They're among the students, that is true…
They're out there and deceiving you…
Igniting the despair flame…
They put us in the killing game…
Paige Sato and Ryunosuke Sanada were dead.
Kuno got almost no sleep whatsoever that night. His head was clouded with more thoughts than it ever had before. The most prominent thought: Why?
The announcement still hasn't gone off…so why am I awake? Kuno wondered. He was never up before Monokuma's eardrum-murdering voice blasted throughout the school, telling them to wake up. This is certainly strange…
Just before he was about to exit his room, Kuno heard a knock at his door.
"Uh…who is it?" Kuno asked through the door. In his mind, he was constantly thinking, Please don't be Ace. Please don't be Ace. Please don't be-
"It's garbage. Open the door, please."
Was that…Kiyoshi? Kuno left his bed and cautiously opened the door. Kiyoshi stood outside his room, a look of impatience on his face.
"Kiyoshi? What is it? Is something wrong?"
"If nothing was wrong, then I wouldn't be here. You're the only person who has a rational mind around here, anyway…"
"…Well?"
"Oh, yeah. The rec room's on fire," he said blatantly, pointing in the direction of the recreation room.
"On fire? How-"
"Just save it. Don't ask me, ask the absolute genius who did it. Come on."
Kiyoshi and Kuno walked out into the dark hallway. Kuno had never seen it during nighttime, and it was certainly a lot more ominous than it was during the day. Most of the lights were shut off, leaving the halls almost unable to see in.
"Why did you call me, though?" Kuno asked the boxer, still confused about the current situation.
Kiyoshi shrugged. "Dunno. Daichi wasn't answering, so you were my next choice."
"Daichi wasn't answering? Do you have any idea why?"
"Dunno."
"I mean…after everything that's happened, don't you think that-"
"I'm not talking about this right now, Kuno. I'd rather not," Kiyoshi retaliated.
I wonder what that was about, Kuno thought as they continued through the hall.
Eventually, Kiyoshi and Kuno had arrived at the door to the recreation room. Very distinguishable voices could be heard from inside.
"You're such…an idiot…"
"Well sorry that I'm not an expert with kitchen stuff! I didn't know that would happen!"
"Why…couldn't you just…wait…?"
"Because I'm craving a muffin! Don't know why, but I just really wanted one!"
Kuno turned to Kiyoshi. "Okay, I guess I'm going in," he stated. He opened the door, only to be welcomed by a huge blast of heat.
"Kuno! Please help us!" Masahide cried, fanning the fire with a broom.
"That's not…helping…" Haniji said, leaning back against the wall and watching Masahide helplessly fan away at the fire.
"How did this happen?" Kuno asked the pair.
"Well…I was microwaving a muffin, and next thing I know, it bursts into flames. And then the microwave bursts into flames. And then they spread through the rec room."
"How does that even happen?"
"I don't know! I'm not the Super High School Level Microwave User for a reason! Now can you help me?"
"I would, but I don't really have anything to help put the fire out…And that broom isn't gonna help," Kuno sighed, wondering how one could possibly make a muffin combust in a microwave.
And then guess who waltzed on in.
"Jesus! What are my students doing? And why are they setting things on fire?!" Monokuma yelled to the students.
"All I wanted was a muffin! I didn't ask for you to come!" Masahide replied, dropping the broom he had held in his hand.
"Ugh, you're so damn clueless! I have to do everything myself around here! Good thing I brought…my trusty fire extinguisher!" Suddenly, the bear pulled a fire extinguisher out from behind his back. "Stand back, fools! I shall save the day!"
"Someday, Gregory, I'm gonna be just like you!"
Paige looked up at her older brother with determination. He was known in almost every part of the world for being an accomplished historian, and that's just what Paige had aspired to do. She had read practically every single history book in their local library and she remembered every single fact from all of them, even the miniscule ones.
Gregory looked back down at his hopeful little sister. "Well, if you wanna be like me, you're gonna have to learn."
"L-Learn?!" Paige shouted in disbelief. "I've already read all of the books you told me to read! Haven't I learned enough?!"
