Chapter 1: This Could Be Anywhere In The World (Daily Life 3)
Junichi, flanked by Asana, Touki, and Surumi arrived at the floor with the minimart and were shocked how accurate that description was when the double doors opened. White tiles as far as the eyes could see, with massive mural paintings of Monokuma along each of the pastel blue walls; leading a small gaggle of ducklings while walking a tightrope. Him falling from the sky while holding an inverted umbrella, Monokuma sitting in a crib surrounded by an assortment of toys in a matching diaper. It seemed each section was extremely vaguely associated with each department of the massive mart.
A very low-quality speaker was streaming various low budget, 80's sounding music throughout the entire mart, and there was even a Pharmacy in one of the corners, but the P had been taken off the sign to spell 'Harmacy,' instead. "It's just like a mini mall," Junichi observed.
"This seems like a lot of work to put in if he just wants most of us to kill each other," Asana commented.
"You know, that's the common misconception about these Killing Games. It's not that I want you to kill each other. It's just the only way out is to kill someone," Monokuma pointed out. "Ideally, either one or two of you guys die, or all of you die and one lives " he added.
"You said it yourself!" Junichi shouted at him.
"Hey, I don't MAKE you guys kill each other. Honestly, if you peeps want to just hang out here for the rest of your lives, I don't care." He said, waddling over to grab an umbrella from a shelf and opening it over his head, giving a little twirl before looking back at the four students "I mean… If you don't mind abandoning your previous life and loved ones, of course."
"What's that supposed to mean? Are you implying you'll trap us in here forever?" Touki said, bewildered.
"Yuh, that was the whole point behind the thing I was saying, Dorkimus Maximus," Monokuma said, giving a giggle. "So until you guys get sick of being in this little theme park of a world I've made, shop 'til you drop! Both figuratively, and literally!" He announced, before floating upward into the ceiling through a trapdoor. "Puhuhuhu~ Away!"
"How the hell did he do that? Does he have trap doors everywhere?" Asana asked.
"I wouldn't worry about it now," Touki said, tossing coins for Asana and Surumi.
"Do you think he left Monocoins in the store itself? Maybe we can find the coins underneath boxes of laundry detergent or something." Asana said.
"I guess the first thing is to figure out what the heck I'm gonna buy," Junichi replied, walking into the store. Touki walked alongside him.
"Man, you really got messed up by that spear, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I got really lucky. I managed to hit no major arteries, just muscle damage." Junichi started. "None of my bones were broken, either…"
"Well, guess you really are the-" Touki began.
"If you say Ultimate Lucky Student, I will smack you with my good arm," Junichi warned with a chuckle. "I've got a mean backhand, just so you know."
"I can take you. You only got one arm." Touki said. "I'd rather take my chances against you than Saya with that yardstick."
"I haven't really met Saya yet. Was she the girl with the yardstick?" He asked Touki, who just sighed and shook his head.
"She's a goddamn dictator, Junichi." He replied with a sigh, shaking his head. "It's the worst thing, she's so my type and yet she won't even speak to me now," Touki said as he shoved his hands in his coat pockets.
"What did you do?" Junichi asked.
"I didn't do anything!" Touki said defensively. "I just gave her a few compliments, ya know? And now she has Izumi talk to me for her, it's so stupid! I can't win with girls, man…" Touki said, kicking at the air in annoyance.
"Izumi told me ya wanted her to step on your face." Asana pointed out.
"GAH! Asana! Don't say it out loud!" Touki said, not wanting other people to hear that.
"Touki, are you like.. Secretly a sex weirdo?" Junichi asked.
"N-no! No way. That was just… you don't get it, okay? You just don't get it!" Touki shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Junichi.
"Glad to know you're a freak in the sheets, Touki," Asana said as she slapped Touki on the back, before giving a loud laugh.
"I-I'm not a sex pervert!" Touki yelled.
"Just let me know if you want to give me money to hear me belch through a walkie talkie, Touki," Asana said, jokingly. "I mean if that gets you off."
"Okay, that's just gross. Where did you even come up with that?" Touki asked.
"I read about it on the internet!" Asana said. "Same place where people watch girls sit on grapes!"
"I… do I wanna know what your search history looks like?" Touki asked, backing away slightly.
"Heh! You're too easy, ya know that?" Asana asked, chuckling. "Anyway, where's the protein?"
"Hm, it should be in the Harmaceutical section…" Surumi surmised, pointing toward the pharmacy.
"Heck yeah! I can see it now! Thanks, Surumi!" Asana called as she ran toward the pharmacy. Surumi offering a big wave to see her off.
