Sweetest Flower, Darkest Desire (Part 1)

"Ahem, this is a HFH Enterprise official announcement! It is now 7 AM, which means that nighttime is officially over! Time to get up out of bed. Let's all welcome this new day with an open heart and mind!"

Another day another good morning message from Captain Monokuma...I slowly open my eyes, expecting to be met with my regular surroundings as per my usual mornings.

"Good morning."

"GAH!"

I scream, quickly jumping out of my bed to spot a perfectly dressed and stoic Isami, staring at me with her usual cold golden eyes.

"I-Isami!" I stammer. "What are you doing here?"

The Tinkerer tilts her head to the side. "Do you not remember? I thought I was the one with amnesia...I was instructed to watch over you last night."

Ah, that's right. Isami and I had a strange conversation last night after which I fell asleep.

"Uh, I think you were supposed to just walk me to my room and make sure I got in bed safely." I sigh. "Not spend the whole night here..."

Isami shrugs. "It makes no difference to me. I slept soundly while being just awake enough to make sure I could keep watch on you. If you would've gotten up I would have felt it and immediately woken up to investigate."

"But, again, you didn't have to." I deadpan. Isami shrugs once again, looking not at all bothered.

"Well. Now you are awake...Goodbye." She stands up from my bed, brushes her skirt off, and leaves the room with her usual suspicious demeanor.

After she's gone, I sigh in relief. Isami hasn't given me any bad vibes thus far but her being alone with me in my room all night, during a literal killing game is kinda scary...But hey, I'm alive.

The same can't be said for three of my classmates…

In the last case, we saw the deaths of the Ultimate Daredevil, Ultimate Salesman, and Ultimate Translator: Nadia, Sonoda, and Evelyn respectively.

Nadia and Sonoda were the victims...although things weren't as simple in the past cases, as Nadia attempted to murder Takahahsi while Sonoda was Nadia's killer. Evelyn murdered Sonoda in self defense...kinda, but then proceeded to try and cover her tracks.

Monokuma's fear-related motive sparked fear in the hearts of us all. But the three of them were the most fearful, which resulted in their demise.

I clench my fist, thinking about our numbers now. From 20 to 13 in such a short amount of time, and for what?! Every killer has failed so far, making their victim's deaths meaningless.

Silver, Satoko, Nadia, and Sonoda have all had their lives cut short by Ritsu, Hiiro, Sonoda, and Evelyn. And yet those of us left are still stuck here aboard the HFH Enterprise…

My efforts to put a stop to this killing game haven't made any progress and we still haven't discovered any secrets as to why the hell we're here in the first place. Taka has created his special little task force, which will hopefully provide something, but has come up short so far.

But still…

As cheesy as it sounds: I can't give up!

I don't know when, but we have to end this thing. I want to do it sooner rather than later, but…

…

It sounds grim. And kind of Taka-like...but…

If we can walk out of here with at least some people alive, then it's better than nothing. Obviously I'd prefer it to be everyone left so far, but with all of the work we've put in so far with no reward in sight, it seems unlikely as our time on this ship goes on…

I shake my head of my troublesome thoughts and stretch my arms. Saving everyone from this killing game will have to wait, for now, it's time to deal with some broken hearts…

Walking into the dining room, I felt almost like a celebrity (which I mean, I kinda am). I guess it must've been quiet before I entered, because the moment I opened the door and made my way inside, all eyes turned to me.

"Well, well, well! Look who's awake." Akumu says with a soft smile. "You gave us all a scare with your fainting spell yesterday!"

"I thought you were going to be victim #4 of that horrible day." Norikazu admits with a surprisingly emotional tone, setting his sketchbook down.

"T-Thank goodness you w-weren't…" Shiro shakily sighs. "I d-don't think w-we could h-handle losing anyone else…"

"Especially our resident detective-actor." Mari smirks. "If we didn't have you, who else would solve all these murders?"

Clara frowns. "That is incredibly callous and unfeeling, Mari…". The model simply rolls her eyes in response.

