Prologue - Part 4
"The Hope's Peak Academy symbol?" Hiroshi repeated when I told him later that day. He had successfully found Ayami and convinced her to help us open the shed. "So I wasn't just seeing things…"
"Yes," I confirmed. "I know I said we were all due to attend Hope's Peak and that that fact must have been important, but… I never thought the school would actually be connected to Camp Hope- or whatever this place is. I guess that's where the name comes from."
Hiroshi nodded slowly, taking this all in.
"But why would Hope's Peak kidnap us?" Ayami pointed out. "Obviously, if it's on the official map of this place, it has to be connected. But what reason would they have for kidnapping us and wiping our memories? Or making us go to a summer camp in the first place, if we somehow came here by our own will?"
"Wiping our memories?" Hiroshi and I repeated simultaneously.
"You two seem smart," Ayami commented. "Surely you've noticed it. What did you do yesterday?"
It was such a simple, trivial question… but I found myself unable to answer it. I closed my eyes and tried to remember what had happened yesterday- what had happened before I found myself in the weird building, even. But I couldn't remember. It was like an entire day had just been ripped from my mind. I could vaguely remember working with some animals or having conversations with my mother- and arguments with my sister, for that matter- from a few days ago. I could remember all the normal, unimportant things that I did every day. But I couldn't remember anything more recent.
"I can't remember," Hiroshi admitted before I could. "But… erasing memories isn't that simple. Usually, there are just memories that your mind represses when something bad or traumatic happens. So did our kidnappers do something so terrible to us before bringing us here, we just… forgot about it?"
"No," I interrupted. "Like you said, it can't be that simple. Plus, if that happened, why wouldn't we be able to remember anything normal from recently? I don't think I can remember the past two or three days- and I can't say for certain when my most recent memories were from. I'm wondering if they were able to create something that can wipe memories." Theories were swimming into my mind like fish trying to get away from a shark, but one theory in particular rose to the surface. I bit my lip, frowning. It would make sense, but…
"How?" Hiroshi asked. "And what could they have made?"
"If it was a device, they'd need funding," Ayami added. "Like, a lot of funding. Actually, if it's a drug that's so new nobody has heard of it yet, they probably needed a lot of funding for that too. Really, you'd need a lot of money to have anything capable of erasing memories. Where would they get the… oh." She stared at me. "Leona. You've realized it too, haven't you?"
I nodded, a grim look on my face.
"I'm afraid I don't follow," Hiroshi said. "Sorry, this whole conversation has sort of mentally exhausted me."
"Do you remember the Hope's Peak Academy symbol on the map I was telling you about a minute ago?" I asked.
"Yes, I do recall that."
"We're wondering how a place like this could get enough money to have something that can erase memories. Do you follow?"
It took a second, but Hiroshi soon placed his fingers to his temples. "Leona, no. I'm afraid it just doesn't make sense. It doesn't add up."
"I'd beg to differ," Ayami chimed in.
"Leona, you can't make such a bold claim out of nowhere," Hiroshi argued.
"I haven't even said anything yet," I pointed out, a bit irritated. "Would you care to let me explain?"
Hiroshi sighed. "No. I know you haven't said anything, but I know what you're thinking, and I simply cannot support an idea like that. Ayami, would you care to help me open the storage shed?"
Ayami shrugged. "You being in denial doesn't affect me personally, so sure. Leona, are you going to come?"
"No," I decided after a few moments. Now, I was annoyed. Hiroshi's being so immature, denying a perfectly plausible theory that I haven't even explained yet. Hopefully, he'll come around eventually. Or not, actually. I don't really care; it doesn't matter if he believes me or not.
"Suit yourself," Ayami said. "I'll tell you if I find a knife to stab Monokami and Monomausu with."
Hold on. Was that a joke? Maybe Dad Jokes started to rub off on her earlier.
"Okay," I said. "I'm going to try and escape, as per usual."
Hiroshi nodded. "Let me know if you… have any other theories about this place." Ouch. Way to rub salt in the wound.
Before I could reply- not that I had anything to say in the first place- Hiroshi and Ayami turned and headed towards the storage shed.
I decided to sit on a bench beside the campfire to try and sort through my thoughts.