"And three remain," Touki said, looking at the names of each section hanging from the ceiling. "Now, what do I want…?"
"Maybe some ice for that burn Asana gave you?" Junichi taunted.
"Shut up," Touki responded, laughing. "You said you wanted food, right? Well unless you have a stove in your room, you might need to get Izumi to cook it for you."
"Does her room have a stove?" Junichi asked, confused.
"No, but she has a diner, apparently," Touki said.
"I see. Maybe we could pick her up some supplies." Junichi suggested.
"Sure," Touki said as he headed for the food aisles, Junichi following him as Surumi broke away from the two of them. Each item of food showed a tag, Monokuma holding the price of the product in Monocoins. Cans of tuna were 1 coin, a premade sushi platter was 10 coins, a can of condensed milk was 5 coins. A small bag of confectioner's sugar was 2 coins, but as Junichi was looking at it, a hand reached down to grip the bag and lift it away.
"Huh?" Junichi turned to see someone standing there. It was that spindly, black-haired girl that he saw back in the dining hall.
"Uhh. Sorry, did you need that?" Izumi asked.
"No, no. You just startled me a bit." Junichi said, tilting his head to one side.
"Wait, aren't you Junichi?" Izumi asked, worried. "Didn't you… Didn't you die?" She asked, her long fingernails tapping at her lower lip.
"I'm bad at dying," Junichi said, laughing at his own statement.
"What do you mean?"
"When I was impaled, it seemed to miss all of my organs, so my recovery was a bit quicker than expected."
"Wow… I guess that really means you're the Ulti-"
"I'm not going to keep doing that!" Junichi suddenly snapped.
"W-what!?" Izumi exclaimed, confused and frightened.
"Everyone keeps making the same joke! I get it! Ultimate Lucky Student! Ha ha ha ha! Do you know how unfunny you guys are!?"
"I… I… W-waahhh!" Izumi cried out, tears welling in her eyes.
"Dude, not cool. Makin' a girl cry like that." Touki said, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry. I didn't me-" Junichi began when he felt a stinging strike across his face. "OW! What the hell was that?!"
"That was me." said the girl in white, twirling a yardstick in her fingers. She slung the yardstick over one shoulder and pushed up her broken pair of glasses.
"W-why did you hit me?!" He said, spinning back around. He then gestured to his sling. "I'm injured, y'know. Do you just g-go around and hit injured people!? Do you love pushing people in wheelchairs down stairs too!?"
"I hit you because you were being an imbecile. The beatings continue when the stupidity continues." Saya said. "Besides, you associate with Minami, so I can assume you are of the same mental wavelength."
"I'm not like Touki, I'm not going to make you do weird shit to turn me on," Junichi explained, his brain finally connecting the dots and realizing that this girl was Saya, and the other girl must be Izumi from Touki's description earlier.
"H-how could you betray me like that, Junichi?!" Touki butted in over his shoulder. "Don't keep bringing that up! I thought we were bros!"
"And that only confirms it. Igarashi, dry your eyes. These cretins aren't worth your tears." Saya said.
"H-huh?" Izumi asked, sniffling a bit.
"Hey! Who are you calling a cretin?!" Touki shouted.
"...Saya's calling you a cretin, Touki." Izumi said, wiping her eyes. Touki face faulted at that.
"You're still doing that?!" Touki exclaimed.
"Sorry, Saya said she's never talking to you, so I have to be an intermediary," Izumi said with a bow.
"Wait, you weren't kidding about that?" Junichi asked.
"No, dude! She seriously won't talk to me!" Touki exclaimed.
"I gave my word I would not speak to Minami and I will keep to that," Saya explained to Junichi. "You are proving to be unimpressive, so mind your tongue or I will not speak to you either."
"Look, I just wanted to ask what you were down here for, can we… stop the shenanigans for a while?" Junichi asked.
"If you must know, I am looking to replace my broken glasses. If this place has a properly functioning pharmacy, they should have prescription glasses." Saya explained.
"Well… they have a harmacy," Junichi said with a chuckle, getting a laugh from Izumi and a cool glare from Saya. "Ehehehe… sorry. Anyway, we learned about the dining hall being shut down, so we wanted to look for money. Touki said you've got a diner, Izumi." he said, Izumi's eyes lighting up.
"Yes! Yes!" Izumi said cheerfully, bouncing on her toes. "It's so wonderful! You really have to see it!"
"Do you need to be paid to cook dinner?" Junichi asked.
"No, food's on the house, mostly. I do accept tips, though. I could take you there right now if you wanted!" Izumi said.
"Well, Junichi and I were thinking of buying some food for your diner," Touki said. "It was totally my idea."
