Day 14

*Ding Dong Bing Bong*

The morning announcement sounded but my mind was awake all night after what I saw. Damian and Monokuma?! It could not have been true! From what I heard with my own ears Damian and the devil bear had made some kind of deal that Damian thought would help him leave! Then could he really be the traitor? I prayed for the agonizing and restless hours I laid in bed that it wasn't true. If it was…

I sat up. "No! It can't be! I must have misheard them! Even if he's a hopeless flirt with the ladies, Damian is too cool to have gotten associated with the mastermind like that. I need to keep my faith in him strong! I won't let doubt cloud my vision." I shouted to myself, trying to block out all self-doubt I felt build up these few hours. I had to shake these stressful hours of sleeplessness I've endured the best way I knew how. By monologuing the entire Shakespearean library of every piece I knew.

All the famous and major monologues from every Shakespeare work in existence I would act out from memory. In times of extreme stress, I would do this and Terry would always make sure I was uninterrupted. I began with one of my favorite monologues from Taming of the Shrew and kept going for what felt like hours. However, because I was alone I had no way of stopping the inevitable. That's when I heard it.

*Ding Dong*

"Gah!" I jumped a little with a yelp of surprise as I was reciting Hamlet. I honestly forgot about the doorbell that was installed in each room. My curiosity grew, wondering who it was. I walked up to the door and opened it. My eyes shot wide as Damian stood there with an endearing smile on his face.

"Hey, Kai. How are you holding up?" He asked me. His eyes then squinted at mine and his smile slightly slipped away. "Say did you get any sleep? You got some dark bags under your eyes."

I quickly tapped the underside of my eyes and sure enough, I felt the bags. All my de-stressing suddenly flew out as my anxiety built right back up. I got worried he'd catch on something was wrong so I quickly smiled at him. "Nope! Nothing's wrong! I'm completely fine."

Damian seemed confused. "Um… I didn't ask if anything was wrong. But is there something wrong?"

I sighed in disdain at my foolish attempt to cover up my stress as I grabbed Damian and dragged him into my room and swiftly swung the door to shut. He walked in as I followed behind and sat on my bed as I rubbed my temples. Damian looked at me puzzled.

I looked up at him and shifted around a bit, feeling such discomfort with what I was about to say. "Listen Damian. You are a cool guy and a great friend to me. I hope you feel the same about me."

"Is that all? Kai, of course, I feel the same." Damian answered.

"Would you tell me something, even if it meant possibly exposing yourself?" I asked of him.

His expression was quick to turn sour with shock. "Kai, what are you saying?" He asked back.

I breathed in and huffed out as I made eye contact with him. "I saw you talking to Monokuma last night about a promise. Are you the traitor?"

Damian then looked at me with a horrified look, his face now drained of color. "Kai… I know that sounds bad but I swear I'm not the traitor!"

"I want to believe that so can you please tell me what I don't understand. Why were you talking to Monokuma alone? What was this promise he made to you?" I pleaded to him all my questions.

His eyes were fixated on mine before they trembled as he tipped his fedora down to cast shadows over them and hide his view from me. "Kai… I want to tell you. But I'm not comfortable talking about it yet. It hurts to talk about it. Please I know this isn't helping you but trust me. I just want to be sure of something before I can talk. Just give me some time to get ready."

His words were like a knife to my heart. He wanted me to trust him yet he can't explain himself enough to give me a reason to believe him. I can only trust myself in choosing what my next action will be. After a brief and awkward silence, I spoke up.

"I want to believe you more than anything right now but you're not exactly helping me when you say these things. However, I have gotten to know you in the past and I don't believe that was an act and so I feel like with that knowledge I have of you I can trust you. I will give you the time you need but I also implore you to really push yourself so that you can tell me about this deal Monokuma made to you." I told him.

Damian smiled at me and silently nodded. Then before we knew it there was a creak that resonated in my ears and both our heads turned together to the direction of the sudden sound. It came from my front door. I bolted over to it and realized it never closed! In my haste to get Damian inside, I didn't see my door must have not closed all the way. But what really scared me was the fact the door couldn't have creaked on its own.

I immediately yanked the door open and looked out into the hallway but as I figured I didn't see anyone. 'I hope someone wasn't eavesdropping. If they spread out rumors of Damian being the traitor then things are going to turn hostile very soon.'

My thoughts were invaded by Damian, who now stood behind me. "W-Was someone there? Did they hear us?" He asked with an obvious terror in his voice.

