A/N: DON'T YOU GO TRYING TO FIND ANYTHING UP HERE, GET DOWN THERE AND READ THE REST OF DAILY LIFE YOU FOOLS!
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Chapter 4: Halls of Regret- Daily Life (Part 5)
The trio found themselves back in the East Wing fairly quickly, the three girls approaching the iron doors leading into the armory. Hana looked towards the floor as they walked over- the paper tag Akira had used was gone, proving the prosecutor truly had opened the room to everyone once again.
"You know, I-I never got a chance to really look around the armory when we first investigated the East Wing- I, uh, just looked around the training room," Asuna remarked as they approached.
"Well, now you're gonna be able to see it a lot more closely!" Rumi responded, walking up to the doors. "Ooh, these are bigger up close...are they gonna be hard to open...?"
While the scuba diver fumbled around with the heavy doors, Hana heard the doors to the courtyard opening and turned to see Shiori walking over to them.
"Oh, hey- that was quick," Hana remarked as the other teen walked over to the group.
Shiori scoffed in response, "Yeah, it was, I, uh, told you it would be. Yeah."
Before the talk could get much further, Rumi managed to open the doors and, when she did, called out, "Got it!"
With the doors pushed open, the four girls were free to enter the armory. Upon walking in, Hana examined the surroundings- surroundings she hadn't seen in a few days. The room had that same warehouse-like appearance and ambiance, the numerous racks and shelves placed around the room were still well-organized and stocked with various kinds of weaponry- the only change Hana could see was one of the larger and heavier-looking racks being displaced somewhat, but that was probably what Akira had used to barricade the second entrance, so the displacement was explainable.
"Yeesh, overcompensate much?" Shiori remarked, as this was most likely her first time being in the armory. "What does one robotic bear need a weapons stash this big for?"
"Maybe the armory just came with the castle?" Asuna suggested. "C-Castles have stuff like that, don't they?"
"Well, whether they do or not, I'm excited to look around!" Rumi remarked. "I've never gotten to look at swords and stuff this up-close, I've always only seen them in, like, fantasy movies or books!"
"Same here- dangerous as this might be, it could also be really cool!" Hana added with anticipation. "So, yeah, let's look around a bit."
"And you-" Shiori began, turning her attention to Asuna and flicking the brim of her fedora. "-had better not start throwing things off of shelves to try to find some secret switch or something."
"Haha, very funny- don't worry, I-I won't do anything like that," the gardener assured her classmate, readjusting the hat as she did before adding, "And she said she was sorry about that!"
Thus, the four students began their exploration of the expansive armory. Hana, still wanting to know whether or not this place held any answers, did in fact start messing around with the items on the shelves in the hopes of triggering something (but not going as far as to tear the shelves apart, which would only serve to annoy Shiori). As she went, however, it was becoming increasingly clear this search would end up being a bust as well- still, there were more racks and shelves to go, so the surfer would not give up just yet.
At one point, she was near where Shiori was looking around- the surgeon in question was standing by a rack more towards the center of the room, one that contained a few sets of daggers.
"Hey- you looking at those?" Hana inquired, walking over to the Ultimate.
Shiori gave her a deadpan look before responding, "No Hana- despite the fact that I am clearly looking over these daggers, I am actually practicing my river dancing."
"Okay okay, dumb question," Hana admitted with a frown.
The surfer glanced at one of the daggers, which Shiori was holding to get a closer look at; it, along with its identical counterparts, appeared rather fancy for something meant for combat. It was extremely shiny as if it was made yesterday, and the blade itself had a slight gold tint to it.
"Huh- doesn't look like these have ever been used at all," Hana observed as she looked over the rack.
"I would hope they haven't been used before- that'd just lead to even more questions," the surgeon stated, turning the weapon over in her hands.
Hana glanced over to where Rumi and Asuna were- standing by one of the larger shelves, the former holding a rather long greatsword.
"...and in a lot of movies, the hero usually holds their sword up all dramatically and stuff- usually they have some sort of magical ability that they activate when they do this too, but sadly I don't have anything like that," Rumi said to the gardener. "But that doesn't mean I still can't do this!"
The scuba diver proceeded to grip the handle with both of her hands and raised the sword straight into the air...but the sword was, evidently, too heavy for the girl to handle. As such, she stumbled for a moment as her balance left her, before she ultimately crashed into the shelf with a yelp of pain, dropping the sword and causing the metallic weapons to rattle from the force (miraculously, nothing fell on the unsuspecting Ultimate). Asuna immediately went to make sure her classmate was okay- luckily, Rumi only appeared to be dazed, not injured.
"...Hey, Shiori, how come you're not really interacting with anyone?" Hana asked the surgeon as she watched her two other classmates. "Me, Rumi, Asuna..."
Shiori did not look her way as she answered, "You haven't really been doing that either, you've just been kinda wandering around."
"But I came over to talk to you," Hana pointed out.
"...Touche," Shiori admitted. "I...look, I will, just- go back to whatever it is you're doing, alright? I'm fine."
Though Hana was slightly hesitant, she figured Shiori's lack of interaction wouldn't last too long (especially if Rumi had anything to say about it), and thus she nodded in acknowledgement and went back to her search of the area. A search that...still didn't lead anywhere, much to the surfer's chagrin. And considering this was the last chance to find any clues to the killing game's secrets, since the books and the rest of the wing turned up nothing, it only added to her frustration...
Rumi, having taken notice of Hana's downtrodden look, walked over to her and asked, "What's wrong, Hana? You were all excited a few minutes ago, and now you're all...I dunno, sad-ish?"
"O-Oh, um- sorry, it's really nothing, I was just- thinking. On...stuff," Hana explained, immediately trying to mask her sullen countenance.
"'Thinking on...?' Ooh, wait, I think I get it," Rumi suddenly responded. "I know why you're looking kinda down!"
"You do?" Hana asked, surprised.
"Yes! I mean, I shouldn't be surprised, it's totally understandable-" the scuba diver went on. "You're sad about Azami and Kaneki, right?"
"..." Hana blinked a few times, before awkwardly responding, "Y-Yeeeah, yeah, that's- that's it, you are completely right."
"Oooh, I knew it! I- alright, come here," Rumi responded, walking over to her classmate; before Hana could ask questions, the scuba diver quickly pulled her into a tight embrace.
"...I miss them too- I really do, and I wish they could be here to have fun with us too," Rumi told her. "It's alright to still feel that way, even after everything that's happened since they died- I know I still do."
Hana said nothing in response, nor did she make any movements of any kind as she was hugged.
"But...we can't let it get us down all the time, right? I don't think either of them would have wanted that- they'd want us to keep going," Rumi went on, tightening her embrace somewhat (not to the point of crushing the surfer, thankfully). "So...that's what we have to do, right? Besides- even if they're not here in person, I'd like to think they're here in spirit. That's a good way to look at it, right?"
At that last statement, Rumi stepped a back a bit so the two could look each other in the eyes, her hands on Hana's shoulders- though the surfer was still silent.
As she stared at her classmate, Hana felt a sense of guilt welling up in her. Here she was, lying to Rumi's face about why she was upset (although there was a part of her that was saddened by the absence of Azami and Kaneki, so it wasn't a complete lie) during a hangout that the scuba diver herself planned for her friends, and here that same Ultimate was trying to cheer her up the best way she could, not even realizing she was cheering Hana up for the wrong reason.
Ah, face it- there's nothing in here in terms of clues. You could keep searching all you want, but what are the odds something'll suddenly be there? And even you are that curious or worried about missing something- you can search on your time, when Rumi's not trying to help you and your other friends feel better after all the death and horror! Hana chastised herself. You're spending with your close good friends- keep the 'find a way out' agenda out of it, at least for right now!
"...You're right. You're right, I- sorry, I just...can't help but think of the others sometimes," Hana responded with a small sigh (once again, not a complete lie), not really needing to fake her apologetic tone.
"I know- you do get attached to a lot of the others pretty easily," Rumi observed. "...Well, most of the others."
The scuba diver then let go of Hana, remarking, "Come on, let's get back to Asuna and Shi-"
CLANG! "AGH!"
