DING-DONG, BING-BONG

I was woken up by the Monokubs' morning annoucement. Geez, what a night it was. I swore I heard Kaede crying and the others screaming and yelling at her.

What happened between them? Clearly their escape plan didn't go as planned and things got really wild, huh? I thought as I exited my room after putting on a fresh set of clothes and putting my Battle Gem in my jacket pocket.

I could already hear them talking when I entered the dining hall. They all went silent and turned to face me.

"What..? Is something wrong?" I asked.

"It's nothing, we already knew you were the odd duck out, so your absence last night makes sense to me." Rantaro admitted.

"Heh, you still have ways to go then, Sharla..." Ryoma muttered.

"There you go calling me the odd duck out again." I snarked before continuing, "So, what exactly happened last night? I heard you guys screaming at Kaede from my room all night."

"Well, we couldn't escape. But no matter how many times some of us wanted to stop, Kaede refused to let anyone give up!" Tsumugi said angerly.

"So in a nutshell, this is completely Kaeidiot's fuckin' fault!" Miu shouted in rage.

"Stop, everyone! Gonta think Kaede not to blame!" Gonta pleaded.

"I too think that Kaede shouldn't be held accountable." Kirumi admitted.

From there, it was hard for anyone to stay calm. I could only look on as arguments flew everywhere. I saw Kaede quivering and with tears starting to form in her eyes. Until finally, she broke down.

The arguing ceased as tears started to flow on Kaede's cheeks and soft sobs shook her body.

"K-Kaede?!" Shuichi called out her name in worry.

"Ah! Don't listen to them! This isn't your fault!" I cried out.

"S-Sharla... I..." Kaede wimpered.

I walked up to her with a soft smile and pulled her into a conforting hug.

The pianist seemed to let out a yelp of surprise as I held her tight.

"Your plans might've not turned out the way you hoped they would. But that shouldn't deter you from what's more important. Besides, there's still a chance for you to fight for your own future." I told her.

"Fight... for my own future..?" Kaede repeated.

"Yes. If you can't escape then maybe there's a way to end the killing game."

"Ah! That's it! Thank you, Sharla!" Kaede said with a smile as I let go of her.

"No problem." I replied.

"Alright then, let's figure out ways to get out of this killing game." The pianist remarked.

Before the discussion could begin, Monokuma appeared out of nowhere declaring "Before you do that, I have an announcement!"

Kaede screamed as Tsumugi shouted "Hey, don't just suddenly show up! It's too much stress for my heart!"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to not surprise you." Monokuma said.

"So you did mean to surprise us." Himiko snarked.

You took the words right out of my mouth, Himiko. I thought.

"Well? Your announcement?" Rantaro asked.

"It's not terribly important, but... It's easier to stay alive by being an obvious goody two-shoes, right? Being thrust into a killing game doesn't mean you'll be able to kill someone easily... So I figured I'd ease you guys into the killing game by giving you motivation to kill." Monokuma explained.

"...Motivation to kill?" Maki repeated.

"In short, a motive! That oughta add some mystery to the proceedings! Even if a killer is exposed, they could whip up a sob story to deceive everyone!"

"Wh-What are you saying? Your logic is impossible to understand..!" Keebo asked.

"I will now announce the first motive! Make sure you record this moment for posterity!"

Once again, Monokuma glared at me with his glowing red eye as he spoke.

"Now then, the special motive I've prepared is called the First Blood Perk! Wow! For the first murder that occurs, no class trial will be held! Can you believe it? That means the first one to kill someone will get to graduate, no strings attached!"

"What?! But that means everyone else will die!" I shouted.

"Puhuhu... That's right!" Monokuma declared

"You're insane! We'll show you! We will end this killing game!" I exclaimed.

"Oh? You do realize that's not gonna be easy, right?" Monokuma asked curiously.

"I'm aware, just you wait!" I challenged.

"Well then, good luck trying to end it! 'Cause I'm not finished with you yet, Sharla!" The twisted bear exclaimed as he left.

I was breathing hard. "I thought that bear would never leave..." I muttered.

"Um, wh-what just happened..?" Tsumugi asked, clearly shaken up by this turn of events.

"This is... truly an unexpected moment." Kiyo admitted.

"Sharla, wh-what did Monokuma mean?" Shuichi asked.

"Yeah, what did that insane bear mean by he's not done with you yet?" Kaito brought up in confusion.

"The truth is... I knew Monokuma was going to reveal the First Blood Perk." I confessed.

"Nyeh?!" Himiko let out a yelp in shock.

"You knew..?" Kirumi muttered.

"Yes. I'm sorry for hiding it from you."

"I'm a little worried that Monokuma's making you a target. Has he done anything to make you hide this truth?" Rantaro asked.

"You all saw it, right? It terrifies me that he's causally talking to me like anyone else and not treating me like rest of you. It's like being stalked by Gadolt after he became Jade Face."

"So this isn't the first time you gazed into the Eyes of the Devil?" Tsumugi asked.

"When you put it like that, yes."

"He also mentioned something about five traitors hiding among us, right?" Ryoma pondered.

"Now that you bring that up, I do remember something that all of them should have."

After saying that, I took my Battle Gem out of my waistcoat for all of them to see. The vibrant turquoise color shined in their eyes. The golden wings on the sides seemed speak out to Gonta, Kiyo, Tsumugi, Angie, and Kokichi especially. The vibrant turquoise heart-shaped gemstone in golden rims gave it some volume to them.

"What is that?" Kaede asked.

"Is it a hint to who the fuckin' traitors are?" Miu asked.

"This is a Battle Gem. Magical gems created from Ether that contain god-like power, they can give the user power beyond anything you can imagine. Mine is one of the few that can alter fate itself. As far as I know, all five traitors have one of these powerful objects. One of which, can also alter fate." I explained.

"So anyone else who has one of those divine gemstones are the traitors?" Angie asked.

"Yes. But I know finding the traitors is not gonna be easy." I brought up.

"And once your memory grows less fuzzier, the traitors won't have anywhere to run to!" Kaito mentioned.

"That sounds all well and good but, what do we do in the meantime?" Maki asked.

"M-Maybe we should wait and see what happens by tomorrow." Shuichi advised.

"That sounds good to me." Kaede admitted.

After that, all seventeen of us went off on our own things to do. By the time it was nighttime, I couldn't help but think to myself before heading to sleep.

If the traitors aren't aware that they have a Battle Gem on them. They just don't know yet! If my special hope is as powerful as Monokuma says it is, then they're gonna remember at some point!