Hello! Finally, we are back and live!
I'm in a bit of a rush to get this out, so honestly, some of the proof-reading will be done within the next couple of days. I will also update later with actual replies to the reviews for the last chapter (Thank you so much to all that gave feedback! You're the best! ^,^) So if you're reading soon after I publish this, you'll probably run into some grammar mistakes. My apologies :(
Sorry for the delay. Hopefully 12K words will make up for it? Also, Free Time Events start in this chapter! There will be five more in the next chapter, those of which will be chosen by you guys; there's a poll up on my profile where you can vote for who you want Ryuu to hang out with. Be sure to check that out :)
Same warnings as last chapter. Some strong language and brief sexual discussions.
And now, back to the killing game!
All sixteen of us crowded into one end of the hallway, our heads tilted up at the giant flat-screen television. A minute had passed what felt like years ago, but nothing happened. We all just stood by one another. We swayed on our feet. Fingers twitching. I could tell everyone had the same two words running through their heads. Anytime now... But seconds and seconds passed by, and the screen remained utterly black. Had we done something wrong? Was someone not here?
No, everyone's here. I glanced around me and counted the heads and recalled their names. I quietly mumbled what I remembered their likes and dislikes were, like maybe that could distract me from the roots of fear growing in my stomach. But another minute of silence went by, and I stopped. I couldn't just sit in my own shaking anymore. I had to fill the silence with something.
I pulled my arm out of Kara's hand and walked up to the hallway wall, right beneath the TV screen. I rose up on my toes a bit and waved to catch everyone's eyes.
"Hello? H-Hi, everyone!" I said, only now realizing how sweaty I was. "Um, I just uh... I wanted to make sure we all... know what's happening. What's about to happen."
Silence swept over the hallway again, and I wondered for a moment if I was alone with the knowledge. I wasn't the only one who watched Danganronpa, was I? I just assumed, but maybe-
"Of course we do." Kara said, and I shook my head at my silliness. Of course. Kara had already told me he knew Danganronpa. I scanned the crowd, noticing near most everyone start to nod their heads. Furanshishu even smiled with her nod.
"Yes, we all have," The Archaeologist said, "so there's no need for any of us to worry! We all know what we're getting into, so we all know how to fight it!"
At Furanshishu's encouraging smile, Ash suddenly got all positive as well. "Y-Yeah, we're not gonna fall for it! We're not going to... Uhm..."
"Kill each other?" Okinawa, now wearing her freshly washed sailor outfit, finished Ash's sentence. The tension we were just starting to crack immediately built up in the hall again. It was weird. The heavy word seemed so light mixed with her childish voice.
"Huh? Kill? Did someone say kill?" Akira perked up like a puppy dog.
"Yeah, you weirdo. Killing people is what Danganronpa's all about." Tsutomu said, shuffling an inch or two away from Akira.
Akira cocked his head. "The fuck's a Dang-Gong-Rompa?"
No one knew what to say. I didn't know what everyone else's silence came from, but mine came from a realization. Akira. The Ultimate-motherfucking-Serial Killer. In this game we were going to be forced to play - where killing each other was the main objective of it all. A tremble grew from my stomach, rippling down all my limps and up my throat. I almost gagged on my fear.
I held my stomach, nearly ready to blow chunks. "Oh my god... We're fucking screwed."
"Ya sure got that right, buddy!" A high-pitched, cartoonish voice rung in my ears. Suddenly kicked behind the legs, I stumbled forward into the crowd, Furanshishu steadying me. I hardly even realized I was being held by a gorgeous girl; all my attention was focused on the thing that just kicked me - the thing with that chilling voice that seemed to echo through my skull. I whipped around, and my heart sunk at the sight of him.
Monokuma. A dumb, complicatedly-built robot bear that stood as a mascot for despair, at least in the Danganronpa universe. But really, what did universes matter? Now that we were in Danganronpa, Monokuma was our despair.
He stood pretty short in front of us, all dressed up in a gold-sequined blazer with a black collar and dramatically spiked up shoulders. He had golden shoes to match, along with a pair of golden sequined gloves. All around his glowing red eye, he had a bunch of golden glitter too. The ridiculous outfit almost made him less intimidating. Almost.