"For fuck's sake, I warned you that would happen!"
Hana and Rumi looked towards the end of the armory where the shouts came from- a shelf containing several kinds of large battle axes and warhammers. There, they saw Shiori and Asuna- the latter being pinned beneath the shaft of one such warhammer, and Shiori (with some difficulty) lifting/pulling it off of her.
"Ah- hey, guys, everything okay?" Hana asked, immediately heading over to the two Ultimates. "What happened?"
"Well, I was looking at one of these hammer things, and I was trying to put it back- trouble is, it's heavy as fuck, and I'm no athlete," Shiori began, gesturing to the metallic weapon in question.
"I-I saw she was having trouble, and it didn't look that heavy, s-so I thought I'd be able to help and put it back myself," Asuna continued, dusting herself off.
"And I told her the thing was heavier than it looked, but I guess that hat cuts off hearing or something," the surgeon growled, crossing her arms. "Seriously, I'm taller and kinda stronger than you, if I couldn't lift it up enough why in the world did you think you could?"
"W-Well I figured it out pretty quickly!" Asuna defensively replied. "And you don't know for sure how strong I am relative to anyone else!"
"Hey, hey- first of all, if you want this put back so badly, you could have asked me for help," Hana spoke up, walking over and taking the lengthy hammer from Shiori, then proceeding to fully pick it up and carry it with only slight difficulty- it paid to have good arm strength.
"Well excuse me, Showoff..." Shiori muttered as she watched the surfer return the warhammer to its spot.
"Hey, Shiori, lay off a bit okay?" Rumi told the surgeon with a frown. "Asuna was just trying to help you out, that's all."
"Yeah, and I'm not even involved in this, I'm just putting it back like you guys were trying to!" Hana then pointed out once she had finished. "Not really trying to show off, geez..."
"..." Finally, Shiori sighed, speaking up, "I know, I...look, I know you two meant well, and the anger was kinda unwarranted."
"W-Wait, you're apologizing?" Hana realized in shock. "You never apologize for whatever you say!"
"Well that's because the sarcasm is deserved most of the time- but when I get a bit more...stressed, I kinda stop thinking about that sort of thing," Shiori admitted with a slight grimace.
"I-I didn't know you were stressed about something," Asuna remarked. "What's the matter? Is it...you know, the motive?"
Shiori scoffed. "I'm always stressed about something. For work, at school, at home- hell, a lot of the time, I'd never be able to get away with talking the way I do around you guys."
"Well- Shiori! It wouldn't kill you to relax a little bit, at least when we're around," Rumi told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We're friends, right? And friends, uh...make you less stressed out?"
"That sounds about right," Asuna agreed with a little smile.
Once again, Hana saw a look of hesitation cross Shiori's features- like there was something she wanted to say, but...she didn't. Instead, the surgeon shrugged Rumi's hand off, even stepping back a little bit.
"Um...I never said sorry for getting stuck under the hammer, so uh...sorry about that," Asuna then said, frowning again.
Shiori glanced at the gardener and shook her head. "Don't do that, you didn't do anything wrong. Save that apology for whenever it's actually needed, alright?"
Hana looked around at her three classmates, before glancing over to the door to the training room. Upon doing so, the surfer suddenly thought of an idea, one that might be able to lift the mood of her friends.
"Hey, guys- what if we tried out some of this stuff on those dummies in the training room?" Hana suggested, gesturing to the other door. "I mean, I've personally always wanted to know what it was like to use a real sword."
"Ooh, now that you mention it- there is something in the training room that I wanted to try out too!" Rumi remarked, eager. "Yeah, great idea! C'mon!"
Rumi was the first one to head off towards the training room, as whatever she wanted to try evidently didn't require anything from the armory.
Asuna walked towards one of the racks in the middle of the room and picked up a regular wooden longbow...a rather sizable longbow, at that.
"Uh...Asuna?" Hana began. "You're...gonna try out the bow?"
"Y-Yeah- my old school had an archery club, and I wanted to try it out, b-but they wouldn't let me in because they said I was too small," Asuna explained, having difficulty lifting up the bow as she picked up some arrows with a free hand. Before either Hana or Shiori could try to talk her out of it, the Ultimate was practically dragging the longbow over towards the training area.
Shrugging, Hana made her way over to a separate rack, this one containing one-handed swords.
"Since when were you so interested in swords and stuff?" Shiori asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I kinda wanted to try them out after seeing some characters in a few games I played using them- especially after I played The Legend of Kyon, that one was great," Hana explained, picking up one of the polished blades.
"The hell is that?" the surgeon then asked with a confused frown.
"The Legend of Kyon? It's one of the games Mikio made! One of his first ones, I think," Hana explained. "See, it's like an RPG and- what is it, hack-and-slash hybrid sorta thing. See, it's about this guy named Kyo who lives on a continent called Kyon- hence the title- and he's been living in this farming village surrounded by these big stone walls to keep out all the-"
Hana's eager explanation was cut short when she took notice of a second rack- this one containing smaller, one-handed axes. Upon seeing these, the surfer eagerly explained, "Oh, hey! I could try out one of those, too!"
"One-handed axes...?" Shiori observed, walking over to the rack alongside Hana and picking up one of the axes herself.
"Yeah! I've always been kinda interested in these, too- but that's mainly because the protagonist of this other game of Mikio's used one," Hana began, picking up a short axe of her own with her free hand.
"Is that so...?" Shiori inquired, paying more attention to the axe than to her rambling classmate.
"Yeah! See, the game was supposed to be part of this series of strategy RPGs- or SRPGs- called 3050, and it takes place in the waaay distant future where the Earth's been basically terraformed by this energy from another dimension," Hana explained. "And, uh- I said 'supposed to be' because- yeah, the first game was made and released, but...I mean, Mikio's dead now, so if he was gonna make any other games...well, that's-"
Hana glanced up to where she thought Shiori was- only to see the surgeon was gone, the axe she had been holding returned to its spot, and the doors to the training room having just finished closing.
...So much for me getting to talk about my niche interests... Hana lamented to herself, taking the sword and the one-handed axe with her as she entered the training room herself.
Upon entry, Hana noticed two things: Asuna was standing several meters away from one of the dummies, struggling to both hold the longbow and nock the arrow; meanwhile, Shiori and Rumi were off towards the right side of the room, seeming to be having a hushed conversation between themselves.
The surfer walked over to where Asuna was practically wrestling with the longbow, the short Ultimate barely acknowledging her classmate.
"...You having trouble with that?" Hana inquired, setting her items down and watching the other girl with slight amusement.
"N-No, I'm not! It's...taking a little getting used to, I can do it!" Asuna insisted. "S-See, look! I think I got the arrow in!"
Sure enough, the Ultimate had the arrow in and the string drawn back...well, about as far back as the tiny girl could manage. When she released the string to let the arrow go, however, Asuna lost whatever balance she had and ended up falling on the ground flat on her back, the longbow landing on top of her. To add insult to injury- the arrow ended up only flying a few feet before miserably landing on the wooded floor.
Hana had to stifle a laugh before she walked over to help her classmate to her feet. "You know that I don't judge you for your height, but- I'm starting to think those archery club guys from your old school may have had a point."
"Y-You think so...?" Asuna asked, frowning at the longbow that had fallen to the floor. "Books always make archery seem so much easier..."
Hana shrugged, then picked up the longbow herself. "Hey, let me see those arrows, I kinda wanna give this a whirl myself."
The Ultimate Gardener obliged, handing her the small amount of arrows she had brought from the armory. Hana tried to set up the arrow and draw the string back as far as she could- in that regard, she had slightly more luck than Asuna. However, the necessary strength to draw the string back turned out to be more than Hana expected, not to mention it was difficult to keep the bow and the arrow straight; in the end, the arrows either didn't go too far or flew off where Hana had not aimed them to be.
"...Yup, looks easier in fiction than it is in real life," Hana concluded, setting the bow down with a disappointed sigh. "Why does fiction do that?"
"Because if they played things too realistically too much, the plots and other things wouldn't work as well," Asuna surmised.
