A.N. Originally, I was gonna finish this tomorrow, but I got distracted. But, hey, I don't know where you all live, so it doesn't really matter when I post it, I guess.

DigiXBot: That is an appropriate reaction.

Samuel Kliver: No worries, glad to see you back! Sorry about that Naegi thing, I got a little treat for people who feel that way!

ashDanLand: Thanks! Oh really? Nekomaru is your favorite character? Interesting! I like him a lot, but I wouldn't say he's my favorite (I'm kidding, I know you mean Gundham). The Funhouse never turns out to be all that fun, huh?

HashtagJustMonika: Goody... So many questions! I love this feeling of power I have over you! I can't wait either... Hiro is finally being a Hero! As much as I love how I've written Mukuro here (and how she is written in a lot of fanfiction) canonically speaking, Maki is best waifu, therefore she gets my vote in that battle. I like to think of myself as the helpless Kaito stuck in the middle of that fight! I actually relate to him a lot, so it ain't too much of a stretch; whoever gets Kaito gets me!

TheAppStore: Right? Only three V3 students are here, and one is no longer with us (rip Kiyo, my biggest regret). First chapter of my THH is up now! It's called Semester In Hell, and it's got a lot of those V3 folks you've already mentioned in a previous post! I would be a bad writer if I didn't tell you to go check it out! You're right, and the internet has been less than helpful. Full disclaimer, I make changes and I don't go that much into detail. Sue me.

D-Kirb: I'll be honest, I'm not really in the business of changing motives that I think I can make work. That said, I will promise that if I ever repeat a motive, it will be nothing like the original game, so at least give it that chance. Thank you, glad you liked it! I'll be waiting for someone to make that fanart! Or, any fanart of my stories, really...that would be nice... Eh, "new" Hiro is kinda weird, but then again, so is old Hiro. Not like his original character was all the groundbreaking and interesting, so I figured why not do something with it?

SuperSonicHeroes: No problem! Sometimes, that's just how it gotta be. No matter how hard you might try, development can't just happen over night! Thank you! I'm always skeptical of when and where to drop pieces of information, as well as how much. So it's nice to know it can pay off! Now, I just gotta make sure it matters... We shall see... Shuichi is becoming quite the casanova I hear... God, I hate the Funhouse.

T-that's all folks! Stick around after for some more notes! In the meantime, go'on an' git back ter Jabberwock Island!

"Hey there! My name's Makoto Naegi, I'm the class rep for the 78th class! Welcome to Hope's Peak Academy! I'll be your tour guide during orientation today, so if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them!"

Orientation day at Hope's Peak Academy. The first time I ever met Makoto Naegi. The first time I'd ever met another ultimate student. It was finally happening! I was finally going to the school of my dreams! I was going to be just like Makoto, he was going to be my upperclassman, along with the rest of his class.

"Hey, is it true you're in the same class as Sayaka Maizono?! Do you know if she's single?"

"You idiot, don't you know? He's dating her! She did an interview on Seventeen about it! You're not really a true Sayaker if you don't know that!"

"Who cares about stuff like that? What about Leon Kuwata? The baseball star? Or Aoi Asahina? Is she really going to the Olympics?!"

"Okay, so, if Sayaka isn't single, what about Junko Enoshima?!"

Makoto gave a nervous laugh as questions kept pouring in about his famous classmates, "Let's try to keep the questions related to the school for now, guys! I'm sure once you start the semester here, you'll see a lot more of my classmates! You'll get to see that they're just like you guys: teenagers with passion for the things and people they love!"

The Ultimate Lucky Student-as he called himself-carried on with a confidence worthy of an ultimate student. He was charming, welcoming, sweet, and funny. No wonder he got the attention of a famous pop star like Sayaka. Looking around the small group of teens, some of whom would probably be in my homeroom class, I got to wondering what our lives would be like. What Hope's Peak Academy would have to offer us. Would I meet anyone like Makoto? Form strong bonds with them, like he did with his class? I wondered if so much talent could be able to coexist so harmoniously without getting in each other's way.

My daydreams prepared me for a paradise lost now to the black sea of despair and forgetfulness.

…

…

...Ngh…

H-huh?

W-where am I?

W-was I...knocked out?

For...how long?

…

That doesn't matter right now. I have to open up my eyes! I have to see if everyone else is okay!

A familiar tingling sensation tickled my brain as I forced my eyes to open. I half expected to see someone standing over me, with a soft but kind face, asking me if I was okay. Offering out his hand to help me up, although, because of a general lack of upper body strength, I'd end up doing most of the work.

No such thing happened.

When I opened my eyes, I was met with a distorted world of color that burrowed into my brain like an anxiety attack. The roof, the walls, the floor: it was all a sickeningly saccharine shade of vibrant pink and red that swirled around like some sort of hypnotic suggestion.

I blinked several times. The lights hit me with the intensity of a raging sun blazing down on an animal coming out of hibernation. It took at least a minute or two for my senses to return to me in full, at which point I was able to take in my surroundings.

Beyond just an infuriating color scheme, the walls were covered with strawberries. Moving images of cartoon strawberries. It was like an insanely corrosive, oversized doll house. Like something you'd expect a child to conjure up when asked to create something luxurious; you'd instead end up with something tacky and gaudy as this. And this specific room only further reinforced the concept that it was designed by children, looking around I noticed it was furnished to resemble a park. I was laid down right next to a bed of sunflowers, just beyond which stood a slide and a pair of swings, the same sickening shade of bubblegum as the walls.

"W-what the heck? Where am I?"

"N-no way dude…is this...heaven?"

To my immediate right lay Hiro, rubbing his forehead with his usual panache. The only difference this time was that it appeared I'd accompanied him on his escapade to White Castle. One could argue, however, we both did get doped up real good…

"I don't think so, Hiro...I mean, if we were dead, why do I feel the same?"

I started touching myself all over, pinching my arms and slapping my cheeks, sure enough, I felt like me. Hiro followed my lead, knitting his brow, "Then...where the hell are we? I've never felt so washed out before, dude!"

"Well, it's about time you two woke up! I was beginning to worry for your safety!"

That voice...it didn't take me too long to remember.

"Monokuma! Where are we?!"

Maybe I stood up too quickly, but fortunately Hiro was able to catch me before I fell back down again. At our feet chortled our monochromatic captor, relishing every bit of the misery he inflicted on us.

