"Let's just forget about it and discuss something else. Okay?" Kaede said. "Let's all think about ways to get out of here."
"By the way, who made all this food?" I asked as I took a bite of some of it. "Holy crap! This is delicious!"
"I prepared the meal earlier today before everyone arrived at the dining hall. I have made Italian omelets, buttermilk pancakes, smoked salmon galette, and for those who prefer Japanese cuisine, I have made rice balls and miso soup." Kirumi answered with a smile on her face, happy that she could serve all of us.
"Kirumi, be my mom!" Kokichi shouted out.
"Gonta want you to be his mom too!" Gonta joined in. I laughed a bit at both of their sudden and honest requests. I looked over to Kirumi, but she wasn't smiling anymore. She seemed to tense up as soon as the word 'mom' was used to describe her.
"Please do not refer to me as that." Kirumi said with a furrowed brow, though she still came off as polite.
"Ok! No problem Mom!" Kokichi said with a mischievous grin. I could see the polite smile on Kirumi falter just a tiny bit at that. Aside from Kokichi teasing Kirumi, everyone in the dining hall was having a good time, all things considered. But before anyone could fully enjoy themselves, a familiar black and white bear appeared suddenly.
"Hold up! I have an announcement!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Kaede screamed, almost falling out of her chair, along with a few others.
"Hey, don't just suddenly show up! It's too much stress for my heart!" Tsumugi said.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to not surprise you." Monokuma said.
"So you did mean to surprise us." Himiko pointed out.
"Well? Your announcement?" Rantaro asked.
"It's not terribly important, but…" Monokuma sighed. "It's easier to stay alive by being an obvious goody two-shoes, right? Being thrust into a killing game doesn't mean you'll be able to kill someone easily. So I figured I'd ease you guys into the killing game by giving you a motivation to kill."
"...Motivation to kill?" Maki asked.
"In short, a motive! That oughta add some mystery to the proceedings! Even if a killer is exposed, they could whip up a sob story to deceive everyone!" Monokuma said with a smile.
"Wh-What are you saying? Your logic is impossible to understand…!" Keebo said.
"I will now announce the first motive! Make sure you record this moment for posterity!"
"Do you have a camera or pen and paper for us to do that?" I asked sarcastically.
"Oh a wiseguy, eh? We'll see how far that gets you." Monokuma said before grinning wide and maliciously. "Now then, the special motive I've prepared is called the First Blood Perk! Wow! For the first murder that occurs, no class trial will be held! Can you believe it? That means the first one to kill someone will get to graduate, no strings attached!"
"No class trial will be held?" Maki asked.
"But weren't these class trials important for this 'sophisticated experience'?" I asked.
"I'm sorry that I made the class trial seem more important than it really is, so for the first murder, I've decided not to hold a class trial at all. Please just relax, calm down, and kill! After all, the first one's free!"
"Huh? That's all? We just gotta kill someone to get outta here!?" Miu asked.
"'That's all'!? What's that supposed to mean!? Please just calm down!" Keebo stated.
"First Blood Perk!? Don't make it sound like some kind of game show bonus!" Tenko yelled.
"Puhuhu… You say that, but I bet you're really happy, huh?" Monokuma giggled.
"There's no way I'm happy!" Tenko said as she shook with a mixture of terror and anger.
"S-Stop messing around… Do you think this is fun for us?" Kaede asked sternly.
"...Hm?" Monokuma tilted his head in a confused manner.
"Do you really think I'd kill someone just to get out? In your dreams!" Kaede yelled. "We're not gonna lose to you! We promised each other we'd escape from this place!"
"Puhuhu… Spare me your false bravado. You should be focusing on how you plan to survive. You just gotta kill someone, right?"
"Why you...bastard!" Kaito clenched his fist angrily as he gritted his teeth.
"I see… The prisoner's dilemma. How very clever of you, Monokuma." Rantaro said.
"Huh? What's that?" Kaito asked. Something clicked in my brain at that.
"It's a situation where a group of people are in a situation where they would be better off working together in the long run, but each individual has a chance to betray the others to gain an advantage the others won't get. This motive's sole purpose is to split us up, encouraging us to betray each other to gain that one advantage." I explained.
