Day 12

The next morning everyone had breakfast with no problems from the new motive last night. At least that's what it seemed like. I felt like most everyone was wearing a mask to hide the inner thoughts about the motive and what it would mean to them if they did Monokuma's bidding.

It was bugging me and Damian made it known when he stood up with a thud from the table he was sitting at with me, Shana, Tommy, and Mikayla.

"Okay, you all! That's enough! We need to stop thinking about the damn motive the bear gave us and get our minds off this situation. And the best way right now is to get everything set up for the party tomorrow! Kai's already volunteered to help with the preparations and I ask that everyone come help out so we can keep our cool through this." Damian shouted.

I soon stood up. "He's right. I understand that you all have worries concerning the motive but I do have my own resources too. Being an actor in Hollywood has gotten me some great connections and I know if you have any worries, I might be able to help. So I implore you, if you are worried you may do something irrational then come talk to me and I'll help you however I can."

At first, things were silent but then Luca stood up from his table. "I'll help get the party ready! Just tell me what to do."

"What can we do?" Shana asked for Tommy and herself.

Ollie nodded. "I can help with decorative work or with wherever I'm needed."

Melinda rolled her eyes. "Just say decorating. But since things are going in this direction I might as well give you some muscle to work with." There was a small chuckle that came from Willie's table which earned him a dark glare from the Ultimate Huntress which promptly shut him up.

I was shocked to see Melinda was volunteering at her own free will. She was gonna help with the party knowing it would put a stop to the killing game which she has expressed major interest in a multitude of times. Something felt off about that sudden change of heart and I was gonna find out.

Despite that, everyone was soon chiming in their interest to help me and Damian get things ready. The room filled with sensations to the soul as the high charisma and energy we all had begun bouncing off the walls. However, it died down in two small spaces that were occupied by one with no interest, Paul, and one of a saddened aura, Mikayla.

I may need to speak to them if I get the chance to but I'm needed elsewhere. With newfound support from the others, we finished our breakfast, and Damian handed out assignments.

Tommy and Shana were paired together with no surprise to anyone. They were tasked to handle the food that would be contributed to the party; provided they made sure their dusty and dirty hands were properly cleaned. A rest area would be needed to take a break from the dancing and partying so Luca and Willie were asked to figure things out for that which Ollie was quick to offer her assistance for some reason so she was included. Which left Marcel and Melinda to be in charge of decorating the theatre. The rest was left to me and Damian which we were fine with since it was the music, lighting, and costume work for Damian.

During that time Monokuma informed us that certain areas would be open to us for as much prep time as we needed like the kitchen for the food. We also learned about two new rooms Monokuma decided to open up for us for the party preparations both of which were located backstage on the opposite sides of the auditorium stage. A workshop used to build props and sets for plays where we could get the decorations ready and a dressing room filled with costumes and stage make-up which would mainly be used just by Damian and myself.

Soon we all got to work as everyone split off. Damian and I focused first on getting his music sets ready. After about an hour, he orchestrated an outline for his sets and then handed me a small plug that connects his DJ setup to the backstage equipment via Bluetooth. I began heading up with Damian when we bumped into Marcel. Well, actually he bumped into us thanks to the supplies of wood he seemed to be carrying to the workshop that obstructed his view of his surroundings which resulted in him losing balance and falling back with everything he carried smashing on top of him.

"Oh frizz man! Are you okay, Marcel?!" Damian called out as he and I rushed over to help dig him out and pull him up. Marcel nodded. "I'm fine man. I'm just getting material for Melinda so she can get the decorations ready."

I blinked. "Aren't you both supposed to be doing that?"

"Well yeah, but she said if I get near any of the power tools she'd use my head as a decoration." Marcel lightly chuckled. I could sense his unease in his voice which would be obvious after a threat like that.

"Well since that's the case would you like to come with us to the crow's nest?" I asked him. He just blinked at me. "Where the crew goes to handle the lights and sounds system for the stage?"

"Oh! Sure man! Let's get to it and surf on over there! Tubular!" Marcel shouted as he ran towards the stage.

Damian chuckled as he pointed to the back of the auditorium. "This way Marcel."

Marcel looked back and blushed. "I knew that."

Damian stayed down on the stage so he could test his DJ equipment while I adjusted things up in the crow's nest. Marcel and I entered through a blue metal door in the back of the auditorium behind the seating and climbed up the stairs to the crow's nest.

"So why is it called the crow's nest? I don't think I've seen any birds living in the school." Marcel asked.

