Chapter 1: For the Night is Dark… II
I retreat to my room in the dark to contemplate how I'm going to pass the time. I regret not getting anything for myself from the cafeteria before it closed for the night, since now I'll feel myself slowly getting hungrier and thirstier as the hours pass. As I unlock the door, I press one hand against the wall, keeping it there so I can find the light switch. Hospitals may usually operate under a 'lights-out' policy on the wards, but in these private rooms we should be free to keep the lights on all night. As my fingers brush across the surface of the switch, I hear something, a soft whispering or murmuring sound that makes my whole body freeze. Instinctively I try to look from side to side, but it's pitch black in here which renders the act pointless. I've got to switch on the light.
The room blinks in and out of view as the fluorescent strip flickers to life. At this point, I may as well be living in a clichéd horror movie. What's next, Rin hiding behind the door with a knife in her hand? Once the ceiling strip stabilises, bathing the room in a harsh sterile glow, I notice the place is a mess. The green chair's been propped up against the bathroom door as though barricading someone in, all my drawers are open and the lamp's fallen over. Finally, and most concerning of all, my bed is occupied. The occupant has their back turned to me, but even so I'd recognise that mass of brown hair anywhere. Next time I see Monokuma, he's going to pay for this.
"Snow White doesn't believe in Jesus," she mumbles, and I can't tell if she's talking in her sleep or just trying to inform me that a fairy-tale character most likely doesn't embrace the teachings of the Bible.
"Hikari, what are you doing in my bed?" I ask.
"Sleeping," she replies, rolling over to face me. She looks groggy, but I probably look a hell of a lot worse right now. I ought to rephrase my question to get the point across.
"What I meant was, why are you in my bed? What's wrong with your dorm?"
"The chair got lonely," she replies, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes. I'm definitely not sleeping tonight. I wouldn't have done even without Hikari, but her being here means I'll be forced to entertain her for the night.
"I don't think it's too attached to this place," I say, fuelling her little fantasy that the chair is somehow sentient. "There must be room for it in your dorm, surely?"
"Nope," Hikari says with a smile. "My room's full of stuff! Lots and lots of stuff!" Hold on a second. If Eizou's got his rock collection here, and Alicia has her archery gear, then perhaps we might just have hit upon a way out of this place. All we'd have to do is blow up the walls and we can escape!
"Hikari, why didn't you tell me this earlier? We've got a way out of here! You could be the one who saves us all!" There's a glimmer of hope here after all. You'd never think this girl could hold the key to our escape.
"I could!" she agrees excitedly. "But ummm… I don't know where my room key is…" For fuck's sake, Hikari, why can't you be a bit more organised? At least I had the excuse of Monokuma being a dick and deliberately locking me out for his own amusement.
"Can't you remember where you had it last?" I ask her frantically. Everything is slipping away. I'm going to have to spend the night trapped in this hellhole with the most impossibly insane girl I've ever met. Hikari must be the embodiment of one of the trickster god Enki's jokes upon humanity. If that's the case, then Monokuma is probably the son of Nergal himself...
"Well, uh… nope! No idea! Hey, Shinji, how about we play a game to take our minds off it?" Now's not the time for games. We need to find that key. Problem is, it could literally be anywhere, the corridors are all dark now and the cafeteria's closed off, so our capacity to search is limited. You'd think someone would've been smart enough to bring a torch with them.
"I guess we'll need some way of passing the time," I reason. In the morning, I'll tell everyone to keep an eye out for the key to Hikari's dorm.
"Great! Do you know how to play gin rummy?" Hikari asks.