"Oh, to not have to worry about people dying," Takumi dramatically sighs, putting a hand on his forehead. "A dream that I'd love to live…"

Isami is too busy writing in her journal to acknowledge me. Knowing her she's probably writing all the details she observed from watching me sleep last night…

"As expected he's the last to get up," Jack nods, swirling a straw around in his cup.

I look around for my remaining classmates and instantly spot them in the corner of the dining room, away from everyone else.

Koko and Fran are a shell of their former selves: with their eyes bloodshot red and lips downturned into a frown. No longer are the two girls full of their almost infectious energy and positivity. Instead they are filled with a sense of dread and depression after losing a member of their trio: Evelyn, who was the more mature one between the three and served as a sort of comfort person for the two girls.

And now...she's gone.

Fran and Evelyn were two peas in a pod since Day 1, and Koko joined their little duo not too long after Hiiro was melted into ash. Without the glue holding them together, Fran and Koko must feel so lost.

Comforting them is the ever stoic Leonia, who is simply patting them on the back as they stare at the ground. For the intelligent blonde, she must know how the two operate by now and the best way to comfort them. I myself have had several conversations with Koko following the deaths of Ritsu and Hiiro, but I don't think anyone's words will have much effect on her now…the only thing that will help to heal the once bubbly girl is time.

And lastly but certainly not least is our ever so fearless leader, stationed nearby the two girls, thinking of something. Having not caught up with him in a while, I decided to say hello…

"Morning." I say, walking up to him.

"No good?" He says without looking up at me. "You seem like the type of person to say 'good morning', not just 'morning'..."

I can't help but laugh, looking at Koko and Evelyn. "Yeah, you're right...but today I can't manage to say 'good'. It feels especially wrong, having lost three people." I look back at Takahashi with a frown and begin to speak in a low voice. "Taka, this escape plan needs to come to fruition sooner than later. By the time we've managed to find a way out of here there'll only be a few of us left!"

Taka frowns back at me. "You don't think I know that? I'm trying everything I can, and so is Takumi and Isami. Your job is to help us when we need it, while also helping to keep the peace amongst the rest of the losers here. So have some patience and go back to doing what you do best: running your mouth to people to distract them."

I clench one of my fists. "You know, this is hard on me too! Why do I have to be the one to comfort them?"

It sounded selfish of me to worry about myself rather than the people who were closer to the people who've died so far, but think about it. From Silver all the way to Evelyn, I've been go, go, go at comforting those who needed it. Koko, Akumu, Jack just to name a few. I didn't get the chance to mourn their loss because I've had to put a smile on my face and pretend everything's ok when I've been kicking myself every single time I've failed to save someone.

Taka finally looks up at me, faint bags under his eyes and with a tired expression. "Because you idiot...you're the only one here who can. Do you think I recruited you to help me out just because? You have one of the most useful and practical talents in this place. Yeah, I know you're upset or whatever over everyone's deaths. But you have the ability to act like you're fine, which other people take notice of. I know it sucks ass, but just do it, ok? If there's anyone in here that people look for for comfort, it's you. Do you see anyone running up to me? Or Isami? Even Takumi? No. It's all you, and without you, our mission to escape would be impossible cause everyone would be too fucking depressed to do anything."

He let out a sigh, going back to look at the ground. "Now. Can you fuck off and do your job?"

Deep down, I guess I could see his point. Of course the Ultimate Actor would be the one capable of pretending everything's ok, which in turn could inspire and motivate his classmates to feel the same way. But is it truly ok to lie to everyone? Hide my emotions and distract them from grieving?

I wanted to argue with the ginger-haired asshole but I couldn't think of a valid reason to. I see his point, and even though I see mine too, I have to agree with him more than myself…

"Fine." I say. "I guess you're right…"

Taka says nothing but nods, returning to his thoughts while I walk away from him and go over to Koko, Leonia, and Fran.