"Upupupu, you get too feisty and you start to knock yourself out! Although I do appreciate the initiative, it would be a pain to have to wait for you any longer! I already have to explain it twice thanks to you slowpokes!"

At the implication of the others, Hiro suddenly got hyper-defensive, "Hey! Where is everyone?! What did you do to our friends, Monokuma?!"

The bear sighed, "Oh, my sweet little psychic, leadership isn't a good look on you, y'know? You should go back to looking out for number one! You oughta know without your musty mommy here, nobody else is gonna care if you bite the dust!"

I didn't let that slide, "Quit picking on Hiro! Just tell us what it is you want so we can get rid of you already!"

Hiro gave me a thankful nod while Monokuma slumped into a deeper depression, "My oh my, to be talked back to by my own students! This truly is a sad day! Oh well, guess there's no point in beating around the bush! After all, you shouldn't beat a dead horse! Wait, I think I'm getting my metaphors mixed up? Anyway, not the point! The point is this: welcome to Strawberry House!" The sudden change of moods nearly gave me whiplash, Hiro and I took a cautious step backward, "This is the 3rd Floor of the amazing Strawberry House section of Monokuma's Magical Funhouse! On this floor, you can frolic and freely gaggle about in this adorable little garden-playground! Doesn't it fill you with nostalgia for the old days where you would sneak out in the middle of the night to meet your 1st Grade boyfriend underneath the big tube slide at the park in between both of your houses?! Is that too elaborate a metaphor for ya? Ahem, moving on!"

Hiro and I exchanged looks of confusion and worry as Monokuma waddled his way over to a stairwell at the far corner of the room, a digital arrow with the label "2nd Floor" pointed us down. As the two of us started to head down, I noticed that Monokuma stood chipperly at the top, waving down to us.

"Goodbye my students! I will leave the two of you on your own little exploration journey now! Please, call if you need anything!"

And he disappeared.

Weird.

I looked at Hiro, "The others are probably gonna be downstairs. I'm going to guess they already started investigating this place, so we should probably just jump right in and do the same. I'm sure we can all group up somewhere once we're done."

The psychic nodded, a carefree smile returning to his face, "Sure sounds like a plan, Kaya! I'll follow your lead!"

I thought he was trying to be the new leader? Oh well, better not to question it from him, honestly. With a nod, I took an extra couple steps ahead of him, and we descended further down to the next floor.

Turning the corridor revealed a spacious open area with a small, narrow hallway leading down to a dead end. Advancing further revealed to us that there were two rooms at the front end, two at the back end, and one room in the center, across from an open area titled "Strawberry Lounge". Already at the lounge, a group of three friends I was glad to see reunited.

Sayaka beamed at me, giving me a cheery wave, "Ah, Kaede! You're finally awake! I was so worried about you!"

Just behind her, Mahiru sighed with relief, "We all were worried about you, Kaede. But Monokuma didn't leave us much of a choice."

Hiro made a stern face, "Hey now, wasn't anyone worried about me? I was knocked out too, ya know?!"

Leaning in a chair with his feet kicked up on the light pink table, Mondo scoffed, "Way to make it about yourself, slimeball!"

"Mondo!" the biker backed off at the photographer's swift chastisement. Turning back, she added with an apologetic smile, "Of course, we were concerned for both of you, Hiro. I'm glad that the two of you are awake and about."

The psychic seemed to be satisfied with that answer. I took a step forward, meandering about the lounge, nothing stood out to me as out of the ordinary: just a large wall clock, matching furniture, and...wait, is that a phone?

Getting closer to what appeared to be an old rotary phone, I noticed that, although the color matched the theme, the button most decidedly did not. Replacing the central wheel was one white button with a green grape emblem on it.

"Huh? What's with the grape?"

Sayaka tilted her head and tapped her chin thoughtfully, "We're not entirely sure. Monokuma refused to tell us when we asked."

"The dumb peice of shit's busted, too." Mondo remarked, slightly pissedly, "I musta tried a dozen times, no answer."

Hiro chuckled, flippantly waving his hand around, "Who cares about some stupid toy phone? That's obviously what it is!" crossing his arm over his chest and propping the other to scratch his chin, he pondered, "My real question is what's with those rooms over there? I tried jimmyin' 'em open, but I ended up with squat!"

Mahiru confirmed, "Monokuma told us we couldn't go in those rooms yet. Not until we finished investigating everything."

The pop idol pouted slightly, "Which is really a shame, because I'm almost certain he's hiding one of his plushies in there!"

The four of us looked oddly at Sayaka, who chuckled sheepishly, "Ah, sorry, is that just me? When we first arrived on the island, Monokuma told me he'd hidden five limited edition plushies of himself on each island. He was going to give me a special prize if I found all of them, I thought he told that to everybody, though…"

Hiro gasped, "A prize? What kind of prize?!"

"Uhm, well, he didn't really say. I was hoping it would be something that might help us escape…"

I was confused, "And, you think there's one in those rooms?"

Sayaka nodded, "Yep! Gotta be! Sometimes, he hides them in places you can't get to at first, one of those locked rooms would be perfect!"

Mondo rubbed his neck, "Wait, so you've found all of 'em up to now?"

"All fifteen from the first three islands! Not to mention the one by Nezumi Castle and the other one by the Roller Coaster!" She was suddenly serious, "The last three gotta be in here somewhere, because I made sure to check each area we investigated thoroughly!"

Mahiru scratched her temple, "Uh, am I the only one who thinks this is really weird?"

Sayaka giggled, "Sorry Mahiru! Looks like you're outnumbered! And no, I won't split the prize money with you, Hiro. Even if you help me find any of them."

Hiro leaped backwards, astonished, "Gwah?! H-how did you know t-that I was thinking that?!"

The pop idol's smile vanished in an instant as she declared with a serious stab, "Because I'm an esper."

"WHAAAAAT?!"

"...Just kidding!" she chirped, closing her eyes and cocking her head playfully to the side, "I just have really good intuition!"

I joined Sayaka and Mahiru with soft laughter, while Mondo rolled his eyes at Hiro's sudden vested interest in this newly revealed ability.

"No joke, Sayaka, I think you do have some sort of ESP! If you cut me into your prize money, I'll totally become your spiritual guru, for serious! I'll even let you keep all the plushies! Come on, you can sense this is an amazing deal for you, right?!"

