura said. "Maybe even the traitor didn't realize what being in a killing game would be like."

While I personally thought that the only thing that might be surprising about this killing game was how long we'd gone without killing each other, maybe the traitor thought they could coast through it, surviving all attempts on their life, solving all murders, or even getting away with the one they ended up committing. One thing was certain- we'd need to find out why the traitor had led us here and what they hoped to accomplish.

For lunch, I stopped by a restaurant next to the inn, where you barbecue your own food, and ate with Kurogane. As we barbecued beef skewers, we made small talk.

"It's quite impressive that they have a restaurant here," Kurogane said. "I can only imagine how they got all the necessary materials and services."

"True," I said. "First, the beef is gotten by raising cows on a farm, and then sending them to a slaughterhouse. Afterward, you probably need a meat processing plant, and some way of shipping the meat over to the restaurant."

"That's right," Kurogane said. "My father works for a large chain of restaurants, so he has some idea of all the work needed to keep one going, even those that people dismiss as incompetent. He once joked that the 'links' in the chain aren't the restaurants, but the various suppliers that get the food to the table, and you know what they say about the weak link..."

At times, it could be amazing how far the apple could fall from the tree when it came to talent.

"Yeah," I said. "Monokuma really thought things through."

"He certainly did, as did whoever he worked with," Kurogane said. "It wouldn't be possible for him to obtain all these supplies and the ship without help... which is what worries me. Who knows how well this killing game is supported?"

That was a truly scary thought, so much that I barely had the appetite to finish my meal. Dealing with Monokuma was bad enough but what if the killing game was backed by a giant corporation or NGO, or even the Japanese government? If either was true, then opposing them would stop being extremely difficult, and become practically impossible.

"I agree," I said. "I talked with Himemiya and Tsukimura earlier, and neither of them know where the money's coming from."

"Neither do I," Kurogane said. "All I can say is I'm guessing that whoever's paying for this definitely wants us to stay ignorant."

We let the subject drop. It was possible that if we escaped the killing game, our lives would be in no less danger than they were in here. As long as we were in the killing game, our deaths would further the game's purpose, but outside, we were a danger to the conspiracy in charge of the game as long as we were alive and aware of the secrets they'd kept hidden. The only thing that was any consolation was the knowledge that they were right to fear us, since all of us undoubtedly would stop at nothing to see whoever was responsible for this brought to justice.

In the afternoon, I took a walk around the neighborhood. Most of the doors that I saw seemed to be locked, and when I looked inside the windows, I couldn't see anyone in there. As I walked through the streets, I found the twins peering into the window of an apartment.

"Hi, Tachibana," I said.

"Oh, hello, Azuki-san," Tatsuki said. "Taiga and I were investigating the neighborhood."

Taiga nodded.

"We can't find a single person around," Taiga said, "just like it was back at the hotel. We thought we'd break a window and get in, but Monokuma would probably see that as destruction of property."

"You've got that right!" Monokuma said, appearing before us. "Throw a rock through the window, and a Monodrone will put several thousand rounds of ammo through you!'

I looked up and saw a Monodrone overhead, as well as a camera mounted on the wall of the building, likely intended to watch anyone entering or exiting the apartment. No matter where you were on the island, there were probably at least a few sets of electronic eyes watching you.

"Anyhow," Monokuma said, "I don't get why you ladies are so desperate to get into those houses. There's literally nothing inside."

"Talk about counterintuitive," I said. "You lock your house when you're away to keep your valuables safe, but there isn't a point if there's nothing inside, is there?"

"Not at all, Azuki-san," Taiga said. "I noticed that no one's living in these apartments, but you'd think that some of these places would come furnished."

"There's no need for it," Monokuma said. "If no one lives there, no one needs the furniture. Just think of it as part of the scenery."

Monokuma then left.

"So no one actually lives here," Tatsuki said. "Maybe Monokuma's telling the truth, but I doubt they'd just build an entire neighborhood just for show. Our dad works in construction, so he has some idea how much it costs and how long it takes to build buildings like these."

