Disclaimer: This chapter contains or has implications of references which some readers may find uncomfortable or distressing. Please read this disclaimer to ensure you feel comfortable before reading. Thank you. This chapter contains the following:
- References to blood and touching/eating blood
- Excessive swearing and verbal abuse
- Scenes of bullying
Welcome back everyone to the June update to Danganronpa: Lights, Camera, Action! Summer has finally arrived and with that a brand new juicy part to the prologue to get your teeth into! Since last time, I have had a lot of new applications and it still excites me to see all the talent being used to make these OCs. I feel so blessed to have people who are invested into the story enough that you want to make a character for me. For everyone who takes the time to read however, I just want to share a very big thank you as without the support of you the readers, it would not make writing this story as fulfilling as it has been (and I am sure Sona adores editing massive chunks of text - he's deffo an editing masochist!).
An important notice that I will also put here for everyone in regards to the final deadline to get your OCs in. For the sake of fairness, all applications that are submitted past this deadline WILL NOT be considered. If you have an IRL circumstance which requires you need extra time please let me know via DMs ahead of time so I can extend the deadline for everyone, it should be noted however this is only for genuine circumstances. Anyways, the final deadline for submissions is the following: 31st of July 2020 at 23:59pm BST (British Summer Time)
With the characters I have had so far, I also have a small update on the types of characters I am interested in for applications to help build a well rounded cast full of different personalities. It's no fun having a bunch of the same people with different skins after all!
Males:
- Surly or grumpy character, someone who is a bit uptight at first but on the inside is quite wise and soft
- 'Bro' type character, a lads lad who is all about having fun, making friends and enjoying life to the fullest regardless of consequence
- Jock type character, a guy who is either very competitive or perhaps a jock who is full of themselves
Females:
- Princess or 'snooty' character, a bit of a 'daddy's girl' who is very much about appearance or wealth - thinks lowly of other people
- Bundle of energy type of character, always on the move - perhaps uses their own slang or little phrases that are wacky
Either Gender:
- Comic relief character that can be similar to Hiro, Kazuichi or Kaito in style or you can go on a different route as long as they aren't offensive
- Pious or proper character, maybe something like an Ultimate who is in the peerage of a country - doesn't truly understand how to interact with other people their age
A version of the form that you will be able to copy and paste can be found on my profile page. Once you have completed your form please send it via DMs and tag the form as being for Danganronpa LCA or Danganronpa Lights, Camera, Action. It makes it a lot easier for me to look through the forms when I can clearly see them labeled.
Enough talking from me though, have a fun read everyone and I will see you in the Author's Notes for some extra little bits of info and some thank you messages.
"Nezire! Hey stay with me!"
My eyelids blinked, pushing out the discharge from each corner of my eyes. They felt the sleep rub itself against the skin then dropped to the floor below in muted crystalline flecks. The voice of Takumi clearly sounded stressed, concerned like a parent would be for their child and as I sensed his presence drop to my current feeble level, it was sickening.
He could see me like this and think of little more than keeping up a pretense of being the hero, each time I was vulnerable, there he was to sweep me up off of my feet like a knight in shining armour. I appreciated his care yet when he gently placed his hand on my back and tried his best to support me as I staggered to my feet, looking at him was not an option. It was infuriating having to be helped and supported by this guy like I was incapable like I was some sort of burden to him.
"You haven't said anything Nezire!" The diver sternly remarked, "Look, you're coated in gunk, you need to wash yourself off and tell me what the hell happened in there," the way Takumi spoke came across less like a friend and more along the lines of a commanding officer.
"I'm fine, it's nothing," I knew he wouldn't believe that statement from the start, yet I said it anyway.
"You're not fine." he insisted.
"I am fine Takumi, let me wash my hands," I snapped a little, shrugging the hand that was currently on my back, it didn't take long though for me to murmur a little to myself in guilt - he was just trying to help, "I… I'm sorry, please just… the tap? Please Takumi?"
Takumi bit his lip, clearly, he had not expected the response he had received and the cautious approach he took to turning the tap on made it look as though he had anticipated me to bite his head off. Clutching the key in my hand, it would be best to wash that off first, with no doubt as soon as anyone else saw it they would make a beeline for taking it and she was sure nobody else in the small group they had formed would appreciate having to handle a key that was coated in the foul gelatinous slime.
I closed my eyes and gently teased my hands into the water that spat out of the tap in sprays of chilling water, the boiler must not be on in this place. Even still, I would have had that tap spit out ice if it meant it would get rid of the slimy coating. I probably looked too enthused as Takumi gave me a confused expression at my excitement seeing the slime slipping and sliding off into the basin, leaving just the flesh of my hands and forearm in the wake of it.
Watching the slime slither around the basin as the suction of the pipes drew it closer to its grave, there was a certain pleasure watching this stuff disappear in front of my eyes, they were truly transfixed and engrossed in the act - my own personal vice.
"You're not fine Nezire…" Takumi repeated, this time with more sympathy in his tone, it felt like he teased his own fingers into my palm. I was going to say something, but before I could find the words to speak, he had hooked the key I had found between two of his fingers and retracted his hand back rummaging them firmly in his pockets, "You can lie to me, but you shouldn't lie to yourself."
"What…?" I turned my head to face the diver, noting the melancholic expression that had formed on his face, he seemed to be in thought at the moment. I continued to scrub at my hands and arms, more soap lathering, and rinsing back to back.
"Sorry, I just don't like hearing you talk that way, it's not nice to see," Takumi watched as I washed my hands and arms over and over, he looked like he wanted to speak up, but kept himself quiet as we stood in momentary silence.
"Hurry the fuck up!"
Footsteps clicked against the tiled floor as in a whirl, Daichi stormed into the kitchen, he seemed to wear a frown across his face - his purple hair already a bit more dishevelled than when I left him and his arm sporting a small purple bruise. If the look he gave me on his entrance was irritation, then all I could describe his attitude towards Takumi would be unadulterated vehemence. He folded his arms and took the time to glare daggers at my arms, clicking his tongue.
"Calm down Daichi, I told you already about this - we won't be too long now, go back to the others before you go causing more trouble than you already have," Takumi reprimanded his fellow student, even though he was on the receiving end of a hostile gaze as it was.
Would they have slung punches at each other had I not been there?
"Don't go acting like you're some amazing guy yourself, see this?" Daichi addressed me, jabbing his finger at the bruise I had spotted before, "Your little pacifist friend did that to 'teach me a lesson'."
"Did you deserve it…?" I shouldn't have said that but it just came out.
"No more than you two deserve to be told to fucking move it and stop taking so long, are you just standing there to rub your skin off?" Daichi retorted, rolling his eyes.
Now that he mentioned it, my arms felt warm… I figured it was down to the discrepancy between the air and the water coming from the tap into the faucet, but upon closer inspection, I had rubbed my skin with so much intensity that it had turned a vivid shade of pink.
I had gone from a slimy mess to a sore skinned mess in the span of a few minutes. What next? I'll get told that I have days to live because of some other mess? I didn't respond to the question with anything more understandable than a groan of regret for not paying attention to what I was doing all this time.
"If you'd kept up with that then you would have looked like a big old salmon, then you wouldn't be haddocking a good time," Daichi seemed to find pleasure in his own pun even if we just stared at him mutely, "Whatever, seems like you're ready to move on out at least. Good job."
The barista turned on his heel and left us to stare momentarily at the place where he stood, was that sarcasm he had used? Did he mean that genuinely? From all that had happened so far, that boy seemed to be more confusing than most people I dealt with on a daily basis as a part of my Ultimate Talent.
Getting a read on him would be hard I could tell, and if the other people were anything to go by, I would probably be the only one who cared enough to try. The way Takumi looked at Daichi, there was a genuine tension there that even the most naive of creatures would be able to sense from poles apart.
"He's right, we should go. Standing around here won't do us any good," Takumi's words were stunted in thought, each syllable stood as their own word. I frowned, I shouldn't have frowned though as it did not come without a scolding addition of, "Come on, don't just stand there."
He hadn't even let me dry my hands, the dishcloth was a tempting option, however in the end, my jumper mediated as the towel. Walking in silence behind Takumi, the sound of voices could be heard getting gradually louder, as he led me further down the corridor towards an area I had not personally seen.
We passed the storage cupboard that a few of my fellow students referred to earlier - it really was a cupboard as in the brief time before Takumi tugged at me to continue moving, I made note of how uncomfortable it must have been for the two of them to be in there for especially long, with all the items being stored within there. Various games, sporting equipment, bundles of clothes, and an array of random plastic items like fake food or counterfeit necklaces.
Eventually, we stopped near a larger pair of double doors where Daichi stood, leaned against the wall quietly observing the two girls as they had the most pleasant of conversations:
"How did you get your hair to look so pretty? I don't think I have ever seen a style that looked quite so stylish as this! You must tell me the hairdresser that you go to once we have the chance to leave! I have made this a decree!" Emily announced this with vibrant enthusiasm, taking in Kaori's appearance with a rather… close inspection.
"Miss Bright…? I can happily answer, but do you mind if you don't…?" Kaori nervously chuckled, Emily's nose was almost pressed into the side of the caroler's head at this point.
"Ah! I'm so sorry dear, it just looks so nice I wanted to take a closer look that's all, I didn't mean to be so nosy," Emily recoiled from Kaori, a sheepish blush coating her cheeks, at the same time Daichi looked away from the two - I could only imagine he was hiding his smirk from the two girls.
Kaori appreciated the gesture at least with a smile, "Don't worry, to answer your question however. They are frosted tips, I can't exactly explain the process myself but I would be happy to take you to the stylist who helps me out. Apparently, you can also do styles like this at home so they might be able to instruct you with some tips - I just get the professional help as I worry that if I tried to do it at home I would turn the bathroom into a deluge of hair dye and conditioner splats," she rocked on her heels a little, "I would hate to cause the cleaners at the academy any more stress considering how many students rooms there are as there is, I cannot imagine everyone has the same attitude towards keeping a clean living space as I do."
