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Daily Life

Ding, Dong, Ding, Dong.

The familiar ringing made Sorey jump up from his bed. He still wasn't used to that sound and it was a cruel way to wake up. It reminded him of the situation he was in. He needed to start waking up before the morning announcement. Waking up with a jolt every morning couldn't be healthy.

"Ahem, good morning everyone," he could hear Monokuma clearing his throat. "Would everyone please report to the cafeteria asap. I have a special announcement to give in person. So attendance is mandatory."

The announcement clicked off. Sorey just groaned. What did Monokuma want this time?

Sorey quickly got ready for the day and headed to the cafeteria. He didn't want to test what would happen if he disobeyed Monokuma.

He could already hear and smell that people were already eating. But he saw that Emil was standing right outside the cafeteria. He was looking nervously into the dining room.

"Hey Emil, you okay?" Sorey asked which had caused Emil to jump and Sorey was startled by his reaction too.

"O-oh Sorey," Emil stuttered. He immediately lowered his head. "I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" Sorey asked in genuine confusion.

Emil held his hands together and just kept looking nervous. "I'm sorry, I've even been jumping at my own shadow."

"Given our situation, I can understand that," Sorey tried to say in good humor. But that didn't relax Emil in the slightest. He still looked like he was about to scream in terror. He's also a hero? Sorey thought in disbelief. But he quickly dropped the thought. It wasn't right the think that. Not everyone can keep their cool in this situation.

"Emil do you mind if I ask you something?" Sorey asked. It was a question he had been wondering about since the yesterday morning. He knew he saw Emil react when Yuri asked everyone if they knew someone. Emil at least recognized someone and Sorey just had a nagging feeling about it.

"W-what is it?" Emil asked. Why in the world did he sound so nervous?

'"Do you know anyone? I mean, did you know them previously before we were all trapped here?" Sorey clarified.

"N-no, I don't know anyone here," Emil muttered. He then turned around to ask, "Besides, why is that so important to know?"

Sorey started to get the feeling that Emil was maybe just a nervous person by nature. "Maybe we can see if there was some kind of pattern or something in the reason why we're trapped here." Monokuma had said they had been chosen. There was a reason for that. So maybe if they looked into why Jude, Milla, and Ludger all seem to come from the same place, then maybe-

"I'm just a mistake," Emil suddenly said. "Monokuma must have gotten the wrong guy. I'm not heroic in the slightest."

Emil didn't even wait for Sorey's response and quickly hurried into the cafeteria. While Sorey had had that same thought, he did feel a little bad that Emil wondered the same thing.

He then went into the dining room and saw that there were still a few people missing.

"Morning Sorey," Jude was the first one to greet him.

Sorey gave the same greeting. "Where's everyone else?" he then asked. Those that were there were sitting at a table with a small plate of food while Milla had the biggest. Even Velvet was here. But she was standing with her back against the wall. It was clear the only reason she was here was because of Monokuma's announcement.

"Asbel and Kor went to go wake up Stahn so he wouldn't face any punishments for being late," Kanonno answered.

"What about Yuri?" Sorey asked. He didn't see him yet.

"Just discovering the bottomless pit that is Milla's stomach," Yuri's voice suddenly called out. It wasn't long before he emerged from the from the kitchen area with a large tray of food. When he sat it down, Milla made some unintelligible noises while she was stuffing more food in her mouth. It may have been something like "thank you."

"Seriously, if you're going to keep eating, you might as well work in the kitchen with Ludger and me so you can learn," Yuri muttered. "I feel like I'm cooking for a whole village." Yuri sounded like he was complaining, yet it looked like he had put a lot of effort into preparing the food.

Milla actually stopped eating briefly to say, "My only fear is that my cooking wouldn't be nearly as good as yours or Ludger's." Then she went right back to eating.

"You may want to get some food before Milla devours it all again," Ludger lightly joked.

"Seriously, I'm not cooking anymore today," Yuri announced. Then he looked over at Velvet. "You haven't eaten right, you better get some quick."

"Not hungry," Velvet muttered as she stayed in place.

Yuri just shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just don't ask me later to make you anything."

Velvet just seemed to roll her eyes at him. But Yuri didn't see it because he had his back to her. Not that he seemed like the type to care.

Just as Sorey sat down with a plate, Stahn, Asbel, and Kor walked in. Stahn still seemed like he was sleeping. "Mornin'" he muttered with a yawn at the end.

Asbel was rubbing his throat. "Okay, I am so done with yelling behind a door to get people out of their rooms," he complained.

"Seriously, that was exhausting, are we going to have to take turns waking Stahn up?" Kor continued to complain.

"Fine we'll make a wheel chart of chores and waking Stahn up will be one of them," Jude said as he started writing that down in a notebook.

