We must kill someone in order to leave. That thought kept swirling around my mind. I couldn't bring myself to ever do something so heinous, but I also really wanted to get out. I looked around the others. I know they all wanted to leave too, and I wasn't sure how far anyone would go to do it. While I could guess, there's no way I could ever accurately discern who could kill and who couldn't. I shook my head.
The key word isn't could, it's would.
Would someone kill a fellow classmate to leave? That question hung in the air like the smell of a wet dog. I clutched my head in anguish.
"So. What now?" A voice asked.
I raised my head, turning with everyone else to the origin of the question.
Kirigiri had her arms folded and stared stone-faced at all of the fellow students. "What are we gonna do now?" She asked again. "Just stand around glaring at each other?"
Everyone was stunned by her pointed question. It seemed to snap everyone back into reality.
"R-right. She's right!" Ishimaru replied. "Sometimes, even if you're nervous or afraid, you have to take a step forward!"
I shook my head.
"So… what is our mission exactly?" Yamada asked.
"We gotta look for a way out, duh!" Kuwata replied.
"Yeah, and find whoever the hell is controlling that stupid bear and beat the crap outta them!" A tall girl spoke. I looked at her. I knew her as the Ultimate Fashionista, Junko Enoshima. A comment like that coming from her felt really odd. Not sure, but something feels really off about her. I dismiss that as my fear of the stupid graduation requirement.
"But we should probably look at the eHandbook first, right?" Fujisaki said. "It has the school map and the rules laid out. It'd be a good idea to go over them before we do anything."
"Oh yeah, about that…" I spoke up, and instantly regretted it. Everyone's eyes were on me. If this were a concert, it would have been amazing, but this was something totally different. I tried not to swallow my tongue. "Naegi and I already looked at the rules, and there's this really strange one about the graduation requirement."
"O-oh, yeah." Naegi said. "I completely forgot about it." He looked at his eHandbook and read out the rule.
"Discovered?" Owada yelled. "The hell does that mean?" He balled his fist. "Dammit! I have promises to fulfil! I can't stay here!"
"It means, if you will cease your mindless yelling for one second, that you have to kill someone without anyone finding out it was you." Togami explained.
"B-but why? W-why do we h-have to do that?" Fukawa, the short girl in the purple sailor uniform, muttered, a terrified expression on her face.
"I don't see any reason to worry about it." Togami replied. "Just follow the rules as they've been explained."
"Yeah! Togami's right!" The shorter athletic girl, Asahina, replied.
"I wasn't finished-" Togami tried to say.
"Forget all the silly junk about murderers or whatever." Asahina interrupted. "Now that we know the rules, we should explore the school."
"True." Ishimaru concurred. "We need to find out where exactly we are. Is there any way out? Are there any food or supplies?"
"Damn straight!" Kuwata said excitedly. "Okay, then let's all start looking around-"
"I'm going alone." Togami interrupted, a scowl darkening his face.
"Oh yeah?" Enoshima looked skeptically at him. "And how come?"
"Oh, come on." Togami scoffed. "Someone might have already considered disposing of us to grant their own freedom." He glared at Enoshima. "Are you saying we should stand around with them in our midst and make it easier for them?"
If I didn't hate Togami before, I certainly hated him then. His foul attitude reminded me so much of my pop group's former manager. Because of that, that manager got in trouble with the paparazzi and we got rid of him. I wouldn't be surprised if Togami was the first victim. "W-wait! Hold on a second. That would never-!" I tried to say.
"Don't bother saying it couldn't happen." He scowled at me. I shrank back in fear. He looked ready to kill me at that very moment. "You can't deny the possibility. That's why you all shrank back in fear when you heard the graduation rule. Am I wrong?" He folded his arms and a smug expression creaked its way up his face, making him look even more intimidating.
"But… um…" I stammered. I couldn't help but see his logic, as awful as it made me feel. Only the heir to an extremely powerful corporation could think like that, but it made sense.
"So I'm simply acting in accordance with what I think is best for me." He said simply.
"Hold on!" Owada cried. "Like I'm gonna let you run around doing whateva the hell you want!" He approached Togami menacingly, but Togami didn't back down.