Well aware of his power and role in all this, we all flinched back when he threw his arms up and let out a, "Tah-duh!" Monokuma even threw in a twirl. "Revealing your lovable host for the 54th time, iiiiittttttt's Monokuma!"
The only ones who didn't flinch were Okinawa and Akira. Oki actually clapped her hands together, her eyes almost sparkling. "Woooowwwww! You're so much cuter in real life!"
Akira seemed more confused than anything. "What in the hell are you?"
"Dude, did your ears get chopped off or something? I literally just said my name." Monokuma said. Then he whipped out another twirl and threw his little arms up again. "Iiiiittttttt's Monokuma!"
Suddenly, the screen behind Monokuma flickered on, and a giant, fluorescent pink skull appeared. Confetti burst out on the screen all around the skull as it spoke in a sort of cutesy robotic, female voice. This was obviously the PinkSkull who messaged all of us. "Iiiiittttttt's Monokuma!"
"Okay, yeah, we get it. You only said it, like, five times." Minnie groaned.
"Yeah, we all know what's happening." Naho said, a serious look on her face I hadn't seen before. "So we might as well skip all this."
"I don't know what's happening!" Akira said with a giant smile, and I swear his teeth were suddenly sharper than they were before. "But for some reason I'm getting really excited. And I have this weird tingling going on in my crotch too!"
"Uh, wait... What?" Chinami said.
"He's slowly tuning in on what's happening. And he's, uh, sexually attracted to... murder-y stuff." I explained, shrugging. I had analyzed all of my peers sexual and romantic interests, and Akira's was less than comforting. "I didn't know whether or not to tell you guys."
Kara winced. "Yeah, I definitely could've gone without knowing that..."
"What would you call that? 'Murdersexual'?" Kiyomi tapped her chin, actually giving this serious thought.
Making us all jolt, the PinkSkull spoke up again. "Sexual attraction to homicide is actually fairly common among the human species. A recent study showed that a total of 0.9% of humans are genuinely attracted to murder, blood, corpses, etcetera. All of the participants of this study that showed positive signs of being sexually attracted to these things were also loyal followers of Danganronpa."
"Well, PinkSkull, you can add 100% of sickeningly, adorable bears to that statistic too! Nothing beats that tingle of excitement when you watch friends betray their dear friends by literally stabbing them in the back!" Monokuma squealed. "Which is why, brought back by not-so-popular demand, Danganronpa is being rebooted! Allow me to officially welcome you to DanganronpaV4.2!"
"Hoor-rah." PinkSkull tossed out another burst of confetti on her screen.
None of us were as enthusiastic. Even Akira stayed quiet, crossing his arms and staring at up at PinkSkull, though I think he was just confused. I was sure the second Monokuma laid down the rules, he be just as cheery as the creepy-ass bear.
"Oh, cut the crap!" Etsuko said, stepping forward towards Monokuma. "Who's controlling you this time, huh? Who started up the killing game again?"
"What? You think I'm just gonna tell you 'cause you asked?" Monokuma said. "We have to pace this story out, dimwit - keep the tension and mystery going until the audience just can't take it anymore! That's not something you'll figure out until, like, Chapter 5 or something. If you live that long."
Tsuneo stepped up beside his sister, mustering up what little confidence he had. "W-Well, we're never going to get to 'Chapter 5'. We're not going to play your game, Monokuma. We're stronger than you, and we know exactly what's going on. S-So..." Tsuneo trailed off, fidgeting with his apron. "We're all going to stay alive... R-Right?"
"Yeah, Flower Boy's right!" Yume said. "Whoever the fuck you are, we ain't killing each other! We're not playing your stupid game! There's a reason this series was discontinued, y'know."
"Mmhm. Is anyone even watching now? It got such terrible ratings last season, I don't think anyone would want to tune in." Ameko said.
"Yes. Exactly twelve people are watching right now." PinkSkull said, then paused. "Oh, please hold for a moment. Now it's thirteen. Hello, new viewer!"
