My head was killing me to say the least. A show of how terrible I slept last night, it comes as no surprise considering all that happened. I heard someone knocking on my door, never stopping as I dressed. It was very annoying to hear that for 5 whole minutes. Whoever it is must have a lot of energy.

"I'm awake, what is it?" I asked through the door, rubbing my eyes.

"Glad to see my bro ain't dead yet!" a voice, clearly belonging to Juro, shouted back at me.

Of course, who else would be the one to wake me up other than the loudest person here.

I opened the door up to see Juro standing there with a smile.

"Seems like you slept well." I commented on his energetic attitude.

"Like a fuckin' baby!" The blonde exclaimed, lacing his arms behind his head. "Unlike most of you, I was able to deal with all the pressure this game is puttin on us."

"Let me guess, I have to head to the cafeteria?" I mused, still trying to wake up.

"Exactamundo my dude!" Juro said, giving me a thumbs up. "You are the only one who's been a no show."

Jeez, what am I, a protagonist or something? Figures I'd be the last to awake.

"Don't just stand there like a dumbass! Let's get a move on!" Juro demanded, pushing me out the door.

-Cafeteria-

Sure enough, the others were all here, some eating, and others just sitting around. I noticed that almost nobody sat next to each other. Isoyo and Erena were the only ones who were.

They are really becoming fast friends, I guess they truly meant what they said then. It's too bad that trust rarely lasts that long in these games.

With an exasperated yawn, I went to grab some food from the kitchen. This time, bacon and pancakes were on the menu, along with any type of drink you could think of. I took some coffee, and chose to drink it black. I sat down at a table that Leiko, Sukey, and Arishige were sitting at. I decided not to sit too close to any of them.

"Black coffee? Not much of an interesting person are you?" Arishige criticized me, catching a whiff of my coffee.

"Uh… I don't think you can judge people that way because of what flavor of coffee they prefer," I responded with a small frown.

"But surely you must admit that the most interesting and fabulous people add vanilla and sugar to theirs, maybe even food coloring!" Arishige convinced, tapping his coffee cup with a smile.

"I'm assuming that you do that, judging by your pink colored coffee," I commented, catching a glimpse of his drink.

What the heck is up with this guy? He's so obsessed with over-blowing anything he says or does. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he found a way to make his blood rainbow colored or something ridiculous like that.

"Exactly, and I'm such a more ultilitastic man than you," Arishige boasted, taking a sip of the pink coffee.

How nice of you to say, but I really could care less.

"Or you could be like Leiko and dump six packets of sugar into your coffee," Sukey offered, gesturing towards the demonologist who had multiple empty packets of sugar on the table next to her coffee.

"What? Sugar gives me demonic power!" Leiko exclaimed, acting like everyone should know that.

"Yeah, but it would not even be coffee any more," I said with a perplexed look. "Just a cup of sugar with some liquid thrown in."

"I'm pretty sure the demonic power she is talking about is sugar rush," Heikichi piped up, shaking his head.

Juro then sat himself down across from me.

Oh great… he probably has another pointless plan to swoo Nene. Except this time I will not play a part in it.

"You see how Nene is sitting there all by herself?" He questioned, looking towards the fencer sitting alone at the table in the corner of the room. She didn't look all too happy at the moment.

I was right.

"Yes, and she looks like she's about to rip off someone's head," I observed, running my hand through my hair.

"That's not what was crossing my mind, I think she's in need of a real charmer," Juro explained, clicking his tongue.

No,what she needs is a chill pill and a psychiatrist.

"Don't try this again, you know what happened last time," I reminded him.

"But I cannot just quit there! Part of swooning a girl is showing your unbrittled determination!" He exclaimed with confidence.

"Then don't let me stop you," I said, shaking my head. "Just make sure you don't use the wrong words."

Because he should have used unbridled in that last sentence instead of unbrittled. Although, it sort of worked in a way...

"Hah!" Juro scoffed, as he strutted towards Nene, and she was already glaring daggers towards him.

"We may not have gotten off on the best terms but let me tell you this…" Juro started with confidence in his words.

