DORM: SAYA'S ROOM

I woke up to the sudden shriek of an alarm. I bolted up, looking around for fire, or smoke, but there was nothing. Monokuma's voice hissed out of hidden speakers, "All students meet in the central quad! Now! Now now now now now!"

I blearily stood and checked the clock; it was a little after 7:00 am. But I was an experienced non-sleeper, and I was able to gather myself enough to walk out into the hallway.

DORM: UPSTAIRS HALLWAY

Jane was sticking her head out of her room, looking as cranky as anyone I've ever seen. JP staggered by like a zombie, and Emily followed, wearing honest-to-god bunny slippers and missing her glasses. She waved sleepily.

Juliet walked out of her room on the other side of mine from Jane's, looking as perfectly done up as if she was going to a dinner party. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Somebody v..." Emily began, but she was interrupted by a huge puppy-yawn. "Excuse me. Somebody vandalized the lawn outside."

"That's what I like to see!" Earl declared, marching by. "Showing dignity and unwaverng strength in the face of evil!"

Jane grumbled something uninterpretable and stepped out into the hallway, too. We unhappily made our way to the closer elevator, which I'd taken to calling the 'East elevator' even though I had no idea of cardinal directions in here.

MAIN QUAD

The whole group made it outside at about the same time. Barrett was notable by his absence, but Monokuma did not seem to care. He stood in the middle of the lawn, hopping up and down in fury. "What took so long!" he barked. "It's been almost a full five minutes!"

"Hey, your stupid elevators take forever, don't blame us," Rocky grunted.

Monokuma just waved his arms around in frustration. "Who did this?! Who did this?!" He kicked his little legs at one of the ditches. I looked closer; it seemed like the white liquid was paint, mostly totally dry by this point.

No one spoke up. I glanced at Morgan as subtly as I could, and he had an expression of innocent confusion on his face.

"Tearing up school property!" Monokuma raged. "You... you children! You agents of the dragon of chaos! I'm surprised you didn't fill up these ditches with avocado toast!"

Rodrigo took a step forward. "I don't know what that is," he said, glaring. "But your vile tyranny must come to an end, and whoever made these words is clearly on the side of truth."

"Admit it now!" Monokuma ranted. "The culprit must admit their crime now!"

As I watched him rage, I shifted my gaze up to the cameras peeking out the eaves of the buildings all around. Wasn't he always watching and listening? How could he possibly not know who did this? And if he knows, why would he pretend he doesn't?

"Fine!" Monokuma stomped his foot. "New assignment! The hallway upstairs must be constantly patrolled at night to catch whoever is committing these terrible crimes!" He put his hands against his temples, as if picking up a psychic impulse. "The students who are assigned to: Vacuuming the pool, cleaning the computer lab, spraying off the whiteboards, and mowing the quad, raise your hands!"

I put my hand up and looked to see JP, Nicole, and Emily doing the same. "Your chores have changed! From the time the sun goes down to when it comes up, at least two of you must be patrolling the dorm hallway! Figure out the schedule yourselves!"

"What?!" JP moaned. "C'mon..."

"Excruciating torture!" Monokuma snapped, then he disappeared.

Jane grunted sleepily and started walking back to the dorms. People started following her, my fellow guards looking rather unhappy about their new assignments. Emily fell in step next to me. "Hi," she said politely. "Should we figure out the schedule for the patrol tonight?" (Lord, she actually pronounced it "shed-jewel.")

I frowned. "Actually, can we do it later?" I asked. "I need to talk to someone real quick."

I trotted ahead next to Morgan and tugged on his T-shirt sleeve. I indicated for him to follow me.

DORM: LOUNGE

I led him into the lounge, which was not any less heavily monitored than any other place on campus, but at least none of the other students were around.

"What's up?" Morgan asked, as friendly as ever.

I gave him a sideways look. "Um. I think I should tell you, I know. I saw you last night."

He blinked, still smiling. "Sorry?"

I leaned forward, whispering pointlessly. "I saw you making that message outside."

He tilted his head slightly. "What are you talking about? I didn't do that."

"Uh." I wondered if he was being sneaky somehow, but there was no sign of it in his expression. "You didn't..."

He interrupted me with a loud cough, then a full coughing fit, horrible and violent. After a few moments, he finished, straightening back up and wiping his mouth with his arm. "I would never write something like that." He just stared. "I love this school."

Something about his look made me take a step backwards. I quickly nodded. "Sorry, right. I must be wrong." I laughed nervously. He kept staring. "Okay, well, I'll see you at breakfast." And I excused myself from the room as fast as possible.

STUDENT UNION: CAFETERIA

When I got to breakfast, the mood was pretty down; people were just sitting and eating without much energy. The only exciting moment was when Barrett made his appearance, pointedly threw a container of yogurt against the wall for no obvious reason, and immediately left. I grabbed my food and sat down with Rodrigo and Katy. Emily came in and joined us a minute later.

Katy glanced at me, then leaned forward slightly. "My dear, are you well?"

I nodded. "Not much sleep, I guess."

Emily gave me a concerned look. I noticed for the first time, through her oversized glasses, that her eyes sparkled oddly... the blue parts were spirals, like she had been hypnotized by a cartoon character. She noticed me staring and quickly looked down.

