Hello, and I am finally back with another chapter! It's been like, what, a month or so? Aaah I'm sorry about that, but hey, at least I'm still here! I really don't have too much to say right now, so I guess we can just jump straight into the story!
Prince PokePersona: "Yes, another chapter! This one is gonna be short, but oh well! Yes, it looked like they were close, huh? Interesting, makes you wonder, huh? Poor Tomoyo, everyone should just hug her! Akio's always a bitch, shaking my head. He always loves Wakana whether dead or not, aha. Poor bro. Shinji and Yume deserves hugs! They're babies! Masako is a supportive girl, yes. Aww, thanks! Yes, they're a rag tag bunch of kiddos. I wonder who will die? Who will live? Oh well, we'll see! Aww, thanks!"
TheRoseShadow21: "Oooh, maybe maybe, who knows? That's for everyone to figure out, hehe. Yes, makes you wonder, huh? Makes me wonder as well, but oop I'm the writer, so nevermind! Thanks!"
BIG THANKS TO Lupus Overkill FOR BETAING!
Reading the headlines from the newspaper, Tomoyo frowned as she read through the snippet of the article.
["THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT:
It's only been a week, yet chaos has already erupted around numerous parts around the country, most notably in the Chiba, Tokyo, and Gunma prefectures. Deaths have risen to the thousands now, and foreigners are rushing back to fly to their homeland in fear of death. The country had shut down in an attempt to prevent danger from this unknown group of terrorists.
With over thousands dead and a drastic increase of those injured or missing, the country has fallen into a state of emergency. It is said that about over thirty percent of crime had been linked to this terrorism group, but it is estimated that over fifty percent had influence over what crimes or information had been given by the group.
The terrorism group had been speculated to be ran by teenagers. It is rumored that the teenagers come from different parts of Japan, being claimed to be Ultimates. It is unsure of whether or not this is true or who exactly is in this group. The terrorists have methodically hidden their faces and traces of their identities from the media.
Cults and other forms of criminal organizations have also risen, and it is rumored that they are linked to the terrorism group, if not coming from and making up the group altogether…"]
"Tomoyo."
The screenwriter perked her head up from her spot, finding Kiyoko looking at her from the door. Seeing the firmness in the recreation worker's gaze, the smaller woman quickly settled the newspaper to the side and walked out.
With the inaction coming from Akio and the lack of confidence from everyone else around the area, Tomoyo knew Monokuma had them wrapped around his little fingers. It was a bad situation, the screenwriter knew. Monokuma loved this lack of rebellion, this lack of action.
Whose fault was it even? She didn't know, but she knew she couldn't afford to even think. She had to be methodical, meticulous. She needed to plan.
She jotted some notes down to herself. It wouldn't be as detailed or as much as what she expected Watari has, but she needed to get at least somewhere. There, she quickly skimmed through her notes:
[NOTES:
- Watari died because he was getting close to the truth (but what is that truth?)
- Murderer theory → might hold ground
- but then why would we be killers?
- The memories shown: mine was about Watari yelling at me about his brother, Masako was about her/Misaki/Keishi running away, Akio was about him and Wakana, Shinji was about convincing an officer to letting his friends get out of jail, Yume was shot.
- We're on the run (based on the memories) → saving the world? How?
- I need to ask everyone for info. I don't know everything.
…]
In comparison to Watari, she knew she didn't have as much. Watari tried his best to decipher this mystery, and Tomoyo was just in the background, seemingly helping Akio behind the scenes. She had done nothing but act as a catalyst to Akio's own schemes, and in the end wasted the opportunity to help the detective and escape this wretched building.
Well, at least she could try now, right? Even if time was ticking, even if time was running low, she had to try. She couldn't afford to give up. That wasn't in her nature. If she could survive through death, she could survive yet again.
She just needed to try harder and stop hiding. She needed to stop hiding behind other people and depend on them. Independence should've been her middle name, and now she was here to claim it.
But first off, she had to look for Shinjimae and Yume. What Akio said did set her mood down, but it shouldn't matter. That was his opinion, and his opinion alone. If the actor had given up, then so what? That doesn't mean Tomoyo should. Masako didn't proclaim her act of defeat, and Tomoyo did not want to betray her. Masako trusted her, and this time the screenwriter did not want to throw her under the bus.
Still, convincing Yume and Shinjimae was going to be hard, she didn't deny that. She knew Yume was going to ignore her, and Shinjimae? She was definitely sure he was going to shake his head, have Saki to protect him.
That was alright though, it didn't matter. It shouldn't matter. Tomoyo had to persuade them no matter what the costs, the consequences, were. It was a matter of life or death.