"Hmm… that is a fair point. Sometimes though, a girl is just in one of those PJ's and pizza moods. It is apparently all the rage though to move away from those greasy pizzas and embrace cauliflower bases. Burgers truly are worse though, all that grease does nothing but clog up your pores with fats and grease," Emily scrunched her nose, now going off on her own little tangent.
At this point, Takumi decided to press between the two girls, making the opera singer nearly trip over her heels again with a short yelp, he muttered only a brief apology, but his attention seemed to be placed on the door in front of us.
Taking the key that had been washed back in the kitchen, he slotted it into the keyhole and began twisting it around waiting for a click, except it got stuck. No matter how much pressure he put it seemed to be trapped like the key had hardened from being coated in glue. He even grunted a little from the intensity of the pressure he applied to the key in an attempt to turn it.
"Give it here, you're going to break it," Daichi interrupted, not caring for manners as he nudged the diver out of the way, and with ease managed to undo the mess Takumi made and with a sharp click resolved the issue of the locked door, "Simple stuff."
Daichi pushed open the door, or tried to at the very least, but was met with resistance from the other side which caused him to curse under his breath about the obstacle. Peeking through the gap, he strained to detect what was blocking the door and after a solid ten seconds, Takumi took this as the opportunity to seize back control of the situation.
The back and forth between the two guys struck me as the weirdest form of masculine bravado that I hadn't seen for a long time, it was probably for the best that Emily and Kaori had returned to a quieter conversation whilst the boys bickered over who was going to stand where and do what. Frowning, it raised the question: How much can I trust my classmates? How much can I depend on people like this? Nobody can escape the reality that we teenagers are not as mature or emotionally resilient as most adults are, it would not have surprised me to see the stress marks appear on their brow in a matter of minutes.
Would Ikoma-sensei be around? It would probably be for the best if I invested my time and energy into finding him, as he would be the most likely person who could help us all out in a situation like this.
"Move out of the way," Takumi snapped, I swear I saw him resist the urge to shove the barista, but instead just gave a scornful glance.
Returning to the position he stood before, I noticed Daichi alternated his glances between all of us, perhaps less Takumi as each time his eyes observed him they washed over him, Takumi was just the sand to Daichi's rising tide. Eventually, they stopped on me. I bit my lip. He bit his lip at the same time.
"Hmm-" Daichi put a finger to his mouth and gestured to follow, slipping off away from the other three and trailing off to the storage cupboard as quietly as he could, luckily for him, Takumi was muttering comments about 'mahogany' and 'fine craftsmanship.'
I thought the man was supposed to have expertise in diving, not assessing what sounded like my grandmother's attic. My grandmother's attic deserves a whole different story of itself and I won't lie when I shuddered at the thought of having to go through that maze of old trinkets where all the Jorō spiders congregated in their webs. Nope. Not a chance.
Brushing those thoughts aside, I felt his arm brush by as he leaned over my shoulder in the storage cupboard and closed the door behind us leaving the room in a flood of darkness. Most people would have thought me crazy doing something like this, going into a room alone with a guy you barely knew, not to mention a guy who only moments earlier was swearing like a sailor - he deserved just as much respect and fair treatment as Takumi, Emily and Kaori though.
Even if the others wouldn't respect him, it didn't mean I had to follow along with the sheep however long they allowed themselves to be distant from him for.
"What is-" I began to speak until the chill of a finger forced itself upon my lip - flinching, I grabbed onto the arm in front of me, squeezing it a little too tight as I could hear Daichi mutter a nondescript curse under his breath.
"Shut up, you need to be quiet - I don't need to explain this shit to you do I?" he whispered in warning, taking the finger off of my lips once he had finished.
"No," I whispered back, at least in the dark I could back up a little and hold myself strong, brace myself and maintain a defensive stance.
"Good, now listen as I won't have time to repeat myself, I don't trust that guy. Takumi." he continued, "He seems to act like he's a fucking knight in shining armor and it is suspicious, so I just wanna take the time to get you on the same wavelength as I am. I need you to promise full confidentiality that this is between us. Got it?" Daichi's hushed tone somehow managed to carry itself with an intensity that made the delicate hairs on my arm stand erect.
"Why?" I managed to whisper back, I already assumed why at this point though.
"I need you to promise. Yes or no, if you can't promise me this then I'll just have to assume you are going to back up Takumi on all he says." He sounded disappointed by my non answer, "I'm speaking to you because you're not weak, or at least… I don't think you are weak as you are making yourself out to be. I see how you watch people, how you gauge others. So, do you promise?"
Unable to see the barista's face to insight his facial expressions, I ran the request through my head like a tape recorder on a loop. He sounded serious, harsh, almost dangerous in the intensity, yet I could not deny the fact that when he spoke it sounded genuine and sincere too - it was off putting to say the least, considering the fact that he had up to this point shown no interest in others. I nodded my head.
"Well then…? Do you promise?" Frick! He sounded a little more irritated! I nodded my head but… right, we were in darkness.
"Yes. I promise," I let the words trail out, promises are interesting things. At the end of the day, they are just words that drift away in the wind yet they hold the value of lives, of futures, of deaths and of pasts.
Daichi remained silent to the proclamation. Tilting my head up a little and broadening my posture, I repeated the same words - probably a bit too loud as I heard another grumble and a finger on my mouth once more.
"Takumi is the kind of guy who sees himself as a leader, as the shepherd who needs to collect all his little sheep and guide them however the hell he sees fit." He continued his tirade, "You know the thing about shepherds though? They'll eventually lead their precious flock to the butchers so that the guillotine can cut them into chunks and sell them to the highest bidder. I'm not saying he is going to be bad, but people who show their strength so vividly as he does, it ain't a good omen that is for sure. If he starts with anyone and I don't see it, if I don't see you slapping him senseless I'mma have to punch him myself and I don't think he'd take too kindly to that. The… sheep, they deserve better."
Daichi spoke the last words with some hesitation but even still, I couldn't find the words to respond to him - just a shallow breath and a lash of the tongue to the corner of my lips to pick away a stray strand of dried up skin.
"He likes you, he thinks you will do as he says for the greater good so yeah… Fuck that, make sure you don't take that crap and follow your own heart and stuff. Not everyone is strong, but that doesn't mean they've gotta suffer for it so I'm gonna hold you accountable for some of it now. You'd better remember that," I felt a gentle shove as he brushed past, shoulders colliding and not giving me the dignity to respond.
All I could do is just stand there and face the darkness of the storage room. Sheep? Weakness? Takumi being a suspicious character? All of this was pretty intense, were they the words of a perceptive young man or the words of a paranoid sociopath? The world does have a way to warp people into individuals who they never ever imagined they could be.
"Nezire! Where are you?"
Footsteps made their way down the corridor, it sounded like Emily from the clacking of heels against the floor, sighing I heaved the door behind me open and staggered myself out into the corridor. I probably looked like some drunken slob who had tripped on a cobblestone in the middle of the street, as I had to grab onto Emily's arm to stop myself from completely toppling over. She gave a small yelp of alarm, freeing her arm from my grip and facing me with all the scorchy temper of a matchstick.
"Nezire! You cannot run off like that. You had us all worried. Downright!" Emily berated me, for all the intensity she was trying to show it was hard to treat her seriously as she puffed her cheeks up in concern and played around with her hair subconsciously.
"Downright…?" I didn't get what she meant.
"Downright!" Emily just said it again, this time raising her voice a little more for dramatic effect.
"Downright…?" Nope, still not got a clue what you are on about Emily, try again later once I have learned the lingo of 'Emily'.
"Downright I say!" Emily's cheeks were puffed so much she could probably have fit a hamster in either side, turning on her heel she strutted herself around the corner to where the group was previously with all the pomp of a peacock and the grace of a flouncing flamingo.
I didn't want to cause any more distress to the others as I already seemed to have done, so using the wall as support, carefully maneuvering my way back to the group who were now stood next to an open set of doors - it looked like during the time away in the storage cupboard, Takumi had managed to gently push and tease whatever was blocking off the door before aside so that he could push the doors open. Emily returned to Kaori who smiled at my return, at least she seemed to appreciate my return. Less could be said for Takumi who upon noticing me walked up to me with a calmness that came before the storm.
"Where did you go?" Takumi stressed the 'you', folding his arms awaiting an answer - he wasn't angry, he didn't even sound disappointed. Just frosty in his reception.
Feeling Daichi's eyes boring into me from the side as he watched for my answer, I swallowed some saliva, letting the sensation of the phlegm crawl down my throat give me a grace period to come up with the most believable of lies. Not that I valued lies! I mean lies are bad but… I guess sometimes lies are good? It's complicated.
"I went to check the storage room to see if there was anything in there which could have helped you with opening the door since you and Daichi were having a rough time, I'm sorry if I caused any problems for you. Just trying to help."
It seemed to work, Takumi's expression softened as my tall tale was told, Daichi smiled to himself, the corner of his mouth twitched up at a small angle.
"Well… next time just let someone know, okay? I appreciate the thought though, I'm glad you share the sentiment of working together to try and find a teacher and understand what the current situation is. You have no idea what would have happened if you had gotten hurt with nobody around to take care of you," Takumi clasped his hands behind his back and looked behind his back in the direction of the now open door.
"I… can handle myself Takumi," honestly, I didn't know if I could, but it was better having people believe that right?
"If you could handle yourself, then you wouldn't have needed me to save you back then though would you, Nezire? There's no shame in it Ne-" Takumi didn't have the chance to respond. I was done with this conversation and done with staying in this same bland corridor.
"I never said there was any shame in it," my words cut across, I didn't want to give him any peace of mind that I valued him as some guardian angel, he had done good but… anyone has the potential to do good.
