Day 22

I woke up alone once again. The only sound I heard was that of the morning announcement and the weather report- at least it was sunny all day today.

Anticipating that I'd once again arrive on a new island, I took Akira-san's notebook with me, along with a pen. The only clue I had to guess what was on the island was the career theme, from the list of stops on our cruise and from the career counseling Monokuma had held over the past two days. Everything else would be a surprise- and likely not a pleasant one.

I flipped to the newest blank page, which was closer to the front of the book than I thought, and began an entry titled "Island 4 Observations." Back when we'd reached the first island, everything had been unknown, and it was only when we'd gotten to the third island that we'd started developing expectations that Monokuma could subvert. Because of that, it was wiser to keep our minds open, and to be ready for any possibility, no matter how seemingly unlikely or nonsensical.

We convened in the dining hall for breakfast, and after saying "Good morning" to each other, we began eating in silence. Before long, Monokuma joined us.

"Good morning, class," Monokuma said. "I guess you've all figured out that we're going to a new island today, haven't you?"

None of us wanted to dignify that with a response, if only because it was what we feared. Within three days of arriving at each island, a murder had occurred, and on the previous one, we'd found ourselves in a situation that might have resulted in all of us dying. Believing that things would go any better this time was dangerously naïve.

"You don't seem too excited," Monokuma said, "which is a shame, because I actually have some good news; I'm not going to pull the same trick as last time. There will be lots of good food and drink on the next island, and you'll be able to return to the ship, starting at 8 PM."

A few people let out sighs of relief, but Karita-san raised his hand.

"That sounds all well and good," Karita-san said, "but do you really think we can just take your word for it?"

"You can't," Monokuma said. "You'll just have to see for yourselves once you get off the ship. Of course, like I said earlier, anyone who stays on the Ursa Major past 9 AM or doesn't get back on by 9 PM will get executed."

That was the killing game in a nutshell. We had no way of knowing for certain what was true and what wasn't, but we could be certain that if we made a mistake, we'd surely die. So far, no one had been brave or suicidal enough to test whether breaking one of Monokuma's rules would result in execution, but then again, following them had been relatively safe until the third island.

"Anyway, you've still got a little while before we get off," Monokuma said, "so you'll have more than enough time to finish your breakfast. Eat up, before it gets cold."

Monokuma departed, at which point we continued to eat, not knowing whether this meal would be our last.

Shortly after we finished, a little after 8 AM, Higurashi-san, who'd been eating at the other end of the dining hall, stopped by my table.

"Nagato-san, please come with me," Higurashi-san said. "We'll need to discuss this with Nagato-sensei."

"Yes, sir," I said, getting up and following him out of the dining hall.

Higurashi-san and I visited Mom in her cell and told her the news.

"I see," Mom said. "It seems as though you will be relatively safe on the next island. Of course, you don't have any choice when it comes to disembarking."

"Technically, we do, Nagato-sensei," Higurashi-san said. "If we stay on the ship, we'll die. If we get off the ship, we might die. There might not be much of a choice between certain death and likely death, but all of us want to live, so we consciously make the choice to keep on going."

I nodded. My days had become more lonely and painful ever since Akira-san died, but I didn't even have to think about whether I'd step onto the next island. Giving up and dying after everything that had happened would be disrespectful to Akira-san's sacrifice, as well as everything we'd fought for together.

"I'm glad to hear that," Mom said. "What about Tatsuki-san?"

"She got off on the last island," I said, "walking into danger with the rest of us. She was the first to offer to lay down her life- of course, someone had to die there- but I don't think she'll just throw her life away."

Some people in my position would have blamed Tatsuki-san, or believed that she should have died so that Akira-san could live. I, however, knew better. I'd had difficulty accepting that we would need to sacrifice someone to escape, and so sought to delay that sacrifice as long as possible... long enough for the accident to take place. In some ways, I bore responsibility for what had happened to Mihama-san and Akira-san.

"That's good enough for now," Mom said. "I can't force any of you to do anything, even in a life or death situation; all I can do is offer guidance and hope that you take it to heart. I'm counting on you two to guide your classmates well in my stead."

"Yes, ma'am," Higurashi-san and I said.

With our discussion concluded, we took the elevator back up.

By the time I'd finished speaking with Mom, the ship was starting to approach the island. I looked over the starboard side and saw that it was yet another urban center. It was hard to tell what the buildings were from a distance, but most of them seemed to be office complexes, and I could see a hospital on the west end of the island. For a moment, I thought we were back where we'd started our cruise, but I noticed a few noticeable differences. Not only was it a smaller island than our first stop, but I could see a sign saying "Welcome, Job Seekers!", signifying that this was the Career Planning island.

Kurogane-san was surveying the island as I approached him.

"So this is what our 'career planning stop' looks like," Kurogane-san said. "I guess it's more or less what I expected."

"Me too," I said. "Not all jobs are in the city, but even for those, I guess you'd probably have to go into someone's office to have an interview. Or at least it seems that way to me, a city girl."

"Sounds about right," Kurogane-san said. "It's not as though I know enough to prove you wrong."

If anyone did, it was probably Mom, as well as the various other teachers who gave career advice to their students. Of course, even those teachers probably didn't know about all the careers their students might aspire towards, not to mention how each generation's job market was different from the last.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something since last time," I said. "Do you know many people who have trouble choosing a career?"

"I know some people, yes," Kurogane-san said, "but for others, its different. Some people have everything figured out, with both a goal and the ability to reach it, while others choose something that isn't exactly realistic, and end up being disappointed, to put it mildly."

"I... I see," I said.

"I guess wanting something you can't have is human nature," Kurogane-san said. "Kojima-kun continued to pursue Azuki-san no matter how much she rejected him, and I yearned for Kojima-kun, despite knowing I wasn't even his second choice as far as romance goes."

"You seem remarkably calm about that," I said, "considering that you..."

I trailed off, unsure of what to say next or how to put it. Luckily for me, Kurogane-san picked up the slack.

"Love someone who didn't love me back and is now dead?" Kurogane-san said. "Or that I'm gay?"

"The latter," I said. "Some people would be troubled to realize that they're only attracted to members of the same sex."