"I do need more supplies! All I have is flour, eggs, and sugar." Izumi explained. "That's a good idea, Touki. You can take some of my coins too to buy some more!" Izumi said, reaching into her pocket and handing Touki some Monocoins.
"It seems Minami is good for something after all…" Saya said, keeping her eyes off Touki.
"I'll remember you did that," Junichi said, lightly nudging him with his working elbow.
Saya turned to Junichi and threw some Monocoins to him. "Ando, you assist him," she said. Junichi tried to catch the coins, but half of them just fell to the floor, making Junichi sigh.
"I'll make a shopping list for you two. I'll help you any way you need me as long as you get things off the list, alright?" Izumi offered, as Junichi leaned down to scoop up the lazily tossed coins off of the floor.
"Sure," Touki said, pulling out his trusty notepad and a black pen. Izumi began to list over each thing she would need for her cafe as, Touki grabbing a small shopping cart to throw in the various food, dairy, and veggies as the two wandered off, leaving Junichi with Saya.
"So… you're Saya, huh?" Junichi said, trying to break the ice.
"Indeed. Saya Kiruma, Ultimate Student Council President. Formalities won't be necessary, Ando. I think I've learned enough about you, Ando. If you'll excuse me…" Saya said, walking away from Junichi. Junichi sighed and headed off to catch up with Touki and Izumi.
Saya made her way to the pharmacy, finding it to be thankfully empty, though with an overturned shelf of nutritional supplements. Saya took a long, beleaguered sigh and walked around the shelf, walking over the reception desk and ringing the bell. "Hello, Saya! What can I uh-do ya for?!" Hojo shouted, making a weird, quick pause to look away from her, so he could emphasize the 'do' in his sentence.
Saya felt a sick feeling in her stomach. Of course, the worst scenario she had considered in interacting with someone to get her prescription glasses replaced… the worst option would have been Hojo. And of course, it was Hojo. Why wouldn't it be Hojo? "Hello again, Hojo…" Saya said, rubbing her temple with one hand.
"You need some en-thuuuu-zi-asm, Lil gal! Wazzup? How can I help ya?" Hojo asked, head twitching slightly.
"I want this to not happen," Saya said bluntly.
"Sorry missy, Causality is a bee-yatch. I run this phizzarmacy, so ya gotta deal with me." Hojo said, clapping his hands together. "So, what's gonna cure what ails ya?"
"Why are you here, and not the bear?" Saya asked, not trying to react to his butchering of human words.
"Because you look like the type of girl who demands to speak to the manager! I thought dealing with me would be more appropriate than the bear." He said, offering a finger gun in her direction. "You're welcome, by the way."
"..." Saya just shook her head at that insult. She pinched her temples for the hope her head would explode and this conversation could be over. "I... need new glasses."
"Yooooou got it! Good thing we looked at your eyeballs, missy!" He said, turning around and pulling a similar set of thin, rectangular glasses to the ones she currently had. "Because your -2.75, nearsighted bifocal glasses are ready to go!" He said, sliding them in front of her. "These are made from a dope polycarbonate and are drop resistant! You can drop them, but they'd still break if you run them over with a steam roller!"
"You… measured my eyeballs?" Saya asked, setting her broken glasses on the table and unfolding the ear rests of her new ones, adjusting them to see if it cleared her vision up. "What do you mean?"
"Do you think Junichi just got some schmo's blood when he got impaled by that spear? A-no. Junichi's blood was placed in bags so we had a 0% chance of rejection!" Hojo explained. "We have most of your medical records to keep keepin' you guys alive so you can kill each other!"
Saya was always surprised by how Hojo could shift from half-creepy, half-annoying into a full-blown creepy. She began checking her arms for bumps from needles pricking her skin. She tried thinking back to any time she could remember being sick or injured during the months she was held captive. All the refills on her inhaler...
"If… If you people took the opportunity to evaluate my medical record… It would have to be… when you would make me pass out with sleeping gas, wouldn't it?" Saya said, walking up and pressing both hands on the table hard enough to make the potted plant on it bounce gently and slosh with the water that it was filled with.
"Ding ding ding!" Hojo said with a smile. "It's hard to do a medical check up on someone who isn't willing to get one. You noticed there was a pattern after a while, didn't you?" He asked.
"A pattern… What do you mean a pattern?" Saya said, wondering if what days the sleeping gas knocked her out had any significance, or pattern to them.
"Think about the days!" He said, clearly trying to give her the hint.
"You made me pass out every week, right? And those were medical anesthetics so I wouldn't wake up from the pain of needles, or the drawing of blood." Saya surmised, getting a clap from Hojo in response.