Nene's hand went to her rapier's grip.

"For all the diamonds I've seen, you've been the most pristine of them all," Juro complimented, looking pleased with himself.

"That's it?" Nene asked, her eyes narrowing marginally. "Is that really what you came up with?"

Juro's eyes went wide for a second, looking unsure of himself. "Yeah, pretty much."

Suddenly, Nene tossed her tray at his face, hard enough to cause him to stumble and slip on a pancake that fell off his face after it made contact with it.

And he had a day to think of that one, fantastic job Juro, you truly are an impeccable human being.

"Ohoohowowowo! Shit!" Juro grunted in pain, as he slowly stood back up. He shook wiped his face clean and brushed off his clothes. "Should have seen that coming…"

"Let that be a lesson to never speak to me again or next time it'll be my rapier that goes through your face," Nene warned, glaring angrily at him before leaving the cafeteria.

"Seems you made a mistake choosing her as your target," Sozen commented with a smirk.

"Now you just look like a mess," Kaiya said, stifling a laugh. "If I had my Super Washer 9000, I could help you, but too bad, I didn't bring it."

"010101010101010" Heikichi mimicked binary code with a disappointed expression. "Her gift to you was her leftovers, so at least you have that."

"Don't worry Juro! The cleanliness hero will make sure you return to a sparkly clean appearance!" Norito assured in a heroic tone, jumping over to him.

"But the showers are closed off," Isoyo mentioned.

"Hmhmhmhm~ seems like he'll be stuck with the stains of how much of a hopeless romantic he is," The twins said with a mocking laugh.

"Can't Monotokage spare us the showers at least this one time!?" Norito begged.

I doubt that she cares at all, it'd be more likely that she'd ban the use of water in response.

"Sure, they are unlocked for all your leisure and pleasure!" Monotokage announced, arriving suddenly.

Nevermind…?

"Really!?" Erena asked with excitement. "I never expected you to be so gracious."

"No!" The lizard responded indignantly, facepalming. "Sheesh, learn to identify a lie once in a while."

"I knew it was a lie," Kado commented, putting a finger up to his lips. "After all, I'm a cult leader so naturally I know a lie when I see it."

"You lot clearly need to be more like Edgelord over there! He knows what's up," Monotokage suggested as she disappeared.

No one should be like him, otherwise we'd all end up killing each other the first day.

"Great, seems like she'll be popping up at random from now on to obliterate my brain cells," Anzai complained, rubbing his forehead.

"Looks like I'll just have to mop you down Juro," Norito told the soccer player, readying his mop.

"Fuck that! I don't want to be cleaned by another man!" Juro said, rejecting the janitor's offer, crossing his arms. "I'll just change my damn clothes and get on with my life."

"I can't help but feel jealous of those two over there," Sukey said, looking over at Erena and Isoyo. "They seem like real friends and it's only been a day since they've met."

"More like they are too trusting of one another," I said, furrowing my brow. "It's unbelievable how they became friends this quickly in a killing game."

That sounded ruder than I intended it to be, but it just does not make sense to me.

"The only couple that should be that way right now, is me and my sis," Rikako added.

"Their relationship is just unnatural in a way," Shuuyo commented.

"Maybe Isoyo is just manipulating Erena's naivety so that she can easily kill her with her guard down," Kado offered with a sneer.

I cannot really deny that possibility, they did only begin this whole friendship after the game was announced, in fact, it could even be the other way around as well… Geez, am I really thinking that? I can't start agreeing with Kado of all people...

"Is it really that hard to grasp," Isoyo said, shaking her head. "Me and Erena just complement each other perfectly, like red and black or blue and white."

"Before we all decide to part ways, there are a few things that should be discussed," Sozen said, his expression turning serious. "For one, how about we meet here every morning?"

"That sounds like a good idea, it'll allow us to make a head count, as well as make any plans," Sukey agreed, nodding her head.

"Also, I will be in charge of all the cleaning necessities," Norito volunteered, spinning his mop around, he nearly hit himself in the face with it in the process.

"Norito, you don't need to put that all on yourself," Sukey said sympathetically, frowning.

