I do apologize for the wait, but hey school, work, lack of motivation, another story, all take time away from here. But I'm back, with what I hope to be another quality chapter. Anyways I haven't pestered about this in a while but after next trial this poll will be important so I hope you all vote on it. Anyways, let's get into it.
Trial Room 1:37 PM
Ichiro's POV
We were all in shock. Again someone who we had only known for a brief period of time had died a brutal death. First Hiyoko and now Peko, the bear was clearly not pulling any punches. Many had their eyes closed forcing themselves to not look, while others stared on, angry, stoic, or even both. However, Fuyuhiko took it the hardest, he was keeled over and I could hear faint sobs from his direction. Aoi and Chihiro were trying to comfort him but it appeared that they were getting nowhere.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. The despair is so fulfilling. The despair is coursing through each of you as more of you die by your own hands!" Monokuma cackled, a shit eating grin splayed across his face, clearly enjoying everyone's misory.
"Would you shut up, you fucking disgrace!" Fuyuhiko screamed at the bear, tears rolling down his eyes as he looked up for the first time since the execution began.
"Fuyuhiko stop, you're giving the bear what he wants. He wants us all to succumb to his despair, but we won't allow him to succeed," Kaede spoke, attempting to win over the group, in hopes of leaving the trial without incident from the bear's influence.
"Yeah, let's get out of here before his despair boner becomes a problem," Miu jeered.
"Miu, now's not the time, but she's right let's get out of here before Monokuma makes it worse," Keebo spoke up this time.
Everyone agreed with the Inventor and Robot, and left the dreaded trial room, feeling more hollow and empty than we had before we had entered. Monokuma continued to antagonize us, but none of us even turned our head in his direction to listen to him. We all filed into the elevator to take us back up to the first floor. The elevator had an eerie silence to it, no one dared to say a word. We arrived to the first floor after what felt like an eternity, and everyone dispersed. Some to their rooms, others to the Dining Hall, and others to who knows where.
I personally made my way to the Dining Hall, to attempt to gather my thoughts and bearings in a group setting. I knew the more reasonable students of Hope's Peak would probably stick around with the group and attempt to smooth things over. However it appeared that I was the only one to head to the Dining Hall, as I was the only one who was there. However after I had sat down to gather my thoughts like I had planned, I was jarred by the door opening and voices coming from the door's general direction.
I stole a glance at the source of the noise to see Mondo and Leon talking to each other in somewhat hushed voices. I couldn't make out what was said but it seemed clear that they were talking about the trial. I waved the duo over to where I was sitting, and they walked over and sat down next to me.
"Hey man, how you holding up after that," Mondo asked quietly as if he was trying to hide our conversation from something.
"I've been better," I responded. "What do you guys think Fuyuhiko is going to do?" I went on, wondering about their thoughts on the situation at hand.
"Probably weep and cry in his room for a couple days," Leon suggested, scratching the back of his head.
"I don't know man, that guy was a known gangster, wouldn't be surprised if he's our next murderer," Mondo suggested, pondering the idea that Fuyuhiko could be the next killer.
"Come on man give him the benefit of the doubt maybe he'll more past this, and besides, I think those executions should deter anyone from killing," I spoke up, with my own opinions.
"Yeah man, but man that execution was brutal, and I thought Hiyoko's was bad," Leon said placing his hands on the table clasping them together. He stared into the distance for what seemed to be five long, cold minutes, and his eyes looked like glass when he finally came to look at us.
"I just hope we won't have to see another one for a long while or at all for that matter. I think there will definitely be a leader meeting to decide what happens. Or a moral meeting, but we need to make sure this doesn't happen again," I said, figuring Twogami and Taka would take matters into their own hands again.
"Yeah and man that committee or whatever, didn't work at all man, we still lost two people," Mondo said, looking down at his twiddling thumbs.
"Knowing Taka he'll say it was a one time thing and amp up security," I joked, cracking a half-smile, earning a smirk from Mondo and a half-hearted smile from Leon.
"It's only the afternoon but it feels like it's gone longer… I'd go to sleep but I don't think ibuki would want me to do that. I'm heading to the gym to stay with her supplies. If you want to shoot some hoops… or anything please come over. This fucking shit's too crazy for a jock like me."