"You can't just be book-smart to be well-known around these parts," Gregory told her. "You have to have…charm. Charisma, if you will. You have to know how to talk to people. You, on the other hand, have only talked to one person in their entire life. You have absolutely no social experience.
"But…I've seen people around the library! Doesn't that count as a social experience?"
Gregory let off a small chuckle. "It's not just looking at people, sis. You have to engage in some sort of conversation." He looked off into the distance towards the library. "Hey, why don't I take you to the library and see who you can find there? There has to be at least one person there who you can talk to."
Paige's expression beamed with happiness. "Sounds great! Don't you worry, Gregory, I'll be the best talker there's ever been, and you know it!"
"You better be grateful for your headmaster! You'll remember him as 'The Great One Who Saved Us From the Fire'! Upupupu!"
Even though Monokuma had put the fire out, the recreation room was almost covered in black ashes.
"Sorry about that, guys. I didn't mean for it to burst into flames and stuff," Masahide told them apologetically, looking down at the ground.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! We've heard enough! Jeez, you'd think that as a servant, he'd know how to at least properly use a microwave!"
"…How did you-"
"I'll be seeing you guys later! Upupupu!" With that, Monokuma disappeared, leaving Haniji, Masahide, Kuno, and Kiyoshi standing in the now blackened room.
"…Nice job, Masahide…" Haniji commented sarcastically. "Now, if you excuse me…I'm going back to bed…" She started to walk out, but before she could reach the door…
*bzzzzzt*
"Good morning, students! It's seven in the morning! Time to wake up! Let's all strive to do our best today!"
*bzzzzzt*
"Damn it…I just wanted to sleep…" Haniji muttered, stopping at the door. "Now I have to…socialize…ew."
Kuno, Kiyoshi, and Haniji proceeded to walk out of the rec room, but Kuno noticed that Masahide wasn't following.
"Masahide? Aren't you coming?" Kuno asked. Haniji had stopped as well, but Kiyoshi was already long gone.
"How did he know…?" Masahide asked himself, looking up at the ceiling.
"Masahide…come on," Haniji snapped at him. This caused Masahide to finally come back to reality.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I'm just thinking," he replied, scurrying to catch up to Haniji and Kuno.
"Let's face it…I'm never getting anywhere."
Masahide sat down on his rather hard bed, the truth starting to come to light. He had always been a disgrace to his family. He was even 'banished' with some of his other siblings to join this family group that had been rightfully named The Disgraces. They were nothing but glorified servants for the successful members of the Kotara family. While their lives were still sort of high-class, it didn't come close to the daily living conditions of the Kotara family members who had succeeded. Masahide was one of the failures among the family. His parents tried to force almost every single talent upon him, but he bombed everything he tried.
"Why the hell do you have to be so serious about everything?" his older brother Akihito asked the young failure. Akihito was also one of The Disgraces, but he was a lot more nonchalant about the whole ordeal.
"Of course you're not, since you're sneaking out all the time!"
"Shut up, Masahide! They'll hear you!" Akihito looked up at the ceiling where the upper floor of the house was. All of the successors of the family had lived up there. "Do you know how thin these damn walls are?"
"Well sorry that I'm not the wall expert."
"You're such a hardass, brother," Akihito said, sitting down next to his sulking brother.
"Ugh…This is what's it's like to be a failure…"
"You're not a failure. You're just…not good at stuff, I guess."
"Wow, I'm all better now! Your words have healed me!" Masahide exclaimed sarcastically, throwing his arms in the air.
Akihito was beginning to pity the poor little guy. He was so young and still so clueless. He thought that Masahide still had no idea why his family disapproved of him so strongly, but he was actually beginning to get an idea.
"You…you should come with me," Akihito told him.
"Are you INSANE?! They'll catch us for sure! We'll both be dead!"
"I've done it a thousand times before, and look at me. I'm still alive. Just come with me!"
Masahide thought about the idea of it for a moment. He always wanted to go see what else there was to the world, not just the servant's quarters. "Hmm…I guess. It's your fault if I get jumped, though."