"I imagine," Kurogane-san said, "but I personally believe it's important to understand and accept who you are. I came out to my younger cousin Shiro, who was fairly understanding, as was Kojima-kun. My parents mostly took it in stride, but made it clear that I was not to get together with a man under any circumstances."

"In other words, they don't approve of your lifestyle," I said.

"No, they don't," Kurogane-san said, a bit sadly, "but at the very least, I was able to be honest with them. I was hoping they'd accept me for who I am, and give me their blessing to live and love as I see fit, but like I said, some people want what they can't have."

Kurogane-san changed the subject, but in the process, made me wonder why I'd been so hesitant to tell others about being an illegitimate child... until I recalled all the ostracism and outright bullying I'd endured because of my status as such. Kurogane-san seemed a lot more confident than I was, but he wasn't the type to go shouting that he was gay from the rooftops, so maybe this was a sign that he trusted me. I, too, would have to decide who I could trust with my secrets.

Within minutes after my conversation with Kurogane-san ended the ship reached the dock, and all of us disembarked almost immediately. I was one of the first ones off, and counted the other nine of us as they left. Kirishima-san was the last one to get off this time, and once he did, I saw that the gate did not immediately retract.

As soon as all of us had left the ship, I looked around for a place to get food, and saw a ramen stand outside, with a vending machine nearby. Karita-san had apparently found it first, as I saw him seated at a bench next to a wooden table, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Oh, hello, Nagato-san," Karita-san said. "I see you're also worried about where your next meal will come from."

"With Monokuma, you never can be too sure," I said. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Sure," Karita-san said. "If you're thirsty, check out the vending machine; all the drinks are free."

I walked over to the vending machine, and input the code for a bottle of juice, which vended without my having to input any payment (although there was a coin slot, a bill acceptor and a credit card swipe device, as well as a spare change basket). I retrieved my juice, then sat down across from him, opened up and took a sip.

"I've been wondering about this for some time," Karita-san said. "What kind of person do you suppose Monokuma is?"

I had to admit that I had never really thought of Monokuma as a person. Not only was he a robotic bear, but he had no capability for empathy or compassion, and his emotions seemed to range from mild irritation to sadistic glee. That being said, current technology wasn't capable of creating an artificial intelligence that could act like a person, so it was possible that there was someone sitting in a control room and operating Monokuma, possibly on the bridge of the Ursa Major. If that was true, then the answer was simple- he was a sociopath who delighted in our death and suffering.

"Definitely not a good one," I said, "but while it's obvious that he enjoys our suffering, he hasn't made things completely impossible for the spotless. It would've been all over if we'd failed in the last three trials, but we've gotten through each one, so he leaves us a chance to succeed."

"I don't know if you could call it that," Karita-san said. "We have a chance to outwit the blackened, and survive at the cost of their lives, but at this point, we haven't made any kind of progress against Monokuma… or the traitor."

Karita-san must have felt surprisingly confident that I wasn't the traitor if he broached the subject so easily, or else he hoped to trick me into inadvertently giving away a clue. Since the latter was a remote possibility if I was, in fact, the traitor, I had to assume it was the former.

"Anyway, I've got another question," Karita-san said. "Do you think the traitor's still alive? Or are they dead by now?"

"I don't know," I said. "Out of everyone who's died thus far, I find it unlikely that it's any of the killers- or an attempted killer, in Kojima-san's case- since I doubt the mastermind would have taken such a risk, or given their life to save the rest of us. Monokuma also said that it wasn't Tsukimura-san, either."

"That's true," Karita-san said, "assuming you believe him, which is a dubious proposition at best."

"That's a fair assertion," I said, "but it's hard to believe that if Tsukimura-san was the mastermind, she'd let herself get killed so easily. Since Taiga-san chose to die in her sister's place, that only leaves Mihama-san... as well as those who are still alive."

While Mihama-san was not a very likely candidate for the traitor, since her only suspicious characteristic was her intelligence, I realized this changed little. Statistically speaking, it was most likely that the traitor was still alive, and it would be in the traitor's best interests to get us to erroneously assume that they were not.

"Good point," Karita-san said, "but what about Tatsuki-san? She's currently the only killer who got away with murder, and did so by sacrificing her sister."

"That's a possibility," I said, "but when Monokuma failed to execute her, she asked him to rectify his mistake, and she was willing to give her life to let us escape the last island. I know that she could have done so knowing that she wouldn't actually have to die in either case, but I don't think anyone could have predicted what happened to Mihama-san."

"That's right," Karita-san said, "and that includes Mihama-san herself. I guess that what I'm trying to say is that if we don't know much about why the traitor is doing this or their modus operandi, it could be anyone."

I nodded. Monokuma had spoken about teaching us to enjoy despair, but that kind of mindset was so alien and inhuman that I couldn't imagine any of us actually being that person, or becoming that person in the two years since our arrival at the school and the present day. More than anything, I was scared by the idea that one of the people I cared about was the traitor responsible for all these tragedies, and hoped I would never have to face the truth.

I walked some distance away and found a hotel that reached up into the skies, being at least ten stories tall. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't get to the top nine stories, since the elevator wasn't working and the door to the stairs was locked, so that just left the lobby, the restaurant and a convention center.

I saw Sayuri-san in the restaurant, and joined her for an early lunch.

"You know, Chiyuri-chan," Sayuri-san said, "even if this is a different hotel from the one we woke up in, it really takes me back. Miharu-chan and I met you and Akira-chan in a restaurant like this one."

"I know," I said. "Back then, none of us- with the exception of the traitor- knew things would turn out this way."

Back then, while I'd been confused as to how we'd all ended up in the hotel together, I'd mainly focused on getting to know everyone. In hindsight, I wished I'd worried more about the strange circumstances we'd found ourselves in, but getting to know my classmates was still an important first step, no matter the situation.

"On another subject," Sayuri-san said, "I notice that you seemed a bit reserved back then. How close do you think you might have gotten to the rest of us if this had been a normal trip?"

"I don't know," I said. "Not many people opened up to me over the years, but that didn't mean that I didn't need friends."