"Yeah I know man, I'd be down to shoot some hoops though," Mondo said just as Leon abruptly ran from the table.
"Yeah I agree man, I could use a distraction," I agreed. "I'm not that hungry anyway."
Hallway 1:42 PM
Makoto POV
Kaito and I had both agreed that talking about the trial and everything else that's been going on would probably be the best for all of us. Kaito attempted to speak with Maki however she, like usual ignored him and left to her room. Kaito managed to convince me to go with him and try to "talk some sense into her" however I was pretty skeptical. For the Ultimate Child Caregiver, she had an air of stoicism that struck fear into us all.
"So man, how's it going," Kaito asked.
"Kaito… I'm going to be honest, you suck at smalltalk," I joked.
"Oh come on man I'm not that bad," Kaito replied with a stupidly large grin on his face.
However as we were walking down the girl's dorm hallway we heard sobbing coming from Mahiru's room. Coincidently her door was also open slightly leaving her room visible to anyone just passing by. We both shared a glance at each other both sharing the same silent conversation. She needed someone to help her through these tough times.
I walked up to her door and gave it a knock and asked "Hey Mahiru everything alright?"
"No, go away, I don't want anyone near me," Mahiru cried through the palms of her hands that were covering her face.
"Mahiru, we mean no harm, we just want to help is all," Kaito chimed in.
"I'm sure that's what Peko said when she entered Ibuki's room or when Teruteru jumped Hiyoko, you guys are probably just going to kill me," Mahiru cried, tears streaming down her face.
"Mahiru calm down, we aren't going to kill you. I can't condone any of their actions, but I'm sure they would want you to move on from them, to get out of here without using their methods," I spoke slowly moving through her doorway and up to her bed to sit next to her while Kaito waited by the door figuring I would be the best for the situation at hand.
"I mean, Hiyoko didn't deserve to die, Teruteru caused his own death and Peko's death was just so… gruesome and horrible, I don't know how long I'll last," Mahiru continued to cry but this time looking up from her hand and turning to me.
"No one deserves to die here, not even those who kill. It's all Monokuma's fault, he's driving these people to do what they did, I think it's best that you move on and forget about the past. Look forward towards the future and help us figure a way out of here," I suggested hoping to get her out of her slump.
"Yeah I guess you're right. I need to move past this, that's what they would want and what you guys would want. Thank you Makoto I really needed that," Mahiru said giving a small smile before hugging me.
"It was no problem really," I said returning the hug and looking back at Kaito giving me a smirk and a thumbs up.
Laundry Room 2:14 PM
Ryoko POV
"I thank you for our light discussion miss Ryoko," Kirumi tells me. "It is more than a pleasure talking to you when we are able to."
"I just needed to find a level head to talk to today," I say quietly. "We lost one of the frankly, saner people today. Though I suppose given her actions we were mistaken in thinking that she was sane."
"We must move on from this. No matter how far we dwindle." She wheels a large hamper out of the Laundry room and closes the door behind her.
The whirs of the dryers, washing machines, and even the sink begins to lull me into a meditative sense of mind. With how loud the machines have been I almost don't hear the sound of shuffling in the laundry room closet. Inquisitively I get up and walk towards it, putting my hand out hesitantly towards the knob.
Hastily I throw open the door and a loud clatter comes from within. "What the actual fuck are you doing Kokichi?"
The diminutive overlord looks at me with a cheshire cat's grin, bigger than I've ever seen him make before. "Want a drink?"
He gestures to Bleach, Hydrogen Peroxide, cleaning solutions, Tide Pods, Detergent, and even the odd towel or two. "You're insane," I say bluntly.
"We're all mad here my dear Bitch."
"Can you please watch your tongue?"
"What would you do to me? Drown me in these washing machines while I scream 'Oh help me, help me! I saw Ryoko's ugly puss and she's gonna drown me!'"
"...no need to be so vulgar," I say tiredly, about to slam the door in his face.
He intercepts the motion of the door and gets in my face...or tries to anyway. "Really? The biggest threats in this school is me being so vulgar? Some girl here needs to get her priorities straight."
I sigh loudly and make a turn to leave the laundry room. "Heh," Kokichi chuckles. "Did I scare you off?"
"Let's get you out of the closet, the fumes are obviously getting to you," I say tiredly, trying to drag him out.