So, my theory… the theory that Hope's Peak Academy is behind Camp Hope somehow. It might not be a completely solid theory, but it's definitely plausible, between the Hope's Peak symbol on the map and the fact that our kidnappers seem to have erased our recent memories, which they would most likely need a lot of money to do.
Now that I think about it, there was something I heard before that pointed towards the fact that this place must have a lot of money…
"Oh my. You're wearing a suit in this weather?" Scarlett gasped. She was wearing a simple dress shirt with a pocket full of pencils on the breast and a dark gray square skirt. She held a small notepad in one hand and a pencil in the other. "How horrendous! You must be simply burning!"
"It's air conditioned in here, Scarlett," Raiu assured her, adjusting his rectangular gray glasses. "She'll be fine. Plus, it's not hot enough outside to induce heat stroke."
That's right- the lodge had air conditioning. I'm sure that costs a decent amount of money. How would kidnappers get money? Ransom notes? But why would they keep us here under the illusion that we're at a camp to have a fun time if that's the case? They must have plumbing, too, or else there would be no reason for the bathrooms.
There was something else, too. Something someone else had said to me earlier.
"Just the kitchen," Hoshi replied. "It's fascinating. Every surface is pristine and it has every ingredient, piece of equipment and dinnerware you could think of."
"It's so strange," Sugi added. "There are so many amenities provided for us here. Considering we've been…" he shuddered before continuing. "...u-um, probably kidnapped… it's actually a pretty nice place, I guess."
I knew all this evidence supported my theory, but it was just making me more confused than anything. Why would Hope's Peak Academy fund a place like this? Why on Earth would they want to kidnap us, sixteen of their new students? Hiroshi is right, it doesn't add up. But unlike him, I can't deny the evidence.
"Leona, no offense, but it kinda looks like your brain is about to explode."
Oh, great. Just what I needed.
My head turned to face Miku's. She looked vaguely concerned, but mostly curious.
"I am not dealing with your hyperactive shit right now," I said. "Leave me alone."
"You're so mean!" Miku pouted. "I was just worried! I was gonna invite you to play a game with the rest of us, but maybe I should just take my 'hyperactive stuff' and leave…"
"Did you- did you just censor me?" I asked incredulously. "Aren't you like, what, sixteen? Seventeen? And I don't want to play a game, anyways. I don't even know any of you."
"But it'll be so fun!" Miku urged. "Don't be a party pooper!"
"What game can you even play? There isn't anything to play with here- it's just a campsite and a forest," I pointed out. "Also, I don't have time to play. I'm busy figuring out who kidnapped us."
"We weren't kidnapped!" Miku said, exhasperated. "Didn't you hear Monomausu? And Raiu? We're here at a summer camp to have fun! As for the game, don't you remember the equipment room in the lodge? We found a whole bunch of fun sports equipment to play with! We're thinking of playing soccer or baseball."
"Wow, your denial about our situation is unbelievable. 'Oooh, we're in summer camp!' 'Oooh, let's play some soccer!' Have you forgotten the part where we were drugged? Or the part where we woke up in a tiny cement box with no light? Or the part where a fucking robotic wolf and mouse started talking to us?"
"I don't see what Monokami and Monomausu have to do with this!" Miku protested, completely ignoring the first part of what I said. "The fact that they're robots is a little… odd, sure, but Monomausu is really sweet! He even said he'd play with us."
Well, that piqued my interest. "You said the mouse is playing? Shit, why didn't you tell me? I'll take any opportunity to beat that bastard's metal face in."
"Wh- no!" Miku said, looking flustered. "Y-You can't do that! I won't let you play if all you want to do is hurt Monomausu! He's a great camp director- he didn't even do anything wrong!"
"I'm going to go ahead and guess that I'm about seven inches taller than you and that you physically cannot stop me." It was true; if I stood up, I would most likely tower over the tiny girl. "I'm going in there, grabbing one of those baseball bats and hitting that midget into the fourth dimension. If he's associated with our kidnappers, he's just as bad as they are," I said simply, standing up and heading for the lodge. I may not like most of the snivelling idiots here, nor do I want to play any sort of game with them, but I've got to admit, I do need a distraction. As much as I absolutely detest to say it… I also need another person to help me sort out my thoughts and my theory.