"Hi!" Okinawa said with a big grin, waving at the surveillance camera near the ceiling of the hall. We all stared at her, and she stared back at us with just as much confusion. "What? It's kind of exciting to be on TV."
"I don't see the point in putting so much effort and money into a show that only has thirteen viewers." Taeki returned the conversation back to Monokuma.
"Hey! Hey! Just because they're in the minority doesn't mean they don't deserve to be entertained! These people have been deprived of the gory murders, thrilling plot lines, and devastating heartache that Danganronpa brought into their lives since the cancellation. It's our job to bring back their hope with a new, improved, and flashy new season of The Killing Games! Ah-hahahahaha!" Monokuma's laughter boomed out through the hallway. "Honestly, you guys should be grateful. Based on what we've analyzed, you guys should make this one of the most thrilling games of the series ever."
"What do you mean by that?" Furanshishu asked.
"The Gamemaker has been going through extensive research in order to create a killing game that'll generate the most amount of positive reviews. They added the results of their studies into my data banks, and I selected every single one of you based on them. Each of your personalities and talents contribute different elements to this season's plot line." PinkSkull said. "If everything goes as planned, and I am not wrong - which I never am because I am a flawless super computer program - then Danganronpa's 54th season should be the best one yet."
"Wait." Kara stepped forward. "Earlier, you said this was DanganronpaV4.2. That means it's the 54.2 season. What's this '0.2' part?"
"Okay, what the fuck do you guys think this is? Some kind of Q&A? I'm not here to hold your hand. If you guys really know what's going on, like you all keep claiming you do, then stop asking stupid questions!" Monokuma growled.
"There is no such thing as a stupid question. Any query for knowledge is positive." PinkSkull said.
"Shut up, PinkSkull. You're just supposed to agree with me on everything."
"That's not part of my programming, Mr. Monokuma."
"Then make it part of your Goddamn programming!" Monokuma said. "Ugh, I told the Gamemaker I'd only host on the condition that I didn't have some annoying comedy partner to work with, and look what I get paired up with."
"That's why the Gamemaker stripped my programming of any personality at all."
"Somehow, that makes you more annoying." Monokuma grumbled. "Seriously, where is the whisky I was promised?! I could really use some of that shit right now!" Monokuma turned to us. "It ain't easy being the host of Danganronpa, I'll tell you that much, kids."
"Then kindly don't," Tsutomu said. "Fuck off, cancel this killing game, and we can all go home."
"Impossible. Mr. Monokuma has already signed the contract." PinkSkull said. "Mr. Monokuma, we are wasting time. We must introduce the rules."
"Ah, right." Monokuma said. "Ears open, people! I'm only gonna go through these once!"
Suddenly, PinkSkull disappeared from the screen, replaced by a screen that looked a lot like the holographic menus on our Monophones. Much like the Dialog tab, a bunch of text boxes appeared - ten of them, exactly. Above them, the title said DANGANRONPAV4.2 B2 RULES. We zoomed in on the first box, and PinkSkull read out the rule.
"Rule #1: Destroying any of the surveillance cameras or anyone's Monophones will result in immediate internal combustion." PinkSkull said.
"Again with the 'internal combustion'..." I said, my voice shakier than I wanted it to be. "What exactly is that anyway?"
Monokuma perked up. "Well, I'm just so glad you asked, our wonderful Ultimate Sex-a-holic. Internal combustion is when we let the bombs inside of you go off, killing you in an instant! Your limbs will soar across the room, your organs will splatter all over, your blood will explode out all over the place, raining down-"
The urge to vomit came back, and I gripped tightly onto Furanshishu. "Stop! Stop, please! I get it!" I cried out. If that was really true, that we had bombs implanted in us, then we could die at any second. One slip of a button, and our lives were over, bodies in complete ruin. My life truly was in this "Gamemaker"'s hands.
"If all inquiries have been addressed, let us please continue," PinkSkull said. "Rule #2: Failure to respond to your assigned ChatPal within 24 hours will result in immediate internal combustion. Of course, that doesn't include messages from me."
"What's a ChatPal?" Chinami asked.
"You'll find out eventually." Monokuma said. He waved at the screen, and PinkSkull continued to read through the rules.
