The sky the next day was dark and foreboding. In just two days, their friends and families would be dead unless one of the sixteen students commits murder. This knowledge was hung achingly heavy over all of them. What would become of Naoko? Of Ryou? Kazuma didn't know, but he was trying not to let this lack of knowing bother him.
He could only imagine what everyone else was feeling. Except maybe Emiko. Was there anyone left outside these walls that she truly cared for, or were all of her friends limited to her fifteen classmates? He only got partial relief from this, at least one person wasn't that affected by this godawful motive.
Now what about the other fourteen? Surely they had family and friends on the outside that they cared for. Sumiko, for example. Kazuma had noticed her reaction, that made him sure that someone she cared about was in trouble. Was it her father? Sister? Brother? Mother? Kazuma didn't have the answer to this yet. He decided that maybe he should talk to the others about the motive, keep an eye on who had someone to lose.
If he knew this, there'd be a lesser chance of murder. But then he'd need help watching everyone, wouldn't he? And even then, there was the possibility of betrayal. Kazuma didn't want to think like that though. Sure, some of his friends were a tad eccentric, but surely they wouldn't kill each other! He at least hoped that he was right to have faith in them.
Perhaps he'd go see Sumiko and Vechs first, see where they stand on the motive. He'd already heard some of Vechs' thoughts yesterday, but Kazuma hadn't seen his reaction to the motive. Perhaps Vechs had someone close to lose. He already had a hunch towards whether or not Sumiko did.
He stood up from his bed, ready to go out in search of his classmates. He had a slight feeling of nostalgia from their first day when he'd been tracking them all down to get acquainted with everyone. That had been some lighthearted fun though, hell, they hadn't even been very worried about the fact that they had no idea where the hell they were. But now they knew that everything was much much worse than they could have imagined.
With a deep breath, he opened the door to his apartment, the light creak making him flinch a bit. The sound was rather grating to his nerves, which were rather frayed at the moment. He stepped out into the hallway, glancing down in hopes that someone was around for him to talk to. Alas, it seemed as though he'd need to use the map on his e-Handbook.
Sliding the thin device out of his pocket, he noticed something he hadn't before. Both Katashi and Emiko's profiles had a new page displaying a summary of what they'd told him about themselves. He nodded slightly, thinking it'd probably be useful to remember this the next time he got to know fellow students better. Checking the map, he found Sumiko was by the vendor stalls close to the diner.
He took off in that direction, heading towards the elevator. Pressing the down button, he entered and with a loud groan from the elevator, he was on his way. The lobby was vacant, and upon glancing upwards, not even Misaki was about to get the literal drop on him. Kazuma was sure that the motive was why it was all quiet today.
The weather itself seemed to agree with him. On top of it being a rather dark day, a cold wind bit at his skin. He shrugged it off, continuing towards the direction of Sumiko. After a few minutes of walking, he'd reached the northern vendor stalls. He didn't see the girl in question however. Checking his e-Handbook, it said quite the opposite. She was apparently present within three feet of him.
To confirm this, the thief suddenly vaulted out from behind one of the stalls, startling Kazuma with her sudden appearance. He groaned a bit afterwards, clutching his forehead for being so stupid. Being a horror novelist, he honestly should've seen this coming. It shouldn't come to any surprise that a thief would still have energy like that in the face of despair.
"Oh, hey Kazuma."
"Hey," he replied quietly. "You raiding the stalls or something?"
"Hadn't checked 'em out yet, came to survey the goods, y'know?"
Kazuma chuckled halfheartedly. He didn't really think he could sympathize with that statement, after all the thief here was Sumiko, not himself.
"Am I right to guess that yer here because ya checked where I was on the map?"
"Yeah, I did."
"Then ya must have somethin' to talk about."
"I do. I kinda wanted to talk about the motive from yesterday."
