Dangan Ronpa: The Despair in Our Stars (SYOC)

by SanityRequiem

Part Three of the Committee Saga. Time and history repeat. Shiro Amari, the Ultimate Composer, finds himself stranded on a spaceship with nobody he can trust. He finds that the time limit is the least of his worries as everybody and everything becomes more and more suspicious. Who can Shiro trust in this twisted game? And why does everything feel so familiar?

13. Chapter 1-5

Chapter 1-5: And So For the Souls of the Lost, I Shall Sing This Little Song

Beta Read by: Lupus Overkill

---

There is not much to do with everybody else being so focused on the dance. I think about trying to find Seina and Sachiko again, but, at this rate, that would be meaningless. They would be too far away for me to even consider catching up to them.

Sure, standing around in the same spot is meaningless, but so is everything else that I could possibly do. With everybody patrolling the halls, it would be hard for anybody to plan anything. I do not know how much time has passed, and everything is like a blur, but that information is not important. If it was important, I would remember...

...A little girl in a red dress...

"What are you doing here?" I look around the room and cannot pinpoint where the voice is coming from. Until, that is, I examine the vent, where I see Saitou being almost too big for the small space.

Speaking of the vent, I would investigate it more, but I had no other way to get up there. I could have searched the random assortment of materials in the labyrinth, yet that could lead to me becoming lost. It is best to work with other people in these types of situations. Even though I do not like the idea of cooperation unless absolutely necessary, I also dread getting lost again. I may be smart, but I have never been the type to be trusted with directions.

"Thinking," I answer the mysterious substitute. Saitou then jumps down when he is able to get his entire body out of the vent. I would have helped him get down if he asked. Although I would never consider myself a nice person, helping is a logical course of action.

"Are you thinking about how good friends we are! Or did you finally come to realize how cool cloud watching is?" Saitou laughs. He begins brushing off the little dust that collected on his clothes.

When I get a better look at Saitou, I see that he matches what the duelist was wearing exactly. There are even holes in the clothes left behind by the murder. Though all of the blood has been washed out. That laundry must have taken forever to do.

"There's no way I'm going to have such a high view of...the hobby of cloud watching. It does not serve a purpose-"

"Nope! I'm interrupting that! You do realize that you can do things just because of finding them fun, right? I know all too well how much it sucks being dragged into doing or creating something you don't want, so you gotta enjoy the little moments you do have!" Saitou slumps over. "And hope that next time they don't make you substitute for a sewage worker again."

"What do you think of this job?"

"...I wouldn't have agreed if they told me all the details! I thought this substitute would be cool, but I'm not supposed to be in the killing game!" Saitou pouts. Guess Despairs do not like giving out all of the details on their job applications. Most interviewers nowadays do not give you the full details of your work until it is too late for you to back out of it. That is why it is important to gain fame: so you will never sign your life away.

Those on the streets are cursed for a life of starvation, experimentation, or slavery. It is not a well-kept lie. Only those outside the cities and in positions of luxury would not know that simple fact. No matter what, do not end up homeless. Being part of Kotori's twisted games is better than the fate most have on the streets. Though, for the lucky few that do survive, they are closer than family. Oh, how it must hurt to have an actually family formed by bonds be broken beyond repair. I do not know how somebody like Mitsuru Banda can keep their sanity through such trials. Or how they could willingly team up with the Committee when freedom is so close to them, even if they could finally live without their oppressing influence.

"How did you even find this job?" I question Saitou. It is important to get these questions out of him. I had never thought before that Saitou could have more information, but, considering how he entered the game, I should have guessed. Not to mention whoever is running this is smarter than I probably thought before, since they went out of their way to hire Saitou in case anything goes wrong. Saitou could fulfill any purpose for them. If he does not prove his usefulness here, they could easily find another avenue to use his talent.

"There were these papers everywhere, remember? People were freaking out because they said that you could have the chance of becoming an Ultimate! It spread around the internet and all of the news stations!" Saitou exclaims. That...is not correct...right? Even if I am out of the loop for much of pop culture, I would have at least heard something like that. The Committee would not shut up about that kind of event happening anywhere in the world. Especially Japan.

"...Papers?"

"When I came, there were these four people! A woman with blue hair, a guy with a strange fashion sense weirdly in a muzzle, another man that looked a lot like him but considerably more normal, and a girl that looks a lot like...Nah, I don't think that's important! Plus, the muzzle was weird, but I ain't gonna shame a guy for their...um, kinks?" Saitou awkwardly laughs. "I don't know what...I mean, where I'm going with this! The main lady was being all weird too about people calling her "Master" or whatnot. I may have people hire me, but I'm not gonna call anybody that. I'm no servant. But maybe she and muzzle dude have this sub-dom thing going on that they're not scared showing it to the public with the other girl being a very awkward third wheel. And I guess the other guy was there too, but he didn't do anything so he might be the voyeur."

...I did not need most of that information...but still, there is something that is bothering me...

"...The Master? What was the Master doing freely out in public!?" That is a bad sign. I have to ask the others about this as well since Saitou could certainly be lying. But I do not see any reason why he would do so. That is coming from a cynic, so that must mean something.

"Remember this, Shiro, that this could have been avoided if you only paid more attention. How tragic it must be, being taken down by your own hubris. You deserve what's coming next. Everybody else with me agrees. So, so very much. Once you're gone, however, your actions will only be repeated. I'll make sure of that."

"You know who she is? Shiro, how-"

"We came as fast as we could...oh, you're already out, Saitou." Interrupting this very important conversation, Renkou and Ayumu enter the room using the door entrance. If I was a lesser person, I would have yelled at them for the frustration that they cause. I do not want Renkou or Ayumu taking part of this conversation, so it is best to continue it at a later date.

"You were with Ayumu and Renkou?" I ask Saitou. Why are all the people so determined to become my 'friend' all in one place? Do not tell me they have created a clique just to befriend me. There are already way too many groups in this game for such a short time.

"Yep! How else was I gonna get up there? There aren't a lot of ladders," Saitou explains. Although I want to continue our conversation, it is not the best to do it in front of Ayumu or Renkou. With gathering evidence, you have to be around as few people as possible, since we still do not know if there is a traitor. Knowing the other games, somebody here will be all too happy to stab us in the back for their beloved mastermind.

"Mononeko is calling for you both," Renkou informs us. "Not everybody is supposed to be at the dance, but Mononeko made a big deal for Saitou and Shiro to come. Said something about Saitou needing to get to know people better that aren't Emilynn and Shiro to learn how to have fun for once."

"I look too fabulous to be hanging around here," Ayumu states with a straight look on his face. His facial features do not change when he flips his now shimmering hair. "All my coworkers would be super jealous. We can't afford stuff like this with a graveyard worker salary." For most people in this world, it is even a struggle to afford something as simple as a hoodie.

Ayumu is dressed in a fairly simple dress. Honestly, Mononeko should have just picked one theme because none of the outfits fit each other. He has on a dark blue overalls dress. On the back, the straps make a x shape. There are golden buttons on the ends of the straps. The front of the jean overalls covers Ayumu's entire chest. Meanwhile, the length of the skirt is halfway to his knees. Underneath the overall dress, Ayumu wears a light blue short-sleeved shirt. His hands are covered by grey gloves. With his arms now mostly uncovered, I notice that Ayumu has a black dragon tattoo on his left arm. That was not there before. I cannot tell you what dragon it is, only whoever did that tattoo is extremely talented. Is there an Ultimate Tattoo Artist that I have not heard about, or perhaps they have an Honorary title? I do not want to think about a kid having that much talent with anything involving needles. Needles...should only be used when absolutely necessary.

Continuing with the graveyard shift worker's appearance, he has black thigh-high boots with very high heels. He now towers over Saitou and me, but nothing could beat the basketball player's height. Ayumu also has on a necklace made out of white pearls. Really, the black high heels almost clash with the rest of the outfit, but I guess he can continue wearing whatever makes him happy. For the first time, and probably only time, Ayumu does not have massive black circles underneath his eyes. The wonders of makeup can sometimes cover up anything that has happened to a face. For once, Ayumu is not about to sleep through something important! Whatever...Ayumu's hair is also now considerably cleaner. That is always important when having to deal with parties like these, but I do not think Ayumu would care very much about pleasing the upper class outside of his jobs.

"Maybe you should make sure Sachiko and Seina are safe though, Ayumu!" Saitou tells his...friend? Are they friends? They feel like the type of people to meet up, have one conversation, and misuse the word friendship.

"Fine, but make sure that nothing fun happens when I'm gone. Sachiko and Seina will appreciate my fashion sense," Ayumu responds. With that, Ayumu enters the maze. At least that is one more menace that I do not have to deal with during this thing. With Mononeko wanting me to be there, I will probably just hang out in the corner for a couple minutes, and then try to take my leave. If not, then I guess it would be time to use my childhood strategy of hiding in the bathroom and pretending to have stomach problems. Make up some kind of lie about me being allergic to something in the punch.

"We should get going ourselves. With all of the stress as of late, it'll be nice to have a breather," Renkou says.

"That is a good idea," I tell the ridiculously tall man. The earlier we arrive, the earlier I can leave.

Onto Renkou, he seems to care more about fashion than I guessed a basketball player would. Maybe I should stop making so many assumptions about people, but it's the best way to know whether or not others would be useful. It is simple and elegant and luckily doesn't need too many words to be explained. The shirt Renkou has on is a white button-down, with two of the silver buttons being open. The open suit jacket is grey and matches perfectly with his slacks. Renkou also has a black watch on his left arm, though, from the looks of it, the watch is forever set on the time of midnight. Continuing the matching, Renkou has a black belt with a silver buckle. Despite it all, Renkou still wears white tennis shoes. Even when he is going to a party, Renkou has to be an athlete. To top everything off, Renkou has a grey fedora with a black stripe going through that is way too familiar...

Wait a minute...

"Where did you get that hat?" I question him. Both Saitou and Renkou stare at me.

"Mononeko? Why you want it?" Renkou smiles too much like him...

---

"Like it? I thought because Kotori is out of our lives, I could get something new! Dress up like I always wanted to!" Kazuhiko exclaimed. Now that Kotori is gone, Kazuhiko inherited her apartment.

"Fedoras make you look stupid," I said to him. Kazuhiko stopped his impromptu modeling session to awkwardly laugh. He then took off his hat and somehow threw it to land on my head.

"Ayano says it makes me look cool!"

"No," Ayano bluntly stated. Both of us jumped. Somehow Ayano had been in the corner in the room this entire time. Even if I often did not agree with them, the Committee staff were right about her being a ninja. Though the Committee staff right then were too busy to handle the three of us, considering that they had to fill in the massive power vacuum.

"Not cool but handsome, excellent, mature-"

"Stupid." Ayano did not blink when she crushed all of Kazuhiko's dreams. I never quite understood though why Kazuhiko went for the old-time detective look when literally everything else was available. Sure, all of his money was gained through blood, but at least pick a better or less expensive aesthetic. Ayano was right about him being a dumbass. Never thought things through until it is too late.

"I agree, Ayano."

"Why are you two ganging up on me!?" Kazuhiko fake cried.

"You cannot pay me to wear that. I would rather die." Well, me in the past was quite...different. Even a couple of years ago. Such experiences change a person, for the worse or for the better.

Wait...a couple of years ago...

"Same." For once, Ayano helped in my cause.

"I just freed your asses and this is the thanks I get!? Almost fell into the depths of despair, just to have everybody make fun of my freedom!"

---

"Shiro, are you okay? You zoned out there. Do you really hate my fashion sense so much?" Renkou sighs. I really should have left this room sooner if this is all I get. Only more mysteries to solve and Renkou now pitying me. I am older than Renkou, so he should not view me in that light.