Hana looked to where Shiori and Rumi were- they were still in the same area as when the surfer walked in, still deep into their mysterious conversation.
"...Hey, Asuna- do you know what those two are talking about?" Hana asked, nodding towards their other classmates.
"I, uh...couldn't tell you," the gardener replied, adjusting her glasses. "When Shiori walked in, she said she wanted to talk to Rumi about something- something, you know, private. Rumi agreed, and- w-well, I wasn't about to eavesdrop, and I'm not gonna start, so..."
Hana nodded in understanding, taking one last look at the conversing Ultimates before telling Asuna, "Well, until they're done, we can just keep messing around by ourselves. Here, I think this might be a bit better for you to use."
She picked up the one-handed axe and handed it to her classmate- sure enough, the smaller weapon seemed much better suited for Asuna (after all, she could actually pick it up and hold it).
"I-I mean...it works, it's light- b-but just because I'm short doesn't mean I can't lift anything!" Asuna insisted. "L-Like, uh, that sword right there!"
"...You wanna try lifting it?" Hana questioned, holding the sword out- the sword that, while not nearly the size of a greatsword or a longsword, was certainly not lacking when it came to length.
Asuna, realizing this, shrunk back and responded, "...Nevermind."
Thus, the two of them walked over to their respective training dummies and began to try out different maneuvers; truth be told, the two of them would look pretty ridiculous to an outsider, but at least they were having a good time.
"Hey- aren't swords a pretty popular weapon for characters to use in, uh, fantasy stuff?" Asuna asked after a few moments had passed. "E-Especially for the main characters?"
"Yeah- not really sure why though," Hana responded. "I mean there's nothing wrong with spears or axes or, like, a bow and arrow."
"I suppose," Asuna remarked, before giggling and adding, "Hey, with that sword, maybe you could be the main character of something fantasy-related!"
Hana scoffed. "Oh please, I could never be the main character of anything."
The duo's 'practice' was then cut short when they heard Rumi calling to them from the other end of the room, "Hey! Hana, Asuna, come here!"
Hana put down the sword and walked over, with Asuna leaving the axe and following. Apparently, Rumi and Shiori had finished their talk (although considering the private nature of it, the surfer figured trying to ask for details would be futile) and were now standing by the suits of armor.
"Rumi here thinks one of us should try out these armor suits," Shiori explained, gesturing to the racks. "Not that I have a chance- I'm pretty sure this suit was made for someone taller."
"Well if you can't wear it, then neither can I- we're the same height," Hana remarked, looking over the armor with a frown.
Asuna was silent, looking the suits over herself before responding, "Y-Yeah...I don't think I'd be a good fit either."
"Oh! Uh- does that mean I'm wearing it?" Rumi asked, pointing to herself.
"Between the four of us, you are the tallest," Hana pointed out.
"In saying that, it looks like the suit would be a good fit on you," Shiori observed, looking between the armor and the scuba diver.
"Well- alright!" Rumi agreed, before adding, "Uh...you guys'll have to help me, because I don't actually know how to put one of these on."
After several minutes of trial and error, Hana and her two classmates were able to fit the armor suit on Rumi. Just like Shiori said, it was a pretty good fit- the trio even managed to fit her hair in the armor (how they did that, Hana still didn't understand). In short, by the time they were done, the Ultimate was completely covered in protective steel; if Hana hadn't been there to see her wear it, she likely wouldn't have known it was Rumi in the armor.
"Woo! This feels weird!" Rumi eagerly stated, her voice sounding slightly echoed from inside the metal suit. "Kinda hard to see too, but not totally impossible! I just wish this was a little better-ventilated."
"H-Hey, can you- you know, move around in it?" Asuna asked, watching with curiosity.
"Uh..." Rumi began, trying to flex her fingers and arms as the steel made little squeaking sounds. "Uh...the fingers aren't too bad, the arms are a bit harder..."
"How about walking? Can you do that?" Hana then inquired.
"I can try, hm..." the scuba diver replied skeptically.
Rumi took a very careful and tentative step forward, causing the armor to squeak and screech even more than it had a moment ago. In addition, Hana could tell her classmate was having to use a lot of effort to move forward, and it looked like she was having a hard time keeping her balance.
"Uh...are these suits supposed to be this hard to move?" Rumi asked worriedly. "Because, uh, I'm starting to think we should have checked how old or rusty this thing waAAS-!"
Just as the girl was finishing up her statement, she finally lost her balance by taking a step that was a little too big for the suit to handle, thus causing her to start to fall forward. Hana, acting on instinct, ran over to try and stop her from faceplanting into the wood floor- but she underestimated how much weight the steel armor had in addition to the person inside. As a result, the surfer herself lost her balance and wound up pinned right between the hard floor and the metal armor, which resulted in a sharp cry of pain from the blonde Ultimate.
"What was that? Did I fall on something!?" Rumi quickly asked.
"You fell on something alright!" Hana yelped, trying to shove her classmate off with the one arm that wasn't stuck under the armor (to no avail).
"Hana, Rumi! A-Are you guys okay!?" Asuna asked, immediately running.
"Uh- I'm fine, the fall wasn't too bad," Rumi remarked.
"I could be better!" Hana exclaimed, still struggling to free herself. "Come on, I need my ribs!"
"Well don't just stand there, come on!" Shiori yelled to Asuna, the surgeon kneeling down to try and roll the armored student off. The gardener wasted no time getting down to try and help- but since neither of them were very strong or athletic, it was easier said than done.
"Rumi! Can't you do something?" Shiori asked as the two struggled to move the armored girl. "Like, move a little bit?"
"I would if I could! But this thing's not very mobile at all!" Rumi insisted.
Finally, the two Ultimates managed to roll the scuba diver over somewhat, enough so that Hana could move a bit more. When they did, however, gravity took over and the practically immobile Rumi started rolling towards Shiori and Asuna. The former realized what was happening and swiftly moved back to avoid injury of her own, but Asuna...didn't quite get the memo. Thus, the armor ended up rolling back, ending with Rumi now facing the ceiling and the metal suit landing right on the Ultimate Gardener's feet.
"KYAAAAH!" Asuna cried as her feet were crushed by the hefty suit.
"Oh come on!" Shiori yelped, running over to try and move the suit a second time.
Hana, now free at last, immediately scrambled to stand up and ran over to her classmates. Because she was somewhat stronger than them, rolling Rumi and the suit she was in off of Asuna's feet wasn't as difficult. Once they accomplished the task and the suit started falling towards them again, Hana and Shiori both knew better than to stay too close- by the end of it, Hana and Asuna were both free, and Rumi was back to lying facedown on the floor.
"Hey- you two alright?" Shiori asked Hana and Asuna.
"Uh- I think so, I don't feel broken or anything," Hana responded with a small nod.
"Y-Yeah, me too...uh, toes aren't important anyways, right?" Asuna replied only half-jokingly.
"Ah...in my defense, gravity's a bitch and this thing is way too hard to move!" Rumi called out, attempting to move in some way again to no avail.
Shiori sighed, suggesting, "Let's just get this thing off of you, it's more trouble than it's worth."
With no objections to that idea, the three girls proceeded to (with more trial and error) figure out how to dismantle the aged armor suit. Fortunately, it turned out to be easier than putting the suit on, and soon enough the Ultimate Scuba Diver was back on her feet and completely free of armor.
"Aaah, that was a better idea in my head..." Rumi groaned, stretching out and massaging the back of her neck like she had several cricks throughout her body. "Why was that so hard to move!?"
"Maybe it's just that old? Or these suits weren't meant to be very mobile in the first place?" Hana speculated. "Or, you know, maybe there's some technique to moving in them that we don't know about?"
"Either way- how about we don't do that again, eh?" Shiori said, nudging a stray piece of armor with her foot.
"You said it," Rumi agreed before remarking, "The other downside- everything sounded so weird! Like, I sounded like a robot almost, and you guys out there sounded even louder with all the echoing inside the helmet."
"To be fair, they were being crushed in one way or another by an occupied suit of armor," Shiori pointed out.