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

He looked away. "Frizz. In that case, I best leave you now. If someone was listening and they tell the others about what was said here I don't want you to be attacked because of me. I should go. See ya around man."

With that, Damian rushed past me and away into the school. I felt my heart drop as I noticed a trickle fall from his face. I hate seeing my friends cry. I hate seeing them in such a state of despair. I just needed to find out the truth! And there was only one person I could get the answers from.

"Monokuma," I growled out as I ran forward but was immediately stopped by someone who now blocked me from progressing out of the dormitory hallway.

Ollie looked at me with a small smile. "There you are. Everyone has been looking for you."

I blinked. "Wait, what do you mean they have been looking for me?"

"Monokuma made the announcement live in the cafeteria. We have a new area opened up to us. Going off of the past, it means the fourth floor of the school has been opened to us. We gathered at the bottom of the stairs to go but you weren't there so Damian volunteered to come and get you," Ollie replied.

'So that's why Damian came to see me. He was going to take me up to regroup with everyone else.' I thought.

Ollie looked back. "Well, let's see what we have to get from the unlocked floor. I saw Damian run by so he's probably run up to tell the others you were coming."

"Wait, if Damian was the one sent to get me then why are you here?" I asked, confused.

She sighed out. "I was just asked by Paul to ensure you would be on your way. He's been very invested in you, ya know."

"Yeah, I'm painfully aware of that." I responded but then I went into my thoughts, "Hang on. Could it have been her? Was she the one who overheard our conversation?"

I didn't have time to ponder on it as she grabbed me by the shoulders from behind me and began pushing me forward. "How did she get behind me so fast?!"

With some unnecessary help from Ollie, we soon arrived at the staircase on the third floor that leads up to the fourth floor. The others looked towards us.

"About time!" Paul shouted out. "Where's Damian?! Wasn't he supposed to get Kai?"

Ollie shrugged at him. "I saw him run by when I came down so I assumed he was coming back here."

"Well then forget it! We'll just search around the new floor without him. We won't waste any more time than we already have," Paul shouted out as he turned his attention to the stairs. "Let's see what this floor Monokuma opened has in store for us and if there's a possibility that we can escape from there."

Soon we began ascending the staircase of the school and arrived on the fourth floor which gave off a unique smell. It smelt more naturally like a rainforest. Soon people broke off into groups and began walking around. I followed after Willie, Tommy, and Shana as we passed a few classrooms that were exactly the same as the rest; barricaded and pointless.

But the first big door we found was for some sort of club room. When we entered inside we saw a room filled with many different items ranging from board games to video games, books to movies, and all with a wide enough space for tables to be spread all around or to have all the leg-room for standing up in. Not to mention the walls were practically littered by posters of different clubs which all said you should join.

"Now what do you think is up with this place?" Willie asked.

Tommy adjusted his round glasses. "Well, it's obviously a club room for all the clubs of the school to meet up in. It looks like there's a wide variety of clubs here too. There's the chess club, glee club, book club, even a collection club."

"Brenda would have loved that club," Shana sighed out.

"Yeah… she would," I agreed with her as our heads sunk down, sadly.

"Oh cool! So then would I be able to start up a rodeo club in here?" Willie asked, excited.

"Even with all this space, I seriously doubt a rodeo club would work in here," I told him.

"Besides, no one besides you would join that anyway," Shana jabbed at Willie.

Willie glared at her. "Oh? What about Brenda and her collections club? I don't think y'all would be able to join!"

"I may not have a thousand collections like her but I do have my own that I think would impress her. My collection of minerals I've personally mined up," Shana bragged.

Tommy smiled. "And I could show off the fossils I've uncovered and been able to hold onto as well."

"See? We could fit in. I doubt a farm boy like you would have found a place here," Shana sneered back at him.

"Well, I wouldn't say that..." Tommy started before Willie got up in Shana's face. "Now listen here lil' lady! I was accepted into this here academy just like you were! Don't go talkin' down to me like you're the boss! Ain't no woman like you should be actin' like this!"

Shana huffed in and out as her breathing got heavy. "You are the biggest pig I've ever met! I don't know anyone who is as sexist as you are!"

"Well if I'm a pig to you then you look like a fat donkey to me or as you city folk call it, a fat ass!" Willie shouted out.

