A/N: Aaaaah, you have no idea how long I've awaited this moment. The moment I could write...this part! What happens in this part? I don't think I need to explain...nor will I, to keep up suspense. Though my bold ramblings up here are probably the least suspenseful things about this story. But how else is an author to communicate and clarify stuff, huh?
So, here we go, the fourth installment of Daily Life in Chapter 2! Let's see how Monokuma's motive is treating everyone, shall we?
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...So, no reviews, but at least the FTE poll got a vote! So thank you to that person, I was thinking I'd have to choose a character myself this time.
Chapter 2: Pros of Despair- Daily Life (Part 4)
As morning drove away the night yet again, the morning announcement played, and Hana got ready and dressed as usual, she couldn't help feel a twinge of unease in her chest. Would there be one less person at the breakfast meeting today? She hoped not, but...at this point, she had no idea what to expect.
Upon entering the dining room, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. The students were sitting where Hana would expect them to sit, and none of them seemed completely worse for wear. However, the surfer could feel an underlying tension over the group- tension she could only hope didn't boil over.
Hiroshi was the first to greet her, the Ultimate Coroner approaching from where he had been sitting. "Hey, Hana."
"Ah, morning Hiroshi," Hana responded with a smile. "Looks like everything's still normal, huh?"
"Of course- like I said, we wouldn't give in to Monokuma's motive so easily," Hiroshi answered with a spark of confidence in his gray eyes. "Though, there's still some anxiety going around...but with time, I'm sure it'll wear off."
"I'm...not sure if it'll be that simple," Hana admitted sheepishly. "But here's hoping it is."
She took another look around the room and at her fellow classmates...before she was struck with a horrifying realization. "W-Wait, Hiroshi...where's Tadao!?"
"Right where I've always been!" the waiter called in response from the kitchen, as if he could hear the surfer shouting from in there.
"...Oh, right," Hana muttered, cringing.
"I...think you're still on edge," Hiroshi informed her. "Maybe you should sit down?"
"Y-Yeah, good idea," Hana replied with an embarrassed chuckle...before stopping in her tracks. She noticed there was somebody else missing from the banquet table- somebody who had not taken to isolating themselves within the kitchen during these meetings, and in fact should have been sitting near Shiro.
"W-Wait, now..." she began, her face paling with fear. "W-W-Where's Itachi!?"
Mere moments later, as if her words had summoned him, the Ultimate Weapons Expert in question came walking into the dining room as usual. Once she registered that nothing had happened to him either, Hana added, "Er...nevermind! There he is!"
"...Yeah, you need to sit down," Hiroshi stated, his brow furrowed with concern.
Hana grimaced and nodded, taking a seat near Rumi, Shiori, Kaneki, and Asuna. Hiroshi himself sat down not too far from her- and the surfer also noticed that Itachi wasn't sitting down right away. The weapons expert seemed to be scanning the room, in a way that resembled a falcon locking onto its prey. Seconds later, the young man strode over to take a seat...next to Hinata, of all people. The Ultimate Thief seemed just as surprised as Hana was, for he glanced at Itachi in confusion...however, he shrugged and returned to what he was doing prior, while Itachi didn't seem to do much of anything else out of the ordinary.
"Hana!" Rumi called out to the surfer to get her attention. "So, I was just telling the others here, I've figured out everything! And if you guys are cool with it, then we'll be hanging out together tomorrow! What do you guys think?"
"Tomorrow? Well, that sounds good to me," Hana replied with a nod before looking to the others. "Guys?"
"Like I keep saying, it's up to you," Shiori stated with a shrug. "You're the planner here."
"And like I keep saying, I want everyone's opinions!" Rumi insisted. "Come on, give me something here guys!"
"I-I mean...I trust your judgement, s-so..." Asuna murmured, looking down at the table.
Rumi didn't seem too satisfied with this answer either. "W-Well...I'm sure Kaneki'll give me some feedback! Right?"
She turned to the tall girl with a grin...but, to Hana's surprise, the Ultimate Explorer didn't seem to be paying attention at all. Her brown eyes were fixed on...well, nothing, as if she were spacing out entirely. Kaneki then seemed to notice Rumi looking towards her and asked, "...Huh? Did you say something, Rumi?"
Rumi's eager expression turned to one of shock. "You weren't...even paying attention...?"
The Ultimate Scuba Diver then let out an exasperated sigh, leaving Kaneki with a look of genuine confusion on her face.
Some time later, Tadao brought out the food as he usually did. Hana had to admit- even if the waiter acted antagonistic towards the others, he at least knew how to make good food, which was always a nice quality.
As Tadao walked away towards the kitchen, Akira suddenly spoke up. "...Wait, Shimaru. Was there anyone else in the kitchen with you while you were cooking?"
"Of course not, I don't need any assistance with my kitchen skills," the Ultimate Waiter replied, frowning.
Akira narrowed her eyes at him and inquired, "Then how can we be certain you didn't do anything to this food while you were alone?"
"..." Hana stared down at the food she was just about to bite into, then slowly lowered her silverware.
Tadao seemed more irritated than concerned and replied, "Come now Rimutsu, give me some credit- if I had poisoned the food, I as the 'team chef' as it were might as well be painting the word 'BLACKENED' on my forehead."
"We need to confirm this- someone needs to test the food!" Ryoto declared, before looking around the room as if to find a willing volunteer. "Uuuh...Hinata! You do it!"
"W-What? Why me?" Hinata asked, narrowing his gold eyes at the racecar driver.
"Well, I mean, you're a criminal..." Ryoto began. "Sooo, kinda makes you- I dunno, expendable?"
"Th-The fuck did you just say!?" Hinata yelped with a furious growl.
"Ryoto!" Rumi shouted with a disapproving tone.
"Oh for- if I taste tested the food, would you all calm down?" Tadao asked with a glare at the others.
Akira raised an eyebrow, then took a piece of her own food and handed it to the waiter. The young man carefully took the food, as if to leave as few stains on his gloves as possible, before popping it into his mouth.
"..." Tadao waited a few moments after swallowing the food before saying, "There, satisfied? I told you all I didn't tamper with the food."
Akira seemed to ponder this for a moment, then replied, "Fine, it checks out. If you had done something to our food, I doubt you would have tested it as quickly as you did."