Hiro continued to pester Sayaka about her supposed "high levels of ESP" all the way down to the first floor, which was much larger and open than the previous two.

Without much change in the background, there were several key areas of note that I made sure to inspect. Down a long tunnel, with an archway labeled "Strawberry Hall", there was a giant door parted down the middle with an obvious strawberry design plastered tastelessly on it. Just in front of the door stood the unlikeliest turned likeliest duo of Celeste and Teruteru, reunited at long last.

"Ah, well, at least it's not a cherry, right?"

"..."

"...Because, you see, if it were a cherry, don't you think it would be really easy to make crude pop-the-cherry jokes?"

"..."

"Well, mon cherie, any thoughts on the cherry?"

"You are pitiful."

"...Oh, haha, I see! That was a cherry pun, wasn't it? Pit-iful? Yes, very, very clever!"

"..."

Nervously chuckling and muttering reassurances to himself, the gourmand began to comb his pompadour, as he tended to do when avoiding something. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw me and turned to extend a full welcome, almost sounding relieved to have someone less like...Celeste.

"Ah, well, if it isn't Sleeping Beauty! Finally woke with a kiss, did you? Under normal circumstances, I would offer to be your prince charming, but as I'm turning over a new leaf, I cannot violate the sacred international consent laws!"

That entire mess of words was equally problematic as it was the most unproblematic thing that Teruteru ever said to anyone, let alone me. I wasn't sure if he was intentionally sneaking in veiled flirty and borderline deviant undertones into it, or if he genuinely meant every word and only spoke out of habit, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Thank you, Teruteru?" admittedly, I was still conflicted.

Not conflicted was Celeste, who, upon losing Teruteru's attention, and possibly reading into his words as much as I had, made a dainty motion to face me with the most diplomatic of smiles and the most measured tone of voice money could buy, "Indeed, welcome back. You were out so long, I might have worried that you would never wake up."

'Might have'?

The gambler looked away, ambivalence conquering her visage, "So, I take it you've seen everything already, correct?"

I blinked, "Uhm, not yet…"

Covering her face with her fist, Celeste furrowed her brow as she studied me, "Is that so? Because Teruteru and I have searched every last inch of this place before arriving here. This is the furthermost point, is it not?"

"I mean, it might be…"

"It is, I assure you. If you'd searched the whole house, you would know."

She was being really pushy about this…

Teruteru scratched his chin curiously, "Say, petit corbeau, if I didn't know any better, it almost sounds like you're trying to get Kaede to leave?"

Celeste smiled, resting her head on her interwoven hands, "Don't be stupid! I merely want us all to be thorough in our search, leave no place unchecked!"

The chef chuckled resignedly, "Oh, well, if that's really it then…"

But I wasn't about to be pushed around by some gothic lolita desperately craving attention from a fellow francophile!

"Okay, fine, I'll leave. But not before you let me investigate the door!"

I felt that Celeste wanted to scowl, but her expression remained as composed as it always had, only a traceless twitch of her left eyelid gave any such indication she was losing her patience with me, "What's there to investigate? We've pressed the button countless times, but the door does not open."

I raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Teruteru nodded, "Yes, really! You can try for yourself!"

He sidestepped to let me through, much to Celeste's chagrin.

"That's what I wanted from the beginning…" I muttered while approaching the strawberry marked button. I pressed it once.

…

Nothing.

I pressed it again.

…

Also nothing.

I pressed it a third time, then a fourth time, then a fi-

"It won't open you braindead idiot!"

I spun around, only to see Celeste's complete poker face, twirling a lock of her hair as though nothing had just happened. She...she did yell that just now, right? That was definitely a feminine voice...but, it didn't sound like her…

She caught my gaze, "Hm? Is something wrong?"

"D-did you just-?"

But she cut off my stutter, "I did not say anything. That was Teruteru."

The already bewildered chef's eyes opened even wider with shock, "Wh-what!? No I didn't?! That was totally you just now!"

"I do not know what you are talking about." placing her hands over her lap, she sighed, "Are you satisfied with your search?"

I grumbled, "Y-yeah, I guess so…"

Leaving the odd couple to their own devices, I walked back down the hall and into the large foyer, noticing two rooms on either side of the area. The one closest to me caught my attention the most: a bizarre double-door entrance with a Picasso-esque face design that resembled a distorted clown. The words "Final Dead Room" titled the top.

Beating me to the punch were Kaito and Mukuro. I walked up to join their investigation of the disturbing door.

"What kind of idiots does Monokuma take us for, huh? This is so obviously a trap I don't even wanna look at it!"

"Are you sure it's not because you're creeped out by the design?"

"H-hey, quit teasin' me about that, dammit! All I said was I didn't like the way it was lookin' at me!"

Mukuro deadpanned, arms crossed and face stoic, "It's a door, Kaito, it's not 'looking' at you."

The astronaut scoffed, "Like hell it ain't! I wouldn't be surprised if Monokuma rigged those eyes with some sort of surveillance device! Not like he's not already watching us…" The purple boy was suddenly alerted to my presence and grinned, "Oh, hey Kaede! Glad you finally woke up!"

Yeah, me too…

Mukuro nodded at me, indicating, to some extent, that she was also glad that I was awake. But, there were more pressing issues at hand, namely…

"What does 'Final Dead Room' mean?"

Kaito scoffed, pounding his fists zealously, "No clue, but I don't like it! It's definitely a trap!"

"A trap, you say?!"

Out of nowhere, as he had a tendency to do at times, Monokuma appeared, giving myself and Kaito a little bit of a jump scare. Mukuro remained stone faced, however.

"That is no trap, Kaito, that is the Final Dead Room!"

The astronaut scowled, "Yeah, I can read, idiot!"

The bear challenged, "Maybe, but can you read between the lines? Any fool can read what's printed, but it's what's not printed that you gotta be extra skilled to see!"

While Kaito fumed, I asked, "So, what is the Final Dead Room?"