"Nonsense! It's how I deal with stress, plus, I enjoy it," Norito said cheerfully. "Nothing like a good floor buffering to make my day, you know?"

Normally, I wouldn't think one person could handle all the cleaning every single day, but with Norito, I'm pretty sure he can handle it all better than all of us even working together to clean, considering how this place looks right now, which was his doing.

"How can a man enjoy cleaning all the damn time?" Juro questioned, scratching the back of his head with a look of confusion.

"Are you saying only girls can enjoy that?" Erena accused him with an angry expression.

"That is wrong to believe, everyone can like anything, no matter the gender," Isoyo said, grabbing the tip of her hat.

"I did not mean it like that!" Juro huffed out, his teeth clenching. "Women can be just as badass as men!"

He really just needs to stop talking at this point. All he does is just annoy or disappoint people when he does.

"Anyways, are we all in agreement with the meeting up in the cafeteria every morning?" Sozen asked with a sigh.

"I can deal with that," Heikichi said, messing around with his device . "It's smart to rendezvous with one another in a situation like this."

"What do we do about our food supply situation?" I questioned, tapping my chin. "We should probably limit ourselves so we can last as long as needed down here."

"I have access to some cool food products which could help out," Kaiya brought up. "All you need to do is add water and then you can grow a pizza or something."

"That sounds like it'd be less than appetizing," I grimaced, imagining how gross food like that would taste.

It'd probably taste like food rations in the military, which is quite terrible as I have tried them before.

"It has all the nutrients you could need though," Kaiya defended, holding a finger up.

"I will not eat anything without splendidly perfect taste!" Arishige exclaimed with a huff of disapproval, but then he gained a thoughtful expression. "Unless it actually does…"

"No, it tastes pretty terrible, as if you found the food on the bottom of a shoe," Kaiya admitted with a discerning look. "Plus, I don't have an infinite amount of them either."

Really? That's even worse than what the military rations taste like. I guess whoever gave Kaiya that trash didn't care about pleasantries, which leads me to believe it was Monotokage.

"So it seems that we should ration our food consumption or else we'll end up eating what amounts to dirt," Sozen concluded, closing his eyes in thought.

"I don't think I can go on like that!" Leiko exclaimed in distress. "I need all three meals plus snacks in between, otherwise I'll go insane in the brain!"

I'm pretty sure you are already insane, Leiko… But I really don't want to see if she could get worse.

"The garden still exists, so we could probably get away with normal meals while it's there," Erena reminded us.

"The problem is that we have sixteen people to feed and all of them eating normally can really do a number on the supply," Sozen explained, frowning.

"All the more reason for death," Kado said with a smirk, playing with his knife. "With less live bodies to feed, the food supply will drain at a slower pace."

"You need to stop bringing that crap up!" Juro yelled in anger, waving his fists wildly. "I can easily shut your psychotic ass up real quick!"

"It is a solution though, the less important ones can kill themselves and we can continue to live and have way better meals," Anzai reasoned, admiring his reflection in his medal, then he put on the sunglasses. "This is a dog eat dog world now! Much like tha' streets of rage I dominate!"

Those two are really making it hard to ignore the killing game. Though, there's always the ones that are antagonistic and we'll just have to deal with that.

"We are not doing that," Sozen denied with vehemence and a scowl. "Though, I suppose we can wait until the garden is eventually destroyed by Monotokage till we begin rationing."

"Someone would need to tell Nene about what we discussed," Sukey mentioned.

"Who's doing it?" Heikichi asked quickly before holding a hand out dismissively. "I'm certainly not interested in getting maimed by her."

"Whoever goes risks their life," The twins snickered. "She seems like she's ready for a bloodbath after all."

"I think we should send Kado to do it, he can handle her!" Leiko suggested. "Anyone else would just be sent to their execution!"

As bad as it may sound to suggest, it may be for the best if he does get killed by her. However, I really don't want to have to put Nene though one of those fucked up executions.

"I have no objections to that." Kado agreed, getting up and slowly making his way to where Nene trumped off to. "I'll tame that demon witch of a girl."