Tomoyo nodded to herself. Right, she had a plan in mind, and she was going to initiate it. She didn't have time to waste, time to stall… she had to do it!
Confident, the screenwriter made her way out of her room. She clicked the door shut, and moved down the hallway, making her way, first, to Yume's dorm. She looked for Yume's door before stopping in front of it, silent. She held her breath, then slowly knocked on the door.
Knock knock!
She waited. A few seconds passed before the door slowly opened, revealing the disheveled nihilist. Tomoyo bit into her lips- Yume looked much more sleep deprived and ghostly than ever, eyes half dead and skin pale. The screenwriter was almost stunned into silence, but she caught herself and gulped down her worries as she spoke: "Hello, how are you?"
Yume's eyebrows were furrowed. A scowl was present on her face. "What do you want?"
Her voice was hoarse and raspy, Tomoyo noted. The screenwriter had to hold her ground, so she stayed put, speaking in a firm tone, "I want to ask you a few questions. I want us to get out of here."
"Get out of here?" Her voice fell to a whisper, though it was aggressive, the downward motion of her head making it clear. "What does that mean…?"
"Exactly what I mean." She crossed her arms. "I want us to work together to find a way out of here. I don't want anyone else to die."
"... Isn't it a little too late for that?" Yume frowned. The white dress she was usually wearing was now slightly gray and dirty. "A little less than half of us are left… Does it even matter if someone like me died?"
"What are you saying? Of course it does!" Tomoyo frowned in return. "Everyone's life matters here, even yours."
"I don't think so." The taller woman raised a brow. "My life does not matter here."
The screenwriter shook her head. The nihilist was wrong, she was definitely wrong. Tomoyo knew the woman was wrong, but convincing her was another burden in itself. How would it work? How could she convince her?
Ah, she didn't know, but she had to push forward. She had to persevere. "I don't understand why you would think that. Everyone here cares about you. We all care about each other. We're all in this together against Monokuma, remember?"
"... then what about the mastermind?" Yume stared at her blankly. "We don't even know who that is. What if you're the mastermind?"
"That's…" Tomoyo held her breath. Of course the woman would speak about that, but how can the screenwriter refute and calm her down? "I'm not the mastermind. I wouldn't be going up to you if I was the one who orchestrated this fiasco."
"How are you so sure about that? You… you were the one who broke Watari's trust anyways." She clutched her dress tightly, nails digging into the fabric. "I can't trust you. I can't trust anyone here."
Tomoyo was silent. Looking at the nihilist for a few seconds, she gripped her collar and leaned forward, asserting herself. "Then how can I get you to trust me?"
"I… I'm not trusting you." Yume scoffed, turning to the side. "Leave me."
"I'm not going to leave." The screenwriter frowned. "I know I did things that lowers people's trust in me, but that's why I'm here to change it. Please, I want nothing more than for us to escape."
The nihilist was silent. She slowly looked down at the screenwriter, then averted her gaze to the ground. Hesitation was clear on her face. "... Well, I don't know. I have no idea if you're the mastermind or not. Maybe you're just trying to get me to lower my guard so you can kill me."
"I'm not going to hurt you." The shorter woman held her hands up, trying to reassure her peer. "I have no weapons on me. You can easily overpower me. We're in a public area. You can scream for help."
"That's…" Yume shook her head. "No, I can't trust you. It doesn't matter if we die here."
"Of course it matters!" Tomoyo frowned. "If we die here, we're going to continue this game. That's what Monokuma wants, what whoever is watching this wants. What if there's more games out there? We need to stop it. We need to inform the authorities about this illegal game."
"The authorities?" Yume looked at her for a few seconds, then gritted her teeth. "You're stupid. They won't do anything."
"What?"
"They're the reason I'm like this. It doesn't matter if they know of this stupid game or not." The nihilist held her breath. "I don't trust them. They've done more bad than good, in all honesty."
"Just because of that?" Tomoyo frowned. "What have they done to you?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Yume scoffed. "Made me look like a freak. Made me the stupid Ultimate Nihilist I am. So what if I'm a nihilist? What makes me more special than the other nihilists? I'm the same as every other nihilist. We don't give a damn about the world, so what's special about it? Why commercialize me as an Ultimate?"
Tomoyo went silent. She didn't have an answer.
"See? So why should I care about reaching out to the authorities about this?" The nihilist crossed her arms. "It won't do anything. It won't change anything."
