AN: Thanks so much to my amazing friend who doesn't even read this fic for drawing the new cover image! It's basically just Izanagi because he's aesthetically pleasing. Please enjoy staring at him!
Silence. Everyone looked between one another with undisguised, pointed suspicion. I felt it from all sides. I fired it at all sides. Because any of these people, any of these strangers, could be thinking the unthinkable at that very moment.
And thus the curtain rose on this game of suspicion. This game of lies, this game of truth. This game of life and death. This game of no escape.
Our very own school killing life had finally begun.
"How stupid." A sharp, unfamiliar voice sounded from next to me. I flinched. Wasn't that... "How fucking stupid. Falling for a killing game?" Yorufuku was grinning madly, speaking in a loud voice I never thought she could muster. I noticed she'd tied her hair up into a ponytail.
"Yorufuku-san...?" I mumbled, confused beyond belief.
"As if I'm gonna let anyone fucking kill each other!" she burst out into insane laughter. Everyone's eyes were on her. "How stupid, how stupid, not good enough at all." she shook her head. "If you think I'll let any of you knuckleheads even think about murder, I'll beat the shit outta you until you can't walk anymore! Y'hear?!" she screamed, glaring with terrifying force at everyone in the room. "I'll never, ever, ever let someone fall for such a stupid fucking practical joke by some lowlife trickster. Headmaster of Hope's Peak or not, you're going fucking down." She gave a thumbs down, looking up at the security cameras placed on the ceiling.
"I'm... I'm with Yorufuku-san." I finally spoke up. "This is just... absurd. No one has to murder each other. It didn't say in the rules that we had to kill."
"That's right!" Kisaragi spoke up with a bellowing voice. "Why don't we all just be friends?"
"We just met." Kagami snickered. "You expect us to be all happy-clappy with each other? Izanagi would sooner eat you for breakfast than make friends with us."
"I-I would not!" Nagi insisted as Rantomo slowly backed away. "He lies! He tells you a porky!"
"A porky..." Kyousuke's eyes widened. "I can't believe that just came from your mouth."
"Kisaragi's right." I spoke above the crowd of idiots. "Everyone, let's get along. Let's not argue. Why don't we start by calling each other by our first names?"
"Um, no." Shiraishi immediately countered. "If anyone calls me anything but my family name, I'm out."
"Fine, let's ignore the grouchy bitch." I turned away from her.
"I'm down with that." Nouki, or perhaps I should call her Bianka, offered in her typical unbothered tone.
"Can do!" Tsubasa saluted with a cheery smile. Mental note not to trust that guy, though.
"Uuu... you can call me Hekate... but don't forget my last name..." Hekate grumbled, clutching her book to her chest. As if we could forget...
"You may call me Nagi-chan!" Nagi proudly declared with a puffed out chest and a hand over his heart. "I've grown attached to this distasteful moniker!" One by one, everyone agreed to refer to each other in a more friendly manner. Already, I could feel the shards of sanity being picked up again.
"That's right, now no one has to be a fucking idiot." Kaori grinned. I admitted that I wasn't quite used to this... transformation of hers?
"What now?" Haruka crossed his arms over his chest. "I understand that this is to prevent a murder, but to be frank, it doesn't help our present situation much."
"Well, obviously, we find an exit!" Natsumi shook her pom poms. "E, X, I, T! Exit!"
"I have a feeling this is going to get annoying fast." Haruka sighed.
"Well, everyone, move out!" Grinning, Hiroki gestured broadly with his hand.
"Let's split up." I suggested. "Then we can cover more ground. Let's meet up again in the gym in an hour to discuss our findings."
"S-sounds good..." Sora whispered, not avoiding everyone's eyes. I felt pride prick my heart. We'd managed to salvage this horrific situation. Finally, it felt like a tiny slither of light was at the end of this nightmare.
AN: If you have trouble visualising the layout, I've included a link to a drawing of the first floor on my profile.
Back outside the gym, I noticed Kyousuke immediately heading to the room on our right. I was planning to go in there first, but now... Instead, I made my way toward the double doors to the room next to it. Inside was a very large mahogany dining table, complete with sixteen comfortable-looking chairs surrounding it. Wow, fancy. This really did feel like a winter resort, what with the wine red curtains draping over the huge windows, contrasting with the slowly falling snow outside. For some reason, Bianka was lying face-up on the carpet, staring at the ceiling like it was the answer to all life's questions.
"Are you alright, Bianka-san?" I crouched down next to her, unsure what kind of response I'd get.