"Fair enough," Sayuri-san said. "Personally, I don't think you have to make friends with everyone. I consider you and the other girls friends, and get along well with Nobuhiro-kun, Kotaro-kun, and Hikaru-kun, but as for the other three... not so much."

I chuckled nervously. Sayuri-san was capable of being outspoken when necessary, as Himemiya-san had discovered the evening after the last trial, but she was clearly mincing words this time. I guessed that the difference was that she liked Himemiya-san, but didn't like Karita-san, Kirishima-san or Asakura.

"That's not really a surprise," I said. "How about someone you like but don't consider a friend?"

"Your mother comes to mind," Sayuri-san said, "since even if she wasn't my teacher, I'd probably think of her as my friend's mother. I also keep things strictly professional with my assistants, as well as with my editor. I've known them longer than you, albeit not necessarily 'better', but I don't call them friends."

"I see what you mean," I said, "except for the part about how you don't 'necessarily' know your editor and assistants better?"

Sayuri-san paused for a moment, a pensive expression on her face, as she chewed her food and thought. After swallowing, she decided what she wanted to say.

"Let me put it this way," Sayuri-san said. "All of us have things we're not comfortable sharing with others, or only tell to a handful of people. When it comes to people with whom you share a professional relationship, the list of things you don't talk about grows much larger. For example, I never told my editor about my parents, and only heard about his having a daughter when he mentioned it in passing recently... well, I mean, just before I got in here."

"Ah," I said. "There are certain things I haven't told anyone here... well, except for Mom and Akira-san, that is."

"Fair enough," Sayuri-san said. "You don't feel as though you should force yourself to, but if you want someone to talk to about that, I'll be listening."

I wondered if it ever occurred to Sayuri-san that my "secret" might be that I either was the traitor or knew who the person in question was, but maybe she considered that and didn't discuss it openly. Whatever the case might be, I had little desire for shallow bonds with little trust involved, and hoped that I could trust my friends. Perhaps the day would come when I could tell Sayuri-san about my parentage, just as I'd told Akira-san, but right now, I wasn't ready just yet.

I saw Himemiya-san pacing around the hotel's convention center, which had a job fair set up. There were several tables around the room, with job applications for various employers, but the only company logo I saw was one that I'd never seen before, which had the kanji for "Future" in it. She was carrying a manila folder that looked as though it was full of job listings and want ads.

"Hello, Nagato-san," Himemiya-san said. "I found some job postings you might want to look at, even if they probably aren't worth applying to."

"Thank you, Himemiya-san," I said. "I suppose they have some clues, don't they?

Himemiya-san nodded, then handed me the folder and I flipped through the postings, most of which were deeply sarcastic. One showed a picture of a ruined city.

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS NEEDED

Because someone's got to rebuild all the buildings now that we're done knocking them down.

Decent hours, not-terrible pay and excellent job security.

We're desperate enough that we'll take art majors.

Call H-OPE-DES-PAIR if you're interested

As much as I wish I was joking, everything on it seemed consistent with what I'd seen in the newspaper on the second island. The riots and other unrest had likely caused a lot of property damage, and in the case of important buildings like hospitals, utilities and others necessary to daily life, it was important to get the up and running again as soon as possible.

"I... don't know what to say," I said, "except I don't think this is what you'd expect in a job posting."

"No, it isn't," Himemiya-san said. "My father would never stand for such an unprofessional want ad for his own company."

"Unfortunately, I don't know who we can complain to about that," I said. "Even if we had our cell phones, that probably isn't a valid phone number."

I flipped through a few more job postings, from one for the police that emphasized the high mortality rate to one for fencing merchandise that was looted from stores, and found another that stood out.

NEED WARM BODIES TO MOVE DEAD ONES

Ever wanted to work at Hope's Peak?

Well, we've got just the opportunity for you.

The place is a pigsty right now, so we'd like you to clean up the outside of the school, take out potentially thousands of dead bodies and repair the damage to the new school building.

To inquire about this opportunity, call (This number was scrawled out, and a hastily written note was added- "Now that the school's been sealed as part of the Shelter Plan, no one's answering the phone.")

"By the way, that isn't my handwriting," Himemiya-san said. "If you look closely, it was already there when it was photocopied."

I checked and saw that there was a date on the posting- roughly the same as the newspaper we'd found. There were also a few photos of what looked like the real Hope's Peak Academy's new building, now in ruins.

"It looks like this one's another fake posting," I said, "but unfortunately, the news about Hope's Peak seems all too real."

"Indeed," Himemiya-san said. "There's one more that's probably the most important."

Himemiya-san took the folder from me, flipped through it, and picked out the one in question.

"HELP" WANTED

Are you tired of the world as it is now?

Then come and sign up for a career in World Ender.

Must have a strong sense of justice, an obsession with hope, and a willingness to get your hands dirty.

Preference given to alumni of Hope's Peak Academy, but Talent High School students will be strongly considered.

Remember: Ask for us by our "official" name- the Future Foundation.

I looked through the documents and returned them to Himemiya-san.

"All these paint a fairly disturbing picture of civilization," Himemiya-san said. "If what they're implying is true, we may need to scavenge in abandoned buildings for food and other necessities."

"Perhaps," I said, "but there's also a group that seems to be doing something about it."

"That's certainly possible," Himemiya-san said, "but most problems with society are of our own making, and our solutions often come with problems of their own. People have little motivation to change an unjust institution as long as they benefit from it, and any reforms are often made with people's own self-interest in mind."

I could see where Himemiya-san's cynicism came from. From what I had heard, her household was essentially a microcosm of a caste-based society, where one's family and gender determined one's station in life. Her extremely talented servant friend would never be anything more than a servant, while Himemiya-san herself, as a woman, would most likely be unable to convince her father or eldest brother to change the system- why would they when they were the most privileged under it? It was little surprise why she believed we were our worst enemies.

"I'd like to prove you wrong, but I can't," I said. "All I can say is that it's in no one's best interests for things to stay as they are."

"Almost no one," Himemiya-san said. "Monokuma and his kind appear to revel in this chaos and despair, so any organization that would restore order and hope to the world would end the one they hold dear. Perhaps the Future Foundation is a threat to people like Monokuma, but he won't let them do as they please."