"Good point," I said. "It's one thing to build a set that seems real when you view it through the camera, but another to actually build an entire resort town from scratch and only invite sixteen people there, none of whom have any money to spend."

While Himemiya was rich and Sasaki, the Tachibanas, Yamazaki and I probably had a lot of money from our jobs, if we couldn't access it, we were poorer than the panhandlers who hung out at the subway stations in my city.

"Maybe they didn't build it," Taiga said. "Maybe they bought it from the person who did."

'Maybe," I said, "but buying or even renting all these buildings would take an insane amount of cash. Who'd go to all that trouble, or why?"

Having asked a question we couldn't answer yet, we decided to split up and look for more information. The answer probably wouldn't be one we'd want to hear, but pressing on and learning more was all we could do at the moment.

At the north end of the island, I found Kojima, standing at a scenic overlook and looking out at sea.

"Looks like this is as far as we can go, isn't it?" Kojima said.

"Seems that way," I said. "Of course Monokuma would never let us leave."

Kojima nodded, and I glanced into the water. There were some Monodrones- sharks and octopi, swimming the water, while a few aerial Monodrones flew through the sky.

"You know, in video games, there's always some sort of barrier or another to prevent you from going where the game designers don't want you to go," Kojima said, "even in the games that offer a wide open world. You run into an invisible wall of some sort, or some natural barrier, like a high mountain range."

I nodded. While my acting career didn't leave much free time, I'd played a few video games at my mom's encouragement, since some of my voice acting roles were for video games.

"That makes sense," I said. "It'd be a hell of a lot of work to make an entire world, so it's only fair that they'd limit you to the areas you're supposed to go."

"Yeah," Kojima said, "I noticed something pretty interesting about a lot of the open world video games. Often, the region you play in is only a few square kilometers wide in actual distance, even if it's supposed to be the size. Even my hometown- a town with less than 100,000 people- is larger than some of the worlds in MMOs."

"Like you said, it'd be difficult to populate an entire virtual world," I said. "That's probably why a lot of big cities in games tend to have at most, a couple dozen NPCs."

"You said it," Kojima said. "Of course, this town doesn't even have anyone like that, and neither did the hotel we woke up in. Maybe we're inside one big virtual reality world while our bodies are used as power sources, like that one movie."

"Now that's crazy talk," I said, "but considering everything weird that's happened, it might just be possible."

We spent a little while there, talking about his "virtual reality" theory and the various bits of pop culture that had inspired it, a discussion that I ended up finding quite fascinating. While I still wasn't entirely fond of Kojima, I noticed that he was a lot less obnoxious when he wasn't talking about me. Maybe if he kept his thoughts and his feelings about me to himself, we might just be friends one day- if not anything more than that.

At 6 PM, we met up in the parking lot. I was honestly surprised that everyone had shown up, but glad they did. Rounding up sixteen people on an island this big without cell phones or other technology like that would be like herding cats.

"I'm glad you could all make it," Higurashi said. "Please share what you've found."

We each shared a little about what we've found. Most of us spoke about the inn, while a few others mentioned the empty buildings.

"To sum it up, there aren't any boats, communication devices or conclusive evidence of where on Earth we are," I said, "unless anyone wants to prove me wrong."

No one spoke up.

"So there you have it," I said. "Monokuma was clearly confident that he was in control of the island, even if he doesn't seem to have any of his people on it. If he was scared of us escaping, he'd probably have prepared seventeen cells, rather than just one."

Alternatively, Monokuma could have prepared nine cells, and had the roommates become cellmates.

"You raise a fair point, Azuki-san," Higurashi said, "but at the same time, it is possible that Monokuma's power will go to his head, and he will end up becoming overconfident. When he becomes that way, he will end up making a critical mistake that we can use to our advantage... and maybe he already has."

"Maybe, Higurashi-kun," Karita said, "but I know that anyone who thinks they're putting one over on the person trying to con them is probably about to fall into a trap themselves. Monokuma took control of the ship by himself- well, maybe with the traitor's help- so it wouldn't be good to underestimate him."