"I've never been more alright than right now." she performed a grand gesture up at the ceiling, her autumn eyes shining with inspiration. "My future, my destiny... it's all there."
"And, um, what does it say?"
"Pizza." Bianka turned to me blankly. I decided now was probably good as time as ever to leave her alone, and sat down opposite Sora at the table.
"Hey, Sora-kun, how's the investi- wait, where'd you get that tea from?" My eyes widened. "You've been in here less than two minutes!"
"I... like green tea." he replied in a meek voice, staring down at it. "It's nice."
"That doesn't really answer the question."
"Would you like some?" Sora smiled shyly. "It's very nice. And relaxing."
"I admit I'm a bit more concerned with searching this place and escaping right now, but thanks for the offer." I replied.
"You shouldn't think about it so much." he shook his head. "I can tell how worried you are, even if you're trying to be calm for everyone's sake. Relax. It'll all turn out okay if we work together. We're Ultimates. We can do anything." I found my spirits beginning to perk up.
"Hey, thanks, Sora-kun..." I gave him a smile, for the first time taking in his impressive talent. Note to self, wearing dragon horns and a skirt doesn't impede one's abilities as a therapist. "I'm gonna call you Matcha."
"M-Matcha?" he ducked his head. "I've... never had a nickname before..."
"Well, thanks, Matcha." I stood up again with a grin. "We'll definitely get out of here. You can count on it." He nodded very quickly, growing embarrassed once again. Finally, I started toward the only person doing what they were supposed to in this room - Mikoto, as it happened, who was inspecting the windows with a thoughtful expression.
"Mikoto-san?" I addressed him. His messy pink hair was certainly distinctive.
"Yes?" Not even facing me, he began forcing the window open.
"You found an escape?" I brightened.
"I wouldn't say this is an escape..." he placed his hand under his chin. "These windows aren't reinforced at all. Even an amateur could've done better. I don't think this building is necessarily what we're meant to escape from."
"What do you mean?" I frowned.
"It's extremely easy to leave from here. I don't think they're trying to trap us in here."
"I guess I understand..." I gave him a sideways glance. Mikoto was certainly acting quite differently to how he had back in the gym. "So, Mikoto-san, um... did you actually get kidnapped, or was that a lie too?" I decided to take a risk. After all, if we were to be better friends, I should probably get to know everyone better.
"Way to ask people traumatic questions in the your first conversation with someone, Ren." Mikoto mocked, still not really recognising my presence. "Yes, I really was. But I would appreciate it if you treated me like any normal human being. Just because I was on the news doesn't make me some rare commodity." With that, he hopped out of the window before I could even tell him to stop, sinking a little into the pile of snow. "I'm off. You'd better get a move on too, Ren." he warned before heading off in an unknown direction. Jeez... something told me there'd be no point in telling that guy to be careful.
The next room I entered was the lounge in which I'd initially woken up. Sure enough, Kaori had also returned here, and was looking around for any clues, her new ponytail swishing.
"Yo, Kaori-san..." I approached her with newfound nerves. I mean... what the hell happened to her back there?
"Ren-kun." she sighed, her gaze fixated on the floor. "This really isn't the kind of situation I want to be in on a Monday morning."
"Well... neither, I guess." I examined her. She seemed to have calmed down a little. "Are you okay? What happened back there?"
"I dislike stupid things." her eyes turned had turned rigid. "And this is definitely stupid."
"You don't believe this killing game is real, then?"
"I don't know. All I know is that this is stupid, and I'll stop everyone for falling for it. You aren't stupid, are you, Ren-kun?" Kaori shot me a fierce glare.
"'Course not." I crossed my arms. "You don't have to worry about me. Have you found anything new?"
"Well, I said this was Monday, right?" she tapped her foot. "In fact, it's actually Sunday."
"Sunday?" I blinked. Kaori pointed toward the clock we'd seen back when we first woke up.
"It says 'Sun'."
"Sure it just doesn't mean 'sunny', or something?" I suggested.
"A clock which tells the weather? I don't think so. Besides, it's snowing." Kaori placed her hands on her hips. "I'm sure that means Sunday. But the only way we could check is if we wait until tomorrow to see if there's a date change."
"This is getting weirder and weirder..." I scratched my cheek. "Thanks, Kaori-san. Let me know if you find out anything else."
"Sure." Nodding, she returned back to searching the room. Only one more room in this corridor. Damn, I couldn't avoid it any longer. Time to have a chat with Kyousuke...