With a 'hmph', the Ultimate Waiter turned on his heel to return to the kitchen, but not before adding, "Like I said- if I did plan a murder, I wouldn't make myself look so suspicious."
"Not helping, Shimaru," Akira growled as he walked away back to the kitchen. Seeing as how the food was safe, Hana was quick to dig into it for real this time; however, it didn't stop her from thinking about that whole incident. She supposed it was just Akira being Akira- not trusting of anyone, but still trying to prevent murder when she could (though Hana suspected it wasn't because she cared for the others, perhaps it was more just her wanting to be an effective leader).
So breakfast could finally begin in peace, whatever tension that existed in the room beforehand having dissipated as the other enjoyed the food. At least...that's how it was at first, until Hana picked up on a certain deep voice from farther down the table...
"...So. Hinata. Peaceful morning, wouldn't you agree?" Itachi asked the scarf-wearing young man. His tone of voice sounded friendly enough...although it had a kind of edge to it that indicated Itachi was being anything but.
"...Uh...I guess," Hinata responded, glancing from side to side in confusion.
"Interesting, wouldn't you say? So soon after Monokuma's motive," Itachi went on, casually cutting into his food. "Though I suppose there are many of us who continue to remain vigilant. Even now, I'd say."
Hinata did not respond, seeming more baffled by the moment. Honestly, Hana could not blame him as she wondered, That's strange...yeah, they're classmates, but Itachi and Hinata hardly ever interact. So, what's Itachi...?
"And yet...it's strange," Itachi continued, his demeanor unchanging. "I've remained watchful since that announcement of that bear's. Despite this...on my way here, I notice something. I notice...that one of my knives has disappeared."
"Aaah, there it is, the ulterior motive," Hinata remarked, putting down his fork and turning to fully face Itachi. "No need for pleasantries, dude- lemme guess, you think I stole that knife of yours, don't you?"
"You're the Ultimate Thief for a reason," Itachi responded with a glare.
"Hold on- Kunata, explain," Akira said. "What do you mean one of your knives disappeared?"
The Ultimate Weapons Expert stood up and lifted to the legs of his pants. Strapped to his legs were a pair of knife holsters- Hana vaguely recognized them from the first day in the castle. Sure enough, only one of the holsters contained a long serrated hunting knife, with the other being empty. "Here. I have two blades on me at all times, identical knives. And not too long before the meeting, I noticed one was gone."
"Here's an idea- maybe you just misplaced it?" Hinata suggested, crossing his arms with a glare.
To this, Itachi scoffed. "To say I misplaced my blades would be like saying I misplaced my own arms. No, I keep these knives under intense care, critical eye. I even leave them strapped to my legs as I sleep."
"...That just sounds unsafe," Hana noted with a small grimace. By this point, most other conversations had stopped as the others focused on what was happening between Itachi and Hinata.
"And for the record- I went back and searched my room once I noticed the knife was gone," Itachi went on. "And it was nowhere to be seen. So, no, I doubt I 'misplaced it'."
Hinata growled softly before responding, "Look, you've got some fancy knives and shit, but I wouldn't touch them. Come on, since when have ever stolen something that random?"
"...What about the time you stole that bottle of dish soap from the kitchen?" Saku reminded him.
"And my pen," Shiro added.
"And that poker from the furnace room," Shiori chimed in.
"A-And my glasses," Asuna added.
"...Okay, so on occasion I tend to use my thievery for the little things," Hinata responded. "But this time, I had nothing to do with your missing stuff!"
"You honestly expect me to take the word of a crook?" Itachi asked, crossing his arms as he looked down at the thief.
Hinata grit his teeth as he stood out of his chair as well. "Oh, so whenever someone loses something around here, it's automatically my fault? Well that my friend, that is profiling!"
As the two Ultimates were practically sizzling with rage, Saku spoke up, "Come now, both of you, there is no need for confrontation. Just sit down and we can talk this through peacefully."
"Hey, I'm not the one who made accusations out of nowhere!" Hinata protested, glaring furiously at Itachi. "Seriously, if I had taken your knife, I would have joked about it and given it back like I always do!"
"You steal a man's blade, you'd best be prepared to run him through with it!" Itachi said to him, his normally calm voice being raised in anger.
"For the last time, I didn't take your fucking knife!" Hinata yelled at the weapons expert as he clenched his fists.
"Okay okay, guys, let's wind down," Hiroshi said with his usual calm tone. "Come on, we're all on edge here, there's no need to get so riled up."
The two stopped yelling at each other, though it was obvious they were both still seething. Itachi sat back down, going quiet once again, but as for Hinata...
"Mmph- so first you want to me risk getting poisoned, and now I'm being accused of something I didn't even do..." Hinata muttered to himself. "Lots of love in here guys, really. Great fucking meeting, great fucking job."
With that, the usually carefree and mischievous Ultimate stormed out of the dining room, not even glancing at the others as he left.
"...Maybe someone should go talk to him?" Rumi suggested to her surrounding classmates.
Shiori scoffed. "I mean, no one's stopping you. But seriously, what does he expect? He's the Ultimate Thief, does he really think people aren't going to be suspicious of him when something goes missing?"
Rumi didn't respond, looking down at her plate for a moment before gaining a resolute look on her face and standing up. With a brief word of goodbye to the others, the scuba diver made her way out of the dining room herself. Hana cringed somewhat- it was already only one day since the motive was announced, and some of the students were already at each other's throats...
"Hey, Itachi- once breakfast is done, maybe I could help you look for your knife!" Shiro suggested to his friend. "Maybe you did just misplace it somewhere? I don't think we should automatically put the blame on Hinata, at any rate..."
"Well, searching would be an acceptable action indeed," Itachi agreed, having calmed down. "My apologies, however, but I reserve judgement with my accusation against that thief."
"Well...we just shouldn't get too carried away with our suspicions," Shiro responded with a nod. "We're all friends, aren't we? And friends should trust each other, no matter what."
...Huh- never mind, it looks some of us are still in high spirits. Hana realized with a sense of relief.
"...So there's just...a knife missing?" Kaneki asked, her face slightly flushed with worry.