"If you hurt Monomausu, I'll make Ura, um… um, b-beat you up! Yeah, if you're mean to Monomausu, Ura will definitely be mean to you!" Miku said, racing to catch up to me.
"Who?" I asked. "Oh, the LARPist. Yeah, I'm sure he'll get me good with one of his magical mage spells," I said sarcastically.
"Don't be so mean to him! He's just really into his role, and I can respect that!" Miku replied with a disapproving frown.
"Kindly shut up until I can ditch you."
Miku let out a huff of annoyance but didn't say anything for the rest of our walk to the lodge.
When we entered, it was like a record stopped. Everyone stared at us as we walked through the doors.
"Y-You managed to get L-Leona to come?" Lado squeaked. Everyone seemed to think the same.
"What the fuck? You guys have literally known me for less than a day!" I said. "I haven't even been a douchebag to the majority of you yet. What made you think I wouldn't come?"
"You have a strong aura! Not a good one, might I add," Kohaku said darkly.
"Y-You were k-kinda mean to me a-and F-Floppy…" Lado pointed out meekly.
"Also, you're wearing a suit," Tatsuo added. "I really didn't expect you to agree to play sports in a suit. Do you have something under it, or..?"
"Of course I have something under it!" I snapped. "It's a fucking suit! I don't have to explain my reasons for coming here to all of you."
"I'm pretty sure she came here to destroy Monomausu," Miku said unhelpfully.
"Eep!" Monomausu squeaked. I looked over to see him cowering behind Raiu. "W-Why would you want to hurt me? I-I've been s-such a nice camp director so far! Right..?"
"Er… right," Raiu said, awkwardly patting Monomausu on the head. It was clear he didn't particularly enjoy the presence of the animatronic mouse, either.
"I'm pretty sure you were built by the people who kidnapped us," I pointed out. "Pardon me for disliking you."
"We're in a TV show!" Scarlett scoffed at the same instant that Miku said, "We're at a summer camp!"
"You are all imbeciles," I scoffed. "Let's just get this over with."
As I looked around, I noticed Hiroshi and Ayami weren't in the lodge. They weren't at the storage shed, either, or else Miku and I would have passed them. Where on Earth did they go?
Once again, I was thinking of trivial things that didn't matter. Who cared if two random teenagers didn't show up? I could do with less presences around me. I had to get my head in the game- literally, it seemed, as Zara and Miyo emerged from the equipment closet, pulling a soccer net along with them.
Kohaku quickly went to go help out, grabbing another net from the equipment room and dragging it through the lodge. Miku and Raiu went to help position the nets- Raiu was saying something about pulling muscles which concerned me a bit- and soon, the two soccer nets were on either side of the lodge, facing each other. It was a pretty big building, so there was plenty of space to play without one of the nets having to cross into the arts and crafts section.
I had decide to pull up one of the folded chairs while everyone was setting up. Finally, Tatsuo placed a soccer ball in between the two nets and everyone started to gather around it. Sighing, I begrudgingly took off the top of my suit, revealing my purple undershirt. It went quite well with my purple hair, if I did say so myself.
I left the suit on the folded chair and walked over to the soccer ball. Am I really doing this? I wondered. Playing soccer with a bunch of teenagers that I don't know? Jeez, this really is like summer camp. Minus the kidnapping part, of course.
"Okay!" Monomausu piped up. "I decided your teams since I'm a camp director. U-Um, if that's okay, of course…"
"Sure!" Miku said brightly. "I'm sure you paired us up with good reasons."
That seemed to reasure Monomausu. "Okay, there will be two-"
"Get on with the game already!" Monokami said, appearing beside Monomausu and whacking him over the head. "This is so boring! I wanna see them play!"
"Oww!" Monomausu squeaked, rubbing his head. "I-I was getting to that part, Monokami! We can't play without teams…"
"Oops, my bad," Monokami said, sounding anything but apologetic. "Just hurry up." He waddled over to the folded chairs and grabbed one for himself, sitting down.
"A-As I was saying," Monomausu continued, seeming a bit less enthusiastic before, "there will be two teams. One team will be the blue team-" he pointed at the net closest to the arts and crafts area, which had a blue rim- "and the other will be the red team." He pointed at the other net, which had a red rim. "The blue team will consist of Zara, Kaoru, Hoshi, Tatsuo, Seiko and Raiu."