"Rule #3: Only females can enter the female bedroom. The alarm on the door will sound if the sensor detects a male Monophone entering the room. The detected Monophone will release an electric shock as well." PinkSkull said. "Rule #4: Only males can enter the male bedroom. The alarm on the door will sound if the sensor detects a female Monophone entering the room. The detected Monophone will release an electric shock as well."
"Well, at least that doesn't end in internal combustion." Naho said quietly.
"Rule #5: The only means of escape is by murdering one of your fellow classmates, participating in the class trial, and getting away with your guilt."
"Whoomp, there is is." Kiyomi said.
"Rule #6: Once a murder occurs, the Body Discovery Announcement will commence when three or more people see the corpse. Rule #7: After a short investigation period, a class trial will commence. Everyone present will have to discuss and convince the Jury to vote for who they think the culprit is."
Everything PinkSkull and Monokuma said followed a pretty normal Danganronpa format until that point. I never heard of a jury being part of the class trials. I opened my mouth to ask, but decided against it. It wasn't as though we were going to get that far anyway.
"Rule #8: If the true culprit is exposed at the end of the class trial, only they will be executed. The rest of the class will escape B2. Rule #9: If the true culprit is not exposed at the end of the class trial, the culprit will win DanganronpaV4.2, and will be rewarded with their freedom. The rest of the class will be executed."
"Wait a second," Akira spoke up. "So you're telling me to win this game, all I have to do is kill someone and get away with it?"
"Correct." PinkSkull said.
"Bingo, Ringo!" Monokuma said.
I thought Akira would be delighted, but to all our surprise, he was absolutely seething. "This is bullshit! The ONE time where I get to freely kill people is AFTER I'm brainwashed by Hope's Peak Academy! Ugh! I could just kill someone right now, I'm so pissed!"
"Upupupupupu, sure does suck to suck, doesn't it?" Monokuma said. "Well, that's everything. You can always check back on the rules on your Monophones. Now that you all clearly understand, you can now begin the killing game! Be sure to enjoy your days here in the Hasegawa mansion; some of you more unfortunate kids will only have a few here... Upupupupu..."
"Wait, that, like, makes no sense." Minnie said. "You never told us the last rule."
"Oh, yeah," Monokuma said, then looked back up at the screen.
"Rule #10: There is no other way to escape the Hasegawa Mansion, so don't even try lol."
"Okay, that's it!" Yume exclaimed, stepping up to Monokuma. "I'm sick of you and this stupid PinkSkull lady! You can both eat a dick!"
Yume then swiftly kicked Monokuma in his crotch area, which I wasn't entirely sure did anything to a robotic bear. Still, Monokuma reeled back, stumbling into the wall. Yume shook out her foot, whining at her pain for a moment before walking up to Monokuma and kicking him again.
"OW! What's wrong with you, you psycho?! P-PinkSkull, do something!" Monokuma screamed out as Yume stomped on him over and over again. None of us moved to stop her. I knew what she was doing was dangerous, but I so badly wanted to do the same to Monokuma, so I kind of just let myself enjoy watching the stupid bear get beat up.
"'No violence towards Mr. Monokuma or myself' is not in the rulebook for this season unfortunately. This is completely acceptable behaviour." PinkSkull said, her skull face appearing on the screen again.
"WHAT?! I didn't sign up for this!" Monokuma growled.
"Oh, shut up, you stupid teddy bear!" Yume cried. She lifted Monokuma into her arms and brought him up to eye level. A smirk on her face, she pulled back her fist, and Monokuma lifted his paws up in surrender.
"Okay, okay, wait! Just please avoid the face! I spent a lot of time and money making getting this glitter perfect and-"
Yume took that as an offering to punch him right in the face.
"OW! Shit! Alright, you brat! I was going to be cute and passive, but you asked for it!" Monokuma cried. Yume pulled back her arm, ready to send another blow when Monokuma's expression suddenly went blank, and his body went rigid. Confused, Yume tilted her head and shook him a bit, but she got no reaction.
I wasn't particularly concerned; I thought he might've just turned himself off. But suddenly, Tsutomu bolted forward and yanked Monokuma out of Yume's hands.