Surprisingly receptive of him, suspiciously so even…

"In the meantime, we should all work on bonding with one another," Sukey suggested with a warm smile, putting her hand to her chest. "It's imperative that we are able to come to an understanding with everyone if we are to make it out of this."

Sukey is still trying after all… but I do doubt that the others will actually listen.

"For sure!" Erena cheered on. "We should all strive to be like a family!"

Eventually, everyone scattered and I found myself back in my room.

-Omezo's room-

I really don't have much to do right now. Maybe I should begin trying to bond with the others as Sukey suggested.

I had no clue who to talk to, so I just hoped that I'd run into someone once I walked outside, and that person was Norito.

"Sup Omezo, I was just collecting some dirty clothes," Norito greeted with a friendly smile. "You know, just my daily good deeds."

Guess this is who I'm spending my time with, not that I mind. At least it wasn't Anzai or someone similar.

"Actually, I have a question for you," I mentioned, stopping him in his tracks.

"Well, what is it then?" Norito asked impatiently.

"What made you enjoy cleaning so much?" I questioned, rubbing my chin. "It just seems odd how much manual labor you love to do."

"It all began… no I'm not going that far back." Norito chuckled. "To be honest, I never liked the idea of having to get down and dirty with all the mud and stains of the world."

"Really? So it's something you did not choose to do," I said, my eyes widening with curiosity.

"At first, yeah, that was the case, until I got in big trouble," Norito said, pulling his hat down.

"What kind of trouble are we talking about?" I asked, my brows furrowing.

"Just a little scuffle with the ole bully in school, while he was being a douche to some kid I gave him the big wapping with the janitor's mop that was nearby," He explained proudly, making a slicing motion with his mop. "Really wiped the smug look of his face!"

So he has actually rescued someone before, and how ironic that it was with a mop.

"Of course, the janitor noticed this and accused me of assault and I was sent to the principal's office," He continued. "You should be able to guess what my punishment was."

"Cleaning duty right?" I guessed, crossing my arms with a slightly amused grin.

"Right on! He told me that I ought to learn how to utilize the mop the way it was intended to be used."

"So how did that make you enjoy cleaning though?" I asked with a puzzling glance. "I personally would hate it after that."

"Well, you see, as I was learning the ropes from the janitor, I realized that I did not hate it that much," Norito said with a lax shrug, before puffing his chest out. "I even went as far as to clean up the whole school to near perfection!"

"That must have taken the entire day," I assumed with a look of concern.

"Nah, I did it in a few hours," He brushed off, rubbing the back of his head. "Seeing the super pleased look on the principal's gave me the hope that cleaning is where my life should be, since normally, he looks like a real debby downer."

"That's why you um... decided to make a living out of janitorial duties then?"

"Yup, I love seeing how just cleaning up the world can make someone happy you know," He said with a pleased smile.

"Huh… I uh... never thought such a low paying job could make anyone happy," I mused with bewilderment.

"Low paying? I actually made a whole lot of money with all the service I provided, guess I must make all the lousy school janitors jealous then," He said, letting out a short laugh. "Even if I did not make any money, I'd still be doing it anyway, because I don't care how looked down upon janitors are as long as people appreciate what I do."

"I never considered looking at it at that angle," I said, rubbing my chin. "You really are special aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm always told," He said, smirking with amusement, he then struck a pose with his mop. "Just remember that you can always count on the cleanliness hero to scrub up your life with a spray here and there!"

"I guess I'll be keeping that in mind..." I told the janitor, with a small smile.

He nodded and continued collecting the dirty clothes from the other rooms.

I'd never imagined that someone would be so inclined for such a… minimalist and crummy job, but hey, everyone's got something strange to them. I just wonder what he originally planned to do, seeing that it was not his first choice.

I still had time left so I decided to check out if anyone was in the art room.

-Art room-

As I expected, I saw Isoyo in here, working on something that I could not quite see. I tried to get a better look but she noticed me and covered it up with a white cloth.

Hmmm, wonder why she is determined to hide whatever it is under that cloth… I sincerely hope she's not planning something drastic.