The amalgamation of mumbles and whispers behind me blurred into one and I enjoyed every second of watching them be nothing more than white noise.
White walls invited me in with open arms, looking to the space before me - the walls were painted whiter than snow, patterns of scallops bordering the golden skirting around the floor and ceiling. Across the floor, no wood or carpet but instead pristine, shimmering white ceramic tiles that were decorated with golden flowers - roses, carnations, tulips, and chrysanthemums to name a few. They all formed into a flower bed that alternated and shifted with every new tile adjacent to them. From the ceiling, a large light hung down, not a chandelier but a large strip light connected to multiple golden poles descending from the ceiling which was painted white like the walls.
Multiple plush chairs and beanbags were scattered around the centre, crimson velvet fashioned with delicate gold fringing and tassels that hung like icicles towards the floor. A shaggy gold rug had been thrown in the centre, positioned perfectly so that its symmetry contrasted the perfect chaos of the furnishings. Across one wall, large portrait frames were hung up, yet inside there was nothing to speak of. In the corner, a white grand piano sat enticingly, goading anyone who could see it to come and experience the opulence of its music.
In the corner, a coat and hat stand alongside the mahogany dresser which I could only imagine was the culprit as it was unceremoniously shoved at a weird angle almost knocking over the stand that stood mere feet from it. On each other wall, a white wooden door had been fitted in to blend with the room - it was only noticeable from the large golden door handles that protruded out of the door proper. . It was all so perfect that it sent my stomach back into the pits of anxiousness - the deathly silence of the room all but made this feel like the burying grounds for an angel.
"Do you want me to accompany you, Nezire? The others seem worried about you, I trust you can be okay alone, but it might be best to keep them happy just in case. This is not the nicest thing to go through and… I think we should stick together if we can," the soft-spoken request came from Kaori who walked next to me, gently putting a hand on my back and rubbing it.
I wanted to tell her to stop but couldn't bring myself to it. The only thing she seemed to have in spades was her optimism and who was I to put her down. I just nodded, it was easier.
"Emily and Daichi are taking the middle door and Takumi said he would take the right door which leaves us with the left door. I hope that whatever is through there is nice, maybe we can find one of the teachers? That would be lovely," Kaori expressed her optimism, gently guiding me towards the left door with the hand on my back the whole time, she patted and rubbed it soothingly as she spoke.
What she said though… if there were teachers here and they had found themselves through one of these doors, then it meant that Ikoma-sensei would be there to help explain the situation and quell any concerns, and trust me when I said that so far that small sticky note size list of concerns had quickly increased into a notepad that must have been on its second or third page by this point.
"You seem very positive about this…" I whispered, she looked at me with a frown - not upset at me, most likely for me. I guess my lack of faith came across a bit too clearly.
"My father brought me up to see hope in even the most despairing of situations, I may sometimes struggle but I do my best to keep those words close to my heart. Some words can matter just as much as actions," Kaori explained, having reached the door she took the handle and twisted it, pushing the door open with more strength I had expected it to need. It scraped a little against the frame, like mice scuttling across some floorboards until with a pop of released pressure it shot forward and swung like a pendulum, finally resting as the momentum ended as Kaori's speech concluded.
The words were inspiring, who wouldn't find hope in such a statement? I was nervous and scared, but I'd hoped that my sympathy and compassion would be a testament to my character more to my skepticism and perfectionism.
Peeking through, the tiles from the previous room ran into here too, the same floral pattern leading up to golden skirting which made this room appear like the younger sibling to its elder siblings grand entrance. Directly in front of us, marble benches lined the centre of the room, they were white like the tiles except on the surface of the bench, speckles of gold mosaic had been crafted in. On either side of the parade of benches, fastening to the wall, a bunch of white lockers stood. Each locker had a dial on it that when Kaori went to inspect and twist she noted how it appeared that the locker dial wouldn't let her move the dial across to any number in the first place to open it.
Considering that a loss in terms of the investigation, I turned my attention to what was near the back of the room. I had been distracted by the benches and the conversation with Kaori to notice it at first however there was a large screen made of a pale wood, the screen itself was cream coloured however through the translucent fabric that made the pane, shifting shadows ducked and dived - they stopped more a moment then a sharp cry and a bolt of black shot up almost to the top of the screen.
"What was that!?" Kaori yelped, unaware of the source of the noise, from her freight her head collided against one of the lockers and made an undignified bang that could have awoken the dead from their tombstones. I cringed at the noise as any attempt to investigate the noise would now not be with the advantage of silence.
Turning back, one by one, four fingers and a thumb crawled their way around the side of the screen - long and bony, gently tapping against the surface and disrupting the quiet with a few clicks before the whole hand appeared and a palm shoved the screen to the side to reveal the one behind the eerie fingers.
A girl stood before us, taller than the two of us by a fair few inches now looking down at us her brow furrowed and her eyes staring straight into our souls. I wanted to take a step forward but upon my slightest movement I heard the tightening of leather; her gloved hand seemed to be wrapped around the chunky black handle of a butcher's knife.
All I could see in its reflection were pools of darkness. We both stopped but Kaori had started to tremor a little, maybe it was the knife? Maybe it was her fear of death? I wanted to comfort her, reach out to her but the whine of the leather told me to stop.
Dark red hair hung in straight pigtails over her shoulders and across her chest, fringe short and swept to the side to highlight the rest of her face. All things considered, the plumpness of her cheeks and button nose would have made her look baby faced had it not been for the intensity of the lilac orbs that continued to watch us both still narrowed as they were before. Unlike Kaori and I, she seemed to be on the thinner side, there was still some lean muscle however I couldn't help but get the impression that she had never voluntarily played sports. Her pale skin tone suggested that she probably did have the best relationship with going outside in general either.
But goodness me was she dressed for some business! Literally, for business, she had a suit on. The suit consisted of an ensemble consisting of a matching navy blue blazer and trousers, a grey dress shirt that appeared to be crisp and freshly ironed, and a black tie that was clearly tied by someone who had decent enough experience with tying tie knots. Not that I could tell what the knot was meant to be as there are so many different types to count. Black gloves, black Oxford shoes, and a neat black stud in each ear made this girl appear as though she was ready for something and she meant business.
"State your intent, I've met a few of you. We need to be on the same page," the girl's voice was surprisingly higher pitched, the poor girl's illusion of being threatened was shattered because of it, "So then, what will you be? Friend or foe?"
"H-Huh…? Put the knife down, p-p-please," Kaori already appeared a little spooked, seeing the red-haired girl's gloved hand clasp and unclasp around the handle of the knife.
"I need the answer to my question, I don't know where I am and I don't recognise most of the people here, so I'm doing what you two should be doing. Arming myself for potential danger. It's basic survival knowledge," the girl radiated calm, however it was clinical and analytic - at the very least it was better than having an angry girl charging us with a knife so it wasn't the worst outcome even if the bluntness did nothing to quell Kaori's anxiety.
"Friend, we know just as little as you - we were going to find Ikoma-sensei. I'm sure he must be around here somewhere and once we find him, he will have the means to- Wait! That's it! Why didn't I think of it before," my eyes widened, fumbling my right hand darted to a pocket anticipating my mobile phone to be neatly slotted in its woolen home, "It's not there, my phone isn't there… Why isn't it there? What are we supposed to do if we have no way to contact anybody?"
"No way to… but my mother! She will be worried sick! No.. No no no no no, we must have dropped them Nez-" Kaori had begun to panic herself, not having access to the outside world? I kept stuffing hands in my pockets, it had to be there! If there was an emergency and someone got sick or hurt what would they do? Would the poor soul just have an audience of zombies watching them become nothing more than a painful reminder? There was food and water here sure but nowhere is immune to the requirement of having a sustainable method of planting and harvesting crops in parallel with accessible clean water. There was every possibility… no, I was not going to let that old chestnut drag me down.
"Calm down. If you're a friend then it appears that we are already on the same side. I think your plan, while it may not get you the results taking into consideration the lack of teachers present, is sensible. They are in charge, so if anybody knows what to do right now it will be them, I won't go and say that the task is easy. I am not sure if you are fully aware of the circumstances but it seems that certain areas have been made inaccessible, you will see for yourself if you haven't already," the girl took a momentary peek at a notepad which she currently held in her left hand, her right hand seemed to be dripping with some kind of liquid. Drip. Drip. Drip.
"Inaccessible? So we are trapped? Is it abandoned do you think?" I may as well have asked if pig's fly.
"Abandoned? That is one possible theory, from my inspection of his bathtub," the girl gestured to behind where once we peered rested a large communal bathtub made of the same marble as the benches, "It appears that the bathtub has not seen evidence of being worn or used. That could mean it was recently cleaned and it has been used frequently or it could have never been touched. The water was cold though."
"A bathtub? That sounds like it would be relaxing after all the stress," Kaori chuntered to herself, timid as a dormouse.
The girl took the butcher's knife and seeing how Kaori was anxious, with reluctance, placed it on the nearest marble bench to her as to not scare the caroller.
The posture she maintained as she walked reminded me of a rigid lollipop stick, unbowed, unbent and unbroken, she stopped next to me and with a smile offered out her hand as a gesture of welcoming, "Pleased to meet you. I'm Ishiyo Mochizuki, Ultimate Investor at Hope's Peak Academy. My talent involves throwing money at things and getting even more back. Well it is more complicated than that, but I am sure you grasp the general picture."
REGISTERING NEW STUDENT…
ISHIYO MOCHIZUKI
ULTIMATE INVESTOR
"My name is Nezire and this is Kaori, she is the Ultimate Christmas Caroller and I'm simply the Ultimate Social Worker," the idea of a richer person was one that I couldn't help but worry about, the rich could be charitable and egalitarian or they could be cruel narcissists.