Oh God. But that leaves me with…
"The red team will consist of Leona, Scarlett, Miyo, Aratani, Miku, Koha- um, Ura- and me," He finished.
"You just had to put me on a team with all of the most insufferable people here, didn't you?" I said, eyes narrowing.
"Hey!" Scarlett said, offended.
Miyo was frowning, but seemingly not because of my comment. "Why did you break me and Zara up..?"
"Oh!" Monomausu said. "Oh no, I'm so sorry!" He covered his eyes with his paws.
"It's fine," Zara said nonchalantly. "Miyo and I won't die if we play a game on two different teams. Don't worry about it, Monomausu."
"Cut the waterworks, Monomausu!" Monokami called from his seat. "Just start the game!"
Monomausu sniffled. "O-Okay… everyone to your nets! The team captains will pick who does what. T-That means you two, Zara and Leona."
"Me?" I asked at the same time as Zara.
"Um, I'm not very experienced in soccer and I don't know you all two well… but I'll try my best," Zara mumbled, shuffling over to the blue net.
"What she said," I agreed. "Except the trying my best part."
I heard Scarlett groan and Miku sigh from behind me.
"Hey, wait," I said suddenly, going over the teams again in my head. "The edgy kid and Fishface aren't playing. What gives? If I have to attend, surely they have no excuse."
"F-Fishface? Are you t-talking about me?!" Lado squeaked, clutching Floppy's plastic bag close to his chest.
"A-Assuming you mean Sayin and Lado, um… Hiroshi, Ayami and Sayin never showed up. I don't know where Hiroshi and Ayami are and Sayin didn't want to play…" Monomausu replied. "Lado thinks h-his bad luck will just get in the way."
"I'm g-gonna fall on my face if I try and play…" Lado sighed.
"Alright. For the sake of my team- not that I care about any of you; most of you are losers- let's hope I've read something about soccer within my lifetime," I said, making my way over to the red net.
"Does she have to be the leader?" Scarlett groaned. "I'd be a much better fit."
"Nobody could take you seriously in that skirt!" Tatsuo called across the lodge, grinning teasingly at Scarlett.
Scarlett's face became a colour similar to her namesake. "T-This is a professional skirt, I'll have you know! Better than your bathing suit!"
"Oh, it is so on," Tatsuo said. "Zara, make me an attacker."
"I don't even know what that is," I could barely hear Zara mutter. "And I don't think that means what you think it means…"
"Okay," I said, clapping my hands together to get everyone's attention. "One, I've never played soccer. Two, I don't care about— or like— any of you."
"Does that include me?" Miyo asked with a disappointed frown.
"Eh, maybe," I amended with a shrug. "Everyone else here has pissed me off, you're not quite there yet. Anyways— the only reason I'm doing this is, well, I do actually want to win. It's just human nature. So…" I scrutinized my team. "Miyo. You'll get the ball when we start since you're most likely the fastest out of all of us. I'm assuming that must be a job or else everyone would just stand around doing nothing."
"Okay!" Miyo said with a smile.
"Miku, I am praying to whatever is up there that your energy isn't just personality-based and that you actually have decent speed because I'm having you be Miyo's back-up. Try and get a goal whenever you can."
"I'm very fast!" Miku assured me. "I'll totally do this! And Miyo will too, of course! She probably won't even need me!"
Miyo blushed.
"Kohaku," I continued, "you are built like a tank so you'll be our goalie. If you haven't played soccer, it's the most basic job in the whole game. Just don't let the ball get into the net."
"I'd prefer it if you called me by my proper name, Ura the Mage King, but I will do as you wish as you are the team captain," Kohaku grumbled.
"Aratani, Scarlett and Monomausu… you just do whatever," I said with a shrug. "Be Kohaku's back-up or something."
"It's Ura the Mage King!" Kohaku growled.
"I'm on defender duty?" Scarlett scoffed. "I'm so above that. That's a job for a plebian— good job picking Aratani and Kohaku for it."
"What did you just say?!" Aratani demanded angrily. "I'm not a plebian!"
"Yes, you are," I said.
"What will you be doing?" Miku asked me.
"I'll do what you do," I said. "I'll just try and steal the ball. I've got my ways."
"Are both teams ready yet?" Monokami yelled.