I blushed, ashamed of my rudeness. "Um, did you get a chance to talk to JP and Nicole about the guard schedule?"

Emily nodded. "We think two shifts makes the most sense, from sundown to 1:00, and then from 1:00 to sunrise. Do you want the first one or the second one?"

I frowned; I was probably going to need a nap today anyway. "I'll go ahead and take the second one."

"Okay, then it'll be you and Nicole tonight. We can switch it around whenever we want." She sighed. "I hope we can finish this soon. Who do you think wrote that in the quad? The Mancunian, right? With the yogurt?"

"Barrett," Katy said. "Total psycho."

"I sense malice from him," Rodrigo intoned, staring into the distance stoically. "But no one is irredeemable in the eyes of God."

He was so sincere, it was hard to argue with him, but I could tell none of us were very confident about that. "Say, Rodrigo," Katy advanced, "how are you adjusting to the modern world?"

"Oh, it's a land of wonders!" he exclaimed. "One can see, even at night!"

I blinked. "Wait, I knew the place you were raised didn't have modern technology, but they didn't even have, like, torches?"

"The monks believed that to upset God's eternal balance of light and darkness was blasphemy, so all flames had to be snuffed by sundown. Once, I stole away to the horse stables with a flint and steel, delighting in the sparks I could create. I received many lashings for that."

"They beat you?!" I asked, appalled. "Just for making sparks?"

"Ay." Rodrigo nodded, a blank look on his face. "The monks were cruel, and their rules were crueler. But even if I had to withstand such viciousness to become a paladin, I always believed God wanted more for us than to suffer." He set his jaw, resolved. "That's why I will mind you, scientists, strategists, and dreamers. I am your hands."

And for a second, I almost felt better.

GENERAL EDUCATION BUILDING: FIRST FLOOR HALLWAY

I decided to show my breakfast-mates the tunnel, so we took that route to the classroom. It was indeed faster than going outside would have been, but it was just so grungy and creepy, I regretted it instantly.

As we stepped off the elevator leading away from the underground tunnel, we saw another long hallway, ending in a flight of stairs. There were three doors leading off the hallway; we checked the first two and saw a large, industrial laundry room filled with washers and dryers, and a storage closet containing cleaning equipment... probably necessary for our chores. It was odd that these would be in the classroom building, but I guess sixteen students wouldn't be needing that many classrooms, anyway.

We checked the final door and saw a large room filled with academic equipment... whiteboards, projectors, textbooks, chairs, tables, notebooks, and so forth. On impulse, I grabbed a notebook to take with me. Maybe Lucina needed a new one?

We climbed the stairs and found a large set of doors. They opened easily, and there was the classroom.

GENERAL EDUCATION BUILDING: AUDITORIUM

We found a place to sit as other students trickled in. Bepi and Lucina sat with us (the latter smiling sweetly in gratitude when I gave her the notebook I'd taken), and Morgan came a minute later, looking totally normal.

We explained the back route to the classroom, and Bepi scratched his chin in thought. "That must be what Ashley uses to get here so fast," he mused. "So... there's two exits to the classroom, the one in the front leads to the tunnel, and the one in the side leads to the way outside."

"What about that?" Emily asked, pointing to the door in the back of the room.

"It just leads to a small projector room," Bepi replied. "I checked it yesterday." He chuckled. "Thanks for humoring me; I like to be aware of all the ways out of any given room I find myself in."

By the time Monokuma appeared and began primly arranging his notes, I took note of my classmates. I didn't see everyone... Rocky, Barrett, Nicole, and Jane were not there.

Monokuma pushed a button and a map of Europe appeared behind him. "Many students come to this class thinking it will be a cakewalk," he droned, as if being deliberately boring. "But the history of the Albanian Revolt of 1847 is full of nuance and detail! We will be addressing every little aspect of this nuance today!"

And thus began the dullest 90 minutes of my life. Monokuma paced back and forth, his squeaky little voice almost turning itself into radio static. I nearly fell asleep twice.

Eventually, he cleared his throat. "...and thus the beys were forced into a position of surrender." He clicked his powerpoint controller, and very suddenly, behind him, appeared not a scanned book or map, but rather a photograph of a modern room. "There are a total of ten buildings on campus, and escape is only possible through the offices of the administration."

He clicked to the next slide and a drawing of an Ottoman general appeared. "The provincial governor sent word to his troops to gather in Valona..."

I blinked. Had I imagined it? I glanced around to see others looking as confused as me. But... he had given us a piece of information. We now knew a way out.

And then, literally two slides later, another surprising picture was projected behind him. It was me. Me from the day before, standing in the yoga studio with Katy and Emily. I was looking at them, a blush on my face.

Monokuma said, just as dryly as the entire lecture had been, "Saya Wild is bisexual, leaning gay, and extreeeeeeemely closeted." And then he just started talking about the Ottoman Empire again.

The world flashed white; I almost pitched over in my seat. I felt sick and cold and shivery.

I barely registered Giuseppe leaping to his feet. "What the hell was that?" he growled.

"Don't interrupt the lecture!" Ashley screeched, but Monokuma waved his paw casually.