"Kaori? You mean the Kaori Miyazaki?" Ishiyo raised an eyebrow, facing the caroller who had managed to regain her composure enough to nod politely, a sweet smile decorating her face.
"I remember you, you were holding that massive event with hymns and carols not too long ago, apparently it was one of the biggest events of the decade and will be remembered for years and years to come. It really was a shame that I spent that day in the hospital after getting an allergic reaction from that crab croquette curry I ordered. The only thing I thought at the time was how I wanted people to shut up so I could go back to sleep," Ishiyo explained, she spoke in good-nature, her tone breezy and yet the contents of her story only made Kaori feel the need to bow in apology.
"I am sorry Miss Mochizuki, if it disturbed you then I hope next year when we perform the service that it will be tolerable for you," Kaori's words were soft but carried a quiet strength to them. She meant what she said.
"Next year? You should try something new - if you do the same thing every year it will get boring and people will pass it by as a been there, done that thing," Ishiyo waved her hand flippantly
"B-But, it's an important tradition. I don't want to change just because a few people may get tired of singing, they are entitled to like or dislike the service as they please," Kaori protested.
"You won't stay successful with that attitude, the modern world has already learned to leave attitudes like that behind. It might be for the best that you do too if you want to maintain your position as an Ultimate. You seem so nice, I wouldn't want your future to collapse due to stubbornness," Ishiyo hid it from Kaori but briefly, her eyes rolled a little - the corner of her mouth twitching once or twice before returning to face the girl again, "Now if you will excuse me, I need to investigate some new rooms that I didn't have access to before. Miss Miyazaki, I hope my words of wisdom ring true for you. I will see you both later."
Ishiyo strode out of the bathhouse, her posture taut like earlier. She seemed confident in herself. Despite this, watching her leave… there was some resentment. I had to brush it out of my mind though as Kaori had gone to sit down on the bench in silence.
She wasn't in tears but the way her eyes were misting up I guessed if I messed up then the waterworks would come flowing out any time now. I guess the poor thing had taken what Ishiyo had said straight to heart, her hands were clasped on her lap, legs clamped together and her chin crushed up against her chest.
"Kaori? Don't worry about what Ishiyo said. I'm sure that whatever you choose to do you will be happy, it's so selfless and inspirational after all. There are plenty of people out there in the city who will be so excited for Christmas to come around just for your service," I tried to encourage her - she didn't meet me in the eye.
"Thank you Nezire, that's sweet of you to say. I'm not worried, I just want to think about some things if that is okay with you? I've been around people all this time, I could use a little moment to collect my thoughts, it's been stressful," her voice diminished with each passing word, only a whispered 'stressful' breaking her lips. At the very least she managed to make eye contact for a few moments before looking away once more.
Nothing could be done now, I guess it was guilt but I didn't want to leave her there. She seemed so innocent, like a child locked away from reality. Kaori was handling this better than I had expected her to so that was a positive in a situation that was getting littered with more and more negatives.
Hiding the guilt, my legs carried me out across the tiles in thick scrapes. Squeaking and scuffling against the tiles with each footstep, my eyes trained ahead of me to the door opposite the one to the bathhouse. Takumi had gone through there, right? I didn't have a desire to see him but I also didn't care for flopping on a chair and wasting the time away even if the other side of the room felt like a marathon away.
One tile passed at a time, the flowers changing between a rose to a tulip then another chrysanthemum. Another rose and then a carnation. They all looked the same after a while, I counted at least twelve of each, one of the roses was hidden partially by the tassels of one of the chairs so I had to strain my check to see. It was a rose for sure, roses are the prettiest flowers after all. It was a relief that when I checked around at intervals that nobody had come to watch me stagger across to the other door like a disorientated drunk. Especially with people who were all too eager to help out even when they weren't asked.
Murmuring came from the other side of the door, at first it was hard to notice but from a few meters away the dialogue of two hushed yet conflicting voices were battling out. I had to press my ear against the door and focus, the voices were a bit clearer however that was not the strangest sound. Was that whimpering? Did it sound like a dog? Or a child? It was high-pitched. One of the voices that were speaking was definitely Takumi though, his voice was distinctive enough to tell - who else would sound this confident right now?
"What the hell is wrong with you? Are you out of your mind?" Takumi snapped, he seemed to be trying to keep his voice quiet but the frustration was evident, "You don't even know them, why would you do something so cruel?"
Another male voice responded with a sneer, his speech practically oozing sardonic boredom, "I don't give a damn about the feelings of some little bitch who acts all feminine. Oh woe is me, however will I ever forgive myself for telling a mincing little fanny the truth, get a life."
"You will apologise to him! It is not your place to go around and bully people like that! If you think I am going to let you leave without apologising, then you are sorely mistaken, I won't let you do this to him or anyone else as long as I am around," he boldly remarked, "So maybe you should give a damn about remembering that instead. Hmm? Think you can manage that?" Takumi retorted, from what was happening and what was being said I couldn't help but sense the potential brewing of a brawl on the horizon.
"Let me put this in a way you will understand, I don't care what you think, if anything you should be thanking me for telling this weed how much of a pussy he really is, at least now he can try and man up a bit as the sooner he gets his act together and shows some balls, the sooner he can actually have a spine and do what he wants without crying like a pissbaby," the other male voice snarkily countered, "I know I'm not a liked Ultimate or person, but you know what, at least I accepted that this is who I am and who I'll be rather than living in his own head like you two."
"Don't talk about me like you know me, who gave you the right to talk to me or anyone like that," Takumi bit back with an acid tongue.
"Like what? Like someone who is telling the truth? Tch… scared of the truth? Figures," the other voice mocked Takumi, even I couldn't help but share in Takumi's frustration hearing the words coming out of this guy's mouth and I couldn't even see what was happening and was unaware of any context surrounding the situation.
Okay, no more waiting around, this argument or whatever you would call it had to be put down before anyone got hurt. From the sounds of it, one person in there had already ended up in a state of whimpering, whether they were physically hurt was another question altogether.
Creaking open, through the door I went. The tiles from the room behind me continued through into the next room which was also the shape of a square and only marginally smaller in its dimensions. The walls retained the same style of decoration, laced with white scallop carvings and golden borders. It must have been pretty expensive to be able to afford to decorate these rooms with such lavish furnishings - it was not my taste but it could have been a hell of a lot worse than this lot we had found ourselves. The room, for the most part, was barren of chairs, tables or anything of the sort.
The only thing that stood, inside the room, at the far opposite end of the room to where I was standing was a solitary black vending machine, smothered in an 'OUT OF ORDER' sign written in an aggressive red font. Further doors were positioned either side of the vending machine although unlike any of the others we had encountered so far it was abundantly clear that we would need more than a miracle to be able to pass through them considering the fact that bulging metal chains were tied around the door, restraining it with a bulky padlock. Even if there were keys for it, the one I found in the freezer was merely accidental, I doubt that unless we were in a group that we would make any progress.
The voice who was arguing with Takumi knocked me from my thoughts with a curt drawl, "Oh look, another person came to join the pity party, isn't that a shocker?"
The rude voice surprisingly came from an individual who I would not have pictured based on the drab way of speech. The guy was actually pretty small all things considered, even smaller than I was and that was not something I was used to. His skin was pale, sickly however most likely from not seeing the sun - even more so than Ishiyo I might add. While most of it was covered up, even he couldn't completely hide the traces of a few small scars that littered the epidermal layer of his skin.
The boy was fairly muscular, surprisingly more so than any of the other males I had encountered as of yet - I reckon only Ikoma-sensei would easily have more muscle mass, I didn't want to laugh, but with his stature, it was quite amusing. The guy's face was disconcerting, to say the least. His face for the most part was fairly round however, patches of dried skin scattered his forehead and cheeks making it look rough like sandpaper. His eyes that I expected to be fiery were watered down brown, sunken and dead of emotion, sunken too was his nose which must have seen a couple of operations as even from where I was standing I could tell that it had definitely been broken a few times. To top it off, his black hair was lazily combed over and appeared on the oiler side. It was clear personal hygiene was not on the top of this guy's list.
Despite his first impressions and rough exterior, the clothing he wore could only be described as modest and tasteful, pretty common for a teenager of the twenty-first century. Plain blue jeans were worn alongside a baggy and oversized t-shirt that looked a little frayed and overly worn, the colours were subdued and appeared to blend together a bit to distort the image of the front.
Peering at it, felt like an optical illusion, the longer I would have starred in it the worse it would have probably gotten and I don't think being hypnotised by clothing would have given me anything close to a good reputation. While it was hard to see underneath the black denim jacket that hugged him tightly, I reckoned that I saw one of those white muscle shirts peeking out slightly from underneath the rest of his clothing - not that he needed to show off the fact that he was already packing more muscle than he probably needed to.
"Ignore him Nezire, this guy is just an asshole. I wouldn't waste your time talking to the likes of him, he's already caused enough trouble as is," Takumi snapped his head in my direction, his brows were a thunderstorm awaiting the cracks of lightning, "He seems to be enjoying the fact that he made that poor boy upset, no apologies, nothing of the sort."
I followed Takumi's point of vision and saw that in the corner was the source of the whimpering from before, it was not a dog. It would have been nice to see a dog around here as they are loyal companions but looking after a dog would be a lot more difficult so it was probably for the best that the not dog was not a dog.
It in fact came from a boy who was withdrawn into himself, legs and knees pressed to his chest and clutching on a fuzzy stuffed animal in the shape of a rabbit for dear life. While it was certain from what I could tell he must have been of a similar height to the rude boy except his fragile and petite frame looked like it would be brittle enough to shatter into pieces with enough pressure. His pale skin was blushed with pink from his crying, nose red raw from being rubbed to wipe away mucus that had been dribbling out, and his pink eyes were still shimmering from the tears that had stained his dimpled cheeks. Moreover, his head was swarmed by a bush of wild curly red hair that twisted and tangled in competition to the top of his shoulders where they rested in peace. If I had met the boy in the street I wouldn't have definitely not had thought he was older than twelve or thirteen based on his appearance alone.