"To be fair, fedoras are kinda creepy," Saitou murmurs.

"I am alright. Just a little tired." I lie as naturally as I breathe. Lying is an essential part of life. If you do not think so, then return to the golden cradle you have indulged your miserable life in.

"I'm not going to stop wearing it except if you feel that uncomfortable with it. If this is petty drama, then you really need to take a deeper look at yourself." Renkou, once again, has no idea what he is talking about. Nobody here does except for me. Sometimes even I am clueless, but that is to be expected when you are only in your twenties. I am honestly still baffled by how I have made it this far.

There is a body crushed under a pile of debris. A hand reaches out, refusing to die before their desired last words are said...

"Aya...I love you...I'm sorry..."

I'm sorry that I'm leaving all of your hopes and dreams to die with me, for an action inspired by pure stupidity. Forgive me...for this is all my fault...if I hadn't killed...

"Seriously? Are you okay? With this behavior, I would give my teammates a break." Renkou once again interrupts my thoughts before I can fully process them. "Do I need to act like the adult in this situation?"

"Renkou, we're all adults. I'm pretty sure Shiro is older than you too," Saitou replies. "But yeah, maybe a party isn't the best idea with this headspace. Maybe we can convince Mononeko to take him to his room or the nurse's office."

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. Don't be all stubborn about this. I've met with a lot of stubborn people to know that 'I'm fine' means I'm about to have a breakdown." Renkou takes a shaky deep breath. I do not have the time for Renkou to make himself feel better. This is all such fucking bullshit.

"Breakdown?! I don't have those! I'm perfectly mentally fine and stable! There's no reason to throw around words you don't mean!" I shout at Renkou. Serves him right, for being such a judgmental asshole. I am more complex than he can even hope to imagine! All these simple people with their one-dimensional goals!

"There's nothing wrong with having a mental illness episode. Sometimes I get a little stressed-"

"A little stressed!? I don't get a little stressed!? I'm fine, I'm fine, everything is fine! You don't have to look at me that way! Everybody always looks at me that way! I can't trust anybody-"

"Uh, I'm just gonna go..." Saitou books it out of the room. I wish I could do that, but Renkou would follow me in all of his white knight glory. Thinking he is the prince off to save the princess when I am perfectly alright and can take care of the dragon myself. I have been to Wonderland too many times to not know proper self-defense.

"I know that I got pretty angry...I'm working on that, but Shiro, you're taking this a little too far, don't you think?"

"This is how people should react to this situation! If you think, otherwise, then there's something wrong with you. Why can't people just think with logic once!? Maybe this world wouldn't be as fucked up-"

"You know what, I think both of us are stressed. I would normally debate people, but you're not in the proper state of mind. I can't believe I found somebody more stubborn than me. Now both of us have to survive, so I can show you off to my friends!" Renkou smiles, a little bit forced. If by some miracle both of us survive, I am running away from him as soon as possible.

"No." At times like these, I understand why Ayano only uses one-word sentences.

"Come on, we'll have fun! If you get too stressed again, I'll make sure to drag you out of there, no matter what Mononeko says. I can debate that damned cat all day if I need to!" Renkou smiles once again, this time more genuine. The more he does that, the more I desire to run. But Renkou is the Ultimate Basketball Player, so running would probably do absolutely nothing.

"I will go when you le-" I am about to finish my sentence before Renkou grabs my shirt collar. He is smart enough to know that I would ditch my jacket, not to mention Mononeko covered it in shattered glass. This is still a severe safety hazard.

"No, I think I gotta drag you there. Otherwise, you're gonna hide in that maze until Ayumu rescues you." Renkou starts dragging me out of there. I, of course, like the responsible, mature adult I am, dig my ankles into the floor and cross my arms. If he takes me, then he shall do it in the most difficult way imaginable! I refuse to go down without a fight.

If I was not such a sensible person, I would have killed Renkou myself. With poison or a trap...or whatever. No, I am not blowing things way out of proportion! This is a serious matter!

---

When the two of us arrive, despite my best efforts to delay the journey to our destination, there is nothing much going on. Mononeko seems to be stopping everyone from celebrating until I come here. Which is...unusual. Not even for parties seemingly dedicated to me has that happened before. This is too strange for my liking.

...Not to mention that the gym looks exactly the same. Except everybody is in fancy outfits. Something tells me that all of Seina's work got ruined. Maybe we should trust Mononeko even less than before with all of that caffeine in her system.

"Shiro, you finally came! I'm gonna head out because I'm gonna find Emilynn and make sure she's not playing on her phone this entire time!" Saitou immediately runs out of the door. Ah, I think he is not entirely telling the truth, but, you know what, I honestly do not give a shit.

"Wait, come back here!" Mononeko sighs. She is on the stage overlooking all of the other students. The students here are Chika, Sora, Asuka, Mei, Choumi, Keiji, Jun, Fubuki, Kitsu, Natsuki, Suzunami, Mizore, Kaimaru, and Ryusuke trying his hardest not to be seen hiding in one of the corners. Perhaps this will be less torture than I thought, considering less people are here than I originally would have guessed.

"I will leave you to have fun and don't you leave." Renkou disappears into the crowd and I am so close to freedom. Since I technically arrived at the party, maybe Mononeko would be willing to let me go. Probably not, but I guess even I still have childish dreams sometimes.

"Oh, Shiro!" Asuka waves to me as she runs over the best she can with her high heels. "There's another thing going on right now because there was this debate between the gym and the restaurant. You know, all the boring stuff you don't need to know right now considering you were very not interested in helping with anything. If I remember correctly, it's...Yuu, Yuki, Rokuro, Himura, Leonie, Emilynn, and Aito are doing karaoke right now...I think? Pretty sure Saitou just left to join them. Make sure that Emilynn and Aito don't blow up the entire place."

Asuka is another person with a more casual formal outfit. For the bottom part of her outfit, Asuka wears black shorts underneath a transparent skirt that goes all the way down to her ankles. The skirt is dark blue with the occasional yellow star embroidered patch. Her shoes are yellow stilettos. To be honest, I still have no idea why people willingly walk around in those. Of course, I can do so, but they hurt feet too much for there to be any gain other than a sense of superiority. Anyway, Asuka has a rib-knit crop black halter top. She has gloves that go all the way to her elbow and are yellow. It looks like Asuka is prepared for a fancy pool party. What really sets Asuka apart is her hair. Her usually wild hair is put together in a fancy side ponytail. Throughout her hair, there are what I assume are star pins styled throughout.

Through the transparent fabric of her skirt, I can see that Asuka now has a scar thanks to the spear. If she is as smart as she likes to believe she is, that should be a warning to never do anything foolish or rebellious ever again. Why do I get the feeling that won't be the case?

"I would get more food, but I'll leave that to Mononeko. Natsuki already ate everything. I fear her."

"You don't need to do that! I'm sorry I was so hungry! I tried to be as polite as possible.." At some point, Natsuki must have made her way over to us. "I guess sometimes I can't help myself."

"It's kind of impressive actually. With that appetite, you could really build up some muscle mass. You'll be a pro athlete in no time!" Asuka smiles at Natsuki. I am feeling like I have just become the third wheel. Oh well, I always did like hearing what others say more than talking to them. It is good that I fade somewhat to the background.

"I don't really like sports though. I don't mean to be rude, but that's not my sort of thing." Natsuki blushes a little.

"That's perfectly alright! Still more people here need more self-defense! We aren't going to get anything done if we aren't near the same level together!" Asuka says. Once again, Asuka proves to be too naive. In becoming a motherly figure to some, she will mark herself a target to others. It is never worth it.

"Uh, okay? I guess." Natsuki continues to blush. "I'll think about it."

"I'll give you some time. I'm going to try to get through to Ryusuke so he stops wasting time moping about." Asuka waves to Natsuki and me as she slowly backs away. It is almost like Asuka has a death wish. At least she will be smart enough to not pick a fight with him. But trying to befriend a known murderer is always a horrible idea.

"Be careful!" The voice actor warns Asuka.

"Take care of Shiro and make sure he doesn't do any dumb shit!" Asuka exclaims as she runs away. Somehow still in her heels and not falling over. But that is not what's important. I do not do dumb shit!

"...That's not true." It is no use running after Asuka now. With what happened the last time I attempted getting information from Ryusuke, I do not get good feelings whatsoever. Mononeko is watching over everybody like a hawk even though she is a cat. Cats with caffeine patches are truly a force to be reckoned with.

"Hi, Shiro. It's the two of us now...we should really meet up with other people!" Natsuki twiddles with her thumbs and bites the inside of her cheek. Both of those are not so great habits to have.

Natsuki Sumeragi also has on a ball gown that makes her look more mature than her usual attire. Because of how long the dress is, Natsuki's shoes are not visible. The skirt part of the dress has two layers, the bottom being white and the top pink. The pink splits in the middle, reminding me much of a waterfall of all things. Journeying upward, the top is completely pink and sleeveless. There is a belt separating the two parts of the dress, with it being colored a darker pink with a flower in the middle of it that looks to be an actual real pink rose. To cover up more of her body, Natsuki has on a white half jacket. At her elbows, there are dark pink straps that also have pink roses. She also has a dark pink choker once again with that same type of rose. The voice actor only has a small bit of makeup, with her lips now being colored a more vibrant pink along with her cheeks. Or maybe she is still just blushing. With what I assume as hair extensions, Natsuki now has small buns on each side of her head. Her bangs have also been changed, with them being styled to the right and made curvier.

A gunshot rings out. Blood is spilled from the stomach of the giver.

"That would be wise." I did not think as the words left my mouth. I should have made an excuse. Now I cannot just meet up with Mononeko and take my leave as Saitou did.

"Maybe we can ask Kaimaru if there are more snacks. He kinda did take over everything after Seina left," Natsuki informs me. You know what, it was a good idea to get out of there after all. Natsuki starts heading towards Kaimaru, passing many of the other students past the way. With Seina not being here, it seems like not a lot was really done.

Then we finally reach the man himself: Kaimaru. Wait, is he...in a bunny outfit? Oh my God, he is.

"Shiro! You finally came! Look at that, more references! That's wonderful!" Kaimaru grins. This man has no shame. That is a goddamn bunny outfit. Why did Mononeko give one of her students a bunny outfit? This is...I cannot describe. Bunny outfit. Black bunny outfit. Nothing left to the imagination. Brain cannot compute. What is this madness?

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa." Natsuki is also out of words. Her nose begins to bleed. The poor girl looks like she is about to faint out of pure bliss and embarrassment.

"If you need more food, I can offer myself up you know. I've been told by many that I'm the best snack they ever had-"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

"Aw, you two are so adorable! I'll take my leave so I won't cause a body discovery announcement! Ciao!" Kaimaru winks. He somehow wiggles his outfit tail. This...this is blasphemy! Natsuki runs out of there as quickly as she could, covering her nose the entire way. Why do people like Kaimaru have to ruin everything for everyone?

"Shiro, there you are! I was looking for you!" Mononeko yells into my ear. Can she please stop teleporting everywhere and almost scaring me? She is on my shoulder and is getting glass shards into her robot. There are also now caffeine patches on the robot herself. How much caffeine is in her system? I am too scared to ask. "The Master told me to do something very important with you so...! She owns me for all this extra effort!"

All of the lights turn off. That is...too scary for my comfort. Mononeko jumps off of my shoulder and starts dragging me by my pants leg. Judging by the direction we are going, I assume that it is the middle of the room.

When the light turns on again, I see everybody is forming a circle around Mei and I. Mononeko is in between the two of us with a shit-eating grin. I do not wish to be vulgar, but that is simply the truth.

"Wait, what?" Mei blinks, her eyes still adjusting to the overwhelming light. "I'm not the correct person to be out during this. Put me back."