Kuno, Haniji, and Masahide arrived in the cafeteria, and to no one's surprise, not every student was there. The only ones there were them, Elena, Ryota, Masaru, Eiko, and Kiyoshi.
"G'morning, Kuno!" Elena happily called to him. It was easy to tell that her smile was completely fake, but there was nothing else she could do.
Kuno walked over to the ringleader, happy that someone had acknowledged him. "Hey, Elena. How're you doing?"
Her smile quickly faded. "Eh, I'm getting a little better, I guess. It's kinda hard, thinking that…never mind. I don't wanna make things any gloomier than they already are. And how are you, Kuno?"
"Same as you. At least you didn't witness the fire this morning."
"Fire?! There was a fire?!" Elena said quite loudly, unintentionally getting everyone's attention.
"It was one time! I didn't know that muffins could be so destructive!" Masahide yelled, a hint of frustration in his voice.
"Words…to live by…" Haniji said mockingly, nudging him with her elbow.
"So…there was a muffin on fire or something like that?" Ryota pitched in. "How the hell is a muffin set aflame?"
"He just…microwaved it…" Haniji responded, starting to fiddle with her paintbrush. "And…he tried putting it out…with a broom…"
"Okay, can we stop shaming me for just one second? Please?" Masahide begged.
"Kinda hard when you set a room on fire with a muffin," Masaru replied. "I'm still confused about that…"
"…Whatever. It's the last time we mention this, and that's that! Okay?"
Everyone in the room slowly nodded. It was silent for a few moments until Masaru spoke up.
"Does anyone know where the others are?"
"I couldn't find Daichi this morning, so I don't know about him…" Kiyoshi said quietly, not turning to face anyone.
"And everyone else…I'm not so sure about," Elena replied, looking around the near empty room. "At least…Sugita probably has a good reason not to come…"
"…Natsumi told me she wouldn't be coming." Eiko had finally spoken up, but her tone was a lot more deflated than usual.
Eiko's still probably flustered from that outburst she had on Ace yesterday, Kuno thought, worrying about the veterinarian. It's best not to talk about that for now, I guess. I wouldn't want her feeling any worse than she probably is right now…
"Why isn't Natsumi coming? Did something happen to her?" Masahide asked Eiko.
Eiko simply shrugged. "Not sure. She just kinda told me through her door…"
"Hey, Kuno, sweetheart. Did you hear from Ace at all?" Elena asked him.
Why me? Just because he has some sort of obsession with me doesn't mean that I know every single detail about him… "I'm not quite sure. I don't know why he wouldn't come, especially since I'm here." Kuno could see Eiko's face become darker.
"But what about the kigurumi?" Masahide asked. "It's not like it to just, like, not come."
"Well, don't ask us. No one knows what's up with that thing," Ryota muttered.
Just before anyone could ask where she was, Akira walked in to the cafeteria.
"Hi there, Akira," Kuno greeted politely, trying not to sound too pushy. Pissing Akira off at such an early hour wouldn't be good for anyone.
Unfortunately, keeping Akira calm was a nearly impossible task.
"Yeah, yeah, greet me all you want, I'm just here 'cause I need something," she said sharply, walking up to where Kuno was.
"I assume it's from me, isn't it."
"Who else? You're the only semi-helpful loser around here."
"Then go right ahead. What is it that you need, Akira?"
Akira looked around the room to make sure no one was listening, and then started to question Kuno quietly.
"Have you seen that kigurumi freak anywhere?"
"Huh? Pyonpyon-King? What do you need him for?"
"That's none of your damn business!" Akira shouted, slamming her fist on the table.
"Jesus! Can you calm down?" Ryota asked forcefully. "We don't need this first thing in the morning, y'know."
Akira rolled her eyes. "Well, it happens to be of some importance this time. Trust me for once. And I'm pretty positive that none of this includes you, so back off, jerk."
"I'm not in the mood to fight with you right now," Ryota sighed, turning away from the agitated designer.