"Good job, we did knock you out every seven days. How clever!" He said with a laugh, Saya sighed and stood back up straight.
"What about my breathing medication?" Saya asked, her voice dropping in volume slightly so nobody heard that she mentioned it aloud.
"Ooooh… Yeah, we're outta that." He said, scratching his beard. "Why do you ask, are you running out?"
"It's about 2/3rds empty," Saya replied, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of people knowing everything about her medically. "I would need a replacement soon, or my attacks might go out of control." She stated.
"Hm… You should come back right when you run out. I'm sure the boss will have it ready for you as soon as it does! He just wants to save money, though." Hojo added, lifting a finger.
"Fine, so if I come back here when my inhaler is depleted, there will be absolutely a spare?" Saya asked, tapping the table with a finger.
"Ab-so-lutely." He said, nodding his head on each syllable. Saya took a deep breath, turned herself around and sat her metal yardstick on her shoulder so should walk away from him. She didn't want to give him goodbye, to make him assume she was fond of him… That would be a nightmare for her.
"I'll be here if you need me!" Hojo shouted, waving an arm wildly at her.
"I don't need you." She replied, coldly.
Though, in finding any way to get away from Hojo, she wasn't really sure which way she went in the store, as she was now in an unfamiliar aisle, camping, fishing and survival gear. The shelves were fashioned with tents, lanterns, fishing rods, and more. Though, the first thing she thought was it was strange to have an outdoor section when they're trapped in a building for the indefinite future.
A familiar silhouette caught her now improved gaze, someone wearing a bear pelt over their head and shoulders as a hood. She had seen him stood in the corner of the room, speaking to no one and usually looking through his hood with glowing golden eyes. Saya slowly made her approach to the Ultimate Hunter, seeing the strange auburn-haired girl in the overalls standing next to him, pointing to each of her wristbands.
"-And this one is the Bear. Being born under the bear means you're born with great strength and a noble, if alone nature. That you won't mess with someone unless they mess with you or your kin first." Surumi explained before moving to the next constellation. "And then there is- Ah! Good evening, Saya!"
"Good evening, Takeuchi. And good evening to you, Suba." Saya said.
"Your spectacles are fixed!" Surumi pointed out, Saya smirking and adjusting her glasses.
"Indeed they are," she said. "Now then, if I could talk to Suba in private…"
Surumi nodded and gave an odd three-fingered salute before skipping off. "You. You've spoken less than ten words since we were locked in here, especially after the bear announced this Killing Game." Saya began.
"And?" he asked
"I find it disrespectful," Saya said, walking to his side to look at what he was inspecting, he appeared to be inspecting a red carabiner, rubbing his thumb along the metal to check its quality. "You might not have to like interacting with other people, but being secretive will just make people suspicious of you."
"I say let them be suspicious of me." He said, turning over the price tag and pulling an extra Monocoin hidden underneath of the price tag for the carabiner. "It doesn't matter what their opinion of me is."
"Perhaps, but in a situation where we are being pitted against each other, it's better to have everyone on the same page than to have an outlier," Saya said. "If we're going to work together-"
"Who said anything about working together?" Katsuya interjected.
"What?" Saya asked, taken aback.
"This is a Killing Game, after all. The only way to escape isn't to work together. It's to kill a fellow student. Everyone is making their little cliques and buddying up because they're waiting for the right moment to attack." Katsuya said.
"You can't seriously believe that. We're not-" Saya said before Katsuya spoke up.
"Trust breeds betrayal. And I'm not going to put myself at risk by giving myself an extra blind spot to worry about. If everyone is my enemy, I have no reason to be paranoid, or lose sleep at night." Katsuya continued. Saya reared back her yardstick, ready to strike Katsuya for cutting her off again when he caught the ruler with his hand. "You were going to say that you aren't planning a murder. Maybe not yet… but your relationship-"
"I'm not going to commit a murder," Saya said, cutting him off for a change.
"Yeah, I know. But… wouldn't it make sense if you were putting yourself in the position of killing someone by getting them to trust you as their… 'leader'? Maybe the waitress?" Katsuya asked.
"No. I am not going to kill Igarashi. Why would I-" Saya began.
"Because she's weaker than you. Weaker in character. She's a scared little kitten, mewling to you at every shadow that passes by the wall. She's not fit to survive in this world or this killing game." Katsuya said, his voice never moving from a calm drone, staying the same volume and cadence. "There is no room for emotion or attachments in this world."
"..." Saya clenched her fists.