"Unfortunately, yes. My apologies- had I been more vigilant, perhaps this could have been avoided," Itachi explained with a sigh. "Any weapon, including blades, and even something smaller like a knife, is a deadly extension of a person. And in the hands of somebody careless, it could lead to disaster. For these reasons, Shiro and I must make haste in our search once the food is done, to get my blade back before somebody else does."
Despite Itachi's vow, the Ultimate Explorer didn't look any better. Hana furrowed her brow and turned to Hiroshi, remarking, "Hey, don't you think Kaneki seems a bit...off right now?"
"Off?" Hiroshi asked.
"Well yeah, she seems really anxious," Hana explained. "And it doesn't even seem like normal anxiety, it seems like...advanced anxiety."
"Hm...I wouldn't think too into it," Hiroshi reassured the surfer. "Nobody wants another murder to happen, and nobody's immune to the concern- even someone as energetic as Kaneki, it looks like."
Hana didn't respond directly, simply shrugging in acceptance. As much as she believed in her classmates...but at this rate, she couldn't help but be concerned for the future.
When breakfast was done, Hana returned to her room once again to think out her next course of action. Ugh- maybe I didn't sleep as good as I thought last night...maybe I should take a nap for a bit?
Then, the Ultimate Surfer remembered how everyone had been acting during the breakfast meeting. ...Okay, maybe I should go talk to somebody. I'm sure we could all use a bit of friendliness right now- and what better way to do that than socializing?
With the decision of 'peacekeeping first, sleep later' made, Hana swiftly exited her room back out into the familiar hallway.
Hana decided she would check out the second floor once again, to see who was lurking about up there. Seeing as how she hadn't been in the lounge in a while, Hana decided she would look there first. Poking her head into the cozy room in question, she saw Hiroshi casually sitting in one of the cushioned seats- for a moment, Hana thought the coroner was asleep. However, she was proven wrong when the young man opened a gray eye to see her.
"Hi, Hana. Here to relax too? This room really is nice, I can see why the others like it so much," Hiroshi stated, looking up towards the ceiling.
Hm...well, the lounge is definitely comfy- should I spend some time with Hiroshi? Hana asked herself, before nodding to the Ultimate Coroner. "Sure, I'll join you!"
"Heh, alright," Hiroshi replied, gesturing to one of the open seats. Soon, Hana and Hiroshi were sitting together in the comfort of the lounge, not really saying much and simply enjoying each other's company.
"Hm...you know, I've been thinking about how long we've been in this castle," Hiroshi stated.
"How long? God, well I hope you're not planning on asking me, because I've lost track," Hana remarked with a frown.
"No, I wasn't going to ask you how long it's been," Hiroshi answered. "It was just something I've been thinking about. We can clearly see the time on our e-Handbooks, and we've got the sky out in the courtyard. And yet...for all we know, what feels like a few days could very well be longer."
"That's...disturbing to think about," Hana responded with a worried frown. "Can't even imagine what that would be like- when you think it's only been a few days, but it's actually been, like, a month?"
"Sorry, I wasn't trying to say that's what's actually been happening- it's just strange, is all, being in the same place for an extended period of time like this," Hiroshi went on. "I wonder what we'd all be doing right now if we attended Hope's Peak like normal..."
"At the very least, we'd probably be able to hone our talents, right?" Hana suggested. "Geez, what I wouldn't give to see the beach right now, to take my surfboard and just ride the biggest waves I could find..."
Hiroshi chuckled somewhat. "Well, I suppose it's good to remain passionate about your talent, even if you can't practice it."
"What about you, Hiroshi? Aren't you worried about not being able to practice your autopsy stuff?" Hana asked him.
"Not really. For me, it's like riding a bike- you never forget," Hiroshi explained calmly. "Besides, autopsies aren't the most convenient things to practice. People die all the time, but cadavers aren't just used for being dissected by coroners, you know. A lot of other places use them for organ donations, scientific research..."
"In fact, cadavers are also used for medical school students. You know what their purpose is?" Hiroshi asked the surfer.
Hm? What are cadavers used for in med school? Well, obviously he's talking about... Hana answered aloud, "You're talking about studying anatomy, right?"
"Uh-huh. Not that I've ever seen this myself, though my aunt would often go to different universities as a guest speaker due to her extensive medical knowledge," Hiroshi explained further.
"Anyways, as I was saying, autopsies aren't always the most convenient things to practice on a regular basis. In fact, autopsies are actually only used for a small portion of deaths," Hiroshi went on, holding up a finger thoughtfully.
"Huh, really? I thought they'd be used more often than that, honestly," Hana remarked with a shrug.
"Eh, it doesn't bother me. Talent isn't everything, you know, even if we are Ultimates," Hiroshi stated. "That's why you shouldn't let not being able to hone your skills in this castle get to you so much. If you keep thinking like that, then someone might end up dead, and nobody wants that."
"Well, to be fair, I'd never kill for the sake of my talent," Hana told him. "Or...for any reason, but that includes my talent!"
"I know- you're not the type to kill somebody, especially a friend," Hiroshi replied in a knowing tone with a smile. "See, that's what's most important- not talent, but forming strong bonds with your classmates."
"Well yeah! I mean, I've basically been doing that since the beginning- right now even, I'm spending time with you," Hana pointed out, nodding in agreement.
Hiroshi let out a little chuckle before adding, "I figured you'd agree with that ideal. You know, it's funny...you'd be surprised, but at one point I never really believed in that."
"Huh? You?" Hana asked, incredulous. "But you're one of the nicest people here!"
"Well, like I said, people used to distance themselves from me because of my work as a coroner. And so, I wasn't really the best at social interaction," Hiroshi explained, his face shifting a bit to a neutral countenance. "But...you know, I met someone really smart, and they helped me figure out what I told you."
"Well, whoever this smart person is, I think I like them!" Hana told the coroner with a chuckle. Hiroshi returned the friendly chuckle, seeming to be enjoying talking like this. They did nothing too big, and yet...just talking with each other like this, even if it seemed rather mundane- it was quite enjoyable. And Hana realized that Hiroshi, for all his eerie calmness at times, had some great thoughts- she felt glad that she was somebody that the coroner could share these thoughts with.