The boy wore a plain red t-shirt, nothing flashy, underneath a soft looking purple jacket that was made of cotton with a cozy minky lining fabric that looked like it had been picked at especially on the jacket cuffs where some of the lining had frayed from being stroked. The hood of the jacket resembled rabbits ears, with two ear shaped appendages having been sown alongside an applique of a rabbit's face - bucked teeth and all.
The rest of his clothing choice was equally as basic as his t-shirt which was a surprise considering how much he stood out with that unique jacket: light purple shorts and velcro strapped black trainers completed his look.
Still, what stood out the most was the little rabbit toy that he clutched to his chest, it may as well have been a baby with the tenderness and adoration he seemed to hold for the fuzzy critter. It was white and yet the tips of its fur were starting to discolour with love fuelled dirt, the label that stuck out from its bottom was merely a few strands of silk that had worn down over time from excessive silking. Sure… he may have been too old by society's standards for the toy but as I looked at the boy, I saw so much in him that I had not seen in anyone else here.
"Sure whatever you say tough guy, little wimp is just gonna stay sat in the corner like that and snivel into his snotrag. I may not be the best at making friends like him but at least I have a backbone, maybe you should spend less time bitching to me if you think you can make him any less pathetic than he is right now. It's not pretty but that kid is on a one way trip to being beaten up one day," the rude boy was unwavering in his counterargument, "Not that I would, I know you were going to say that - I'm probably better at controlling those urges than you are, it's really quite easy if you don't let other people get under your skin like you seem to do. I don't blame you though, I've seen the worst of what can get under your skin and it would make your little mouth scream bloody murder."
"How charitable of you…" Takumi couldn't have said that any drier than he did.
"Nezire. I'll tell you this once for your own benefit. Name is Maki Kazuki. Talent is Ultimate Horror Connoisseur, but I think Master of Terror is better, chills the blood," his introduction was as blunt as before, he didn't even bother to look me in the eye as he began walking over to the door I'd come through to leave the room.
REGISTERING NEW STUDENT…
MAKI KAZUKI
ULTIMATE HORROR CONNOISSEUR
"Don't let your friend here spook you with his pride too much," Maki waved behind him as he left the two of us with the emotionally broken boy. I didn't know what to say but from Takumi's effort to keep his mouth clenched shut I could only imagine that the diver had a few choice words for the horror connoisseur. I just hoped for their own benefit that the two made the effort to avoid each other rather than causing this attrition to escalate.
"How the hell did Hope Peak's Academy see any talent in someone like him? People who act like that don't deserve the opportunities that the academy offers. It's bullcrap that's what it is," Takumi vented, closing his eyes, afterwards, he took a couple of breaths to himself - at least his passion for morality was not being clouded by a capability for rationality.
"We should see to this other boy first.." I worriedly looked at the small boy, he was completely absorbed in caressing the flank of his stuffed toy whilst silent salty tears stained his blushed cheeks.
"You might be better at that you know, that sounds more in your ballpark than it does mine…" Takumi resumed staring at the door.
"Forget about him, as you said he's not worth your energy. This is exactly the kind of response that he would be wanting to bait out of you," I frowned, my words would probably be pushed aside after all.
"I'm more concerned about Kaori, I'm going to make sure he hasn't gone to harass her, the last thing we need is two people crying because of that guy, I'm going to do that," as expected… the diver proceeded out the room giving me no chance to express my thoughts on the matter. That man was on a mission and I had no doubt if he had to wade through magma he would do it without wellington boots on.
I returned my attention to the weeping boy, turtled up in the corner, I had to admit that it was probably for the best that Takumi wasn't the one who was going to try and talk and comfort him. Takumi's bravado would have made the poor thing doubly, no triply, as anxious as he was right now. No doubt he needed someone who knew what they were doing and I would be a pretty terrible social worker to not try and step in with a teen in turmoil. Quietly, I made my way over to the corner and, to try and establish a sense of comfort and trust, I sat myself down and curled myself into a small ball, similarly to the boy, to try and emphasise that I was not going to bring him any harm. As simple as it may sound, I'd learned the hard way about the psychological impact of height, posture, and stance in the interactions of two individuals - it isn't pretty. A short breath marked the first of many melancholy silences to follow, ghosts have their ways to make the boldest of men mute.
"You didn't come to make fun of me," the boy's voice came out as you could imagine, innocent and mild - sweeter than buttercup yellow honey.
"Too many people make fun of others," my words just blurted out with a mind of their own.
"Too many people... " he squeezes one of the rabbit's arms, smoothing the fabric with the edge of his thumb. He looked like he had wanted to say more but those same ghosts found his vulnerability all too tempting.
"What is your name?" I gently pressed him with the question.
"..." he just stared at the tiles on the floor tracing his finger along the borders of a rose, drawing along the curve of a petal and releasing pressure once he reached the tip of the stigma that penetrated through the golden flower.
"Too soon?" I whispered, he had moved onto tracing a lily now.
He gave a small nod, even those few small words must have taken more willpower to muster than I had imagined. Drawing along the flowers, the fingers that once trembled slowly managed to remain on the line more consistently. The slow inhales and exhales of his chest beat against the rabbit who rose and lowered in time with his breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. He had drawn a bouquet in a matter of minutes, a beautiful assortment of golden flowers given the Midas touch by a statuesque finger.
"Hey, I have an idea," he seemed calmer and he needed to get up at the very least and leave the room. I was not comfortable with leaving the boy alone especially if he could relapse into a state of anxiety. Going through an anxiety attack alone… the rabbit would be crushed, popped and bled of stuffing, a gruesome plush murder. All he did was peer at me with quiet eyes, they didn't probe or beg for answers, they didn't show any sign of hesitation either.
"We need to go through to the other room though to do it, do you think you would be able to do that? I'm sure your rabbit there would like to see a new place. Maybe he would like to sit on one of those comfy chairs in the other room," the mention of the chair for his rabbit seemed to cheer the small boy up with the first resemblance of a smile, even if it was strained and masked behind quivering lips. The life in his eyes would drown out the ghosts, I would have to trust in his strength.
"Come on, let's go," with a small groan, muscles in my knee straining and the click of a bone shifting slightly, I heaved myself to my feet, offering out a hand to help the boy up to his feet. However, he had already managed to get himself to his feet and to the door before I had even realised as when I turned I was met with expectant eyes, waiting for me to go first just in case. If Maki was there I would hate to have to kiss his face with my fist - violence did nothing to help but whether he could be helped was a different question altogether. If Maki was born to be the way he was I could only hope someone out there would show him the power of humility.
"..." as I walked by, the small boy hid behind me to remain out of sight of anyone who could be waiting within the room beyond, I felt small fingers, smooth like runner beans hook themselves around my triceps for protection, a fuzzy leg gently knocking against my elbow. I had to try and get this boy to talk but it seemed like he had already made his sentiments clear on trying to remain as quiet as possible. If it was a defense mechanism then I could only feel sympathetic, if it was a choice then I could only wish to feel as sympathetic. We slowly pressed on through the field of gold, the lack of windows and permanent light bathed the living area in a constant state of dawn. Much better than the godforsaken freezer. It didn't take much convincing for the boy to sit and curl down on a chair, placing the rabbit on one next to him, as soon as we got within a few meters of the furniture he made a mad dash for the thing and pressed up against the fabric smoothing his cheek against it. His face melted into comfort, absorbed as his cheek slid back and forth along the arm of the chair in a back and forth motion. In and out it went unable to control the urge to stop, it was so childish and yet somehow the most beautiful thing I had seen in this enigma of a place. I don't know if I stared too long, he wasn't aware either, engrossed in his act, but a voice cut me from my trance.
"If you stare at him any longer you might just get called some bad names, especially when you have certain people stuck here with you," Ishiyo had tapped me on my shoulder too, she wore this playful smirk that struck a line between sweet and devilish.
"I was just thinking about the past…" I shook my head and turned to face her, she had folded her arms and took a glance at the boy who had found bliss in the chair.
"Don't get too engrossed, it must be sweet but I reckon you are too mature for a boy like him," she teased me, retaining the same smirk.
"That's not what I… never mind," my teeth picked at my lips, any more and I would have tasted blood again, it didn't stop me from wincing as they slipped and the canine pierced the tip of my tongue, a small cut pooling a bead of blood that I sucked up.
"Careful. We are only as great as our inner daemons. Perhaps don't bite your lip next time Nezire," Ishiyo observed me wincing, great. With that she had begun to turn, offering a migratory wave of the hand.
"Wait. Can I borrow a piece or two of your paper? From the notepad, not much but it is important. A pen too." I was impressed with my restraint, I had nearly grabbed her hand to stop her but instead managed to get away with sucking my tongue. Still tasted of iron.
"If you want? I guess we can consider this a welcoming present, or a favour, whichever you prefer. Next time I will expect something in return," Ishiyo tapped her nose, a wink accompanying her playful act, "Nothing in the world comes for free, us humans are wicked enough to make sure of that."
Without another word, she handed me three pieces of lined paper that had been roughly torn from her notepad, the edge of the pieces slightly rough and shredded from where they had been yanked out in a rush, as well as a basic black pen. It would do for now though, especially for what its purpose was going to be. Ishiyo had decided to walk through the door heading towards the kitchens and reception area, invested in her notepad, chuntering words to herself as I made my way back to the boy and his rabbit. Even now, he seemed to be in his own bubble - no longer soothing his cheek but curled up all the same. I found a chair and with a tug dragged the furniture closer to where the boy had chosen to sit, luckily for us it seemed he had picked a couple closer to the centre, away from where noises could disrupt my plan. It was my hope that this plan would work, I mean games had always seemed to work for the children back at the academy. When they were down or in need of attention, having someone there always seemed to work, and even now as he remained in his own blissful solitude I had more hope than ever before that this would be successful.