Akira turned back to face Kuno. "So, have you seen him or what?"
"No, not today. You could go check in his room, if you want."
"Uh, no. You can go do that for me, spy boy."
"…Why me?!"
"Because I told you to!" Akira backed up from Kuno. "Now go!"
"I don't see how I benefit from this at all, Akira," Kuno told her, not moving from where he was sitting. "So what's in it for me?"
"…Nothing. Just go."
With a heavy sigh, Kuno stood up from his seat, while Akira glared it at him in disgust.
The young Akira looked down at the scraps of clothing she had collected, fantasizing what she could create out of them.
She was born into extreme poverty, so money was pretty much a fantasy at that point. They lived off what they had, and that was that. Akira would always be wandering around the streets, looking into the display windows in stores. The most elegant - yet expensive – dresses would always catch her eye. She hoped and dreamed that one day, she'd have enough money to buy something. Something nice and something for herself. A nice outfit, preferably.
"…Hmph. If I can't afford clothes, I just have to make them myself," she would say to herself as she gathered up the scraps of clothing.
Even with the most putrid of scraps, Akira would always end up making something beautiful, and she'd boast it as much as she could. People were amazed with her skills in making clothing. She thought nothing of it, however, since she was taught how to knit at such a young age.
Eventually, Akira's mother started selling these fine pieces of clothing that Akira made for expensive prices. Fortunately, this plan had worked. People were crazy for Akira's designs. This made them go from poor and helpless to having a more high-quality lifestyle.
With enough money in their grasp, her family created a clothing business. It was wildly popular among their community, and after a rather short period of time, its popularity grew tremendously. It became one of the most well-known clothing businesses in the world.
Thinking that she was the source and head of the business, and knowing that it was so popular, Akira began to grow more confident in herself. She thought that since her work was so famous, she was better than everyone around her. She began showing different behaviors, such as being extremely rude and snarky to everyone she thought was beneath her. And to her, everyone was beneath her.
And then, on one fateful day, she received a letter from the prestigious school called Hope's Peak academy…
*knock knock knock*
"Are you there, Pyonpyon-King?" Kuno called through the door. He wasn't happy about Akira rudely forcing him to go do something for her, but he most likely wouldn't be alive if he didn't.
After what seemed to be about five seconds, the door opened, revealing the giant animal suit. The huge red eyes on its face were extremely unsettling to look at, but Kuno had to do what he had to do.
"Hey there, Pyonpyon-King," Kuno greeted. "Um, Akira was looking for you. She wanted to talk to you or something like that. Not sure what it's about but…anyways, she sent me to go get you, so…"
Without any warning, the kigurumi proceeded to skip out of its room, heading towards the cafeteria. It seemed to be in a hurry.
That was kinda weird, Kuno thought as Pyonpyon-King skipped away from his sights. Now that I think of it, this whole morning has been really strange. Masahide set the recreation room on fire, a lot of people didn't come to the cafeteria, and Akira wants Pyonpyon-King for some mysterious reason. I wonder if it'll be like this every day…
After thinking for a few brief moments, Kuno starting heading towards the cafeteria where the other students were.
When he arrived there, to his relief, Akira was nowhere to be seen. That seemed to be a good thing for everyone, since the mood had noticeably went up after Akira had left.
"Kuno, you're back!" Elena exclaimed happily, motioning for him to come over.
"Yeah, I'm here. Did anything happen while I was gone?"
"Nothing worth noting, at least. Speaking of which, where were you?"
"If I tell you, Akira will probably kill me…"
"Oh, so you're running errands for her now, are ya?" Elena said jokingly, her smile not leaving her face.
"What am I supposed to do? Even though it's only our fourth day here, we already know how Akira gets when things don't go her way. It's a nasty experience, I might add."
Elena let out a sigh. "Everything here's nasty. If you know what I mean. Especially some of these people's attitudes." She leaned in close to Kuno. "I mean, have you seen Ryota sometimes? He can be a big jerk. Especially to me…" she whispered to him.