Thus, after a bit more time talking with one another, Hana and Hiroshi went their separate ways yet again.
Returning to the solitude of her bedroom, Hana sat down on her bed. While she was happy she was able to possibly improve someone's mood, that did nothing to stop her from still feeling tired. She still had several hours until the dinner meeting, so catching up on her sleep would be more than possible. Hana lied down on the bed, ready to fall asleep...though it grew hard with her e-Handbook on her. She took out the tablet and walked over to the desk, setting it down before starting to make her way back to the bed.
At least...she started to, until she glanced back towards the e-Handbook. Hana couldn't help but remember what had happened just after the last trial- how her e-Handbook had suddenly acted strange and gave her that strange message. The surfer glanced at the security camera- there was no way to know if Monokuma was watching that camera specifically, or even if he would be able to see what she would be doing. Still, she couldn't be too careful; she went back and grabbed her e-Handbook again, then went back to her bed and pulled the covers over her head.
Hana then turned the e-Handbook back on, the blue light providing illumination under the bedsheets. It somewhat reminded her of when she was younger, and she would try to stay up after bedtime to read a book or something with a flashlight under her blankets; the only difference being, when she was little, there was no murder involved. Shaking her head a bit, she looked through the different applications on the e-Handbook, believing the message had been hidden somewhere in the notebook. She sifted through the multiple apps displayed, even if it seemed completely unrelated. However, the strange message was nowhere to be seen (although Hana did notice the 'Monokuma File' from before was gone- perhaps that had happened after the trial as well?); Hana furrowed her brow, before shutting off the e-Handbook and standing up once more.
Disappointed, she set the electronic gadget back on the desk before laying back down. However, her attempt at sleep was made more difficult by her thoughts swirling around that message. More specifically, she tried to remember what it had said, and what it could possibly mean. All she could figure out was that whoever had supposedly reprogrammed her e-Handbook knew about the killing game, knew who she was, and may even know about her classmates. It still led to more questions, however...
...'Reprogrammed' my e-Handbook...? How does someone even do that? That has to be some advanced tech or something, it can't be easy to program, let alone tamper with... Hana pondered. I mean, I'm just going with my gut here, but I'm assuming that message was programmed beforehand...otherwise, that person just has bad timing to tell me to end the killing game after two people had already died...
Then, another twinge of confusion hit her mind. But...why did they only mess with my e-Handbook? And what am I supposed to 'remember'? If their telling me to 'remember the class'- well, I know them pretty well now, but I only met them a few days ago. 'Remember your role'- what role? I never asked to be in a murder game, I just wanted to go to Hope's Peak, make friends, have fun! I'd love to put an end to all this before I lose more friends, but I...what does this person want me to do...?
After tossing and turning with these thoughts in her mind, Hana finally fell into a much-needed napping state.
Once Hana had refreshed herself with that nap, she put any remaining thoughts about the mysterious message on hold as she fixed her hair, then checked that e-Handbook once more. It was almost time for the dinner meeting- lucky for Hana that she had woken up when she did, the surfer doubted she would hear the end of it from Akira had she slept through the meeting.
With this in mind, the girl wasn't about to push her luck and made haste to the dining room.
Once she arrived, Hana saw there weren't as many absentees as that morning- well, except for Tadao, but she had learned her lesson from this morning as well.
"Hey, Hana," Hiroshi greeted the surfer from his seat at the table. "Say, where have you been all day? I thought you'd be up and about spending time with everyone."
"Well, I would have- but I had some...things on my mind," Hana explained, sitting down next to the coroner. "Plus, I was really tired, so I took a nap."
"Heh- well, thank goodness you didn't oversleep," Hiroshi responded, raising an eyebrow.
"No need to remind me," Hana replied only half-jokingly, looking around at the others. "Things seem a lot less tense than this morning, right? I mean- Hinata seems to be in better spirits than before."
Sure enough, the Ultimate Thief seemed to be back to his usual carefree self- to Hana's surprise, she also noticed Rumi was not sitting with Shiori, Kaneki, and Asuna as she usually did, but was sitting near Hinata and talking with him. It would appear that her talking to him before had worked well- still, Hana hadn't expected them to actually form a friendship- but then again, Rumi was pretty nice and if someone like Shiro could become good friends with someone like Itachi, then perhaps it wasn't too out of the question.
Speaking of Itachi- Akira turned to the brooding weapons expert and asked him, "Well Kunata, Koichi? Did you find that missing knife?"
"My apologies, Akira, but we searched every available area," Itachi replied. "And still, we couldn't find it."
"The only places we didn't search were everyone else's rooms and that secret room in the library," Shiro added apologetically. "So, we were pretty thorough, but..."
"But there's still a big knife lying around," Kaneki finished, her brow furrowed. Hana still had no idea what had the explorer so tense- though it probably was just concern over the motive. Still, it had the surfer curious...
It wasn't long before Tadao came out again with food. Above all else, it was the Ultimate Waiter that had Hana concerned the most; he had made himself clear on several occasions that he had no intention of working with the others, and even that he was willing to kill if he had to. Even though he said the motive meant nothing to him, would that still deter Tadao from making good on his threats...?
Hana would quickly realize she wasn't the only one wary of him. As Tadao was making his way back towards the kitchen, Ryoto stood up and approached him. "Hey, Tadao. Yeah, over here, turn around."
With a small, almost annoyed sigh, Tadao turned to face the racecar driver. "Can I help you, Miura?"
"Just giving you a warning- don't think of trying anything tonight, got it?" Ryoto warned, his blue eyes narrowed with distrust.
"Oh? And if I wanted to 'try something', don't you think I would have done so already?" Tadao inquired, seeming calm despite the accusation.
"No, we only got the motive yesterday, and if you wanted to kill somebody, you'd probably make a plan or something," Ryoto pointed out with a little growl.
"Hm- well look at you, maybe there is a brain under that neon porcupine you call hair," Tadao remarked, raising an eyebrow. "Though I'm not saying I even am planning a murder, for your information."
Before Ryoto could retort, the waiter added, "And besides...even if I was planning to kill, what makes you think you could stop me?"
Immediately, several eyes had turned to the conversation, including Hana's. Ryoto was silent for a moment, as if stunned, but then he growled, "The fuck are you talking about?"
