Clayton POV

I slept in my own bed alone that night, Manson slept in his own right across from mine. I found myself wrapped in warmth, it was as if the blankets were nonexistence. It gave me a sense of security and peace, it quelled the storm of worries inside of me that had been brewing since this whole thing started. It also helped that I, begrudgingly, started seeing Manson as a friend. You get to see what people are really like in intense and dangerous situations, and Manson has been comforting to me. Don't get me wrong, I think he's freaking out on the inside but, he's also been looking after me.

I guess we're friends now but using that word just doesn't feel right, but not for the reasons you expect. Being friends just doesn't feel strong enough to describe the relationship forming between me and Manson. However, being in love is too strong to describe it. There's a middle area and I think that's where we fall into. At this point I don't know what to feel about Manson, on one hand, I'm starting to feel something for him but on the other hand, it's too soon to know what I feel. All I know is that friend is not the word to describe Manson but I don't know what else to call him. So, for now, I'll just shove all of these feelings somewhere else until I can deal with them, though in this situation I will probably have to deal with them sooner rather than later. I just wish life wasn't so complicated, that my mind was clear and that I knew what I have to do. But since life is complicated I'm stuck in a hurricane that is my mind. I'm probably a horrible person, my entire class is in a life or death situation where one of us had to murder someone else and I'm here having trouble over some guy.

I saw Manson stir in his bed, the blankets and sheets shifting around. I looked at the clock and saw it was 9, guess it was time to get up. Though I don't see any other reason why except for food and maybe Kaikane and Itsuka.

"Hey, sleepyhead, guess I made a good sandwich since you've been sleeping for a while." Manson said, getting out of bed.

"It was alright, you just exhausted me last night." And as soon as I said that I immediately regretted it.

"Well okay, get ready for tonight. It's gonna be a wild ride." Manson looked at me in a way that made me blush as he made his way into the bathroom. I just sat there. in my bed, stunned at what I did and Manson's response. The sound of the shower turning on snapped me out of my daze and I got out of bed.

I got out some clothes and placed them on my bed. Manson emerged from the bathroom, fully clothed this time, and I went into the bathroom after he left. I spent the entire shower just leaning up against a wall, letting the warm water wash over me. I let myself pretend for a moment that the water could wash away everything negative I've done and that's been done to me. Like I was being doused in holy water, being reborn as a better version of me.

After that little existential walk, I got dressed and made my way towards the cafeteria. What I found was not what I was expecting.

Everyone was getting along. They were laughing, chatting and eating like nothing happened yesterday. Like there wasn't now a murderer among the group, plotting to kill one of us.

"You guys are awfully cheerful considering what happened the last time we were in a group." I commented.

"Well, we did some thinking and we came to a conclusion. Monokuma is lying about a murderer." Jake said.

"Logically Monokuma could just be deceiving us, causing paranoia among the group. There are many outcomes from this paranoia but I think the desired one for Monokuma is that we grow so paranoid that one of us snaps and kills." Toboe added.

"Really." I said, withholding as much sarcasm as I could.

"Yep, now we're all friends. We're not going to give in to Monokuma. We're all going to stick together because we got friendship now. None of us have let Monokuma's lies get to them." Nora said.

"Right you do that, I'm not going to be so idiotic." I turned around and walked out of the dining room, guess I'll just eat when nobody else is around.

"Clayton!" Tsubaki chased after me, grabbing my arm. "Please, Clayton. I know you don't like people but these are good people. They're not going to hurt you."

"You're wrong, this is the perfect situation for people to hurt each other. Do you honestly think that Monokuma lied to us, that nobody wants to kill. Tsubaki, listen to me. All people ever do is hurt each other, you get your hopes up then they let you down. So, no these are not good people. Just people that are going to hurt you in the end." I responded, slipping out of Tsubaki's grip.

"Clayton, this isn't living. Pushing other people away, you're hurting yourself by doing that. You're only hurting yourself by doing this." She said.

"Maybe, but I'm still alive. And I'm content to just survive." I walked, with silence following me. The sound being created were my footsteps and my key as I opened the door to my room. I threw myself onto the bed and face the ceiling, just staring at it.

Knock Knock

"You don't need to knock, Manson, you have a key." I said. The door creaked opened and Manson walks inside.

"Well, I was just being polite. I know how much of a drama queen you can be when things surprise you." He responded.

"Drama king to you." I said.

"Mmmm, let's agree to disagree. Wait, how did you know it was me?" Manson asked as he sat on the bed across from me.

"I just had a conversation with Tsubaki, so I thought either you or Kaikane would come to try and convince me to mingle with people. I guessed you and turns out I was right." I answered, not even turning to face Manson.

"I'm not going to get all preachy on you, but I really think you should come back. We've managed to cobble together some games from kitchen supplies and I think you'd enjoy it. But if you're not interested in that at least get up and walk around. Take care of your physical health at least rather than be cooped up in the room." Manson said.

"You go on, I guess I'll walk around." I compromised with Manson.

"Alright, I'll take what I can get." Manson got up and left the room.

So I soon got up as well and exited the room, taking a quick stroll around the floor. I soon grew bored with just walking around and I decided to take a closer look at the previous floors. I took the elevator down to the floor that contained the lab and morgue, the floor was even colder than last time if that's even possible.

I decided the lab would be much more interesting so I went into it first. The smell was different than before. Like someone decided to make a smoothie out of various chemicals. I saw a chemical mixer on a stainless steel table in the corner of the lab. I approached it and saw that it was still on, in fact, it was the source of the smell in the room. It read:

Knock Out Gas: Process Complete

Someone had made knockout gas?! And everyone is gathered in the dining room! I ran to the elevator and I felt my anxiety rise as the doors slid closed. I rushed out as soon as the doors opened and threw the doors to the dining room open. Everyone turned their heads towards me. Suddenly, glass shattered and mist began to curl around my feet as the others dropped rapidly to the ground.

Kaikane POV

My eyes shot open as the world around me readjusted to the sudden light and my body to the cold hard ground. I took a few seconds to breathe and then I turned my head to the other side of me. I saw Jake Alexander, his eyes were glassy and there was a hole in his chest. I let out a frightful scream as I realized he was dead.

Author's Notes

I am the worst procrastinator ever in the world. I realized that there were a few holes in the murder of this chapter so I decided to fix them, then I hit a writer's block and so I kept pushing it off until now. To make up for the lack of content I going to try and upload another chapter this week.