"Speaking of which, who's cleaning the dishes, this morning?" Yuri commented.

"Maybe whoever is the last one to wake up should," Asbel suggested as he shot a glance at Stahn.

Stahn just started waking up as he smelt Yuri's food. But Asbel's comment went right over his head as he started eating just like Milla.

"Seems fair," Yuri commented.

A few people chuckled at that and Sorey even found himself laughing along with them. Despite whatever Monokuma may have planned for them, it was nice that everyone could interact with one another like in a normal situation. Sorey hoped that when they got out of this, they could still continue to be like this.

Any nice day dream Sorey may have had was quickly gone suddenly when he heard Monokuma. "Good morning everyone," the bear said in almost a cheer. He had just suddenly appeared in the doorway to the cafeteria.

The atmosphere immediately changed as everyone just gave Monokuma some kind of glare. No one wanted to ask Monokuma anything. They all just wanted this over with.

"Wow, tough crowd," the bear muttered with his head down. "And I was going to say it was so nice to see everyone's smiling faces this morning."

"What do you want?" Luke demanded.

"Glad you asked," Monokuma said with a smile. He hopped onto the table so he was center stage. "I want to make sure I get to use this one before one of you jumps the gun again."

Sorey felt his stomach turn. They all knew what was coming.

"So back by popular demand, it's time for the motive videos," the bear announced. "I had you gather here because we have to view the videos in the AV room, and I'm pretty sure most of you don't even know what that is. Worry not, I will guide you."

"What if we don't want to see these motive videos?" Jude quickly asked.

"Then you have to face a punishment," Monokuma pointed out plainly.

/~/~/

Everybody followed Monokuma. No one wanted whatever the motive videos were, but no one wanted whatever the punishment was. Sorey had a feeling it wasn't death; however, he wasn't going to test that theory.

The relaxed atmosphere they had just a few minutes ago was completely gone. It was replaced with sullen silence. Sorey hoped that after this, they would still be able to laugh like earlier again.

Monokuma had led them to one of the classrooms in the first floor. It was one that Sorey had thought looked weird. There were sixteen desk and all of them were in a circle and the desks were boxed in so you couldn't see your neighbor. Sorey had just assumed it was a testing room.

This time there were screens with their names on them. "Alright, find your name and put the headphones on," Monokuma ordered. "Once everyone is seated, the video will play automatically. See how easy I made it for you bumkins."

A few of them were hesitant. But one by one they all sat down with two empty chair remained vacant. Sorey found his seat and noticed that where they stood was the same as the class trial. Sorey placed the headphones over his ears as Monokuma instructed and waited. There were some that were taking a little longer, but he couldn't hear anything. The headphones must have canceled all noise. Sorey's stomach turned a bit. What were they about to watch that Monokuma wanted to make sure was only for their eyes?

It wasn't much long until Sorey's name vanished and the words "Motive Video" were replaced. Then he heard Monokuma's voice through the headphones. It was very unsettling. It sounded like Monokuma was right in his ear.

"Back by popular demand, I introduce the motive video," Monokuma's voice repeated from earlier.

Sorey's picture then appeared on the screen. "Sorey [no surname], the hero of Zestriria," Monokuma voice introduced.

So that was Sorey's title. He said something similar with Senel. Legendia or something. But what was a Zestrira? Was it some kind of town or something.

The image on screen changed to his hometown. He saw all the people he grew up with. "Sorey has no biological family to speak of, but he was loved and raised by the village of Elysia. Everyone was family to him."

How in the world does he know all this?Sorey wondered. The thought to the Monokuma report with all that information about Cress. Monokuma must have that same information on all of them.

Then there was picture of when he was younger with Mikleo and Gramps in Gramps' house. How in the world did Monokuma get a picture like that? To capture a seraphim's likeness, what kind of seraphic arte was needed?

"But the two most important people to Sorey are the seraphim that raised him and the one who grew up with him."

Sorey's eyes went wide at the next picture. It was the same room in Gramps' house, but they weren't in there and there was instead a fire. It was consuming everything. And in the corner of the picture, was a hand. He couldn't see who it belonged to.

Then Monokuma appeared in front of the picture. "What could have happened to them while Sorey was away? There's only one way to find out, you have to win the game. Upfufufuf." Monokuma laughed at the end and screen went black again.

Sorey stumbled to knock the headphones off his head. The video was over, but he was scared that he would hear more. He shut his eyes and closed his ears. It couldn't be real. Gramps, Mikleo, everyone, he thought of them and every worst case scenario played in his mind. He would have been able to bear it in this hell hole. But he never thought something could have happened to his friends and family while he was here.

What did Monokuma do?

What happened while he was here?