I couldn't decide which was worse- Karita being the one to back me up, or being the only person who was less than optimistic about our chances.

"It's true that Monokuma had the traitor's help," Himemiya said, "but he clearly needed more than that. He would need an entire construction crew to build all the buildings on the island."

"You got that right," Asakura said. "It's not like anyone here has the money to pay for all this."

Tsukimura shot Asakura a dirty look, one that probably would have gotten her in trouble if she'd done it to one of her employers or their guests. While she gave me the impression of being a nice and polite young lady, I knew that pushing her too far wouldn't be a good idea.

As for Himemiya, despite sighing and giving a disapproving frown, she remained relatively calm.

"I suppose it's natural that you would suspect me, Asakura-san," Himemiya said, "but there are some things about your theory that do not add up. First, my father is the one who controls the Himemiya zaibatsu, and our family's wealth. I only have a few million yen in my personal savings account."

"All right, so maybe your dad's in charge," Asakura said, "and made you the traitor."

"In that case, I would have told Kanae about it," Himemiya said, "and there would be two people aware of the killing game, not just one. Monokuma said that one person was aware of the killing game."

"Perhaps," Kirishima said, "but maybe you left Tsukimura-kun in the dark in order to protect her from being named as an accomplice."

"That's not much of a favor," Tsukimura said. "If word got out that I was an accomplice, I'd probably get time in prison, but as long as I'm here, my life's in danger."

"I agree," Karita said. "In fact, if the Himemiyas are involved, they could just have Tsukimura-san act as the mastermind, since she'd follow their orders. If she gets caught, they can say that she was acting alone and throw her, a mere servant, under the bus. Of course, the only reason to have Himemiya-san herself in the game would be to deflect suspicion, but since she probably isn't the heiress, they don't have much to lose if she dies."

Sasaki sighed and shook her head.

"Honestly, Karita-kun, there's no point in accusing Himemiya-san or Kanae-chan without any evidence," Sasaki said. "Do you honestly believe that they'd confess?"

"Confessions are not always given voluntarily," Mihama said. "It is possible that if we put enough pressure on a suspect, they will confess, but it is more than likely that any forced confession will be false."

I could definitely see Mihama's point. In terms of probability, there was only a one in seventeen chance of any given person being the traitor, which would probably be one in sixteen if I sought to interrogate a given person as the traitor (of course, it wouldn't be possible to actually torture Nagato-sensei). In terms of how people act, it's possible that some people would, if pushed far enough, confess to being the traitor, knowing that even if their torturer killed them, it would be preferable to further torment.

"Still, one thing does bother me," Kurogane said, "namely, the idea that a powerful organization is responsible for this killing game. Even if we somehow escape, we may have to deal with them, the masterminds behind the mastermind, sooner or later."

"That's certainly true, Kurogane-kun," Higurashi-kun said, "but people aren't so twisted that they'd enjoy watching high schoolers murdering each other. Surely, once we escape, we will find many allies to help us oppose those responsible. All they need is to become aware of what is happening."

We let the discussion drop for now, and continued discussing the island for a while, until everyone got hungry and went out to get something to eat. There was little point dwelling on what we'd do after we escaped for now, not when escaping was a pipe dream at best. Still, even if we did escape, we'd likely have to come to terms with why the world would allow this killing game to happen, an answer we most likely would find hard to accept.

After eating, I spent the next two hours walking around the island and getting a feel for the surroundings.

Eventually, I made my way to the western coast of the island, where I sat on a bench facing the ocean and watched the sun set. I tried to figure out where we were based on the time the sun was setting for this time of year, but to no avail. Even if I was an expert in that sort of thing, it'd probably require a lot of resources I didn't have, such as Internet access, not to mention that it'd be easier to just use a GPS to find my location.

While I was thinking about it, Monokuma paged me.

It is now time to return to the ship. Please be on board by 9 PM.