Sumiko nodded, taking that in. He wanted to discuss the incentive for murder that Monokuma had given them all. Kazuma took this moment to think over how he wanted to breach the topic, come right out and say it with his suspicions and all, or be careful about how he worded things so as not to let on that he really wanted to trust everyone but also not let his guard down.
"Upupu, what's this?" The very bear behind the motive popped up from behind the stall Sumiko had appeared from. "Are we discussing who we're gonna off to protect our loved ones?"
"N-No!" Kazuma was reeling in surprise from not only the appearance of the bear, but also his direct question.
"Where the hell did ya come from? You weren't back there when I was!"
"A bear never reveals his secrets! Now then, let's just get right to the good stuff! Who're you gonna kill?"
"We ain't going to kill anyone over yer stupid motive!"
"I see... how disappointing..." Monokuma stared down at the ground sadly, turning to walk away, leaving behind two very confused students.
"Wha-what the hell just happened?" Kazuma wondered aloud.
"I'm not sure, but you have yer answer if you were gonna ask whether I'd take the motive seriously or not."
Kazuma nodded slightly, turning to walk away. He stopped though. His curiosity got the better of him and he wanted to know one thing.
"Hey, Sumiko?"
"Hm?"
"Who is it for you?"
"Eh?"
"For the motive, I mean. Who would it be for you?"
Sumiko paused for a minute. She gave him one last look before speaking. "My sisters, Saika and Shiori."
Kazuma nodded and she walked off, presumably to root through the vendor stalls. He turned and headed to the diner. He hadn't had breakfast yet and figured he should probably eat before he passed out. Heading in to the diner, he found a few more of his fellow students. Vechs was drinking a coffee in a booth. He saw Tenri in the back, presumably to avoid interaction with others. Ami and Avanna were more towards the middle, they were seated at the counter and chatting idly.
He saw something that was rather out of character from this scene though. Ami looked a lot less hyper. Kazuma listened a little more carefully, and he could occasionally hear the linguist muttering something quietly in a language he couldn't understand. He wondered if the motive was the reason behind this.
Kazuma decided he'd talk to them first since they were the closest to the little kitchen area of the diner. As he pulled out a pan and some bacon to fry, he turned to try and enter the conversation.
"How're you two holding up?"
"Well enough," Avanna replied.
"Ah, and you Ami?"
Ami only glanced upwards, but she was apparently still rather deep in thought. Kazuma wasn't sure if he really wanted to interrupt her thinking time just yet so he focused on Avanna. The bassist would definitely be a lot easier to talk to at the moment.
"I just wanted to talk to everyone about the motive Monokuma gave us. I'm kind of worried about it," his voice got a lot quieter towards the end. Avanna didn't seem to notice it.
"Mm, so you pretty much just want to know if there's anyone I'd lose, right?"
"Ah, yeah, actually. That's pretty much it."
"My parents," she answers without even a moment of hesitation. "We might have had differing opinions on what instrument I should play, but I still love them. Who is it for you, if you don't mind me asking?"
"My older brother and my little sister."
Allowing a glance over to the linguist, Kazuma noticed that Ami had been paying attention to their conversation. Avanna excused herself and left the diner. It seemed that the usually energetic girl realized that she should probably talk now. He decided that he should start the conversation.
"Sad about the motive?"
"Not the motive directly, it's just bringing up bad memories."
"Oh?"
"Monokuma won't be able to kill anyone for me, which I'm thankful for, but.."
Kazuma was intent on hearing this now. "But?"
"The reason he can't is because my parents disowned me."
"They disowned you? For what?"
"I liked learning things, I got straight As, I was a bit bookish and I wanted to spend my time learning different languages. Apparently this didn't fit the bill for the 'proper girl' my parents wanted me to be, so they disowned me. I became a full time linguist afterwards so I could pay for food and other necessities."
"But, a girl like you would surely have friends?"
"I had acquaintances from around the world, but never really any close friends."
"Sounds like a rough time."