And then, Kuno made the mistake of looking up. "And speaking of big jerks…" he muttered, looking at who stood above him.
"Upupupupu! Looks like most of the gang is all here!" Monokuma laughed, it's red eye flashing as he did so.
He received several disapproving glares all around the room, specifically from Eiko.
"Aw, come on! What did I do?!" the bear squealed. After a few moments of not getting an answer, he continued. "Hey, if it weren't for yours truly, the whole place would've been burned to the ground! Well, maybe not that bad, but…the whole place would be slightly burned in one area!"
"Can you just tell us why you're here?" Eiko growled, her fists balling up. It was clear she wanted nothing to do with Monokuma after yesterday's events. "And if it's one of your stupid motives, I swear to god…"
"Oh, no, no, no! You're mistaken, Ms. Watanabe!" Monokuma exclaimed. "It's far too early for that! But in order to make my announcement, I need everyone to be here! So were the hell are all of those other bastards?!"
"We already discussed that. We're not really sure," Kuno replied, even though it was quite obvious that the people who weren't there were hiding in their rooms. Some of them had good reasons to, but others…not so much.
"So I have to call them here, then? Ugh, I have to do everything myself around here!" With anger, Monokuma pulled out a small microphone from behind him. "Ahem. You might wanna cover your ears in here," he warned the students. "It's gonna blast at full volume through every single monitor!"
*bzzzzzt*
"Attention, attention! To everyone who isn't in the cafeteria presently…GET YOUR SORRY ASSES DOWN HERE NOOOOOOWWW! Thank you!"
*bzzzzzt*
"Ow, what the hell!" Masahide yelled, covering his ears. "Why'd you have to do that!?"
"It gets people's attention. They probably wouldn't listen to me if I did something like personally deliver the message. But, I sense that two of your fellow students are on the way! Upupupupuu!
Just as the bear told them that, Akira and Pyonpyon-King walked in together.
"Jesus Christ! Was the whole 'killing my ears' thing really necessary?!" Akira screamed angrily at the bear, about to punch him in the face.
"Now, now, Ms. Yamashita! You know what will happen if you inflict violence upon your headmaster! I sense a punishment coming your way if you touch me!" Monokuma said with a snarky tone.
"…Hmph. I would if I could, and you better believe that," Akira said coldly, moving to the back of the cafeteria. Pyonpyon-King happily followed, skipping all the way there.
Shortly after that whole ordeal, Daichi arrived in the cafeteria.
"Hey! Where the hell were you this morning?!" Kiyoshi called to him as soon as he set foot in the room.
Daichi rolled his eyes at the sudden outburst. "It's nothing."
"Well, it was obviously something!"
"…I'll tell you later. Just lay off for a bit, will you."
Daichi slowly sat down next to Kiyoshi, who was fuming.
After a slightly longer interval of time, Natsumi trudged in, attempting not to make eye contact with anyone.
"…Are you gonna tell me why you wouldn't come out earlier, or what?" Eiko asked forcefully as Natsumi walked by.
"…"
"Well?!"
"…"
Natsumi refused to dignify anything with an actual answer. She simply walked over to an empty chair and sat down far away from the others, who looked at her with concern.
Even more things to add to the 'Weird' list, Kuno thought. Daichi's being all secretive, which isn't like him at all, and Natsumi is refusing to talk to anyone. But why? Natsumi had nothing to do with the thing that happened yesterday…I have to think about why they're acting to strange.
"…Hey, spy boy," Akira called to Kuno. "Where the hell is your boyfriend?"
Kuno slightly blushed at that remark. "Ace? Well, first, he's not my boyfriend, and second-"
"I'm right here! Hello, everyone!"
Ace, who was in an unusually cheery mood, had pompously strutted into the cafeteria. "You pieces of trash were ever-so worried about me, weren't you."
Kuno could notice how Eiko was about to have some sort of anger tantrum in the back. Just as I thought. Eiko's acting so weird because of that outburst she had on Ace yesterday. But why didn't Ace come earlier? I know he would usually do it if I was there, and I'm always there. Could it be that…he was scared to come because of what Eiko did?