"That's right. With this motive in the back of our minds, we're less likely to cooperate." Rantaro added. "That's Monokuma's plan. To make a non-cooperative game that tanks Kaede's plan to get us to cooperate."
"What?" The girl in question shouts.
"And if a murder were to occur...it'd be even more unlikely that we'd cooperate." Shuichi further elaborated.
"It's likely he created this perk for that sole purpose." Kiyo stated.
"Right? I bet you can't stand all this tension in the air, right? So it's better to just kill!" Monokuma stated.
"Wh-What…? You…" Tenko was too shocked to respond.
"It seems you are quite serious about forcing us to participate in this killing game. What exactly is your objective?" Kirumi asked.
"It's probably as simple as just watching us suffer and fall to lower depths for his sick, twisted entertainment." I suggested with a disgusted look.
"His objective doesn't matter! I'm through letting him have his way!" Kaito shouted. "I've had enough!"
Kaito is going to attack Monokuma.
What!? "Kaito! Don't-!" I was too late. Kaito already lunged toward Monokuma to grab him, but…
"Rise and shine, ursine!" The Monokubs appeared and stopped him.
"Hell yeah! Looks like we got ourselves a volunteer!" Monokid cheered.
"Finally, it's time for the Exisals!" Monotaro stated.
"We won't let you lay a hand on Daddy! We want Daddy to smile every day!" Monophanie cried out.
"You can't!" I yell out. "He didn't break any rules yet! He hasn't harmed Monokuma yet!" The Monokubs ignored me.
"Doesn't matter. He was obviously about to! Youse bastards better pay attention! This is what happens when you mess with us!" Monosuke yelled.
"Wh-What? What are you guys planning to do?" Kaito asked nervously.
"P-Please, don't!" Keebo pleaded.
"Run, Kaito!" Kaede yelled. Before he could, we all heard mechanical noises. The Exisals rushed into the dining hall and…
Smash!
The sound of crushing metal echoed throughout the dining hall, and then, a final gasp.
"GRRRRRRAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Monokuma, not Kaito, was the one being crushed under the Exisal. After a few more seconds, Monokuma exploded.
...What?
"F-Father!?" Monotaro cried out.
"Wahhhh! Daddy got turned into a pile of scrap metal!" Monophanie said as she puked.
"Th-This is Monodam's fault, somehow!" Monokid screamed. Even Monodam was visibly upset about what happened.
"Wh-What is this…? What's going on…?" Tenko asked.
"I'm not sure what's going on, but… Monokuma's in pieces." Ryoma explained.
"S-Serves him right! He got just what he deserved!" Kaito said, obviously relieved that it wasn't him crushed.
"Do not celebrate just yet. I'm certain he has a spare that will appear momentarily." Kirumi pointed out.
"Agreed. There's no way Monokuma would so easily be killed." I said.
"Th-There is no spare! Don't trivialize life like that!" Monophanie cried out.
"What?" Kaede asked.
"When Father was still alive, he used to tell us cubs that we must cherish life because we're like snowflakes-unique in every way." Monotaro cried.
"If only one Monokuma existed, then does this mean Monokuma is dead?" Maki asked.
"Poor Daddy! Let's at least bury him with full honors!" Monophanie cried.
"Yeah. We'll cook him low and slow to lock in the flavor." Monotaro said through his tears. The Monokubs then began to talk about how they were going to make the deceased Monokuma into curry.
"Now that we're the headmasters, we gotta eat more so we can get stronger." Monosuke explained. With that, The Monokubs left.
"U-Umm… What's going on?" Tsumugi asked.
"Hmm… Everything's a complete mess now. But if there's no final boss, then that means this killing game is canceled!" Kokichi cheered.
"Huh!? Cancelled!?" Gonta exclaimed.
"I don't think so. Monokuma's just a robot. There has to be someone controlling him." Rantaro stated.
"Agreed. If the killing game was actually canceled, I believe the people who kidnapped us would have made an announcement or something." I added.
"Ah-haha, don't be such a worrywart! Everything's definitely over now!" Kokichi cheered. "With the mastermind gone, continuing this killing game is pretty much impossible. Which means… we win!"
"Yay! We did it! Nyahahaha!" Angie cheered.
"So we're not in danger anymore?" Tenko asked.
"Oh, so do we just wait here for the shuttle bus to pick us up, or…?" Tsumugi began to ask.