Koko and Fran don't even acknowledge my presence. Leonia nods her head at me. "Good morning, Seizo. How are you feeling after your fall last night?"

I sheepishly smile. "I-I'm alright...I don't know what came over me."

"It must have been overwhelming," Leonia says. "Taking control of the entire trial almost all by yourself. Condemning one of your classmates and friends in front of everyone, and then watching their brutal death."

I gulp. "Well when you put it that way I guess I do know what came over me…"

Leonia sighs. "My apologies...it has been a difficult past few hours."

The American girl gestures to Koko and Fran who have yet to move an inch. "These two have not said a word since last night. I suspect they are in a state of shock, having had to say goodbye to Evelyn. They've run out of tears and now we are left with this."

I sadly frown, remembering the big smiles Koko and Fran used to greet me with. "Yeah, there's not much we're going to be able to do for them. I think we should just give them some time and space alone with each other. I think that if they do end up speaking again, the first people they're going to want to speak with are each other."

Leonia bows her head, a bit defeated. "...I suppose you may be right." She looks back up and nods. "Well. Then let us leave them alone and continue this conversation elsewhere. I actually have something I'd like to talk with you about."

I raise a brow. Leonia has been pretty quiet and 'stay-in-her-own-lane' for her entirety of our time here. Now she wants to have a private conversation for me? Oh dear, has yet another one of my classmates fallen for my good looks and charm?

She grabs my hand and leads me to the other corner of the room, away from Taka, Koko, Fran, and everyone else. I glance back at the food critic and self proclaimed explorer to see they are still in the same position as before.

I turn my attention to Leonia, who crosses her arms at me.

"Seizo, tell me. Have you heard of Progeria Syndrome?" Leonia questions.

I tilt my head. "WHO?"

Leonia sighs, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Progeria Syndrome. It's an extremely rare condition that causes children to begin aging rapidly at a young age. Patients with this disease only live to their 20s."

"That's horrible," I frown. "I didn't know such a thing existed. But why are you telling me this?"

Leonia clears her throat, glancing around her. "Well...I didn't know if I should tell anyone. But...I found this. You don't remember, but once you fainted, everyone rushed to help you up and bring you to the elevator. I was the last one to board. Before I did...I found this on the floor."

She reaches into her pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. I raise a brow as she hands it to me. I unfold it and read the contents…

Half Life Disease

I have tried numerous times to get rid of the half life quality of the specimen, but nothing works. The specimen always ends up with what I've come to call Half Life Disease. A disease slightly better than Progeria, which is the only thing I can compare it with, but still troublesome nonetheless.

I may recruit someone to assist me in the genetic coding of the specimen to see if we will be able to remove this quality. Then again, does it truly matter if the specimen die sooner than the average human?

And that was it.

"Wait, this letter is talking about something called 'Half Life Disease', why'd you ask me about Progeria?" I ask, folding the letter back up.

"Because," Leonia frowns. "I have no idea what Half Life Disease is...the only clue we have about it is its similarity to Progeria. As such, it's important to understand what Progeria is before we can try to find out what Half Life Disease is."

"I see, I see," I slowly nod. So someone really had this letter and dropped it on the floor after the trial?

"So...why do you think someone had this letter?" I inquire, turning to look at my classmates. "Are they the person who wrote it?"

"Perhaps." Leonia says. "Or perhaps they are a person with Half Life Disease."

My eyes widen. "W-Wait, you think one of us has something that's related to Progeria? That involves rapid aging? And who will die sooner than the average human?"

Leonia shrugs her shoulders. "It's only a theory, Seizo. I'm about as clueless as you. The only thing we know is that one of us is somehow related with this disease. Whether they're some scientist who created specimen with it or they themselves are the patient, I think it's worth looking into. This same person could be...the one who put us all here."

I bite my lip. Yet another complicated piece added to this annoyingly complicated puzzle. "Well...why'd you tell me of all people?"

Leonia looks at me. Her blue eyes look me up and down from head to toe. "Because. You are the only one I don't suspect. Everyone saw you fall, and rushed over to you to help. There was no note on the ground until they all walked away."