"Then again...Hana was yelling kinda loud, so..." Asuna then claimed with a shrug.
"Uh, I was being loud? You were yelling even louder than me!" Hana refuted.
"Now now, let's face facts..." Shiori began, walking to stand in between the two of them. "...You both like to test the limits of the sound barrier."
This resulted in Hana and Asuna indignantly trying to defend themselves.
Rumi, meanwhile, laughed as she listened. "I'm glad to know it's been long enough that we can joke about it."
Upon taking a moment to hear what the scuba diver said, Hana and Asuna couldn't help but laugh somewhat themselves.
"Man, we really are not normal teens, are we?" Hana jokingly asked. "First fighting each other with books, now wrestling with a suit of armor?"
"Oh please, we're Ultimates in a deadly castle, 'mundane' means nothing now," Shiori stated, but even she looked like she had to really try to hide her amusement.
"Look on the bright side- we didn't need a smoke bomb to fix things this time!" Rumi pointed out, resulting in more laughter as they reminisced.
Hana glanced to the side and found that even Shiori could no longer help but chuckle softly- but when she did, the surgeon's expression shifted from amusement to that hesitant look that seemed to be becoming more common for her. Then, her expression changed to something else- something akin to...anguish? In fact, Shiori looked as though she was on the verge of tears.
Surprised by the Ultimate's change in mood, Hana was quick to ask, "Hey, Shiori- you okay?"
Now, the surgeon turned her attention to her classmate, but it was clear she was hoping not to be noticed. Unfortunately, that was no longer an option as Rumi and Asuna also took notice of their seemingly distraught friend.
"Uh..." Rumi began with a frown. "Yeah, is something-"
"Stop, STOP!" Shiori cried out, stepping away from the others before anyone could make any movements towards her.
"W-What's the matter?" Asuna asked, visibly perturbed by the other girl's behavior.
"Why...Why can't things be simple...? Just a little bit, why-?" Shiori began, speaking more to herself than the others before she shouted, "This is hard enough, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE THINGS EVEN HARDER!?"
Before anyone could ask what she meant, the Ultimate turned and practically sprinted out of the training room like her life depended on it.
"Wha-!? Shiori!? Shior-" Hana began, about to run after her before she felt a hand grab her by the shoulder to stop her.
"Hold on Hana- you too, Asuna," Rumi told her remaining friends.
"Hold on? W-Why?" Asuna asked, dumbfounded.
Rumi did not respond right away, instead looking to the doors to the East Wing's main hall contemplatively. Only then did she respond, "Believe me...it might not be what we're thinking. Maybe...it might not be such a big issue."
The scuba diver chuckled a bit before adding, "I mean, it's Shiori- even now, she's probably still not entirely used to...well, all this. I'm not saying that's the reason she ran off just now, but...I know she's trying to change in some way for the better. I can feel it."
Hana furrowed her brow, not understanding what Rumi was talking about, but then figured it most likely had something to do with that private conversation she and Shiori were having when Hana first entered the training room- meaning she wouldn't get an answer any time soon.
"So...you're not that worried?" Hana asked Rumi.
"...No, not too much," Rumi responded, a small and calm smile crossing her face.
Before Hana or Asuna had a chance to question further, the Ultimate continued, "Come on, let's clean this place up and get out of here- I've got to head back to my room real fast anyways."
Despite the odd end of the hangout courtesy of Shiori, Rumi remained strangely optimistic about the whole thing- though she probably was worried about the surgeon, it wasn't outwardly to the extent Hana would have expected.
Maybe...I'm just overthinking this whole thing. Hana thought to herself. Shiori's been acting off for a few days now already, and while she's definitely getting better...I guess it's still not perfect. Besides, I don't know what she and Rumi talked about, maybe she knows something I don't.
Maybe...if Rumi's not too worried...maybe I shouldn't be either.
After returning all the items to their rightful places, the three girls went their separate ways. Hana herself returned to her bedroom, where she had to rest for a few moments to stave off any remaining soreness that was a result of being crushed beneath a suit of armor. While she did that, she checked on the time- still had a bit of time before the start of the dinner meeting.
I mean...I've already spent time around a bunch of my classmates- wouldn't hurt to go talk to them at least a little more, right? Hana told herself with a nod. Feeling thoroughly refreshed after her rest, the surfer decided not to wait any longer before standing back up and leaving her bedroom once again. There wasn't too much time left before the meeting, but even so Hana was determined to use the time wisely.
Leaving her bedroom, Hana decided to visit an area she hadn't really been too in a little while- the West Wing, she was unsure if there would be anyone in there, but she could at least look around for a bit. She decided to go the upper route, passing through the top floor of the South Wing before entering into the second floor of the West Wing. Looking around for any other students, the surfer strolled across the mezzanine and into the hallway to her left that led to the sunroom. Despite the fact that Saku had died in there mere days before, the surfer still felt it would be a bit of a relaxing location- like it was intended to be.
Upon entering the sunroom, Hana would realize it was already occupied- she saw Asuna sitting in one of the seats, seeming to be lost in her own thoughts.
"Uh- am I interrupting something?" Hana sheepishly asked, glancing around the room as she poked her head in.
"Wha- oh! H-Hey!" Asuna quickly greeted her, sitting up a little straighter in the chair. "Couldn't you have, you know...knocked first?"
"Sorry, I didn't realize someone was in here," Hana remarked apologetically. "Just wanted to see if there was someone around here to talk to."
"Really...? N-Nevermind then, I'd be happy to talk a bit," Asuna quickly responded, also apologetic. "Uh- you don't have to stand, sit down."
Hana obliged, and soon the two girls were sitting and relaxing in the sunroom; they didn't say too much, but nonetheless Hana felt like the two of them had grown a little closer.
"So- I've kinda got another question, something I've been wondering about for a little bit now..." Hana began, trying to figure out how to word her question.
"What is it? I-Is it, you know, garden-related like before?" Asuna inquired. "Because, uh, there are still some basic stuff I can tell you about-"
"No, it's...well, I'm a little curious about your mom's botany business," Hana admitted. "You've mentioned it a few times, but not in any kinda detail. I kinda wanna know more about what kind of business that is."
"R-Really...?" Asuna asked, surprised. "Uh...n-no one really asks me about that kind of thing."
"...Is that bad...?" Hana replied, wondering if she had crossed a line.
"N-No! It's kinda nice, actually, knowing you're interested in more than just my gardening knowledge," Asuna admitted. "As for my mom's business, uh...it's nothing too extravagant or anything. People come to my mom for all kinds of things l-like gardening tips, help with salvaging or fixing a dying garden, e-even stuff like floral arrangements and such. O-Of course, she gets paid for all this- business, like I said."
"Huh- you said you help give advice to your mom's clients too, right?" Hana asked.
"Yeah- a-and actually, I get paid too, and I put whatever money I make into the business," Asuna went on. "E-Even though my mom keeps telling me to keep the money, b-because it's the money I earned, b-but she and the business need the money more than me. R-Really, I'm not gonna use the money on anything."
She then quickly added, "A-And I really don't want to seem like I'm better than my mom- I-I mean, yeah I'm an Ultimate, b-but my mother's the one who gave me my start!"
"No worries- if anything, I'm not gonna think that," Hana assured her classmate. "Though, the way you talk about it...what, does the business not bring in a lot of money?"
"N-No, it's- decent money. N-Not like, you know millions, but a pretty good amount," Asuna explained with a nod.
"Okay...though, you also mentioned it's just you and your mom, right?" Hana also pointed out. "Your dad's not around at all?"
"Try 'never' been around- I-I don't know anything about him," Asuna explained. "E-Even my mom doesn't know too much about him o-other than what he looked like. The two of them just kinda...met each other by chance, a-and they spent some time together, one thing led to another, and uh...well, y-you know."
"Oh, uh...sorry, didn't mean to poke into something personal like that," Hana immediately replied.
"It's okay- j-just know it's been me and my mom for forever, so the botany business i-is all we've got to support ourselves," Asuna explained. "That's why I'm pretty grateful for my talent- h-having such notoriety as a renowned expert brings in a lot of people, you know?"