"I-it will change something! At least escaping will change something!" The screenwriter shook her head. She refused to believe her words. She refused to back down. "What everyone's been trying to do since the start of this game was try to fight it! Escape death. They died and they left their wish to us, so we have to prevent anyone else from dying and escape this!"
Yume was the next person to go silent, just staring at the tinier woman in shock. She eyed her for a few seconds before averting her gaze, a soft sigh escaping her chapped lips. "I don't get how you can say that. It's literally impossible to get out of here."
"The location of this school resides in Chiba, Watari's hometown." Tomoyo closed her eyes. "Given the motives we've had so far, we can use what everyone had and try to come up with a cohesive theory. We still have the information Watari gave us about us being murderers to think about. Even with this little information, we at least know something we can all think about. I'm not the one who needs to think, I need everyone else to help me out. I can't do it by myself."
Yume pursed her lips. The fierce look in Tomoyo's gaze was rather intimidating. "... What did Blaise and the others say?"
Tomoyo frowned. "Blaise doesn't want to do anything. I still need to talk to Shinji, but Masako's going to help me."
The nihilist sighed, scratching the back of her head. "I see." She glanced around the area for a second, then murmured, "I'll help then, I guess. If Shinji helps, I'll probably help too."
"Huh?" The screenwriter's eyes sparkled. "Oh, really? T-thank you so much!"
"Hmph." Yume nodded. "Yeah, whatever. Can you leave me alone now?" She stepped back. "I want to nap."
Tomoyo nodded her head, brightly smiling. "Okay! Thank you."
Yume only rolled her eyes in response, slowly closing the door behind her. It didn't really matter what the nihilist thought afterwards, the screenwriter only smiling to herself and making a small fistbump to herself.
Great! Now I just need to talk to Shinji. The screenwriter's heart was pounding, lips curled into what seemed to be an eternal smile now. Hopefully I can convince him, if not make him open the door… hopefully he's in his room though.
Well, she had no time to spare. She glanced around the area before nodding to herself, moving over to the other side of the dormitories, moving to the area where the boys were. She looked around and found Shinjimae's dorm room, then knocked on it.
A few seconds passed. Nothing happened. The door didn't open.
He's probably out somewhere then. Tomoyo frowned to herself, then reached into her MonoPad. She quickly typed a message into the group chat.
[Chatroom: (Group Chatroom)
(More on top…)
Tomoyo: Hello? Where's everyone at? (01:23 PM)]
She was silent, waiting for an answer. It was lucky for her that she heard a few notifications popping up.
[Masako: I'm in my room. (01:23 PM)
Akio: With Shinji. (01:23 PM)
Tomoyo: Where are you and Shinji at? I want to talk to Shinji. (01:24 PM)
Akio: Outside. Just sightseeing. (01:24 PM)
Tomoyo: I'll head over there. (01:24 PM)
Tomoyo: (Type here…)]
Now that the woman got the location of where Shinjimae was, she knew what to do. She quickly headed out the dormitories, moving down the hallways and making her way outside, uncaring if the sunlight was beaming down from the glass and against her face. It was comforting in a way, but that didn't matter. Tomoyo quickly stepped forward and looked around for the two men.
That didn't take too long, for when the screenwriter looked around, she saw Akio and Shinjimae sitting together, watching Saki who was running around the grass.
Saki seemed to be content, running around the grass in circles. Definitely a form of escapism, the dog wagging her tail and panting. A few seconds passed before Saki noticed Tomoyo, a happy bark escaping her before she charged over at the screenwriter, stopping once she was in front of her.
"Oh." The screenwriter was slightly shocked, blinking a bit before moving down to pet Saki. Her expression relaxed once she noticed Shinjimae's pet nuzzling against her hand. "You seem to be doing well, huh?"
"T-Tomoyo?"
Looking back, she noticed Shinjimae who was looking at her, a mixture of worry and confusion on his face. Her focus shifted to Akio who just shrugged casually. She pursed her lips and moved forward towards the two men, Saki following behind her.
"W-what are you, er, doing here?" The animal whisperer was looking at her worriedly, his hands close to Saki who jumped close to his side. "Uh… y-you wanted something, right? I-I saw the, uh, texts."
"Ah, yes." She glanced again to the actor who was silent, then back to Shinjimae. "I was wondering if you wanted to help me."
"H-help you?" The doe-eyed man retreated, making himself smaller. "W-why?"
"I want all of us to work together to get out of here." Tomoyo smiled, trying to make herself look as reassuring as possible. She had no idea what the animal whisperer thought of her, and given he had been with Akio for support, she had a feeling he wasn't too keen on her. "Masako's going to help me, and Yume said she'll help if you help."