"But I'm not ready to come out as a flamboyant homosexual as I was!"
"And you say we're not the ones taking things seriously."
"Maybe if you actually focused on the conflict like my own burgeoning sexuality then-"
"THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT!" I snap.
"YOU COULD SNIFF OUT THESE CONFLICTS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN!"
"LIKE YOU CARE!"
"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW YOU NEVER ASK ME!"
I put my fingers to my nose and pinch tightly. There's bound to be trouble wherever Kokichi happens to be. Just before I open my mouth he walks past me and sits in front of one of the washing machines. "Now what are you doing?"
"Don't you think that all of this is meaningless?" he abruptly asks. "Like this washing machine. No matter how many times we put clothes in they never stay clean. It's like how Monokuma always dirties us up, no matter how clean we think we are. All of this is a pointless runaround and there is hardly any purpose to trying to link together."
Once more I sigh loudly. "For fuck's sake…" I grumble.
"You're mad because it's true."
"...well maybe we need to put in more effort to stay clean and not being dirty in the first place."
"So you're accusing me of being a faggot?"
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE KOKICHI!" I shout. "Lay off of that bullshit for one second!"
He rolls on the floor, a deranged cackle coming from his lips as his eyes seemingly release pearls of tears. "Don't blame me for trying to lighten the mood especially when you've been such a Debbie Downer or a Ruinous Ryoko."
"...why do I even bother with people like you?"
"Because I'm your type? Because you like how I say it truthfully and you're getting your ovaries in a twist more than Ichiro's rippling eight pack can ever?"
I clench my fists tightly, trying to divert blood from my blushing cheeks. "Was it that obvious?" I accidentally think aloud.
"Shit I didn't think I was right," Kokichi says, looking at me confused. "Well, I'm willing to be your prince and knight in shining armour, and I can show you my sword, it'll be much sharper than Peko's ever was."
I take a deep breath, counting from one to ten at least five times, and Kokichi still has that stupid smug, shit, eating grin on his face. "For the love of all that is holy please wipe that grin off of your face," I say tersely.
"Can you help me my sweet?"
I push the diminutive 'overlord' into a hamper. "I'm done," I say quietly. As I storm out of the room angrily I see Kokich fix his ascot from the pile. When he tries to climb out of the pile he grabs onto the standing hamper and it falls over him. I laugh loudly, obnoxiously, and unpleasantly once I slam the door.
"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR ALL THIS FUCKING MAYHEM YOU'VE CAUSED YOU LITTLE EMPTY EYED BIG GRILLED UGLY MUGGED MOTHER FUCKER!" I shout angrily.
I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to see the artist and fortune teller looking at me with confused looks on their faces. They both seem to have a bit of wear on their faces. "I know I'm not the best at guessing what goes on but it is more likely than not something dealing with...Ko….Ko...Ki...Kokichi?" Yasuhiro stammers.
"Well you're right," I say tiredly. "It's been a long day. I can tell you guys think so too."
"I didn't think you were a clairvoyant as well," Yasuhiro says.
"I'm just going to head off to my room. Kokichi somehow made me feel worse off. Angie and Yasuhiro look at each other without much emotion and wave awkwardly to me. The two then continue their conversation quietly.
I open the door to my room angrily and slam it behind me. Now I do wonder what Ichiro is up to now. But that can wait. Today still sucks.
Gym 2:37 PM
Ichiro POV
The three of us had decided that we'd play one on one, first to make three baskets stays, loser switches. We had played about ten games I had won four, Leon had won four and Mondo had won two. Mondo and Leon were on the court and Mondo was on a two-game winning streak as he had just figured out he could dunk and he was using it to his full advantage. Leon wasn't tall enough and I couldn't jump high enough to be able to block it.
Leon had just made a shot making the game two to two when Tenko had walked in. It appeared that she wanted to workout, but it was clear she didn't want any of us around. She was a pure feminist so it made sense but it was still pretty annoying. Me being a decent human being asked her if she wanted to join.
"Hey Tenko, you wanna join us, we need another player for a two on two," Leon and Mondo looked at me like I'm crazy and she looked puzzled as if she hadn't expected anyone let alone a male to ask her to play.