"No other reason?" I question. Geez, maybe Taka's little theory about me being some beacon of comfort was wrong.

Leonia uncomfortably shifts around. "And...well...you are much more trustworthy than other people here. Even if I enjoy the company of other people more...I still feel as if I can trust you more.

I grin, a sense of cockiness filling my head. Well! Looks like Taka was right after all. I had no idea I was so-

Wait, did she just insinuate that she likes some people here better than me?!

"I haven't gotten a chance to eat breakfast since I've been watching over Koko and Fran." Leonia says. "I'll see you around. Keep me updated if you find anything more about Half Life Disease."

"Alright," I say, snapping out of my thoughts. "Will do."

Leonia retires to the kitchen to presumably fix up a meal for herself, while I venture onwards to continue my morning greetings.

"Long time no see, Seizo!" Takumi beams. "Good to see you up and walking around."

"Was it really that bad?" I nervously blush.

"It was more shocking than anything else." Clara admits. "To see the eyes roll back in your head and then you were on the floor: it was pretty unnerving to say the least. Especially since we all thought you just died in front of us...which none of us would have been pleased with."

Mari agrees with a quiet 'mhm, mhm', which is when I realize…

"Mari." I deadpan, immediately facepalming. "What on earth are you wearing?"

Mari smirks, twirling a piece of her hair. "What's the matter, Sei? Don't like the new outfit?"

Mari is dressed head to toe in something all too familiar: Nadia's familiar Russian garments.

"I already told her it was pretty tasteless to dress up as one of her dead friends, but she refuses to listen to me." Takumi sighs. "Then she said how she can't wait until I die so she can steal my 'interesting sweater'."

"Don't forget how she added that she can wait until I die because there is nothing about my outfit she wants to wear." Clara glares.

"I don't know why you are all so offended over my fashion choices." Mari snaps. "If anything, you should consider this an honorary tribute to a deceased friend."

"Oh yeah?" Takumi smirks. "Are you going to steal Evelyn's outfit too?"

"Of course." Mari nods. "Her sweater, albeit ugly as all hell, helps compliment my sparkly eyes."

"But Evelyn was hardly a friend to you." Takumi points out. "So why would you bother to tribute her?"

Mari's eyebrows furrow. "Well…"

"Just admit it, Mari, you're waiting for all of us to die so you can steal our clothes. You've probably been dying for a new wardrobe since you found out on Day 1 we only have copies of our own outfits here." Clara says in a tired tone, probably growing tired of Mari's antics.

"No, no, not all." Mari says. "Remember. Your outfit will never grace my beautiful body."

Both Takumi and Clara sigh in defeat, resting their heads on the table as Mari continues to smirk and hum a tune to herself.

I walk away from the stressful trio and make my way to another stressful trio.

"Good morning you guys," I smile. "How are you all holding up?"

"Just peachy keen, Seizo." Norikazu sarcastically quips. "I've actually never been better."

"I-I-I'm scared, S-Seizo…" Shiro sniffs, bringing his hands to his face. "So many people are dying left and right now, w-what if I'm next?"

"Ah, I think the latest deaths have been especially hard on everyone since three people died rather than two…" Isami remarks, flipping through her notebook. "I see here that so far we've always had one victim and one killer...this is the first time we've had to deal with the reality that the killer could kill two people or that there could be two killers."

Yeah, this group all needs therapy.

"First off, Norikazu, I'm just trying to be polite." I sigh. "I'm genuinely curious as to how you are feeling. And just as a reminder, I am always here for you no matter what. Even when you're sarcastic and rude to me."

Norikazu narrows his eyes.

"Shiro, there's no need to be scared." I say, patting him on the head. "Big bro Seizo won't let anyone lay a finger on you, alright? I'll personally ensure your survival." I grin.

Shiro beams in response, his face immediately lit up.

