We were paralyzed. All of us in that room, staring daggers at one another, Monokuma's words ringing fresh in our minds. I knew that at that moment, we were all thinking the same thing: 'could someone really consider killing us?' All of us just continued staring for what seemed like an eternity. We were all stuck in our trance until someone decided to speak.
"So are we all just gonna glare at each other all day?" Kyoko asked.
"She's right…" Mondo said. "Whether one is nervous or afraid, he or she simply needs to move forward!"
"So then, how do we do that exactly?" Hifumi asked.
"Well obviously we look for a way out!" Taka said.
"We should also be looking for who was controlling that bear," Sakura said. "I sure as hell ain't letting them get away with this."
"We should go over the rules within the handbook, first," Celeste said. "Who knows what could happen if we end up breaking one of them?" So we checked the rules at her suggestion. After I turned on my handbook, the first thing that popped up was my name. I browsed through the menus until I happened upon the rules.
1. Students may reside only within the school; leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.
2. 'Nighttime' is from 10:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please use caution. In addition, the water in the dorms will be cut off during this time.
3. Sleeping anywhere other than the dorms is considered sleeping in class and will be punished accordingly.
4. With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.
5. Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.
6. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes 'blackened' will graduate, unless they are discovered.
7. Additional school regulations may be added as necessary.
"Based on what we saw earlier, it would probably be wise to follow these rules," Yasuhiro said.
"Yeah," Chihiro agreed. "If that bear was serious, I think something worse than an explosion is gonna happen if you break one."
"So that means we don't have to worry about anyone breaking them, right?" Hifumi asked.
"I have a question, though," Sayaka said. "For rule six, what do you think it means, exactly?"
"It's most likely what Monokuma was talking about earlier," Toko said.
"But I was talking more about where it says 'unless they are discovered,'" Sayaka replied.
"Yeah, I was thinking about that, too," I say.
"It simply means that to graduate, you have to kill someone without anyone finding out," Mukuro said.
"But... Why would we have to kill?" Aoi asked.
"Hey, now," Taka said. "Let's not worry too much about the whole murder thing right now. I mean, it's not like anyone would actually think about doing that, right?" He chuckled nervously as he said this. I really want to believe that, but can I be completely sure?
"Yes, let us put that whole ordeal behind us," Mondo said. "I believe our first priority should be to explore the school in order to properly ascertain the environment we are dealing with!"
"Okay, then let's all start looking around," Leon said.
"I'll be going, then," Mukuro abruptly said.
"Hey, you're just going to go alone?" I ask.
"Certainly," she replied. "You can't deny the possibility that someone among us has already started planning to kill. Why would I put myself in unneeded danger?"
"You can't seriously think that!" I say. I don't believe that she would actually think that one of us would kill someone!
"And what reason would she have not to believe that?" Byakuya said. "We know virtually nothing about each other. You can refuse to believe that any of these people are incapable of killing, but if you end up dead because of that, you only have yourself to blame."
"Dude… that's just cold," Taka said. Mukuro just chuckled.
"At least one of you plebeians is capable of using that primitive tool you call a brain," Mukuro said. Byakuya scoffed at that remark. "Now then, if there will be no more interruptions…" and just like that, she left. Byakuya left shortly thereafter.
"...What the fuck is their problem?" Sakura said.
"Just let them go," Yasuhiro said. "We should just go about what we were planning and explore the school. I'm sure they'll turn up sooner or later."
"Anyway, I believe our first priority should be trying to find a way out of here," Kyoko said. Yasuhiro nodded in agreement.
"Make sure to be thorough, everyone," Yasuhiro said as he and Kyoko left.
"Well I'm gonna see if I can find some grub," Sakura said. "If we do end up stuck here, it's best to know where to get something to eat."
"I'll go with you," Chihiro said. "I'm pretty hungry."
"...I'm a bit peckish myself," Aoi said. The three of them left with each other.
"I'm gonna check to see if all of the windows are covered up like that," Taka said. "They must have some place that leads outside..."