"Hey, are you bored? I have a game that we can play together. It's really fun but I need another person to play it with and you seem to be a really fun person to play it with. Would you like to join me?" I encouraged him with a soft smile, showing the boy who had now rolled over in his chair to look at me with the pen and pieces of lined paper that I had now obtained. While he didn't speak he gave me a small nod and remained silent. Yes! Hopefully, this would help the boy open up, "We're going to play a game called Hangman, do you know how it works?"
"Nuh-uh…" a whispered response was the progressive answer.
"Basically, how it works is this: One person, so me in this case to start off with, thinks of a word or phrase; you have to try to guess what it is one letter at a time. On the piece of paper here I will draw a number of dashes equivalent to the number of letters in the word. If you suggest a letter that occurs in the word, I will then fill in the blanks with that letter in the right places. If the word does not contain the suggested letter, I will draw one element of a hangman's gallows. As the game progresses, a segment of the gallows and of the stick figure victim is added for every suggested letter not in the word. The number of incorrect guesses before the game can change but for the sake of simplicity, completing the stick figure in a noose provides a minimum of six wrong answers until the game ends and you lose. If you manage to get the correct answer for what the word is before the stick figure gets hung then you get to think of the next word, otherwise I get to think of the next word again. Don't worry though, I'll make sure to start easy for you so you can get accustomed to how the game works. Hopefully that made sense… do you have any questions about the game?" I waffled on about the rules of the game, making sure to take breaks every so often so he could process the information. After ten or so more seconds he gave a more confident nod that he had when agreeing to play the game.
With that, I tried to think of a word that would be simple - usually simple words would be shorter in length.., perhaps a word which had more vowels in it and common consonants rather than rarer ones like 'q' or 'x'. Right! I thought of a pretty common word, they were everywhere in Japan after all. Pulling the lid off the top of the pen I drew six clear dashes on the paper and showed it to the boy, "Okay so as you can see the word or phrase here has six letters. So now you need to guess the first one."
"Hmm… uh… ummmm…" he stared at the paper, as if trying to assess what letters would be the most likely to appear. It was a relief seeing the tension easing from his face as he was no longer focused on the teasing of Maki and could put his full attention on the game, "Ummmm… 'o'?"
"O? Wow, you are either really lucky or you might have a hidden talent here," I praised him, it was a chance but I think after the rough day he had had so far, a little bit of positive reinforcement wouldn't do him any harm. On the piece of paper, it now appeared as: _OO_ _ _.
"Thanks…" he scratched behind his ear, little fingers twirling a loose strand of red hair as he tried his best to not blush from the praise, "Ummm…. Is there… an 's'?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, there isn't an s in the word but that's a good guess, there are a lot of words which have an s in them so that makes a lot of sense," I drew the first part of the gallows.
"Uh-huh… my name has an 's'." he nodded, leaning over the arm of the chair and straining to grab his rabbit so he could cuddle it again, after a little groan and almost tipping over the edge he managed to get a hold of a leg and gently tease it across so he could pull the stuffed animal into his chest.
"My name is Nezire Katsura, I went to Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Social Worker. Did you go to the academy too?" hopefully now he would feel more comfortable sharing this small bit of information. Moving forward, if we were to work together it was important to be aware of each other's names at a minimum.
"Koisuke… Igeuchi," he managed to respond, looking away from me and to the face of his rabbit, stroking the furry fellow's ear he continued, "They said… I'm an Ultimate. Stuffed Animal Creator is my talent but… my bestest friend is Carrot."
REGISTERING NEW STUDENT…
KOISUKE IGEUCHI
ULTIMATE STUFFED ANIMAL CREATOR
"Carrot…?" I queried, raising an eyebrow.
"Carrot…" he gesticulated towards the rabbit then manipulated it to make it look like it was alive by having the toy rabbit wave its paw at me like it was saying hello, "Carrot is special… also… uh… 'l'."
I smiled, the more Koisuke spoke the more I came to the realisation that his presence had an almost therapeutic calming effect. I doubt if I had not had the moment of poetic reflection that all memories of the past here would have cast them off into their own grave," There is an 'l', you're already halfway there Koisuke," I marked the piece of paper which now read _ OO_L_.
"Okay… I can do this, let's think… 'd'?" Koisuke peered up at me with a hopeful expression.
"I… yes there is a 'd', I swear you must have some hidden talent. Are you sure you are not the Ultimate Hangman Pro, Koisuke?" The word now read: _ OODL_.
"Nuh-uh," Koisuke gave a small giggle, bashfully looking away, even if he appeared in greater spirits now I think looking at me and talking so expressively was too much of an ask for the stuffed animal creator, "I think the word is noodle though… cause noodles taste good, like fruit gummies."
"Fruit gummies? Those bring me back to my childhood," I smiled, I wasn't one to go mad to go on confectionery, "I always had to give the banana flavoured ones away though, they were pretty gross. Bananas are one thing but those artificial banana flavourings taste like soap."
"Oh… soap? That's-" Koisuke began to speak however before he managed to finish his sentence he froze in place, eyes paralysed - only moving to blink. For a moment I thought he had just thought of something to say, or at worst it was a bad memory that had crossed his mind. I snapped my fingers in front of his face a couple of times and he shook his head in a shallow daze.
"Koisuke? What was that?" I was concerned, to say the least, I thought we were making progress right now.
Koisuke's hands were clammy, small veins pressed against the top of his hands as they tightened around Carrot - tiny beads of sweat were beginning to form. Were they real I would have thought he'd had a run-in with some spectre. Biting my lip, I allowed myself to pick at a loose thread on my jumper sleeve, it had begun to get so long I'd need to find some scissors to cut the damn thing off at some point or else it might snag on something sharp and damage the jumper sleeve. If he was scared it must have been a memory, did Koisuke have some kind of bad memory related to soap? That would have-
"There was...a shadow," Koisuke interrupted my thoughts, a trembling finger managed to point past where I was sitting and towards the now open door which led back towards the kitchen and reception area. His words barely managed to slip through the slit of his lips.
"Ishiyo? A girl with professional wear? A notepad…?" It made sense but why would he call her a shadow?
"Nu-uh… frightening," Koisuke shook his head, now clutching Carrot to his chest again and burying his chin into the back of Carrot's soothing head.
"Frightening?" I turned on the spot and craned my neck forward trying to peer and see more of what was in the corridor. There was nothing there though.
"F-Frightening…" Koisuke nodded, stuttering over himself.
"What did the shadow look like then Koisuke? Could you describe it to me?" trying to keep my voice as calm and composed as possible would be the best course of action, whenever Koisuke spoke I was just waiting for the tears to come calling once more.
"Uh..huh, it was kinda big and it had a weird blob on its side… It had a weird thing where its head should be, like uh… umm… flaps on its head. Then it had more blobs below the head area and it looked like it was going somewhere down there," Koisuke took a few breaks but eventually managed to formulate some kind of a broken description of what he saw, he was probably lucky that he had not seen whatever he thought this shadow was with other people around. Who knows what Maki would have done… wait… Maki? Was this Maki trying to pull some mean trick on Koisuke! That would make considering his character and how he had previously been picking on the stuffed animal creator. With that my resolve was consolidated, we were going to march up to that guy and I would give him what for!
"Let's go check it out then Koisuke, it might be something important," I pulled myself up out of the chair and offered the small guy a hand, he just stared at it cautiously.
"Nu-huh, we're safer here. What if it is dangerous and we get hurt?" Koisuke was unconvinced, expectedly so.
"If we don't find out what it is though then you will just have those worries circulating in the back of your head. Don't give yourself another reason to have paranoia… You need to remain as strong as you can and I am sure that we can manage this together. What do you say?" I tried to combine logic with emotion to cover all bases, these people were still new to me so I would need to learn more about how they responded to different prompts to really know how to act around each of them.
"Hmm…" Koisuke took my hand and pulled himself up alongside me, holding Carrot close to his side with an arm wrapped around the rabbit's chest, "I wouldn't want it to get us when we are asleep. Promise you'll stay close."
"I promise, now if you want we can go quietly so the shadow is less likely to know we are coming. Maybe we can find it without it seeing us?" Koisuke seemed favourable to this idea as he responded with a clear nod of the head, "Okay let's go."
The two of us skulked quietly through the corridor,sticking close to the wall, luckily for us nobody was around to question us on the fact that we looked pretty crazy trying to creep our way forward. Koisuke was practically on his tiptoes the entire time, staring directly at the floor below him just to make sure he didn't trip on anything or stand in a spot where it might make more noise, especially in the corridor, the wooden planks were making up the floorboards beneath our feet. Between us though, we barely made a sound, moving up to the storage cupboard to have a quick peek inside. It appeared undisturbed for the most part, only a few small items had fallen onto the floor - unbroken luckily as they were durable items such as an assortment of colourful bouncy balls that made Koisuke's eyes widen in awe at the spectrum of colour.
It took a bit more effort to try and get the boy to move on, I expected he had cottoned on to the possibility that if there were bouncy balls in this storage room that there could be something within there which linked to his talent. Sewing materials, fabrics or even completed stuffed toys. I wish I had the same youthful innocence as he did. Looking at the toys, all I could think of was the fact that this situation needed me to be strong to try and help support the people like Koisuke who needed a parental figure to be by their side.
Clink. Clank. Clink. Clink. Clank.
"Nezire…" Koisuke clutched my arm, squeezing me tighter than a sphygmomanometer.
"It's coming from the kitchen," the metallic scraping sounds bounced off the walls, "I'll go in first, you stay behind me okay?"
"Uh-huh…" Glancing back, bless his soul, he was trying so hard to stay grounded but every time he tried to steal himself, his body punished him with a gulp and a shiver.