"No peeking, this project will be a surprise for everyone," She said straight faced, pointing her brush at me.

"That's fine, It's not why I'm here though," I said, holding my hands up defensively.

"Then are you here to spend time with me," She asked.

"Precisely," I answered, flipping my scarf around my neck..

"Great. It's wonderful that you are taking Sukey's suggestion to heart," Isoyo said, clasping her hands together.

To be honest, it's only because I have nothing better to do right now.

"Yeah, but you and Erena are miles ahead of us…" I said with a dry chuckle while pulling at my scarf.

"Believe me, I never thought I'd get along with someone so well…" She admitted, looking away from me. "Let alone someone so expressive."

"I remember you saying that you were expressive, yet from what you just said, it sounded like you don't think that at all," I inquired, raising a single brow.

"I… well you see… I am expressive just not physically," She began, grabbing some clay. "But I know what I should look like as you saw."

"Why though? Why are you so straight faced all the time?" I questioned, my brow furrowing.

"Because, I don't like to express myself through my facial expressions," She answered, biting the end of her brush, then she molded the clay face to look cheerful. "Instead, I use art to do so!"

I mean, that's sweet and all, but I still don't understand.

"But what's the point of hiding your emotions? Can't you move your own face?" I pushed the matter as my questioning gaze bore into her.

"Uhhhhh…" She molded the clay into a face of nervousness. "It's… a long story, sort of…not really.."

I crossed my arms, "Then let's hear it."

"Okay… I can't promise that it'll be interesting," She said as she pulled her hat down over her face.

I can tell that she's just trying to hide something. Sorry Isoyo, but I really just have to know.

"No, I'm engaged, you have my eyes and ears," I assured her, tapping my foot. "You're not going to kill off my intrigue by stalling."

"Alright… here I go…" She started, delaying her words with long pauses, she also changed the clay face to look reluctant. "I actually have…"

"Go on…" I motioned her to continue while nodding my head.

" ...a disorder that makes me unable to properly express myself through my words and face," She finally gave in, looking down while she said it. "Do you perhaps know what I'm talking about?"

I took a moment to think, then it came to me. "Alexithymia?" I guessed.

"Yup, that's the name," She confirmed, giving the clay face a small smile.

"I presume that's why you became an artist then? To be able to express yourself."

"Yuppers," Isoyo confirmed, altering the face to have a happier expression, then changing it to look apathetic. "I was just so sick and tired of sounding so emotionless with no way to show that I'm human."

She molded the face to look determined as she continued her story. "So many people saw me as a robot or whatever and I wanted to disprove them."

Huh, what a reason for becoming ultimate, what a reason indeed… I can admire that. It's storybook levels of backstory, an artist who is unable to express true emotion, so they use art as a medium for their emotion.

"I can see why that would make you so determined then," I said with a sympathetic look. "But why choose 3-dimensional art over the other styles?"

"You know what the first thing I made was," She suddenly asked.

"I haven't a clue as to what you are referring to."

"It was a statue, made to represent my love and care for my family, since I could never show it before," She said, changing the face to have a warm smile, as if it was remembering a nice memory.

"That must have made them very happy."

"Of course, and proud as well," she said. "As for why I chose 3-dimensional as my style of choice, well, there's just a lot more you can do with the style when you wish to express an emotion or meaning, plus, it makes them feel more human, which in turn makes me feel more human."

"Things always seem to have deeper meaning behind them, but I never noticed that in your art," I commented, frowning slightly. "Maybe I'm just ignorant or something."

"That's because I don't like telling people about my disorder," She informed, changing the face to look understanding. "So you don't have to feel bad for not seeing it."

"But you can thank it for making you an ultimate," I said, chuckling slightly. "Funny isn't it? The thing that nearly ruined your life, gave you one in the end."

At the very least, the whole ultimate ideology helped someone.

"I guess so…" Isoyo said, molding the face's expression to that of uncertainty. "Now that you brought up the word ultimate, I do want to know why you reacted the way you did when I said it's great that we are ultimates."

I'd rather not answer that, but I need to give her something, she did tell me her own secret after all.