"Hmmm, that is an excellent and thought provoking question, Kaede! Let's take a moment to analyze, shall we? The word "Final" can be used as either an adjective, in which there are three meanings, or a noun, in which there is only one! Now, exploring the adjective, we have our three meanings: the first, which is split up into two parts, refers to what is a) not to be altered or undone, or b) of or relating to a concluding court action or proceeding. The second adjective implies the "coming at the end: being the last in a series, process, or progress". And the third is "of or relating to the ultimate purpose or result of a process". Now, looking at the noun, we can easily rule that out due to the meaning-divided into two sections-as it relates to-"

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

Monokuma tilted his head, "Hm? What does it look like I'm doing? I'm giving you a grammar lesson!"

Kaito shook his fist, "Why are you giving us a grammar lesson?! We asked you about the Final Dead Room!"

The bear's face reddened in anger, spitting back with vigor, "You think I became headmaster of the world's greatest school because I just gave my students the answer?! Absurd! Preposterous! Ludicrous! I'm giving you the materials you need to solve this mystery on your own!"

Finally, the silent soldier cut into Monokuma's shenanigans, "We don't have time for this. Just tell us what's in there."

Monokuma chimed in with a "Haven't you people ever heard of opening a goddamn door?! Holy crap, I'm just in shock at the lazy state of the upcoming generation!" then, with a beleaguered sigh, he relented, "But, if you must know...the Final Dead Room is this park's escape house attraction that, if you can solve its intricate mysteries, will lead you to the fabled Octagon! In this mythical land, you will encounter a whole arsenal of Monokuma's finest weapons! That, along with a vital, eye-opening clue about the outside world! You don't wanna miss out on this amazing opportunity!"

Kaito's grimace grew more intense, "I knew it was a trap! Don't try to peddle that bullshit to me, or anyone else, you hear me?!"

"Ooooo, sorry, Houston, but, we have a problem! You seem to be having some network connectivity problems, so I'll just hafta pretend like you didn't say anything and move you guys right along on your investigation!"

While the astronaut tried to push back on his lousy treatment, Mukuro quirked an eyebrow, "We've already finished investigating all the areas open to us."

Monokuma giggled, "Right you are, my dear, and now it is time to investigate what was not before available! Allow me to fix that for you now!"

He vanished, but only for mere seconds when suddenly he appeared on the monitors.

*ding dong bing bong*

"Ahem, attention students! Please make your way to Strawberry Tower at the end of Strawberry Hall on the first floor of Strawberry House!"

Returning seconds later, he jumped back in front of us, leading us to the hall, "Right this way, my students!"

Following him, the three of us joined the six others already there, Monokuma gaily skipping ahead to the door. As he approached it, giggling like a schoolgirl, it became more and more apparent that he was heading straight for the button, which I had pressed numerous times.

Off to the side, I could hear Celeste barely holding it in, "Monokuma, that button does not-"

But the bear ignored her and pressed it anyway and…

Nothing happened.

The gambler was satisfied, "I tried to warn you, but you would not-"

She was cut off by the sound of the two doors opening up showing that the button had worked.

Celeste was stunned, and for once, said nothing.

"Now then, students, please make your way inside Strawberry Tower! I want you to investigate this place so thoroughly that you'll reach Nirvana!"

Hiro gasped, "For serious?!"

We all ignored him and did as Monokuma requested, stepping into the open room with a slightly less panicked color scheme, although it still very much matched the theme of the rest of the house. There was a strawberry design, similar to the one on the door, on the floor. I also noticed the four pillars, two standing guard at either side of the door we just walked through and two symmetrically defending the...hold on!

Across the room, there was another door that, based on everything I had seen, did not match the interior design of this place. It was a large, metallic door that had a large, green symbol of a grape across it. In fact, looking at that symbol not only jarred me as out of place but also...familiar?

"Yo, Kaya, ain't that the same symbol that we found on the phone in the Strawberry Lounge?"

I nodded, "Yeah, that's a...surprisingly good observation, Hiro!"

Sayaka gasped at the revelation, "Oh, it is! It's a total match!"

Mondo's face scrunched up, "Okay, but what the hell does that even mean?!"

Monokuma puffed out his chest...or, motioned as though he were, "Why, that is the symbol of Grape House, of course!"

Huh?

"Grape House?" Mahiru's confusion was not limited to her. Nevertheless, Monokuma persisted,

"Indeed, Grape House! The second, equally enthralling house of the Funhouse! If you would all kindly follow me to the elevator located in the foyer of Strawberry House!"

Teruteru grumbled, "Ungh, and here I thought we were done investigating…"

But Hiro stopped us from following the animatronic out of the tower, "Hey, wouldn't it just be easier to go through that door there?"

Before what he said could be processed, he was suddenly face-to-face with the wrath of Kuma, "What did you ask me, you rag-headed nincompoop?!"

"W-wh! No need to be so harsh!"

"Grrrrr! I can't help it! I just get so pissed when somebody asks such dumb questions all the time! Seriously, how many times were you dropped on your head as a child?!"

The psychic grabbed his head, wailing, "C-come on dude! I just asked a q-question-!?"

The bear continued to roar, "And it was an incredibly stupid question! Seriously, how does someone so incredibly dumb like you survive so long! You shoulda been the first one dead!"

I couldn't take the amount of verbal abuse being hurtled at Hiro for seemingly no reason, so I decided to come to his aid, "Hey, knock it off, Monokuma! He's just asking a question like you said we should!"

Monokuma turned to me and for a second I thought he was going to rage out again, but he suddenly calmed down and sighed, "You're absolutely right, Kaede! I should really learn to control my temper! An honest mistake, it's a reflection of my poor teaching that Hiro's so dumb, so I guess he's not fully responsible!" Brushing off Hiro's offended "Hey!" Monokuma proceeded with the answer, "Well, if you haven't guessed by now, that door won't open. Not unless you go in from Grape House. It's as simple as that, but, it wouldn't be a Funhouse without tricks and gimmicks like that, would it? Oh golly gee wiz, I feel like I've just dropped an uber important clue just now! I feel so silly for it! But, I suppose it's all for the sake of your educational crusade, right? After all, that's really what's most important! Ahem, now then, please follow me to the elevator!"

Just as cheerfully as he'd entered, he exited, beckoning us to follow him. Of course, we had no choice; I felt like cattle being led to the slaughter.

We filed out of the room, one by one down the hall and to the right, where Monokuma was already eagerly awaiting in front of the elevator.

"Come, gather 'round my students! Behold, the contact elevator! With this, you shall be able to make your way between Strawberry House and Grape House lickety-split! So, what are y'all waitin' for? Get the hell inside!"