"Yeah sure I guess," she replied, "I guess I'll join you on a team,"
"Yeah sure, I'll take Mondo and you Leon?" I ask
"Sure I guess," she said still a little unsure of herself.
We decided to play to twenty-one, traditional three pointers were worth two points and traditional two pointers were worth one point. Leon and Mondo took and early lead, however Tenko and I found our groove and we were able to make a comeback and win twenty-one to eighteen.
We each took a seat on the bleachers, we were all pretty silent attempting to gather our breath and all of a sudden Leon began to sing.I didn;t recognize the tune but it was definitely a sad one.
There's no one in town I know
You gave us someplace to go
I never said thank you for that
I thought I might get one more chance
What would you think of me now
So lucky, so strong, so proud?
Never said thank you for that
Now I'll never have a chance
May angels lead you in
We just sat and listened to him sing. He had a great voice kind of raspy and smooth in the right spots. Coincidently Sayaka walked around when he was a quarter of the way through.
"Hey guys have you seen Makoto, I've been looking around for him?" she asked, "Oh my, Leon was that you singing, it was beautiful. What was the song?," she went on.
"Thank you Sayaka, I never really thought of the lyrics for this now but I think that Hear you me is...well it's small comfort now but I think it fits what's going on now."
"I've never heard about that song, what is it about?" Mondo asked.
"It's...it's the loss of a friend you know," Leon said sadly. "I can't believe she's gone. That's embarrassing though, you all heard my voice."
"No, I bet Ibuki would have loved that you got to sing in front of us." Sayaka reassured.
"Thanks, that really means a lot," Leon said.
"Hey maybe we should do a talent show at some point?" Sayaka suggested.
"That would be a great idea," Tenko chimed in.
"Maybe we could set something up here, or in the Dining Hall," I suggested.
"We'd have to coordinate it, but I think it would be cool and it'd be a great moral boost," Sayaka mused.
"Taka is probably the closest thing to an event coordinator we got maybe we could use him," Mondo wondered.
"Oh I hope this works, it'd be wonderful," Sayaka cheered.
"Yeah it would," Leon said cracking a small smile.
Hallway 3:03 PM
Makoto POV
As many of us dispersed through the building to relieve the stress of the day, I glanced down at my monopod to see the updated map. It looked as though there were at least eight new rooms open, two of which were closets, four of which were classrooms, and the last two being a computer lab and Sauna.
I looked around me to see if anyone was willing to search around. I passed the gym and heard something of a light conversation between Leon and Sayaka while some of the other jockier guys continued to wasn't until I passed the gym that I saw two people also heading my direction. "Hi Togami," I called out.
The scion turned with his glasses overturned. "Will you cease your yelling?" he asked irately. "The trial was already infuriating enough. I was just about to go with Mister Amami, at his insistence, into the new wing."
"Hello Makoto," Rantaro said giving a slight wave.
"That it is. Can I come along? I don't want to miss anything important."
Though Togami rolled his eyes Rantaro shrugged and waved me over. The three of us made the relatively short walk over to the new wing. "So Togami ,what have you noticed in this new wing?"
"There is not much of note," Togami explained. "The closets are exactly what you expect. Three buckets, a mop, a broom, and some supplies in each of them. The classrooms are merely copy pasted versions of each other."
"But we can still check them out, right?" I ask.
"I suppose plebeians like you have little better to do," Togami said disdainfully. He leads both me and Rantaro towards the first of the four new classrooms.
From the looks of it the room is a geography classroom with a topographic model of Japan in the center. "This reminds me of home," Rantaro says sadly. "I saved up for a topographic map of Asia when I was eight years old. My parents really did chew me out for it when I was I was younger."
"That must have been nice getting something big that young," I compliment.
"I've been in the process of getting a world topographic map before I wound up here actually." The conversation ends when Togami slams a cabinet door shut.
"There's nothing here," Togami says bluntly. "Just books on fictional lands."
The next room we walk into is a multi purpose classroom as is the next one after that. The fourth classroom is an electronics lab, with a blond head curled over a desk with sparks coming out. "Well, I guess we already know what this room is for," I note quietly.
"I've never really been a fan of electronics," Rantaro says. "I like nature more but you can't live without Electronics in today's life."