All this sounded rather overwhelming, enough to make me question whether there was anything that ten students and their teacher could do. We were always told that anyone could make a difference, but that was only through millions of people banding together to change society, or one person who could rally millions to their cause. We'd never faced a crisis like this before in our lifetimes- or perhaps all of recorded history- so none of us knew what to do about it.

The next stop on our tour was a hospital. It was roughly three stories tall and divided into three wings- a large one where patients stayed, a medium-sized one with laboratories, testing equipment and operating rooms, and a smaller administrative wing.

On the patient wing, there were rooms on each side of the hallway in the hospital, enough for all of us on the ground floor alone. Each one had a decent amount of amenities- a bed for a single patient, some chairs for visitors, a cabinet, a TV (albeit one that wouldn't turn on) windows with drapes that looked out onto the sea, and a call button.

I saw Kumakura-san as I walked the halls, and stopped to talk with him. Near us, a metal cart of some sort, was parked against the wall between the doors to two hospital rooms. The cart went up to my shoulders and had several compartments that could store hospital equipment, including one that opened from the side, and was large enough for a small person (i.e. not Kumakura-san) to hide in. Some smaller compartments were near the top, and contained medical tools such as scalpels, syringes and latex gloves, among others.

"Good afternoon, Nagato-san," Kumakura-san said.

"Hello, Kumakura-san," I said. "Have you found anything interesting?"

"I have," Kumakura-san said, "at the convention center. Did you find the job postings?"

"Yes, Himemiya-san showed some to me," I said. "We talked about the existence of an organization named the Future Foundation that's trying to rebuild the world."

Kumakura-san scratched his chin and said "Interesting..." as if he hadn't heard that part just yet.

"I'd like to talk about that another time," Kumakura-san said. "The point I wanted to discuss was I realized why Monokuma had the career counseling yesterday and the day before- he wanted us to see how little our hopes and dreams, not to mention our talents and other skills, mean in a world like this. Only those whose talents are essential to humanity's survival will have much of a chance of being able to continue to practice theirs."

Kumakura-san's choice of the word "humanity" sent a chill down my spine. I wasn't naïve enough to think that the collapse of civilization, as well as the dissolution of Japan and other nations, would enable the remaining humans to unite as one people, but the stakes were certainly dire enough that if we didn't pull together, we wouldn't survive. If starvation, diseases, violence and death- the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse- running rampant, we might no longer have luxuries of sports, art or other forms of entertainment. I'd meant what I said to Tatsuki-san- that her music had the power to help others- but she might not have many opportunities to use that power.

"What about you?" I said. "I'm sure being strong would be useful, wouldn't it?"

"It has its uses," Kumakura-san said, "but it isn't everything. A skilled excavator operator is far more useful for digging the foundation for a building than a strong man with a shovel. If I were to join a construction crew with the skills I have now, I don't know whether I'd end up getting fired, but I doubt I'd be seen as a valued employee."

"Me neither," I said. "I had a hard time choosing a career in the best of times- I wanted to be a teacher, but didn't know if I could. I have no idea what I can do in a world like this."

"I suppose you can start with whatever they want you to," Kumakura-san said, "and simply apply yourself to learning the trade as best as you can. A good work ethic isn't enough by itself, not in circumstances this dire, but if they're stuck with you, that's all they can hope for."

"I...I guess," I said, not feeling any better.

"Sorry, that was too harsh," Kumakura-san said. "Think of it this way- I think everyone who made it through the disasters is out there are trying their hardest to contribute to our collective survival. It isn't easy for any of us, but you shouldn't assume that you're not good enough just because the work is tough for you."

I smiled approvingly. There were times when I forgot that I wasn't the only one having trouble, so it was reassuring to hear this advice from an Utimate who would likely have to put aside his own talent very soon.

I went to the laboratory wing next. There were several operating rooms, rooms for patients to be examined and other medical facilities. I found Kirishima-san in a chemical storage room.

"So, Kirishima-san," I said, "how are you finding the hospital's research division?"

"It is decently equipped," Kirishima-san said, "save for the most important resource of all- researchers. As it stands now, it is too far isolated to be of any use."

"Isn't that a good thing?" I said. "What if an experiment goes wrong and has disastrous results?"

"That only happens in films," Kirishima said. "No worthwhile scientist would recklessly start up an experiment that could potentially end in catastrophe without taking adequate precautions."

I took a look at the chemical storage, a refrigerator with a glass door. Its lock seemed to be opened with our student handbook. There were many small bottles of chemicals inside- hallucinogenic chemicals, muscle relaxants, laxatives, chloroform, protein shakes, some sort of super-potent energy drink and who knows how many others- with each vial having various warnings about what they might do if ingested. I saw a hand-written note taped to the back of the cabinet.

Chemical Storage

Have fun with these chemicals. Just remember a few things

-None of these bottles of chemicals are enough to kill someone by themselves, so you'll have to think outside of the box.

-These things taste really awful, so don't go confusing them for soda or juice.

-It's anyone's guess what happens if you mix these things, but I wouldn't recommend drinking the mixture.

-Attempting to dispose of these chemicals without using them will be considered littering, and will be punished accordingly.

-Have fun!

The note sounded as though it was written for a bunch of children, but that conclusion wasn't necessarily true- a note intended for children would ideally be simple but informative. Most of us were old enough that we knew better than to casually drink anything out of our parents' medicine cabinets, so we didn't have to worry about anyone accidentally poisoning themselves- rather, we had to worry about someone slipping us poison. Luckily, since the chemicals were easily tasted, we could simply keep a close eye on our food, and spit out anything that didn't taste right.

"So anyone can open the cabinet," I said, "which means that anyone can get potentially dangerous chemicals, cant they?"

"Perhaps," Kirishima-san said, "but according to the labels, none of the vials of chemicals come in great enough quantities to amount to a lethal dose."

"That may be so," I said, "but there are many ways to cause harm without killing someone. I will speak with Mom and Higurashi-san, but for now, please do not take any chemicals out unless absolutely necessary."

