We arrived at the main hall. The place was dreary, and though it seemed as if only recently it had been constructed, it had a certain undeniable sense of antiquity for reasons I did not know. Maybe it was just its natural state, with this place being a camp and all. However, something felt off about the place: it was eerily unnerving. The main building itself was simply a series of rooms connected to a lone corridor, including what looked to be a kitchen and dining hall in addition to the store and inventory rooms Monokuma mentioned earlier. I wondered whether the food here might run out at some point, but that didn't seem to be a concern at the moment: for now, there was enough food to keep us here for months on end.
Not that anyone planned on being here that long anyway.
We headed into the inventory room. To our left was a set of twenty-four pigeon holes, each one labelled with our names. In the right corner of the room, there was a gigantic Monokuma Statute, which looked incredibly heavy and rather ridiculous. Whoever was behind that bear mascot certainly had an ego the size of Mount Everest, and the statue seemed to be just a little more evidence of that. On the back wall, a series of instructions for the room could be seen, right next to the bar's entrance.
INVENTORY ROOM RULES
You may only leave this room with your own belongings. Taking other people's personal effects from this room is unacceptably rude, and is also a punishable offence.
Only the one rule was visible on the plaque, but it had room for several others. It seemed as if it had been designed with more rules in mind initially, however that was just an assumption on my part. The door to the bar lay at the opposite side of the room to the entrance, though it looked as if it wouldn't be accessible for a while yet. I looked at the pigeon holes. The only people whose pigeon-holes had already been looted were Hiro, Daigo, and Sora. Other than that, everyone else's pigeon holes were full. I looked through a few of them.
In Hisoka's pigeon-hole, there were five Epinephrine Auto-Injectors. It was funny though, I never knew he had allergies of any kind. That, coupled with what looked to be a G.I. Joe figurine, served to paint an incredibly different picture from what I thought about him. Kotaro grabbed his stuff from his pigeon-hole. The only thing in there was an old iPod with no wireless capabilities and a set of earbuds. In honesty, it had been a long time since I'd seen one of those. Chizuko also looted his locker, grabbing out a massive construction hammer.
"Oh, look," he said. "It's my lucky hammer!"
In my opinion, it didn't look particularly lucky at all. The hammer was halfway destroyed, and the claw on the back was looking as if it would fall off at any moment. The handle had fallen off the metal shaft a long time ago, and Chizuko's attempt at a replacement was to duct-tape the shit out of it until it made a new hammer: now even the duct tape was showing signs it was ready to simply fall off. I doubt he'd use a hammer in that bad a state to accomplish anything...
...but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised.
I looked in some of the other lockers. Kumi's had a small camcorder, as well as a notepad and jotting paper. There was nothing particularly out of the ordinary, but the camera itself looked somewhat beat-up: by no means as bad as the hammer though. Akemi's had a wallet, and a single polaroid of her with a boy I didn't recognise, smiling. Maybe he was special to her? I didn't know. Leiko's had a set of spare lock picks, and what looked to be a toiletries bag filled to the brim. I wondered what with, but if it belonged to Leiko, maybe that was a question better left unanswered.
I had spent a hell of a lot of time gandering at other people's stuff, but it occurred to me that I hadn't checked my own locker. I looked over, and surely enough, there was only one thing in my locker.
The locket.
It was a memento given to me by my parents. It was something of sentimental value to me, as I had been given it when I was a baby by my parents. The locket had no photos on the inside, just the words "may love always surround you". Despite its age, it was still in a surprisingly good condition. It felt relieving to have it on me. Even in this bizarre situation, at least there was a trace of the outside world within my palm. As we all collected our inventory items, Daigo wandered into the room.
"I am guessing you guys are here to collect your personal effects?" Daigo said.
"Yeah," Taro replied. "You get yours already?"
"I had very little that was personal to me, apparently," Daigo said. "Just a withered rose and a pack of business cards, I suppose I am far from the saccharine type."
"Why did you have a withered rose on you?" Kenji asked.
"It was a rose boutonnière I wore to a function, which has since wilted in Monokuma's possession. I had it on me when I was abducted," Daigo replied. "Still, I thought we were only unconscious for a day or so, but the state of this flower suggests it must have been a week, if not more."
"Wait, you're telling me we were unconscious for a week?" Chizuko said.
"My guess exactly," Daigo stated. "A week, if not more."
"How can you tell that from just a flower?" Chizuko asked.
"Because the rate at which it has wilted suggests that it would not be in this state unless we had been unconscious for at least a week," Daigo said. "That was probably why a lot of us were incredibly lethargic when waking, as we had spent such a copious quantity of time unconscious."
"Ugh, that makes no sense!" Chizuko exclaimed.
"How does it not?" Daigo asked.