"To start with the festivities, Mei and Shiro will do a waltz! Because that's what the viewers back home want...I think? Even with all these patches, this attitude is tiring me out." Mononeko's eyes begin to droop as she walks away from the gamer and me.

"I never have done dancing like this before." Mei worryingly stared at everybody else, her eyes trying to find a single focus. That amount of anxiety will not do. I thought Mei would be the type to enjoy the limelight, but even a person like her can experience stage fright.

Mei's outfit stands out from a lot of her peers. She wears a very puffy, especially her long sleeves, silver ballgown that would fit right in with what little I know about 1980s America. The dress appears to be made out of silver lamé and iridescent rainbow paper overlaid with lace and jewels. Her hair must have taken a long time to do because of the sheer absurdity yet beauty to it. Her hair must also have extensions like Natsuki's, since it is a lot fuller than her usual style. Entwined on both sides, there are silver leaves and vines. Much like Natsuki's, there is this strange sense of nature when there should be none. Mei also has on a silver necklace and earrings that must cost thousands of dollars each. Maybe the reason why some of my classmates' outfits are less fancy is because they somehow finally ran out of their budget.

"Just follow me. I'll lead and you follow. Got that?" I sigh, this will take forever then. Might as well. Grabbing onto Mei gently, I position ourselves to dance correctly and so Mei would not be cut by the mirror shards. It is odd to be this close to someone who is practically a stranger, but, as part of the Amari family, I had to waltz with many potential suitors. Out of everybody I have done this with before, Mei is the person I know the most.

I start moving my feet and Mei follows. As an Ultimate should, she follows quickly, though her eyes never leave the floor. Both of us dance in silence, or almost silence since I could hear commentary and snickering in the back but cannot tell who it is from or what the words are. I am too focused on making sure I impress the mastermind, for perhaps this will bring me further into her favor.

"I guess somebody with classical experience would know all about this, huh?" Mei tries to make conversation. I guess I can do that.

"Yes."

"...Neither of us are much of talkers, right?" Mei chuckles. That must be a joke. Outside of this situation, Mei would talk my ears off. Having too many eyes on you in the labyrinth of Oz's wonderland would give any sane person a startle.

"This is boring! Come on, let's all get on there! We aren't just gonna sit around!" Fubuki shouts loud enough for Mei and me to hear. Twirling around so I could see the event, Fubuki is trying to force...Choumi on the dancefloor. Good luck with that. It should be impossible, but Fubuki is insane enough to fulfill it.

Onto Fubuki's brand new outfit, she has on a long black evening dress with short sleeves, an open back, and a plunge neckline. The dress falls all the way down to the floor, completely hiding Fubuki's feet from sight. The dress is made out of lace that has two layers to it. One of the layers is the aforementioned black, but, throughout the gown, there are intricate white designs of tree branches. Fubuki has also had her hair dyed, replacing her fiery red with a more subdued dark purple. Not much of Fubuki's face can be seen because she has on her gas mask. Although, for makeup, I notice that Fubuki's nails are painted black with her thumbs having little white floral patterns. The mask clashes very...weirdly with the rest of the outfit. But Fubuki is probably not the type of person to care whether or not her clothes match. If something is black, she would probably wear it.

"You can't...you know what, I don't care. As long as you like waltz and follow the theme," Mononeko yawns. I am disappointed that Mononeko did not also put on an outfit to fit on her robot. Guess lazy people do not want to go the extra step.

"Get your hands off me!" Choumi commands.

Choumi is surprisingly the person wearing the most traditional Japanese outfit. The Despairs probably got that outfit from the outskirts, but I do not see any of the conservative villages being too open with the short kimono. The sleeves are long, with the insides of them being colored a vibrant red. Her main color on the kimono is black. The haneri is red with a white outline. The sash Choumi has around her midsection is also red, with a white obijime. For the bottom part, there are designs of red spider lilies contrasting the pure dark of their background. What really sticks out though is that Choumi is wearing black thigh-high boots. I am pretty sure that all the priests still remaining would consider that sacrilege. Choumi is probably lucky that Sachiko is not at the dance. The courier has been painted with smoky makeup thanks to the efforts of that annoying cat. Pushed off to the side of her face, Choumi also has a kitsune mask.

"For the sake of the universe, you shall dance with your starcrossed partner!" Fubuki is once again reminding me just how much everybody in this ship, other than me, needs therapy. From somebody that is not Etsuko Abe.

"You can't just force people to do what they don't want to!" Choumi rebuts.

"Don't hurt my friend!" Keiji steps in to help Choumi. Learning the secrets between those two is still one of my main objectives. Although they are both not that threatening alone, they could be a problem when put together. "

"I'll give a prize to whoever dances the best~" Fubuki's smile radiates to those who cannot see her true face.

"I'm doing it! Not with you, Keiji, you're...not the best at dancing!" Choumi searches throughout the entire crowd. I keep dancing to keep track of her position, which Mei does not seem to mind. "You!"

"I don't know how to dance, though!" Chika protests. Sora looks on in horror.

"Too bad! You're the best since Kaimaru isn't here!" Choumi grabs onto Chika and whisks her away onto the dancefloor. Sora is left by his lonesome still with the same look on his poor face.

Chika contrasts a lot against the dark colors of Choumi's outfit. Instead, Chika prefers lighter colors, choosing instead to be fitted in a nice lavender. The type of dress Choumi has is a bardot with a flared skirt. For her accessories, Chika still has on her star hair clip, even with her hair now down, and a white pearl necklace. She is more modest than some of the other students, so Chika covers up with grey tights and a purple shawl. What is strange about this outfit, however, is that Chika wears smart shoes. I have not seen them before, and, out of all the crazy outfits here, somehow the smart shoes are one of the things that stand out the most. The Committee would be so pissed if they saw her wearing those.

"Is this a competition then? Bring it!" Renkou rises from the ashes. Already knowing where this will be heading, I slowly move away from Choumi and Renkou. Mei eagerly follows my moves. "I choose you! With the power of math, we can win this!"

"There's only like a thirty-three percent chance of those odds. But I do not care much for competition when it does not come to math, so I'll join you," Mizore replies. Renkou brings Mizore with him as they start to do the waltz.

Mizore's outfit is not the obvious one with a lot of math symbols that I was almost convinced Mononeko would do because of her lackadaisical nature. I am more shocked that Mononeko did not find a way to add a duck umbrella. Mizore's outfit is very german vintage, as I believe the official word for the dress is something like dirndl. The top part has short sleeves and is colored orange and has red outlines. Underneath the orange shirt, there is also a brown one made out of lace. It is mostly see-through. Mizore's skirt is a pale yellow with a subtle white lace pattern. For Mizore's apron, it is a darker yellow with red outlines as well. The mathematician also has a sash with a bow that separates the shirt and skirt parts of the dress. The bow itself matches the apron's yellow and has a red stripe going through it. Her shoes are simple brown pumps with a strap that has a golden buckle. Lastly, Mizore has cute ankle socks that are orange with little red bows.

"That's the spirit! Let me show you what I and my bro are made of!" Fubuki pumps her fist into the air.

"It's already too late to stop this, so might as well. You better not hurt anybody with your antics," Jun smirks. I cannot tell whether or not the stage manager is being genuine.

"Why would I do that? This room is so full of hope thanks to Mononeko being too tired to stop us!" Fubuki laughs maniacally as she pulls her brother with her too close to me for comfort. So, of course, Mei and I did some more moving around.

Jun is very...colorful compared to his sister. He has on a pink sweater vest with darker pink outlines, with a white dress shirt and orange tie, which is tucked into his sweater, complimenting his style. His shorts are purple and are strangely shorts with a black plaid pattern. The socks he has on are a darker, cooler purple color that goes all the way to under his knees. For his shoes, Jun is fashioned with brown dress shoes that have laces that are darker brown. I cannot understand why or how Jun got Mononeko to give him a white backpack of all things. I wonder what sort of things he is hiding in there. His hair now has a big clip of a clapperboard. This outfit is weirdly casual even compared to some of the others as if somebody could easily wear it as their everyday wear.

"I would also desire to be a part of this competition. I'm also sure that Sora wouldn't mind joining me." Kitsu's smile can sometimes be poisonous as well. Which is not surprising for an actor like himself.

"Um...thank you. I could learn more about the unknown..." Sora is blushing hard and trying to hide his face. He must feel vulnerable without his annoying headband or Chika by him.

Kitsu stands out more in this outfit than he usually does. He is wearing a tuxedo that has the main color of purple. Purple suit and purple pants and just a bunch of purple in general. So much purple. The outlines of the suit are a bright yellow. Underneath the overwhelming colors, there is a white dress shirt with a black tie. Out of all possible colors, Kitsu's dress shoes are orange. I do not want to look at this any longer. All of the colors are probably harming my eyes. Which is certainly odd for Mononeko to give an actor, but maybe this is a statement. Kitsu is living through the pain of being forced to walk around in the most obnoxious colors.

"You won't be able to beat us!" Fubuki, Choumi, and Renkou announce at once. Kitsu only laughs at them.

"All of you are too focused on winning when we're here to have fun." Kitsu joins the fray with Sora still being more than hesitant by his side.

Sora is much more fashionable than Kitsu, even though both of their outfits have the main focus of purple. He is also in a purple suit but the colors are much more muted and pleasing to the eye. The suit is in a vest-style button-down, with the buttons being golden. The undershirt is the exact same as Kitsu's except with a purple tie. Over the suit, Sora wears a black coat that somehow has the inner fabric designed like the galaxy. The astrobiologist's dress shoes are black. Even though the clothes are stylish, they do not fit a character such as Sora. It is almost like they were made for somebody else, and Sora's original was thrown away for the sake of fashion instead. Such is real life, and Sora should know that fact. This is no wonderland.

"This has certainly turned into something else..." Mei murmurs. She is still focused on her feet.

"It's alright! Have some fun!" Fubuki shouts to Mei. Mei turns to see the alternate reality game master and jumps a little. Perhaps it is best to slowly inch away from everybody else.

"Fubuki, can you please stop scaring everybody? You're lucky that I'm not trying to steal your mask again." Jun sighs. This is why I do not like hanging out with any of my other siblings. Complicated family relationships are too tiring when I have other things to focus on.

"You're still on that, Jun? You already know you won't win." Fubuki is in one of her moods again. Mei and I go a little quicker to be away from the two of them.

"I want to join! Come on, Keiji, we can be the duo of people of two left feet! That would make four left feet with the both of us!" Suzunami is perhaps a little bit too zealous to dismiss Xir and Keiji's ability.

Suzunami's outfit is perhaps the most simple and should not be considered formal, but I do not think Xe would follow the rules if Xe didn't have to. Why do I know that this is a reference but not knowing to what? I cannot tell whether or not Xe is wearing a dress or jumpsuit. Whatever it is, the outfit has a blue base and what appears to be waves coursing through it. Xir shoes are white flip-flops that somehow got accepted by Mononeko next to literal ballgowns. Somehow it reminds me of freedom, what none of us will ever find. Even if one of us finds a way out of here, we would once again get trapped in the prison of Earth.

"You forget Kobi!" Why is Keiji so happy about this? Why is Suzunami? I know acknowledging your faults, but these two are almost joyous about their shortcomings.

"I did! Oh no! Six left feet...no, paws then!" Suzunami and Keiji then enter the dancefloor. Those two may not be as competitive as the others, but I fear them the most. Except for Fubuki and Jun, but I do not have to explain that. Anybody with sense would know not to get involved with people like that.

"Better! Kobi agrees!" Keiji grins while Kobi does not react at all. The dog is trying to sleep on the dog walker's head which is not the greatest idea during all of this chaos.