"I'm aware that seems cold, but I have to be. Do you think this world was made for peace? In the last thousands of years… how many times did we have to kill each other for something that didn't matter? We killed for things we thought we cared about, and the moment we had it… it was worthless." Katsuya said, cracking his knuckles. "It only seemed worth getting… because we had an attachment to it." He continued. "Be it country, territory, money…love. You'd only die for it, kill for it, because you came to care about it, which makes it a weakness."
"You're… you're only a teenager. How did you…?" Saya asked, visibly uncomfortable. Katsuya grabbed the ears of his bear hide and pulled his hood down to reveal a mop of messy blonde hair, matted by the wearing of his hood. His cat-like golden eyes glaring at her. His face had several deep scars streaking across the front of his otherwise boyish face. Though, Saya could tell he lacked a luster in his eyes. It was like he was looking past her instead of at her.
"How did I come to see the world like this? Do you want a sad backstory that makes me seem mentally ill, or tragic?" Katsuya replied, shaking his head. "It's not because I want to make people bad for me, I just... Realized something one day."
"I want to know what makes you tick, Suba. Spare me the condescension." Saya said, pulling her yardstick away from his grip
"Very well. It started when my father died hunting a cougar in the American wilds… My custody was given to my grandfather, who had survived for decades on his own. The reason my father died was that he wasn't strong enough… He was in a hunting party and his fellow hunters abandoned him to bleed to death in the forest." He started.
"My grandfather's lessons and the death of my father taught me the real rule of the world. Kill, or be killed," Katsuya continued, looking at the floor. "When I turned nine… My grandfather gave me his ultimate test and left me alone in the forest for three years. I had to learn how to kill, how to keep myself warm, and how to depend entirely on myself. And, this obsession of the modern world to put fake attachment to things that aren't just survival disgusts me." He said, Saya calmly gripping her ruler as she listened. "The bear I'm wearing on my head? I killed it, and it damaged my face with this scar." He said, pointing to his face.
"So you're going to follow the rules of some serial killer instead of besting them? Are you the kind of person who would give up so easily?" Saya countered, but that caused Katsuya to stifle a laugh.
Katsuya reached down and in a flash, hurled something to land right next to Saya's head. Her cheek sliced open and began to leak blood from it from the grazing cut, as she turned her eyes to see a knife embedded in the wall. Saya gasped from the surprise, feeling her heartbeats spike in her chest, soon, Katsuya had shoved her against the wall.
Katsuya walked up, pressing their torsos together and glared into her eyes. "Remember this, it's everyone versus you. And if you want to cling to the idea of trust, be my guest," he said, reaching up and slowly pulling the knife off the wall, letting her see that it was coated in a small splatter of her blood. The sting of pain formed in her cheek as he twirled his knife, and slid it back into his pocket. "But the time someone dies isn't an if… It's a when." He said, pulling away from her and walking away.
Saya reached up to stroke the cut on her cheek, blood leaking from it and coating her fingertips as she pulled it in front of her to look at it. She quickly pulled out her inhaler, taking a small burst of medicine. She had a little left and had to ration it, but she just needed enough to appear calm so she can walk to bed without people asking why she was so pale, and why her fingers were starting to tremble. She returned to the pharmacy reception desk, where Hojo set down a box of bandaids.
"Looks like you'll be needing a nondescript adhesive bandage!" He said, as Saya threw 4 Monocoins onto the table, squandering the last of the coins she had to tip Izumi later for dinner.
"What?" Saya asked, confused.
"The actual name of these are trademarked!" Hojo said with a smile.
:..Fine." Saya said, opening the box and looking for a mirror. She took a 3-inch bandage, took off the backing protecting the sticky layer and stuck the bandage on her face to cover up the damage on her face. She started thinking of how to explain the wound, not wanting to create tension in the group. If someone confronted Katsuya over his actions if Saya explained the truth, he might act on his words. They might try to respond to his attack and get severely hurt… or worse.
"Saya! I'm back with food for-" Izumi said as she walked up with a full shopping cart, stopping as she saw Saya turn to face her. "W-What happened to your face?!"
"I scraped my face on the corner of one of these shelves while I was picking something up. They're rather… sharp. I had to buy a pack of bandages for it."
"Oh… I hope it's not infected or anything. I'd hate for you to get tetanus or something."
"Well, it's done now and I have to live with it," Saya said.
"Are you coming up for dinner? Junichi just finished shopping with Touki and I'm going to cook for him. Did you want something too?"
"No… I'm fine. The stress is making my stomach sour, so I think sleep might be better for me." Saya said, taking a deep sigh afterward.
"Okay, hope you have a good sleep," Izumi said.
"Thank you, Igarashi. I hope your first meal in your lab goes well." Saya said, walking off back to the elevator.
END OF DAY ONE
20 DAYS REMAIN