"W-Wait a minute! We don't know that yet-" Kaede tried to say.
"Kaede, quit being a buzzkill! Everyone's still annoyed about what you did yesterday!" Kokichi said.
"B-But I didn't mean it like tha-."
"Or...is there something you would have us do, Kaede?" Kiyo asked.
"Don't tell me you wanna take on that underground passage again!?" Miu asked angrily.
"...Quiet. We know it's impossible." Maki said.
"...Sorry." Kaede said quietly.
"Hey! That's not what Kaede mea-." Before I could finish, Kokichi cut me off.
"Whatevs, looks like we're done here. Phew, what a relief." Soon after he said that, everyone dispersed and went their separate ways. I stayed in the dining hall, since I didn't get to finish breakfast, though my appetite had sorely decreased. I couldn't stop everyone from ganging up on Kaede again. I should probably check up on her when I get the chance. I finished with a sigh. Well, no use moping around. I should probably make myself useful. I wonder if there's anyone who needs help with anything.
The library.
Huh? The library. I know I've started to take these random bits of knowledge more seriously, but what am I supposed to do with just "The library"? I thought about it as I cleaned my plate in the kitchen before it hit me. I never did check out that weird bookshelf, did I? Maki scared me off before I could. I totally forgot about it due to everything that happened after. Maybe I should go check it out. I start walking over to the library, running into a few people on the way. When I got to the stairs, I ran into Kaede and Shuichi coming up from the basement. "Oh hey. What's up you two?"
"Oh Rin. What are you doing?" Kaede asked.
"Oh, I was going to explore the library again. I didn't get a chance to properly check out what's in there since Maki scared me off after she introduced herself." I said. For a brief second I see both their eyes widen a bit, though it's only for a second. Huh? What was that for?
"Y-Yeah. Maki tends to have that effect." Shuichi says nervously.
"Seriously. She gave me the scariest murderous glare I've seen, at least from what I remember, which isn't much." I said with a laugh. "There's probably nothing there, but I just remembered I didn't search it thoroughly, and it's gonna bother me if I don't check it out. After all, you guys don't think this is over either, right?" I asked.
"H-Huh? N-No, not really." Kaede stammers. I raise an eyebrow. Ok...something's up.
"Uh...is something wrong?" I asked. "Wait, are you still upset with what happened in the dining hall? Kaede, I'll say it again. That wasn't your fault. You're just trying your best for the group. Sometimes people can be blind to such goodwill. Don't let it get to you."
"Umm...right…" Kaede trailed off. Is that not it? Then what's going on? Well, I can't stay and pick their brains about it. I've got a bookshelf to check out.
"Alright… If you need anything, just let me know. You can trust me." After that, I walked down to the basement area, leaving the two behind. I made my way inside the library, looking around to make sure no one was there. Kaede and Shuichi were acting strange, and they just came up from this lower area. Did they find something? If so, it must have been in the library, since they only started to act weirdly after I mentioned going there. After confirming I was alone, I walked up to the obviously suspicious bookshelf. "What are you hiding?" I asked out loud. I searched the shelf, and found a strange gap in between the books. I put my hand in it and found a latch. Pulling it, the shelf moved and opened up, revealing a hidden door behind it.
"I see… That explains why there are drag marks here. A secret door with a card reader, huh? How cliche. And poorly done. I doubt I'm the only one to find this. Why would they make it so obvious?" When I thought about it, a few things dawned on me. First, Shuichi and Kaede must have found this. That would explain why they started acting weird after I mentioned going to the library. Great...I probably looked super suspicious, coming down here immediately after Monokuma was destroyed. Secondly, the reason this door is so easy to find is probably to be a red herring. It's probably some kind of trap, like the tunnel, but for what? And why? The fact that this exists implies that one of us is a traitor working with Monokuma, or even worse, is the mastermind of this killing game. It also confirms this isn't the end of the game, as the mastermind probably has access to making spare Monokumas in there. Double great.
So, what should I do with this knowledge? I could tell everyone, but that could lead to mass panic and accusations. I could tell one person, but that could lead to other problems, like them spreading the secret or using the door for something else. Even worse, if they're the mastermind, that would backfire on me horribly. Actually, the mastermind probably already knows that I know about the door. Monokuma mentioned how he knew we were planning to escape through the tunnel, so there probably is a way they are using to watch us. Hidden cameras, most likely. Hmm… this is a tricky situation. Delegate, even. If I don't handle this properly, I, or someone else, could be killed.