Keiji and Kobi are in matching outfits. Because of that, Keiji's outfit is not the most complex. He is awkward walking around in it, and he reminds me of myself as a child. The suit and pants are both dark red. He too has the same boring white dress shirt on underneath with a black tie. Even nowadays, there is still not a lot of variation in male formal wear, or maybe especially nowadays. Mononeko must really be forgiving about shoes because Keiji is only wearing white tennis shoes. Overall, the weirdest thing is that Keiji does not look like a dog man. He looks even somewhat normal which is bizarre for a person like him. Maybe that is why his attire is sort of scaring me a little bit.

"He's so cute! Or should I say...dogwesome." I am cringing. Everybody but the Meme Squad and Keiji hurt inside. What is the joke? How is that a pun? How does this make sense? That's not even good woodplay! Wait, no, wordplay! Suzunami is rubbing off on me and that is the most terrifying thing about this night. Is it night? Most likely. That is hardly important now, however. I did not accidentally just do that! No, impossible!

"While you were having an existential crisis, I jumped in." Somehow, when I come to, it is Jun that is dancing with me and not Mei. It is good to question events like this, but, knowing those siblings, I better not. All I know is that Jun and Fubuki are certainly faster than us. Goddammit.

"Nope! I'm gonna hang out with better people!" Mei shouts when she reaches Fubuki. She breaks free from the now purple-haired girl and runs off. I should be offended that she left me with the wolves, yet that is simply human nature.

"I got rejected...oh well, I'm going to dance with myself then!" Fubuki holds onto the air and heads toward the direction of everybody else.

"Hey, can I join in?" Mei is way too happy now that she is not with me. Now she is better off with Keiji and Suzunami. Plus Kobi. No, I will not freak out over how cute Kobi is. That would be childish. I am not smiling. That would be foolish.

"We've eight paws now!" Suzunami yells. Maybe with all of those paws, they could manage to get in not last place. The other teams are too focused on winning this ridiculous competition that does not even have rules.

"Hooray!"

"You need to focus on me, okay? I know I don't make the best first impressions. Trust me, my crew tells me every single day," Jun whispers into my ear. He gets the both of us in position for a waltz and starts to lead.

"Alright." Even if I plan not to, it is always best to tell people what they desire to hear. Jun might have valuable information, however, especially relating to Mononeko. I have to play my limited cards exactly right, or else my time to shine will leave me once again.

"Trust in Mononeko. She might be... never mind. Just, you know, have some faith in her." Did Jun just tell me that? Isn't he the one that spent earlier today scolding Mononeko? "I'm going to leave now. Somebody as paranoid as you, Kane, would never listen to me."

...Kane?

Jun returns back with Fubuki and the two siblings resume where they have left off. Now instead of Fubuki, I am the one left alone. So, for those few calm moments, I found myself enjoying the silence; and the temporary bliss of everybody else in the room. Their realities will soon be crushed, but sometimes kids just have to be kids. Even I have a few good memories, though they have burned into nothing but ash.

"Sorry for ditching you earlier. I finally dealt with my nose." Once again accidentally sneaking up on me, Natsuki finally makes her reappearance. She has finally managed to make her nose stop bleeding and clean everything from her face. That also means that Natsuki's makeup is all gone.

"That's alright." It is nothing that I am not used to.

"Uh, if it's okay...the dancing looks fun. Do you want to do it with me?" Natsuki asks. Considering there is nothing much left to do, and the exit is blocked by many people I do not desire to interact with right now, I do not see any downsides.

"Sure." I get Natsuki prepared and take the lead...

Natsuki steps on my feet every step she takes and I immediately regret my decisions. I should have tried to be illogical for once and try to get out of that door. This is a bad way to figure out that Natsuki is wearing high heels. While I was dancing with Natsuki, I managed to get closer to everyone else, and I could see them staring at us due to our chaotic energy.

"Sup bitches!" All of us dancing is interrupted by the doors of the gymnasium getting kicked open. Oh, so that is where Kaimaru, Asuka, and Ryusuke went. They must have gone to the kitchen because, in their arms, but mostly Ryusuke's, there is a lot of food. I would describe Ryusuke's outfit, but it looks like Mononeko either forgot about him or is punishing him by not making him play dress up. Maybe I really should have killed somebody before the game started. "I got the goods!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-" Natsuki's nose bleeds once again. Just like last time, she screams, holds onto her nose, and runs away quickly. Somebody make sure she is not around Kaimaru in a bunny suit too often, or else she might start to suffer the effects of blood loss more. There is no way I am being put in charge of a child's well-being once again.

"Wait, we have somebody that can judge our dances!" Fubuki says. Did she really call a competition without even having a judge in mind? I mean, there is Mononeko, but she is not good for any job that is not related to death and misery.

"Seriously, you made me do all this work for nothing?" Choumi asks, purposefully adding more bite into her tone. May Chika find some sort of peace having to deal with Choumi.

"Dance party?" Kaimaru drops all of the food on the floor. Asuka and Ryusuke do the same. That does not seem the most sanitary. "Let me show you how it is done!" Kaimaru takes Asuka as his dance partner, while Ryusuke returns to his corner to sulk some more. It is hard to describe the moves that Kaimaru does with Asuka, only that they clearly place Kaimaru as true to his talent.

"Holy shit," Asuka comments.

"Now all of you start dancing again and I'll determine the winner!" Just like that, the competition officially begins. With no dancing partner, I stay on the outlines, casually observing all of the students. All people that I have to see dead if I get out of here alive.

I will not lie and say that my life and route is a lonely one, for I am adult enough to see that. However, I would rather be alone than suffer the loss of any more of my so-called friends. Having experienced it too many times before, I do not understand how people keep repeating this behavior only for their heart to be crushed again. There is simply no logic in that! Being a hermit in solitude is better than being Alice in Wonderland or Dorothy in Oz.

"Don't think I'll leave you alone, Shiro!" What is with people here and sneaking up on me today!? Kaimaru is way too proud of himself. Perhaps it is easier to get past my defenses because of how late it is.

"Just when I thought I would have some peace and quiet..."

"Ah, don't worry, Shiro. I can show you a good time." Kaimaru dances with me. Feeling all of his, uh, stuff is certainly, uh, stuff. Uh. Well, uh, it's kind of impressive. This is still way too awkward.

"Shouldn't you be paying attention to the other participants, lover boy?" I tell him. Maybe it is all of this heat that makes me more assertive than I usually am.

It is not like I am a stranger to sexual situations. I am twenty-five and bisexual. Believe it or not, I have dated people long enough for it to get to that level. Mostly because I was not as wise as I am today. Maybe the reason why Kaimaru is so off putting is how...open he is about it. None of my sexual partners in the past would be this flirty in public. Even in serious relationships, I am never really the type for public displays of affection.

"I like your style. Don't you worry, I already got a winner." Kaimaru winks at me. He is lucky enough to be biologically male and not involved in my family to have that type of attitude.

"Let us get this over with." I do not care about how skilled Kaimaru is. The quicker this party ends, the happier I will be.

"Time to announce the results!" Kaimaru stops abruptly. "Whoever wins first gets to have this trophy!" The dancer somehow pulls a trophy out of seemingly nowhere. Where did he keep that? What the fuck? Is this the true power of having impressive dancing skills? If I would be able to do that, then perhaps I should learn more than the basics.

Looking around, I notice that Choumi, Renkou, and Kitsu are all eyeing the trophy intensely. Meanwhile, Mei, Suzunami, and Keiji are still dancing with Kobi somehow asleep on his owner's head.

"All the other places can have the food!"

"...Natsuki ate all the food again." Asuka does not even try to hide the disappointment in her voice. Natsuki is still nowhere to be seen, so she must be hiding somewhere most likely behind the bleachers. If Natsuki still is skinny with all of that food intake, then she has abnormally good metabolism, is taking drugs, or both. I know all too well all of the negative side effects of drug use.

"Then second place doesn't get the leftovers. Should have made me come first," Kaimaru says. Every time he opens his mouth, I am glad that people like Osamu or Sachiko are not here. Maybe Osamu found a way to get to Sachiko inside the maze? With Osamu's obsessive nature, that would not be too unlikely.

"Get on with it and stop stroking your overly inflated ego." Choumi spits out. Sora, Chika, and Mizore are mostly observing like me, maybe cautious about the chaos to come. All three of them have started to step away from their dancing partners. "And stop being such a creep and put some goddamn clothes on."

"You wound me so! How can I survive from that!? AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaa." Kaimaru pretends to faint. "Anyway, let's get a move on! So Choumi can insult me more!"

"If that turns you on, I swear-"

"First place goes to Mei, Suzunami, and Keiji." Kaimaru must have a death wish. That is the only possible explanation. Then again, why did Fubuki think it was a good idea to rely on Kaimaru for anything? People like Kaimaru only make situations thousand times worse. Every single time without fail, it is like Kaimaru's secondary talent. Ultimate Fuck Up.

"Kaimaru, there has to be a mistake." Renkou tries to reason with Kaimaru, but there is no way such action is ever possible. If people do not think primarily using logic, then it is useless to try to change their minds with logic.

"It's fine...that I didn't win. Everything is fine. After all, it's the...fun that matters?" Kitsu grinds his teeth. "Yes, the fun. Totally. Completely. One hundred percent. Nothing else. Nothing else at all!"

"No, be more like your partners. Accepting and far away from here~" Kaimaru giggles. Mizore, Sora, and Chika have used this time to instead enter the stage area with Natsuki. The voice actor is still skinny. What is her workout routine?

"Keiji, I love you, but what the Hell?" Choumi's smile is very strained and her eyes twitchy. "You must've bribed him or something! Is it the dog? Do I have to get a dog? If that's what it takes to win, then I shall!"

"I'm going to give the award to Kobi! He'll gladly share it with you, Chou."

"Congrats, dog, you get an award directly from the bunny's ass!" Suzunami cheers. Xe should not sound as proud as xe do about that.

"Yes! I'm going to use this to brag to Akita's face! Take that! You haven't won any dance competitions, huh?" Mei evilly laughs. Another reason why I do not want to get involved in needless sibling drama.

"We should have a rematch! Mononeko, you do something and judge!" Renkou commands. Mononeko ignores him while she tries her best to not fall asleep. The robot should really make sure that nothing too horrible happens with all these competitive people around. Or maybe she is attempting to give them more motive. But nobody would be stupid enough to kill over an informal dance competition...right?

"Do whatever you want..." Mononeko snores. The sound is so loud it forces the cat awake.

"If it helps, you were second place, Choumi. You would've gotten the food, but, you know, I'm the only food left now." Kaimaru winks at Choumi. The courier gags.

"I would rather starve to death than willingly do anything like that with you-"

"Since I created the competition, I shall determine now what happens!" Fubuki interrupts Choumi about to chastise her by jumping onto Choumi and hugging her. You know what, with everybody focusing on that, I should get out of here. Before everything gets even more chaotic than it already is.

"Fubuki, how many times do I have to tell you that you have to consider people's boundaries!?" Jun sighs. At this point, Jun probably sighs more than he breaths.

"Everybody we have to calm down-"

"As another person involved in sports, Asuka, you must also know the importance of a fair judge! Convince Kaimaru that we need to do a rematch!" Please do not tell me that Renkou will be this compassionate about his attempts to befriend me. If that is the case, I might be a little screwed.

"Oh, I am doing a rematch, don't get me wrong. Whoever does the best breakdance will win another prize!" Kaimaru wiggles his tail. Seriously, how does he continue to do that? That must somehow involve muscles.

"Come on, Kobi, let's win this one too!" Keiji looks up with a sparkle in his eyes at his dog. The dog, of course, does nothing.

I open the door and get out of there as soon as possible. Reputation be damned, I am not spending another second in there. Of course, I could have gone with the group exploring the stage, but something tells me that they would be equally, if not more, tiring to be with.