"I'm just saying- let's say I was planning to kill somebody. Why do you think you could stop me, Miura?" Tadao asked, a small grin making its way onto his face.
"...Maybe you shouldn't be implying things like this in front of the literal prosecutor, Shimaru," Akira remarked with a frown, yet made no move to break up the two young men.
"I could stop you! I don't care, I'll stop you if it means no one else dies!" Ryoto insisted, clenching his fists in rage.
"Easier said than done, Miura. After all, how do you know what I'd even be planning, anyways?" the Ultimate implored, smirking. Was Tadao...was Tadao enjoying seeing Ryoto becoming so riled? "After all, you don't even know who I'd be targeting, who to protect...for all you know, I might be targeting you, Miura."
"Are you messing with me...? Are you trying to mess with me!?" Ryoto demanded. "You wanna know how I'll stop you!? I'll fucking show right here and now!"
"G-G-Guys...? Come on, calm down, please?" Hana asked, trying to sound firm- and failing miserably as well. Then again, the surfer had never been the leading expert in conflict resolution...and right now, it seemed that all that tension from before was about to erupt like Mt. Vesuvius.
"Please, both of you, there is no need to fight!" Saku insisted. "Nobody wants more bloodshed-"
"Speak for yourselves!" Ryoto shouted. "Have you forgotten how Tadao's been acting!? All the threats, isolating himself- you think that's not suspicious!?"
"Oh look, someone's trying to be hero I see," Tadao stated, sounding almost amused. "But you know, putting yourself on the line like that makes you quite the target, Miura. Maybe someone might think of you as a threat, and decide you're worth more dead than alive?"
Ryoto's face was only growing redder by the minute, while Tadao didn't seem all that concerned for his safety.
"Y-You guys, we shouldn't..." Asuna began- before, to Hana's surprise, the gardener stood up out of her seat and ran over to the arguing men.
"A-Asuna? What are you-?" Kaneki began in shock, before she too stood and followed her friend.
Once Asuna was by Ryoto and Tadao she implored the two Ultimates, "W-We shouldn't fight like this! Th-This...This is just what the mastermind wants, r-right?"
"Asuna's right. If we just fight amongst ourselves, then a murder will definitely happen," Hiroshi added sternly. "And nobody-"
"I couldn't care less about what this mastermind wants, believe me," Tadao insisted. "I care about my own ends- and if murder is a means to those ends, well then I'll take it regardless. After all, Miura isn't the only one among you who I consider worth more dead than alive."
"See!? This is what I'm talking about!" Ryoto roared. "Here you are, spouting your 'I'm gonna kill someone' bull, and you think I'm gonna stand for that!? I'm Ryoto Miura, and I'm not gonna let you do a thing to anybody!"
"Miura..." Akira began in a warning tone with a vicious glare, though the racecar driver could not see it.
Tadao chuckled with a sinister edge to his voice. "And what would you do about it? You're just the brainless muscle, who still dresses like a child on Halloween- you couldn't stop a murder if it was happening in front of you!"
Ryoto's eyes practically lit up, before the Ultimate Racecar Driver let out a roar of fury. He drew his fist back, aiming it right at Tadao, whose face instantaneously went from arrogant to surprise- however, it was clear the waiter would not be able to dodge.
At that moment, several things happened within seconds- Hana could barely distinguish what happened. Right as Ryoto made his move to punch Tadao, Asuna yelled out, "RYOTO, NO!"
The Ultimate Gardener suddenly threw herself forward in an attempt to stop the racer- in that moment, Hana was certain Asuna would end up punched in Tadao's place. But then, a brown blur suddenly sped towards Ryoto; in a split second, an audible THWAP could be heard through the whole dining hall, followed by Ryoto crying out in pain and being practically flung onto the floor, landing on his rear end.
It took Hana a few moments to comprehend what had happened, but once everything settled, the surfer could get a better look at the aftermath. She saw Ryoto on the ground, wincing and clutching his face in pain; she saw Kaneki, who was now standing next to where Ryoto had been, gripping her bullwhip tightly with a look of uncharacteristic rage on her face; and she saw Asuna and Tadao, the latter seeming quite shocked (much to Hana's surprise) and the former looking back and forth between Ryoto and Kaneki, as if she too was trying to figure out what had happened.
"Gh-! Shit, that stings...!" Ryoto groaned, removing his hands, allowing the others to see the long red mark forming across his face where the whip had struck him.
"Are you crazy!? Did you lose your mind completely!?" Kaneki shouted at him, her face ablaze with as much rage as Ryoto's had been mere seconds before. "Are you trying to get somebody killed!?"
Ryoto stared at the explorer in shock, and Hana certainly couldn't blame him for the confusion. Of all the students to lose their cool like this, Kaneki did not seem like that kind of person. Sure, there were times when she could be angered (the infamous book battle notwithstanding), and she certainly wasn't her usual cheerful self all the time- but most of the time, she was. Therefore, for Kaneki to be acting so anxious all day, and now to see her just snap and lash out like this...there was no more doubt in Hana's mind- something was definitely wrong with her explorer friend.
"I'll...be honest, I didn't think Miura would actually make good on his threats," Tadao admitted, regaining his composure. "But, considering how easy it is to stoke that temper of yours, you can't expect it to not be taken advantage of-"
Kaneki turned her wrathful gaze to the waiter, as if to say to him 'You're next if you don't shut up'. Sure enough, Tadao fell silent again, indicating that even he was perturbed by the Ultimate Explorer's unusual behavior.
"Okay, that's enough, all of you!" Saku spoke up, his face stern as he stood and faced the others. "All this is doing is building discord! If that happens, we're all as good as executed- therefore, let's just settle down, and finish our dinner, like the civilized people we are. Please, I'd rather not have you break you all up myself- infighting never leads to a good outcome."
The four of them were silent, before Tadao spoke up, "I...believe this is, in fact, the part where I cut my losses and make my exit."
True to his word, the Ultimate Waiter departed from the dining room to the kitchen, although his brisk pace made it look more like a scamper. As for Kaneki herself, it was hard to read her expression- she wouldn't even turn to Asuna. The explorer simply put her whip away and made her way back to her seat, her anger replaced with a deafening silence.