"Are you going to be the referee?" I heard Hoshi ask.
"Thaaat's right!" Monokami said. "As camp director, I get to be the referee!"
"W-What about me?" Lado asked.
"No chance, kid!" Monokami cackled. "You can watch from the sidelines and cheer on your favourite team."
"U-Um in that case… g-go Miku!" Lado said with a smile.
Miku smiled back.
"Wow, douchebag. He won't even cheer for the whole team," I commented.
"Shut u— I mean, everyone be quiet!" Monokami said. "Everyone get in your positions!"
We all followed his order, Miyo copying Zara— who had coincidentally chosen herself for the job, too— and walking up to the ball with me and Miku on either side, just a little ways behind her. Aratani, Scarlett and little Monomausu took up the rear and behind everyone, guarding the net, was Kohaku. The other team seemed to be set up in a similar way, with Tatsuo and Seiko behind Zara and Kaoru and Hoshi behind them. Raiu was in the goal, looking nervous.
"Everyone ready?" Monokami asked, but he continued before anyone had a chance to answer. "Three, two— GO!"
Startled by the early beginning, Miyo stumbled, allowing Zara to swipe the ball away from her feet with ease. She started running with it but was quickly intercepted by Miku. They both kept handing the ball frustratedly back and forth, so I took advantage of Zara's distraction and pulled the ball away from the both of them and started taking it towards the other net.
Tatsuo and Seiko both tried to intercept me but I rolled the ball around Tatsuo's feet, making her trip. Seiko managed to get to the ball and kick it back to our side, but it wasn't a very powerful kick and Aratani was able to kick it back.
Miku, Miyo, Seiko and Zara all jumped on the opportunity— I would imagine Tatsuo would have joined them if she weren't still trying to put herself together—, all four of them racing for the ball at once. However, Kaoru kicked the ball gently past them all and— unfortunately for him— right over to me. I took my shot and Raiu flinched as the ball soared for the net, letting it go in.
"What the hell, Raiu?! Don't be a wimp!" Tatsuo said.
"You were on the floor for half of the round— you can't really talk," Kaoru pointed out.
"I'm sorry…" Zara mumbled, looking dejected. "That went horribly."
"H-Hey, don't be so down!" Monomausu butted in. "W-We can still play more! You've still got a chance!"
"Monomausu, you aren't supposed to be rooting for the other team," I groaned.
"S-Sorry…" Monomausu mumbled, hiding behind his paws.
"Well, someone unexplicably put this thing in charge," I said, gesturing to Monomausu, "so I suppose we should listen and play another game. Sound good? I'd get the hell out of here but you wimps would be helpless without me."
"Leona, you're so mean!" Miku whined. "If you wanna leave, just do it! We'll be fine without you!"
I just shrugged, smirking. "No thanks. Tormenting you is more fun."
Miku looked like she was about to reply, but Hoshi beat her to it. "Perhaps another game would calm us all down," he said with a pointed look at the two of us.
"I'm down!" Kaoru said with a grin. "I might have ended up losing the game for us, but it was fun!"
"I agree," Hoshi said with a small smile. "It's not every day that I get to play a game with so many other people. Or any other people, for that matter."
Wow, that's not depressing at all.
"I'm not so sure…" Zara said quietly. "I'm not very good at being the team captain. I think we'd just lose again."
"Nonsense, Zara!" Miyo piped up. "You're totally awesome!" She hooked an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Your layout was honestly pretty solid- you took into account everyone's strengths and gave them the jobs they wanted!" I could have sworn she shot me a pointed look as she spoke.
"What about Raiu?" Zara pointed out.
"Sorry about that," Raiu said sheepishly. "That was all my fault. I may not be a doctor, per se, but I've had to undergo a lot of safety training and it's sort of rewired my brain. Perhaps I would be better off fulfilling a different role on the team."
"I could be the goalie this time," Seiko volunteered. "Calculated movement are my forte."
Zara sniffled. "You guys… all this, and over a little soccer game! You don't even know me and you're comforting me…"
"As touching as this is," Monokami interrupted, "can you pleeease get on with the game? I've got places to be!"
"What places could you possibly have to be?" I asked. I couldn't help but agree with him, though. Sappy things always made me uncomfortable and annoyed. Plus, Zara was right; none of us even knew each other. We all just happened to be Ultimates who some of us may or may not have vaguely heard of. We had never met in person.