Plus, this breakdown competition can end with nothing but tragedy. Kaimaru especially knows that.

---

Compared to the noisy gym, the hallway is quiet, with only the sound of air conditioners echoing throughout the halls. It is a little chilly in here, but, after all of that dancing, that is a welcome change of pace.

And then I notice that there are two other people in the hallway, being surprisingly silent. Looking closer, somehow Osamu and Hanane found each other and are not tearing the other to shreds.

"Shiro Amari!" Osamu locks onto me and bolts in my direction. Oh no. Hanane only calmly walks towards me. At least she is sensible.

"Be careful-" My words get knocked out of me once Osamu charges into me. Osamu is lucky that Mononeko is not paying that much attention right now. All of those caffeine patches and coffees have most likely caused a caffeine crash.

"I told you acting that way would only get people hurt. Of course, you don't listen." Hanane crosses her arms when she finally reaches our location. Osamu jumps off of me, and I have to get off the ground myself. The personal assistant is lucky that he did not manage to hit my head on the wall.

"You know too much stuff all the time! Where is Sachiko?" Osamu interrogates me. Even though Osamu is not what most people would define as threatening, he is much more intimidating this way than somebody like Renkou.

Osamu is wearing a black midi dress with tie-up detail and puffy sleeves. Out of all possible things, the dress is covered in small pictures of strawberries covered in glitter. The dress has a low v-cut, showing off some of Osamu's chest. The skirt part of the dress is long, going to about Osamu's ankles. Once again, simple in design but still what many would consider cute. For some reason, Mononeko gave Osamu a black face mask, which now covers his mouth and nose. I do not know the reason for the mask, but at least it is being worn correctly. What is truly odd, however, is that Osamu has no shoes on. Did Mononeko just forget the shoes, or did Osamu put them away somewhere else?

"Last time I checked Sachiko should be with Seina in the maze. Ayumu should have caught up with them by now." Maybe Ayumu could calm Seina down from her usual antics. Sachiko would probably get overwhelmed after too much Seina. To be fair, most people would be.

"That's dangerous! I've to help her immediately!" Osamu yells. He stays where he is at, though. Maybe, for once, somebody else here has learned how to think with their brain. "...I need to prepare! Like Hanane told me!"

"My advice finally broke through to you. That's a good result I wasn't expecting," Hanane says. I would ask for more context about that. With these two, sadly enough, that line of questioning would go nowhere.

"What are you doing out here, Hanane?" I decide to ask instead. '

"I don't like parties, and I want to figure out more about this spaceship," Hanane answers without a moment of hesitation. "Osamu saw me and has stuck to me ever since. Although I made it clear that I like working alone."

"But being alone is lonely!" Osamu pouts. I am reminded again and again how young Osamu is. How did somebody this immature manage to get a talent?

"...I know that." Hanane places one of her hands on her hip. "Making sure another tragedy doesn't happen is more important than learning the current whereabouts of Sachiko. Knowing the world, though, I will theorize that it is already too late." The more Hanane talks, the more I begin to like her.

Hanane is very much different from all of the other students since her fashion is what I think is called lolita (the one time one of my too many sisters being interested in that subject has come to interest for me). Hanane's hair is now in pigtails and has little pink, blue (a different shade than her hair), and white bow accessories all over the place. Much like Kaimaru, Hanane has bunny ears, but they are not sexual and are colored pink There are facial markings as well, with Hanane having little pastel pink stars and blue bows underneath her eyes. Not to mention that Hanane has so much makeup on that her appearance matches that of a doll's. The light blue dress Hanane has on is frillyand goes just above her knees. There is an almost overwhelming amount of pink and white bows on Hanane's dress. Underneath the dress, Hanane has a puffy white short-sleeved shirt and pink leggings with white polka dots. The yosegi artist's shoes are blue classic lolita ones with white and pink bows at the tip. Almost hidden by her hair, Hanane is fitted with pink bow earrings that match the many rings on her fingers. Also, Hanane wears pink, white, and blue cuffs.

Strangest of all, Hanane now has a white rabbit stuffed animal that she carries around with her. The rabbit is white and is fashioned with a blue and pink top hat. Maybe somebody working on this game has an obsession with rabbits.

Wait...is that truly Alice? Have I been wrong this entire time? Figures, since everything I believe, must be burned into ash alongside my memories.

"Is there anybody else around?" There might be somebody I could get information out of instead of having to continue to mingle with big groups of people. I may be good at socializing, but doing it so much is too draining.

"There's Etsuko and Tahlia. They're together," Osamu replies. "And Etsuko kept wanting so much information about Sachiko! The lady is still convinced Sachiko doesn't have spiritual powers even after all we witnessed together! She keeps going on and on about how magic doesn't exist and it can all be explained by science!" He puffs out his cheeks.

"Those two should not be together," Hanane adds on. Just hearing about that duo sends shivers down my spine. I should eventually inform Tahlia that I am safe, but not with Etsuko around. Etsuko is way too keen on her research for any conversation I want to take place. "They will blow up the entire ship before our six months are even up."

"Speaking of Sachiko, I still need to save her!" Osamu runs off. This time without thinking. So much for that lesson staying in Osamu's head.

"I should go as well. As much as I want to be alone, that labyrinth is our biggest source of information. I will see you later, Shiro. Except if you want to come to join us." Hanane stares intensely into my eyes.

"I believe I am alright. Perhaps I should research more into the other get-together to see what kind of mischief they are up to." As much as it is a risk, it is the best course of action. I must introduce myself to everybody having a party to make sure that they have the best opinion possible of me. I already screwed that up by leaving the first, so it is best to learn from my mistakes.

"Okay. Bye then." With that, Hanane joins up with Osamu, and the both of them make their way towards the labyrinth. With that out of the way, I might as well enter the restaurant to see what the other group is doing.

---

Entering the restaurant, I realize that Leonie is on the first floor by herself. Considering all the ruckus upstairs that I still cannot make sense of, Leonie has a good idea about this. All of these children must have been very difficult for their parents to raise if they even were raised to begin with.

Leonie is seated at one of the tables nearest to the front. She has a notebook with her that I can see has little sketches and notes in it. There is also a book next to that, with the name revealing that it is about code. Even if we are in a life-and-death situation, we still need to practice our talents. Although I cannot truly compose, maybe I can research more music theory or learn how to play certain instruments like the guitar better. Just because somebody is an Ultimate does not mean that they have learned everything involving their craft.

"Uh, Shiro. I didn't think you'd be here! Things are pretty...loud," Leonie says. She gets up from her seat and brushes off her dress. "I used to be with them, but they've gotten out of control."

"Why are you still here then?" I ask her.

"It's not smart to be alone right now." Leonie lightly chews on one of her nails but quickly stops when she sees that I notice. "Plus, their antics are giving me new ideas for video games! Some people like a bit of chaos in their works."

Like everybody else before her but Ryusuke, Leonie is in a different outfit. The top portion of the dress is a vibrant red, with black straps that tie behind her neck. The skirt portion is white and flowy, going all the way down to just below Leonie's knees. Between the two parts, there is a belt with a white circle in the middle that has a black outline. Underneath the dress, Leonie has black leggings. She also has simple red flats and black fingerless gloves. Leonie has some red nail polish, but some of it has been chipped off. This time Leonie's black mascara actually looks professional and good on her. Overall, she is much more fashionable than otherwise. That is not that unique though to the other outfits. She still has her glasses on but now Leonie's blonde hair is down and straightened.

"I guess you can also stay here. You're much quieter than most of the people." Leonie may have her moments, yet she is much more mature than her classmates. She would be a good person to get on my side. When it comes to who has to survive, I highly doubt Leonie would have it in her to kill another human being.

"LET'S HAVE A VIOLIN BATTLE!" I recognize that voice as Yuki. Her voice is very...unique. "BUT NOT ANY OLD VIOLIN BATTLE, A BATTLE TO THE VIOLIN DEATH! THE QUEEN DEMANDS IT!"

This...is a tragedy! I do not entirely understand, but I must save those violins from those impulsive teenagers! There's no way I would allow such an event to happen! Why would you ruin perfectly good violins?

"Shiro? Are you doing alright? Don't mind them, I got some noise-canceling headphones-"

"I WILL SAVE THOSE VIOLINS!"

"YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME, YOU PEASANT! FOR I AM THE QUEEN OF THIS PLACE AND EVERYBODY SHALL BOW BEFORE ME!" Yuki never stops being his classic annoying self.

"Huh?" Leonie stares blankly at me. It is too bad that she does not understand my mission. She slowly backs away from me as I go up the stairs. The last thing I see is Leonie going back to her seat and putting on the headphones herself.

---

When I arrive upstairs, I am greeted by quite...a sight. Himura, Yuu, and Yuki are all on the stage for the karaoke machine, with Yuki at the microphone and Himura and Yuu behind her. Himura is smiling holding his poor violin like a bat while Yuu is holding his own securely against his chest. Rokuro, Himura, Saitou, Aito, and Emilynn are sitting at one of the tables. They moved everything around so the table would be closer to the small stage and all of the chairs and turned around to see the possible violin battle. Of course, the first person I truly check out is Himura, who is still in the same outfit as before. That is a bummer.

...Let me not think about how much I would like to see Himura in that bunny outfit...That is a thought that does not exist. I should not be thinking that in the first place. Having those kinds of thoughts about other people is something I should not experience.

Not thinking about that! But the next thing I notice is that Aito is...interesting. I do not know what that is. It is a nightmare of different neon colors and puffiness. And clown makeup? I don't even like Aito one bit and I feel sorry for him. Knowing him, though, he does not mind, probably spouting some bullshit about love or something.

"SHIRO AMARI YOU DARE CHALLENGE ME!" Yuki shouts into the microphone. Being this close to her, the noise almost hurts my ears. Too bad for her, I have practice in places too loud for ordinary humans.

"I will not allow you to destroy violins people poured their hearts and souls into!" I answer her.

"Okay." Yuki shrugs her shoulders. Aito whines. Himura pouts while Yuu raises his violin to the ceiling with a single tear in his eye. "As much as I love to argue, a queen must also listen to her subjects! And two rejected which means I've been vetoed-"

"Do I mean nothing to you!? We're literally connected and this is the thanks I get-"

"Ignore my court jester! For now, I declare...a karaoke session!" Yuki has a shine to her eyes. Yuu groans and walks off of the stage and sits in a chair of an unoccupied chair. Himura follows him there still with a devious smile on his face.

Yuki's outfit is certainly one of the more unique ones. Much like Hanane, Yuki is fitted with a lolita dress, though this one is much darker in theme. The top part of the dress is black and form-fitting, with the red string going down the middle giving the vibe of a corset. The sleeves are also black and off of Yuki's shoulders. However, the bottom skirt is red, with a partly see-through black overlay of roses as the top layer. The singer also has on sheer black tights. For some reason, Mononeko decided to give Yuki black combat boots of all things. There are also red horns placed on the girl's head. Looking closer, I can also realize that Yuki has been given a red tail.

Being almost the complete opposite, Yuu has an appearance much more like a gentleman. He has on a tuxedo that reminds me of the unrelenting snow and the warmness of a fireplace that comes along with it. The tuxedo jacket is pure white, somehow still not having a stain on it despite the current company. Beneath that jacket, which is only buttoned (the buttons are clean) once in the middle, Yuu has on a shirt of pure gold. The pants are also white and without any impurities. Matching the shirt, the dress shoes are also shiny gold. Yuu also has on a golden chain necklace and tiny stud earrings. But there must always be something that stands out, and that is the wings that Yuu is wearing. They are white and gigantic.