Shana screeched out as she lashed out at the cowboy who was quick to grab her arms. She then quickly began to kick him instead. She aimed for his crotch and landed a successful hit but Willie didn't flinch as he just smirked at her. That only aggravated her worse as she just kept wildly kicking his nether regions with no results.

"Shana please stop! This is bad for the progress we've made with your angER…" Tommy tried to calm her only for Shana to land a blow on Tommy's gonads when she recoiled her leg back to kick Willie's again.

Tommy squealed out in pain as he grasped his precious cojones and fell back only to hit his head on the corner of the table behind him. He was now laying on the ground, grasping at both spots of his body before a snap resonated and all four legs of the wooden table simultaneously collapsed in on themselves as the tabletop fell on top of Tommy!

His muffled cries of pain resonated from under the table as Shana watched all this in horror. With a rush of adrenaline, she yanked herself free from Willie's grip and jumped over to Tommy. "Oh my God, Tommy! Hang on! I'll help you!" She screamed out as she began lifting on one end of the table. I was quick to hop on the other side as I lifted on my end and soon we managed to move it off him.

Shana dropped to his side as he laid there, looking battered and beaten. "Oh, Tommy, I'm so sorry babe."

Willie winced once he saw Tommy's condition. "Oof! Damn partner! I've never seen such an ugly string of luck there. That was worse than the time my pa had gone to a club and come home with another lady that was not my ma."

Shana helped Tommy sit up as he looked up at Willie and groaned out, "To be honest, this isn't the worst I've experienced with my bad luck."

"I'm glad I ain't in your boots," Willie said.

Tommy shrugged. "I know and I don't blame you."

Soon we got him up as Shana helped guide Tommy to the next major room we found which also explained the scent the entire floor gave off. The room was no ordinary room but by far the biggest and brightest room ever. It was a botanical garden! Inside the school itself! I almost thought we had walked outside since the lights were as bright as the sun, the winds came from the many air conditioners, and the spectacular wildlife that flourished around us! But unfortunately, I knew that wasn't the case which made my happiness quickly disappear.

Shana and Willie looked at the garden in wide-eyed amazement and both shouted out, "It's beautiful!"

Then from around the trees, we heard footsteps as Luca and Ollie appeared. "Have you two finally started to get along?" Ollie asked with a mischievous grin on her face.

The two looked at each other and huffed as they crossed their arms and turned their backs on each other. Ollie giggled, "I didn't think so."

Luca approached us and saw Tommy as he winced. "Whoa, dude! Did you get hit by a semi!?"

Tommy chuckled nervously. "Nah. Just an unfortunate accident that transpired in the club room."

I leaned into Luca and Ollie and whispered, "More like a full-on natural disaster."

They snickered under their breath as they looked out over the garden. "This place is amazing. By far one of the biggest places in the school. It's almost as big as the auditorium, stage and all!" Luca spoke.

"It's also the most romantic." Ollie added as she looked at Luca and he nodded before replying, "No doubt."

I felt another twinge in my chest as it painfully stabbed at me! I have no idea what was going on but I wanted it to stop!

"Did you guys find a way outta here?" Willie asked.

Luca then frowned as he shook his head. "No. All we found was a tool shed for the garden itself. Other than the plants, there was nothing worthwhile for us here."

"Well, there was one more room I noticed down the hall that we haven't checked on yet. Let's head there and see what lies inside." I suggested.

Everyone nodded as we left the botanical garden to the final, noteworthy room of the fourth floor. It was a computer lab, filled to the brim with computer monitors on every single desk. Paul and Melinda were here as Paul was connecting a wire that was being pulled out of the back of his laptop into one of the computer desktops as Melinda was hopping from one computer to the next.

"Hey! Computers! Maybe we can use these to contact help!" I called out happily as the others cheered out in joy.

Paul's then irritated voice chimed in, "What do you think we've been trying to do!? Not all the computers have any power and the ones that do haven't had any way to connect to the internet which means no way to contact anyone!"

Melinda growled at a computer as she slammed her fists into its keyboard. "I have tried almost all of these damn machines and they have all been useless!"

"So then if y'all can't get 'em to work, why are ya pluggin' yur laptop in one?" Willie questioned Paul.

"Because I may be able to hack into the school system and find some valuable information that may prove useful." He explained as he was already typing away before a few bings sounded. "And would you look at that? There are some encrypted documents locked away."

"There are!? What are they?" I asked him in a surprised manner.

"They're locked up fairly tight. It's gonna take some time for me to crack into them all. Besides I won't be sharing that information with you all anyway." He chuckled.