"I told you," the bear said. "There are three topics in this class. World history, potential ways to escape from campus, and all of your darkest, most dearly-held secrets."

Almost every single person in the room was staring at me. I sat there in shock, my head swimming. "It's not..." I managed to say, and that was it.

Monokuma laughed. "Oh my! And that was one of the least scandalous ones! I can't wait until we get to some of these meatier secrets the rest of you have."

I felt a hand on my arm; it was Bepi. He was pulling along Rodrigo, who looked bewildered. "Do you want us to take you to your room?" Bepi asked. I think I nodded, and together, they were leading me out of the auditorium.

Just as we were stepping outside, I heard Monokuma's voice: "This class will continue meeting only until the first murder, of course! So if you want your secrets to stay safe, you know what to do..."

DORM: SAYA'S ROOM

Like a montage in a bad movie, the next few minutes were choppy and blurry. I found myself back in my room, sitting on my bed, staring at nothing. The guys had left me alone, promising to check back in later.

Everyone knew. Did everyone knowing make it true? Being able to deny it had made it not true. Mom even asked once, outright. I denied it, so it wasn't true. But now I couldn't. I was stuck.

I realized dumbly that my right hand was clasped into a tight fist. I opened it and saw a crumpled piece of paper with writing on it. Lucina's. She had somehow handed it to me before I'd left.

I unfolded the note and saw: I'm here if you need me.

Very suddenly, it hit me emotionally that I, and everyone in here with me, was going to die. The tears came quickly. I sobbed and sobbed.

A knock on the door startled me awake. I'm not sure how long I had been sleeping; it looked like mid-afternoon outside. I stumbled to the door and opened it, too numb to be careful.

Bepi and Juliet stood there, smiling awkwardly. "We were gonna head down to the student stores, get some snacks or something," Bepi greeted. "Want to come?"

I nodded. Snacks sounded good.

DORM: UPSTAIRS HALLWAY

As we walked down the hall, Juliet clasped her hands and looked at me with concern. "I'm so sorry about this morning," she breathed. "That was just awful of Monokuma to do such a thing." She scrunched up her face in anger. "Imagine, using someone's way of loving to hurt them. It's... it's just awful."

We reached the elevator and pushed the button, beginning our typically long wait for it to arrive. "Oh," Juliet said, "I told Giuseppe this, but you were gone too. After class, I tried to convince everyone to stop attending, so we wouldn't learn each other's secrets. But too many people said it was too important to learn how to escape." She shook her head sadly. "I hate that others will have to go through the same pain you have. Are you all right?"

"Honestly, I just feel dumb about it," I admitted. "I've always known people like Katy, who can be open. But I never could."

"Why not?"

I shrugged. "Kids in school never really... got me. Hard to... find connections. And it was just me and my mom at home, and she works most of the time."

Juliet smiled warmly. "Parents can be difficult, but they want what's best for you. My parents are the ones who taught me about love." She sighed dreamily and looked over at Bepi. "What about your parents?"

"I'm an orphan," Bepi replied. He pointed at the CHILD SOLDIER PROGRAM lapel. "My parents were drill sergeants and hand grenades."

There was a long pause. Thankfully, the elevator arrived and we could move on.

STUDENT UNION: STUDENT STORES

When we arrived, I was once again completely awestruck by the range of items available. There was a baffling array of items, from practical things like shaving gel and band-aids to...

"What college student needs a deep-sea diving suit?" I wondered. "There's not even anywhere to dive, around here."

Juliet spun in a slow circle, equally amazed. "Wow, a whole patio furniture section? Rock-climbing equipment?" She clasped her hands and cooed. "Aww, look, they have a bunch of kids' clothes!"

Bepi shook his head grimly. "Monokuma's just trying to overwhelm and confuse us. A lot of useless nonsense, and among it..."

He walked over to the wilderness survival nook and came back with a large, very sharp machete. "...weapons." He swooshed the blade around.

Juliet gaped, her large eyes wide. "Could... could that really kill someone?"

"Easily." Bepi set the machete down on a nearby shelf. "I don't see any guns or explosives. But there's dozens of deadly objects here. This is where we're supposed to... supply ourselves."

I frowned. "Is there some kind of record for who buys what?"

"Good question." Bepi walked to the snack section, picked out a bag of Funyuns, and brought them to the automatic check-out station. He glanced at the sign with instructions. "Okay," he muttered. "'Students are given an allowance of one hundred US dollars per week for sundries... scan your Kumaputor to complete purchase. Shoplifting is punishable by flaying.' Cute."

He scanned the Funyuns, then he scanned his tablet. The machine beeped and, a few seconds later, output a small white receipt. Bepi took it and glanced it over. "It's got the item I bought, the amount I spent, and... hm. Not my name, but my talent." He showed it to us.

"That's good, right?" Juliet asked, studying the receipt carefully. "We'll be able to tell if someone buys a weapon!"

"Maybe." Bepi glanced at his snacks, grimacing. "I don't even like these. Here." He abruptly tossed them to me.

"Ack!" Startled, I brought my hands up to protect my face; the Funyuns bounced off my arm and fell to the ground. I giggled nervously.