"Outta my way, plankton." Togami spat. We all froze in fear. For someone to say something like that to such an angry and physically threatening person like Owada… I felt my heart skip several beats.
"What the fuck did you just say?" Owada asked slowly, his face rapidly turning red.
"One tiny, insignificant plankton, drifting its measly way across the sea. Pathetic."
"I'm gonna kick your ass, square-eyes!" Owada screamed.
"S-stop!" Naegi yelled, running in between Owada and Togami. He looked so dwarfed compared to the two of them. "We shouldn't fight!"
"The fuck you just say? You some kinda goody-goody little bitch!?" Owada looked down at Naegi, who shrank in fear.
"Naegi…" I whispered to myself. My only friend from junior high just signed his death warrant, and I was powerless to stop it.
"Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like that? D'ya think you're my fuckin' dad or something?" Owada gripped Naegi's hoodie. Togami stepped backwards with a grin on his face.
Naegi started sweating. "N-no, I-I-I wasn't-!"
"FUCK YOU!" Owada yelled. The rest all happened in slow motion. His fist drew back slowly, and rammed forward into Naegi's face. Naegi's body went flying and crashed into the floor several feet away.
"NAEGI!" I yelled, immediately running to his side. He had already lost consciousness, and one of his eyes was starting to swell. I held his head up slightly to elevate it, as his nose started streaming blood. I whipped my head around and stared at Owada furiously. "YOU STUPID IDIOT!" I cried, tears forming in my eyes as I turned back to Naegi.
I heard laughter from behind me. "Kehehe, see what I mean?" Togami sneered. "This is why we cannot trust each other." He turned and walked out of the gymnasium, the door loudly closing behind him. Fukawa quickly trotted out behind him, mumbling to herself.
"WELL!?" I looked up at the dumbfounded faces around me. "DO SOMETHING! HELP ME CARRY HIM TO HIS ROOM!"
Asahina and her tall, muscular friend, Ogami, rapidly ran over to help. Enoshima stood next to me, tears in her eyes at the shock.
Ogami looked at me. "I'll take him to his room." She said calmly, picking up his body like it weighed nothing.
"I'll go with you." Asahina said. I nodded and slowly got up.
Enoshima whirled around and glared furiously at Owada. "What the actual hell, Owada!? What kinda shit do you have stored in that stupid pig-brain of yours?" She crossed her arms furiously and stormed away, joining me in following Asahina and Ogami to Naegi's room. Everyone else quickly dispersed. I glanced back at Owada, who looked very angry at himself. Kirigiri gave a disappointed sigh and followed everyone else out of the gym.
A few minutes later, we found our way to the dorm rooms and walked into Naegi's bedroom. Ogami gently placed him down on his bed.
"It's too bad the nurse's office is locked…" Asahina said sadly.
"Hmm…" Ogami said. "There should be some ice in the kitchen." She spoke slowly, as if she was carefully considering every word. "Hina, can you come with me to get some ice for Naegi?"
Asahina nodded and smiled. She walked out of the dorm room.
Ogami stood in the doorway and looked at me. "Will you be alright?"
I nodded. "I'll look after him. Don't worry."
Ogami smiled. "I wasn't asking that. I asked if you will be alright?" She asked kindly.
I blinked. "Of course. Thank you, Ogami. I'll talk to you when he wakes up."
Ogami seemed satisfied, and shut the door as she left.
I looked at Naegi, who was still out cold. I sighed. I felt a presence behind me. "How come you're still here?" I turned to face the woman in the room with me.
Enoshima blinked. "What-? Ah-" She started sweating. "I just- I just wanted to make sure he was alright too. That's all."
"Don't worry yourself, Enoshima. He'll be fine."
Enoshima looked reluctant. This puzzled me. "I-if you don't want me here, that's-"
"Hey, Enoshima?" I said quietly.
"Huh?" She replied, shocked. Her behaviour was so out of character for what I thought the 'Ultimate Fashionista' would be like. Is this how Naegi sees me? My thoughts were interrupted by Asahina returning with bags of ice wrapped in tea-towels. She places one on his eye near his injured eye and another on his swelling cheek underneath it.
"Will you guys be alright?" Asahina asked, echoing her compatriot's question from earlier.
