*bzzzzzt*
The monitor flickered on.
"Good morning, students! It's seven in the morning! Time to wake up! Let's all strive to do our best today!"
Kuno groggily sat up from his bed, looking at his unfamiliar surroundings. It was his second day of being in a game of mutual killing, and yet all he wanted to do was eat breakfast.
Realizing that he hadn't changed from yesterday, he took a very quick shower and then put those clothes back on. He didn't feel like moving at all that morning. His head was still clouded with all of the thoughts he had from the previous night. With a groan, he went out the door and started heading towards the cafeteria.
Just when he thought the morning couldn't get any worse…
"Good morning, Akira."
Akira, who had been extremely distant yesterday afternoon, stood still in the hallway with her hand glued to her hip and looking to be deep in thought. She was looking in the direction of the cafeteria. "Yeah. Same."
"Are you going to get breakfast?"
"…No. Not in the mood. 'Sides, it's probably contaminated with Monokuma germs." She looked straight into Kuno's eyes. "If any of those assholes ask, you didn't see me. Okay?"
"Seriously, Akira. What's going on?"
"I told you yesterday. It's none of you damn business."
"…If you don't come, they'll all be worried about you. They'll think you were killed or something."
"Hmph. Like those losers care about me. Well same with all of them. I don't give a crap if any of them die. Now get lost, spy boy-"
"Nice conversation, there." Kiyoshi had been standing by his outside his door the whole time, listening to Kuno and Akira's conversation. "So you don't care if we die, right?"
"That's what I said…what's your name again?"
"Me?" Kiyoshi gave Kuno a slight glare. "My name is Garbage Nakashima. Super High School Level Trash. Pleased to meet you."
"Ugh. Whatever." Akira walked off in the opposite direction, muttering something hard to make out.
Kuno looked over to Kiyoshi. "Sorry about yesterday, Mr. Nakashima. Even though I haven't known him that long, I know that Ace is gonna be like that all of the time. Calling people trash and stuff like that…"
Kiyoshi gave him a little smirk. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine. I just…want food." He started walking to the cafeteria, leaving Kuno behind.
I wonder what his deal is, Kuno thought, starting to head to the cafeteria. As he walked over to it, the only things that he thought about were Akira's harsh words. 'Like those losers care about me. Well same with all of them. I don't give a crap if any of them die.' Did she really mean that? Or is her mean girl act all a façade?
Before he knew it, Kuno was standing in the cafeteria. Not everyone was there, however. The only ones in the room were him, Kiyoshi, Natsumi, Eiko, and Masahide.
"Good morning, Kuno!" Eiko greeted him cheerfully.
"Nice to see you, man!" Masahide said with a smile.
Natsumi sat on a table, intently staring at the ceiling and drinking bubble tea. She averted her gaze to Kuno for about one second, and then continued staring at the ceiling.
"Hey, Kuno, you wanna get some food?" Eiko asked thoughtfully. "You look pretty hungry."
"Yeah, I guess." Kuno followed Eiko to the kitchen, trying to forget the events of what happened there yesterday.
Kuno looked into the fridge, the cold air blasting in his face. He didn't see anything he really wanted, so he shut the door and continued looking around the room. Eiko seemed to be deep in thought.
"Are you okay, Eiko?"
"Hmm…Something doesn't seem right in here, but I can't put my finger on it." She gasped. "Kuno! Use your spy powers! Stat!"
"…Spy powers?"
"Yeah, since you're a spy and all that, you can use your spy powers and stuff!" Eiko exclaimed. "Now…do you see anything weird around here?"
Kuno looked around the room, still confused about why everyone thought that he had super powers for being a spy. Nothing looked different to him. Until…
"Wait a minute." Kuno walked over to the counter next to the fridge. Next to the fridge was a toaster, a microwave, a knife block, and a bunch of chips spilled everywhere.
"Aside from all of these chips, there seems to be a knife missing from the knife block. And the only empty spot is the one that would belong to the largest knife…"
Eiko gapsed once again, but this time, she sounded everything but excited. "The l-largest knife?! Does anyone around here know how dangerous those things can be?! What if…Is someone trying to kill someone?"