"I guess you like them even less than I do," Bepi observed dryly. I gave a nervous giggle and picked up the bag.

DORM: SOLARIUM

I actually like Funyuns, so after we said our goodbyes, I headed to the solarium to eat them. It was comfortable in there, and despite the day I'd had so far, I felt myself relaxing.

But then, Katy walked in. She carried a rake and a spade, and she froze in the doorway for a moment when she saw me, but after a second she plastered on her charming smile and strode in.

"I'm sorry to bother you, dear one," she breathed. "I'm supposed to tend the plants in here, but I can come back if you wish."

I shook my head. "No, it's okay. Is that your chore this week?"

Katy set her spade down and began to rake a patch of ferns. "After you... left, Monokuma passed out the equipment we'd need."

"Oh."

There was a brief silence.

"My dear," Katy began, not looking directly at me as she raked, "I'm not certain if this is a good time to talk about this, or absolutely the worst time. But yesterday, you seemed curious about my works. I'm always enthusiastic to educate people about lesbian romance fiction."

I blinked at her, surprised. "Oh." I scratched the back of my head in agitation, trying to balance my discomfort with my desire to deepen our friendship. "Okay. Tell me about it."

"Yee!" Katy nearly squealed with delight, flashing a brilliant smile my way. She kept raking, but she seemed to shift into a more innocent, childlike mindset. "Okay. Okay. So, the first thing you have to know is, lesbian romance is not just romance about lesbians!"

"It's not?"

"Oh, no! It's a unique genre with a fascinating history!" Still grinning, Katy moved to another section to rake that. "It started in about the 1940s. Pulp fiction was huge, and women were buying dime store romance novels by the hundreds. Lurid descriptions, stock characters, plots that adhered to a strict formula!" She listed these things as if they were great virtues, spinning around with her rake as if ballroom dancing with it.

"...And some of these romances were about lesbians?" I asked.

"Eventually!" she replied with excitement. "Slowly, gradually, the audience for these books became known. These books were utterly shameless, presenting the most detailed, evocative descriptions anyone had ever seen. Many a novel was hidden where hubby never looked, and taken off to be read in the bathtub."

She hugged the rake to her chest and looked at me. "So, that's one of the three key elements of lesbian romance. Description. Creating a scene that the reader can place herself into. Sensuality."

"Um. Okay." I was distressed to learn that I was apparently so repressed, I got embarrassed just from hearing the word 'sensuality.' "What's the second element?"

"Setting. The history is pulp fiction, remember. We have to take the reader to a distinct but unusual place. A dude ranch, or ancient Rome, or a casino, or a college campus, or the like. A place the reader has an immediate image of, so you don't have to waste time describing it."

"Hm, okay. And what's the third?"

"Ah!" Katy froze, holding up an index finger. "That's the most important. The third element... is tragedy."

"Tragedy?"

"Of course, dear heart." She nearly swooned. "The laws and culture of the mid-20th century allowed sapphic beauty to be displayed... as long as it didn't end happily. The lesbian romance must be portrayed as dangerous, toxic, desperate. It ends with madness or suicide or prison. The laws have changed, but that remains a key, key aspect of the genre."

"Wait." I squinted up at her, unsure I was hearing correctly. "All of your stories have tragic endings?"

"That's why it's all so romantic!" Katy answered. "Look on TV! Half the gay characters die, and the other half are crazy. And the deaths are extra tragic, they're heroic sacrifices or a cruel, pointless murder that happens right as they're most joyful. This is the beauty of lesbian romance!" She paused, rubbing her chin in thought. "Well, in America, at least. I'll tell you about other countries some other time, okay?"

I just looked at her, bemused. "You don't want to... to show lesbians being normal and happy?"

"No! I want to portray feelings. The aching and longing." She held her fist against her chest, and I realized she was clutching a locket that hung around her neck.

I frowned. "I... this might be a stupid question. But... are you a lesbian?"

She laughed. "Why, of course I am!"

"And... you're... I mean. You're successful... with girls?"

She just winked. "Why do you ask?" I glanced down at her hand, holding the rake. Her fingernails were long, pristine, beautifully manicured.

"No reason."

DORM: ENTRANCE LOBBY

As I walked out of the solarium, there was a bizarre sight that in retrospect I should not have found surprising. Rodrigo stood in the middle of the lobby, staring intently at a large vacuum cleaner. He poked at it randomly and shook his fist in anger. "Confounded contraption!" he growled.

I hesitantly walked closer. "Have you never used a vacuum before?"

"The devil's implement!"

"No... no, see, it's easy once you're used to it." I unwound the cord on the vacuum and walked over to the wall. "First, you plug it in..." I inserted the plug into the socket and walked back to the vacuum. "...then, you just turn it on, here." I flicked the switch. The vacuum came to life, emitting a loud whir.

Rodrigo screamed. He grabbed the vacuum and threw it across the room. It unplugged itself and clattered on the floor.

Rocky burst out of the lounge, looking around wildly. "Whoa!" he yelled. "What the hell?!"

Rodrigo pointed at the vacuum, lying there pathetically. "I will not lay my hands on the shrieking wind demon!"