"W-what?" Shinjimae's face was nothing short of fearful and concerned. "W-why does it matter? I-I'll end up hurting people if I help you…"
"You won't, I assure you." Tomoyo kept her smile intact. "I know you won't. You never hurt anybody before."
"L-lies! Liar!" Shinjimae immediately backed away, whimpering and hugging his knees. "I-I always hurt people. M-my daddy, Hitomu, Keishi, a-and now Watari… hic, Watari…"
"No, you never hurt them. You never did." Her lips curled to a frown. She slowly stepped forward. "Shinji, you didn't hurt anybody. None of this was your fault."
Shinjimae continued to shake his head. "N-no… stop lying. W-why does everyone lie to me? I-I'm a curse!"
"You are not a curse!" Tomoyo cried. "You're just caught in a terrible situation like the rest of us!"
"No! S-stop lying to me!" The animal whisperer crawled back. "Y-you're just trying to get me to lower my guard! I-I don't like it!"
The screenwriter gulped. Shinjimae was completely entranced in this state, a mixture of fear and sadness in his face. Was this the feeling of despair? The taste of harsh, cruel reality? The mixtures of pain and hatred altogether?
Tomoyo didn't know, but she knew she'd damn herself to hell if she allowed this to continue.
"Shinji, you're not a curse and I'm not here to hurt you." She spoke gently, trying to reach the man. "If I was really trying to hurt you, Blaise would've stopped me. He's stronger than me anyways."
Akio looked baffled from the mention of his name. His purple eyes looked from Tomoyo then to Shinjimae. Softly, his lips curled to a smile and he just nodded his head. "She's right. If she was going to kill you, I would've stopped her immediately."
At least he helped me out there. Tomoyo nodded to herself, then smiled down the animal whisperer. "Look, I want nothing more than for us to get out of here. I don't want anyone else to die. The only reason why we couldn't beat Monokuma all this time was because we weren't working together. I want to change that."
Even if Blaise decides to not help us. She threw a quick look at Akio who was silent again, observing like a hawk. She honestly wasn't sure what the man was thinking, but she couldn't afford to entertain that thought at the moment. Her focus was on Shinjimae, the young man hugging Saki for comfort. Shinji, please.
"I-I… no, that's…" The man was shaking. "I-If we try to do that, Monokuma… h-he's definitely going to s-stop us… a-and the mastermind…"
He's so stubborn. Tomoyo held her breath. How do I-
"Well, if you all decide to stop Monokuma and the mastermind, I'm pretty sure you guys have at least a decent chance." Akio threw a smile, crossing his arms. Although it wasn't clear if he was being genuine or not, his words had immediately caught Shinjimae's attention, his doe eyes looking up at the actor who continued to speak, saying, "Have you seen a lot of mystery and horror movies before you were trapped here, Shinji?"
"H-horror? Mystery?" He slowly shook his head. "Those are scary…"
"Figures." Akio glanced at Tomoyo. "She's known for those types of genres. Horror, thriller, mystery, and dramas as well. I'm sure you've heard of Ward, Koi, and Glass House, right?"
The animal whisperer hesitantly nodded. "Y-yeah, I've heard about them in the news before…"
"Those are Tomoyo's works." The brunette chuckled. "See? Pretty sure you can at least trust her to help you all out. She's pretty much set for survival in this type of setting."
A killing game setting, huh? The screenwriter pursed her lips, but nonetheless rolled with the actor's words, smiling down at Shinjimae. "And I'm sure Yume and Masako will contribute greatly if we plan together! Those two want to escape as well."
"I, uh…" Shinjimae's eyebrows were furrowed, nose wrinkled. His embrace around Saki slightly loosened, a mixture of emotions welling up in his face. "H-how would I help though? I'm useless…"
"Well, who knows?" The actor sighed. "Maybe if you're able to escape, you can give condolences to Watari's brother. Maybe even talk to Keishi and Hitomu's family."
"W-what?"
Tomoyo frowned, looking up at Akio. What exactly does this man know? Why does he know about Watari's brother? I… I need to ask him.
Nonetheless, Shinjimae went silent at this, looking down at the ground. There was no wind, yet it felt like one was brushing against his face- the cool, depressing air. His fingers retreated in, digging into dirt. His lips quivered and he looked up, doe eyes staring into Tomoyo's.
"I… I-I'll try to help then!"
Tomoyo felt the need to breathe deeply, but she knew better than to act relieved right now. She just nodded her head at Shinjimae, lips curled into a grin. "I'm glad then!"