He needed to get out.

He lingered on that last thought. What was he thinking?

But he didn't stay on that thought long. "Damn it," Sorey heard someone yell and a loud crash and the sound of someone kicking the desk.

When Sorey looked up, he saw that it was Yuri. His chair was one the ground and he was standing in front of his screen with a look Sorey had never seen before. It was a dark look that made Sorey freeze for a moment.

Then Yuri stormed out of the room. He practically kicked the door open and disappeared. "Yuri," Sorey called out. He quickly stood up to follow him. But when he did, he could see everyone else. Some of them were fighting back tears and others were already whimpering. They were in despair over what they saw.

All except for Velvet. She had the same disinterested expression she had all day.

Sorey felt conflicted. But he couldn't help all of them. He just needed to focus on what was right in front of him.

So he ran after Yuri.

It didn't take him long before he found him. Yuri was sitting on the stairs leading up to the second floor. He had a hand on his head like he was fighting a headache. He didn't seem like he noticed that Sorey had come up to him.

Sorey felt himself fidget a bit. He wasn't sure what he should say. He'd never seen Yuri like this, so what could he have seen? "Yuri?" Sorey said hesitantly.

That didn't startle Yuri. He just looked up at Sorey and looked like he was trying to act like he normally did. "Oh, Sorey, you need something?" It was so obvious that something was bothering him.

"What did you see?" Sorey just went on to say.

He could see that Yuri gritted his teeth and clench his fist. "It's gotta be fake," Yuri just said weakly. "Whatever you saw, you just need to keep it to yourself. You can't risk anyone using it against you. Monokuma made them a motive for a reason."

"I at least feel like I'm going to burst with worry," Sorey told Yuri honestly. He couldn't just keep it to himself. "I don't have a family. So I may not be able to relate to you and the others. But everyone in my village is my family. If anything happened to them because of me-"

"Sorey," Yuri interrupted. He then stood up. "I'm not saying I don't appreciate what you're trying to do. But you really need to worry about yourself, got it? I already messed up by showing how much that video affected me. Don't do the same."

It took a moment for Sorey to understand what Yuri was trying to say. If they showed that the motive videos weren't a big deal, then their loved ones or whatever they saw might stay safe. Maybe. But that might be too late. Everyone had a pretty strong reaction and Monokuma seemed to know all. He was even able to see the seraphim and capture their images.

"But are you okay?" Sorey then asked. He wanted to make sure Yuri didn't do anything impulsive.

Yuri wouldn't look at him. "I'd be lying if I told you I'm okay. I'll be fine though. Come on, we should see how everyone else is." Yuri started walking past Sorey, but then he stopped. "I guess I should share it with someone. Of course it would end up being you." Yuri took a deep breath before admitting, "I don't have a family either. So the people of my hometown raised me. So I feel the same as you do about them."

Sorey gave a surprised look at Yuri. He never would he have thought he and Yuri would have something like that in common. Although he guessed he shouldn't be thinking like that in a time like this.

Then Yuri turned and told Sorey in a serious tone, "Sorey, promise me you won't go talking about the motive videos to others."

"I wouldn't tell others what you just told me," Sorey quickly said.

"Well I appreciate that, but I'm telling you to keep your mouth shut about your own motive video," Yuri said. And seeing Sorey give him a confused look, he went on to explain. "Listen, if more people know about your motive, the more likely they could use it against you."

"But, how could we use them against one another?" Sorey asked. It wasn't like the others would be able to hurt the people in the videos.

"Not intentionally, but someone could say something that might trigger a nervous breakdown," Yuri explained.

"But with an attitude like that, you're just expecting the worse," Sorey pointed out.

"Well someone has to," Yuri began. "Sorey, we're in a killing game. You can't expect people to be on their best behavior. Some are liable to play dirty."

Sorey really didn't know what to say to that. He knew what Yuri was saying. But he still felt uneasy accepting it.

/~/~/

Sorey and Yuri found the others in the lobby of the dorm area. Everyone still looked like they had just seen a ghost. Everyone was in a circle looking at each other with a lot of skepticism. All except Velvet, she was standing against the wall with a rather board expression.

"Oh boy," Yuri muttered. Sorey understood what he was commenting on. The atmosphere wasn't good. It was similar to dinner they had right before Senel killed Cress. If they didn't do something...

"Everything is going to be okay," Sorey just blurted out.

A few people looked up at Sorey with the same expression.

However Asbel spoke up. "I don't fully agree with that sentiment, but it was at least clear from my motive video that whatever happened already happened to the people I care about."

"Are you trying to say that everyone we care about is already-" Kor started to say.

"Don't go there," Jude warned. "I'm sure none of us really know what we saw."