"Of course!" Enoshima flashed a smile and a peace sign, perfectly mimicking how confident she was when I first met her. The second Asahina left, Enoshima's face dropped again.
"Enoshima…" I said.
"Y-yeah?" She asked.
"Come, sit down." I sat down on the bed next to Naegi. She walked away from the door but still stood a fair distance from me, leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" She asked.
"You're just… different to how I imagined."
She scoffed. "That's rich coming from you."
"No, I mean-" I grimaced. "Even in the main hall and in the gym, you're way different now than you were in there. What changed?"
"I dunno…" She said. "Seeing Naegi get totally decked like that… he was just trying to help…" She shook her head. "I guess it totally puts it into perspective. We really are trapped in a school where anyone could kill us at any moment."
I looked at her. The diva act had totally dropped. She seemed like a totally different person. I get that when you're the most scared, you show people who you really are - I know that all too well being a performer - but for Enoshima… even though we're both in show biz, we're still both in totally different worlds. Even so, I can easily empathise and sympathise with her. I smile at her. "Hey, we're gonna get through this, right? All together. Yeah. We'll find a way out."
"You sound just like him." Enoshima smiled.
"You hardly know him, though?" I asked, puzzled.
"Ah, well, just from what I gathered talking to him in the entrance hall." She said hurriedly. "I'm real good at reading people. Kinda have to be in my field. He seems like a nice kid."
I look down at Naegi. His breathing was steady. "He really is."
"You two already knew each other, right? I could tell from when he first saw you."
"Yeah. We went to junior high together."
"So weird. You two are the only two people that know each other. I know like, none of these people."
"Yeah. I guess it is a little weird."
Enoshima looked back at Naegi, a sad expression on her face.
"Is something on your mind, Enoshima?"
Enoshima looked up, shocked. "No, of course not."
"Well, if you ever need to talk about something, don't hesitate to come to me." I smiled sweetly.
"Haha, I'll remember that." She laughed, but she still had a sad look in her eyes. No, not sad, despairful.
I gulped. "Enoshima, are you… hiding something?"
Enoshima looked at me like I was crazy. "I mean, I hide a lot of things. I can't exactly be an open book around all these weirdos. No offense. How could you tell, anyway?"
"Oh? Don't you know?" I winked at her. "I'm psychic."
Enoshima stared wide-eyed at me. "WAH!? How? WHAT DO YOU KNOW!?" She suddenly yelled.
I giggled. "I'm just kidding! I just have great intuition." I smirked at her. "But you ARE hiding something!"
She scoffed. "Ugh, oh my god." Just like that, the diva act was back. She shook her head, smiling. "Anyway. Thanks for talking to me, I guess. I should head back to my room." She walked towards the bedroom door. She turned around and looked at Naegi again. "I'll… I'll come back later to check on you guys."
"For sure. I won't leave him until he wakes up."
Enoshima smiled, then left.
I turned to Naegi. He still hadn't stirred. That stupid meathead Owada really did a number on him. I shook my head. I shouldn't be getting angry at him right now. My focus should be on Naegi. "Naegi…" I said softly. I stroked his hand gently. I reminisced on our time back in junior high. We weren't particularly close, but he was what I admired - what I wanted the most. He was just a normal kid. I do love my group and I would do anything for them, but there's a small part of me that just wanted a normal life. And when I talked to Naegi, I felt that normal life shine through, like a monochrome spotlight. It wasn't exciting, but it was the lack of overstimulation I sorely needed in my crazy schedule. And yet, here I am now - living a normal life in a crazy, upside-down environment. This is the exact inverse of what I wanted. And yet, I was fortunate enough to have my one aspect of normality with me.
"It seems like your 'Ultimate Luck' has rubbed off on me slightly. If you weren't here, I…" I refused to even acknowledge the notion. I felt him move slightly under my palm and I heard a moan escape his lips. I looked over excitedly, but he fell back into his stupor, and I was forced to relax again. I lifted the ice bags off his face and placed them onto the pillow next to his head. His swelling had massively reduced, but the bruise underneath glowed angrily blue. I sighed. That excited feeling just now… I couldn't quite place it. Was it really just concern for an old friend? I dismissed the thought. In a place like this, there was no room nor time for feelings like that. Once again, the feeling of being simultaneously alone and cramped returned. I shook my head, refusing to let my mind wander any further, but I didn't let go of his hand.