"Hey dude, chill, chill." Rocky walked closer, waving his hands in a calming motion. "It's okay."

I checked on the vacuum; it was dented but probably still worked.

Rocky scratched the back of his head. "Dude. Did they have mops back where you're from? Have you ever mopped?"

Rodrigo frowned. "Ay. My skill with a mop rivals my skill with a blade."

"Then let's switch, okay? I'll vacuum, you mop."

"Can we do that?" I asked.

"Oh yeah." Rocky looked up at the ceiling. "Uh, Bear Man? Hello?"

I jumped in surprise as Monokuma suddenly appeared. "Yes, my dear student?!"

"Yo." Rocky looked completely unsurprised. "Can me and Roddy switch chores? Or will we get in trouble?"

"Hmmmmm." Monokuma scratched his chin in thought. "Sure! The mop and bucket are right downstairs."

"Cool, cool." Rocky held up an index finger. "Oh. Been meaning to ask. What if, like, I poison some food, and I give it to Saya. But instead of eating it, she adds some more poison and gives it to Rodrigo and he eats it. Who's the killer?"

"Whoever put more poison in. What is with you idiots?! Why do you keep asking these questions?"

"This whole idea of yours just seems... hard to enforce," I said.

"Murder is murder!" he shouted.

"Well, maybe," I replied hesitantly. "But things can be complicated. A lot of situations, things wouldn't just go one clear-cut way."

"Well, you'd know all about that, now wouldn't you?!" Monomuma snapped. He stomped his foot and disappeared.

There was a very uncomfortable pause. "Gotta admit, he got you good," Rocky remarked.

Rodrigo raised his hand. "I have been wondering. What does 'bisexual' mean?"

GYMNASIUM: WEIGHT ROOM

After an uneventful dinner, I decided to go back to the gym for a workout. To my slight surprise, I ran into JP there, doing bench presses and bicep curls and I think that's it.

I went and did my run, then headed back to the weight room. He was still there, flexing into a mirror. He waved when he saw me, and I returned the gesture.

"Have you been in here the whole time?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, dude, gotta get swoll." He rubbed his hands over his triceps and grinned. "Chicks are all about the dad bod these days."

I couldn't help smiling myself at his confidence. "I've heard that." I paused. "Hey, can I ask you a question? I'm not really sure I... get your talent."

He squinted at me in genuine confusion. "What do you mean?"

I waved my hands around uselessly. "What's the Ultimate Fraternity Brother? What's that mean? You... make really good parties?"

"Dude!" He pulled back, looking legitimately offended. "No! I mean, yeah, I can put together a killer rager. But that's not really what I'm all about. Fraternities are about brotherhood and community. Like, it connects down through the generations. I'm the best at forging connections, knowing who can help who."

I clearly still didn't get it. He sighed. "Like, okay. Let's say my bro Frisbee wants to buy a restaurant, or something. I can give him the names of three alumni in the wholesaling business, plus I know two chefs through the community service event I organized last year. Get it?"

"Your friend's name is Frisbee?"

He ignored my question. "Some of the students here think I'm useless. But hell no, I know I'm the most important guy you got. You want me to get out of here."

I crossed my arms. "Why?"

"Dude, think about it. All this money and technology? The people who run this are connected. A bunch of stupid kids can't touch 'em."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "They kidnapped us. We'll tell the police. Expose them."

JP snorted. "Oh, come on, dude, you're smarter than that. Justice ain't about justice, it's about who you know. Even if we get out of here, there's no way we could take them down without some big-time power on our side, you know? I'm talking judges, senators, CEOs. Dudes I can get in touch with."

I grimaced. "Okay," I conceded, "you have a point. But... I don't think people think you're useless. I think they just don't get you."

"What's there to get?" he asked happily, throwing his arms back. "I'm me! I hang out."

"Yes," a voice said. "Not hard to figure out."

We turned and saw Therion walking into the room. He was pushing an enormous, wheeled laundry cart like the kind you see in health spas. He stared at us for a moment. "Need your towels."

"Oh, I said. "Is this your chore this week? I left a used towel in the locker room."

JP held his towel up. "Yo, heads up!" He tossed to Therion. Without changing facial expression even a bit, Therion stepped to the side and let the towel fly past him. Then he turned, picked it up off the floor, and dropped it into his canvas cart.

I put my hands on my hips, smiling slightly. "You don't look too happy about this chore."

Therion gave me a blank look. "Trying to make a game of it. Not easy." Without another word, he gave a gentle push to his cart and smoothly wheeled it in the direction of the locker room.

JP shook his head. "See, you talk to that guy, and you think people don't get me?"

"Another good point." I turned to go. "I need to shower and take a nap before my guard shift tonight. Let me know how yours goes, okay?"

"Will do." His expression suddenly became serious. "Oh, one more thing, dude." He quickly held up three fingers, then two fingers, then three again. He wiggled his hand in an esoteric, odd way.

I stared at him. "I'm sorry, what?"

His face settled back into a relaxed expression. "Just checking. See you around!" He walked off with a casual wave.

DORM: SAYA'S ROOM

Everyone seemed to want to get their chores out of the way quickly; I passed Rodrigo dutifully carrying a bucket of soapy water to wherever he was mopping, and I tried not to laugh at the plight of Ashley struggling up a tall ladder to windows she still could barely reach.