I placed my palms on the face of the door, Koisuke was silent from behind but even in the quiet, his fear leaked from him in a trembling aura. I'd count down from three to make this whole process easier. Three. Koisuke gulped again, high pitched. Two. I nearly applied the pressure on the door as I readjusted my centre of balance on the spot. One. One last breath before… Go! I pressed myself against the door and used my body weight to gradually force it open without needing to swing it and accidentally let it bang against anything inside the cafeteria. The cafeteria was bare, the tables were empty. Nothing but the clanging of metal from the kitchen, where a creak of light was slithering out from underneath, coiling itself around the nearest bench. I gestured for Koisuke to follow, he did but it was clearly out of reluctance and all he could do was stare towards the noise, a deer awaiting a set of headlights to charge full force straight into him.
Bubbles and pops followed, a sizzling of a liquid. Another gulp came from Koisuke, more consistent as we closed the distance between the door to the corridor behind us and the kitchen door. Pop! Sizzle! Gulp! It got louder. Louder and louder until it drowned out Koisuke. It drowned out my own heartbeat. A high pitched hum warped into the crackles and pops. The stuffed animal creator couldn't bear it and two arms clung to my chest for dear life. I wanted to tell him to be careful with his hands yet… the tears that were beginning to form… I couldn't. I couldn't so I didn't. Instead I just pressed a finger to his lips and whispered words of comfort, "Don't worry, I'm right here by your side. Nothing bad is going to happen whilst I am here."
"O-Okay," Koisuke choked a tearful whisper back, loosening his grip and lowering his arms a little with a blush after realising where he had accidentally grabbed onto. At least he noticed and I didn't have to tell him in the end. Now that would have made him cry - I think?.
'It's just a noise, it's probably nothing big. It might even be Ishiyo and Koisuke just got this supposed shadow mixed up,' I repeated to myself, bracing myself. It was hard to think with the sizzling and humming though, the more they burrowed into my ears and wormed their way up into my brain the more I just had to go in. 'It was just a noise, it's probably nothing big…'
The kitchen door creaked ever so slightly, I winced - why did doors always have to make themselves so obvious when you wanted to be quiet? We were screwed, we were definitely screwed. The high-pitched whine of the door however must have been drowned by the noises in the kitchen. Stretching my neck around the frame of the door, it took a bit to try and find the culprit of the medley of sounds although in time they all made themselves clear.
The sizzles and pops were emerging from a large pot which while I could not see from where I was, it could only have been water or milk from how the flame on the hob did not look nearly intense enough to be cooking meat or vegetables. The humming, however, now came from the shadow that Koisuke had seen. In the light, it was clearer now that it was not a shadow. It was a human form, however the shadows cast by the strip lights of the kitchen shrouded the figure in a veil of dim light that made it nigh impossible to make anything more than general assumptions from where I was positioned.
The next best option would be to try and slip in and take cover behind one of the kitchen counters. Become like one of those assassins in that cult classic video game series where the protagonists use the various forms of cover to sneak up on their targets. Except I was not aiming to kill the shadow. That would have been insane. Who would straight up murder someone like that? Trying to act as stealthily as I could, I made a swift dart to dive behind the kitchen counter whilst the shadow was watching the sizzling pot of liquid. It would be perfect if I had a cardboard box to move under - maybe one with pictures of oranges or lemons to really blend in with the kitchen aesthetic… Koisuke however, was too scared to even peer into the kitchen. Or well, I think that was the case as I didn't hear his shaky breath nor could I see him when I glanced back gesturing to thin air. Great… he'd better not run off on his own. With a shake of my head, I continued alongside the kitchen counters, matching pace with the shadow on the other side by looking underneath the gap of the counters and the floor and watching the feet move.
They eventually stopped, in front of where I was crouched. I looked up. A face had leaned over the counter and stared at me with a bemused smile, they had that kind of expression just before someone was about to burst into a fit of unrestrained laughter. I don't blame them, I looked like I was squatting on the toilet.
"Eee hee hee~! What do we have here? A little albino frog? Were you cursed too!" The voice was fairly high pitched and feminine, honestly with my cover blown I couldn't be bothered with crouching any longer so I stood up. I noted to myself, if a social worker didn't work out for me, then becoming a spy or an assassin may not be the next best career path to go down as a backup plan.
"Excuse me…?" A frog though, was she calling me a frog?
Ah yes! The face in question was in fact a girl. A girl who stood a few inches taller than I did but was not quite as tall as Ishiyo was. She had a pear shaped figure, decent muscle tone in her figure, and an oval shaped face with a subtly pointed chin and high cheekbones. However, most of her face was hidden behind the mask that she wore tightly fastened around her face. From what I could tell her complexion appeared to be pale white. Still, the mask did not completely hide all aspects of the girl's face. Her eyes were hazel in colour and almond in shape, with naturally long eyelashes and thin slightly arched eyebrows a similar shade to her chestnut brown hair. Her hair was wavy and worn loosely with two small plaits braided from the front of her head and secured behind it with two rose shaped clips coloured a beautiful teal. Other sections of her hair were wrapped around each other to make two small buns on either side of her head, a few wavy strands trailing down from each giving the girl an appearance that reminded me of one of those magical girl characters you would see in a popular anime. Finally, she had a fluffy fringe which was swept down diagonally to the left from the upper right corner of her face, falling just at the top of her mask.
On her upper body, she wore a simple satin light grey shirt with long sleeves and a collar reaching halfway up her neck. Over this, a baby blue off-the-shoulder blouse with thin shoulder straps and flared ruffles at the rim, shoulder line and at the end of her long sleeves, although each sleeve appears a bit too long for her and was worn so it almost falls over each hand. It reminded me of a child trying to wear their mother's office clothing especially as the blouse was composed of a chiffon material and decorated in a pattern of pretty brown pastel shaded birds and rosebuds. Teal blue denim shorts which were cut mid thigh and a pair of crisp white leggings with lace rims worn underneath that finished the bottom half of her look. On her feet, pretty pale pink flat shoes, embellished with designs of daisies running along the side.
On her hands she wore a pair of teal coloured mesh gloves on each hand alongside a short silk teal blue neck scarf which was pressed tightly to her form. A light brown fabric backpack was loosely slung across her shoulders, embellished with small embroidered flowers, butterflies and in some strange italic writing that looked pretty pompous all things considered. Additionally a pair of teal headphones hung around the girls neck. The backpack and headphones must have been the blobs that Koisuke had mentioned earlier.
Fuschia pink ribbons secured the two buns gathered at each side of her head. What obviously stood out most against the rest of her outfit however was the grey butterfly face mask that rested over the majority of her face, with just her irises, nose chin and mouth non-obscured. The mask was made of a comfortable soft material, with a silver sequin outer rim for the butterfly's wings, enhanced with other silver and white embellishments and white long ribbons to secure the mask behind her head. This mask was obviously more than some discount party mask - looking at its craftsmanship I could not begin to imagine the value of the item.
"Where are my manners, I'm sorry if I startled you but I saw you crouched down there and I got really curious. I didn't reckon kitchens were the best place for an exercise routine," the masked girl tapped where her chin would be underneath the mask in thought.
'I should go along with that, probably better than admitting to the fact that we were sneaking up on her because Koisuke thought she was some shadow monster. Not sure these days how teens would feel about being called a shadow monster,' I pondered, my thoughts manifesting themselves into a sheepish smile accompanied by no speech.
"You're very quiet, you should join me! I was just making some- Aaaaaaaaah!" The yelp shook me, bolting to my feet in alarm, "The water is boiling over!"
The masked girl dashed over to the sizzling pot, a surge of frothing bubbles were pulling themselves free and casting themselves onto the counter so they could make a run for it. Too bad for the bubbles, the masked girl slammed a lid on the pot with about as much mercy as a demented mastermind then swiped at the spillage with a checkered teatowel.
"Why didn't you just use a kettle…?" I wondered, I meant to say that in my head but it came out anyway.
"A kettle…? Why didn't I use a kettle! Of course! You can use kettles to boil water! That would have been much quicker than trying to use this pot to boil water for making tea. How did I not think of that sooner," the masked girl seemed shocked herself at the revelation of the existence of a kettle. Was I supposed to be concerned? Probably? Was I? No, too busy being tired and mentally overstimulated to really care.
"Why were you skulking around?" I decided to turn the subject back to what Koisuke had told me.
"Hmm..." the masked girl tilted her head, twirling a loose strand of her hair around a finger as her eyes glazed over ever so slightly and peered off into the distance. Five seconds later and we were both shook back into reality with the sound of a short sneeze by the door.
"Eeeeeek! Uh-ummmm…" Koisuke had managed to find the courage to take a small peak from around the door after hearing the beginnings of a conversation, however his small sneeze sent him into a momentary deer episode. He stared at us unable to move or speak.
"Koisuke? Were you there the whole time? Look, it's just another person all along, you came at just the right time for them to answer the question for you," I gestured for Koisuke to enter, it took a few attempts and a look of reassurance to get the apprehensive boy to take a route that kept him as far away from the masked girl as he could whilst remaining close by my side.
"Koisuke? What a cute name, it really suits you," the masked girl grinned, her smile was cheerful and as bright as the rays from a sunbeam.
Koisuke blushed at the compliment, hiding his face behind my back in an attempt to shield himself from view, "Why were you skulking around…?" I pressed her on the subject.
"Skulking around? Oh no! I was just walking here to make the milk tea, I had to stop for a moment though as I thought I heard a noise in the storage room. Turns out some of the bouncy balls had fallen out of a box that was teetering - I wanted to pick them all up but they went all over the place," the masked girl explained - it all added up with what we saw so I just responded with a cursory nod.
"Can I ask you for your name miss~? I wouldn't want to have to call you Miss White Hair, how would I be able to make a cool nickname outta that?" the masked girl grinned cheekily.