"I don't, but an entire night's probably long enough to get a grasp on the rules," I reply. "But first, let me use the bathroom. And don't even think about coming in!" I enter the bathroom, suddenly finding myself wishing it did have a lock, and go through the usual routine of night preparation, the details of which don't need to be elaborated on. Hikari's outside the door, peeking in through the crack, watching me all the while and making me feel uneasy. It really is like being back at home with my little sister. As much as I hate the little brat sometimes, I do miss her. I've done my fair share of the child-rearing, since I had all that time on my hands to cover nightly feeds and stuff. Boy, was I glad when she finally started sleeping through the night. If only Hikari could do the same…
I leave the bathroom, and Hikari yanks me over to my bed to show me how gin rummy works, sitting herself down cross-legged on my pillow. As I follow suit on the opposite side, she takes a dog-eared deck of playing cards off the bedside table. As Hikari shuffles the deck while simultaneously rattling off rules at the speed of sound, I notice several cards have been singed and blackened by smoke. This makes things very confusing, as even when all the cards have been dealt some of them are so severely scorched that I can hardly make out what they are.
"Alrighty, let's goooooooooo!" Hikari shouts, taking one card off the remaining pile and discarding another. And then, with all the inevitability of day following night, she starts singing. "You can dance, you can jive, havin' the time of your life…" For the next nine hours or so, I'm treated to various renditions of the entirety of ABBA's back catalogue, and that combined with me having to pick up the rules on the fly means Hikari is first to storm to a mighty ten thousand points. By this point, I'm almost glad when the bells toll, the monitor flares up and Monokuma delivers his morning announcement.
"Goooood morning everyone! And afternoon and evening too! It is now 7.30am, and the cafeteria is reopened! Have you all taken your medicine? No? Too bad! Anyway, let's make today another spectacular day of recovery from that affliction they call hope!" Quick as a flash, the image on screen disappears. I guess I should give Hikari credit for making it possible to get through all that time without my mind being enveloped by darkness.
Today's the day we elect ourselves a leader. I was hoping this process would bring us all together in harmony, but I've still got ongoing conflicts with a couple of my fellow students, and I imagine a myriad more have a huge problem with Hikari after the stunt she pulled yesterday. It's time to return to the scene of that particular crime and get some breakfast. Perhaps it would be prudent of me to hoard some snacks for the night this time instead of allowing myself to starve. After a night without sleep, hunger and thirst feel a hundred times worse.
I leave Hikari to her own devices, hoping not to come back to a flooded bathroom or my bed sheets on fire. Unsurprisingly, I'm one of the first into the cafeteria. Ryusuke's already there with a colossal breakfast before him. I don't think I could tackle anything like that, but coffee and bento seems like the way to go. I sit myself down and open the box up, and there's a rice ball modelled on Monokuma's face staring right back at me. Suddenly I feel much less hungry, but I eat Monokuma's face, pretending it's the real deal, and drink my coffee while the other students start to file in and eat their breakfasts.
As promised, Nanima enters with a cardboard box in her hands, painted black and with 'VOTES' written on it in white, presumably with supplies she found in the storeroom. She places it down on the big table and others start to gather round. I take this as my signal, leaving the bento box behind to start casting my vote. Or at least I would if we had any ballots.
"Someone go and fetch Dulce," Haruki says as I draw near. "It was her responsibility to make those ballots. We can't start without her."
"You want me to go wake up Adora the Explorer?" Zange asks.
"Summon the foreigner by any means you have at your disposal," says Zygoth. I notice his collection of pens has changed from a rainbow array to all blue.
"Alrighty," Zange replies, breaking off from the rest of the group and moving toward the door. There isn't much need for this, as Dulce makes her entrance almost immediately, dropping pieces of paper everywhere. Zange helps pick up the scattered pieces and brings them over to our large table, organising them into a neat pile. However, as soon as we get a good look at them, it's immediately obvious that something's off about them.
"Dulce, these ballots are completely blank!" complains Alicia.
"There had better be a good explanation for this, and be forewarned that any and all weaknesses in your testimony will be highlighted," Daisuke says, dour and serious as ever.
"Well uh… I was gonna work on 'em, but I took a nap, and when I woke up I figured eh, mañana!" Dulce replies. Somehow I don't think that excuse is going to go over too well with her cohorts.
"That was the deadline I set, Dulce. We agreed on this, and I expected ballots to be ready for today," Haruki says sternly, admonishing her as though he was already leader.