Like before, the conversation enters a quiet period that ends when Byakuya takes the two of us into the first specialty room. The computer lab has five rows of nine computers, a projector, and at least three printers in the room. "This room says it's usually supposed to be open twenty-four hours," Rantaro reads off of a memo.
"Yepperooni!" Monokuma says annoyingly. The three of us see him appear on the projector with his stupid grin brightening up the darkness of the room. "The internet is not up to date but you can keep up to date with all your stuff that you need! Just don't look up lewds, that's icky!"
The projector turns off, leaving us in the dark. "Prude," Rantaro says abruptly. I break out in laughter as Byakuya tries turning on a computer.
"I guess the room is open for twenty-four hours but not the computers," Togami gripes.
"We'll have to check this out later." The other two agree and we walk out of the computer lab, taking care to turn off the lights when we leave.
At the end of the hallway, just before a closed off stairway, is a Sauna. It doesn't look that big, it looks like it can fit up to fifteen people at once and the thermometer looks well adapted to high temperatures and humidity. "Well there is not enough in this room to be of note," Togami said smugly.
"Not enough of note?" Rantaro asks incredulously.
"Obviously you two wouldn't know. Now please leave. I have had only enough patience for one of you today," Togami says. Rantaro and I look at each other as Togami strips down. "Go on, go, I'm not going to give you anything of a show."
Rantaro and I make our way out of the Sauna with much haste, accidentally bumping into a scissors holding Fukawa. "Hey, off to do some arts and crafts?" Rantaro asks.
The writer gasped and threw away the scissors. "Not...Not any of your business…" Toko started. "Wh-Where is Master Togami?" Rantaro points to the Sauna and the artist nods her head and squeaks out a little thank you.
"I take it it's the stress of the day, huh?" I say after we see Fukawa barge into the Sauna.
"It's a good thing that the Sauna is now open, they are relaxing."
"I wouldn't know, I've hardly been in one."
"Hot springs are more my forte," Rantaro says as we walk past the geography room. "No matter the hike Id take there'd always be a hot spring at the end of it all. And that was reward enough after all the beautiful sights that I'd see after the hike."
"Well that's pretty cool, I wish I could head off on an adventure like you. Have you thought that Geography was part of your talent?"
"It won't surprise me if planning was a part of my talent to. These hikes would take a while from planning to action."
"That's probably why my parents wouldn't take me to the national parks. They were pretty busy. We went camping in a small park once, but that is about my experience with camping and the outdoors," I explain.
"When we get out of here then we're going to go camping, all of us. I'll see if my planning skills really is enough for my talent. I'll have to look at the room for books to see where we'd all like to go."
"Please don't let it be too far remote."
"Adventure is only a couple of letters away from remote, so no promises there my dear Naegi." I look at him fearfully and he chuckles. "It's only remote if everyone else would like it, rookie adventurers like you don't need to be scared off for too long."
"Well I look forward for the adventure."
"It has been a pleasure talking with you Mister Naegi, but it looks as though Mahiru wishes to talk to you."
Rantaro slips away from our conversation and I see Mahiru walking up to me. "Did you find anything of note?" Mahiru asks.
"Nope, just got to hang out with Rantaro and Togami for a bit. Just eight new rooms to be honest."
"Ah, well no use in looking at others, right? Especially not with degenerates like Togami."
"I mean he's not that bad."
"Not as good as you. At the very least, let's go grab some food to eat. That is if you aren't as busy."
"No, I could go for a little something," I say. The two of us walk off, her camera dangling around her neck. At the very least we're going to eat.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, it was definitely a process, anyways again vote on the poll, and I hope you're excited for the motive next chapter and I hope the after trial interactions were good, I can't wait for your reviews.
Guest: Thanks
Chlow: I do wish I made Peko live longer, but I just couldn't think of anyone else who would kill in the given motive. I will admit that you are dead on a couple of your predictions however I won't disclose which ones as I'd only do that in the PMs and sense your a guest I can't do that. But we shall see how your predictions play out man. Hope you keep reading.
Corn: Yeah I will admit I was struggling to come up with a good original Peko execution so full disclosure Hopps wrote that in. However I agree, the original will never be topped. Byakuya will get more time, with such a large cast its difficult, but I'm glad you like him so far. We'll see how your predictions play out as you were off last time but hey I'm off a lot to so… anyways hope you keep reading.