"I shall accompany you!" Mondo said. "I'm sure with both of our combined efforts we shall accomplish anything we set our mind to!"
"...If you say so…"
"Leon! You accompany us as well!"
"...What? Why me?" Leon hardly had time to respond as he was practically dragged out of the gym by Mondo, with Taka following behind.
"I suppose I'll take my leave too," Celeste said.
"I'll go too!" Toko said.
"I shall perform my own investigation as well!" Hifumi said. The three of them excused themselves, which just left Sayaka, Makoto, and myself in the gym.
"Well, I guess that leaves us," Sayaka said.
"Yeah," I say. I don't know, I still can't believe this whole deal about killing… Could someone actually be considering that…?
"Hey, are you still thinking about that whole killing deal?" Sayaka asked. I stared wide-eyed at her. "Judging by your expression, I guess I'm right." I must be really easy to read if she can pull stuff like that. "Like I said, I just have really good intuition."
"...I'm not sure intuition works like that," I reply.
"But you shouldn't worry about it too much," Sayaka said. "I think worrying about it will just make you paranoid, and that can't be good for your overall mental state. All we need to do is stick together, right? I mean, there's strength in numbers, and if anyone gets out of hand, we can just slap them back into reality!" She's right… But I can't just forget about this kind of thing. The fact that anyone of us could just decide to be a killer…
"I know you're right… But can one of us actually go through with killing somebody?"
"It isn't a question of 'can' or 'cannot'," Makoto said abruptly. The way he said this… He had a deathly serious tone.
"What do you mean by that?" I ask.
"The question you should be asking is not whether one of these people has the ability to commit a murder. The truth is, any individual has the potential to kill."
"...What are you saying?" I ask. I… don't really understand what he's getting at.
"The question you should be asking is 'will a murder occur'."
"..." Now he really lost me. Isn't that what we were just saying!? He just stared at me… I guess he could tell that I don't really get what he's talking about.
"... Anyone can become a killer if they are truly pushed to their limits. It's like that saying, ' a cornered cat becomes as fierce as a lion.' I've seen people truly fear for their lives, and that's when they become dangerous. These people around us don't seem… directly threatening." Is this supposed to be his way of telling me not to worry? Because it's certainly not working.
"Oh, I think I get it," Sayaka said. "I think he's trying to say that these aren't the kind of people that go around killing people?"
"Well I'd hope that no one is the kind of person that just goes around killing people!"
"... You'd be surprised. The amount of people in this world that want death… relish in it… there are many more of them than you realize." Now this guy was really putting me on edge.
"I still don't quite understand…" I say. Not only am I getting more worried, I can hardly understand what he's getting at!
"I suppose… what I'm trying to say…" Makoto looked around as he tried to find the right words. I guess as a soldier he just doesn't have to talk much, so doing all this must be pretty uncomfortable for him. "I believe the one controlling Monokuma is a person of that nature."
"Oh, so you're saying that Monokuma, or, whoever is behind him I guess, really gets off on death and stuff?" Sayaka asked. Makoto nodded. "Well, if nothing else, at least they make a good villain!" Sayaka giggled. I don't understand how she can be so cheerful in a situation like this. The more time I spend with her... the more I'm confused by her.
"But that brings me to my other point," Makoto continued. "The people surrounding us… they are not dangerous by themselves."
"Well I hope not," I say, a bit sarcastically.
"But I fear that Monokuma will do something to push us into killing each other."
"What?" Sayaka asked.
"...In my experience, I have seen people with similar mindsets to Monokuma. They have done things similar to this: take prisoners and coerce them into killing each other for their enjoyment."
"...That's messed up…" I say.
"What I'm trying to say is that you need to worry most about the one in control of this situation. You don't need to harbor any ill feelings toward your comrades."
"So… You think Monokuma is really serious about all this killing?" I ask. Makoto nodded again.
"I can't say for sure what his methods are going to be, but… I'm certain we need to watch out. For now, we probably are going to have to bide our time until he makes a move." I sigh. Even the Ultimate Soldier is concerned about the situation we found ourselves in. I take it that's not a good sign.