"I agree," Milla said. "It's clear that Monokuma just wants us to do something rash so we'd continue to play this game."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Veigue asked. "What are we supposed to do after what we saw?"

"We just need to find a way out of here together," Lloyd pointed out. "If we all work together, I'm sure Monokuma wouldn't be able to stand a chance."

"The only thing I'll say on the matter is this," Yuri start to say. "Remember, if you decide to do something drastic because of the video, it'll result in a lot of death."

There was silence that followed that sentence. It would at least result in two deaths. And that would be the better outcome. Nothing good comes from playing this game.

"It's Velvet, we really need to be worried about," Luke suddenly said with an accusing finger toward her. "This motive probably just gives her more reason to kill one of us."

"I didn't see anything," Velvet said plainly.

"Yeah, right," Luke said. "Monokuma had to give all of us a motive."

"Everybody I cared about is already gone. There's nothing left to threaten." She then started walking past them. "It must be nice to think you might still see them if you get out of here."

Sorey felt his heart tighten as he watched her walked away from the others. He wished there was something he could do, but there was nothing. Velvet was so alone and had harden her heart that there was nothing he could do to help. He couldn't understand what she was going through. Everyone fell quiet until Velvet was out of sight. Luke had look like he'd just been kicked to the ground. He must have been feeling a bit bad for what he said.

Suddenly it was Milla who said, "We just need to work together to get out of here. Then we will be there for our loved ones."

Sorey forced a smile. At least there was someone else thinking like he did. "Yeah, I'm sure we can do anything if we work together," Sorey said in agreement.

Most of the others didn't seem convinced. But everyone went back to their rooms without another incident.

/~/~/

Free time!

There was still some time left in the day. So Sorey decided to talk with Yuri some more.

"So what? Did you need to ask me something?" Yuri asked.

"No, I just thought we should talk some more," Sorey answered.

"About?" Yuri asked.

"W-well…" Sorey wasn't sure what to ask. It seemed so easy to talk to him before. But without a murderer to find, Sorey actually found Yuri a bit intimidating for some reason. "How have you been able to stay so calm in all of this?" He finally blurted out.

"Do I really look that calm to you?" Yuri actually asked with his arms folded. But he still had the same demeanor. Like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Of course you do. What do you call what you're doing now?" Sorey exclaimed, being completely baffled by Yuri's reaction.

Yuri actually shrugged. "I just have a good poker face," he answered.

"Poker face?" Sorey repeated out loud. He knew poker was a game that involved money, but what did a face have to do with it?

Yuri sighed. "Never mind," he said. "I should have guessed. Anyway, I'm just saying I'm hiding how nervous I really am."

That was impressive. Could Yuri be as nervous as Sorey was? It was so hard to tell. He honestly had a hard time imagining it. "That's so hard to imagine though."

"Listen Sorey," Yuri started to say, "you should be more wary of people like me."

"What do mean?" Sorey asked. "You're just like everyone else."

"You never know, I could just be putting on an act so it'll make you an easy target."

"Wait are you?" Sorey was so confused. Yuri had said that with such a straight face that he couldn't tell it if was just meant to be a joke.

"Oh boy," Yuri muttered before he just walked away.

Really, what did Yuri mean by that? Sorey wondered.

Sorey completed one out of four friendship fragments with Yuri.

/~/~/

There was still some time left before nighttime. So Sorey decided to spend some time with Lloyd.

"Oh Sorey, just the person I wanted to talk to," Lloyd said.

Sorey had decided to talk with Lloyd, but it turned out that Lloyd had a similar thought. Sorey had admired how Lloyd had kept such a positive attitude this whole time. He'd been wanting to get to know him better. "Yeah, what's up?" Sorey asked.

"I can tell we're pretty similar," Lloyd suddenly said.

"You can?"

"Of course," Lloyd said with such confidence. "You're clothes, they're handmade by you, right?"

Sorey could honestly say he wasn't expecting that. "Well, the people of my village made my clothes. But I did learn how to make bags and belts and such."

"I knew it, I could tell you were a crafter," Lloyd said with a smile.

"Are you saying that you made your clothes?"

"Well, no, my dad did. But I'm an apprentice blacksmith. I can make accessories and it won't be long before I learn how to make my very own weapons."

"Wow, that's so cool. I would love to be able to craft ceremonial sword. I could combine so many designs. That would be amazing if years from now, some explorer discovers it and it ends up in a museum."

Lloyd still had a smile. "Well I don't really get why that would be exciting, but I'll be happy to teach you all I know."

"Yeah. When we get out of here, you'll have to teach me how to be a blacksmith." They already had plenty of reasons to get out of here, but he was even more excited. Maybe it was because he made a new friend.

Sorey completed one out of four friendship fragments with Lloyd.