"Aw, was that your idea all along? You're so cute when you try to be devious~" Rokuro winks at Yuki, who gets all flustered in return. She tries to hide the overwhelming red behind the microphone.

My legs are starting to hurt just standing there after all of that dancing. Deciding to finally take a little breather, I sit as far away from the stage as I possibly could. My legs are not as strong as they used to be in the Amari household. There are many reasons that could be seen as positive by idiots, but I really need to dedicate more time to working out. I have been so busy lately that I have barely enough time to take care of myself.

Meanwhile, there is Rokuro to look over. Rokuro is dressed as a snazzy gentleman. Rokuro has on a dark blue button-up shirt with all but the first black button buttoned in. The shirt is tucked into Rokuro's black khakis. He also wears silver suspenders that match his gloves and choker. For his shoes, Rokuro has on black dress ones with black socks. Overall, another simple design. Formal wear made for men is just not as fun as for women. Really, people should just wear whatever they want just as they are not like Kaimaru in public spaces. Being so focused on clothing is a waste of time. There are actual problems in the world, so do not make things worse by denying people for stupid reasons. Sadly, society has a thing for doing that, especially the dystopian one we live in now.

"Thanks, Rokuro, somebody finally realizes my genius!" Yuki's blush cools down and she stops hiding poorly. "Does anybody want to go first?"

"I may not want to be, but I would gladly substitute for somebody if they have to go away!" Saitou is at least having a decent time. There are still many things I have to ask him, but, once again, I cannot with how many people are around.

"I love everybody, so I'll let people take their turn! You're supposed to do that, right?" Aito turns his head over to Emilynn. The lucky student nods her head and goes back on her phone. Because, of course, she is still on that thing she is way too obsessed with. People like her are why young people still have the stereotype of always being on their phones.

"I think it would be fun-"

"Sorry, Himura, but it's all mine! Bwahahaha!" Yuki laughs. She starts pressing the screen while she is still laughing. That type of determination is something to be feared. "All these songs are old but whatever. Guess I can do 2000s shit or something."

"Don't even try with my sister. It's not worth it," Yuu warns way too late.

"Let's have some more fun, people! Himura, Rokuro, I nominate you two as my backup singers! You have the most taste out of this group of fools!" She picks a song and waits for it to load. During that time, Yuki does small vocal exercises, like yawning.

"But we're literally the Ultimate Duet-"

"Shut up, Yuu!" Yuki sticks her tongue out. I am surrounded by toddlers.

"If that's the way you want, that's the way you get it." Rokuro once again winks. Are we sure that Rokuro and Kaimaru are not related? I am pretty sure they should at least be distant cousins. They may not look the same, but their behavior is too similar. Or maybe I am sounding a little bit too much like Yoshi did.

"Wait, this means it isn't all yours...you know what, fuck it." Himura and Rokuro stand behind Yuki, who gives them their own microphones. Yuu is moping all by himself.

Once the music starts, Yuki taps her foot to the sound of the beat. Himura and Rokuro pay close attention to the screen, while Yuki closes her eyes. She may be an Ultimate Singer, but this amount of arrogance is...well, it is not good but it is part of the course when it comes to Yuki Akimoto.

"I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums!" Yuki sings. Although her personality is hard to deal with, I can see now why the Committee is dealing with Yuki. She has an absolutely amazing singing voice. Maybe I should plan to add some choir to my music, at least to change it up a little. At the end of that section of lyrics, Himura and Rokuro clap their hands to the poppy beat. This song is way too familiar but I cannot remember where I have heard it from.

"You have a great taste of music, unlike Shiro!" Emilynn shouts from the crowd. She gets death glares from myself and Yuki.

"Killjoys!" Aito raises his fist. This group of people being together alone is a bad idea. I may have saved the violins, but I regret coming here now. Perhaps I should be leaving, but Yuki's voice traps me like a siren.

"Just let them sing..." Saitou sighs.

"Oh, what a shame that you came here with someone! So while you're here in my arms..." Despite all the talking, Yuki continues onward, not messing up the rhythm of her tapping foot. Though she continues to glare down at anybody who so much as makes a peep in the audience.

"Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young!" Yuki continues like she does not know what she is implying. That is a horrible choice of song for this situation. Himura and Rokuro begin singing in the background a bunch of ohs.

"We're gonna die young!" Yuki motions towards the crowd to come to join her when singing. Guess she only likes her glory being taken away during the chorus, or she has experience with concert crowds.

"We're gonna die young!" Everybody else cheers. Well, that's morbid. Why would anybody sing that with a smile on their face?

"Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young!" Yuki is by herself once again. During the music chorus, Yuki begins to dance. She prompts everybody to follow her once again. Aito, Emilynn, and Saitou dance together, while Himura and Rokuro do the same. Only me and Yuu remain in our seats. Yuki's dance moves are also good, far better than everybody else in the room. It would be good to see her face off against Kaimaru. Yuki has the most massive smile on her face that I have seen from her.

"Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young!" Everybody stops dancing when Yuki looks serious once again. Even with her dancing, Yuki's tapping foot remains the same.

"Young hearts, out our minds! Runnin' till we outta time! Wild childs, lookin' good! Livin' hard just like we should! Don't care who's watching when we tearing it up!" Yuki is very passionate about the verse. All the while, I keep wondering where I have heard this before. I know sometimes my memory fails me for stupid matters such as this obnoxious song, but this is getting more and more frustrating.

"You know!" Himura and Rokuro once again return to their jobs as the backup. Honestly, they do not sound that bad, but, compared to Yuki, they are not doing such a great job.

"That magic that we got nobody can touch!" Yuki and Emilynn sing together. Realizing who is with her, Yuki sends out another death glare, but that does not stop Emilynn. Emilynn is actually quite impressive at dancing and singing while still playing one of her many phone games.

"For sure!"

"Looking for some trouble tonight!"

"Yeah!"

"Take my hand, I'll show you the wild side!" Yuki reaches her hand out to the audience, waiting for any takers. Of course, nobody does so, for they are content where they are. "Like it's the last night of our lives!"

"Uh-huh!" The chorus responds. One more person joins with them, but I cannot tell who it is.

"We'll keep dancing till we die!" Yuki once again does all the motions. She may be a...special kind of person, but she is actually raising the mood of the place, unlike Kaimaru.

"I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums!" Clap, clap, from everybody in the audience but myself. "Oh, what a shame that you came here with someone! So while you're here in my arms, let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young!" The ohs come back, though this time the audience is also helping Himura and Rokuro.

"We're gonna die young!" Everybody joins in the morbid anthem once again, as if they are a brainwashed crowd. Clapping and dancing to their doom. "We're gonna die young!"

"Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young!" At that moment, I realize where I have heard it from...

---

"Welcome to our humble house!" Yoshi announced as she raised her arms in the air. I will still say that a group of abandoned mansions in the middle of the desert is not what anybody should consider humble. "Don't mind that, that's Aroa playing her music way too loud again!"

"Are you sure that I am allowed to stay here? If Einosuke finds out..." That is the same song. How could I not remember such an important thing?

"Einosuke won't find out anything! Eimu is an exact replica of you!" Yoshi reassured me. That did not give me confidence. Not only do I and Eimu look nothing alike, even with their disguise, they're also mute. I just hoped that nobody noticed them or asked them any questions. With how many goddamn kids were in that house, that is actually quite likely.

"If you say so..."

"Somebody else just joined us too. I don't know her name though. Um, something like starts with a R? Reminds me of a video game character I think? Maybe it's a sign from God! Wait, no, God doesn't exist, and, if he did, then there wouldn't be any McDonalds!" Yoshi continued to rant like she always did. This might have not been my first time here, but it was definitely my first time sneaking out. Yoshi seemed to forget that she warned me about Aroa's music habits every single time.

"I just worry, you know!"

"Don't worry, you do that too much. Even if Einosuke tried anything, the Master would help out with that!" Yoshi smiled too brightly. "No matter what, we'll be there for you! Every single last one of us!"

---

"Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young!" Everybody keeps moving onward with life, but not me. I will never move on, even if it is the logical thing to do. Even I can make horrible decisions sometimes.

"We're gonna die young!"

---

A mass grave of brutalized, young bodies. All of them with their lives ahead, but unable or unwilling to continue onward. Their bodies are an abomination, barely considered human. Bones, flesh, organs, blood all mix as one, nobody being able to tell what belongs to who. Only that in death they are together, as they were in life. There's no separating their true family.

---

"We're gonna die young!"

---

A figure in the smoke and ashes reached out her hand, covered in blood and calluses, yet being so gentle. A false gentleness is still better than true cruelty to most, but not I. Everything about her true intentions was covered in smoke. Bodies burn, what remains of the little humanity they have left dances in the redness of the fire or the greyness of the unnatural clouds.

---

"Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young!" There is cheering even knowing what the future holds. Death and destruction, the ending of many innocent, young lives, yet there are cheers for the sake of entertainment.

---

There was a...bar? With the same woman? Her blue hair and dark skin were no longer covered by smoke, the dim lighting revealing her true nature. That of a spider creating a web, waiting for a foolish butterfly to be lulled by the beauty and complexity.

Her hand was still reaching out, begging for the warmth of another.

"I'll give you what you want, for the exchange of-"

---

"Shiro, hi? My revenge won't work if you're like that!" Emilynn snaps her fingers right in front of my face. That is most certainly rude because I was about to learn information from...myself. Maybe I should not listen to the past for answers to the present. If a memory was forgotten, there was a reason. I may not know much about psychology, but that I do.

Emilynn is wearing a white dress shirt with a black vest. Over both of those articles of clothing, Emilynn has on a black cape that I am surprised she is not playing around with more. And Emilynn's pants are also black, so there is a bunch of black. It is strange to not see Emilynn in her usual color scheme even though I have not known her for a very long time. Of course, Emilynn's shoes are black too. She also wears a stockman hat, which is also black. There is so much black it is almost overwhelming. To counterbalance the black a little bit, Emilynn has on a white mask that covers half of her face. That does not help the fact that Mononeko also dyed Emilynn's hair black. Too much black. So much black.

"I'm so sad there isn't a song that let's me go CHRISTINEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Emilynn screams into my ear. This is quite a bit of mood whiplash.

"I don't know if that's how you're supposed to treat people getting out of flashbacks, Emilynn." Saitou is the only one with her, with there being another fight in the background about who goes next.

"That's what he gets for taking my phone then! But don't think that makes this over less cool Shiro..." Emilynn points two of her fingers at her eyes and then the same ones back at me. What is this? Elementary school? "I'm keeping my eye on you..." She then hurries over to everyone else, probably to pester them about going next as well.

"Shiro? I told you before that this isn't healthy. Anxiety like that sucks to deal with. You should get some therapy if this keeps happening-"

"I don't need therapy."

"And you're still like that." Saitou presses his thumb against his forehead. "But dude I'm pretty sure you've got PTSD or something. That ain't normal. Especially the whole pleading thing you do under your breath. Not gonna lie, kinda freaks people out. Why would you be calling out for an emu? Those things are like in Australia and we can't go to Australia." Why would I be talking about emus? Is this something that Emilynn has put Saitou up to?

"I don't have PTSD."

"Well, I'm not a therapist and I'm not inside your head, so, uh, probably shouldn't go trying to diagnose you or anything. I don't know. I'm kinda not the type of person used to calling people out or whatever this is. I'm just worried about you, man." Saitou rubs the back of his head. He cannot meet his eyes with mine.

"Why would I need an intervention?"

"Okay, this was a bad idea. Time to change the topic! That always works...right?" Saitou says. I only raise one of my eyebrows. This is going nowhere fast and, of course, everybody else has not made any progress.

"If this continues, I'm going-"

"Do you know how to sing?" Saitou asks.

"What?"