"And Isami...you're exactly right." I say. "And I think that everyone may have also realized something else...that there's some people out there who may take notes from this latest case and kill multiple people."

"I don't know about that." Norikazu speaks up, putting a finger on his chin. "The more murders you commit the more you could incriminate yourself due to the more evidence you're leaving behind...It may seem like a good idea at first glance but you have to consider the consequences."

"That's true," Isami agrees. "Plus I think more people will be on their guard, making it harder to be murdered...I can't imagine someone getting away with two murders…"

"W-Well, what if there's a situation again where two separate people kill someone?" Shiro brings up. "That c-could always happen, maybe."

"All of you are right, in your own way." I nod. "Anything could happen in this place, from multiple murders to no murders at all. Something that I've learned is that we can only control the actions of ourselves, not other people.

And so, to try and help prevent any more murders from happening, we should all be on our guard. Protect ourselves and each other by observing the behaviors of classmates and reporting anything suspicious to Takahashi.

Also, a good idea of something to do is what you guys do on a daily basis: you're always together! That way it makes it impossible to kill one of you three, since you will all outnumber anyone who tries to lay a finger on you."

"Y-yeah you're right!" Shiro says with a smile. "I-I never thought it that way...that makes me feel better."

"Then I suppose we should continue to stick together, huh…" Norikazu says quietly, his face turning a faint shade of red.

Isami says nothing, watching the blushing Norikazu and the smiling Shiro. Maybe she didn't quite believe me. Which, who could blame her? There's of course strength in numbers but in this killing game, if someone wants to kill someone, they're going to find a way to do it.

I moved onto the last group: the duo of Jacky boy and Akumu.

"You had us all worried, Seizo," Akumu exasperatedly said, poking me in the arm. "I should pinch you two hundred times for making us worry!"

"Why two hundred?" I laugh. "Such a specific number."

Jack notions over to Francesca and Koko. "I feel bad for them. Truly. I know how they feel and what's unfortunate is I know it doesn't get any better…"

Akumu's smile drops as he glances at the ground. "Yeah, I miss her too. But I just don't want to spend everyday wallowing in despair, you know? I'd personally rather try to live life to the fullest, like how she would want us to."

Jack sighs. "Yeah...I guess you're right, huh…"

"At any rate, I think there's something coming soon to distract the two of you." I smile, trying to take their minds off of Satoko. "Remember? After every case…"

"Ah, a new floor!" Akumu finishes, his smile returning. "I wonder what this one will be like!"

"The second floor had recreational activities, the third had a lot of nature themed activities…" Jack thinks aloud. "...For the fourth? I have no clue."

"We should see soon enough." I say, taking a seat. "Right about now is when…"

"GOODDDDDDD MORNING EVERYONE!"

As if on cue, our captor appears right on top of Takumi, Mari and Clara's table, his paws on his hips and a grin on his face.

He stretches his arms out and sighs. "Phew, I'm glad to be up and alive this morning, some people get stabbed in the neck when they're trying to sleep, y'know? Not that I'd die from a stabbing anyway considering I'm stuffed with cotton, upupupupu!"

"Ugh, why are you here?" Mari sneers. "I need at least three business days after talking to you to recover."

"Girl bye, I need a lifetime of rest after talking to you to recover." Monokuma snaps back. Mari frowns.

"Get on with it," Leonia huffs. "We know what you're here to say."

"Ohhh?" The mechanical bear tilts his head. "And what might that be?"

Leonia crosses her arms. "Well. If you are continuing to follow your usual theme, you should be revealing to us that there's another floor for us to explore. Isn't that right?"

"Ah, Leonia realized it too." Akumu whispers to me.

Monokuma crosses his arms to mimic Leonia. "Another floor? I don't know anything about that! I mean, what, do you guys this a spaceship can just hold an infinite amount of floors? It has to stop somewhere, y'know!"

"Wait," Clara frowns. "So there isn't another floor? Then why are you even here?"