That smile on Shinjimae's face was definitely forced, but at least somewhat genuine. Given the excitement on Saki's face as she moved over to nuzzle against him, Tomoyo was confident Shinjimae was at least going to try to help out.
This was a necessity. She needed everybody safe. Even if Akio wasn't going to help, as long as the majority helped out and that he didn't do anything suspicious, everything was going to be fine. She just had to believe in that.
"S-so, erm…" Shinjimae nervously looked at the woman. "What are we going to do?"
"Oh, right." The woman frowned. "We need to gather information we've gotten about this place and about our memories. We need to figure out what is going on here and find hints that'll point us to the mastermind."
"H-hints to the mastermind?" The animal whisperer tilted his head, awkwardly toying with his sleeves. "H-how would we, er, find hints?"
Tomoyo wryly smirked. "In my opinion… I think we have to think back to the trial."
Eyes widened. "Y-you mean Watari's trial?"
"Because of how the trial played out, right?" Akio watched Tomoyo who nodded, then frowned to himself. "How is it suspicious, Tomoyo? I know that the trial was rushed because of Monokuma, but how will it point us to the mastermind?"
"Other than the fact Watari knew mostly everything and was eliminated because of it, I think the trial was rushed not because we didn't know who the murderer was for certain, but because the mastermind didn't want to be caught." The woman crossed her arms. "Watari obviously knew what he was doing and wanted to expose the mastermind, but he was killed for it. The mastermind obviously manipulated the scenes."
Akio raised a brow. "So you actually think it was the mastermind who killed Watari then? Not Kyatchi?"
"Why would Kyatchi kill Watari anyways?" Tomoyo asked rhetorically, pointing a finger up. "Even if Monokuma expressed his dislike for Kyatchi's suicidal nature, there is no rule against Kyatchi killing himself. If Kyatchi really wanted to die, he would've done so without harming others. I… I don't think he's the type to hurt Watari."
Shinjimae gulped. "I-I mean… H-he does seem to be close to Yume too…" He held his breath. "Y-Yume was heartbroken when he died…"
"Those are just hypothetical situations though." Akio tilted his head, sighing. "If you really want to expose the mastermind and get out of here, you need to dig deeper. I really don't think asking about possibilities will do good here. Even if that's what you did during the trial, that didn't exactly bring us anywhere. How are you so sure we're in a game show anyways? The supposed 'evidence' does not exactly conclude confidently that we're in a show unless we have physical proof of it- contracts, footage, you know."
"Then we need to search." Tomoyo frowned. "The mastermind's human like all of us. We can expect them to make mistakes."
Shinjimae averted his gaze. "But, erm… i-isn't Watari's room locked though? Monokuma won't let us in…"
"That's because Watari had information since he was the traitor." Tomoyo cupped her chin, now thinking to herself. A few seconds passed before she continued, speaking, "Even so, we can go off what Watari did tell us. The whole murderer idea, and the other stuff he talked about."
Even though I don't know how much he actually shared with us. The woman held her breath. "And other than that, the fact that we know each other, more so than we originally thought."
Shinjimae gulped. "Y-you mean the stuff Monokuma showed us, right?"
"Yeah, that." The screenwriter crossed her arms. "I only thought we knew each other in an acquaintance or coworker sort of sense, but it seemed like we were more close-knitted than I thought."
"Surprising, huh?" Akio chuckled lightly. "I didn't think we were so close. I mean, if Monokuma isn't lying to us, that is."
"I don't think he is. It wouldn't be fair." Tomoyo pointed up to the air, at nothing in particular. "It wouldn't be fair to the viewers either. They'd be just as confused as we are, and that'd annoy them."
Shinjimae nodded slowly. "T-that does make sense…"
"Yeah, but we can discuss everything else with the others." Tomoyo crossed her arms, frowning. "I'll tell the others you're going to help."
Shinjimae's smile widened. "Ah, y-yes!"
Tomoyo nodded to herself, holding her breath. She had done it. She had convinced Shinjimae and Yume. Now that this step was finished, the others had to be done. To figure out a way to escape successfully, and to catch the mastermind.
She just needed to plan, that was all.
Aah, this chapter was short! Anyways, it's been a while since I updated, huh? Sorry, college has been a bitch and midterms are coming up in like a week for me, so I'm busy preparing for those, haha. Anyways, while it does seem like the story is progressing at a slower pace, that's all to build up to the conclusion, after all, why would the mastermind just come out and admit they're the mastermind when you can just hide it? Then again, do you even know who the mastermind is? Hmm, one has to wonder, huh?
Haha, anyways, that's kinda all I have to say at the moment! I'll see you all next time!