"Let's just say that not everyone likes their talent enough to want to do it the rest of their life," I answered indignantly.

"I see…" She said, changing the face to look sad in a way. "Can I kindly ask you to leave so that I can finish my art project."

"Sure, be seeing you then," I said as I left the room.

I'm surprised that I didn't realize that she had a disorder earlier, I guess I was just so caught up in all the strange personalities that I just figured she was doing it on purpose. It is quite saddening to think that she could never experience real emotion. It really shows that art can be useful in other ways other than just to look at.

I still had time to kill, so I continued attempting to find the others.

-Lounge room-

Upon entering the room, I caught sight of Sozen smoking away at a cigar. Now, I know Arishige had engaged in underage drinking before, but I never expected to see Sozen, of all people, breaking the law.

"I can tell that you are silently judging me Omezo," Sozen somehow guessed without even looking at me.

What? How'd he know I was even here?

"Can you blame me? I figured that you were pretty upfront on the law, but here you are smoking as a teenager," I said with a skeptical stare.

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm just trying to look like I mean business," Sozen joked with a playful shrug. "Also, 19 is old enough to understand not to go overboard."

"Oh, uh… I see," I mumbled with a confused expression "That's as good a reason as any I suppose."

"Are you just going to believe whatever I say because I serve the law?" Sozen asked, with an unamused glare and a frown.

"People are meant to after all, so I should, right?" I said with an unsure look plastered on my face.

"Tch- doesn't mean that you can't ignore that ideology," he scoffed, shaking his head after taking out his cigar and putting it out against the counter. "But you shouldn't expect me to be the epitome of every good in the world. I do know how to have fun just like any average person."

He's kind of a rebel then… wasn't expecting that.

"I can see that, but laws are laws," I commented with a shrug.

"And some are meant to be broken, especially the overly ridiculous ones," He reasoned, giving me a grin. "The law is beyond perfect, believe me."

"You're not as uptight as the world makes you out to be," I said, putting my hands on my hips with a small smile.

"That's just how the community decides to treat the law and now you know that was just an overblown rumor," he explained. "I for one don't care if you decide to drink or anything while we're down here when there's nobody telling me to uphold you."

"Not that I'd actually be doing anything illegal in the first place, but I know at least one person is happy about your leniency," I said.

"So long as everyone knows I will not allow any murder or assault to occur," He said, his expression turning darker and more serious. "Those will never escape my eyes."

"I hope they don't... " I muttered under my breath. "But I don't think it'll be avoidable."

Sozen turned his gaze away and touched his badge, seemingly lost in thought. Once the silence fell in, I waved him goodbye as I left the lounge.

Turns out I misjudged Sozen quite a bit. While he comes off as a very serious and stoic man, he can be chill at times. It's just strange how he even rebels a bit towards the law even though his whole talent revolves around it.

There was a bit of time left in the day for me to spend with someone else.

-Ultimate dorms 2nd floor-

I found myself wanting to speak with Sukey, so I approached her room's door and knocked on it. A few moments later she opened up the door and her eyes quickly widened in surprise.

"Oh, Omezo!" Sukey gawked, putting her fingers over her mouth in shock. "I wasn't expecting you to be at my door."

"Yeah uh… what can I say?" I nervously scratched the back of my head. "I just... wanted to throw away some time with someone I um... trust, if that's okay with you?"

"Of course it is, you can come on in," She said with a smile, moving out of the way as I entered her room.

-Sukey's room-

Much like the other rooms, this one was themed after the owner's talent. While there weren't any instruments in here, there was sheet music spread out on the table in the room, pictures of different classical bands and directors on the walls, and the walls themselves seemed to represent different songs as if they were musical sheets themselves.

"You know Sukey… I am surprised that Erena has you beat in terms of encouraging us to stick together," I commented, leaning back against the door. "I figured you'd be the first on the case with that."

"I know, I know, as a band director, I often need to get all my band members to bond with one another, otherwise they'll sound worse," Sukey said with a dry smile as she sat down on the bed. "But this isn't about music and that's why I fall short."