I smiled at him. "You know how pirate ships have that overlooking platform so they could have a high vantage point to see everything?" He nodded. "Well, that's pretty much the same case here. Here is where the stage crew can overlook the stage and audience so they can be sure they have the right lighting and make sure the show runs smoothly with no hiccups."

Marcel slowly nodded as if he understood but a part of me wasn't sure if he did. I stepped up to the light and soundboard and took Damian's Bluetooth connector piece and plugged it into the jack. I called out to Damian saying the setup was ready. Damian gave me a thumbs-up as a response to show he heard that. Soon the lights began to fluctuate in brightness as Damian's music began growing in crescendos and decrescendos.

I took note of how bright the lighting was at their current settings so I adjusted the maximum brightness by pushing down on the dimmer switch. Once it was at an acceptable spot I stopped and began adjusting the dials for sound and other buttons. After taking the next five or so minutes of making adjustments to help maximize the presence of Damian and his performance tomorrow I called out to Damian again saying we were good as Marcel and I began making our way back down to ground level.

As we made our way back to the stage we heard a scream of fury. Melinda came stomping out of the workshop in a fit and her eyes were glaring daggers at me. Well, actually it was directed at Marcel who was now cowering behind me. "Did I say you could take a break?! Get this material in the back before I break your back!"

Marcel was quick to comply as he grabbed them and rushed backstage with Melinda not far behind as she continued to scold him. I looked at Damian. "So then what's next?"

"Actually I'm gonna recheck my sets and see if there are any last-minute changes I wanna do. Why don't you go check on the others and see how things are going for them?" Damian suggested.

I wasn't expecting that but it probably was a good idea to check each group and see their progress and maybe give some constructive criticism if needed.

I decided to check on Melinda and Marcel first just to get them out of the way. The workshop was backstage on stage left, which is the left side of the stage if you were sitting in the audience. It was big and spacious; perfect for building giant sets for plays and other performances. There were lots of tools spread about as Melinda was messing with a table saw and some of the wood Marcel had brought her. I approached her since Marcel was gone; most likely making another run of supplies for her.

"So the Ultimate Actor has graced me with his presence. To what do I owe the pleasure." Melinda mumbled making her statement unbelievable.

"Why are you doing this?" I directly questioned her.

She blinked. "What are you implying?"

"I'm implying that you don't seem to be about putting the killing game you've been enjoying on hold for a festivity such as this. I barely can believe the person I'm speaking with now is the same as the one that was giving rise to our fellow classmates during such stressful situations as the one we've been placed in." I asserted to her.

Melinda sighed. "If I'm honest I'm not."

"What?" I let out confused.

"See I'm still listening to Paul since I know we'll make it out of here alive being the strongest contenders here but even still he wants me to play nice for now since half our group wanted to get social with the rest of you fodder. Then again I'm used to this kind of thing." Melinda confessed.

"How are you used to this? I doubt you've ever been in a killing game before."

"Of course not. I meant about getting along with others in certain circumstances." She saw my look of bewilderment and continued. "See my family is big because my family is a polygamist family. My father has many wives and with that father being so big on hunting it was always a competition to bring home the biggest game. It was even worse going against my half-siblings since we pretty much hated each other. My father has a motto saying the lone wolf is influential while the pack is powerful. In other words, his way of thinking is you can get far on your own as you should but at times you need the support of others in order for you to truly achieve victory. There were multiple times where I needed to work with my half brothers and sisters, despite how much I hated their guts. One I remember well was on my first paired-up hunt with my kid half brother. He's a pest and annoyance to most everyone but my father wanted to test me with such an exceedingly difficult challenge helping me out. He kept giving our position away with all the noise he made and I was ready to shoot him and present him as my game to Father but I know his bitch would have made a fuss which I turn would make Father furious. Then I realized that he was actually a very useful tool after all. He and I separated and while I stayed hidden, he would run around and scare the game out and sure enough, he got a giant black bear to come out. I domed the beast before he decided to maul the lad and we came home with the biggest game that day. Granted I was brought the biggest game every time without fail but that was one time where it wasn't just me. So for me right now it's no different than how it is back home. Where it's a competitive battle every day and I have a robust man to tell me when I can play nice and when I can do whatever the hell I want!" She confessed.

I didn't say anything because I was too stunned by what I was told. I had no idea that was the kind of life she was subjected to. However, it did explain a lot such as how she sees this as a game and why she's a dog at the beck and call of Paul's every demand and order. Somehow I think I got a better understanding of the Ultimate Huntress of all people. If I can do this with Melinda and even Marcel then maybe I can have some kind of meaningful conversation with Paul and Ollie since I haven't exactly spoken with them yet.