The silence was abruptly broken with Monokuma's angry shouting. "DAMN IT! I knew this would happen! Where the hell is the volleyball girl?!"
…
"Gee, I don't know, maybe she doesn't wanna come because YOU KILLED SOMEONE CLOSE TO HER!" Elena angrily snapped at the bear out of the blue.
"It's Mr. Sanada's fault for killing little miss historian in the first place, so you might wanna shut it!" Monokuma argued.
He pulled out the microphone again. "Awright, cover your damn ears!"
*bzzzzzt*
"SUGITA TAIKI, COME TO THE CAFETERIA RIGHT NOW UNLESS YOU WANNA HAVE THE SAME FATE AS THOSE TWO OTHER LOSERS! Thank you!"
…
Almost instantly, Sugita ran into the cafeteria, clearly out of breath.
"Good, you're here!" Monokuma said encouragingly. "Now tell me…WHAT THE HELL TOOK YOU SO LONG, BITCH!?"
"…I wouldn't have come if you didn't give me a death threat…" Sugita was noticeably deflated. Her usually bright and shining eyes were now red and glassy. Her face was also very red and puffy, which were signs that she had been sobbing a lot. She was shaking in her shoes and not looking at anyone.
"Ahem! I'm speaking now! And it's some important shit, so listen up!" Monokuma yelled. He waddled over to a table and stood up on top of it. "Gather around, bastards! Upupu, it's like a campfire or something!"
The students reluctantly surrounded Monokuma, who stood gleefully on the table.
"Now, you're probably all wondering why I've called you here today!"
"Is it another motive? If so, I don't wanna hear it," Masahide muttered, looking down at the ground.
"I TOLD YOU GUYS EARLIER, IT'S NOT A DAMN MOTIVE! LEARN TO LISTEN!" Monokuma growled, angrily stomping it's tiny foot.
"Then I don't see why we're here," Eiko said, clearly losing patience. "I've had enough of listening to you for one day, bear. I'm not in the mood for this right now."
"Oh, then you'll be pleasantly surprised, Ms. Watanabe! It's some good news, so don't fret!"
"Can you just hurry up and tell us, then? I have stuff to do," Akira demanded in her usual rude tone.
"Okay, okay, okay! Geez, you guys are so pushy lately! Did you guys have some sort of personality change or something? …Aaaanyways, a new area in the school has been opened up! You can now access the next level of the school!"
"Next level?" Masaru asked. "Do you mean the floor upstairs?"
Monokuma gave Masaru a sadistic smirk. "Upupupu! So clueless! The new open floor is the level downstairs!"
A lot of curious murmuring happened throughout the room. Downstairs? Kuno wondered as the murmuring continued. I don't really remember knowing if Hope's Peak had any levels downstairs. Besides, wouldn't that mean that…we'd be going underground?
"So are you bastards gonna explore or what?!" Monokuma tempted, looking down towards the ground. "There's a whoooole bunch of new rooms and shit! A lounge room, a TV room, an observatory, an art room-"
"Theresanartroom?!" Haniji exclaimed, abandoning her usual style of talking.
"That's what I said! Upupupupu!"
"…IhavetogothereIhavetogotherecomeonMasahideletsgo!" Haniji practically dragged an unenthused Masahide out of the cafeteria.
"Let's hope he doesn't set that room on fire, too," Ryota muttered, looking out towards the door.
"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you guys around! Have fun exploring the deep despair-filled depths that await you! Upupupu!"
Monokuma disappeared, leaving the twelve students that remained in the cafeteria frozen in confusion.
"…You heard what the bear said. I suggest we go to this underground level and see what it has to offer," Daichi announced, standing up.
With that, the students slowly started to disperse from the cafeteria. Some of them, however, didn't even budge.
Besides Kuno, the ones that remained were Ace, who was insisting that they left the 'unlucky trash' behind, Eiko, Natsumi, and Sugita.
"Come on, Okura-sama. These pieces of trash aren't worth our precious time," Ace said in an attempt to convince them to leave.