"Just, my gut says it doesn't add up, alright?" Chizuko answered, sighing. "The state of this building, the state of the rose, I'm sure there's an answer, but I don't bloody know it."
"Do not trust your gut," Daigo said. "In my years of experience, the gut is best for digestion, not for decisions. The gut just creates unnecessary unease that can be curbed with proper planning and understanding."
"I would've thought someone in you industry would trust your gut a little more," Chizuko said.
"Perhaps, and maybe I wish I did too," Daigo said.
As Daigo and Chizuko talked away together, I noticed that Samuru seemed distracted by something in his inventory locker. He was staring down at what appeared to be a silver bracelet. Meanwhile, Kiyoshi looted her own locker, pocketing a black notebook and a pencil with an eraser on the end. She then proceeded to write something in the notepad. I didn't notice it all that much, until I realised that the notepad was her way of talking - and she was trying to talk to me.
"I have my notepad now," it read. "I'm very sorry that I can't talk."
I almost felt sorry for her. Being unable to talk shouldn't have been something you had to apologise for, but even still she felt the need to.
"Don't worry," I said. "If you can't talk, then don't force yourself to. Just use the notepad."
Kiyoshi smiled, and then erased the note before writing something else on the paper. After a few seconds, she turned the notepad back to me, and I read what was on it.
"Thank you!" It read. "I'm sure we'll get along well."
"Yeah," I replied. "I just hope this place doesn't do anything to stop that from happening."
She erased the note again, and rewrote on the paper. Though conversing with her was a little slow without knowledge of JSL, she seemed like an engaging and friendly person.
"Are you worried?" The paper read.
"I think we're all a little worried," I replied. "I think we're all worried that someone here is going to take Monokuma's words seriously, that someone is going to wind up dead, or that all of us will be stuck here forever until only three of us are left."
Kiyoshi erased what was on the notepad, and then wrote over it. I read what she had to say.
"I'm not worried," the notepad said. "I believe in everyone here. We can get through this together!"
"I hope you're right, Kiyoshi," I replied. "I really hope you're right."
A lingering pessimism still gnawed away at me, the utterly despairing sensation of distrust still lingered. In honesty, I wasn't sure what to think: in a place like this, it was fair game for a person with little in the way of a moral constitution. I think in having hope, we were simply allowing those who were readily embracing the truth of this place to get a head start. Hope, Despair, the two were one in the same. Two sides of a coin - but still both of the one coin.
"Hey, just out of interest Daigo, did you see either Sora or Hiro come through here when you were here?" Mayu asked.
"I did not see Hiro, but I did encounter Sora on my way here," Daigo said. "Sora served as my investigative associate. We were tasked with investigating the inventory rooms. If Hiroyuki were to have arrived, he would have done so significantly earlier than us. Perhaps when the announcement about the inventory room was made?"
"So Monokuma gave the same message to you guys?" Mayu asked. "He told you about both the motive and the inventory room?"
"I believe so," Daigo said.
"That is strange, don't you think?" Mayu said. "I was under the impression that was something that Monokuma let slip to just us as the off-team."
"Yeah, I have to agree: it does seem strange," Jitsuko added, as she took what looked to be a tub of protein powder from her pigeon-hole.
"I don't think it's strange at all," Samuru said. "Monokuma's probably made it slip to every team. That way, each team think they have an understanding that the others don't about the TV. If we can't know what everyone else knows, then the first thing that begins to emerge is..."
Samuru left the question hanging in the air for a bit. Mayu and I stared at him for a while, before finally Taro cut in to answer.
"...suspicion," Taro said.
"Precisely," Samuru said. "The off-handed nature of it was to make it seem as if it was something the other teams wouldn't have heard, but the truth is that Monokuma gave the same message to everyone. The way that message was presented though, it was deliberately designed to make us think that the other teams received differing messages. So you see what I mean now? Monokuma's playing us, toying with us, and he's using subtle manipulation techniques to drive us to murder. If Monokuma is really as capable as he appears, then we may already be stumbling headlong into an incident that we don't have the capabilities to deal with."
"You think that one of us is going to die?" Taro said.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," Samuru replied. "However, that is what the evidence suggests."
"How can you believe that?" Chizuko asked. "If we all work together, Monokuma doesn't stand a chance!"
"Teamwork can't just dispel the threat of a gatling gun, you know?" Samuru stated. "If you think the power of heart can stop that war machine from tearing us to pieces at any second, then you're fucking delusional."
"We have to have hope!" Chizuko said. "The people outside, they'll come to rescue us, it's just a matter of time!"
"Guys, stop fighting!" Taro exclaimed. "Look, I understand you both have your differences, but there ain't any point taking out your emotions on one another. At the end of the day, we need to work together. Can you do that for me?"
"For now, I suppose," Samuru said. "Although I will make one thing abundantly clear. I intend to ensure that both my brother and I are survivors, by any means possible. If you guys find a way to escape from here, then I'm happy to cooperate. But until then..."