Monokuma pushed the button excitedly and allowed the nine of us to file inside. It certainly felt like an elevator, although it looked like a foam jigsaw puzzle, like something you'd see in the quirky house of a children's television program. It was unsettling and cramped, but, again, we had no choice. When the last person took a step inside, the door closed, Monokuma waving to us, promising to meet with us over at Grape House.

The room was silent for a while, but, after a few long, dreary seconds, a gruff voice piped up in confusion that was all too common from it,

"Uh, hey, is it just me, or...does anyone else get the feelin' we ain't movin'?"

Mahiru hummed quizzically at Mondo's question, "Now that you mention it...this elevator does feel a little strange…"

Teruteru offered, "Perhaps it's really high-tech? Some sort of muffler to prevent the usual headache of an elevator?"

Celeste agreed, "That seems logical. After all, our captor has certainly proven themselves to be quite innovative. Besides, it's not like I mind...this is a vast improvement over the quality of elevators we are already used to dealing with."

At the subtle nod to the class trial, Sayaka groaned, "Can we not talk about that here? Something still feels...off about this whole thing…"

Hiro chuckled, "You guys are thinkin' too hard! As your new leader, I demand that you stop thinkin' immediately and just enjoy the ride while it lasts!"

He would say that, wouldn't he?

Nobody had much time to contest the psychic, as a small *ding* sounded and the doors suddenly opened, revealing our destination.

The tone was certainly...different...I wasn't convinced yet as to whether or not that's a good thing. In similar fashion, this new Grape House was covered wall to wall to floor to ceiling with shades of green highlight and icons of animated grapes, swirling around in such a manner as to encourage motion sickness. The green didn't help resolve that…

Right away, however, I noticed the layout didn't match Strawberry House. In fact, it was such a stark difference, the room appeared more...hexagonal? That's a shape, right?

I nodded. "Yep, that's definitely a shape!"

"Hm? What is?"

Sayaka looked at me, causing me to realize I'd blurted out what I intended to keep in my head, "Ah, sorry, I was just noticing that Grape House is shaped like a hexagon instead of a rectangle like Strawberry House!"

The pop idol looked around, nodding and taking in what I was saying. A certain biker was not, "Hexagon? Is that the one with eight sides?"

Mahiru deadpanned, "That's an octagon. Hexagon's have six."

"Ah...right…"

Mondo's geometrical prowess aside, another apparent difference stood right in front of me...as well as, not…

Whereas Strawberry House had another room opposite of the contact elevator-the Final Dead Room-Grape House did not. But it did have a large bronze statue of what appeared to be an incredibly burly man with a bull's head…? Isn't there some kind of mythical beast kinda like that?

"Ah, the minotaur!"

Next to me, Hiro chuckled, "Oh, come on now, Kaya, don't go spreading silly stories abou-" when he noticed the statue, however, he seized up with fear, "-Gah?! The minotaur!?"

Kaito rolled his eyes, "Seriously, have you even changed at all?"

I took a few steps towards the statue, I was able to notice that it was sculpted to be shirtless, nothing but thick boots and tight pants that, even though I knew it wasn't a real person, just made me feel slightly uncomfortable. He had a triumphant stance, with his arms fisted and raised above his head, which I started to notice looked eerily similar to a mask of a famous pro-wrestler my dad loved to watch. I could even see his hair sticking out from behind it, billowing majestically as though it were standing against the wind.

"Gah! Kaya, what're you doin'? S-stay away from that half-man, half-bull abomination! I knew it: this place is the labyrinth!"

Mondo scowled, "Shut the fuck up, man!"

Ignoring the scene behind me, I walked up to the front of the statue and read the plaque: Great Gozu: Ultimate Wrestler

Ultimate Wrestler?

So...is this statue supposed to be of a student at Hope's Peak Academy? Or, former student, at least? What's the significance of him being here?

I didn't have much time to dwell on that line of questioning as most people started making their way past me down Grape Hall. Sayaka brushed up next to me, tugging at my shirt, "Hey, Kaede, we're all gonna go investigate Grape Tower, okay?"

Nodding, I took one last look at Great Gozu then turned around to follow the others to Grape Tower. Celeste approached the button first, with some hesitation, directing her attention instead to Teruteru,

"S'il vous plaît, Teruteru."

"Mais bien sûr, mon petit corbeau!"

Eager to please, the chef hobbled up to press the button, which bore the corresponding insignia of a grape to match the door's. It would seem Celeste is not the biggest fan of pushing buttons...there's a clever joke hidden in there somewhere…

Much like the strawberry door back at Strawberry House, this grape door slid open, revealing a similar layout in Grape Tower. Entering it, the dimensions and layout were exactly the same: seemingly endless space up to the roof, four pillars positioned in the exact same spot, with the major differences being the shade of green of the room, the grape on the floor, and the strawberry insignia on the opposite door.

Hiro marched up to the room's center and planted his feet there, scratching his chin and pensively closing one of his eyes as he observed the door in front of him, "Y'know, I feel like there's a pretty big clue staring us straight in the face…" spinning around and throwing his arms triumphantly to his hips, he called out to us, "Alright team, let's fuse our chakras together and try and get to the bottom of this mystery!"

Mondo crossed his arms and growled, "Fuck your chakras, man."

The clairvoyant pointed an accusatory finger at him, "Hey now, you're gonna regret insulting the spirit world like that!"

Kaito shook his fist, sweat dripping down his forehead, "Shut up! There's no such thing as a spirit world!"

Mukuro offered up, "Regardless, Hagakure is somewhat correct. We should at least attempt to figure out what's going on here."

The astronaut gave the soldier a slightly distressed look before sighing, "Alright, fine, we can indulge this line of question," he glared at Hiro, "But keep your spirit-jargon out of this!"

Raising his hands up in surrender, the clairvoyant pressed forward, "Hey, fine by me, dude! But, seriously, this house is givin' me major vibes, ya feel?"

"I said drop it!"

"Well, it should be obvious just looking at it, yes?"

Eyes turned to Celeste, who was now the closest to the strawberry door, "Logic follows that if there are two houses: strawberry and grape, each with two towers of similar names, that there must be some sort of connection. Consider that in Strawberry Tower, we say a door with the grape logo on it, and now that we are in Grape Tower, we see one where the strawberry is. It is really simple logic, is it not?"