"Do you know how to sing, Shiro?" Saitou is a little bit more forceful this time. I already know what he is planning, and I regret coming here. Singing is a pastime I do not like indulging in.

"Uh, no? Only lullabies and the like-"

"So you're gonna be perfect for this!" Emilynn shouts. Looking over there, I see everybody is sitting down again. Yuki takes the spot that Emilynn used to be in. "Revenge~"

Emilynn drags me on the stage and gives me a microphone. Saitou follows after us and receives a microphone as well. Just like Yuki, Emilynn is evilly laughing while she puts on her song.

"Just remember you parts are the chorus that we all do and the third verse. Got it?" Emilynn tells me shortly before the song plays. I nod my head. With that, she focuses on the words in front of her.

When the music starts, I recognize it as a popular song from the 1980s, though I do not recall its name. It does not give me the same pull as the song before. Maybe I should ask somebody else who made that song and what it is called.

"Wait, did you just rickroll us!?" Yuki screams and groans can be heard throughout the audience. What is a rickroll? Ignoring the displeasure from the audience, Saitou and Emilynn begin dancing in sync, and I refuse to join us in whatever weirdness they are doing. Those two are lucky enough to even get me up here in the first place. Emilynn and Saitou cannot stop laughing about the apparently evil plot that they have just devised.

"We're no strangers to love," Saitou starts first. He has a good singing voice even though he is constantly trying to suppress his laughter. "You know the rules and so do I." He makes finger guns and shoots above the audience.

"Oh my God, they're actually doing it," Yuu comments.

"A full commitment's what I'm thinking of! You wouldn't get this from any other guy!" Saitou points to Emilynn, breaking her composure. She bursts out laughing but quickly regains her composure. "I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling! Gotta make you understand!"

"Never gonna give you up!" Emilynn and Saitou join together. Guess this is the chorus so I begin singing along with them. "Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you!" The lucky student and substitute point their fingers to the audience and then lift them slowly. There is no way I am joining in on that. It is already being embarrassing enough up here, especially with these two.

"Never gonna make you cry! Never gonna say goodbye! Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you!" They both finally put their fingers down. That seems like the end of the chorus, so I should not continue the next part.

"We've known each other for so long." Emilynn turns to me and flips me off. Well, that does not fit the song that much. Now that I can judge Emilynn's voice on her own, I would say that she is just alright. "Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it." Both her and Saitou give me a look that I do not understand. "Inside we both know what's been going on! We know the game and we're gonna play it!"

"And if you ask me how I'm feeling. Don't tell me you're too blind to see." Emilynn once again focuses on the audience. Who are still not so thrilled about the joke, except for Rokuro who is laughing his ass off. Even Aito is not pleased with this turn of events.

"Never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you!" All three of us have good unison even though we hardly know each other. Maybe because this is such an easy song to sing along to.

"Never gonna make you cry! Never gonna say goodbye! Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you!" Emilynn and Saitou try to get the other members of the audience to join in, but they were only able to drag Rokuro into their schemes.

"Never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you! Never gonna make you cry! Never gonna say goodbye! Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you!" Emilynn motions to me after the repeat of the chorus, so I guess this is the time that I get to sing. I am dreading it, but it is better to get it over with.

"Never gonna give, never gonna give." The moment I begin singing, the little girl in red appears. She takes the spot that I used to be in and bops her head to the beat and mouths the words.

"Give you up!" Saitou and Emilynn sing together. Both of them are smirking at me and I have the sudden urge to run.

"We've known each other for so long. Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it. We know the game and we're gonna play it." I take a deep breath and remind myself there is no way that this can get any worse. Nobody would be stupid enough to attack somebody with this many people around. "I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling. Gotta make you understand."

"Never gonna give you up!" All three of us join together again. "Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you! Never gonna make you cry! Never gonna say goodbye! Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you!"

"Never gonna give you up!" Now Rokuro joins us onto the stage, albeit a little late if you ask me since it seems like the song will be ending soon. He gets another one of the microphones and starts singing. "Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you! Never gonna make you cry! Never gonna say goodbye! Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you!"

"Never gonna give you up!" Somehow Rokuro manages to get everybody singing along. I fear his power. "Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you! Never gonna make you cry! Never gonna say goodbye."

Rokuro, Emilynn, and Saitou end the song by doing a disco pose. I am in my very own corner of the stage regretting all of my decisions. I really should have just stayed with Leonie.

"Shiro Amari, tell me how you got to sing so well!" Yuki automatically jumps onto the stage and gets way too close for comfort. At least they think my singing voice is nice.

"I sang a lot of lullabies I guess-"

"Let's do an encore!"

"EMILYNN, NO!" Everybody but me shouts at once. Even other troublemakers like Saitou and Rokuro have their limits. But, with Yuki now distracted with Emilynn proving why McKays are a bad sign, I make my way out of there.

---

Going down the stairs, I notice that Leonie is still in the same spot. Those noiseless headphones actually do work. Maybe I could get Mononeko a pair of them the next time I have to talk to anybody annoying, which is the majority of these students.

"There you are! I've been searching all over for you! You gotta tell me your results!" Tahlia says. She must have entered this room sometime during the karaoke session. But, if the inventor is here, that also means...

"How do you think Leonie would react to me taking her headphones?" Etsuko questions with a bit too much glee. "You're here too, Shiro, but you honestly don't give me very good reactions. You're off in your little world which means no more fun!" With Etsuko being their so-called therapist, there is no wonder how Emilynn and Aito ended up the way they have.

"There wasn't anything of interest up there," I lie to Tahlia, completely ignoring Etsuko. The psychologist crosses her arms. Both of these women are eccentric, but they're also smart and should not be given too much information. Only people with high intellect could stand up to the Committee like them and not be dead in a week.

"Are you so sure about that, Shiro?" It is hard to gauge Etsuko's emotions with her mask on. Though, even without it, I admit that I cannot read the psychologist that well.

"Yes."

"Okey-dokey." Etsuko shrugs. "That's unfortunate. I'm sure Saitou will say the same thing then." How does Etsuko know that? This girl has too many eyes and ears all over the place.

Matching somewhat well to her partner in crime Tahlia, Etsuko has a gothic victorian theme going on. Most important is Etsuko's plague doctor mask, mostly black but with gold and silver trimmings. Her dress is that which is made for the princess of death, being colored black with long sleeves and going to her knees. There are a shocking amount of frills and a golden belt. Etsuko wears black sheer tights underneath with small little golden decals of skulls. Once again, Mononeko decides that black combat boots are the best decision for clothing. The mysterious woman is also holding a golden lantern, with the smallest of flames begging to not be snuffed out. Lastly, Etsuko is trapped in a cape of pure gold.

"I did all that work for nothing!? You owe me more experiments then!" Tahlia pouts.

"Of course-"

"You know what I want to check out before I see Saitou! The party." Etsuko plays around with her cape. It honestly looks too big on her, so a part of me wants to see her trip in it.

Etsuko and Tahlia end up dragging me along with them. They both see me as an experiment subject, which is not a good sign. Seriously, though, I really need to need Leonie's headphones. Much information might not be learned, but it is better than dealing with all of this.

---

Even before Tahlia, Etsuko, and I open the doors, we can hear the racket inside. Etsuko's eyes are sparkling and I swear I could see a bit of drool coming out of her mouth.

"SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER!" Etsuko yells as she kicks open the doors. She really does learn too much from Emilynn.

Once the inside could be seen, I could actually sympathize with Mononeko, who is crying in the corner. It is not hard to tell where this behavior is coming from, considering the room smells of alcohol and weed. The only people remaining some kind of sane are Kaimaru (maybe that it is a lie, but he is still his regular self), Ryusuke who is crying with Mononeko, and...Seina.

Everybody else is...drunk breakdancing. Whoever did this even got to the people investigating the stage. I do not want to know how things got to this point. This is...too much. It reminds me way too much of high school.

"Screw Saitou, I want to examine this!" Etsuko jumps up and down as she gets out her voice recorder and notebook while heading directly into the fray. Tahlia takes one look at the damage and decides to leave. Even somebody like her cannot deal with the current course of events.

"Shiro! We have to do something about this! The party event failed! I must have rolled a nat one!" Seina says as she runs over to me. "I looked away for five minutes and another DM ruined everything! I should've known how difficult mazes could be! One of my groups got stuck in one for a week!"

"For once, I'm not responsible for anything." Kaimaru pops in, hopping much like a rabbit. "I wish to be drunk with everybody else, but turns out I'm too good at holding my liquor."

"Didn't you ruin all my planning before? And everybody's else planning? Maybe it wasn't a good idea to plan everything in a day. This is so much different than my campaigns. I've got to learn to do better next time." Seina plays around with her hair.

"...I'm not responsible for anything either..." Mononeko makes the three of us jump when she teleports in the middle of our makeshift triangle. "My producers were like we need a drunk scene and then mysterious liquid people have to drink. Makes people make stupid decisions and like a trope they want to try out. Blah, blah, blah, stuff I don't care about...And, for the last time, Kaimaru I told you to put on some pants!"

"You can't make me do anything!" Kaimaru winks. Seina, Mononeko, and I are currently unaffected by any of his so-called charm.

"Fine...I don't want to do anything. But I guess something's gotta be done since they want a murder by the fifth part. That's not, you know, of that Saitou kid nobody cares about." Mononeko yawns and begins to try to fall asleep on the floor. Despite the loud pounding of the music throughout the gymnasium. I do not know what the song is, as it has no lyrics and is not known in the music spaces. Did the Despairs make their own soundtrack?

"Fifth part...Saitou?" Seina questions. I almost forgot that some of the students do not remember the first Saitou. The game master begins to rub her neck.

"But for now...Kaimaru, that wasn't the outfit I meant for you!"

"You gotta chase me to change. Or make me drunk! Whatever your 'producers' prefer." Kaimaru runs away from Mononeko. The cat tries to teleport in front of him, only for Kaimaru to dodge before the two can make contact.

"Wait, Seina, where are the others that were in the maze?" I ask the game master now that the other two are gone. There are other people around us, but it is safe to say that they are not paying that much attention.

"Oh, they decided to stay there and look for more clues. I wanted to check up on everybody at the party. They're planning another strategy to finally conquer this part of the labyrinth! Maybe then they'll be able to finally get to the boss!" Seina explains. "I could come, but I want to try to help this situation here. It's...a mess. Plus...I know more than most how to deal with drunk people."

"Alright, if you say so," I reply. It would be best to check up on them, and I admit that I am looking forward to any excuse to leave this place. I really do not need to be reminded of those times. Alcohol is a coward's way out of their problems.

Just like that, I end up leaving the gymnasium once again. Seina goes over to the crowd of drunk people, and I can already tell that Etsuko will make her job harder than it has to be.

---

Once again, in this hallway. By the end of this game, I am going to be very acquainted with it. Once I walk far enough from the gymnasium, there is silence...for a couple of seconds until the doors of the restaurant open.

"My luck strikes again in a way that doesn't almost kill me! What a miracle!" Emilynn says. Saitou follows right behind her.

"What are you two doing out here?"

"Let's just say everybody wasn't so excited about Emilynn trying to force an encore..." Saitou awkwardly laughs. "I didn't even do anything but help the first time. They still kicked me out too."

"It's not my fault they don't understand my genius! If the Meme Squad was there, they would've supported me." Emilynn smirks. "Now whatcha doing, Shiro? I want to come with, or else I'm showing everybody that cat video!"

"...Please don't egg him on again..." Saitou fights back another groan. "And Shiro don't take people's stuff without permission." I am just going to ignore what Saitou just said.

"I'm going to check up on Sachiko and Ayumu at the maze," I inform them. I would have lied about my whereabouts, but those two are too stubborn and Emilynn still has that cat video. She must have made copies by now just in case I manage to get her phone again.