"Why is that?" I inquired, arching a brow.

"For one, we all have different interests and motives, so it's hard for us to find a medium," She explained, hugging her arms with her head down low. "And two, I haven't been without music for more than a day before, so I'm a bit on edge."

"So this must be affecting you quite a lot then, to be away from your bands."

"Of course it is, despite all that is going on outside, I was still able to stick with one of my bands," The band director said, leaning on a hand.

"Then why come here if you miss them so much?" I questioned.

"They wanted me to, and who am I to deny their requests," she replied, her lips pulling into a thin smile. "It's clear they wanted to repay me for my hard work with them, and that repayment was me being safe."

"Do you at least see any chance that we'd get along down here?"

"All I see here is too many out of tune people, like a gaggle of clarinets shrieking into the heavens," she said, holding her face in her palms. "I'm talking about squeaking by the way, the bane of my existence."

"Um… what about Erena and Isoyo?" I mentioned, with uncertainty. "They are the fastest friends that I've ever seen."

"And I wish them luck in keeping their friendship strong," she answered, before looking defeated. "But they're just two out of the 16 of us."

"You have a point there," I agreed, thinking for a moment. "What about the twins? Don't they have the closest relationship out of all of us?"

"Yes, except they are sisters, so of course they do, plus, they are essentially the same exact person, and not only that, they are part of the discord that shakes my hopeful melody off-course," she lamented, shaking her head with a frown. "They don't give me any confidence."

"Sounds like you have a lot to deal with," I said sympathetically.

"Yeah… it's unfortunate," Sukey said in a despondent manner, showing just how hopeless she feels at the moment.

"I think I'm going to be taking my leave now," I said, turning around to open the door. "I hope you have a better day I guess…"

"I… am glad that you made the effort to speak with me," she said just before I closed the door, a pleasant smile forming as she glanced up at me. "At least you cared to listen to me…"

It hurts me that she said that, considering that I'm only doing this because I want to pass time not to bond with people and I didn't want to ignore her desire for us to get along. Regardless, I just cannot trust anyone enough as is.

I hid a smile that formed on my face as I shut the door.

-Ultimate dorms 2nd floor-

I never thought that I'd see someone like her so hopeless, but it goes to show that the tragedy has had a detrimental effect on everyone, and this game isn't helping anything. I hope that she will regain her composure sooner rather than later, because we are in need of a mediator and she's the best for that job.

I noticed that Heikichi, Isoyo, and Erena were out here talking with one another. Although, Heikichi did not seem like he wanted to be there in the first place.

"I don't mean to alarm you Heikichi, well, I totally mean to alarm you because there's a creepy crawly on your back," Erena pointed out, covering her mouth.

"I'm not falling for one of the oldest tricks in the book," Heikichi said, crossing his arms in indifference.

"There really is though…" Isoyo persuaded, biting her brush. "It's a long, writhing, creature."

"We never saw any other living things down here besides plants," the hacker reasoned with a look of doubt. "Am I supposed to believe some bug snuck in here like some kind of professional assassin?"

This is clearly a prank, but I do see what they are talking about.

"Seriously Heikichi, I also see it," I told him, staring at the centipede on his back. Observing it closely made me realize just how real the thing looked, which is quite unnerving since they are potentially dangerous creatures.

Heikichi rolled his eyes with a sigh as he checked his back.

"Eugh!" He grimaced in disgust as his hands made contact with the many-legged creature. He immediately threw it down on the ground. "You were serious about that… huh…"

Judging from how it did not move once it hit the floor, it must be a phony centipede.

"Tehahahahaa!" Erena busted out laughing while leaning on Isoyo.

"Again, you're the only one laughing," I commented, shaking my head.

"Isoyo's laughing too!" Erena exclaimed, as she pointed to isoyo whom was most certainly not laughing at all..

"Not that I can see or hear," Heikichi scratched underneath his beanie with a confused look.

"She's just pretending that I am," Isoyo said. "Because I would be, if I wanted to, since it is quite hilarious."

Well I can believe that, because I knew she can't actually laugh even if she wanted to. These two are just a couple cards aren't they?