Teruteru nodded emphatically, understanding, "Ah, I see, I see! So, you're saying that what we were told were two different towers were really one in the same all along? Well, the evidence appears conclusive enough to me!"

I frowned, "Is it that simple, though? I mean, this is Monokuma we're talking about…"

Mondo scratched the nape of his neck, "Hey, this will probably be a dumb question, but...if this really is the same tower, how the fuck are the colors and floor design switched?"

Mahiru clarified for him, "That's not dumb, Mondo, but there is an easy explanation for that! This whole room is actually a really advanced LED screen system, so the colors can be easily changed depending on whether we're supposed to be in Strawberry or Grape Tower! The logo too, that's just a projection on a screen!"

She said that so cheerily and helpfully, Mondo couldn't help but smile and pop up his thumb in appreciation, "Oh, that makes sense! Hey, you're pretty smart, ya know that, Mahiru?"

The photographer blushed, caught off guard by the sudden compliment, "Oh, uh, thanks, but...it's just basic knowledge for someone in my line of work…"

The biker casually stuck his hands in his coat pocket, "Nah, give yourself some credit, will ya? Take the fuckin' compliment!"

A little bit aggressive, but overall, a rather well cleaned up performance from Mr. Sunshine here! Mahiru seemed to agree, chuckling nervously, "Ah, okay then…"

Celeste coughed, "Well, if the two lovebirds are quite finished, I would like to continue the investigation of Grape House. Viens, mon garçon potelé."

The gambler floated daintily out of the tower, not bothering to make eye contact with anyone. However, it was never too difficult to figure out who she was ordering around...unless you were that person.

Teruteru stood off to the side, stroking his chin, "Hm? Wait...chubby boy?! I-I never agreed to such a degrading pet name!"

But the gambler simply ignored him, forcing the chubby boy with a narrowing window of opportunity. Watching it close before him, he leapt straight into action, I swore a couple droplets of blood flew out from his nose due to the sheer force with which he propelled himself, "Ah, but you said 'mon', eh? That's a step up! W-wait for me, mon petit corbeau! Ton potelé est en route!"

…

I really don't know how I feel about those two anymore.

Still, not much else we can really look at here, right? I started to make my way out the hall, Hiro scurrying up behind me.

"Huh, so this is the second floor of Grape House? I can totally feel it here, dude!"

"Feel what?"

"Deja vu, baby! I've been here before, know what I'm sayin'?"

As Hiro smugly sniffed his own finger (ew), I rolled my eyes, "That's because this is the same as Strawberry House, only green and a hexagon."

The clairvoyant laughed heartily, "Oh, Kaya, I knew that! I'm just messin' with ya! Hey, check it out right there, huh?" he hobbled over to the Grape Lounge, a similar layout as it's Strawberry counterpart. He pointed to the phone, "Look, the logo is a strawberry! This must reach the phone in the Strawberry Lounge! Am I psychic or what?!"

Well, you are technically, I suppose. On paper, at least…

"No wonder nobody answered, nobody was here!"

"Are you finished goofing around?"

He just beamed, "Sure thing, Kaya! On to floor three!"

This was, by far, the biggest difference between the two houses. On this particular floor, there was a large, open hexagonal room, with a smaller room at the center. The room, however, was particularly unsettling for one glaring reason…

"Is that…a Monokuma themed door?"

Just as I flailed out that incredulous question, the subject materialized seemingly from thin air.

"Oho, so you found it, huh? The official Monokuma Archive! Why don't you go on in and take a looksee! There are a lot of relics from my days at the Academy in there! Well, I say that like I'm already retired, when in reality, I've only just begun!"

Hiro shook his head, "Nah, dude, no way I'm goin' in there!"

I agreed, "That looks worse than the Final Dead Room!"

"Oh, you flatter me, my students! But, seriously, go on in! After all, the sooner you go inside, the sooner you can say you did it and be done with this investigation!"

...He did have a point…

He also made a point to poke and prod our butts with his claws to force us inside.

"Hey, OW! Watch it!"

"Knock it off, don't touch me the-OUCH!"

"GET! IN!"

So in we went.

And it was every bit tacky and horrifying as I had feared.

The room was filled to the brim with Monokuma memorabilia: gold plated statues, bookshelves lined with crappy, fictitious autobiographies, glass cases stuffed with cheaply made and poorly marketed merchandise. It was atrocious.

Along the walls were five elaborate paintings of Monokuma...wait a minute, hold on…

I took a step closer to one of the paintings, the one on the far right, and noticed that it wasn't actually of Monokuma. Rather, the Monokuma head was spray painted onto the face of a man. Somebody had vandalized these portraits. I couldn't see the details of his face, but it looked like an old portrait, and the rest of the figure was wearing formal, yet clearly outdated clothes. I took a gander at the plaque, hoping to find it still intact. It was…

Izuru Kamakura: Founder of Hope's Peak Academy

I see...well, he certainly seems like an important man. It's a damn shame Monokuma defiled a picture like this, I really hoped it was a copy and not an original work.

I made the rounds, trying to check the other portraits for more clues. I found that only one portrait, the central one, was actually of Monokuma. The description read as much: "Monokuma: 19th Headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy". That meant that Monokuma vandalized four portraits of real people. And, reading all of the placards, it wasn't hard to see a pattern: "Masafumi Takada: 16th Headmaster", "Kazuo Tengan: 17th Headmaster", "Jin Kirigiri: 18th Headmaster". With the exception of Kamakura, the other three were the most recent headmasters before Monokuma supposedly took over.

That wasn't really very helpful information right now. Much like that Great Gozu statue, I don't think there was much I understood yet about all this seemingly important material. The only meaningful conclusion I could derive from this was that whoever was controlling Monokuma was a deranged fan of Hope's Peak who thought this was a funny joke. That meant that Kirigiri was still the headmaster. Assuming he wasn't affiliated in any way with this affair, I wanted to believe he was actively searching for his captive students. Other than that, nothing. I felt that, maybe, thinking about it too long would be distracting from the bigger concerns. For all I knew, this could just be some sort of Easter egg placed by the mastermind for their own personal amusement.

I decided to stop thinking about it.

Hiro leaned against one of the statues and groaned, "Man, this room is all kinds of insane. Really, dude, it's throwing my spiritual balance off!"