"This is going to end in disaster..."

"Don't worry, Saitou, we'll have more memes." Emilynn takes a deep breath and relaxes. "Plus, now I can be on my phone more." She pulls out her phone and begins playing yet another game. How does she not get bored of her games with the absurd amount of time that she spends on her devices?

"...That only makes me worry more…" Saitou bites his lip. "Got no choice though. Gotta do this."

With nobody doubting our next course of action, Saitou, Emilynn, and I make our way into the maze room. Maybe this time they can be less annoying with their song choices.

---

The moment the three of us enter the room, I realize that Ichiko is now with Sachiko and Ayumu. It is good to see another intelligent person is still alive, even for some reason she does not seem to trust me very much.

"Shiro, it's good to see you." Ayumu smiles and waves at me. Ichiko is sitting on the floor still writing in her various notebooks that I cannot comprehend. Sachiko is sitting far away from them and shrinks when she sees more people enter the room. The miko only weakly waves at the three newcomers.

"Ah, hi." Ichiko does not raise her head when she greets us. There is that strange drawing of a girl's corpse hung up like the trophy again. Part of me wishes to know what all of this is about, but I already know that I will get nowhere with Ichiko. While Ichiko is working, she runs her top teeth against her bottom lip.

Ichiko is in a linen medieval dress that is too big on her but clearly made out of comfortable materials. The dress is a deep crimson red for the base and has muted green long sleeves. Everything on Ichiko's body is covered, including some of her face. There is also a golden belt, worn loosely and can easily be taken off. The historian also wears a hooded cloak of the same red with gold trim. Some of Ichiko's hair sticks out of the hood and is worn to her left side. Because of her long dress and questionable sitting habits, Ichiko's shoes cannot be seen.

"So how's the party?" Ayumu asks.

"Everybody got drunk and started breakdancing," I answer.

"...Good thing I didn't go then!" Ayumu says. Ichiko and Sachiko continue to not make any conversation. I wonder what is making Emilynn and Saitou so silent. I then only to realize those two troublemakers are at the entrance of the maze. It is almost like Emilynn enjoys having car generators almost kill her every two seconds. I still have to figure out how exactly the world does that because I refuse to believe an answer as vague as luck.

"I haven't been almost crushed for a hot minute! Time to do that again," Emilynn says in a monotone. I almost forgot how upsetting the girl can be when her voice is like that.

"Let me accompany you again. It's too dangerous to get lost," Ayumu offers himself up. Sachiko also gets out of her seat, even though she uses her hands to poorly hide her face.

"...I need to use my powers to warn against evil..." Sachiko raises her hands down but still refuses to meet with the eyes of anybody else in the room.

"I'm fine here. Pon-chan can protect me," Ichiko informs us. At that moment, Pon-chan jumps out of the vent. She refuses to go anywhere near me, but that is for the best. I do not need to show her who the superior one between us is yet again.

---

The five of us walk in silence, even Emilynn. Emilynn is probably too focused on her game to make conversation with any of us, however. And the multiple times random car generators have fallen onto the floor. If I was religious, I would be wondering what Emilynn did in her past lives. Maybe that line of thinking is why Sachiko stays as far away from the lucky student as possible. Or it could just be the multiple falling generators.

Even though the five of us have entered this labyrinth, we do not have an official plan for the storage room. Maybe that would have been important to plan out. Sachiko supposedly can sense evil, so it could be that Emilynn and Saitou wanted to see what would happen with the miko around.

"Oh, I know this super cool place around here. I found it last time I went exploring," Saitou tells us to finally break apart the comfortable silence. That would have been important to know before we have entered here.

"That's cool-" Emilynn is interrupted by yet another car generator. Why are there so many car generators in this place anyway? Is it because one of the other floors has a car?

"Eep!" Sachiko jumps a mile behind.

"One good thing about my life, luck isn't evil. Sachiko would've realized." Emilynn does a small giggle. She then goes back to playing her game. The lucky student somehow knows how to keep up with Saitou like the rest of us even though she is not looking where she is going.

"Here it is!" Saitou pulls a book from the shelf that has way too many of them. Immediately after he pulls it out, the shelf goes backward and to the side, revealing a hidden passageway. Wait, how does that work? Nothing about this place makes any sense. When Saitou puts the book down on one of the other shelves, I notice that it is a copy of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass put together.

Even in this small moment, this story refuses to escape my life. Wonderland refuses to let any of its inhabitants leave, tempting Alice her entire life once she has done so. But the story always wins, since the reader ends and then begins anew. Even after her happily, ever after, Alice cannot leave the media for which she was created. Though, if the stubborn girl somehow found a way, she would be trapped in one of the many copies of her original misery. There is no escaping the fate a being has been given, no amount of cleverness or tries can ever change that fact.

"There's no light in there," I point out.

"Good thing we have light sources," Saitou says. Emilynn stops playing her game and changes her phone into flashlight mode. She then steps in without having a care in the world.

"Easy," the obsessed gamer tells us as she continues on. With the little of the room that the light reveals to us, not much can be seen but plain grey walls. There is a chance that nothing could be in there at all.

Right before Ayumu and I walk in, Sachiko grabs harshly onto both of our sleeves. Not expecting such force from the timid girl, we both look around to see that Sachiko is as pale as a ghost.

"I-I couldn't warn t-them...I'm a f-failure for not s-sensing it ear-rlier...there's e-evil..." Sachiko begins shaking like a leaf.

"You're not a failure, Sachiko. We just have to warn them." Ayumu gives the small girl a pleasant smile.

"How-"

A loud sound invades all of our eardrums. It is so loud that Sachiko lets go of us and starts covering her ears. The shock of such a sound fades only after seconds as I come to a realization. At the same moment, Ayumu's eyes dilate. I did not know that a man could look more alive than ever in such a state.

...Too many times I have heard the sound of death. Such sound does not exist without the suffering of yet another living being. Just as humans invent to give, they invent to take...

That was a gunshot.

Without thinking, Ayumu runs into the hallway. I stay at the door, not knowing whether or not I should risk it all or not. After seconds of deciding, and tears in her eyes, Sachiko follows Ayumu in. There is no use staying out here, so I have no choice but to follows all the fools into the rabbit hole.

---

"Sachiko, put that light up more please," Ayumu commands, surprisingly strong in his voice. Both Ayumu and Sachiko are now covered in blood. They are both shaking as Ayumu presses onto the stomach wound desperately to try to stop the overwhelming amount of blood. Many would be disgusted at such a sight, be so taken back that everything is colored in pink, but I am too used to what reality has in store.

Emilynn is in the corner, babbling about nonsense. Her eyes are wide yet life is not entirely there, as she curls herself into a ball much like a small child. Though not many could blame her, considering that Saitou is bleeding to bleed right next to her.

"Do you have any exp-"

"Not the time," Ayumu interrupts me. He does not raise his voice, but he lifts his head up for one second to glare daggers at me. There is the choice of trying to run after the shooter, yet that will only get me killed. The best is to help Ayumu and Sachiko in this futile effort. I take my student handbook out and use it as a light just like Sachiko, though I sit nearer to Emilynn.

"Future Foundation...Future Foundation...Future Foundation..." Emilynn murmurs.

Ayumu works alone, with neither Sachiko or I having the experience needed to help with medical matters. Sachiko cries even harder once her brain fully processes what she is witnessing. The sheltered girl has probably never even seen a dead body, not to mention somebody dying right in front of her. Saitou stays quiet, with his eyes beginning to droop.

"...I promise we can still see the clouds together..." Saitou weakly speaks. He raises his shaky hand towards the nonexistent sky.

"Don't you dare give up," Ayumu demands.

Saitou does not listen, however. As his hand falls down and the light finally leaves his eyes.

"A body has been discovered...After a brief period of investigation, there will be a Class Trial...wow, these are boring to do too." Mononeko can be heard throughout the ship, her voice impossible to escape.

---

Saitou Kurokoma, the Ultimate Substitute, is dead.

He lays in a pile of blood because of the singular gunshot wound to his stomach. His place of death should be a place that nobody should know about. The murder is so tragically simple. Only a badly placed gunshot wound can end the life of an Ultimate.

I should pity such a life, but I cannot find it in me to do so. After all, people that nice either die young or have horrible intentions. This is no longer a world that can support those with kind hearts and souls. If one is especially morbid, death can be thought of as a release. The innocent never learn the meaning of true suffering, while the people they leave behind get their innocence crushed.

---

Woohoo! We finally reach our first official death...it's only been over two years. I also forgot to do a first victim poll for this. Oops.

Thank you PainX65 for sending me Saitou Kurokoma. I swear he has more plot importance. There's a reason somebody like him dies first...well, second. ;)

Thanks all for continuing to read even though updates are rare. I'm so sorry that my life makes it very difficult to update this series now. But I'm still determined to finish what I started. :D

dis sucks so bad it makes me want to barf off a sunset roof full of candy and yoyos omg yuck so foul and gross also should be a new meme CS audience :3 (I will not explain this to people who don't know lmao)

QOTD: How do y'all feel about getting rick rolled lmao?

Req's Rec: Escape Parameters by silhouttedMaythem

Reviews~

TheRoseShadow21-Thank you, I worked very hard on them! :D I sort of half-assed these ones ngl since this chapter was taking too long. Tahlia, invent a corset that's actually comfortable, please. Surprisingly, nothing actually bad happened at the party except for characters getting drunk again (trust me that gets explored later) and me rickrolling the audience. I don't think anybody could have actually guessed I would do that lol. ;) Thanks so much yet again!

AnonChan1-Good to see you're alright too! That's alright, ADHD is a bitch I know from experience. Shiro will never stop overthinking things. THE FOURTH WALL CANNOT PROTECT YOU! Mei being suspicious. ;) Life sucks for Shiro Amari and death sucks for Akita Yamazaki. HERE'S MORE BEING CONCERNED ABOUT SHIRO. SHIRO WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT BODY PILE. Emilynn now forgives him for karaoke...though that might not do that much. Jun is...Jun. Jun is suspicious. ;) Thank you, though sadly now the dress is ruined. Shiro will never get over this goddamn cat. Tahlia and Yasu working together would be terrifying tbh (but then again they would probably just make an extra cool grappling hook). Tahlia is going to try to challenge Izuru, and Izuru would be like 'I don't have time for this shit.' Yep, that's true father being his true father self. Shiro will never ask for directions. SHIRO FALLING ASLEEP AT ALL THE WRONG TIMES. Word of God: Tahlia was actually planning a save Shiro operation with Etsuko. Will she ever admit that? No. Mononeko is like fuck the producers. Yes, that's the execution dress (Mononeko will never stop the caffeine). Mononeko may be forcing people to kill each other but she's a believer of trans rights.

That's not the reference, but maybe Mei's outfit will make it more clear. So many other reference outfits. Shiro does what he wants and I suffer for it. Shiro will never admit to caring. CS lore has a lot of names because I can't help myself. SHIRO WILL NEVER BE OKAY WITH ME AROUND. Rokuro is worrisome and then there's...Kaimaru. Shiro needs a therapist, but he'll never admit that because of his internalized ableism. SHIRO NO ITS OKAY TO GET HELP SWEETIE. MONONEKO TAKES THAT AS A CHALLENGE (I slept for two hours RIP). This story is very long so hopefully, I'll explain everything well. Everybody needs a hug especially Saitou...oh no, he's dead. Shiro has two hands for Wonderland and Oz. Shiro is never okay. Thank you, Emilynn needs the support. Emilynn has seen some shit. EMILYNN HAS NOW HINTED TO SOME OF THE LORE AAAAAAA! I hate myself for the foreshadowing for this part. I'm kinda surprised nobody pointed out the billion death flags I gave Saitou during his FTE.