"I get that- when I was getting more famous for my skill as a surfer, a lot more people would come to the competitions I was entered in just to see me in action," Hana stated. "Kinda weird in practice, but I guess it's no different from, like, people going to a baseball game and cheering on a specific player."
Asuna nodded in understanding. "So, uh- yeah, th-the business does pretty well for what it specializes in. I-I mean, we still end up having to live pretty modestly, but..."
"Really? How come, do you guys just like saving money?" Hana asked. "I mean, that's pretty respectable I guess- not that I'm an expert in finances, but..."
"That's, uh...not really it," Asuna admitted. "We end up not having a lot of money because of, well...expenses."
"Like...for the business?" Hana inquired, furrowing her brow.
"No, i-it's..." the gardener began, before lowering her gaze. "I...I-I'm sorry, I- can't talk about this right now. P-Please, I..."
Asuna then turned away, as if getting ready to exit. "M-Maybe...another time, b-but right now...I really don't want to talk about it, okay?"
Before Hana had a chance to ask, the Ultimate briskly left the area without another word, leaving Hana stunned at the sudden change in the conversation's mood.
What...just happened...? Did I say something wrong...? Hana asked herself. No, I don't think I did anything...I think it really is just Asuna not being ready to talk about...whatever it is that so much of the business's money is being spent on. Maybe, like she said, another time she'll open up about it?
Still left unsure about what to think regarding Asuna, Hana silently returned to her room.
Hana couldn't spend too much time in her bedroom once she returned- after all, the dinner meeting was about to be underway, and being late was never a good thing. Thus, the surfer made her way to the dining room as soon as she could. As she did, she wondered about Akira's announcement in the middle of the day- would it be enough to bring the group back to some more unity? Or at the very least get Shiori back to participating in the meetings? There was only one way to find out.
Entering the dining room, it would appear Hana was one of the last ones to arrive as usual- but that wasn't her main concern. The Ultimate looked around the room, hoping to spot a single person amongst her surviving classmates...and didn't see them.
Hana wasn't the only one who noticed the absence- and the other person who noticed was someone the surfer was trying not to displease any more than she usually did.
"Amari!" Akira called to her, her eyes narrowed in annoyance as she approached and causing Hana to wish she had stayed in her room tonight. "Where's Sauchi? You seemed certain that me establishing more trust in the others would be suffice for her to participate again."
"Did I? Uh...that was my bad, people can be so unpredictable, y'know?" Hana replied with a little laugh...then added when Akira did not return the laugh, "Look, whatever reason you're thinking of for why Shiori's not here...it's not."
The prosecutor's annoyance only seemed to grow...
"No, really! Listen, earlier today me, Asuna, Rumi, and Shiori all went to go hang out like buds, but towards the end Shiori kinda...freaked out a little and ran off. Haven't seen her since," Hana explained to the Ultimate Prosecutor.
"Really?" Akira inquired, her annoyance fading slightly as she raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah- so, something else is probably going on with her, and that's why she's not showing up," Hana surmised with a nod.
Akira frowned again, telling the surfer, "Well, she'd better sort it out soon- we can only go so much longer without everyone being unified in some way."
With that, the prosecutor went back to where she was originally sitting, leaving Hana free to take her own seat at the table. When she did, she was quickly joined by the far more comforting presence of Hiroshi.
"Hey there, Hana," the coroner greeted her. "So, did Rumi actually have something planned for you and the other girls?"
"Yeah- well, minus Akira," Hana confirmed with a nod. "Kinda a long story, but we did visit the armory now that's it's okay to go in there. And we ended up having to save ourselves from a suit of armor towards the end."
"Heh, glad to hear you had a- wait, 'saving yourselves from a suit of armor'?" Hiroshi inquired, furrowing his brow somewhat in concern.
"Ah, you had to be there," Hana told him with a smirk and a chuckle, leaving the boy in confusion.
Moments later, Ryoto walked past them- Hana, remembering something else that had taken place earlier, allowed her curiosity to get the better of her and she called out to him, "Hey, Ryoto!"
"Huh? Something wrong?" Ryoto inquired, jogging over to see what his classmate needed.
"Ah, just something I'm a little curious about- what did Shiori need to talk to you about earlier?" Hana asked. "If it's something private, then I won't press you for details, but-"
"WHAAAAT!? Y-You wanna know what we talked about earlier!?" Ryoto cried, catching the attention of nearly everyone in the room. "You're...You're RIGHT! It's- private! VERY private! Uuuh- medical stuff! That's it, yeah! NOTHING ELSE!"
Hana stared at the racecar driver in abject shock. "...Um- o-okay, fair enough...?"
"WHUZZAT LOOK FOR!? I'm not being suspicious! Not at all!" Ryoto yelled again, frantically looking around. "Uh, uh, uh- MY CAR'S ON FIRE!"
With that 'excuse', Ryoto bolted away and ran towards the other end of the table. At the same time, Rumi was walking out of the kitchen with a pair of drinks in her hands, and Ryoto inevitably barreled into her, resulting in the contents of the two glasses being spilled all over her.
Rumi let out a yelp of surprise as the Ultimate nearly knocked her over, then looked down to the beverage spilled out all over her shirt and jacket. The scuba diver then furiously called out, "Ryoto! You get back here, I'm gonna yell at you SO hard!"
Ryoto did not go back there, instead firmly planting himself in a seat that was far away from Hana as he could manage.
Hana stared at where Ryoto had ran, then glanced back at a silent Hiroshi, then said t herself, "...I...told him I wouldn't press for details..."
"Ah, son of a..." Hinata growled to himself before standing up and walking over to Rumi. "You alright?"
"I'm fine, but these aren't," Rumi lamented, looking down at her ruined clothing yet again. "Ooh, does juice stain too badly? It probably does, who am I kidding..."
"Well- it's pretty noticeable on the shirt, but the meeting ain't gonna last all night," Hinata replied with a small shrug.
"I don't care about the shirt, I've got a lot more of those in my room," Rumi responded in exasperation. "It's my jacket; I've only got the one, and I like this one, and-! It's a rare designer jacket made from a combination of polyester, leather, and cotton, therefore stains generally won't come out as easily!"
"..." Hinata stared at her in bafflement before remarking, "I...don't know how to respond to that."
Aside from the issue of Rumi's jacket, the dinner meeting wound up being rather uneventful. Shiori still did not appear, which caused a pang of worry in Hana's gut- however, it didn't seem to be a cause for concern for the other students, including Rumi. With this in mind, Hana tried to ignore any bad feelings she got and focus on her food (the group decided to have leftovers)- whatever was bothering Shiori, Hana could only hope she would be feeling a little better tomorrow.
The meeting ended, and just like usual the students scattered themselves about in the few minutes that remained before nighttime. For Hana, all she wanted to do was get to bed on time- although she was extremely anxious about whether or not she would have another horrific dream. At the same time, however, trying to avoid sleep would be even worse for her, so the Ultimate decided to suck it up and get ready to sleep.
By the time she had made it back to her room and changed into her pajamas, the nighttime announcement played. With a little sigh of exhaustion, the girl decided to absent-mindedly check her e-Handbook one more time; upon doing so, she took notice of the dull icon indicating her motive video. Furrowing her brow, Hana decided to click on it for the fourth and final time to ensure nothing fishy was going on (even though Hiroshi himself had seen the odd video)- what played was the exact same sequence of Monokuma waddling up to the camera and informing the viewer of the lack of a proper motive. The video ended, just like before, and Hana was taken back to the homescreen as confused as ever.
...Well, there is one way to figure out what the hell that was, like Hiroshi told me... Hana told herself, sitting up. But- wouldn't it be kinda tempting fate...? A little bit, maybe...?
Then, the surfer shook her head. Oh who am I kidding, I've been tempting fate dozens of times now- sky's the fucking limit at this point!
With that, Hana stood up and turned her gaze directly at the camera in her bedroom- she probably didn't need to face the camera, but at the same time the Ultimate was too hungry for answers to care.
"HEY! MONOKUMA! Yeah, I'm talking to you!" Hana shouted at the camera. "Get in here, I have something I need to ask you!"
