After Trial 1-2: Everything is Fine

(Time for a short chapter~ Have fun with the chaos. Yes, this took a lot less time because I already written this chapter a long time ago so hooray for me planning ahead with my writing for once…for something that doesn't involve my billion outlines)

(One of these days the worlds of all my reject outlines will converge and all the characters conspire to kill me lol)

Beta Read by: Allen Ux Ultor

Mononeko Theatre!

Oh no, not again. I was finally looking forward to relaxing at least a little bit...What do you mean I still have work to do after this!? Fine, fine, this is what my job entails, so I guess I just gotta stick with it! Till the very end!

Hm, I don't have much planned. And you haven't given me a script? Oh. I guess we'll continue from when we left off! The audience can remember that time, right? I don't know how this Nothingness works too well.

Ahem. I'm rambling again! Sorry, don't act like your teacher right now! Plan your words ahead, and make them precise and easy for the other people in the conversation to understand. That way, we can all improve on our communication! Strong communication is one of the keys of having a successful class.

Your despair tip of the day is to continue on with your lives and keep moving forward. Have the events of today motivate you to become smarter with your murder or escape plans! There will be less trauma for everybody involved! After all, you can't have trauma when you're dead.

Death is an eternal sleep. It's something we all strive for, even if unknowingly. All of us just want some rest. But, for the small time we have, we should live our lives to the fullest! You can't have a happy death if you're always miserable in life! That means taking proper care of your bodies and making sure you brush your teeth. Yes, Shiro, I'm still gonna be on you for that. Somebody as 'logical' as you should know better than to let your body waste away! There is no logic if your body can't properly function.

All of you are still so young and don't understand how quick your body can turn against you yet.

I've been speaking for so long! Sorry! I'll learn how to make these shorter!...I've been rambling again! That's not good!

When I finally wake up...I notice I am in the hallway that Saitou died in, which is now strangely lit dimly. Saitou Kurokoma's body has been cleaned up, but there is still some leftover blood splatter on the floor.

Is it unhealthy for me to think about how glad I am that I have something else to focus on other than whatever the Master is doing?

Why am I here? If this is a punishment, then it would make no sense, since I have done nothing wrong. Observing closely, I see that I am also back in my regular clothes, but they have been washed. The smell is that of overwhelming vanilla and lavender, invading my nostrils with their fake sweetness.

Who put me here and for what reason? Reasonably, they could also be the same person that changed my outfit. I do not know what to think about that. Every action has a motivation, even if it is simple or doesn't make any sense. Motivation is a strange thing after all. One person can invent the cure for cancer, while another could kill that doctor and destroy the cure, and yet still both could have the same motive. Humanity overall is strange, since the thing we understand the least is ourselves.

Feeling around, I realize the key is still with me. The person who changed my clothes must have learned about this. This person either wants me to go, or they are waiting for a trap.

However, Etsuko clearly accessed that room and is still safe, and I highly doubt she had time to make another death trap. It has only been around a couple of days, after all, and she spent most of the time with other people, mostly Emilynn and Aito. I would ask them what Etsuko could possibly be planning next, but I highly doubt Aito wants to speak to me after that Trial. Even if Aito did, all his words are utter nonsense.

I need to find the answers, so I do not fall pray to a trap like Saitou, Emilynn, or Etsuko. Maybe there is something in there that convinced Etsuko that killing was the answer, even if she should know better by now. Or maybe my brain is not functioning like normal thanks to the Master's presence. No, that can't be it. I just need to find answers.

Speed walking down the hallway, I reach the door in what has to be record time. This is almost too easy.

There is no time to turn back now. Knowing the people running these games, this hallway will become inaccessible after all of this. It is not like I am able to memorize the way here either. I could ask somebody like Ayumu to help me later on, but there is still a chance they could be related to the games. Plus, this hallway has already seen murder, so it is not unlikely for more people to die here. After all, most people cannot reach. If Ayumu, Sachiko, and I weren't with Emilynn or Saitou, there might have been a chance that the trial would never happen.

After all, the trial can only happen when three people that are not the killer find the body. However, maybe the Despairs would eventually lead us to the murder, with the excuse of not wanting to waste a kill. There is no way that anybody would overlook the chance to kill a McKay. Emilynn should have known this. That goddamn idiot should have been more careful. If she was just a little more untrusting, Emilynn McKay would still be alive. Instead, she is probably back to floating about in space, with nobody but us and her family caring about her existence.

Wait, there is no time to think about these things! I have already wasted too much time! Quickly, I pull out the key, and open the door. I do not waste time, since I do not want Mononeko finding out and stopping this.

"And this should be all..." A woman who I have never seen before is in the room who looks strangely like the Master but with paler skin.

I cannot understand what the object before me is, even before the mysterious woman deletes it from existence. All of it dissolved into peculiar blue squares before my eyes.

...What.

Deciding not the question anymore of the insanity before me, I choose to instead examine this woman's appearance. Maybe there are some clues about her identity. The woman is quite short; must be under five feet. The outfit she has on is quite simple, and it is almost like she is dressing up for work. Only thing unprofessional about her is her dark blue hair, which is done in a very messy high ponytail and has some streaks of grey running through it. She has yellow-orange eyes, with a hint of brown, and massive bags underneath them. Earrings can be seen past the mess of her hairstyle, with the left stud being black and the other white, both of them also having a little bit of red in the middle.

For her outfit itself, though, she has a green jean jacket with the inside being white and red buttons. The green jacket is mostly buttoned up, save for the final two buttons at the top. Though, with further inspection, all the buttons are done haphazardly and some are even done in the wrong spots. What is underneath is a simple black top. The jacket is clearly too big for her. Because of the low cut of both the jacket and shirt, the stranger's silver necklace with a heart pendant can be clearly seen. She also has another necklace that is white in color, though maybe it can be described more as a collar, especially with how suspiciously red her skin is around the collar. There is also similar jewelry to her collar on her wrists, with the same red markings.