"It was, but I managed."
Kazuma nodded. When he first met her, she was all energy and definitely a little on the odd side, but he hadn't known that she'd have a story like this. He hoped she'd cheer up soon, he missed the happy Ami.
He finished preparing his breakfast, eagerly scarfing it down. Kazuma then approached Vechs, throwing a look his way to silently ask permission to take a seat. Vechs nodded, and Kazuma sat. He went to speak but the other cut him off.
"I heard what you were talking to them about."
"O-oh."
"I can guess that you'd like to know if I'd be losing anyone after the allotted time is up?"
"Yeah, I do want to know that."
"May I know why?"
"I hate saying I don't trust others, but Monokuma gave us all a motive, so it pays to be cautious, y'know?"
Vechs nodded in understanding. "Of course. If we were to go about our daily lives without knowing who to be cautious about, we could end up with a knife in the back."
"Exactly my reasoning."
"Well if you wish to know, it'd most likely be my brother."
"Your brother?"
"Yes. When I was younger, and really up until recently, I rarely had the time to socialize with other kids so my strongest bond was with my brother. I had usually only his company up until thirteen when we separated. We made a promise to see each other again, but I hadn't imagined the next time I'd see him would be like this."
"No one could've expected this."
"So, am I added to the list of people to be cautious around?"
"It pains me to say it, but like you said, I'd rather not end up with a knife in my back for being ignorant."
"Likewise."
Kazuma slowly stood and made his way towards the only other person left in the diner. Tenri noticed him approaching and was shifting in his seat awkwardly, his eyes fixating on everything but Kazuma.
"Can I sit down?"
"U-um, sure, I guess.."
"I was just wondering if, well, you had anyone to be worried about for the motive?"
Tenri's eyes widened, a look of horror on his face. Kazuma decided that he had to tread carefully now, as it appeared that being reminded of their current situation was definitely something that the harpist disliked. He never once took his eyes off of Tenri, and when the nervous guy finally noticed, he began profusely apologizing.
"Ah! I-I'm sorry! I didn't m-mean to keep you waiting... I'm such a b-bad person..."
"No, you're not. You're still my friend, don't worry about it."
"W-well, um, I g-guess I have to worry about m-my family..."
Kazuma had expected Tenri to continue, but it was clear from the harpist's now heightened sense of nervousness that that was the most he was going to get from him. Kazuma knew when he should stop badgering someone and relented, getting up from his seat and walking away. Sneaking a glance back, he saw that Tenri was looking a little relieved.
Kazuma wasn't sure who else to talk to, and if he even should as it was. Vechs had a great point, he shouldn't just ignore the problem at hand and end up dead, but at the same time he didn't want to doubt his friends. There was a ton of indecision swirling in his head. In the end, he just decided that he should just occupy his time with other things instead of building up his doubt in his friends.
He made his way back to the vendors and decided to look through all of the vendor stalls for anything he could use to get his mind off of everything. Grabbing a laptop he found, he eagerly checked it to see if there was wifi. They could get themselves out if there was! In the end though, he was disappointed to find that there was none.
Kazuma sighed, but he kept the laptop. It had a word processor, and if he couldn't get help, he could at least spend the rest of his day writing. Heading back to his apartment, he did just that, starting several different documents. One to outline a plot, another to create characters and a third to write the story. Before he knew it, the nighttime announcement was blaring through the monitor on the wall and he went to sleep.
Throughout the night, fifteen of the students were blissfully unaware just how close the end to their peace was.
(A/N:) Woohoo! The murder is getting veeery close, you guys~! All we lack now is the last two free time events and we can begin the first Deadly Life section of this fic! Hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter, as it took me a while to write. I wasn't terribly sure where I wanted to go with it but I eventually figured it out. I've already got an idea of who will be victims, who will be culprits and who the survivors are! I've also already written the first two executions already, upupupu~ Until next time, you all, ciao!