Kuno, however, didn't have leaving as an option. He was extremely worried about those three. Eiko's still really upset, Natsumi is acting more strange than usual, and Sugita…I feel so bad for the poor girl. She's been through so much since the thing that happened yesterday…
"Okura-sama! Can we leave, please?" Ace begged, still using his unsettling tone.
"…Just wait a second. I'm worried about them…"
"There's no time! We must go see!" Ace grabbed Kuno by the hand and dragged him out of the cafeteria, which left the three girls in the room by themselves.
"…Eiko. Can you do me a quick favor?"
Natsumi had spoken up for the first time since yesterday. Eiko, startled by the sudden disruption in the silence, turned to the sniper.
"Yes?"
"I need you to leave."
"What?! L-Leave? But-"
"Eiko. I need you to leave, please."
"There's no reason! I-"
"Eiko, please." Natsumi was desperately begging at this point.
Eiko could see that Natsumi wasn't going to back down any time soon. For some reason, she really wanted her to leave. But that would leave Natsumi and Sugita all alone, and Eiko was terrified that someone was going to get hurt. However, at the same time, she wanted to bring everyone together. She guessed whatever Natsumi was planning wasn't going to harm Sugita in any way.
"…Fine. I'll be waiting for you outside, then." Eiko, with slight hesitance, walked out of the cafeteria, which left Natsumi and Sugita inside.
Natsumi turned to Sugita, and she noticed exactly what Kuno had noticed.
Sugita wasn't the same, and she would never be the same. Ryunosuke's death would be imprinted in her mind forever, and she would never be able to forget the brutal death of her best friend.
"Sugita. I have to speak with you."
Sugita looked up at Natsumi with worry in her eyes. "…Why?"
"I…um…I would like to apologize."
"For what? You…you didn't do anything wrong…"
"Yes, I did. I was acting irrationally after the trial, and I want to apologize."
"After the t-trial? …Oh, I know what you mean. Look, it's nothing-"
"Let. Me. Apologize."
"Ngh! I-I'm sorry, continue, p-please!"
Natsumi cursed under her breath. "I apologize for that as well. I'm not used to apologizing for my actions. I know they were wrong…and I'm truly sorry. Please forgive me."
Before she knew it, Sugita was starting to tear up again. She didn't want to, but she couldn't help herself. Even though she was strong on the outside, what she was feeling then was a whole different matter.
"It was wrong of me to force you to cope with what you had just seen. You…were right. I cannot just demand for someone to shrug off the death of their best friend…Can you forgive me now, please? This is really awkward for me."
"…" Suddenly, Natsumi found Sugita hugging her and crying into her shoulder. She was sobbing and shaking so badly…
"S-Sugita? What are you-"
"…Ryunosuke's g-gone! I just…can't…"
"Please don't do this."
"…I loved him so much! And now…I c-can't even…he's not coming b-back!"
Sugita's cries were muffled, but Natsumi understood them clearly.
"Sugita, please. It's okay."
"N-No, it's not! I'm s-such a mess! Why…why me?!"
"…I know that you can't just forget what happened. What that bear did to him was absolutely disgusting…no one's going to forget what happened. But you can't just stay sad for the rest of your life. You just have to keep going. I know it's hard, but…you can't shrug it off, but…"
"I…c-can't…"
"Just remember what he said before he was executed. 'Just do what's right. You can beat this'. That's what he said to us…I have to go."
Natsumi struggled out of Sugita's grasp and left the cafeteria, leaving the heartbroken volleyball player completely alone.
Well hello there!
I was thinking of having some kind of group event in one of the next few chapters. I would love some suggestions on what kind of event I should do. Some students are getting a lot more spotlight than others, and I'd like to even that out.
Also, the voting is quite…interesting.
Four people are in first place. (Hint: the protagonist, one of the pairs, and…you already know.)
Aside from Ryunosuke and Paige, there's someone in last place with only one vote. Won't tell you who that is, though.
If you haven't voted yet, go check that out!
Happy despairing!