"So you just propose we wait?" Sayaka asked.
"Yes. Since we know next to nothing about our enemy, we must first see what their modus operandi is before we can devise an effective plan of attack."
"Well, nothing much we can do about it at the moment, then," Sayaka said, shrugging. "Hey Junko, you don't look too good." She looked at me with a worried expression. Like I thought, I must be an open book. "What do you say we walk around too? I'm sure it will take your mind off of things for a while." I really had no reason to object to that. I mean, even if everyone else is already exploring the school, it wouldn't hurt for us to do the same. I mean, we might even find something! At least, that's what I tried to convince myself of as the three of us explored the various parts of the school. Eventually, we ended up at some place named 'Despair Hotel', which I could only assume was supposed to be the dormitory. We looked around this weird hallway that had dimmer lighting compared to the rest of the floor. There, we found a bunch of doors, and each one had one of our names on them. According to the rules, we need to sleep here or else we'll be punished. I didn't really find much else, but then again, I wasn't really trying to. My mind just kept wandering back to the situation we found ourselves in. A huge part of me didn't want to accept that we'd been kidnapped and may very well be coerced into killing each other by some sicko psychopath... And what person would accept that if they were in my shoes? All the time we were looking around, Sayaka kept trying to cheer me up. I had no clue what Makoto was doing. He… kept a noticeable distance from us. After looking around that hallway for a bit, we decided to take a break and go to the dining hall we passed earlier.
"Oh, hey you guys," Chihiro said as we entered. He, Sakura, and Aoi were all sitting down, enjoying what looked to be a hearty plate of steak.
"So you found something to eat after all, huh?" Sayaka said, sitting down with them.
"Yeah we did," Sakura said.
"You should see all the stuff they had back there!" Chihiro said.
"Are you okay, Junko?" Aoi asked me.
"She's been thinking about what Monokuma said this whole time," Sayaka explained.
"Come on," Chihiro said. "I doubt any of us would go so far as to kill someone! And even if they do, I'll be sure to make 'em pay!"
"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "If there's one thing I can't forgive, It's killing someone." That's not something I really expected the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader to say. I could swear that her life involves a lot of violence and death. I guess that just goes to show that you can never judge a book by it's cover. "If anyone wants to try something, they're gonna have to go through me first."
"And Makoto can help too," Chihiro said. Makoto looked surprised to hear his name said.
"...Me?" he asked.
"Yeah, man!" Chihiro continued. "Between the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, Ultimate Soldier, and Ultimate Martial Artist, we'll have everything under control! We'd practically be unstoppable!" I couldn't help but chuckle at his enthusiasm.
"Then I guess we're safe in your hands," I giggled. Maybe I should just stop worrying. Sayaka and Makoto were definitely right. These are good people. I think it's safe to say they wouldn't do anything to each other. Yeah… I'm probably just overthinking things!
"So you guys must be a bit hungry to head over here," Aoi said.
"Yeah," I said. "We didn't really find much when we were looking around, so we decided to take a break in here and see if we could eat something."
"Well you certainly aren't going to go hungry," Aoi said.
"They have all kinds of meat and fruits and vegetables in the kitchen," Chihiro said. "And apparently it gets restocked everyday."
"It does?" Sayaka asked. "How do you know?"
"Well," Chihiro continued. "Monokuma came by and said so."
"What?" I asked.
"Yeah, we were a bit skeptical, too," Sakura said. "But from what we gathered, none of the food is poisonous and it gets restocked sometime during the night when this room is locked up."
"Monokuma said that he wouldn't poison the food himself because that 'wouldn't be fair'," Aoi said.
"So you all will take the chance that no one else here will make a move to poison the food?" We all turned to see Mukuro standing by the door. "Figures. No matter how much you rabble insist that you all are safe with each other, there will always be that doubt you all have."
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked, standing up. She glared at Mukuro, her face masked with anger.