Blinking, I cocked an eyebrow, "Didn't you used to say you didn't believe in the occult?"

"C'mon, Kaede, don't be so bigoted! Spirituality and the occult are completely separate things! I believe in chakras, auras, the spirit world, karma, spiritual energy, and the like! But, shit like magic, voodoo, witchcraft, paranormal activity!? Some of that shit is just so insanely overblown, there's no way it's believable!"

I scowled, "Hiro, I genuinely don't get you sometimes! I feel like a lot of what you say and do contradict so much, you don't even know what you believe in!"

"Hey now, Kaya, lay off, alright? I've still got a developing mind, ya know?! I don't understand why we can't all just come together and figure out the world as we go along! Why do we gotta rush to judgements before we've even seen the evidence?!"

...He's impossible. I feel like he says so many things, it's impossible to ever argue with him.

Well, it's not like I want to argue with him. I don't hate him. In fact, I would go as far as to consider him a friend, albeit loosely. It's not like he's ever been mean to me, or intentionally mean to anyone else. Yeah, he's a bit dumb sometimes, but hey, so are we all, right? And, admittedly, he is super sketchy, but he at least owns up to that. that's gotta count for something, surely.

The door opened and in walked Sayaka Maizono, eyes going wide with excitement when she saw us, "Aha! I found you!"

I smiled back, "Hey, Sayaka! We were just-"

But the bluenette walked straight past me and towards one of the Monokuma statues, pulling out a life-sized plushie of Monokuma holding a red mouse-shaped balloon and licking a vanilla ice cream cone.

"...Uh...what?"

She glanced over at Hiro and I, tilting her head and giving a small smile, "Sorry, but, like I said, I've been looking all over the place for these! No way I can just give up now, right?"

I...guess...not...wow, she's really dedicated to his thing. How come I never knew about this? It...sounds kinda fun, actually…

The idol's voice pulled me back to reality, "Oh, but I did want to come get you guys too, actually! We're all meeting on the first floor! Come on!"

Shaking out of my head the fact that literally nobody else seemed to have passed us by while we were investigating, making Hiro and I the only possible people who could have done so, I followed Sayaka all the way down stairs. All the way down, I had to put up with Hiro's insistence that he become Sayaka's spiritual guru and help her develop her ESP abilities, with the idol teasingly shooing his ideas away.

When we met up with the others just in front of the Great Gozu statue, I was informed that the rooms had been opened on the second floors of each house.

"Monokuma explained it to me like this: there are two deluxe rooms, with quality beds, insulation, and sound proof walls, a standard room with an average mattress, so-so insulation, and pretty decent walls, and two crummy rooms with stiff beds, poor insulation, and completely shallow walls." Mukuro described, "This is true of both houses."

I shook my head in disbelief, "Wait a minute...they're bedrooms? But, wouldn't that mean-"

"Ding ding ding, you're exactly right, Kaede Akamatsu!"

Monokuma ceremoniously swaggered into the center of our cluster so as to address all of us roughly equally.

"Tch-! Bastard! Quit jumpin' out like that!"

The biker's pleas were ignored. Celeste rested her chin on her fist, "Oh? Praytell, what exactly is Kaede exactly right about?"

Monokuma was happy to oblige the question, "Why, she was just about to deduce that for the foreseeable future, the nine of you will be living inside the Funhouse! Oh, it's every kid's dream come true! To actually live inside an amusement park attraction! How incredibly lucky you all are!"

What?!

Was he...serious?!

Kaito voiced all of our outrage, as he usually did, "What!? Are you serious?! You can't be! This is the most ridiculous pile of bullshit I've ever sniffed!"

Mahiru winced, "That is the strangest metaphor I've ever heard, and I don't want to hear another one like it!"

Teruteru cleared his throat, once again taking out his comb to fiddle around with his pomp, "Ah, forgive me Monokuma, I do not wish to be a bothersome boy-"

"Too late!"

-But, well, you see, it's hard to take you seriously when you say we'll be 'living inside the Funhouse'! After all, I scoured every inch of this place and found no trace of a kitchen anywhere! Not a stove, not a pantry, not even a little window to send a carrier pigeon off with a shopping list! Surely, there must be some sort of oversight there, yes? Or, perhaps, something you're not telling us?"

"Not telling you?"

"Yes, like, where we'll be getting our meals if we're really going to stay here!"

There was a small, uncomfortable silence, punctuated by the sudden groaning of someone's stomach.

"Upupu! Upupupupu! Bwahahahahahahahahaha! That is a great one, Teruteru! Seriously, a true, authentic zinger! Keep it up, and you're well on your way to your very own cooking show!"

The chef lowered his arms and started sweating, retaining a nervous smile, "I-I wasn't joking...seriously, man...w-where's the goddamn kitchen?!"

"There isn't one."

"B-but, t-then...where will we eat?! What will we eat?!"

"Hmm. I guess you'll just have to starve!"

The air was suddenly sucked out of the room. Teruteru's eyes went wider than his gait, "S-starve?!"

Starve?

As in...to death?

While the realization was settling in on everyone, Monokuma felt free to enlighten us, "You teens ever hear about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs? It's that fun little pyramid chart that lists the five "needs" of each human! The idea is, that you cannot move onto the next stage, without having fulfilled the one before it. Up until now, your base physiological needs have been well provided for, no motive has targeted that so far, really only your safety and relationship needs. So, now, it's time to see what happens when that sturdy foundation is suddenly ripped out from under ya like a rug! That's right, your next motive is simple: kill somebody, or starve to death!"

…

No way…

He was serious!

"Y-you bastard! FUCK YOU!"

"Damn it, this is messed the fuck up!"

"Nonononononono! I cannot live like this! N-not without my precious food!"

"T-this is...beyond cruel!"

While our current state of being was under lament, there was one person who seemingly rose above it all and stared Monokuma straight down.

"Hey, dude, I don't know who you think we are, but I can tell you who we aren't: murderers!"

My eyes went towards Hiro, passionately speaking out against the motive. All other eyes followed suit.

Monokuma seemed confused, "Hm? What's this; the NPC speaks again?"

"NPC or not, we're done with your stupid game! We all made a pact not to kill each other! Not to let another one of us die at our hands! And damn it, we're sticking to that! Aren't we guys?!"