I returned to the ship, and made it back in roughly ten minutes., waiting at the central area with the elevators for the others to return. The island was small enough that you could return to the ship from the opposite side within an hour if you didn't dawdle, but I couldn't help but worry. What if someone fell ill and passed out? What if someone tripped and broke their leg? What if, after we got back, we found that one of us had been murdered?

Luckily, none of these came to pass. I was one of the first back, and I saw everyone else return one by one. Once we were all on the ship, the gangplank retracted, but the ship remained in the harbor. We were on the island for the time being, so perhaps we'd get to explore it more tomorrow.

After returning to the ship, I went down to Nagato-sensei's cell. Apparently, she'd gone there by herself this time.

"Good evening, Azuki-san," Nagato-sensei said.

"Good evening," I said. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"Not really," Nagato said. "Mom and I were discussing her day walking around the ship."

"Wait, you mean they let her out?" I said.

Nagato-sensei nodded.

"Yes, Monokuma did," Nagato-sensei said. "Starting at 9 AM, I am allowed to leave my cell and have free rein of the ship except for student rooms and other areas that are off limits. However, I must be back in my cell by 8 PM on the dot, or else I will be punished."

"In other words, you can leave while no one else is on the ship," I said, "so no harm can come to you, and you can't do any harm to anyone else."

"Quite true," Nagato-sensei said, "of course, the rule about the spotless, myself included, being executed if a blackened graduates still applies."

"I know, Mom," Nagato said. "That's why I want everyone to work together to ensure that no murders ever occur."

As unrealistic as I found that hope, I couldn't fault Nagato for having it. All of us knew what was at stake, and that the only thing worse than dying a grisly death along with the rest of the spotless is your mother sharing your fate.

"In any case," Nagato-sensei said, "since you two have probably explored every inch of the ship Monokuma will allow you to access these past three days, I'm sure you haven't found anything there that I didn't. So why not tell me about the island?"

We gave Nagato-sensei a brief summary of what we saw on the island.

"This island seems harmless enough," Nagato-sensei said. "However, I'm sure Monokuma has some plan in store for you all."

"I believe so, too," I said. "All this time on the ship is likely to make us restless, and now that we realize that this island is the most land we'll ever see unless we graduate, we're likely to start killing each other.

"You aren't wrong, Azuki-san," Nagato said, "but I think people would have to be extremely desperate to try to graduate. Killing someone is not a decision that can be taken lightly- the girl I told you about earlier, who'd stabbed her classmate, wasn't trying to kill her, so the prosecution didn't seek an attempted murder charge. Even if someone would be willing to kill, I can't think of anyone who valued their life so little to risk it rashly."

When I thought about it that way, it made sense. In order to graduate and get out of this killing school trip, you'd have to put your life on the line first. That fact was a more compelling deterrent to murder than all the platitudes about not wanting to kill that our class could come up with combined.

"Neither can I," I said, "although part of the reason is that I've only known everyone for a couple days. Of course, if we do have someone who's willing to throw their life away to graduate, I'm sure Monokuma will oblige them if they fuck up."

"I don't doubt that," Nagato-sensei said, "but any murder is a tragedy, even when they are solved. Like Chiyuri, I would rather not see any killings occur. All of you are my students, so I have no desire to see any of you come to harm- not even the one who betrayed our class."

I decided to leave it at that, and said goodbye to both Nagatos for now, promising to meet the younger Nagato in our cabin by the start of Night Time.

I quickly stopped by the lounge, hoping to see if I could find an atlas. Mihama was one step ahead of me.

"Good evening, Azuki-san," Mihama said. "Are you perhaps here to investigate where this ship is headed?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth," I said. "So, did you find anything?"

Mihama shook her head.

"Regrettably, no," Mihama said. "I searched for all the islands of this size that the ship could conceivably reach in just under three days, but to no avail. The only possibility I can think of is that this island is not on any map."

"Could be," I said. "How are you with geography?"

"Not good enough," Mihama said with a sigh. "I may be at the top of my class, but my tests have asked us questions such as where Japan's prefectures are, not the location of an uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere. I asked Kirishima-san earlier, and he had no more luck than I did."