"Nngh- hey, Asuna?" Ryoto began apologetically as he picked himself up. "It occurred to me that I miiiight have been about to punch you out before I got a whip to the face. Ah- sorry about that. I really don't know what came over me- fucking Tadao just got me so pissed, and I just had to do something!"
"I-It's fine...I shouldn't have jumped between you two like that," Asuna responded, looking down somewhat. "Uh...we should go back to our seats now..."
Without another word, Asuna and Ryoto returned to their own seats as well. For the rest of the dinner meeting, the conversations were quiet, and far and few between. The only real things Hana heard were Ryoto saying something about talking to Shiori to get his facial wound looked at, and Rumi attempting to make conversation with Kaneki- attempts that fell flat, ultimately, seeing as how the only person the taller girl really acknowledged was Asuna (and even then, she mostly kept to herself). Of course, this only further fueled Hana's worries regarding the Ultimate Explorer; as soon as dinner was over, the Ultimate Surfer knew the first thing she would be doing before nighttime.
With dinner done and after saying a quick goodbye to Hiroshi, Hana quickly took off in search of a certain someone. She didn't see them immediately- probably because Hana was one of the first ones to leave- so she waited out in the main chamber. A minute or two later, Hana spotted the person she was looking for; that person was Kaneki, who Hana saw enter the main hall after briefly talking with Asuna. Once the explorer broke off from her and entered the large room by herself, Hana wasted no time approaching her.
"Hey- Kaneki?" Hana asked as she walked over. "Can I...talk to you real fast?"
"Huh?" the Ultimate Explorer responded, turning to Hana with confusion. "Everything okay?"
"What? I could ask you the same question," Hana replied with a frown. "What's going on with you? You've been acting weird all day..."
"Weird...?" Kaneki began, before frowning as well. "...N-No I haven't."
"Yes, yes you have," Hana insisted. "You've been practically ignoring everyone- even Rumi, who might I add is doing her best to plan a great hangout for us friends, you've been anxious and quiet, and at the beginning of the meeting you whipped Ryoto in the face!"
"Well what was I supposed to do, just let him punch out Asuna when he was gunning for Tadao?" Kaneki asked indignantly.
"That's not the point! The point is, you've been acting off, and I want to know why!" Hana replied in a firm voice.
"There's nothing wrong, everything's fine," Kaneki told her, her hazel eyes narrowed. "Okay? Nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to- you act weird all day, the day after Monokuma announced that motive, and you expect me to not be worried!?" Hana practically yelled, putting her hand on the explorer's shoulder to make sure she didn't walk away prematurely. "Did you forget what happened with Mikio and Azami? Azami was scared, she was freaked out by that first motive- and because of that, because we didn't even see how scared she was, Mikio died! Azami was executed!"
"..." Kaneki didn't respond, but her expression seemed to soften somewhat...
"Look, I don't think you're planning a murder, but...I don't want something like that to happen again! I don't care if I have to pester you all night, I am not losing anyone like that again!" Hana insisted, her hands shaking a bit as she spoke. "So please, just tell me- what's going on, Kaneki?"
"..." Kaneki looked down for a moment, her earlier anger replaced with what looked like guilt. "...I'm sorry, Hana. I wasn't trying to make anyone that worried, you included. It's...fucking...it's complicated, okay?"
"...Well I'm not going anywhere," Hana stated, still determined to figure out her friend's problem.
"Look, Hana, it's not that I don't want to tell anyone," Kaneki began with a slight cringe. "I would if I could, but...I can't. At the very least, I can't do it yet."
"'Yet'? What are you talking about?" Hana asked, removing her hand from Kaneki's shoulder once she was sure the explorer wouldn't run off on her.
"I...can't go into specifics without freaking you out- and besides, right now, all I really have are suspicions," Kaneki went on, looking around as she spoke.
"Suspicions? Wait, do you..." Hana began, furrowing her brow in worry. "Do you think something's going to...happen?"
"..." Kaneki didn't answer that question. "...Like I was saying, I don't have all the answers yet. I'm fairly certain I will soon, but...the thing is, it's been weighing on me all day. Guess you could say that's why I've been acting all, as you put it, 'off'."
"But...you still haven't told me what you're even talking about," Hana pointed out, frowning in worry. "If it's making you so stressed, maybe telling someone will-"
"No. I can't say anything about it until I have more answers," Kaneki insisted. "But like I said- I'm sure I'll have the answers I'm looking for soon. Actually, I'd say I'll know by tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? ...Will you tell me then?" Hana asked.
"Mm...well, even if it turns out I'm wrong, I guess I do owe you an explanation for making you worry so much," Kaneki replied. "So, yeah- tomorrow, I'll tell you everything."
"Okay...okay, I can live with that," Hana responded with a nod of agreement. "Oh! But, there's still that thing Rumi has planned tomorrow, and knowing her she'll want to know why too..."
"Yeah yeah, I get it- if it comes up, I'll explain it to the others, too," Kaneki agreed.
"And you know, you did hit Ryoto with your whip, so he'll probably have some questions too..." Hana also added, trailing off with a glance at the explorer.
"I get it, I get it, I owe a lot of people an explanation," Kaneki responded with a grimace.
"Heh- sorry, just giving you a bit of a hard time," Hana told her. "Just trying to make sure we're still on friendly terms."
Kaneki chuckled with a smile, and at that point Hana could see the explorer was back to her usual self- if only for that conversation. She then said to the surfer, "Say, it'll be nighttime soon-you should probably be heading back to your room, so Akira won't get mad at you for breaking her nighttime rule."
"I know, I'm going," Hana replied, turning to make her way back to the bedrooms. "Don't...do anything rash, okay?"
"Hana, don't worry- I may have an indestructible whip on me, but I don't plan on killing anyone," Kaneki reassured the surfer. "Just get some sleep, alright?"
"Alright- goodnight, Kaneki," Hana said to her friend with a wave of farewell. Kaneki tipped her fedora to Hana in goodbye as she walked away as well; though Hana still had several questions, she had a feeling her talk had at least improved the Ultimate Explorer's mood in some way, which was satisfactory for right now.