"Well, ya know, where I come from, we like to relax. Take it easy, man…"
"We can't take it easy!" Eiko screams. "Every minute we spend imprisoned here allows the devil to weave evil into all of our minds! If we don't act soon, even the Green Ram will be unable to offer us salvation!" She sure likes to gesture when she gets passionate about her cult, and those sleeves are flying everywhere.
"Y'all realise we have paper here, right?" Zange asks, picking some pieces up for emphasis. "Y'all can just write your votes down and put 'em in that there box! All ain't lost yet!" There are a few murmurs of agreement, and Zygoth unclips one of the pens from his pocket in preparation. There's still someone we're missing, though…
"Shinjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Right on cue, here comes Hikari like a wrecking ball, ploughing into me and knocking everything off the table. Now's my cue to dispense some rather important information. We're going to have to cling to every last fibre of hope if we're going to make it out of here.
"Hikari, did you find your room key yet?" I ask her before I pick myself up and turn to everyone else. I notice many expressions of amusement, but Alicia's glaring at me with a look that could turn a man to stone. "Anyone else who finds Hikari's key, let me know immediately. It might well be our best way outta here…"
"Looking for something?" As the others are gathering up the box and papers, that awful screechy voice makes my blood run cold. On the counter beside the coffee machine, holding my empty bento box in one hand and a dangling keychain in the other, is Monokuma.
"You!" I can't help myself at this point. I'm getting that damn key. In a feat of acrobatics I didn't even know I was capable of, I vault over the table, kicking Eiko out of the way before pouncing at Monokuma. The loss of a day's sleep has taken its toll on my reactions, though, as I misjudge my trajectory and slam into the counter, smacking my ribs pretty hard and winding myself. Monokuma stands astride my chest triumphantly and all I can do is gasp in pain as he opens his mouth wide, dangling the key just above it before dropping it in and swallowing it whole.
"Whoops! Guess you won't be getting that back now! It's a good job you missed, though, because otherwise you would've been directly violating my rules, and you know how much I hate that! You would've been deader than a passenger pigeon! Such a naughty boy, Shinji Yoshida…" Monokuma jumps off my chest and onto the big table, looking at our little makeshift polling booth with curiosity. I cautiously clamber to my feet, using a chair for support, as he yanks Zygoth's pen out of his hand and starts writing on a scrap of paper.
"What do you think you're doing?" asks Nanima.
"What's it look like? I'm voting!"
"But…"
"Nobody said I wasn't allowed to vote," Monokuma points out. "Besides, isn't that supposed to be what democracy is all about? Are we not supposed to allow everyone the opportunity to have their say in how things are run?"
"Are we seriously gonna count this nutjob's vote?" Eizou asks.
"I doubt we have a choice," mutters Haruki.
"Want me to whack him with the chair again?" asks Akira.
"I'd rather you didn't," says Rin coldly, drawing her hood tighter over her head. Monokuma finishes writing out his vote and sticks his ballot in the box. Then, he climbs atop the box and from who-knows-where, pulls out a megaphone.
"Attention, everybody! I have something very important to say, so listen up. I declare this whole election a farce! A big, stinky, sweaty farce! In fact, I'd almost say that everyone involved in this election has their own little agenda. Why, don't you remember what happened after I left? Who were the first three to advocate the election?" I try and think back to that conversation, and I gradually remember that exchange.
"We can't just have a leader appointed on the word of one man," Alicia said. "All of us should be allowed to have our say in the matter."
"Indeed, this is true! In order for this to be fair, we must deal with this democratically!" The second to speak was Zygoth.
"A vote sounds like it could be a good compromise." Damn, it was Haruki!
"Yes, that's right! Hatoyama Saburo, you're so obsessed with politics, wouldn't it just be the perfect way to earn your graduation by manipulating the vote, putting yourself in charge so nobody would dare accuse you? Alicia Arcuarias, as leader, you could easily dispense with one of the men and not be challenged! And Haruki Shinozaki… I'll leave his plans to your imagination, because if I declared it here, the networks would censor it!" The manipulative little shit's got everyone listening. I wouldn't be surprised if we opened up that ballot box and found out he'd voted for himself.