She has on a pleated skirt that has a grey, white, and black plaid pattern. The stranger has thigh high grey stockings with a grey garter that connects to somewhere I should not be thinking about. Her shoes are below-the-knee black boots with large heels that still do not do any favors to her height. Even when she is standing completely still, the woman is a little wobbly.

"..." The woman looks at me directly in the eyes and blinks. I blink back. "...Uh, hi?"

Awkward silence.

"This isn't what it looks like! I know it looks bad since you don't recognize me in this form, but I have the authority to do this! It's the teacher's job to clean up after a crime has occurred!" she shouts.

"...Mononeko?" I ask her.

"...Shiro!? What are you doing here? You should be in bed!" the woman reprimands me.

"Are you going to do something about it?"

I should probably not antagonize one of the people forcing us through this anymore. Some other people might attack the wannabe bear in this situation, but, even with this human's meager appearance, I could notice she has too much muscle for me to put up with myself. Even without her muscle, it would not be wise, since she is armed with her army of robot bears and probably with actual weapons as well. A gun could easily be hidden in her jacket.

"No, we've already messed with your minds too much. Plus, you being here probably means somebody wants you to understand what's happening. Although, I'm sorry, but it's a little too late to figure out what was originally in this room," the human Mononeko says.

The room is completely empty now except for the lights Mononeko must have just installed.

"How did you do that?"

"I think you should know by now. It's not like we hid it very well from all of you. This is the Neo World Program," she explains.

I cannot bring myself to be very shocked. After all, this place is a little too weird to be happening in reality.

"Although, I promise you that if you're disappointed, we're still in space. Just in the Neo World Program...in space..." There is once again awkward silence when she finishes what she's saying.

This game is not as dangerous as I thought if it's in the Neo World Program. The Despairs have tried to use this program in the past but failed. Kirigiri probably did something reckless again and that's how they got in possession of it. Perhaps survival will be more simple than originally thought, since Ayano Kamukura can use her hacking to easily get us out of here. Plus, Kazuhiko can also find us easily, even if we are in space.

"I should officially introduce myself! My name is Aimi Inoue, the Ultimate Robotics Operator." Aimi bows, even though she almost falls onto the ground.

Aimi Inoue: Mononeko

Ultimate Robotics Operator

"Before you ask, Shiro, I'm indeed an official Ultimate. I'm part of the first class. Even though I was much older than all of them and it was quite embarrassing!" Aimi further explains. "Scouted by Shun Tsukishiro himself!"

After all that has happened before, my brain will need some sleep before it can officially process any of this. Even though barely anybody went to class in Hope's Peak, I think I would have remembered somebody like Aimi being there. Or maybe I spent too much time not paying attention to even the names of my classmates that Aimi managed to slide under the radar. Once again, I have the urge to scream at my younger, teenage self for overlooking such obvious red flags about everything.

"I'm sorry, Shiro, but if you speak about this to anybody else, then I would sadly have to punish you," Aimi spells out.

"I will not tell anyone."

It is in my best interest for the other players in this game to not have all the information. After all, even with the information about this being in the Neo World program, there is a chance that the Despairs have learned from the mistakes of their previous era.

"Good boy, Shiro. You're always somebody I can trust on! So continue being yourself and improving everybody!" Aimi smiles, though she stops after only a second. "Though, I would like to ask you to leave now. I would really like to go to sleep already..."

There must be something I could ask though, with Aimi being more open now, presumably since nobody else is here. Maybe Aimi will spill her secrets, with her being overconfident with my vow of silence. Nobody needs to learn the truth but I. Silence is never a punishment for me.

"What's your relationship with the Master?" Maybe I should have thought out my question a little bit more carefully. Sometimes even I let my curiosity get the better of me.

"Isn't it clear? We're half-sisters," Aimi answers. That was easier than I thought. "She's my little sister, much like Fumiko and Kimiko and...uh, let's not talk about the last one! We've been through everything together! I won't let the Master make the same horrible decisions as the other two. After all, you should know that it's an older sibling's job to care for the younger ones! Even somebody like you can do that in the Amari household, right?"

I do not know what to say.

"No matter what, I'll stick by the Master's side! I won't allow you to do anything, Shiro. You should accept her kindness. Otherwise...you don't want to know what she'll do to you...and the ones you love..." Aimi refuses to make eye contact with me. "Nobody can escape. In the end, you will accept her desires and so will Hope."

"..." What is somebody supposed to say to something like this?

Some hero would probably be like 'no, that's wrong' but that's not the smartest move when somebody holds your life in their hands. Mononeko is out of her fucking mind. Maybe instead of being a cat, Mononeko should be a white rabbit.

"My sister's will is absolute," Aimi states. When her eyes meet up with mine once again, they have the infamous despair swirls.

Even somebody who tries to hide their true colors like Aimi can not do it long. An actor has to eventually lose character, or they risk losing themselves to their role.

"...No..." Logic cannot defeat emotion in that single moment.

Aimi sighs. Her eyes return to normal.

"Maybe you'll be the first one to break free from her rule, but I highly doubt it. Now get some sleep, young one, and have some sweet dreams. You're gonna need it in this chapter," Aimi warns.

Of course, like always, the gas returns. I am powerless to not succumb to its overwhelming might.

There's really nothing else to say here or reviews to interact with so enjoy this short chapter. There's a lot of reveals and I'm ready for everybody's head to explode.

Things only get more crazy from here y'all~