Eventually, any lingering thoughts Hana had about the day's ordeals vanished as the Ultimate Surfer prepared for bed. And as the nighttime announcement played right on schedule, the girl settled down into a semi-peaceful sleep. Whatever other questions she had, they would have to wait until tomorrow...
As Hana was jolted out of a deep sleep by the morning announcement- had a whole night really passed so quickly? The surfer felt as though she had only slept for five minutes. Regardless, it was that time of day- the breakfast meeting; trying to shake her thoughts out of a sleepy state, Hana got ready as she usually did and made her way to the dining room. She was surprised by how mundane these routines had become over the last few days, especially since this was a murder game; but then again, any sense of normalcy was welcome by this point.
Hana entered the dining room, which was already bustling with the activity of the students. Noticing Hiroshi casually leaning against the wall and observing the others, she walked over to him. "Hey there, Hiroshi!"
"Good morning, Hana," Hiroshi responded with a small smile. "Don't worry, just people watching again. You're welcome to join me again, if you want."
"No thanks- actually, I was gonna see if I could talk to Kaneki, she told me she-" Hana began, glancing at the dining table...before she noticed something strange. "...Huh? Where's Kaneki?"
"Kaneki? Hm...actually, yes, I don't see her anywhere," Hiroshi confirmed, looking around the room. "Actually...now that you mention it...she's not the only one missing. I don't see Asuna or Shiro anywhere, either."
"What?" Hana asked in surprise. The surfer walked over to Rumi and Shiori and asked the two girls, "Hey...guys? Have you seen Kaneki or Asuna anywhere?"
"Well- no," Shiori answered her. "But they're probably just running late- I mean, I'm sure you can relate to being tardy, considering your track record, Hana."
"Well, I hope they're not trying to get out of the hangout- I've been planning this for days, and we're gonna have fun whether they like it or not!" Rumi resolved with a fire in her eyes.
Furrowing her brow, Hana next walked over to Itachi. The weapons expert glanced at the surfer curiously as she asked, "Itachi? You haven't seen Shiro anywhere either, have you?"
"Shiro? Well...no, now that you mention it. Though he is usually here around the same time as me..." Itachi responded, lowering his gaze thoughtfully.
These responses did not sit well with Hana. If she was honest with herself, she wasn't too surprised that Kaneki was late- she was already being weird the day before, so her being uncharacteristically late was just another thing to add to the oddities. But...Asuna and Shiro? Hana couldn't imagine those two missing a meeting for anything- so what was going on...?
Akira caught notice of Hana's questions and remarked, "So, three of us are absent then? Hm...well, I'd prefer we were all here in one place for these meetings, but if those three don't show up soon, we may have to just go on without them. After all, progress waits for no one."
Hana frowned, but shrugged and went over to take her seat. She could only assume Tadao was still working on the food, so as the students settled down and Hiroshi continued with his people watching, the surfer turned so she could talk to Rumi and Shiori...
...And just before she could say a word, the dining room's peace would be ruined in a mere second.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Almost simultaneously, the students in the dining room looked around in shock and confusion. It was faint, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that what they had just heard was a bloodcurdling scream.
"W-What the hell...? Who screamed?" Hinata asked, looking around the room.
"That sounded distant..." Saku remarked, also looking around in confusion.
"Yeah, it sounded like..." Rumi began...before gasping in fear and adding, "Th-That scream...it sounded like Asuna!"
"A-Asuna!?" Hana cried, her eyes widening in an instant.
"What?" Hirosh asked, his calm countenance cracking at the edges with fear.
"Wait...the motive..." Itachi began, his eyes growing wide with realization. "That scream- you don't think...!"
The mere suggestion that a murder was taking place was all it took for Ryoto to leap out of his seat, nearly knocking the chair over as he did. "Th-There's no way that's gonna happen! Come on, we gotta find her!"
Without waiting for a response, the racecar driver sprinted out of the room. Hana jumped up out of her seat as well and shouted after Ryoto, "Hey! Wait for me!"
"Guys, wait up!" Hiroshi called after, but by that point the two Ultimates were out of the dining room and speeding down the hallway into the main chamber. However, once Hana and Ryoto were by the left stairs leading to the second floor, they stopped.
"Ah...shit, I don't know where the scream came from, do you!?" Ryoto frantically asked.
"I-I don't know! It sounded so distant, I couldn't tell-" Hana began- but at that moment...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Without a doubt, that was Asuna's cry again, this one sounding more like a combination of a scream and a wail. Hana thought to herself, That one, it sounded like it came from...
"The second floor! I heard her up there!" Ryoto yelled, pointing to the west side. "Come on, up here!"
The Ultimate Racecar Driver sped up the stairs to the second floor, with Hana doing her best to keep up- it was times like this she was glad to be athletic, otherwise she was sure Ryoto would have left her in the dust by now with how fast he was running.
As Ryoto rounded the corner into the west hallway, he called out, "Come on come on come on, I think it's this way, we gotta go there might be- GAH!"
Hana's view was blocked by the wall, but she could still hear an audible thud from the hallway, something that sounded like two people crashing into each other. Once Hana rounded the corner, the surfer was shocked by what she saw: two students were lying on the ground after having barreled into each other, Ryoto and, to Hana's surprise/relief, Asuna herself.
"Nngh, what did I-" Ryoto began, picking himself up- before he realized who he was looking at. "Asuna! Oh thank god you're not murdered!"
"What happened? Why were you screaming?" Hana asked, running over to her friend. "Did something happen, was someone-"
However, the surfer stopped talking upon seeing Asuna more fully. The gardener didn't look injured- however, she was breathing very quickly, her face was pale and her eyes were wide with terror, and there were tears streaming down her face.
"I...I-I, th-there's...! In the...!" Asuna gasped in between trembling sobs, pointing down the hallway...before she let out another shriek and bolted away towards the stairs Hana and Ryoto had just climbed.
"What the...?" Hana murmured, looking down the hall to where Asuna had pointed. To her surprise, she could see the door to the study was wide open- did something in there frighten Asuna...?