"You bastard! We have as much right to know what's in those files as you do!" Shana shouted at him.

"It's not like you could do anything about it. Not with a top-notch guard dog at my side." Paul pointed out as he pointed over to Melinda who held her Bowie knife up with a sadistic smile, "However I'm a man of reason and I think a trade can be arranged."

Tommy smiled. "Great! That's at least decent of you. So what would you want?"

Melinda chuckled. "Even I know what he wants. We'll share the information we find in exchange for Kai's loyalty to us!"

My skin crawled at her words. A centipede of shivers began encasing my body as it consumed me. Before I could even blink, the others stood in front of me in a protective manner.

"When are you going to stop treating valuable information and Kai like their nothing but trinkets!? Besides we will not allow you to sink your claws into him," Shana growled.

"Kai has no benefit from joining your pact. We have the number advantage," Luca told them off.

Paul snickered at us. "That may be true but we have the advantage in survival."

Tommy glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"With my intelligence and Melinda's raw strength and our combined brutality, we are guaranteed to survive this. Ollie has chosen wisely to side with us. You would be wise to do the same, Kai. Your analytical skills are wasted trying to protect so many others who have no skills of their own. Look what you've got left of your entourage. A dirt-loving harpy who marvels at shiny rocks, a poindexter who idolizes dead bones, an uncivilized country bumpkin, a single-minded building scaler who only has his muscles as his advantage, and Damian." Paul pointed out to me.

"Hey!" Tommy, Shana, Willie, and Luca all shouted out at him.

"There's nothing wrong with being a little selfish every now and then. Gain the knowledge you need by joining us and be one step closer to help us solve the mystery of this school." Paul offered to me. I was stuck in the same predicament as before yet Marcel wasn't here to stop it. However before I could even give a response to Paul, a voice cut me off.

"Just as expected, friendship is more important than survival, isn't it Kai?" Ollie shrugged her question as she walked past me to stand between her group and us.

I looked at her in utter confusion. "Huh?"

Ollie sighed out before continuing, "I heard what you were whispering to the others. All your camaraderie and togetherness talk I heard is a clear sign you just can't be convinced no matter how many times we offer it. Then it seems you're not going to be getting any information from my group."

Before I could question her, Ollie gave me a quick wink as she smiled at me. I smiled back and then shrugged as I said, "Well, no point in trying to beat around the bush. Since Ollie just said it then there's no other way to say it but I won't leave my friends behind for my own selfish gain."

Melinda glared at me. "You will regret that."

Paul shook his head before turning back to his laptop as he began typing away on it silently. Ollie looked back at me with a knowing look before she walked over to Paul and Melinda.

"Well, we've searched the entire floor and found nothing worthwhile. Guess all we can do is just leave and try to find another way out," I told the others.

"Guess so," Luca agreed.

With that said, we all left Paul and the others to do all the work as we agreed to meet up in the rec room.

Once there, time passed as the hours flew by as we played multiple rounds of pool, chess, and other games found in there.

During this round of pool, we were in teams of two. Me and Luca versus Shana and Tommy. The game was tied up with one solid ball left for me and Luca and one striped ball for Shana and Tommy. It's gonna be close as Tommy steps up for his turn.

"Remember. Just give the cue ball enough momentum to slap our last ball into the pocket but not too much. We don't want another scratch," Shana whispered loudly to him.

Tommy breathed out a sigh as he nodded to her before taking his place. He carefully aimed and fired at the cue ball as it shot forward and slammed into the three balls left as they scattered about. The number eight ball came close to the edge of a pocket as the two screamed at it to stop. Funny enough, it did as the cue ball stopped right behind it.

Tommy looked up and noticed that besides the cue ball there were now two balls left. "I can't believe it! We finally won a round! There's no way you guys can hit the cue ball without knocking in the eight ball! We win, Shana!"

Shana looked to Tommy, nervously. "Um… Tommy. You do realize you didn't knock our last ball in, right?"

"Huh?" Tommy looked back at the pool table and sure enough, the last striped ball was still in play. He pocketed my team's last ball! As he stood there with his mouth agape, me and Luca couldn't help but laugh.

Luca stepped forward. "Sorry, buddy. Not this time. And I don't even need the advantage of your scratch." All Luca did was lovetap the cue ball which barely moved and touched the eight ball which easily toppled over into the pocket. He straightened up as I walked up to him and we leaned against each other's backs.