When I got to my room, I set my alarm clock to wake me up at 12:45. I fell asleep quickly and, surprisingly, I slept well. Monokuma was in my dream, wearing a chef's hat and stirring a giant pot of soup, but even though he gesticulated wildly, he was utterly, blessedly silent. No horrible, squeaky voice, no sound at all.

My alarm went off and I grumbled. I usually liked being up at night, but I was not particularly looking forward to standing in a hallway for four and a half hours. Especially when I could get out of it just by turning Morgan in... not that I would.

DORM: UPSTAIRS HALLWAY

I stepped out into the hallway, not having bothered changing out of my sleeping ensemble: pajama bottoms and oversized T-shirt. It wasn't until I saw my sentry partner that I remembered why this was a bad idea.

Nicole wore what looked like pajamas too, but they were somehow classier than any dress I'd ever owned. They fit her form perfectly, and they had weird, semi-Victorian frills. Totally funky and unique.

She was talking to Emily, who saw me approach and waved. "Oh, thank goodness," she said. "Sorry I can't stay to talk; I'm all in." She yawned like a baby lion and sleepily walked off to her room.

Nicole smiled at me, her eyes dipping down to my outfit just for a split second. "Hey, you okay after this morning?" she asked.

I blinked. "Oh. Yeah, I think so. I'm..." I trailed off, because midway through my answer, Nicole opened up a sketchbook she had with her and began flipping through it. "Uh."

"I'm listening," she said, still scanning the pages.

"Um. I was just surprised. I was planning on coming out in college! Just... not so soon."

"Mm hmm." Nicole pointed at a page in her book. She turned it around to show me a drawing of a midi skirt and form-fitting turtleneck. "You'd look cute in this. Tiny bit prudish, but in a sexy way, and just a touch of gay." She pulled it away and assessed her drawing again. "Too gay? No. You like it?"

"I... do," I replied. "I'd love to wear something like that, but it seems kind of... daring. You know?"

"Yeah," she agreed. "Like you!" She snapped her sketchbook closed and grinned at me. "I'll make it for you."

I held up my hands. "Oh wait, you don't have to..."

"I want to! I got all this equipment in my room, but no materials yet. The bear said the store wouldn't sell any fabric until next week. I'll keep you updated." She turned and began walking down the hall away from me, but she kept talking, so I followed her, curious. "I gotta tell you something, not to like diminish your pain or anything, but you must have lived a pretty sweet life if being bi is the biggest secret you got."

"I... don't know if it's the biggest," I replied. "But it's the one that freaks me out the most." I thought of something and tried to be as subtle as I could: "You don't have to tell me, but do you know what Monokuma would reveal about you?"

She walked a few more steps, then stopped suddenly. She leaned her back against the wall and slid down to a seated position. I sat down across from her, leaning against the opposite wall. I was learning it paid to just take things as they come with Nicole.

"Where are you from? Someone told me Miami, but what neighborhood?"

"Bal Harbour. It's actually a village, but..."

"Hmm." She gave me an unreadable look. "Rich part of town?"

I blushed. "It's not not rich."

She nodded. "I'm from Detroit."

"Oh." I looked up at her. "Rich part of town?"

"No. Very, very not rich part of town."

"Ah."

"Keeping your head above the shit, that's every day. Just you, your family, and maybe one or two friends you trust." She looked at me through her stylish bangs. "I know you don't get it. But you hear what I'm saying?"

I nodded.

She suddenly relaxed and gave a casual shrug. "So I totally know what that bear is going to tell everyone. I killed a guy, once."

My mouth fell open.

She began flipping through her sketch book again. "Actually, I don't know the motherfucker's dead," she remarked. "Think so? Stabbed him and never saw him again, so probably." She held open her sketchbook again, showing a tight business suit with a bizarre ascot-looking thing. "This was inspired by that. Cool, huh?" She snapped the sketchbook shut again.

I felt myself hardening and calming slightly. "Why did you do it?"

"Family." She paused for a moment, not looking directly at me. "I know what you're thinking. I did it once, I can do it again, right? But this stuff going on here, this bear shit, making it all a game? That's sick."

"I wasn't thinking that."

She looked at me for a moment, as if trying to determine if I was telling the truth. Finally she nodded. "Okay. So anyway, I know what he's gonna tell everyone about me. But it wasn't murder, it was self-defense. Or, like, family-defense, which is the same thing." She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I can't talk about this anymore. I'll tell you later if you want to know all about it."

There was a silence. Finally, I leaned forward. "Hey, can you show me some more outfits that'd look good on me?"

"Yes!" Her face suddenly brightened. "How do you feel about scarves?"

I had no idea how to answer, but she was already plowing ahead, showing me scarf after scarf.

I talked to Nicole for a little while longer, but four hours is a long time to spend talking about scarves. We eventually started vague patrols, wandering up and down the hallway. Nicole spent a lot of time hunkered down and sketching. I eventually descended into thinking about formulas, the math underlying the moves I make playing the game.