But we would have, a voice in the back of my head said. If we had all gone to Hope's Peak as planned. If our supposed school didn't potentially kidnap all of us.
Something about that thought bothered me. I wholeheartedly agreed with it, of course- it came from my brain, after all. But there was something… off. Something wrong. If we had all gone to Hope's Peak as planned… if we had all gone to Hope's Peak…
"Earth to Leona," Scarlett said suddenly, waving a hand in front of my face. "Wow, are you always so spacey? You have the attention span of a five year old. How did you become the Ultimate Animal Trainer, again?"
"Get your filthy hands away from me, you're contaminating my personal space," I scowled, waving her away. "Unlike you lot, I was actually thinking about how we were just kidnapped- you know, around five hours ago?"
"Has our time here really been that short?" Kohaku asked with a frown. "It feels like we've been here forever. Like I've known all of you forever," he admitted. "Even if nobody respects my name." He glared at me.
If we had all gone to Hope's Peak as planned…
"Aw, I respect your true name, Ura!" Miku said. "I think it's a cool name! It's like, 'ooo, I'm a mage king! Fear me, because I come from the other side!' "
"Do not patronize me, peasant," Kohaku scoffed, although he was smiling.
"Everyone, get to the net," I ordered, clapping my hands together. "I'm not staying here for longer than I have to. If we don't start moving quick, I'm going to kill someone. Potentially myself."
Monokami giggled. "If only you-"
"MONOKAMI!" Monomausu yelled with surprising force. Everyone blinked in shock, seeming taken aback.
"Oops!" Monokami cackled, covering his grin with his paws. "Forget I said anything, campers! Continue on with your game!"
"Wow, Monomausu!" I laughed. "Maybe you're not all sunshine and rainbows after all!"
Monomausu hid behind his paws. "S-Sorry, I d-didn't want to yell! M-Monokami was j-just gonna say something r-really upsetting…"
"Upsetting?" Aratani asked. "Tell him to go for it. Pretty sure being drugged and kidnapped is at the very top of my 'upsetting' list and you've already got that one in the bag."
"Y-You don't understand..!" Monomausu argued. "I-It's… w-well, I can't r-really say anything about it…"
"You'll all find out soon enough," Monokami said. "Go have fun in the meantime! Play some more ball games!"
There it was again.
Go have fun in the meantime.
Something told me none of us would like what came next…
-oOo-
Author's Note: Is Leona right? Is Hope's Peak really behind the kidnapping? She, Hiroshi and Ayami know that they must be connected somehow, at the very least. Everyone's having fun right now- like Monomausu and Monokami have said, they should enjoy the fun while it lasts! But why do they have to make the most of it? I'm pretty sure you and I both know why...
I've still got at least two more prologue chapters to write, but the killing should start soon after, so stick around! Only time will tell who will succumb to the killing game...
Current Character List:
[F] Leona Kurakawa - Ultimate Animal Trainer - 19 y/o
[F] Miku Fukairi - Ultimate Voice Actor - 16 y/o
[M] Hiroshi Satou - Ultimate Percussionist - 18 y/o
[M] Seiko Konya - Ultimate Marcher - 17 y/o
[M] Kaoru "Sugi" Sugiyama - Ultimate Designer - 18 y/o
[M] Hoshi Ito - Ultimate Server - 19 y/o
[M] Lado Kaido - Ultimate Adversity - 16 y/o
[M] Kohaku "Ura the Mage King" Nomura - Ultimate Live Action Roleplayer/LARPist - 18 y/o
[F] Aratani Hagihara - Ultimate Comedian - 17 y/o
[F] Ayami Kimura - Ultimate Escape Artist - 17 y/o
[M] Raiu Kosetsu - Ultimate Apothecary - 18 y/o
[F] Scarlett Blake - Ultimate Journalist - 18 y/o
[F] Miyo Akemi - Ultimate Figure Skater - 16 y/o
[F] Zara Akemi - Ultimate Figure Skater - 16 y/o
[F] Tatsuo Shimizu - Ultimate Trapeze Artist - 18 y/o
[M] Sayin Lukro - Ultimate Occultist - 17 y/o