"That's victory number 13 for us," I said triumphantly.

Tommy sighed out. "I think I've had enough torture for one day."

Luca smiled at him as he walked over and patted his back. "That bad luck streak has to break by some point. Don't give into it so easily."

Tommy smiled at him. "Thanks, Luca."

Shana was now standing next to me as we watched them. "You know, we have some strong couplings here."

I looked toward her in surprise. "Y-You think so?"

She nodded. "Of course. Me and Tommy and Luca and Ollie are a match made in heaven!"

My heart was quick to drop at that moment as did my head. "Oh… I see."

I soon looked back at her and saw Shana with a shit-eating grin on her face. I narrowed my eyes in confusion. "What?" I asked.

She simply responded with, "You're jealous!"

I felt my face heat up as I straightened my posture. "I am not!"

Shana giggled at me. "You may be the Ultimate Actor but you are not capable of hiding everything from me. I always knew you had a thing for Ollie!"

"I-I do not!" I argued.

"I know you do. When Ollie and Luca danced together at the party, when they were in the botanical garden and called it romantic, and just now when I called them a couple! Every time they are together I see your ears turn red and your right eye slightly twitches. If those aren't signs of jealousy then what? Do you need to go potty or something?" Shana taunted me.

Now that she mentioned it, my ears did feel considerably warmer and my right eyelid did feel like it was more closed than my left. I placed my fingertips under my eye as if I would feel it twitch. "Do… Do I really do that?"

Shana now smiled lightly at me. "The fact you're not fighting back means it's true. Even if you never realized it yourself."

My brain began to rack upon itself as I tried processing it. "Am I jealous of Luca?"

Shana rubbed my arm. "Hey, it's okay. Not every guy truly understands these emotions at first. Do you think Tommy was as easy-going when we started dating? Hell no he wasn't! It took him quite a while to get used to holding hands, let alone kissing.

"So then do you think Ollie is okay with this?" I apprehensively asked her.

Shana quickly lost her smile and looked away. "She may be okay with it but if I'm gonna be completely honest, I'd say your in a love triangle and the odds are not in your favor."

She looked back and saw my face droop down. "Oh… I see."

Shana groaned out. "Dammit. I'm sorry, Kai. I shouldn't have said anything. I just gave you some false hope and hurt you."

"No, it's fine. You didn't mean any harm. You just opened my eyes to the truth I was too blind to see." I told her.

She rubbed her arm as a brief silence of awkwardness enveloped around us. Luckily Luca and Tommy walked back to us as that decaying aura around us evaporated.

"Say is Willie back yet?" Tommy curiously asked.

I shook my head. "Not yet. He's been trying to find Damian since he never showed up to help search the floor."

"That was pretty selfish of him to offer to get Kai and then ditch us afterward," Shana mentioned.

Luca looked at me. "Do you know why he left after he got you?" Soon all eyes were on me after Luca's question.

I just shrugged at them, replying, "No idea. I just thought he wanted to run ahead to let you guys know I was on my way." I didn't like lying to them but until Damian could talk about whatever he's hiding from us then I can't put any suspicion on him.

Soon the door to the rec room opened and Willie came in with Damian, who despite being black looked pale as a ghost.

"Damian! There you are! What happened to you!? You look worse than me!" Tommy shouted out as we gathered near him but not too close.

Damian remained silent as Willie answered for him. "He wasn't lookin' well. Found him in a bathroom stall on the second floor near the Nurse's office."

"Why were you up there?" Luca asked him.

Damian just averted his eyes from us. He looked ashamed. That wouldn't help out of his suspicious situation if he doesn't talk.

I quickly approached him and placed my hands on his shoulders. I felt his body shaking badly like he was suffering from hypothermia or something. "Damian… if you don't say something, we can't help you."

His brown eyes soon looked up at mine and I gasped as I saw his eyes shaking madly and his tears flowing like rivers. "No one can help me. I… I'm not going to… to survive this."

I felt my body cease all functions as I'm sure everyone else did. He seemed frightened and frail at this moment. I was too fond of the upbeat and cool DJ and I was not liking who I saw standing in front of me. It wasn't Damian and I knew we can't lose him like we lost Mikayla.

But before I could say anything, Tommy stepped up and slapped Damian hard across the face. Everyone let out a gasp of shock at this as Damian looked at Tommy. "Don't you fucking say that," He growled out.