Only one thing happened. About a half hour before dawn, I heard a door closing. I walked towards it, rounded the corner, and saw Ashley there, well-dressed and looking cranky.

I waved. "Good morning. You're up early."

She snorted. "Sleep is ridiculous. A stupid waste of time." She glared up at me. "You're still doing that patrol thing? I was hoping you'd have solved this vandalism problem already."

"Problem?" I'd forgotten how intimidating Ashley could be when she stared me down. "I don't think it's a problem to have someone out there attacking the robot bear who wants us all to kill one another."

"Of course it's a problem!" Ashley snapped, stamping her foot. "Students learn from schools. That's the way it is! You don't change a system like that without a bloody good reason. It's asking for chaos."

I gave her a sideways glare. "Does this mean you're going to play the killing game after all?"

She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "You've all made it clear how pointless that would be. I can't change that. But the least everyone can do is keep from mocking the ones in power here. This school is an institution run by professionals. They deserve our respect."

"Do you think they're not the ones behind all this? The school was somehow taken over?"

"Who cares?" she snapped. "Kids are idiots. Society needs to hammer them down into something useful." She demonstrated by smacking one tiny fist into the other tiny palm. "Whatever the system wants us to do is good. Whatever we want to do is bad. The winners in this world are the ones who learn that early."

She pointed behind me. I turned to see Bepi come around the corner, looking surprised to see us. "You!" Ashley barked. "You're a soldier, you know these things! If you start thinking you know better than your commanders, that wrecks everything, right?"

Bepi narrowed his eyes at her. "I see you and I are going to have an argument every single day we know each other. It's good to get today's out of the way early, I guess." He sighed. "I've seen a lot of commanders getting their grunts killed, and I've seen a lot of maverick grunts getting themselves killed. There's no lessons."

"There are; you just don't learn them!" Ashley yipped. "Fine. Both of you can just stay where you are. I'm on my way up." And she stomped off in a huff.

"She's a cranky one," Bepi commented.

I nodded. "I've met people like her before. All rigid... she can't adapt." I frowned. "I'm worried about her, if the killing game really does start."

He began to say something, then paused, a strange look on his face. "I wouldn't have expected you to say something like that," he mused finally.

"Something like what?"

"Something acknowledging that people might actually start killing each other."

I was silent for a moment, then I shrugged. "People aren't chess pieces," I said. "I can't stop them from doing something, just because I want them to."

Bepi just looked at me. "Well, I don't know if I agree with that," he said, "but it's good to be able to list you among the grown-ups, here." Then he just gave a quick wave and walked off.

STUDENT UNION: CAFETERIA

After the sun came up, I grabbed a quick nap before running to breakfast. I served myself some oatmeal and sat with Emily and Jane. The former smiled, the latter grimaced.

"Well, hello," Jane said, disdain oozing from her voice. "I was hoping to have a conversation this morning about science, but I suppose we can talk about your little toy soldiers. Or maybe what boys and girls we like?"

"Oh," Emily enthused, completely oblivious, "Rodrigo is very handsome, don't you think?" It actually did not seem too implausible that she literally did not know what sarcasm was. Jane rolled her eyes.

"Um, actually, I just wanted to ask Emily about her guard duty last night," I said, doing my best to ignore both Jane's scorn and the cleavage she seemed suddenly enthusiastic to point my way.

Emily scratched her head. "Ah, of course. It was uneventful, for the most part. A few people were up late, but nothing too unusual. Yours?"

"Nothing." I leaned closer. "Have you thought about why Monokuma would be doing this? He monitors everything; there's no way he doesn't know who the vandal is."

"That's obvious," Jane scoffed. "He's forcing us to rat one another out, of course. Sow distrust. It'd be a problem if two-thirds of the people here weren't already dullards."

I frowned, but before I could reply, I saw Morgan walk into the cafeteria, looking a bit haggard. I excused myself from the table and trotted over to him as he stared dazedly at the breakfast foods.

"Hey," I greeted. He stared at me blankly, then his face shifted to a warm smile, then to a distrustful glare. "I hope you're not going to ask me about the same thing you did yesterday," he said.

I took a step towards him, trying to keep my voice low. "Look, I get trying to keep it secret," I said. "And I'll help you. But there was a message in my room when I woke up here, and..."

"Saya!" he shouted suddenly, but it degenerated halfway through into coughs. When his fit subsided, he wiped his mouth with one hand and pointed at me with the other. "Leave it the fuck alone." He walked off towards the food, leaving me behind to be stared at.

GENERAL EDUCATION BUILDING: AUDITORIUM

I decided to get to class early. But even though I was there fifteen minutes before it started, Ashley already sat in the front row, staring forward intently. She must have taken the tunnel and come in the side door.

Students trickled into the room. Jane came, pulled along by Emily. Still no Rocky, Barrett, or Nicole, and this time, JP was missing, too. When Katy came in and sat next to me, she explained that he never showed up to breakfast either, but Earl went to his room and confirmed he had simply overslept. Morgan came in last, sitting sullenly in the back row by himself.

Monokuma appeared suddenly, as always. "All right, you pathetic children!" he bellowed, shaking a fist. "I hope you came here ready to learn!" And with no further preamble, he launched into a detailed, seemingly year-by-year description of the Tang Dynasty in China.