Hana went quiet and waited a few moments...and then a few more...and then a few more.
...Well this was a dumb idea... Hana told herself with a sigh. Of course he wouldn't show up- masterminds need sleep too, don't they? ...Or do they, the mastermind has seen things that happened during nighttime...
"Why the long face, Antenna?" Monokuma, who was sitting on Hana's bed, curiously inquired.
"Oh, I was just trying to see if Monokuma would show up so I could ask him about something..." Hana responded, downtrodden. "Didn't really pan out, though."
Then, the surfer's mind actually processed what just happened, causing her to swiftly turn around and see the grinning bear sitting behind her.
"MONOKUMA!?" Hana cried out.
To this, the bear threw his head back and laughed like this was the funniest moment in history. "Ahahaha! I'll give you this, Beachcomber- your reactions to things are priceless! You should see the look on your face one of these days!"
"When- how did- why are you on my bed!?" Hana yelped, gesturing to the furniture in question.
"Cuz these beds are nice and cozy, and it's late," Monokuma stated, crossing his stubby arms. "But anyways- I've been summoned! What can I do for you, Ms. Amari?"
Shaking her head to alleviate the shock and fright, Hana explained, "Listen...those motive videos you gave us-"
"Ah yes, a testament to my skills as an up-and-coming film director!" Monokuma bolstered. "In case you're wondering- I can neither confirm nor deny how real or fake the content of the videos are, but the results are 100% real, guaranteed!"
"O...Okay, but-" Hana began again. "My video...seems different from what you described at the last assembly. In fact, it basically told me that I had no motive."
"Oh...yeah, your video..." Monokuma muttered as if he had forgotten all about hers. "I gotta say, Blondie- I wasn't expecting you to watch yours any time soon. Are you finally looking to scratch that itch to kill with some bloodshed...?"
"No! I was never gonna kill anyone, legit motive video or no legit motive video!" Hana shouted at the bear. "Just tell me why my video was so weird, that's all I want to know!"
Monokuma narrowed his gaze somewhat before responding, "Well, I think the vid spelled it out pretty well- I found myself unable to give you a proper motive this time around. But I couldn't just not give you a video at all, so I just kinda...made that."
"What does that mean though? You gave motives to everyone else, didn't you?" Hana asked. "Or do some of the others have videos like mine?"
"No, everyone else has an actual motive video- you, my idiot-haired student, are the lucky one," Monokuma begrudgingly said. "If I were you, I'd consider this dodging a bullet and leave it at that."
"But...I mean, I am grateful I didn't have to see anything terrible, but I- why me?" Hana inquired, furrowing her brow. "What, was it random? Was it-"
"Oh my god, I said LEAVE IT!" Monokuma snapped in fury. "Can't I get a break for once!? I had nothing to work with for you, so cut me some goddamn slack and mind your own business!"
"...What? 'Nothing to work with'- huh?" Hana stammered, unsure how to respond to what the bear had just said.
"...Oops! Did I...say that out loud...?" Monokuma asked himself, a hint of nervousness entering his voice. "Uh- how about you just forget that last part, huh? Uh- I'm not gonna tell you a thing about the videos, so quit trying to interrogate me!"
The bear sighed and continued, "Honestly, you're the second person to ask me about their video. I thought the motive was pretty self-explanatory, but..."
If nothing else in the conversation caught Hana's attention...well, that certainly did. "W-Wait, second person? Does that mean...someone else-"
"Puhuhu...this seems to be the right time to wish you goodnight, Ms. Amari," Monokuma said, hopping off her bed as his grin gained a more sadistic. "I think you're gonna need it. I have a feeling things are gonna get very interesting very soon."
Before Hana could ask any more questions, the bear dove down under her bed, and was gone as swiftly as he arrived yet again.
...The second person to ask...? He couldn't be saying...someone else...! Hana fearfully thought to herself, but quickly shook her head. No, no- they're just videos. Even if someone besides me did watch theirs, it doesn't automatically mean they'll commit a murder! ...Right...?
With too much doubt in her head, the surfer set her e-Handbook down on the desk and laid down under the covers. It didn't take too long for her to drift off to sleep...but even as she did, Hana was still hoping and praying that there wouldn't be another tragedy tonight.
Surprisingly, Hana had no odd or scary dreams that night, which was already a massive relief to her when she woke up. The girl awoke when the morning announcement played like she usually did- also a good sign of things seeming normal. Perhaps the morning meeting would further prove her right with everyone being there? There was only one way to find out- and, after her talk with Monokuma the night before, she wanted nothing more than to be proven right for once.
Quickly cleaning up, getting dressed, and making sure she had her e-Handbook, Hana made her way to the dining hall as was routine at this point. She still saw no other students on the way there- which did not exactly spell a bad omen as it spelled the surfer being one of the last ones to breakfast.
Sure enough, upon entry, Hana noticed many students were already mulling about- not all of them, indicating the girl was still not entirely late. Still, the girl would not feel completely at ease until she saw all her classmates in the dining room.
"Morning, Hana," Hiroshi greeted her once the two saw each other. "Seems like you're a little more on-time today."
"Yeah- had a decent sleep, actually," Hana told him. Looking around the room, she took notice of Hinata entering the dining room- the thief seemed a little tired, but then again he never seemed to be a morning person. She then turned to some of the other students- particularly Rumi, who was currently sitting by herself. To Hana's surprise, she seemed a little tired too- not to mention her jacket and pearl bracelet were missing, leaving her wearing a plain white t-shirt.
Breaking off from Hiroshi, Hana walked up to her scuba diver friend and spoke up, "Hey, Rumi- good morning."
"Huh-? O-Oh! Hey, Hana!" Rumi greeted her, trying to stifle a yawn. "Sorry, it was uh- just one of those nights, I guess. I just need a bit of food, then I'll wake up a bit."
Hana nodded, then asked the main question on her mind. "Hey- your jacket's gone."
"Well, yeah- Ryoto made me spill juice on it, remember?" Rumi reminded her. "I couldn't get it clean last night, and...I'm not about to walk around in a stained jacket, so..."
"Fair enough, but- what about your bracelet?" Hana then inquired. "You're not wearing that, either."
"Well usually my jacket sleeves are enough to make sure I don't have to worry about the pearls getting dirty," the Ultimate explained. "But since I'm not wearing it, you know..."
"Ooh. Yeah, that bracelet does seem pretty important to you," Hana observed, before teasingly adding, "I mean, if a guy I was into gave me something like that, I'd also try to-"
Rumi gave the surfer a light smack on the arm in response, prompting a light chuckle from Hana.
However, the lighthearted aura of the room was cut short when a frustrated Akira looked around and spoke up, "Dammit- okay, where exactly is Sauchi? How long is she going to keep up this act of abstaining from these very important meetings!?"
Hana looked around the room again- and sure enough, saw no sign of the Ultimate Surgeon. Already, a familiar twinge of dread formed in her stomach...
"Calm down, Akira- Shiori might just be running a little late," Hiroshi speculated, levelheaded as usual.
"No dice, Hiro- haven't seen any trace of her for a little while now," Hinata spoke up, shrugging. "Kinda weird, if you ask me..."
"Oh, pleeease don't bring up how weird it is..." Hana softly pleaded, her anxiety making her feel sick.
Asuna looked around herself, only to let out a little gasp and say, "H-Hey...guys? Shiori's...not the only one missing."
"She isn't?" Hana asked, her dread replaced with surprise.
"Y-Yeah...? I mean, just listen," Asuna told them with a frown.
"Listen...? I mean, it's pretty quiet in here-" Rumi responded...before letting out a shocked gasp. "Oh my god! Ryoto's not here either!"
"What? Miura too?" Akira asked, looking around as well. "Well, I doubt he's running late- Miura's usually here by now, even if he does decide to take a detour to the fitness room from time to time..."
She's right...oh my god, they're both missing, w-why are they both missing!? Hana asked herself, having a harder and harder time keeping her cool.
"Well, if that's the case...then let's go look for 'im!" Hinata declared, standing up.
At that moment, everyone stared at the Ultimate Thief in silence.