I thanked Melinda for the conversation and she nodded before her focus went back to her work. I then walked back to the stage and saw Luca and Willie grabbing stacks of chairs and bringing them out. Ollie was trying to move a table on her own but with how bulky and round it was she was having trouble. I approached her.

"Need a hand?" I asked her which she quickly shook her head.

"Nope! I… almost… got it." She groaned out. After a few seconds standing there watching her struggle, she eventually looked back to me with her head hanging low. "You gonna help or not?"

I lightly chuckled as I walked over and picked up the opposite side of the table as we easily carried it over to a spot on stage right. We went backstage and grabbed another off the pile leaning on the wall and started moving that one.

"So Ollie. I'm curious about you." I admit but she smirked when I said so.

"I know." She snickered.

"Huh? You do?" I was flabbergasted by this.

Ollie nodded. "Yep, it was the way you were staring at me. The way your eyes observed me and how they had the interest of childlike wonder."

"Whoa. That's strangely poetic. I like that." I confessed.

"These things come naturally with the time I've been giving people tattoos." She shrugged as we kept at our assignment.

"So then how long have you been doing tattoos?" I inquired of her.

"Around 10 years now. I was around 6 or 7 when I took an interest in tattoos. My parents were always about freedom of expression and to them, nothing spoke more freely than getting an elegant work of ink art stung onto your body by a needle and someone who reeked of tobacco and a past record."

"That's... oddly specific." I nervously muttered.

"Well at the time they went to my uncle for those tattoos and he was released from prison after serving his time. Then he took up tattoo artistry as his new profession and my parents were his best customers. With how busy they were my uncle would let me crash at his place after school and he worked from home so naturally, I saw him in action. Seeing him draw so masterfully on something as fragile and delicate as the human skin with that needle was admirable. But there was one thing that impressed even more. How easily he made conversation with the clients. He would get the request for the tattoo, begin his magic, and then strike up a conversation based on the requested tattoo. Even after they talked about the tattoo he always seemed to know how to keep the customer immersed. There was one teen girl who was dared into getting a tattoo and was scared shitless. But before she could run out, Uncle Val had her look him in the eye and just stare. Eventually, she calmed down and he started talking to her about various subjects. Asking her about her school, family, the cheerleading squad she had brought up, and the next thing the girl knew she was done. Even with the pain, she was so distracted by the chatter that she didn't even realize how fast it went by. After that, I knew I had to become his novice. I needed to uncover the secrets he used in his self-made career as a tattoo artist."

'So her uncle was the driving force that inspired her to become the Ultimate Tattoo Artist. And she definitely achieved that obviously.' I pondered as we finished setting up the last table. "So how did things go with that? What was it like when your uncle began training you?"

Luca soon came over. "Don't mean to interrupt here but I need to steal Ollie back to help Willie and I get these chair arrangements perfect. We're having trouble with the spacing between each seat where it's roomy but not limiting the area of the dance floor."

"Sorry I'll let her get back to work. Great work by the way." I said to Luca with a big smile.

He chuckled. "Yeah well I do need to keep my body busy to stay in shape here." Luca then lifted his arm and flexed his bicep with no details being hidden of how fit he was despite that Assassin's Creed-like jacket he wore.

I think the heat from the lights of the stage we're starting to get to me because my ears and forehead suddenly got hot as Luca walked back to help a puzzled Willie. I noticed Ollie wasn't moving as she stared at Luca even as he hurried away.

"Ollie?" Luca called over to her. She gave no response. "Yo Ollie?" Still nothing from her.

"QUIT YOUR GAWKIN' AND HELP US OUT ALREADY, WOULD YA?" Willie suddenly screamed out which easily snapped out of her daze. She wiped a thin red trail off her nostril before she rushed over to them.

"Was that a nose bleed?" I asked myself in surprise. I was curious about what had just happened to her. She's usually more collected than that and yet she was frozen there, her eyes fixated on Luca. Well there wasn't any time for that I needed to check on the rest of everyone's progress before the day came to an end.

Tommy and Shana were making good progress on the catering they were planning for the party but then when Shana brought up the desserts the two got heated about if they should serve brownies or ice cream with Shana arguing the brownies and their sugar could help re-energize those who wanna get back to dancing and Tommy said they'd be too hot and ice cream is the better choice to help cool them off after they got off the dance floor. After a bit of consideration, I told them to serve the brownies a la mode that way we can have both options and an even better dessert.