Kuno's eyes widened at that thought. Why would anyone want to kill anyone right now? We're still just looking for a way out- Before Kuno finished his thoughts, Eiko dragged him out of the kitchen and into the cafeteria.
"We have to find that knife! Before anyone gets hurt!" Eiko practically yelled. She completely lost her usual calm nature. All she wanted to do was make sure no one got hurt. "Okay…Okay. Let's split up. I'll go that way, and you'll go the other way." She dashed out of the cafeteria.
"What was that all about?" Natsumi asked from the table she sat on.
"Well, the biggest knife from the kitchen is missing, and Eiko and I are trying to find it. Do you want to help?"
"…I'll leave that to you guys." Natsumi walked out of the cafeteria, most likely heading to her room.
"Masahide?"
"Oh? Well, believe me, man, I would, but I have…business to take care of."
"What kind of business?"
"Um, I, uh, see ya later, man!" Masahide sprinted out of the cafeteria, muttering something inaudible.
Kuno shrugged and walked out of the cafeteria in search of the knife. What if someone was actually planning to kill someone? Kuno thought as he looked around the hall. Maybe I should go ask someone if they know what happened…
This felt like déjà vu to Ryota.
He quickly walked up and down every hall, looking for Masaru. He hadn't seen him since the day before, and he started to get worried if he was okay or not. "Masaru? Where are you?"
Just like it had happened yesterday, he bumped into Elena again.
"I assume you're looking for Masaru, am I right?"
"Well, yeah…"
"Okay, then! I'm gonna help you this time! And you can't deny my help, got that?"
Ryota sighed heavily at that thought, thinking about what would happen if Elena kept nagging him with questions. "Ugh, yeah, I guess," he said with reluctance.
Elena squealed with glee, and then the two proceeded to try and find Masaru.
After a few moments of searching, Elena started with the questions. "So...why are you so close with him?"
"Masaru?"
"Of course! He's the only one you actually talk to. Why is that, sweetheart?"
"I don't know. We've just known each other for a long time. He's a good friend of mine. That's…pretty much it."
"Then why don't you try to make some new friends? You can't just stick to one person. I've tried to befriend everyone here, and they all seem nice!"
"Considering that my options include an absolute bitch, a luck-obsessed freak, and a stuffed hamster, I think I'll pass."
"But what about me? Good ol' Elena's pretty nice, am I right?"
"I guess. You're cool. Just a little…clingy. To me."
Elena got slightly closer to Ryota. "Well, I love ya, sweetheart. I love everyone here. No matter how weird or creepy or rude they are, I'm not letting anyone down."
It went quite silent after that. Ryota couldn't stop thinking about where Masaru was and if he was okay. If he was murdered, then Ryota's world would practically be over.
Eiko dashed through the halls, harder and faster than she had ever physically moved before. It wasn't like her to be so freaked out, but she didn't want to think about what would happen if someone got ahold of that knife. As she ran, constant horrible thoughts ran through her head. What if someone was already dead? Is there really a murderer among us?
She ran into the library, desperate for answers.
Instead of answers, she found a historian. Paige sat at her usual desk, reading the same book she had read the day before.
"Oh, Paige!" Eiko exclaimed, running up to her. Paige looked up from her book, concern in her sad eyes.
"W-What?! What h-h-happened?!"
"Someone around here has a knife, and I have to find it before something bad happens. Is there any chance you saw that really big knife anywhere? The one from the kitchen?"
Paige sighed. "I was in the k-kitchen earlier, b-but…I didn't s-s-see any knife there. To be honest, I didn't really pay attention to anything around me…"
"That's okay." Eiko was about to walk out, but then a question popped into her head. "Hey, Paige. What were you doing in the kitchen, exactly?"
"Just g-getting f-f-f-food…But then I saw Ace walking in, so I r-ran away as f-fast as I could…"
Ace! Of course! He probably has it! I have to find him! "Do you know where he is now?"