"You know exactly what I'm saying," Mukuro responded "Underlying all of your false camaraderie is a constant thought that one of the people you begin to call your 'friends' will inevitably betray you."
"Shut the hell up!" Sakura roared. "You don't know one fucking thing about us! How the fuck can you say one of us would betray each other?" With the way she was talking, she was practically throwing her words at Mukuro. All she did in response was chuckle.
"It's only human nature to doubt others," Mukuro said calmly. It seemed that nothing Sakura was saying was going to rile her. "The only thing your conviviality will bring you is betrayal."
"That's not true!" I yelled, much to Sayaka's, and my own, surprise. "You can't just make assumptions on other people like that! I don't know what kind of life you had before here that makes you think that… But people just aren't bad like that! I mean… you can't just… say that without actually getting to know us! Who cares if we all just met or whatever? If we all take the time to get to know each other, then we won't have to worry about betrayal!" I…don't know what came over me, there. I just couldn't stand to hear what she was saying. I know we just met and she basically said what I was thinking… but I can't have that kind of mindset! Sayaka is right: if i keep being paranoid I'm gonna exhaust myself to death. So… we have to trust each other. That's the only way we are gonna make it out of here alive. We're going to need to trust each other and stick together. Mukuro scoffed at me.
"It would seem my words are wasted on you," she said, adjusting her glasses. "Very well. Enjoy your time with each other… while it lasts." And with those ominous words… she left us. I sighed and sat back down.
"Sorry about that…" I say. "I don't know what came over me." I really don't. I was never one to stand up to people like that. I guess... maybe I am starting to trust these people.
"Who cares?" Sayaka said. "That speech was cool!"
"Cool?" I ask. "You must be joking."
"Well you certainly got your point across." Again we turned around, this time seeing Kyoko and Yasuhiro entering the room. "It would seem that not everyone is on board with working together," Kyoko said.
"Yeah, well if she wants to be a loner, then more power to her," Chihiro said.
"Her negative disposition is not good for my aura," Aoi said. "If she chooses to stay away from us, I wouldn't mind."
"Mukuro aside, we've finished our investigation," Yasuhiro said.
"Did you find anything?" Sayaka asked. Kyoko shook her head.
"We didn't find any exits, and it seems that the upper floors of the school as well as this building have been blocked by gates," she said.
"And those gates are quite sturdy," Yasuhiro said.
"I know," Makoto said. "I've seen gates and doors made of similar material. Nothing short of a bulldozer or an explosion will get us past them. And that's not even counting for the composition of the door to the main entrance." Yasuhiro sighed at Makoto's explanation. "Whoever put those up really didn't want anyone leaving."
"Anyway, we should probably wait until everyone gathers here to explain everything. We came across everyone and told them to come here when they were finished." So we waited. After a while, everyone else, with the exception of Mukuro and Byakuya showed up and told us what they all found. From what I can gather, we can't go up to the second floor of the school or the dorms. All of the windows we found were bolted like the ones I saw when I first woke up, and nothing they tried would make them budge. In the school building, the only rooms open were some sort of A/V room, a couple of classrooms, and the gym we were all in before. In the dorm, there is a room for each of us, each door with someone's name on it. Lastly, there's also a trash room in the dorms, but we couldn't get past the huge gate there.
"So that concludes everyone's report, then?" Mondo asked as we finished talking. It seems no one else had anything else to say. "Well then, I propose that we all retire to our rooms for the night. We've all had a long and rather stressful day, so be sure to get a good night's rest!" So, with nothing more to add, everyone went back to their respective rooms. When I got to my room, I immediately collapsed on the bed. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I actually decided I wanted to sleep. I still have my worries about this place, but, like Sayaka said, it's no use thinking about it so much. I'd just become even more tired from thinking about it all the time. So instead of thinking of Monokuma's game, I turned my thoughts to the people stuck in here with me. I suppose I really am starting to trust them. I hope we all get along... and make it out of here in one piece. While thinking of everyone else, I fell into a deep sleep before long.