I remembered seeing Kirishima at the gift shop earlier today. He'd probably made better use of his time there than I did, but even he couldn't solve this mystery.

"Figures," I said. "I guess they don't teach you everything you need to know in school."

"Unfortunately, no," Mihama said. "At my old school, I tutored a girl named Maho Matsunaga, who'd been held back twice. Matsunaga-san did not mind getting help from a 'kid' like me, but she made it clear that she had the edge in life experience. Not only was she older than me, but she grew up in a rough neighborhood and had to work to put herself through school, so she was not wrong."

I'd always thought people who said that an education wasn't everything were kind of anti-intellectual, but maybe they were on to something. If we were stranded on a desert island and forced to hunt and forage for our food(something I wouldn't put past Monokuma) the vast majority of us would range from "out of our depth" to "totally incompetent." Even with our needs provided for aboard the Ursa Major and on the first island, none of us had truly faced situations in which we'd had to fight for our lives.

"I guess not," I said. "I can tell you're smarter than me, Mihama, and probably smarter than any of us, but it's OK to rely on the big kids when you need to."

"I will keep your words in mind, Azuki-san," Mihama said, "so long as you are worthy of that trust."

I nodded, then said good night to Mihama. Trusting each other was a bit too much to ask in a situation like this, but a kid like Mihama definitely needed someone she could depend on.

I returned to my room, where Nagato was already starting to change into her nightgown.

"Welcome back, Azuki-san," Nagato said. "What were you up to?"

"I just had a quick talk with Mihama," I said. "We talked about our efforts to find out just where the hell we were, and how useless our schooling was."

Nagato nodded.

"I think Mihama-san was at the top of her class, even after skipping ahead a few grades," Nagato said, "but what about you?"

"Me?" I said. "Not to toot my own horn, but I do pretty well. My grades aren't the best in my class, but I do manage to keep them at a respectable level even after taking time off for acting."

"I'm sure you do," Nagato said, "or at least that you do better than I do. My grades are mediocre. They may be high enough to pass but are not good enough to earn me respect- merely some pity from those who are doing just as badly."

I was at a loss for words. Obviously, it wouldn't be appropriate to mock or make fun of Nagato, but at the same time, she didn't say this for pity.

"I can see why even a genius like Mihama-san would be out of her element here," Nagato-san said, "but the same applies to ordinary people, too. I don't know what to think of someone who'd be right at home here."

"Well, we do have the traitor," I said, "if Monokuma's right and they knew how things would go down. I think one of two things will happen now that we've reached land- they'll make their move or wait for one of us to make ours."

The Night Time announcement then sounded, and Nagato, after saying her prayers and "Good night, Azuki-san," climbed into bed. With a "Night, Nagato," I followed suit.

My conversation with Nagato had been humbling, in more ways than one I'd always been grateful for my talent, but hadn't anticipated a situation in which it wouldn't do me much good.

Monokuma Theater

Some people have trouble deciding how their stories end. Me, I have trouble deciding how to begin mine.

I know I'd like the story to end with a crazy psycho killing everyone except for the lucky girl who ends up doing him in, but I don't know how to get all those schmucks into the creepy-looking campground.

I've always wanted to do a story about a drug lord shooting a bunch of guys in his mansion until he gets blown away, but when it comes to the first act, in which the drug lord makes it big, I'm drawing a blank.

I've got a lot of cool death scenes in mind, and all that's left is to think of characters to use them on.

Seriously, people, the payoff is the fun and the easy part. You're making it a lot harder than it needs to be.

Author's Notes

Thank you for the favorites.

The next chapter may not come out for a while, as I'm still focusing on fine-tuning the details of the murder, the investigation and the class trial. I'm hoping to have the next chapter out by the end of July. As a preview, though, here's a sneak peek at the motive- kill the traitor without getting caught and you get to leave without anyone being executed.

In the mean time, though, you may see some Free Time Events, since I have a few mostly written up. So far, we have five down- Nagato, Higurashi, Karita, Tsukimura and Kumakura- and ten to go.