"I'm n-not sure…"
"Gotta go! Thanks anyways!" Eiko dashed out of the library and headed towards Ace's room, hoping to find some answers there.
Akira stood in the grand ballroom, taking in her surroundings.
It was certainly much nicer than any place she had ever been before. She felt a little unsafe about the huge chandelier, thinking it would fall, but it was so pleasing to look at.
At least I'm away from all of those losers now. The last thing I wanna do is talk to anyone…
Akira was startled when she heard the door close without her touching it. She turned around to see who it was, and to her surprise…
"What the hell do you want? Get lost, kigurumi freak!"
Pyonpyon-King stood by the door, its big red eyes directing at Akira's annoyed face. It started jumping up and down and waving its arms around. It still didn't make any noise.
"Are you trying to tell me something?"
Pyonpyon-King didn't even signal a response, such as nodding its head. It just continued jumping around, frantically flailing its arms.
Akira looked at it in utter confusion. What's this thing's deal? It's better than wasting my breath on Kuno or someone like that, but I wish this damn kigurumi could talk…
Pyonpyon-King started hopping over to a bewildered Akira. "I said to get lost! Just leave!" Unfortunately, her agitated shouting had no effect on it. It eventually was face to face with Akira. She stared Pyonpyon-King right in its glassy eyes. "Tell me what you want!"
It pointed up to the big chandelier that hung in the center of the room, which hung directly over their heads. "What about it?" She looked up at it. "It's just a chande-oh, hell no! Not now!"
Monokuma was swinging from the chandelier. "Woohoo! Hello there, students! Having fun with your killing game?" He hopped down from the chandelier and landed in front of the two students. "So…you guys having fun or what?!"
"What do you think, bear?"
"That sounds like a definite yes to me! Upupupu!"
"Are you deaf, then? I'm not having any fun! I wanna get the hell out of this damn school!"
Monokuma sadly looked down at the ground. "Aww…looks like little miss designer isn't feeling as joyful as I am! And I assume that you have the same answer, right?" he asked, looking over to Pyonpyon-King.
In response, Pyonpyon-King started to vigorously shake its head, signaling that he wasn't enjoying the killing game.
"Oh dear, you bastards are so hard to please! Fine, then! If you aren't having any fun, I'll make you guys have fun!" Monokuma pulled out a chainsaw from behind him and jumped up to the top of the chandelier.
"W-What are you doing, bear?!"
"I'm just having fun! Upupu!" As he continued to laugh, he started sawing the chain that held the chandelier to the ceiling.
Kuno sat in the hallway with everyone's rooms in it and held his head in his hands.
Today wasn't going very well for him. Aside from being trapped in a school and being forced to kill someone, for the second day as well, he still had no idea who had that knife. It's getting late…I'm so tired…maybe Eiko can handle it by herself. She seemed pretty into it. Man, I hope that she can…
He lifted his head up, and to his surprise, someone was standing over him.
"Oh…I thought that…you were dead…" Haniji said with her lifeless expression.
"I'm fine, Haniji. What are you doing here?"
"Looking…for Masahide. Have you-"
"No, I haven't. I've been busy. Hey, do you possibly know if anyone is hiding a huge knife anywhere?"
Haniji thought about it for a moment, and then spoke up. "…Yes, I have…I saw him in the kitchen earlier…he just grabbed the knife…and walked out…"
Kuno's face lit up. "Who? Who took it?"
Before she could finish…
*CRAAASSSHHH*
"What was that?!" Kuno yelled as he stood up from where he sat. "Where did that come from?"
Suddenly, the monitor flickered on. "Ahem! Will all students report to the ballroom? Seriously, it's really important! See you guys there!" The screen abruptly turned black.
"…Come on. Let's go." Kuno and Haniji started walking towards the ballroom.
On their way there, they ran into Eiko, who looked unusually pale and out of breath.
"Eiko? What happened?" Kuno asked worriedly.