"Understood," Kirishima-san said. "As someone who works with various chemicals, I know very well that they are not to be toyed with. Whenever I obtain some for my experiments, I do so knowing how much I plan to use it, what it is to be used for, and the intended effect. Experiments' results may not always go as planned, but anyone who starts an experiment without a plan is nothing more than a fool playing with dangerous toys."

I paused a moment, discomfited by what he'd said until I realized why I felt that way.

"Is something the matter, Nagato-kun?" Kirishima-san said.

"I was just thinking," I said. "What do you think about how we might contribute to helping rebuild society once we escape?"

"If we escape," Kirishima-san said, "since there is no guarantee that we will reach the next island, much less return home.

"Oh, right," I said. "Sorry."

"But assuming that all of us who are still alive make it back," Kirishima-san said, "few of us possess the skills to be of use to society in any capacity. We have two tech support professionals, a musician, a manga artist, an archer, a weight lifter, an orator, a go player and a charlatan. Few of those skills are very desirable, and for the major needs that must be filled, an honest effort is not nearly good enough."

As Kirishima-san left me without giving me the chance to point out that he'd left himself off that list, I felt the small vestiges of self-confidence I'd built from my conversation with Kumakura-san ground into dust. The only saving grace was that he considered our classmates to be almost as useless as I was, but that was little consolation compared to the harsh reality that would await us if we returned to civilization, or the fact that not all of the remaining eleven of us would make it that long.

I looked through the administration building. Most of the building was composed of offices of various sorts, although I did see a laundry room and a kitchen downstairs. The former was about what you'd expect from a hospital, while the latter served food wrapped in plastic.

While looking through the kitchen, I opened up the cabinet under the counter, and found another Hidden Monokuma there, causing the real Monokuma to pop out.

"And that makes five, Nagato-san," Monokuma said. "Two for you, three for Azuki-san."

"Thank you," I said. "Could you please take this off my hands and return it to my cabin?"

"Sure thing," Monokuma said. "If you find the final Hidden Monokuma on the next island- assuming you make it there, that is- Cabin F4 will win in a shutout!"

As Monokuma left, I actually had to admit that for once, I felt good about what I'd found on the island. Winning the contest might mean nothing, especially not when no one else was seriously trying, but it was one of the only discoveries that felt like an unambiguously good thing, rather than feeling like a trap or meant to further the sense of despair festering within us. As depressing as that sounded, I had to be grateful for the rare pieces of good news I got.

I eventually found an office that belonged to someone important, probably hospital director, on the top floor of the administrative building. It was a grand office with several bookshelves against the walls, a view of the ocean and a large desk. Higurashi-san sat behind the desk, reading through some documents.

"Hello, Higurashi-san," I said.

"Hello, Nagato-san," Higurashi-san said. "Please, have a seat."

I pulled up a chair and sat down across from Higurashi-san. He and I had cultivated a good working relationship over these past few weeks, but I couldn't help but think of him as my superior, especially when he sat down at such a large desk. If he ever got elected to public office, he seemed like he'd be right at home in such an office, assuming he didn't prefer a more humble workspace.

"So... Higurashi-san said, "why do you suppose Monokuma had us come to an island with a hospital on it?"

"Definitely not to help us," I said. "A hospital needs good equipment, as well as good personnel. There's a lot of high-tech equipment here, at least from my perspective, but it doesn't do any good if none of us know how to use it."

"That's exactly it," Higurashi-san said. "Of course, while it takes a fully trained medical practitioner to use the equipment to save a life, anyone can use it to end one. There will likely be another murder on this island, even without the threat of starvation."

I nodded grimly. Higurashi-san's prediction was obvious enough, but the fact that he openly admitted it was a testament to how bad things had gotten.

"Speaking of which," I said, "Kirishima-san found some potentially dangerous chemicals in the cabinet. We can't get rid of them, but someone could use them to help commit murder."

"Thank you for telling me about this," Higurashi-san said, "but I spoke with him before and he informed me about them. Let's meet up at the ship this evening, just before the time to get back on, and talk more about this."

Higurashi-san didn't sound all that confident, knowing that it was unlikely that he'd think of a solution to our problem in the next few hours, or that putting our heads together would yield something he couldn't have thought of by himself. As he had said, the potential for poison and cure existed within everything we could find on the ship and the islands- not to mention our own hands. What we ultimately did with them was up to us, but we had little reason to hope that we'd make the right decisions.

About a block from the hospital, I found a small chocolate shop, with Sayuri-san inside. Posters, banners and signs around the store mentioned a White Day sale, with discounts on the products. It struck me as more than a little odd that the discount was still up more than a month after White Day, but then I remembered the newspaper article we'd seen two islands ago. If the store had been abandoned during the chaos that had broken out, they most likely wouldn't have been able to remove the White Day-related promotions.

"Hello, Chiyuri-chan," Sayuri-san said. "Just wondering, but do you like chocolate?"

"I do," I said, "but I'm personally not fond of Valentine's Day or White Day. Having gone to all-girls schools for much of my childhood, I haven't had any chances to get chocolate on White Day. Even if I did, my old high school didn't allow students to bring chocolates to school."

"The same goes for me," Sayuri-san said, "both the all girls part and the 'no chocolates allowed' part. That being said, I got chocolate from my assistants for Valentine's Day on my first year of high school, and gave some back for them on White Day."

"Ah," I said. "That's good for you."

Sayuri-san must have noticed that I was partly saying that to be polite, since she blushed for a moment before hastily replying.

"Well, it was only obligation chocolate," Sayuri-san said, "but I was happy to receive it. While I like chocolate, I also think that the feelings behind the gift are most important. That's why it's better to get the chocolate from someone you like than to buy it yourself."

At that point, Himemiya-san stopped by, still carrying her manila folder from the hotel.

"Hello, Sayuri, Nagato-san," Himemiya-san said. "Did you find anything interesting here?"

'Not exactly, Himeno-chan," Sayuri said, "apart from some evidence that the Tragedy most likely happened in March of two years ago. There is some chocolate here, though."

"So nothing too important," Himemiya-san said. "Thank you for sharing; I'll keep looking.."

"Thank you,' I said.

Himemiya-san waved goodbye as she left. Once she was out of earshot, Sayuri-san let off a long and wistful sigh.