"WAIT!" he screamed. With flushed skin and wild eyes, he glanced between the quiet Monokuma and all around the hallway. "E-Everyone stand back!"
"W-What? What's going on, Tsutomu?" Ameko asked, taking a couple steps back with the rest of us.
"If this is anything like the other games then-" Tsutomu pressed his ear against Monokuma's stomach, and somehow, his eyes got even wider. "Shit! Shit, shit, shit! Uhm-! S-Stay back, everyone!"
We all followed his orders and shuffled away from him. He took a deep breath, face paling by the second, and tossed Monokuma as hard as he could into the flat screen.
Suddenly, Monokuma exploded.
Spouts of electricity sparked out as the television was destroyed. The wall behind it crumbled too, debris crashing into the floor and sending a wave of smoke and wind over us. Screams erupted, but they were drowned out by the sound of the explosion and the wall falling apart. When the sounds gradually died out, I opened my eyes and saw our destruction. The white wall was now a pile of smashed metal on the floor. Where the wall used to be were a bunch of metal pipes, with screws and large nails clumsily screwed into them. It didn't seem like the nails and screws really did much to hold up the walls, but were more there as defense. It seemed dangerous to even walk up to the laundry or pool room door; one small trip and you could be impaled by a bunch of giant rusty nails.
My heart pounding hard against my ribs, I glanced up at the surveillance camera in the corner of the hall. It hung perfectly - not a scratch on it. I let out a sigh of relief. Rule #1 and #2 with their "internal combustion" really got to me.
A piece of metal from the pile of debris started to shift, and I jerked back. My reaction seemed a bit silly when Tsutomu climbed out of the pile, bruised and groaning in pain.
Ash immediately ran forward and grabbed his arm, helping him out of the pile. Tsutomu leaned his weight on the small guy (which I think Ash greatly struggled with, but he didn't say anything) as they walked back to the rest of us.
"Oh my goodness, Tsutomu! Are you okay?!" Furanshishu cried out.
"Been better," Tsutomu said with a crooked smirk.
"Thank goodness for you. If you hadn't remembered Monokuma's internal bomb mechanism, Yume might've been..." Ameko said, shaking just at the thought.
"Yeah, talk about lucky. Dude, that was badass!" Yume said. She jumped up next to him with a giant grin and patted him roughly on the back. Tsutomu let out a loud cry of pain, but somehow, she didn't seem to notice.
"U-Uhm, I should probably take him back to his room. I want to check if he has any serious injuries." Ash said. We all agreed that was probably a good idea.
Suddenly, a cutesy Danganronpa~ tune sounded from all of our Monophones. We all pulled them out and saw a notification on our menu hologram. A simple: "It is now 10:00PM."
"Must be our 'Night Time Announcement'." Kara said. "It's a lot simpler than previous seasons."
We all nodded in agreement and put away our Monophones. Chinami then grabbed her teal rubber gloves, slipping them on as she walked towards the pile of debris. "Well," the janitor said, "guess I've gotta clean this up."
Furanshishu grabbed her arm before she could even get close. "Wait, Chinami." She said Chinami's name, but spoke out to all of us. "Today has been... extremely stressful. I think our next best course of action is just to rest. We should all go to bed and just... recuperate."
"I'm fine. I'm not tired." Chinami said, looking at Furanshishu with dull eyes. It was hard to tell whether or not she was telling the truth; Chinami always kind of looked tired. "The mess is blocking the laundry and the pool room too. Don't worry, it won't take me long-"
"No, no. Let's leave the work for tomorrow. We've already gone through enough today." Furanshishu insisted.
"Yeaaaaahhh, I'm tired! I wanna sleeeeepppp..." Okinawa whined, flopping her head on Akira's shoulder. He barely seemed to notice.
"Alright! Let's all get a good night's rest! If there was a Night Time Announcement, I bet there'll be a Morning Announcement. We can all wake up to that, freshen ourselves up, and about an hour after that, let's all meet in the dinning room and have breakfast together. We can talk about what we're going to do as a group then. Does that sound okay to everyone?" Furanshishu asked.