"...What?" Hinata asked, furrowing his brow. "Come on guys, what're you all waiting for!?"
"...Uh...nothing, it's just- you, taking lead on something..." Hana began. "Just- you know, you've never actually...done that before."
"What? It's not like I can never take initiative- what do you guys think I am, some lazy bum?" Hinata asked with a glare at the others.
"Yes," several of the students responded (resulting in a face palm from Rumi).
"Regardless...Yonade has a point," Akira conceded. "Something is certainly amiss here- and with the motive around, we can't just ignore it."
Hana felt a familiar chill go down her spine. No...no, no, it could be nothing. We might just...be overreacting to all of this! Right...? Right!?
The Ultimate Prosecutor quickly stood up. "Hamasaki, Izumi, you two search the West Wing; Amari, Ashi, search the East Wing; Yonade, you're with me, and we'll be searching the South Wing. If anyone finds Miura, or even Sauchi for that matter, head for the courtyard. We'll all meet up there after we're all done searching, understand?"
The others nodded in understanding; Rumi and Asuna were the first ones to leave, making for the West Wing. Akira swiftly left as well, with Hinata about to follow her.
"Hey, Hinata- you good being with Akira?" Hiroshi inquired. "Nothing against her or anything, but you two...don't really see eye-to-eye, to put it lightly."
"Yeah? She doesn't really see eye-to-eye with anyone- can't let it bother me, though," Hinata responded, shrugging. "So what are you guys still standing around for!? We need to look for the others ASAP!"
"S-Seriously, Hinata- since when do you talk like that?" Hana asked him, baffled. "You're usually a bit more...I dunno, lazy-ish? No offense, but..."
"Yeah, and right now people are fucking missing! So I'm gonna do my part to find out what's going on, and you two had better do the same!" the thief exclaimed, both dodging Hana's question and adding to the surfer's confusion. Not that Hana could question him further, because the Ultimate swiftly ran off to catch up to Akira, leaving his two classmates utterly dumbfounded by his behavior.
His quick exit, however, still didn't stop Hana from shouting in the direction Hinata had ran, "WHO ARE YOU!?"
Running through the courtyard, Hana tried to stave off any terrified thoughts that ran through her mind. Monokuma said last night things would get 'interesting'- is this what he meant? Shiori, Ryoto- is one of them dead? Are BOTH of them dead!? Why, why did I think everything would be fine!? Why can't everything be fine!?
"Okay, we're here- maybe we should try splitting up," Hiroshi suggested. "I'll look at the top floor, you can search the bottom floor. That alright?"
"Y-Yeah, yeah I can...deal with that..." Hana responded, her face pale from fear and a nauseated feeling washing over her.
Hiroshi's determined expression softened a little as he glanced back at the distraught surfer, calmly telling her, "Don't be scared, Hana. They're going to be just fine- both of them."
Gulping, Hana nodded and replied, "I...you're right, we...we shouldn't think the worst just yet, right? Right."
With that, the duo ran into the East Wing; quickly nodding to each other, Hiroshi sprinted towards the stairs to get to the top floor while Hana stayed on the ground floor.
"RYOTO! SHIORI!" Hana yelled, her voice echoing through the polished walls of the main hall.
The girl sprinted towards the doors to the armory, practically throwing herself through them as she called out again, "Hello!? Ryoto!? Shiori!?"
When she got no answer, Hana quickly ran through the room to make sure she hadn't missed anything- but it was devoid of any human life. She then quickly ran into the training room, still calling out to her missing classmates- after a quick run-through, she was able to confirm no one was in the training room either.
Hana sprinted out of the training room back into the main hall, then turned to run into the medical room- how long had it been since she had been sitting in there with Shiori performing a makeshift check-up? Likely about two days, but to Hana it felt like so much longer.
"Hello!? Ryoto, Shiori!?" Hana yelped as she burst into the medical room- only to quickly find it, too, was empty.
Heading back into the main hall, the surfer took notice of Hiroshi running back onto the mezzanine that made up the central area of the East Wing's second floor.
"Hiroshi! Did you find anything!?" Hana frantically called up to him, approaching the stairs that led to the second floor.
"No- I searched this central area and the lounge, and I didn't find either of them," Hiroshi told her. "All that's left to search is the watchtower."
"W-Well, I can help you search that, I'm done down here anyways," Hana responded, quickly ascending the stairs herself.
The Ultimate Coroner made no objections to that suggestion, and soon enough the duo were running down the second hallway that led to the eastern watchtower. With no sign of Shiori or Ryoto in the hallway or by the gate blocking the North Wing, there truly was no other area left to search. Thus, the two hurried into the torchlit base of the watchtower, immediately looking around for any signs of either Ultimate.
"Shiori!? Ryoto!?" Hana called again, running to the center of the tower's base.
"Nothing down here..." Hiroshi observed, looking towards the stairs. "Which means one of them might be- what the-!?"
At that moment, Hana followed Hiroshi's gaze, and was dumbstruck herself. About halfway up the tower, several of the wooden stairs were completely demolished; tiny fragments of slightly splintered wood jutting out of the wall were all that remained of the broken steps, with the wooden debris having falling several feet below ad lying on the stone floor of the tower.
"What in the- who broke the stairs!?" Hana exclaimed, her panic only rising.
"I'm not sure, but...it definitely wasn't like that yesterday," Hiroshi remarked, walking over to stand somewhat underneath the broken area. "There aren't too many of the steps broken, but...I don't think all of us will be able to simply jump a gap like that..."
"Well, we have to search the top, how will we-" Hana began, only to be interrupted when she heard the tower's door opening.
"Ashi! Amari! There you two are- what's been taking you so long!?" Akira demanded as she entered the tower. "We've been waiting on you two in the courtyard for a little while now."
"You have? D-Did one of you guys find them!?" Hana quickly asked.
"No, we did not- and I'm assuming you two have not had better luck?" Akira observed, crossing her arms.
"Afraid not- the last place we need to search is the top of the tower, but the stairs are ruined," Hiroshi explained, pointing up towards the broken section. "It could certainly be worse, but the gap is still too wide- too risky for any of us to reliably try and jump across."
Akira growled to herself, closing her eyes to think...before opening them again and telling her two classmates, "Both of you, wait right here- I'll be right back."
With that, the prosecutor ran out of the tower to parts unknown, leaving Hana and Hiroshi to stay behind and wait. After what felt like a lifetime to Hana, Akira returned...but now, she was lugging with her a few items from the armory: namely, a pair of rather long battle axes.
"Whoa! W-What are you gonna do with those!?" Hana yelped upon seeing the large axes.
"Necessity is the mother of invention- take notes," Akira replied, dragging the steel weaponry up the stairwell towards the section where the steps were smashed.
When she made it up there, the prosecutor proceeded to lay the axes down flat across the steps, their lengthy shafts parallel to each other and extending across the opening created by the absent steps. At the same time, the blade part of the axes were flat on the unbroken steps, each blade on an opposite end of the gap and providing some semblance of stability.
"There- I can only hope now that you all have good balance," Akira remarked as she finished. "Come on then- I'd might as well help you two finish while I'm here."
Hiroshi nodded and ran up the stairs himself- Hana would follow him, but not before taking a moment to remark, "An axe bridge...sweet!"
The trio carefully made their way across the makeshift bridge before reaching the other side, where they then proceeded to quickly ascend the rest of the steps towards the tower's summit. All the while, Hana's heart rate accelerated from fear and worry, and she thought to herself over and over again, Please don't have a dead body, please don't have a dead body, please-
The moment the trio reached the top floor of the tower, they saw something directly in their line of sight: a pair of legs, clothed in a white tracksuit and black boots.
"Ryoto!" Hana yelped, being the first one to run over with Hiroshi and Akira close behind. In their haste, they failed to even glance at the other half of the room- but at that moment, that didn't matter.
The Ultimate Racecar Driver was lying facedown on the wooden floor, the upper half of his body having been completely obscured by the crates next to him. The gentle rise and fall of his back provided a clear indication that, albeit unconscious, Ryoto was very much alive.