After I checked on the preparations it was in the afternoon already. Time flies when you're trying to have fun in the middle of a deathmatch between friends. Well every friend was excited about the party except for two people who were not interested in helping with the preparations. Paul was a self-absorbed prick who didn't have any concern for the others but Mikayla was still suffering from major depression after we lost Sienna and forfeited Brenda to Monokuma's execution. Deciding who to visit first wasn't difficult but it was troublesome trying to track her down.

There were many places I was expecting to find Mikayla; like her dormitory, the pool, the weights room, or any place even remotely related to Sienna but I had no luck. That is until I heard a crash of glass against the ground on the second floor and approached the nurse's office. Inside I found her sweeping up a broken measuring cup she most likely dropped.

Mikayla sighed as she carried the dustpan over to the garbage bin and dumped the glass shards in it. I stepped into the room and neared her. "Mikayla?"

She turned to me with a heartbroken grin. Despite the melancholy of her expression, it oddly felt the most natural of all the smiles she's given me so far like she was actually trying to be hopeful again. "Hey Kai. It's good to see you."

I patted her shoulder. "How're you holding up now? Getting better?"

Her head dropped to look to her feet as her eyes lightly flickered a little, searching to convey the right words. After a brief silence, she looked back at me and slowly nodded. "Yes, I believe that I am."

"I'm delighted to hear that from you and feel that you mean it. I know that the last class trial was mortifying for you the most. Losing two people you grew beyond close to is complicated to comprehend. But I'm glad you're finally getting back to yourself. They would have wanted you to continue on for them. For you to be happy and live your life to the fullest." I interpreted to her what I thought was best for her to hear. After all it felt right saying that.

She let out a puff of breath as her smile grew with it. "Yeah, I know. They were stubborn in their own rights. Especially Brenda. God, she was like the troublesome sibling while Sienna was the timid baby sister who would have been too afraid to do anything without the right motivator. I will never be able to remove this terrible experience from my mind but I can't keep moping around the way I have been."

"I agree and I think that the next step for you to take is by doing what everyone else is doing. Trying to enjoy yourself. Why don't you help get the party ready tomorrow? You can help me get the stage make-up on Damian and then I'll give you the first dance." I offered her enthusiastically, my giddiness about tomorrow not being able to be contained.

But despite my giddy nature, Mikayla's smile suddenly perished and withered away. Her eyes light seemed to evaporate as dusk set inside them. "I-I'm not going."

I stayed silent for a moment before I processed what she told me. "What? But Mikayla you said you wanted this. To improve yourself so you could live your life to the fullest extent for them. They would want you to go."

She turned her back to me so I couldn't see her face. "It's not possible. I can't go."

"Yes you can. Please don't do this to me and the others and especially not to yourself! It's not healthy…" I started saying with my hand on her arm but she suddenly forced herself away from me.

"No! You couldn't understand! You don't know anything about what's healthy for me! You know nothing!" Mikayla screamed out before she pushed past me and sprinted out the door, leaving me astonished.

I wanted to chase after but I had a strong sense that it wouldn't do me any good. I sighed. 'What did I say? I thought we were making headway with her despair and getting her head back to where we needed it. She doesn't deserve this."

My mind reeled at what I could have done; what I should have said to her. Scenarios began playing in my mind how the finale of this drama could have been averted had I revised the script and conducted my lines in a different manner. But this wasn't a play or movie where you can fix those mistakes. This was life and I had to accept what just happened for now. But I will make this right tomorrow for Mikayla. I'll ask her what I said to upset her and do whatever it takes to make it up to her.

I left the nurse's office and closed the door behind me as I returned to my dorm. I didn't want to bother talking to Paul after what transpired with Mikayla but I did need to get a better understanding of the Ultimate Hacker too so I figured it would be best to do it tomorrow after Mikayla. She's my top priority for tomorrow but my top priority right now was to get to bed. I had a dress rehearsal to get ready for early in the morning and I need to be rested for it. After all, tomorrow is gonna be a day to remember, I just know it.

After so much drama and hardships I had to deal with in my life, I finally got the next chapter of my American mutual killing game completed. It feels good to be back to writing at a somewhat steady pace again. I'm excited to hear your thoughts about this chapter and what you predict will happen in the next chapter. Well no need to worry about waiting too long because I plan on getting the next chapter uploaded asap! Please leave a review and I'll see you next time. Puhuhuhu~