Shana was in a state of wordless surprise. "Tommy?" Was all she was able to mutter out before he kept speaking.

"I'm tired of hearing my friends cry and moan that they won't survive. Well, guess what dammit! You *are* going to survive this! I refuse to let you fall into the despair Mikayla fell into! Hell, she basically said in her note that you need to survive this so you can find a girl! I don't care what you say or do but I'm not gonna sit by and let you just die!" Tommy shouted out.

"Here here!" Willie called out in agreement.

"Hell yeah!" Luca hollered along.

Shana smiled at Tommy. "Wow, Tommy. Who knew you could speak all authoritatively?"

Tommy blushed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I just said something that I thought would sound like Kai."

"What?" I blurted out.

"Well, I mean I've been observing how you carry yourself with hope and conviction so I just thought of what you would have said and it all just came out without much thought," Tommy admitted.

"Then we have two Kai's running around? We may be in better hands than I thought." A voice called out from the doorway.

We looked over and smiled as I called out, "Ollie!"

The tattoo artist smiled as she waltzed in and next to us. "I'm glad to see us all gathered together. That'll make sharing my cult information easier."

"Then Paul got those files unlocked?" Luca asked her.

"He got a few done but not all of them. Some have harder firewalls to crack into. Maybe another day or two until he has them all unlocked. But I'm here to share what info I have now." Ollie told us as we all took a seat on the couches and bean bags that were in the room. Once everyone was settled, she began leaking the secret data Paul was keeping for his group.

"So one thing of major importance is that we found blueprints of the school. Unfortunately, there were no special plans for the design of the school. We found no secret rooms or exits. The only thing we found out was that the school has five floors altogether," Ollie started.

"So then that means there is only one more floor before we run out of options for our escape," Shana sighed out.

Ollie nodded. "Yes. But we did find a bit more. See we found some messages within one of the files. Paul wasn't able to identify who they came from but he was able to track them to approximate locations from where each recipient was."

"Messages? About what?" Willie asked.

Ollie soon told us, "We still haven't figured it out but there is something about them that makes me worry. I have it written down so I could relay it back to you guys."

She pulled out a small notepad as she opened it up to a page and handed it to me. I looked at it and began reading the words out loud.

"Hey, my lovely little helper! How are things going on your end? You pulling all of your weight over there?"

"Everything is good on my end! These morons won't know what hit them until it's too late. I even put together an even bigger cast of victims!"

"I've seen the progress you've taken with this and I gotta say I'm genuinely impressed. I'm excited to see how far things will go with the killing games I helped you orchestrate. So have you been taking care of the sleeping subjects? Also, when will they be waking up?"

"They'll wake up tomorrow morning with no adverse side effects. It'll be like they just got a goodnight's sleep."

"And for those in the "academy", they shouldn't notice a difference at all like they never went to sleep. Such is the beauty of the beauty you took advantage of."

"Yeah, that one's a real gem, too. There are some slight concerns I have with the location I chose, the main one being there are distinct blind spots in some of the camera views."

"Where exactly do you mean? I thought you said you could handle it. Do I have to come over there and take care of this myself?"

"It's manageable, I assure you. Besides, the only blind spots are the walk-in closets of the hotel suites. However, there is something that compensates for it, and it's that I had a cellular and wifi signal jammer installed in the building that's set to activate once everyone's awake."

"That's good. As long as the subjects have lost their sense of time then it won't matter. I'm curious about what the end result of the Despair Experiment will be. The very thought gives me a tingling sensation."

"No fooling. Plus, with weapons and resources being widely available in the hotel's underground mall and the school store, both casts will be able to kill one another in interesting, unique, despair-inducing ways!"

"Well, I look forward to seeing who will take the roles of the protagonists and who will be despair fodder. You best get back to work now! Chao!"

"Speak to ya later, hunnie~"

I read most of those sentences as questions because that's what was racing through my head so I couldn't help it.

"Orchestrated killing games?" Damian asked in shock.

"Sleeping subjects?" Shana asked, befuddled.

"Despair Experiment?" Luca asked, looking disturbed.

Willie looked up. "Hotel? We ain't in no hotel! This here's a school!"

I shook my head at him. "That's referring to my friend Manako and the killing game she is stuck in. She's in a hotel in Las Vegas right now for a Hope's Peak seminar but she was trapped in there with the other attendees and they're going through the same thing we are."

"But they did mention the school store and the academy." Tommy pointed out.