"Okay, he's breathing- good, he should be fine," Hiroshi remarked with a relieved sigh.
"Don't be so calm, Ashi- this just raises more questions..." Akira stated, adjusting her glasses as she stared down at the unconscious Ultimate. "What in the world was Miura doing up here? And what actually happened to him?"
"I mean...he didn't fall asleep up here, otherwise Monokuma would have executed him for breaking a rule," Hana remarked, kneeling down to try and look at her classmate more closely. "Someone must have knocked him out then, but..."
"Hm...maybe the rest of this upper area will hold some kind of-" Hiroshi began, turning around to look at the rest of the tower's top area for the first time since their arrival...and let out a sharp, shocked gasp.
"Ashi? What's the matter now-" Akira began, turning around herself...and going completely silent in that moment.
"Guys...?" Hana began, glancing towards her two companions as they went quiet.
"Hana...don't look now, but-" Hiroshi began, his voice going shaky as he and Akira continued to stare at something on the opposite end of the area.
"What? What do you mean, is there-" Hana quickly replied, jumping to her feet and turning to where he was looking...
In that moment, pure shock and horror struck her like a truck, and the surfer wished she hadn't failed to heed Hiroshi's warning. For what the three had failed to notice when they first ascended the steps, there on the other side of the room from where they entered and saw Ryoto...was a completely different scene.
The first thing Hana noticed was the blood, and there was a lot of it. The splattered blood began a few feet away from the center of the room and moved in a straight-ish path path towards the wall. And following the blood trail to that spot...would allow three to something even more horrifying.
She was in a sitting-like position on the floor, slumped lifelessly against the stone wall behind her- one leg curled in, the other laying flat on the floor. Her arms were lying limp at her sides, a small scalpel lying a few inches away from one of her motionless hands. One might assume she had simply fallen asleep against the wall; the scene around her, however, would tell a different story. A pool of blood had formed around the lifeless body, and a large bloodstain could be seen slightly above her on the wall and smeared straight down, like the victim had been up against the wall and slid downwards. As for the victim herself...her clothing was spattered in blood; her signature white lab coat, the same one that was always kept so clean, was now a dark crimson. Dried, spattered blood could be seen around her mouth; and the most glaring thing of all was the shining, blood-soaked katana stabbed through her chest.
They had found Shiori. Bloody, pale...dead.
"You...have got to be kidding me...!" Akira growled to herself, clenching her jaw as she clearly tried to keep her composure.
Hana, on the other hand, could do no such thing. "Shi...or...SHIORI!"
Deep down, the Ultimate knew in her mind it was far too late to do anything for the surgeon, but her heart wouldn't allow her to accept it. The girl ran forward towards her bloodied classmate...but when she had only taken a few steps, a noise played. A familiar noise- a terrible one.
Ding dong, ding dong
The dark area was further lit by the monitor turning itself on, revealing Monokuma's cruel face. "A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time, which you may use however you like, the class trial will begin!"
And just like, all of Hana's remaining hope was destroyed, and she had no choice but to face reality. The Ultimate made no further movements towards Shiori's body- instead, she started to tremble, dropping to her knees as she fought the urge to break down crying right then and there.
"...Forget it, Amari. She's dead," Akira told her, her voice betraying no emotion. "I'm going to get the others- neither of you are to touch anything in here while I'm gone. And if Miura wakes up, make sure he doesn't touch anything either."
The prosecutor left after giving those orders, but Hana had no intentions of moving. She lowered her head more so she could only see her knees and the bloodless floor immediately around her- if she had it her way, she would have ran back to her room right then so she could wake up from this nightmare. But it was no nightmare, and running away was not an option; so Hana had to sit there, fighting back her tears in the room with an unconscious Ryoto, a dead Shiori, and Hiroshi who seemed just as shell-shocked as Hana.
Akira soon returned with their other three classmates- fortunately, no one had fallen from the axe-bridge nor had it fallen.
"What the fuck!?" Hinata yelped upon seeing the surgeon's corpse. "N-No way! Someone's dead again!?"
Rumi's eyes widened and her face grew white as a ghost upon seeing the crime scene, and Hana was afraid the scuba diver would faint from the sight. "That...That's...!"
"Oh my god- oh god, Shiori!" Asuna cried out in horror. "N-No, no no no this can't be happening again, no!"
"Everyone, calm down now!" Akira yelled at them. "And Amari! Get up, would you!?"
Hana immediately obeyed, standing up and wiping away any tears that threatened to spill over.
Rumi, her frame trembling, forced her gaze away from the body of her friend, only for her eyes to land on Ryoto. "H-Hey...Ryoto, is he-?"
"He's alive," Hiroshi told her and the others. "It wasn't until after we found Ryoto that we found...found Shiori."
Akira shook her head. "Honestly, this is already a strange case, but rest assured we cannot-"
The Ultimate, however, was interrupted by the sound of a tired groan, followed a certain person's voice:
"Muuugh...fuck, what happened...? This ain't my bedroom..."
"Ryoto...? Ryoto!" Hana called out, turning around to see the racecar driver waking up.
"Wha-? Hana? Where's-" the young man began, pushing himself up with his arms before glancing over his shoulder. "What the-!? Everyone!? And why am I in the TOWER!?"
The Ultimate sprung to his feet and turned around to face everyone. "What's going on here? Did I- not show up to breakfast? Wait, is it even morning? WHAT TIME IS IT!?"
Nobody responded- everyone was staring at Ryoto in absolute shock, completely silent.
"What? What's everyone staring at me for?" Ryoto asked, looking around. "Is anyone gonna tell Ryoto Miura what's going on!? And why does it smell like- YAAAAAGH!"
The Ultimate had caught sight of Shiori's body through the group of his six other classmates; he wasted no time running past all of them to stand near the deceased surgeon, as if he had to get closer to make sure what he was seeing was real.
"HOLY FUCK! HOLY FUCK, SHE'S- SHIORI'S DEAD!" Ryoto cried out, the panic and horror in his voice almost palpable. "W-What, did you guys just find her!? Are we already investigating!? SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENIIING!"
Again, everyone was silent, still staring at the racecar driver like he had grown a second head.
"Wha...? Why's everyone looking at me like that!? THERE'S A DEAD BODY RIGHT HERE!" the Ultimate shouted at all of them. "What's gotten into you guys!?"
Finally, Akira broke the silence with two simple words: "Look. Down."
Doing a double take from confusion, Ryoto nonetheless obeyed...and suddenly, his eyes widened in surprise.
He saw what everyone was looking at: the front of his torso, in stark contrast to his white tracksuit, was almost completely covered in dried blood.
Ryoto stared back and forth between himself, his classmates, and Shiori's body; all the while, his face grew more and more pale as realization dawned on him.
"I...I, uh..." Ryoto gasped, his loud and boisterous tone from before shattered. "I...can explain...?"
A/N: AAAAND THE PLOT THICKENS EVER SO! I really need to work on predicting how long each of these parts will be, at this rate I'll be making parts too long and having to split them up to compensate left and right. Once again- this is a me thing, I don't like to make Daily Life sections too long. I don't know, I just- I don' like it, m'kay? I know you guys probably don't care as much, but for me...it bothers me for some reason, I dunno. Thus, splitting is necessary.
Now, onto the content itself: that's right everyone, the fourth murder is none other than- oh who am I kidding, everyone and their grandmothers guessed Shiori would be the victim this time. A guess that, lo and behold, was very much correct! Either that means you guys are really smart cookies or I'm a bad and predictable writer- and since I managed to pull off a decent Chapter 3 case, I know it ain't the latter.
That does, however, mean Daily Life has come to a close...and Deadly Life will begin in the next part! What kind of crazy murder case will the class be dealing with this time? Is Ryoto in all his bloodstained glory somehow involved? How many mournful and/or angry reviews will I get as a result of killing off a character who, it seems, is a fan-favorite? Only one way to find out- stay tuned for next time! Well, for the first two anyways, the last one is just me sitting here looking that smug cat with a knife (or tons of knives) being pointed at it- you guys know the meme.
Until next time, dear readers- farewell!