Crack! Thump!
"Huh?" I instinctively turned my head to look at what suddenly had caused that sound. It sounded like something heavy falling after something smashed into something. I don't know what I expected to see, but what I did see almost made me puke and caused my vision to go dark. Blood. Blood everywhere. And there, in the middle of it all, was Rantaro, or at least his body, unmoving and devoid of life. His head was smashed in, his right hand covered in his own blood, and a bloody shot-put ball next to his head. Oh god… What? Why is Rantaro here? And why is he dead? I just saw him earlier as I was making my way here! What is this!? I blinked a few times, trying not to cry and puke all at once, but after a few blinks, the body...disappeared.
I fell backwards, staring at the now empty and clean space. There was not a hint of the scene I had just witnessed. Was...was it all just a hallucination? Why did I see that!? It felt so...so...real. I'm snapped out of my daze when I hear the moving bookshelf move back into place by itself. It returns to its normal state by itself? That's... something to keep note of. I took a deep breath. Come down. Nothing happened. No one is dead. Rantaro is still alive. You saw him not too long ago. Most of the group think the killing game is over, so no one would kill. I calmed myself down and exited the library. I just wanted to get as far away from that place as I could right now.
I quickly made my way outside of the academy. Forget about what you thought you saw. Just forget it. No one is going to die. No one is going to kill. You were just hallucinating. Just a figment of your imagination. It's fine. Everything is going to be fine. I kept telling myself that, as if it would actually do something for me. I then felt my face collide with something. I recoiled back a bit, my repeating thoughts of reassurance disappearing as I am able to take in my surroundings again. The thing I had bumped into was Gonta. The big guy turned around and looked at me with a look of concern.
"Oh! Rin! Are you ok?" He asked. I nodded a bit while rubbing my head.
"Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry Gonta. I wasn't paying attention." I then noticed that Gonta wasn't standing, he was crouching down a bit, looking through the grass, though that didn't stop him from still being taller than me. "Gonta, what are you doing? It looks like you're looking for something."
"Gonta is searching for bug friends. Very strange that there no bugs here, but Gonta sure that they here. Probably just hiding." He exclaimed.
"That's right. You said there weren't any insects here. Very strange..." I pondered for a bit. What could that mean? The fact there are no bugs here when bugs are literally everywhere is very discomforting. It makes everything feel a bit unnatural. Maybe Gonta is right, though. Maybe the insects are just hiding in the dirt and grass. "Hey, Gonta. Want me to help search for them?"
"Really? You want to help Gonta?" He asked happily.
"Sure. Let's see if we can find any of your bug friends here. If we do, maybe you can teach me about them."
"That great idea, Rin! Let's search for new bug friends." Gonta cheered. We then spent a few hours searching for bugs; however, our search led to nothing. This place was devoid of any kind of life other than the 17 of us. There were no traces of bugs, hives, pits, or any other thing relating to bugs. Hell, there weren't even any signs of other animals or creatures anywhere.
"What kind of place is this? There isn't a single bug out here?" I groaned in frustration as I sat down on the ground. "There isn't even any kind of worm or bug in the dirt! How in the world did they manage this kind of bug control?" I asked, making sure not to say "pest control" in front of Gonta. Gonta took a seat next to me and nodded.
"Yes, this very strange. Gonta and Rin no could find bugs anywhere." Gonta said with a sad look. "Gonta very sad. Gonta no could show Rin bug friends."
"Hey, don't worry about it, big guy." I said with a reassuring smile. "We might not have found bugs today, but there is a chance we could find some later or tomorrow. Who knows? Besides, while you can't show me your bug friends, maybe you could tell me about them and yourself. That would be nice."
"Yeah! Gonta would like talking to Rin!" Gonta smiled happily as he thought for a moment. "Hmm...What Gonta talk about?"
"Let's see, maybe you could start by telling me what you like. I know you like bugs, but what kind of bugs are your favorite? I said before that I like butterflies."
"Gonta like butterflies too. Butterflies very pretty. Many different colors as well. Butterflies also connected to living and dead." Gonta said.