"Then that means our killing games have the same mastermind!" Shana shouted out.

"Worse than that is the fact our mastermind seems to have gotten some help from someone else," Luca added.

I looked toward Ollie. "You said we knew the approximate locations of each recipient, right?"

Ollie nodded. "That's correct. Paul was able to see that the person who started the conversation was located somewhere in Bunkyo, Tokyo."

"Judging from what their messages said it sounds like whoever is in Tokyo is the helper," Damian said thoughtfully. "That means the mastermind is wherever the second recipient was!"

Ollie frowned as she looked at me. "You're not gonna like this Kai but the location of that other person is somewhere in Las Vegas, Nevada. Going off of that alone, I'd say the mastermind is in that hotel your friend is trapped in."

I felt my skin freeze which left me immovable but a fire of rage quickly ignited within me as I stood up and screamed out in fury. I slammed my fist into the wall which ended up cracking it as I felt my blood slightly leak from my knuckles. The others remained silent as I panted.

I soon withdrew my fist from the wall and looked down. "Why? This doesn't make any sense. I don't know what these messages are supposed to tell us. What are we supposed to piece together with useless clues like sleeping subjects and some experiment? Why is the mastermind in Las Vegas? To watch the killing game over there progress smoothly? But then who is watching us here in Los Angeles!? It doesn't add up!"

Suddenly a felt someone's hands grip me and pull me back into a muscled chest. I was completely taken off guard as I saw Luca hug me close. "Wh-What are you doing?" I stuttered.

"Hugging helps take the troubles one faces away," He explained before continuing, "Listen, Kai. I don't understand what this information means either but if we think about it over time, we may get the answers we need. It doesn't help anyone to get mad and frustrated with you hurting yourself."

Luca's words helped me realize how foolish I must have looked. "I'm supposed to be helping the others keep calm during this and here I am screaming like a rampant child throwing a tantrum." I thought.

"I'm sorry for that unattractive display you all had to witness." I apologized to the others.

Willie waved his hand dismissively. "No need, partner. This whole killing thing has gotten all our knickers in a deep wedgie-like twist."

"For once I can agree with you," Shana responded.

Tommy stood up. "Well, then I think we best get some rest. Nighttime is coming up soon and we need to plan on what to do next to ensure none of us die."

"Well, honestly I'm not too worried about any of us dying anymore," Ollie said.

"What makes you say that?" Damian asked her.

"Well for starters, my group is sticking together through this so they won't make a move and all of you guys are too kind, gentle, and compassionate to try and hurt someone else," Ollie told him.

"But if Monokuma throws out another motive then no one is safe," Damian rebuttaled.

Ollie smiled at Damian. "Even so, I think I've got all your personalities down and I think even if we get a new motive, it won't matter. I'm sure we can pull through this together, no matter what sneaky tricks Monokuma tries to pull on us."

We all smiled at her comforting words as we heard the nighttime bell ring and the announcement play.

"Time for bed," Luca called out as he let me go. The next thing I knew was him yelping in surprise as I was now hugging him.

"That did help. Thank you," I whispered to him. Luca slowly hugged me back and whispered back, "Anytime."

We released each other as everyone started heading out of the rec room. Me and Luca stopped and looked back when we realized Ollie didn't move. "Yo, Ollie! You coming?" Luca asked her.

She shook her head. "Not yet. I'm gonna wait a bit just in case you run into my comrades." Ollie told us with a little venom in that last word, making us both chuckle.

"Alright! We'll see you tomorrow!" I called out as I waved to her. We began walking again as we made our way back to our respective rooms. Luca went into his room as did Willie but I saw Tommy escort Shana to her room before kissing her cheek. Shana smiled sweetly at him before turning and entering her dorm. Tommy then entered his as the last one I saw was Damian. He looked over to me and sighed before he stepped past his door and slowly closed it.

My anxiety built up as my worry for Damian was restored again. I missed the cool, level-headed, yet obnoxious flirt that I first met. The killing game has messed with too many innocent minds and I refused to see Damian fall down that dark path!

I slipped into my room with a newfound determination as a goal was now locked in my mind. "Traitor or not, I must help Damian! No matter the cost!"

It's done at last! The first daily life of the fourth chapter is complete yet the mystery just keeps getting bigger! What's up with Damian and what were those messages about? The secret of the school and even the hotel are slowly unraveling as we progress further into the American School Life of Despair! Until next time! See you soon! Puhuhuhu~