"Yeah Heikichi, your face is priceless!" Erena exclaimed between laughs.

"Priceless enough that any thief would steal it as if it were an ancient art piece," Isoyo added.

"Anyone would make that face when there's a centipede on them," I butted in. "They are one of the grossest bugs out there."

"Too many legs, too long, and too slimy are the recipes for nastiness," Heikichi commented, wiping his hands on his clothes.

"Aww… well I think they are cute in their own strange little way, and one of the more fascinating insects out there," Erena said, her eyes sparkling. "They are even good mothers, a surprising number of them actually dote on their offspring."

"You certainly have a lot of facts in that head of yours," I said, arching a brow.

"Erena is truly a remarkable biologist, I've learned quite a lot from her already," Isoyo admired, clasping her hands together.

"Yeah, well, I still don't like em'," Heikichi concluded with certainty. "Where did you even get a fake centipede from?"

"Isoyo created it from scratch," Erena answered with a smile. "It's absolutely wild how realistic it is."

"So you two are conniving friends now?" Heikichi chuckled, remembering a fond memory. "Reminds me of my buddies back in the day."

"You did pranks with your friends?" Erena asked with curiosity. "If you had told me you were that kind of person, I would have let you join us!"

"No, I'm talking about real plans and shit," Heikichi explained, adjusting his visor before sighing. "However, we broke up completely and I ended up working alone."

He's keeping things vague though, I wonder why that is? What exactly is he trying to hide about his friends?

"That sucks, why did you guys break up," Isoyo inquired, rubbing her arm.

"I wouldn't want to keep you all up tonight with that story," He said with a frown as he walked over to his room and entered it.

"I agree with him, we should get a good night's rest, considering that this day was a lot better than the last," I said as I also entered my room.

-Omezo's room-

I collapsed onto my bed the moment I could.

This day was certainly better than the last, which should allow me to catch up on all the sleep I lost last night. However, I know that I cannot get caught up in the sunshine when there is most definitely a storm brewing, one in the form of a new motive. I just have to pray that it isn't one that could even break me…

Fortunately, I did manage to feel the comfort of sleep wash over me tonight.

Monotokage's nonsensical theatre of nonsensical shit

"You want to know a pet peeve of mine?"

"Why the hell does everyone seem to just adore mammals!"

"Not only that but we reptiles get a lot of hate! At least not as much as the poor insects though."

"I mean, do you know how disgusting mammals are?"

"The lot of them lick their own damn asses!"

"Some of them eat their own or others' shit, sniff assholes, or drink out of the ole johnson whether it's flushed or not!"

"Like what the heck!? That's gross as hell. I've rarely seen any other animals do stuff like that."

"Not only that but barely any of them like to take a fricken' bath!"

"At least most of us hygienic reptiles wash ourselves with water and not with our slobbering tongues."

"Birds also clean themselves correctly."

"Insects are nasty, but that wasn't their choice, mammals on the other hand don't have to do all that disgusting shit, plus they're aggressive as all hell."

"All they have going for themselves is intelligence, but who the fuck cares about that!? I've seen every animal be capable of cool crap, so why bother with the gross ass mammals?"

"Any time you wish to buy a pet, you should choose the most glorious animals of them all, reptiles. We don't do disgusting crap, we are capable of being cute, and we are unique pets."

Review responses:

ThePLOThand: Those are OTP's I can respect, I don't do a whole lot of shipping, but I can say that I ship Galexialyn x Shiori from Final Horizon and Gundham x Sonia from DR itself. Junko does get old though, and Monokuma to a smaller degree, but I love Monokuma so I cannot say I'll ever get tired of him. Yeah, 'just to escape' is never the main motive for anything, but sometimes it plays a small role, like with Teruteru wanting to see his mother and such.

Katastic Writer: I did want to avoid using Monokuma since he's had a lot of showtime in many fics and the DR games, so hopefully Monotokage lives up to him or maybe even overshadow him? Nah, that's impossible.

Pokemansuperallstar: Oh, there'll be plenty of cracking, and me making everyone feel despair!