…

"Yeah! That's right!" I shouted, stepping up next to Hiro, "We can't give up so easily, not after we've come so far together!"

Sayaka joined us, a firm look of confidence written across her face, "We can overcome this, I have faith in us as a unit! As friends!"

Soon, Kaito, Mahiru, Teruteru, Mondo, and even Celeste stood forward, facing down our captor with our powers combined. For all it was worth, Monokuma began to shudder in fear, although I knew he was mocking us.

"Wow! I'm shaking in my boots! I've never heard such brave sentiments from my students before! Such voracious platitudes!"

"Quit using big words!"

Stop talking now, Hiro…

"Oh well, if you're really so convicted of your righteousness, I have no choice but to relent for now!" but he turned his back to us and in an ominous singsong voice declared, "You can have your principles, when you've got a belly full! But, when hunger has it's way with you, there's no telling what you're gonna do!"

And with that, he was gone.

That ominous melody would have oppressed us out of our air had it not been for the carefree disposition of Yasuhiro Hagakure.

"What a damn fool he is! Nothing's gonna break us! I can feel it!"

Celeste, who seemed to be in an irritable mood all day, quickly quipped in quite the terse manner, "Really? That is so comforting to hear coming from you, Hiro."

But the psychic just laughed his usual laugh, "Haha! Isn't it?!"

*Ding dong bing bong*

"This is an official announcement! The time is now 10pm, which means it is officially nighttime! The kitchen will be off limits until the morning! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!"

When the monitors went black, the question of rooms suddenly burst to the forefront of our minds. We wouldn't get much more accomplished just standing around, so it was better to just get some rest right now.

"So, how about we split guys and girls, huh? There are five girls and four guys, so everyone should get a room no problem!"

Mukuro accepted Kaito's suggestion, "I would prefer that the girls took Grape House. So far, it's the least damaging to my eyes."

I nodded, as did Mahiru, Celeste, and Sayaka.

The boys didn't raise any objections. Turning inward to the clump of girls, we dove straight into room assignments.

"I'll take a crummy room, I have no problems with that. I've slept in worse conditions."

Nobody argued with Mukuro.

Celeste made a motion, "If it alright with everyone else, I would like one of the deluxe rooms. I have very sensitive skin, and do not want to take any chances that might deplete my reservoir of strength quicker in this situation."

That was convincing enough for us, the gambler had exploited our heightened sense of diplomacy to get what she wanted. In all honesty, more power to her. We all wanted a deluxe room, but she was the only one with the guts to openly admit that.

Sayaka chimed in next, "I'll take a crummy room. You might not think we do, but a lot of time our manager would have us stay in a shady motel to save on time and money."

Again, no arguing there.

"I really have no problem with the standard room." Began and finished Mahiru and I at the exact same time. We looked at each other with that awkward grin and compelled chuckle that did very little to relieve the stress we both felt for thinking that we'd have to deprive the other of a better room.

We were both feisty girls, but I had a little extra spirit in me at that moment, "Please, Mahiru, take the deluxe room. After having to sleep in that motel, I don't want you experiencing anything less than the best!"

It was a sincerely held conviction. I felt that Mahiru had suffered quite enough, and she, more than anyone in the entire group, was entitled to the deluxe room. It was the least I could give her.

She knew better than to argue with me, and, of course deep down where she'd never admit it, she did want that room too, "Thank you Kaede, if you insist!" Mahiru gave me a thankful smile, and we turned to face the boys, who were still squabbling amongst themselves. Were they playing rock-paper-scissors? That's...one way to do it…

"It seems my karma is finally smiling down on me!"

Gauging from the reactions, Hiro and Teruteru won the rights to the deluxe rooms. I watched as Kaito and Mondo resolved to both take crummy rooms, out of a solemn "man's obligation" not to leave the other in worse conditions.

Boys are weird.

The four wildly different yet eerily similar boys waved us all good night as they stepped onto the contact elevator and headed for Strawberry House. Celeste was already well on her way upstairs when the rest of us followed suit. I said my goodnights and entered the standard room, located just across the hall of the lounge.

It was, by all accounts, a standard room. It fit the theme of grape house adequately, with grapes dotting the green floor and a grape on the center of the bed's backboard. There was a small desk on the opposite side of the room, but I didn't really have much use for it.

Without much else to think about, as I was hoping to conserve as much energy as possible, I crawled into bed and replayed all my favorite melodies until I was whisked away to dreamland.

A.N. Hooo boy! I feel like a lot of shit just happened. This ain't even the longest chapter, but it sure feels like it! A lot is going on...

Honestly, though, I kinda feel proud of this chapter. I think this is the perfect sized ensemble where everyone has their specific place and the interactions get to work like a well-oiled machine, ya feel? This would make for a great sitcom! Unfortunately, this is a killing game...I'm crying right now thinking about killing someone...and knowing damn well who it's gonna be...

Like I've said, I'm focusing my energy right now on updating this and AoD. SIH is just a teaser for now, and anything else that might be hinted at in these two primary stories are not really even on my radar. This process has been two months in the making, and with about a month until school starts up again in the States, I'm gettin' a little antsy about the prospect of finishing. Honestly, if I can pull more stunts like this chapter, where I literally started and finished over the span of a day, I think I can make it through both ILP and AoD in time. I just need to pay extreme attention to everything I'm laying down now, because I really don't have the time to wiggle as much as I did at the start of this. In case you couldn't tell, most of what I'm writing comes to me as I write it, I really only have two or three scenes in mind for a chapter before I start it.

I can see the finish line for ILP from here. I think I have a straight shot, because I've got everything virtually planned from here. Because of that, I can focus more of the developmental energy on AoD and SIH, the latter of which needs it badly, since I still only have the first trial figured out so far. I'm gonna have to take a day to seriously analyze all my options, because there's a lot I want to get to and time is precious. Don't worry, I do intend on continuing when I'm off at college, just don't expect the consistency I've been fortunate to have with nothing else on my plate. I mean, good Atua, I'm even putting my V3 play-through on hold for this! Be thankful!

Anyway, that's a rant you didn't really need. It's super early in the morning where I am right now, so I don't have any coherent thoughts. All I gotta say is thank you fro reading and writing a review! Enjoy the rest of your day and continue to stay safe out there!

-That1guyeveryonehates.