"Really? Butterflies are related to the deceased? I didn't know that."
"Hm-hm! In many places, butterflies are seen as someone's soul. That why many old paintings have butterflies in them. Butterflies also mean rebirth in some countries too, due to caterpillar becoming butterfly."
"That's fascinating. I never knew that about butterflies." I said, honestly impressed with Gonta's knowledge. He is the Ultimate Entomologist. I really shouldn't underestimate him. "What about you, Gonta? What kind of bugs are your favorite?"
"Gonta like all bugs! Gonta not sure he can choose." Gonta thought for a moment before responding. "Actually, Gonta discovered a new kind of bug before."
"A new kind of bug?"
"Yeah. Gonta really liked how it looked, but bug parasitic worm. It the cause of dangerous disease. People very happy I found bug." Gonta said while rubbing the back of his head. "People tell Gonta that Gonta is hero, but Gonta not think so. Gonta just find bug." Gonta is really humble. He did something that probably saved many lives. He really is incredible.
"That's amazing! Could you tell me more?" I asked. We then began to talk about different types of bugs, with Gonta telling me more about each species. He also talked about how he came up with many new ways to cultivate insects, causing breakthroughs in his field. He was really quite knowledgeable about insects, more so than I could have imagined.
"Gonta like talking about bug friends, but Gonta want to talk about what Rin likes. Not very gentlemanly to just talk about self."
"Oh...well, let me think. I don't know how much I can tell you, since I don't remember most of my life, but I have been picking up details here and there….I think."
"Really? That good you start to remember!" Gonta said happily. "What you remember?"
"Well…" What should I tell him? I'm not really as interesting as him. "Hmm… Well, I'm pretty sure I'm a college student. That makes me older than you all. I'm not sure what I was studying, though. It might have been…something with machines."
"Machines?"
"Yeah, but I'm not confident about that. I only say that because I seemed to have a decent grasp on electronics when I was looking at Keebo in the tunnel."
"Gonta remember that. Rin seemed very smart looking at Keebo."
"I surprised myself back then. I didn't know I was familiar with robotics. I don't know how else to explain my having that knowledge other than I learned it in college, but robotics and the like don't seem like the sort of thing I would want to learn about in college. I mean, I guess I could have learned it from a friend, but that doesn't seem likely. Either way, I'm sure I'm still inferior compared to Miu. Despite how she is, she's still the Ultimate Inventor."
"Gonta think Rin still very smart. Gonta also think Rin very strong and fast. After all, Rin always made it far in underground passage."
"Huh? I did?"
"Yes! Gonta always surprised when you easily made it further then Gonta and others. Rin make it seem easy."
"I-I don't know about that. I'm not really that strong or fast..." Now that I think about it, I guess I was always one of the last people to fail. I always seemed to end up with the last remaining people in the further areas of the tunnel. That's weird though. Gonta said I made it look easy, but I don't remember having an easy time, and I'm not super athletic… Actually, I recall feeling a sense of familiarity when running through the tunnel. Like I had seen the traps before, or that I knew where they were already. But that's not possible. I've never been here before. I haven't gotten any random bits of knowledge about my being here before either, so that's probably not the case.
Sure, I've gotten info about the place and people here, but the way I think about it makes it seem like it was second-hand knowledge. Is the tunnel the same then? Maybe that's why I seemed to have an easier time with it, though not by much since I still failed all the attempts. "Well, we won't have to go to the tunnel anymore if the killing game is over, right? That's a good thing." I said, knowing full well the killing game wasn't over. I just can't bring myself to ruin the happiness everyone seems to have.
"Yeah! We all can be friends now!" Gonta said happily. I couldn't help but smile at Gonta's response.
"Yeah, Gonta. We'll all be friends. I'm sure of it." I then stood up and brushed the dirt off myself. "This was really nice, Gonta. You said you want to be a true gentleman, but believe me when I say you're already an amazing gentleman."
"Really!?" Gonta asked happily. "Gonta grateful Rin say that. Gonta knows he still have much to learn before becoming true gentleman."
"Hahaha. If that's what you think, then I won't stop you. We should hang out again. Maybe we'll find bugs next time."
"Yeah. Gonta and Rin will have lots of fun!" Gonta said happily. After saying goodbye, I went on my way.