"I'm curious about something," I said. "Do you like Himemiya-san?"

"I do," Sayuri-san said. "I remember feeling a bit disappointed when she wasn't interested in being friends right away, a sensation I felt more keenly than when other people I knew rebuffed my offers of friendship. Now that we are friends, I feel happy, but not fully satisfied, because I know I want more than that out of her."

As a heterosexual girl, I'd always grown up with the implicit belief that most of my friends would be of the same gender, and I wouldn't have many platonic connections with those of the opposite gender. Homosexuals and bisexuals' social circles were probably more complicated, as you might end up falling in love with any of your friends of the same gender… assuming they felt the same way, that is.

"Then why not confess to her?" I said.

Sayuri-san firmly shook her head. I must have seemed fairly surprised, since she paused for a moment, evidently noticing that a simple "no" answer wasn't enough.

"Before I answer that, I'd like to ask you something," Sayuri-san said. "What do you suppose happens after you confess to the person you like?"

I thought over my answer carefully for a moment. Since I'd never had any boys I was interested in, I had to rely on second-hand accounts for that answer.

"If that person feels the same way, I guess they'll say yes," I said, "but if they say no, you forget about them and get on with your life, right?"

Sayuri-san's expression seemed to indicate that this wasn't the answer she was hoping for.

"The answer's a lot simpler," Sayuri-san said. "You go down a one-way road that redefines your relationship, and can have consequences if you do it too early or with the wrong person. If the person you confess to takes it badly, or if you get into a relationship and things don't work out, the two of you will almost certainly lose your friendship in the process."

I had to admit that I'd never thought about it that way. My parents had been friends for some time before they started going out, and from my perspective, their falling in love seemed like a foregone conclusion. I hadn't had any male friends, so I'd never been in a situation in which confessing my love put me at risk of losing a friendship (whether that of the boy in question, or a jealous female friend who also loved the boy).

"This killing game only complicates matters even further," Sayuri-san said. "Himeno-chan nearly died twice on the last island, whether being executed for killing Tatsuki-chan, or for being executed for failing to convict Akira-chan."

"That's right," I said, "and we would have shared her fate in the latter case."

"Exactly," Sayuri-san said. "Next time, any one of us might end up as the blackened. I like a good slow burn romance, since healthy romantic relationships are built up gradually, but how can we do that when any or all of us might be dead by tomorrow?"

One would initially assume that Sayuri-san was referring to how any of us could snap and commit murder, which was certainly true, but that wasn't the only possibility. In Monokuma's eyes, the blackened was the person responsible for the victim's death, not necessarily a murderer, so any of us could potentially be inadvertently responsible for killing someone.

"And besides, there's Himeno-chan herself," Sayuri-san said. "To put it bluntly, I'm not so sure she's into girls."

"Why do you say that?" I said.

"Because if she were bisexual or a lesbian, she might have fallen for Kanae-chan," Sayuri-san said, "her oldest friend, who's been through the most with her."

"That's assuming Tsukimura-san was the same in that regard," I said, "or that their mistress-servant relationship didn't preclude a romantic relationship. Maybe one of the two had feelings for each other, but put them aside because they knew it would never work."

While I thought this was somewhat obvious, Sayuri-san paused for a moment, as though she hadn't really thought of that before.

"Fair enough," Sayuri-san said, "but my point is that I have every reason to hesitate before going down that road with Himeno-chan. I'm not so emotionally invested in her that I'd be heartbroken if she rejected me, but I am invested in her enough that I don't want to fail and lose the hard-earned friendship we have."

"I wouldn't, either," I said. "Then again, I'm sure that at the very least, you can be honest with Himemiya-san."

While Sayuri-san seemed to cheer up a little, I realized that I knew all too well how she felt. There were times when I'd wanted to befriend some of my classmates, only to find that they had no interest in spending time with me. That sense of rejection was painful, as was the realization that the people I cared about didn't necessarily feel the same way about me, which was part of the reason why it had taken me so long to open up to Akira-san. Perhaps Sayuri-san's had nothing to worry about, but that didn't mean she had no reason to be afraid.

I discovered a store near the chocolate shop- Kuroshiro Books. Most of the books inside were about choosing careers or applying for jobs, but I could see a few others, such as Sayuri-san's manga volumes.

As I was browsing, Tatsuki-san approached me. She'd taken off her blazer and neck ribbon, unbuttoned the top button of her uniform and wore an apron over her uniform's shirt and skirt, with a name tag that had "Tachibana" written on it in permanent marker.

"Welcome to the Kuroshiro Books, miss," Tatsuki-san said. "I'm Tachibana; please let me know if you need any help finding something today."

I paused for a moment, a bit surprised, but decided to play along.

"Thank you, Tachibana-san," I said. "I'm Nagato, and I'm looking for the newest volume of Sayuri Sasaki's Breakneck Canyon."

"You're in luck, Nagato-sama," Tatsuki-san said. "It's right here."

I picked out the book and walked over to the register up front with Tatsuki-san. She rang me up, with the total coming to 0 yen, with 0 yen in change.

"Thank you very much," Tatsuki-san said, "please come again."

"Thank you," I said. "You did a good job, Tachibana-san."

"I'm glad you think so," Tatsuki-san said. "That took a little less than five minutes, so multiply that by 100 for an eight-hour day, multiply that by five for a week, multiply that by fifty for a year, and multiply that by forty, and that's an entire career as a cashier. All I need to do is do this... a million times or so and I've got a career."

Tatsuki-san had a smile on her face as she announced the result of her calculations, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"You don't seem happy about that," I said.

"I've been reminded of my great-uncle," Tatsuki-san said, "who worked in a job like this all his life, and realized on the day that he retired that his life passed him by. Because of that, his niece- my mom- decided to do what she loved."

"And what about you?" I said.

"I... still don't know," Tatsuki-san said. "I may not have the opportunity to play music again, even if we do get out of here, but can I really do a mundane but important job, while dreaming about my glory days as Dragon Girl?"

I sighed and shook my head.

"I honestly don't know," I said, "since a job like this may be all I can aspire to. But if I had a talent and a chance to use it to help others and earn a living, I wouldn't waste it. You shouldn't, either."