Monokuma frowns. "I can't pay a visit to my captives?! I was feeling lonely and thought I'd talk to someone but I see that I am clearly not welcome here in the slightest. Duly noted, duly noted…"

"Ugh, just spit it out already!" Jack snaps. "We all know that isn't the case, you have something to tell us, so just say it and be gone."

Monokuma sighs. "Fine...I should've known you would all treat me this way. So be it, I'll just retire to my room and cry myself to sleep while I watch Episode 6 of Squid Games on repeat…"

Finally, he clears his throat and stand straights up. "Announcement time! I have prepared a very special game for you all tomorrow morning! Everyone is to participate, so absolutely no absences will be tolerated! Those who do decide to be absent will be punished!"

"A game?" I repeat. "This sounds an awful lot like a motive. Are you seriously making us do this so soon after a class trial?"

"Calm your bara tiddies, it's not that type of game!" Monokuma angrily says. "You all are going to have a blast, trust me! Well, uh, 12 of you are going to have a blast…"

"Wait, 12?" Akumu frowns. "Uh, there's 13 of us. Not 12."

Monokuma nods. "Yeah. I know. Only 12 of you will play though!"

"Oh, and there'll be one person left out?" Akumu nods. "I see, I see."

Monokuma shakes his head. "Eh, not possible. The one person 'left out' will unfortunately have to die."

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"W-what did you say?" I stammer, my face pale.

"As unfortunate as it is, this particular game requires some special equipment which I can only use with an even number of people!" Monokuma reveals. "I can't leave one person out since it'll...complicate things, so someone's just going to have to volunteer to sit the game out and join the ranks of the dead!"

"W-What the hell are you talking about?" Taka yells, standing up. "Are you fucking high or something? Why the hell does someone have to die?!"

"I already told you, Mr. Jirou!" Monokuma yells back, waving his paws in the air. "And don't blame me! This is your fault!"

"The hell you mean my fault you punk ass bitch?" Taka scoffs.

"It's all of your faults!" Monokuma nods. "You all screwed it up! There was supposed to be 14 of you here, an even number, which would have been A-ok! However, there's 13, an odd number, which I can't work with! If you all had just stayed to the typical one killer, one victim thing that's been going on so far, then there wouldn't be any problems."

"You seriously want one of us to die so we can play your game?" Leonia sneers. "You're sick in the head! We just won't play if that's the case."

"Oh, yes you will." Monokuma evily smiles. "Do you remember what happens if you don't listen to me, Ms. Taylor? You're injected with a great big dose of POISON! This game isn't optional, it's a requirement! And unless one of you can figure out how to bring back a classmate from the dead, then in order to make an even number, you will have to say goodbye to one person!"

"T-this is awful…" Shiro cries. "We can't s-say goodbye to someone e-else so soon!"

"How can you expect someone to just volunteer themselves to die?" Norikazu frowns. "We all want to live, no one is just going to give up after fighting for so long."

Monokuma shrugs. "That's not my problem! But if I may make a suggestion, perhaps everyone's resident hero, Seizo Morine would like to volunteer as tribute? You're always going on about saving everyone: well if you let someone die then that'd be doing the complete opposite!"

"I...I…" I can't muster up the courage to refute or agree with his words. I feel completely hopeless, this new revelation that someone has to die soon making my body full of anxiety.

"Or perhaps there's someone who has just given up? You have nothing left to live for and just want to end it all?" Monokuma cackles. "Might I suggest Francesca or Koko, who'll both find their loving friends in the afterlife!"

The two girls stay silent as always, still looking crazed and dejected.

"You all have to make the decision by tomorrow morning, so come up with something! Unless you all want to die! Upupupupu…" He giggles one last time before disappearing into the abyss.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

It's utter silence as soon as Monokuma leaves.

Someone is going to die.

Soon.

And we have to make the decision amongst ourselves…

…

Goddamn, it's not even 8 AM yet!

A/N: Guys I deeply apologize for the wait between the chapters, I will try from here on out to stay to a chapter per month schedule.

-Shiro