The door opened, and Enoshima had returned. "How is he?"
"The swelling's gone down, but he's gonna have a nasty bruise." I smiled at her. "How are you?"
"A lot better, actually. I don't know what came over me earlier." She scoffed. Her aloof persona was in full swing. I was now more than convinced it was an act. "That's good to hear he's getting better. Everyone's gathering in the dining hall. We're gonna go over what we've found from searching the school."
"That sounds good. I'll join you once he wakes up."
Enoshima smiled at me. She gave another sad look at Naegi before leaving the room once again.
"That girl is a total enigma. Almost as much as Kirigiri." I said aloud. I looked back at Naegi. His hand started twitching underneath mine, and he moaned quietly. I lifted my hand off of his and watched as he slowly woke up.
"Ugh…" He moaned again. He slowly opened his eyes. "Mai… Maizono?" He said quietly.
"Naegi!" I gasped. "Thank God you're awake. How are you feeling?"
"I don't know… dizzy? My head hurts."
"Heehee." I giggled. "That was quite a wallop you took."
"A wallop?" He gave me a funny look and sat up.
"Woah woah woah, take it easy." I said quickly. "You could be concussed."
He looked at me quizzically. "Naw, I've been concussed before. This is nothing."
I giggled. "And here I thought you were the Ultimate Lucky Student."
"Haha." He chuckled. "I don't think that's how it works." He sat up slowly and faced me. "Were you… were you here the whole time?"
I nodded. "Asahina and Ogami gave you some ice packs to reduce the swelling. Everyone's waiting in the dining room. I'll go tell them you're awake. Just come when you feel like it, okay? Don't rush." I got up and walked towards the door. While he was looking away, I looked back at him and smiled. I closed the door and headed to the dining hall.
"Ah! Miss Maizono!" Ishimaru yelled. "You are tardy!" He frowned. "That is unacceptable. You must try harder in the future! I will help you persevere!"
"I… what?" I asked, confused. "But- I…" I shook my head and sat down at the table next to Enoshima, who had her boots resting on the table.
"Ugh, give it a rest, already!" Enoshima cried. "She's been looking after Naegi! No thanks to Owada the meathead over here."
Owada glared angrily at her and said nothing, instead deciding to grumble to himself.
"Ah! Speak of the devil!" Kuwata beamed. Naegi slowly walked into the dining room, clutching his head gently.
"Ah, hey guys!" He said cheerfully but weakly.
"Naegi! Your tardiness is unacceptable!" Ishimaru yelled again. "Please, explain yourself!"
Everyone, including Naegi, all looked at him oddly.
"I…" Naegi explained slowly. "Was unconscious on my bed?"
Ishimaru narrowed his eyes in skepticism. "Hmm… I will accept it this time around. But next time!" He pointed at Naegi. "Do your best to be punctual."
"Yeah. Sure thing Ishimaru." Naegi replied.
"Oh for crying out loud, Ishimaru! Shut up!" Owada cried. He swung his feet off the table and stood up. He walked over to Naegi and outstretched his hand. "Hey. No hard feelings for back there, right? Water under the bridge and all that?" He chuckled nervously.
"That's not a proper apology!" Enoshima cried.
Owada glared at Enoshima.
"N-no no, it's fine. Thanks, Owada." Naegi said hurriedly, accepting the handshake. Owada must have had a firm grip, because Naegi immediately winced in pain.
"Haha! Glad to hear it." Owada beamed. "Come, sit down with us."
Naegi smiled. He looked happy to be addressed by Owada in that way. If there's one thing about Naegi, it's that he's very quick to forgive. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Naegi walked over and sat down next to me, smiling sweetly at me.
"Now!" Ishimaru slammed his hands down on the table, making Fukawa, Hagakure, Naegi, and myself all jump. "Let us all report what we discovered on our search! One at a time!"
Ogami was the first to speak. "Well, after Hina and I brought ice bags to Maizono for Naegi, we both went searching the classrooms on the first floor. It seems that all of the windows have been bolted shut, and they are impossible to remove.
"Even for the Ogre!?" Hagakure cried. Ogami looked at him, puzzled.
"Okay! Next person!" Ishimaru cried.