"I won't, then," Tatsuki-san said. "I don't know what the best use of my talent is, but I won't just let my guitar skills atrophy."

As Tatsuki-san slipped off her apron and retrieved her blazer and neck ribbon, I wondered if It seemed a bit presumptuous of me to tell others what to do with their talents when I didn't have one myself. Tatsuki-san, however, didn't seem to think so, and if my advice could help her overcome her grief, guilt and despair, then maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to talk about subjects beyond my ken.

Around 7:50 PM, I headed to the place where the ship had docked, and saw that most of the class was there, nervously waiting for Monokuma to let us back on the ship. A couple minutes later, everyone else arrived, and we discussed the island. Most of the significant findings were ones I'd heard before, so I could have taken a nap if I'd so chosen... and if there was anything softer than concrete for me to lay on in the vicinity.

"Like Nagato-san suggested, I'd like to restrict access to the chemicals except in the event of an emergency," Higurashi-san said. "If you need chemicals, please tell either of us what chemicals you need and how you plan to use them."

"Fair enough," Kirishima-san said. "I hardly see any possible scenarios in which we would need them, though."

I thought back about all the chemicals, most of which had many harmful uses and few helpful ones. Good medicine generally had at least some side effects, but poison had no benefits for the imbiber, and most of the chemicals I'd seen fell into the latter category.

"On another subject," Himemiya-san said, "what do you think of the materials in the job fair?"

"They would seem to support the theory that something happened to the rest of the world," Higurashi-san said, "although they certainly don't seem like official job postings. Apparently, even Hope's Peak Academy wasn't spared the devastation."

"It seems so," Higurashi-san said. "If even half of this is true, then this ship may be the safest place in the world for us."

We fell into an uneasy silence. While we were relatively safe here as long as no one tried to kill each other, we still didn't know what the ultimate destination of our cruise was, nor where the graduates of this killing school trip would end up. For all we knew, Monokuma would deliver us into the heart of all the unrest and leave us to fend for ourselves once our part in this had ended... assuming he didn't have something even worse in mind. Knowing him, the latter was almost certainly true.

As 8 PM struck, we waited with bated breath for a few moments, worrying that this island might be a repeat of the last one. That fear was dispelled when the gangplank extended, at which point we all let off a collective sigh of relief. Since we had thoroughly explored the island today, and had nothing better to do, we quickly walked up the gangplank, which retracted once the last of us was aboard the Ursa Major. We knew we'd be back on the island tomorrow, but for today, we were thankful that we could once again return to the Ursa Major, our home away from home.

Higurashi-san and I met up with Mom to discuss what we'd found, and, more importantly, to let us know that we'd returned. She greeted us with a "Thank God you're back"; some might have taken the Lord's name in vain by saying that, but for Mom, it was a honest prayer of gratitude.

We sat down and gave Mom a report on the island.

"So in other words, the island is safe... relatively speaking," Mom said. "That's reassuring."

"I feel the same way, Mom," I said, "but I'm sure Monokuma will start targeting our weaknesses fairly soon. His motives are meant to give us reasons to kill, and he most likely tailors them in order to tempt different kinds of people."

Now that I thought about it, maybe the third island's motive was meant to play on Tatsuki-san's crushing despair and guilt, and give her a reason to be sacrificed for the good of the class. That being said, the itinerary seemed to have been determined in advance, and I doubt Monokuma could have predicted the twins switching places.

"You may be right," Mom said, "but I'm personally surprised that Monokuma is that confident in his knowledge of all the students' lives and personalities. Of course, that may be just me speaking, since I don't see many of you very often."

"How many people besides come down to see you, Sensei?" Higurashi-san said.

"Let's see..." Mom said. "Apart from you and Chiyuri, Azuki-san used to come down somewhat regularly whenever she had questions. Some of the students who'd lost people close to them- Himemiya-san, Kurogane-san, Tatsuki-san and Sasaki-san- have come down to speak to me, and I've done my best to offer them comfort and counseling. Apart from that, few people make the effort to go see me."

That wasn't all that surprising. Even in the best of times, many students were indifferent to teachers, or despised them as harsh authority figures who only existed to eat up students' free time. If Mom turned out to be the traitor, I'd be devastated, but not many of the others would be. They'd almost certainly hate the traitor for putting us through all this misery, but without as much of a connection to their teacher as to their classmates, they might not feel as much of a sense of betrayal as I would.

"I thought so," Higurashi-san said. "As a teacher, how well do you say you know your students?"

"Somewhat well," Mom said. "I do have to keep a certain professional distance from my students, but it's important for me to have a general understanding of your personalities, strengths and weaknesses, and everything else I need to know to teach you well. Since I only have sixteen students per year, unlike teachers who might have dozens or even hundreds of students, it's easier for me to get to know everyone."

"That's right," I said. "Of course, it doesn't take someone who's intimately familiar with us to realize that some of us might want to kill the one who betrayed them, others might commit murder to save the people closest to them, or that after sacrificing someone for the sake of our survival twice, we might do so again if we're starving to death."

"No, it doesn't, Chiyuri," Mom said. "Monokuma is fairly confident that teenagers placed in desperate situations will give in to their basest impulses. Either he has a very cynical view of human natural- albeit not unjustifiably so- or he's seen this happen before."

That was a truly disturbing thought, and, unfortunately, one that concluded our discussion. There was a time when I couldn't imagine something like this happening- the idea of one of my students non-fatally stabbing another was bad enough, but there had been two murders, one attempted murder, one accidental death and three executions in the past three weeks. If the world was truly as chaotic and violent as we'd heard, then it was all too easy to imagine something like this happening elsewhere.

After my meeting with Mom finished, I saw Sayuri-san waiting outside the elevator.

"Oh, hello, Sayuri-san," I said. "Did you come here to see Mom?"

"Not this time, Chiyuri-chan," Sayuri-san said, "although your mother has been quite helpful to me ever since Kanae-chan, Miharu-chan and Akira-chan died."

So it was as Mom said. I wasn't privy to what Mom talked about with my grieving classmates- nor should I be, since such discussions were best kept private- but I was glad that those conversations were taking place.