Samuru's expression darkened. What was previously an expression of indifference and apathy twisted into a strangely sinister smirk, laced with both a certain malice yet a somewhat translucent vulnerability.
"...I'm going to bide my time, until everyone else here is dead, and there's only three of us left," Samuru said. "Rest assured, my brother and I will be among that number. We mean to escape alive."
He left the room. The air was heavy with his lingering words, and with his statements he seemed to have brought us all down. I didn't blame him though. That vulnerability still lingered upon his face as he left. He was just as scared as the rest of us, and for a person who had no confidants or acquaintances, the best way for an individual like him to address an issue was with animosity. It worried me though. If he really did think that way, he may pose a threat to the remainder of the group. Perhaps it wouldn't be the worst idea to lock him away in one of the rooms on suspicion to commit. It would be justified - I would be protecting the group at large. Unfortunately though, there didn't appear to be anything even halfway useful for detaining a person in a place like this. Maybe because it was a camp rather than a prison?
By the time I stopped thinking, everyone except Kiyoshi had left the room. It seems I had wasted more time in my head than I had first thought.
"Kiyoshi, what do you think of Samuru?" I asked.
It took her a while to write her response on the notepad, as if she were picking the right words. For the Ultimate Linguist, to be truly out of words about somebody really must have said a lot about the person. She turned the paper to me.
"He means well," it read. "I think he's hurting and fearful. We just need to wait for him to open up to others, trust is earned after all!"
"Yeah, I think you're right," I replied. "I just hope we have enough time to do that."
I sighed as I left the room, and headed over to the dining hall adjacent. I thought Kiyoshi was going to remain behind, but as I left she bolted to the door behind me, following me. It was a strange reaction, but I didn't really take much notice of it. Instead, I headed with Kiyoshi to the kitchen and dining hall. It seemed that three or four people were already in there. Hoshi was sitting at the table, having a blast as she put her feet up and avoided doing anything. Meanwhile, Yoshimi set the table with plates for twenty-four. There were seats for all of us with space left over. There was twenty-four seats, eleven on either side with two on either end. Hisoka and Hiro were at work in the kitchen, with Hisoka appearing to be in charge. The two of them seemed to synergise well together, with Hiro acting as a kitchen-hand to Hisoka as he prepared something with a delicious scent that made my mouth water.
"Sup," Hoshi said. "What'd you need in here?"
"Oh, I figured I'd just take a look around," I said. "Begin to get my bearings a little, you know?"
"Fair enough," Hoshi said. "Boy, this whole situation has been a fucking mess. I'd rather just sit down and chill out."
"Each to their own, I guess," I replied.
Yoshimi continued to set down plates. I don't think she had noticed me when I entered, but as she looked up, she saw me and came over.
"Oh, Hitomi, excellent timing!" Yoshimi said. "Do you mind helping me set these out?"
"Sure, I'll give you a hand," I replied.
Kiyoshi quickly jotted something down on the notepad, and showed it to Yoshimi.
"Yeah, the more the merrier!" Yoshimi said.
Together, we all helped to set out places for the twenty-four or so people who would be dining here. While we laid down places for everyone, Hoshi continued to sit unmoving in her spot, with her foot on the table.
"Why don't you help out a little, Hoshi?" I asked.
"Eh, sure," Hoshi said. She stood up, and started placing plates on the table. Unlike the rest of us, who were meticulous and careful, Hoshi's performance seemed more like a speed-run. Forks and knives were crooked and sometimes on the wrong side, and she often neglected to place a napkin by a plate. However, even I had to admit that she was lightning fast, even if the quality of her table-setting left something to be desired. Together, we finished the table in record time. Hisoka called out from the kitchen.
"I see you've got the places set there," Hisoka said. "Good job guys."
"Thanks!" Yoshimi said. "Any news from the kitchen?"
"We're almost done in here," Hisoka said. "If you want to send out a dinner call, the plates'll be dished up by the time you get back."
"What's on the menu?" I asked.
"That's a surprise," Hiro chimed in. "Just you wait and see."
Yoshimi left the room, and I helped dish up the plates with Kiyoshi, Hiro, Hisoka, and Hoshi. Even in the midst of this whole crisis, at least having a meal was still a normal thing. I hoped that would remain the same, but evidence suggested otherwise. Still, when I worked away with the others at preparing dinner, the entire situation began to gain a little normality - it seemed like less of an alien thing now, although maybe that was just me becoming accustomed to this terrible place. It seemed as if everything would be alright. There were some things that not even Monokuma could destroy.
I believed in that.
Author's Note: By the way, there are polls on my account page now which you can vote on. From Chapter 2 onwards, they'll be used to figure out what free time interactions you guys most want to see. At the moment, the question is "Who do you think will be the first Victim?"