"Right," I raised my eyebrow slightly at the nature of her comment but decided not to press it, "My name is Nezire Katsura, the Ultimate Social Worker."
I gently nudged Koisuke behind me, he had not spoken since squeaking in alarm. I had expected him to completely bottle up… and he did. Not even another squeak, just silence.
"This is Koisuke Igeuchi, he's the Ultimate Stuffed Animal Creator. Don't take the silence personally, I just think you are a bit… overwhelming for him? You seem very headstrong," it took a bit of effort to think of the best way to put across what I was trying to say but luckily for the two of us her beaming smile meant that she must not have been too offended. The girl rocked back and forth on the heel of her foot.
"Oh, yes we should introduce ourselves! Now it is my turn, get ready.. Get set! For you can call me Chouko! You might not recognise me like this...but you may possibly recognise me by other names, such as Ranger Riko of the Alpha Squad, ready for action! Orrr… Princess Astrida of the siren people! Or maybe the Wicked Witch Wakana, the most powerful witch in all of Magicalia! Eeeee-heeee-heeeee! I'm the Ultimate Voice Actress! It's so lovely to meet the two of you! I hope we can become great friends!" the masked girl spoke with enthusiasm, changing her voice between the different characters she seemed to portray.
REGISTERING NEW STUDENT…
CHOUKO
ULTIMATE VOICE ACTRESS
"That's… impressive, I don't think I have ever met someone who has such a large range in the different accents and sounds they can make with their voice. No wonder you were classed as an Ultimate," I had seen videos of different people being able to do different accents and voices however the way Chouko managed to shift effortlessly and speak as though that was her natural speaking voice was what made her stand out from anyone else I had seen on the internet.
"Of course!" Chouko then put a finger on her nose, her tone shifted to a more neutral vibe, peppered with an authentic sounding received pronunciation accent, "Let detective extraordinaire Misty Reed spell out this mystery for you, being a voice actress can actually require the need to be more in tune with your inner being, as while actresses have body actions and facial expressions to potentially compensate for their speech, we have to convey all our emotions effortlessly in our tone alone."
Koisuke peered around my shoulder, standing on his tip-toes to peek at Chouko, "That sounds...just like the Queen of the United Kingdom"
Chouko giggled at the comment, with a playful grin she gave a firm nod of agreement, "You betcha! I used the Queen as one of the people to practice Misty's accent against. Having a solid foundation to work off and adding your own flare is key to be the best of the best."
Koisuke shrunk behind my back again, still I was relieved to see he made that small step of progress at the very least.
"That mask though, do you need to wear it now? You must be feeling pretty hot and stuffy with the boiling water here. It might help," I brought the subject up, I couldn't imagine her being comfortable wearing the mask with all the steam getting trapped between the fabric and her face.
"Oh? Take off my mask? Aha...but...that would be ruining the secret wouldn't it? What can be more fun than trying to guess the mystery of the face behind the mask? Perhaps I have giant gemstones for eyes! Or could it be that the mask is the source of my multifaceted powers? That is for me to know and you to find out heehee," Chouko tilted her head diagonally down and gave a mischievous grin, she reminded me of that older sibling who would do everything they could to tease you just for the sake of having a bit of fun.
"Right… sorry, I didn't realise it was that important to your identity. I didn't want to cause any offense, Chouko," I apologised.
"Don't be silly Nezzy! Me? Offended? Don't sweat it, we're all here in these weird circumstances so I'm just glad to meet a friendly face. If I had met another person like that Maki guy then I might have had to scream at the top of my lungs and burst my eardrums!" Chouko laughed, her joke didn't get met with anything but awkward smiles. Not that she cared, she was too busy finishing off with making her milk tea. When I say milk tea, it would be more accurate to call it tea flavoured milk with how much of the stuff she dumped into her mug.
"That's.., a lot of milk…" Koisuke commented, quietly, behind my back. Chouko didn't hear him but he stared at the mug in her hand with interest.
"Chouko, can you do me a favour?" Koisuke would not like this but it would do him some good.
"Whatcha need jellybean?" Chouko asked, oh goodness… she yelped right afterwards trying to pick the handle off the mug whilst the drink was still scalding. That girl was straight up lucky that she wore gloves…
"Do you mind taking Koisuke back to that living room area, we were playing hangman. I'm sure he can explain the game to you, maybe you can convince Kaori or Ishiyo to join in with you as well," Koisuke tensed up behind me. Yup, as anticipated.
"Hmmmmm… Sure can do. Why, do you not want milk tea? I made a bit too much," Chouko seemed proud of that concoction but if she tried to get that stuff near me she would be witness to the fact that this social worker can expostulate with the best of them.
"I'm a coffee kind of girl, just wanted to make myself a quick brew," I explained, hoping she would buy the response.
"Oh! That makes sense! Right then! Koi-Koi, we should head off and play this game that Nezzy mentioned. It sounds exciting! I betcha that you'll beat me but don't think I'm gonna go easy on you!" Chouko giggled, exiting the kitchen with the expectation that Koisuke was going to follow behind her.
"You'll be fine Koisuke, I won't be long. Trust me, nothing bad will happen," I reassured the stuffed animal creator. For the benefit of both of us, he seemed calm enough to go along with it for now although he wouldn't leave without searching for some sweets to pilfer, sadly for him the only thing he found were some sticks of aniseed liquorice - with a frown showing mild distaste he accepted the bitter treat and followed Chouko like a little corgi following the Queen.
Alone in the kitchen, the place had become oddly familiar at this point. Staring near one counter, memories of where I washed my bloody arms in the basin whilst Daichi and Takumi watched over me. Chouko had stood near the hob, bubbly and full and with an enthusiasm for life. I remember seeing the room for the first time once Takumi released me from my frozen prison, I remember seeing his face and feeling joy for the first time since Ikoma-sensei slipped from my field of vision. My thoughts wandered around in reflection, yet my feet wandered around with purpose. Click. Click. Click. The sound of the shoes clicking against the silence surrounding the kitchen were the only noise in here and yet… they were drowned out by the tsunami of memories, good and bad which I struggled more and more to focus on. Ikoma-sensei was still missing. Everyone seemed to be lying to themselves about their fears, I was lying to myself about my fears too but I was too absorbed in trying to keep the vulnerable sane to worry about myself right now.
Click. Click. Click. My hands were pressed on the freezer door before I knew it, with a grunt, the screech of the door against the floor rang throughout the kitchen. Did Chouko or Koisuke hear that? Who cares. My feet didn't care, not for one minute did they care as with each slow footstep, my heart beat louder and fiercer. Ba-bump… ba-bump...ba-bump… I stopped, my heart ready to burst from the cavity in my chest, closing my eyes I drew the hanging hunk of meat to my face and pressed my cheek firmly against it in a moment of silence.
This was my world now.
Cactuar's A/Ns:
Cactuar notes! Cactuar notes! Look at me, summer has brought out my inner child once more especially as the United Kingdom has decided that it wants to actually be sunny and hot for once. I can't believe it myself! This chapter was a blast to write and while it took a bit longer I hope the wait was worth the while! I don't want to sound like I am beating a dead horse here but it is you guys, the amazing readers who help encourage and inspire people like me to keep writing even when times are difficult and your words of kindness are a testament to how great the SYOC Danganronpa community really is and for that I can only say thank you and thank you again!
A thank you now for the creators of the first four characters to officially be part of Danganronpa: Lights, Camera, Action:
Ishiyo Mochizuki (by Lupus Overkill)
Maki Kazuki (by Magus Black)
Koisuke Igeuchi (by ChaoticMercy)
Chouko (by Abitat Eco)
Your characters are all really cool and I love how they have their own individual quirks and traits which are going to make them all interesting to watch develop and react to the events of the killing game. Still for all of you, be afraid. Very afraid. Mwahahahahahaha!
Now for the shoutout part! They haven't changed since last time however I really encourage you to check the following people's work out as they deserve all the love and recognition in the world for the quality writing they produce:
Danganronpa: The Hopeful Lies We Tell by Prince PokePersona: This reboot by Sona is really cool and is currently accepting OCs up until the reveal of the final wave of students. Since the last part of the prologue the final day for submissions has been consolidated at the 7th of July. Don't miss out people!
From Whom The Rabbits Mourn by SanityRequiem: How could I not mention this talented writer who has collected all us Dangan SYOC stories together under one united umbrella? Not to mention she is a talented writer too!
Danganronpa: Fresh Meat by mandipokemon: Not only have they finished a whole story but they're onto their second one! Go show some support as they really know how to plan an awesome killing game!
Danganronpa: Etch It Into My Heart by RioA: If my collaborative partner Sona represents ambition in the community then RioA represents mastery in the community. She is the titan of the SYOC for a reason as she is already onto her fourth SYOC and is writing engrossing stories that get better and better each time.
Dead Zeppelin by Orlando Butler: Orlando may not have written as much as some others but as the saying goes, 'quality over quantity' and the quality of his writing and character interactions is great!
That's it for me, over to my underpaid intern here at Cactuar Writing Corp: Mister Sona! Take it away!
Sona's A/Ns:
I think I may have found my equal in terms of long overly descriptive paragraphs, damn was this a lot to edit and process. I hope that my contributions to the proofreading have helped to make the unusually large chunks of text bearable. Gosh knows that this was penance, and not the good kind OwO.
Joking aside I had fun editing this chapter and meeting the new characters, I have a soft spot for Koisuke, he's such a bean. I hope you all liked this chapter and be sure to check out my stories if you're interested, the reboot of my first story is still accepting OC and the deadline is soon approaching.
The Hopeful Lies We Tell's deadline is July 7th, due others asking for multiple extensions, so if anyone wants to delve into my saga, feel free to leave me a PM.
I hope you all liked this monstrously large chapter and I wish you all a wonderful day, night, holiday or whatever it is you are celebrating and I will see you all again another time, have a good one, peace.