"I..was…oh god, I need to sit down…I was looking for that knife all day. And then there was that incident with Ace…"
"Ace? What happened with A-"
"I'll tell you later! I'm going to the ballroom!" Eiko said rather angrily, storming off in the direction of the ballroom. Kuno noticed that Haniji had left, so he just shrugged it off and continued to speed-walk to the ballroom.
Once he got there, almost everybody was present. The first thing he noticed was a whole bunch of glass piled up on the floor. Ace immediately ran up to him and dragged him to where he was standing. "Okura-sama! I haven't seen you all day? Where were you?"
"Around. Doing things. Do you know why we're here?"
Monokuma suddenly popped up, chainsaw in hand. "Hellllooooo! This is Monokuma, back with some more news for ya!"
"Hold on a minute!" Daichi interrupted. He looked around the room. "Not everyone is here yet."
"The real thing I'm wondering is where that huge chandelier went!" Sugita exclaimed. "There was a chandelier, right? I'm not crazy, right?"
Monokuma started laughing to himself. "You're definitely crazy, but there was a chandelier here! As you can see by the huge pile of glass that's next to me, it's no longer hanging! Its days are over!"
"Yeah, okay, great. Is Masaru here?" Ryota asked, walking around the room. Everyone shrugged. Ryota, with a panicked expression, turned to Monokuma. "He's not…dead…right?"
"What? Of course not! If he was, I certainly would be a lot happier than I am!"
"Then where the hell is he?!"
"Little mister diplomat is unable to attend today's meeting. He's beary busy today!"
"Why is he busy?! Where is he?!"
"Upupupu! That's for me to know and for you to find out!" Monokuma turned back to the students. "Anyways, as you can see, the chandelier has been brutally murdered! Wanna know why?"
The room went silent. "Ugh, you guys are awful at guessing! The reason why it's broken is because two of you bastards have been very naughty! And as you can tell, they aren't here right now!"
As soon as Monokuma said that, Kuno automatically realized who wasn't there. "Akira and Pyonpyon-King…where are they?"
"Upupupu! I'm sure they're fine! The kigurumi got hurt pretty badly, but he's under good care! The designer is doing just fine! She's probably in her room or something-"
"I'm right here, you asshole!" Akira walked into the room, her appearance startling everyone. Her body was severely battered and bruised, with several dark marks and scratches. "Thanks to you, I'm gonna have to wash a whole bunch of freaking bloodstains out of my designer clothes! Just because I don't like you doesn't mean you have to drop a chandelier on me! You almost killed us!"
"Now, wasn't that fun, though? I was only trying to have fun with you guys, since you all looked so gloomy!"
"That doesn't mean that you should go around and drop chandeliers on people!" Eiko snapped at him. "Why did you even call us here in the first place? It's really late!"
"I was just gonna tell you losers that I want to meet you all here tomorrow morning as soon as you get up! You'll have no time to go and get food, you have to directly report here by seven-thirty! Got that?"
"Seven-thirty?!" Akira whined. "That's not nearly enough time to get ready in the morning!"
"Jeez, fine! Seven-thirty one! Got that? Okay, I'll be seeing you guys around!" Monokuma disappeared, leaving everyone standing in the room in silence.
Eiko finally spoke up. "All right. Now that I all have you in one place, who took the big knife?! I've been looking around all day and I have to know before someone gets hurt! So who took it?"
After the few seconds that nobody responded, Eiko began to get frustrated. "Please, guys! I don't want anyone to get hurt!" she said through clenched teeth.
Monokuma suddenly popped up again. "Oops! I almost forgot! Here's that knife you were looking for!" he said, handing it to Eiko. "Bye! Upupu!" He disappeared once again, leaving Eiko speechless and beyond angry.
"I spend almost the whole day looking for that knife to protect everyone…and that bear had it the whole time?" After she started cursing, she stomped out of the ballroom, and everyone soon followed. Kuno went straight to his room and hopped into bed.
Hi guys! Sorry about the delay, I had a whole bunch of stuff going on. Did anyone catch my little reference to NicoB? Anyways, there's a NEW POLL in my profile! You get to select your two favorite students. Last time, the clear favorite was Ace. I wanna see if any new favorite pops up! Happy despairing!