"What about me?" asks Eiko defiantly. "I didn't express any interest in the election. Don't try to slander me, demon!"
"Well, well, look who's spoken up. The other candidate! And guess what? She was chosen by someone else! Coincidence? I think not! Why, I'd say you being the Ultimate Cult Leader makes you a prime target…"
"Begone, foul beast!" Zygoth yells, tossing a handful of salt at Monokuma, who starts dramatically wobbling on top of the box.
"I'm melting! I'm meltiiiiiiiiiing!" the bear shrieks, dropping the megaphone. There's an explosion of smoke, and we're all blinded for a short while. The voice of Monokuma, distorted but still unmistakably his, rings out across the cafeteria. "I'm expecting to see a killing in the next twenty-four hours! Don't you disappoint me now! Consider this election as a motive. Anyone who's still planning on voting at this point may want to reconsider…"
When the smoke dissipates, most of us are visibly shaken, save the usual suspects, and the megaphone is gone. Eiko has her sleeves covering her face and is quietly sobbing to herself. Having the Devil himself appear before you and order you to kill people must still be quite a shock to the system.
"You're not gonna… listen to him, are you?" she says quietly, sniffling.
"Eiko, of course not," Alicia says, trying to reassure her with a friendly hand on the shoulder. "I would never do such a thing."
"But would she?" Zygoth asks. Damn, Monokuma's got exactly what he wants. "For all we know, she may be a contemporary Jim Jones, waiting to lead all her little green lambs to the slaughter!"
"Don't you dare compare the Order to a suicide cult!" Eiko shouts forcefully, slamming her hands on the table, knocking empty ballots away with her sleeves. "I'm nothing like that evil, evil man!"
"Neither of you have any validity to your claims, so I'll ignore them," Daisuke says, yawning. "I never cared much for this election anyway."
"Eiko, just try and calm down," I urge, but she's having none of it, waving one of those overly-long sleeves at me.
"You summoned the devil here!" she shrieks. "It was only when you mentioned that key that he appeared. You and the fiery witch are agents of the foul one!"
"I think she's lost it," Eizou comments.
"Eiko, he's only trying to help," Haruki says.
"Why should I trust you?" Eiko asks rather pointedly, waggling the sleeves in his direction. "Why should I trust any of you?" With that, she runs away, and Ryusuke starts to give chase but is stopped by Alicia.
"Leave her be," she says. Monokuma's got his claws dug deep into our collective consciousness, burrowing into our brains and letting the uncertainties ferment and fester until it explodes and blossoms into pure, unfiltered despair. This can't be allowed to happen.
"Guys, we can't just abandon this now!" I declare. "We've held it together pretty well up until now, and more than ever we need to show Monokuma we're not about to give in! Zygoth, gimme that pen!" Startled slightly, the conspiracy theorist hands over the blue pen and I scribble the name 'Eiko' on a piece of paper. I stuff it into the ballot box and hope everyone else catches on to what I'm trying to do.
"The first vote has been cast," Haru says. "Shinji, I can see what you're doing here, but it might not be wise. I spent my life trying to bring hope to others and look where it got me. You don't want to end up dead, do you?"
"Stop bein' such a killjoy, Wheels," hisses Zange.
"Shinji's plannin' something," Eizou says, thinking and putting on that menacing face again.
"Want me to open the box and check his ballot?" Nanima asks.
"No need," Haruki says warmly, stepping up and indicating for me to hand him the pen. As he writes on the ballot, I watch his hand, and it appears he's caught onto my little plan. If everyone cooperates, then we're going to show Eiko that she doesn't have to worry about any of us. We're all behind her. Slowly, the pen is passed around like a baton and everyone fills out a ballot. I'm not certain if everyone has voted for the same person, but I'm counting on the majority knowing the right thing to do…
A.N.: Back from a great weekend with friends. We went to a concert and played poker til 3am. Hopefully I can use the positivity of this weekend to power through another chapter or two while I've got the house to myself for a few days. And I promise the killing will start soon. Very soon...