I don't think I fell asleep, but I came close. But after an hour, the powerpoint flashed to an animation: moving words across the screen that said SECRET TIME.

"One of you," Monokuma said, "doesn't deserve to be here."

He cast his paw across the room. "Someone here isn't an Ultimate at all. They're just a pathetic little nobody, at the bottom of society's hierarchies. They're only here because they're... connected to someone who actually is an Ultimate. Doesn't it just break your heart?"

He paused dreadfully, giggling. "Who could it be? Who could it be? Deep down in their heart, do they already know? Have they always suspected they were a phony?"

He put his paw against his face, as if bashful. "Even though they refuse to admit it, do they look at their paintings and secretly know they're awful?"

In shock, I turned around to look at Morgan, sitting in the back row. His eyes were wide and his forehead glistened with sweat. "It's not true," he rasped.

"Puhuhuhu! But it is! Did you really think a talentless hack like you would be scouted by a university like this? You're no good to anyone!"

Morgan opened his mouth to say something else, but he suddenly doubled over into a severe coughing fit. It was louder and more violent than any I'd seen before, his body writhing... but very suddenly it stopped.

Morgan looked up, a different expression on his face than I had ever seen. He slowly stood and began slowly making his way down the aisle towards the speaking stage.

"There's my little Ultimate!" Monokuma burst out. "Woo, it's such a relief to be rid of that loser, huh? Doesn't the energy in the room just change for the better when there's only talented people in it?"

Morgan said nothing, his stride jerky and slow, like a praying mantis. But all of a sudden, he dashed forward with blinding speed and pounced on top of Monokuma, pinning him to the ground.

Monokuma shrieked. "Stop! Physically harming your adviser is a capital offense!"

For a moment, Morgan just glared down at him. Then he pulled a small tube of paint out of his pocket. He opened it and squirted a purple blob onto his hand. With a malicious grin, he smeared one line and then another onto Monokuma's face, leaving behind a brutal, ugly X.

Then Morgan just stood up and turned around to face the rest of us. "You garbage," he spat, "you wet piles of shit. You have no idea what's going on here. You're all going to die, and you're too stupid to stop it." Almost casually, he walked back to his seat in the final row of the room and sat. "Hey!" he yelled. "Why'd the lecture stop?"

Monokuma hopped to his feet, seemingly unbothered by the interruption or the mark on his face. "Right! We have some very important knowledge coming up next!"

After what had already happened, I thought I was beyond being surprised by anything, but Monokuma clicked to a powerpoint slide that just had a big question mark on it, and he said something so bone-chilling, I may never forget it: "The mastermind lives among you."

Morgan laughed. It was a grotesque sound, loud and cruel. The rest of us sat in silence as we grappled with that information. Finally, Earl sputtered, "What do you mean, the mastermind? Who is this mastermind?!"

"The one who kidnapped all of you!" Monokuma replied gleefully. "The one who programmed me! The one who is forcing you all to kill one another! They're pretending to be a lost little student, just like the rest of you, but secretly, they're running the show!"

Rodrigo jumped to his feet. "Tell us the identity of this blackguard!" he commanded.

Monokuma just tittered. "No no, it'll spoil the fun if you know any more. But!" He held up a paw. "This whole campus is tied to the mastermind. So, if someone kills them, all the defenses keeping you trapped in here will automatically be shut off. Isn't that delightful? I bet you're disappointed you all decided not to murder anyone, huh?"

I felt like I couldn't even breathe. By the time I even wrapped my head around what he'd said, he was talking about Chinese history again.

I looked behind me. Morgan was staring directly at me. Slowly, he took a purple finger and traced it across his own throat. He winked.

Fact 11: Nicole, JP, Emily, and myself were reassigned to guarding the upstairs hallway to catch the vandal, even though Monokuma should already know who it is.

Fact 12: The tunnel is a faster route to the classroom, but only Ashley seems willing to use it regularly. The hallway from the elevator in the general education building contains doors leading to a laundry room, a classroom supply room, and a closet full of cleaning equipment.

Fact 13: Apparently the only escape is through the administration building, but we don't have any way of getting there that we know about.

Fact 14: Monokuma's lectures will reveal important secrets about us. The class will stop if a murder occurs.

Fact 15: The student stores prints out a receipt for each purchase with identifying information on it.

Fact 16: Chores: Katy is tending the solarium. Ashley is cleaning windows. Therion is doing laundry. Rodrigo and Rocky switched: Rodrigo is mopping and Rocky is vacuuming.

Fact 17: Rocky, Nicole, and Barrett skip class regularly. Jane and JP have each missed one class.

Fact 18: Nicole has apparently killed before.

Fact 19: Morgan was revealed to not have an ultimate talent, but his demeanor changed suddenly, and then Monokuma implied he did have a talent after all.

Fact 20: The mastermind is one of us, and if we kill them, all the defense systems on campus will shut off automatically, and we can escape easily.

Okay, most of our cast has had some good screen time by this point. Any favorites? Is there anyone you want to see more of?

Also, I get the feeling a murder might happen pretty soon. Who do you think the first victim will be? (It's not Saya)