"This time, I'm here to see you," Sayuri-san said. "Do you have a minute?"

"I do," I said.

"I'll take my leave, then," Higurashi-san said. "Good night, ladies."

"Thank you, Nobuhiro-kun," Sayuri-san said, "and good night."

As Higurashi-san retired to his cabin, Sayuri-san and I headed up to the deck together.

"I'd like to know something," Sayuri-san said. "Did I ever tell you I was bisexual?"

"You did now," I said. "I had my suspicions you were attracted to the same sex- or both sexes- but didn't know for certain until earlier today."

"Ah," Sayuri-san said. "Well, I guess I never considered it all that big of a deal. My parents didn't, anyway."

In my case, I'd often admired attractive boys from afar, despite never had a proper conversation with any boy my own age until I'd come here. Since my Catholic schoolteachers had frequently driven home that homosexuality was a sin, I couldn't help but consider myself lucky that I was heterosexual, and thus wouldn't have to deal with coming to terms with my sexuality on top of being an illegitimate child. Of course, I didn't necessarily share their beliefs, either.

"Well, neither do I," I said. "I've heard some people say that the Bible disapproves of homosexuality, but I can't think of any reason why falling in love with someone of the same gender is wrong, apart from 'because some people long ago said so.'"

Sayuri-san giggled, but then turned more serious.

"Anyway, I came out of the closet to my parents in middle school," Sayuri-san said, "after speaking with my aunt- my dad's little sister and my mom's best friend- first to prepare for the conversation. Luckily for me, my parents were fine with it- one of the few things they agree on. They hoped I'd end up with a boy rather than a girl, since it would be 'easier' for us that way, but said they didn't have any right to tell me what to do after the mistakes they'd made."

I suspected that Mom would probably say the same if I introduced a boyfriend to her; since I was sure I was heterosexual, I'd never know her opinion on her daughter entering into a lesbian relationship. She'd probably be wary of us taking things too quickly, but as long as my boyfriend was a respectable person who loved me and had earned my love, she'd grant us her blessing.

"Well, I'm glad things turned out well," I said.

"I'm glad you feel that way," Sayuri-san said. "I mentioned this to Akira-chan a while ago, before we reached the second island, but I didn't reveal all these details. I'm sure I could have trusted her with it, but I never got the chance to bring it up. It's a good thing I have you to tell about it, though."

I smiled and nodded. I didn't have much confidence in my ability to do the things Akira-san once had, but one thing even I could do was serve as a patient and understanding listener.

I went to bed not long afterward, since it had been a long day, and the only person worth sitting up and talking with was no longer around. As such, after I changed out of my uniform, showered and changed into my nightgown, I said my prayers and climbed into bed.

I wanted to be relieved that Monokuma didn't seem to be taking extreme measures to get us to kill each other this time, but knew that a murder would probably happen anyway. By now, with three class trials having occurred, Monokuma was sure that his motives were working, as was the incentive to graduate and leave this killing school trip behind.

Maybe the traitor was no longer alive right now; it was certainly possible, even if none of the dead seemed all that suspicious, least of all Akira-san. Anyone insane enough to let us become trapped in this game would likely be willing to die, knowing that the killing game would continue even after their death.

In the end, I fell asleep once I was tired enough, hoping that I wouldn't have to find out which member of the class had betrayed us or why.

Monokuma Theater

I've got an awesome secret that I want to tell you...

...but I'm not gonna do it.

They say wanting's better than having, and the anticipation is the best part, right?

So I'll keep you on that best part forever, and leave you wondering what the awesome secret is.

Catch you later!

PS: That's the secret.

Author's Notes

Thank you for the reviews.

I'd like to congratulate Phillip Clark for guessing the passcode, but would also like to point out that it's for the bridge of the ship, not Yukari's cell. I'd also like to congratulate DarkX The Dragon Knight for being the first to solve the cryptogram.

Without spoiling too much, this is the island for which I had the fewest buildings planned in advance.

If you're trying to figure out who the traitor is based on how the others might react, here's a hint- an in-universe popularity survey, in which students vote for others on a scale of 1 to 5(if they voted for their favorite person, the results would be inconclusive, since no one would get more than two votes, and some would end up abstaining). The ratings are as follows- 1 is "Can't stand," 2 is "Don't like," 3 is anywhere from "Indifferent" to "Gets along with," 4 is "Likes," and 5 is "Best friend/loves." Here's some of the results, with all members of the class (living and dead) voting)

*Sasaki is the most popular member of the class. She generally has favorable ratings all around, and a couple of 5s (Mihama, Tsukimura). For the most part, people are at worst, indifferent to her.

*Tsukimura is also relatively popular, with 5 ratings from Himemiya and Sasaki. The only person who dislikes her is Asakura.

*While Azuki has a few 5s from people like Himemiya, Sasaki, Nagato and (much to her dismay) Kojima, she also gets a 1 from Asakura, and has 3s from a few of the people who died early on. She's relatively popular, but several people outrank her.

*Likewise, Chiyuri gets a 5 from her mother, but also a 1 from Asakura.

*While Yukari has a 5 from her daughter and Higurashi and a few 4s from some of the students who took the time to visit her, most of the others are indifferent to her, meaning that she ranks behind Sasaki and Tsukimura.

*Kurogane has slightly above average ratings overall, since he gets along with most people, but doesn't have any close friends, not even Kojima.

*Obviously, Asakura is the least popular member of the class, with 1s from several people- Azuki, Chiyuri, Karita and a few others, and a few 2 ratings, at best. Karita doesn't do much better on this regard, although he does get 2s from Azuki and Chiyuri.

And now the previous fic.

*Miura is the most popular member of the class, with most people having at least an above average view of her, and a couple 5s(Edogawa, Iwasawa, Yuuki). The only person who dislikes her is Kurogane, who would have softened his stance given time.

*Likewise, Edogawa is quite popular, especially with Miura and Yuuki. Only Kurogane and Mitamura dislike her.

*Hoshino is the least popular member of the class(even before the third class trial), with Shiro Kurogane coming in a close second (in his case, because fewer people had many chances to interact with him).

*The mastermind ordinarily was of average popularity, but dropped to being universally hated after being identified.