"The windows being bolted shut means we have no way of determining what time of day it is, or what day it is. We can only trust the eHandbooks Monokuma handed out to us." Celeste pointed out.
"The tape on the school store was taken down once we all left the gym." Kirigiri said. "I poked around inside, lots of interesting stuff, but nothing that looks useful for escaping."
"The kitchen looks well-stocked." Yamada said excitedly. "Monokuma told me it gets restocked every day. It looks like we'll all have plenty of food."
"No protein shakes though." Asahina said, disappointed.
"Is that really so important?" I thought to myself.
"Plenty of knives, though." Kuwata said. "We'd best be careful."
"Don't say that, idiot." Owada elbowed him.
"Ow!" He cried.
"Oh, Monokuma explained a couple things to me after I woke up." Naegi said. "Firstly, all of the boys have tool kits in the drawers in their dorm rooms, and all the girls have sewing kits. All the bathroom doors in the girls' dorm rooms have locks as well, the boys' bathroom doors do not."
"It appears the stairs leading to the second floor of the school and dorms have been blocked off." Togami said.
"Oh, so now you wanna contribute to the group?" Enoshima said sarcastically.
"Stop talking." Togami spat.
"There's a laundry room here, with plenty of washing machines and lines to hang up washing." Hagakure said. "Thank god, I do not wanna stink in this place!" He chuckled. Fukawa looked uncomfortable.
"There are cameras and monitors in all of the toilets and dorm rooms." Fujisaki said sadly. "That's all I could find, sorry."
"Thank you, that is valuable information, Miss Fujisaki!" Ishimaru cried eagerly.
"Hmm… about the cameras and monitors…" Celeste said. "If they are in all of the bathrooms around the school and our dorm rooms, we can assume they are in every room in the school, correct?"
General affirmative murmurs bounced around the room.
"That means that Monokuma, or, as Enoshima suggested earlier, whoever is controlling him, will be able to watch us no matter where we are, no?"
Everyone looked at each other uncomfortably.
"Going by that," Celeste continued, "And the fact that certain areas of the school are inaccessible during the night hours of 10pm-7am, I establish a personal addendum to said rules:" She cleared her throat. "We will not leave our dorm rooms between 10pm-7am at all."
"What!?" Owada cried. "You-" His retort was caught in his throat after a harsh glare from Celeste.
"Now, I understand this is entirely self-imposed. We are all trusting one another to abide by this rule."
"Sounds good to me." Togami said. "I have no plans to use these facilities during nighttime, anyway."
"Ghh…" Owada moaned. "Aw, hell with it. It is a pretty fuckin' good idea."
Celeste smiled.
"Then that settles it!" Ishimaru slammed the table again. "No sneaking outside of your dorm rooms outside of the established daytime hours!"
I suddenly felt the weight of the entire day weigh on me. I just wanted to sleep. I didn't know what time it was exactly, but I knew Naegi had been unconscious for a long while. I looked over to him. He seemed exhausted. He looked back at me and smiled, and I felt my hopes briefly rise again.
Ding dong, bing bong!
Everyone's heads turned towards the monitor on the wall. Monokuma's evil sneer appeared on the monitor.
"Ahem! Your Hope's Peak Academy School Headmaster has an announcement to make! It is now 10pm. Soon, the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and access into the dining hall is strictly prohibited! Please return to your rooms for a good night's rest! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!" Monokuma called cheerfully, then the monitor shut off.
Several people grumbled at the announcement, and one by one everyone begrudgingly left the dining hall and made their way into their dorm rooms.
"You alright, Naegi?" I asked once everyone had left. He was still sitting down.
"Hmm? Ah, of course. D-don't worry about me, Maizono." Naegi said. He sounded rather sad.
"Do you want me to help you to your room?" I asked, holding out my hand for him.
Naegi blushed. "W-what? Ah… If you want… that would be really nice…" he took my hand and slowly stood up. He was leaning a lot into me, giving me the feeling that the punch was affecting him a lot more than he wanted to admit. Well, maybe not just the punch. I helped him back to his room and bid him farewell as he went into his bedroom. Once I was sure his door was closed and locked, I went into my own room and locked the door. Once I had crawled into bed, I immediately went to sleep.