"Shit...well, there's no way Ryoto Miura's stopping here! I gotta know what had her so panicked!" Ryoto told Hana before he ran down the hall and into the study room. Hana glanced back at where Asuna had fled, tempted to follow and make sure she would be fine...but then again, the surfer was sure the other students would be following soon enough, and therefore they would run into the Ultimate Gardener. With this in mind, Hana followed Ryoto into the study.
Since the door was open already, Hana wasted no time practically throwing herself into the study. The first two things she noticed were Ryoto himself and the desk, with papers haphazardly strewn on its surface and pens spilled on top of those.
"Ryoto, I know you're worried an all, but don't tear apart the whole room!" Hana admonished the racer.
"Hey, the desk was like that when I got here!" Ryoto insisted, before looking around. "More importantly- do you see anything that looks like it would make Asuna scream like that?"
"Uh..." Hana began. She looked around, but since she was still full of adrenaline, it was hard for her to focus on any real details...except for one. "Hey...look."
She pointed behind Ryoto, towards the door to the storage room. To their confusion, the door was slightly ajar, though not open enough for either of them to see the inside of the room.
"Huh? Why's the door open, I thought it was supposed to be locked until after the breakfast meeting?" Ryoto asked.
"Maybe Asuna decided to unlock it early...? Anyways, that's the one we haven't checked, so..." Hana pointed out.
Ryoto nodded in understanding as the two of them approached the metallic door. Ryoto moved over to open it...but then, the two of them stopped. Hana felt a horrible sensation in her gut- a feeling of dread, anxiety. W-Why do I feel so...afraid? What's this presence? I...I'm worried for nothing, right? There's no way there's anything back there, there's just...just...
"H-Hey...Ryoto...?" Hana began as they stopped. "Y-You don't think...the reason Asuna freaked out, and why the door's kinda open, you don't think...!"
"NO! No, don't you DARE say the M-word!" Ryoto shouted.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Hana quickly responded, recanting her earlier statement.
"We...We promised we wouldn't let another murder happen! So that's why...there's no way!" Ryoto insisted. "What scared Asuna...i-it was probably just a spider or something! Yeah! A big-ass spider, lurking in the storage room!"
"Y-Yeah! That makes much more sense!" Hana agreed with a firm nod. However, the feeling of terror didn't vanish, and one look into Ryoto's face was all it took to tell her that he was just as afraid as she was.
"There's...There's nothing to worry about...!" Ryoto said, turning to the door with gritted teeth. "NOTHING AT ALL!"
With a shout that bordered on a war cry, the Ultimate Racecar Driver flung the door open, nearly ripping it off its hinges. Time seemed to slow down as light from the study filled the darkened storage room. Within moments, Ryoto and Hana were able to fully look into the room. And in that instant, what they saw...
In the span of one night, the gray and silver storage room had been transformed into a world marred with dark red.
Blood splattered on the walls, on the shelves, on the boxes and crates, smeared on the tiled floor. To Hana, it looked like a scene straight out of a horror movie...but the most horrific part of what she and Ryoto were looking at wouldn't go unnoticed for long.
There, lying in the center of the storage room amongst the blood smears...was Kaneki Tenmaru, lying on her back and facing the ceiling. Her hands were covered in blood, the entire right side of her brown vest was covered in a massive bloodstain, the bottoms of her boots were cakes in dried blood, and there were more small splatters of blood that extended to the left side of her vest and down to her shorts. The explorer's prized fedora was not atop her head anymore, but rather lying a few feet away by one of the shelves on the right side of the room. A large, deep gash cut through the right side of Kaneki's throat, and there were several trails of blood, which had also dried, that had oozed out of the Ultimate's mouth.
But what caught Hana's attention the most...was Kaneki's face. A face that was frozen in an expression of what could only be described as pure, unadulterated terror. Her hazel eyes were wide open, the usual energy and life in them completely gone, and her mouth hung open somewhat as if she had been killed in the middle of a scream.
"N...Nothing...to...!" Ryoto choked out, his earlier confidence and gusto completely shattered as he stared at the scene with abject horror.
No...no...no, no, no, no no NO NO NO NO! Hana thought to herself as she gazed upon the corpse of her friend. The Ultimate felt like she stared at the gruesome scene for hours, though in reality it was probably more like a few seconds. It didn't take long for memories of discovering Mikio's bloodied body to come rushing back, and all the feelings that came with it. The surfer wanted to scream, she felt a shriek forming in her throat...but it never came out, leaving Hana to just stare alongside Ryoto in shock, confusion, and horror- until...
Ding dong, ding dong
The monitors in the storage and study rooms came to life, and Monokuma's childlike voice spoke an announcement that Hana didn't think she'd ever hear again: "A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time, which you may use however you like, the class trial will begin!"
That was all it took to confirm Hana's worst fears. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ryoto backing away in shock; at the same time, Hana felt herself drop to her knees in despair as reality set in. She buried her face in her hands, shaking- no matter how much she wished for this all to be some kind of nightmare, deep in her heart she knew that was not the case.
It's...It's happened again... Hana told herself as she choked back tears. Kaneki...she's dead...no, not just dead, murdered...and her killer...
Her killer is...is one of us...!
A/N: And so, the second murder victim has been revealed: Kaneki Tenmaru, Ultimate Explorer! To be honest, I feel like it was pretty obvious towards the end that she would be the one to get axed this chapter- though to be even more honest, I don't really care if people guess the victim(s) ahead of time, it's the killer(s) that are the real mystery.
But...hoo boy, this murder's been a long time coming. You know, and uh- trivia time: Kaneki was actually one of the very first Danganronpa characters I ever made, even before I decided to make a full-fledged Fanganrona thing like this. So as you can imagine, this character has a bit of a special place in my heart, as well as being one of my favorites from the 80th class as a whole. ...Now obviously that didn't do squat to save her from biting the dust- even when I'm the one in charge of the story, my favorite characters never live. That's DR for ya, I suppose.
But enough of that- next time, the fun really begins. It'll be time for the long-awaited investigation! An investigation that, mind you, will be longer than Chapter 1's, seeing as how the murder is a biiiiiiiit more complicated this time around. You'll see what I mean soon enough, and I hope to see you there! So until then, speculate, predict, theorize- crud those are all synonyms- do whatever makes you excited for next time!
...Now,uh...if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna just...go grieve in the corner. *sniffle*