"That sounds great," I assured her. I tried to smile as brightly as her, but my smile was weak, heavy. I envied her. Her confidence in spite of everything we just witnessed was so damn admirable.
"Great. We'll see you gentlemen in the morning." Furanshishu said, and her and all the girls shuffled quietly into the female bedroom. "Goodnight!"
I took one last glance at the mess we made, let out a sigh, and followed Kara and the rest of the guys into the bedroom.
Everyone passed out fairly quickly. I guess we were all pretty emotionally exhausted, so it only took a soft mattress and a lack of light for everyone to get knocked out in a matter of minutes. Everyone except me, though. I just laid on my back, stripped down only to my boxers - white with red hearts printed all over them. My sweat made the sheets stick to my skin, and I writhed against the feeling. My mind and heart couldn't stop racing. Every part of my body felt alive, awake, and uncomfortable. There was no way I could get to sleep anytime soon.
And maybe that was okay.
I sat up and glanced over to Kara's bed beside me. He wore a black, thick robe with deep red shorts for pajamas. We were all pretty thankful to find pajamas and an extra copy of our regular outfits in the drawers beneath our beds. There were even swimsuits provided so we could swim in the pool. I wondered how they got my clothes, but frankly, it was the least of our issues. I was just grateful for what I got.
Kara laid on his side, his back facing towards me. I was pretty sure he passed out with everyone else, but I decided to try anyway.
"Kara?" I mumbled into the darkness. The only light in the room was the soft glow of the green strips on our bed. "You awake?"
Kara mumbled something, then rolled onto his other side to face me. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Mm, yes, though I was almost asleep before you woke me up." Thankfully, he didn't sound too annoyed. Just groggy. "Are you okay? Can't fall asleep?"
I shook my head. "I'm... I think I'm too scared."
"No one will attempt anything tonight, and certainly not in here. There's too many possible witnesses." Kara said, sitting up and hanging his legs off the side of his bed.
"Yeah, I know. I'm not scared of being... murdered specifically... I'm just... scared in general." I said.
"Well, that's a natural reaction."
"Are you scared?"
Kara didn't say anything for a while. When he did, his voice shook in a way I hadn't heard from him before. "Ryuu, c-can I be honest with you?"
"Always. You can trust me."
"It won't make you feel any better."
"Kara." I smiled at him. "Stop that. Just tell me."
The Oneirologist stood up, taking a long, deep breath. Then he walked over to my side and took a seat beside me on my bed. He kept a certain distance between us, so in an attempt to make him more comfortable, I scooched over until our shoulders pressed against each other's. However, that only seemed to make him fidget more.
"Ryuu, I... Unlike you, I-I don't trust anyone here. And most of all, I don't trust myself." He said, slowly. "If this really is Danganronpa, then we have everything to fear. The way this game stresses you, manipulates you - you can't fight it. They know everything about you. They know exactly how to push you over the edge. I have family, Ryuu, and I have friends. And I love them with all my heart. I love them so, so much, and... I don't care about anyone here. Not even a little. If any of my friends or family were threatened, I would... kill in a heartbeat."
Bumps crawled up my arm. Suddenly, I wanted to be as far away from Kara as possible, but I stood my ground. I wasn't going to make him feel worse than he already clearly felt. I had to trust him. He had been nothing but kind to me, and even more so, he sat here, right beside me, opening up about something so dark. I nodded, taking my eyes off him and staring into the darkness.
"Killing one person means killing everyone in the end." I reminded him. "So... you would kill me too?"
Kara sighed. "...Yes, Ryuu."
We both fell silent.
I glanced over to the bed across from mine and Kara's. Tsutomu. His body jerked, and his sheets tangled up in his legs. Groans of pain escaped his lips. Obviously, he was having a terrible nightmare, and I didn't know whether or not to wake him. Kara stared at him as well, but he didn't do anything either. So we both did nothing together. I felt helpless.
"I'll be like that." I whispered to Kara. "If I fall asleep, I think I'll have nightmares all night, just like him."
Kara let on a gentle, sad smile, then reached over and propped my pillow up against the headrest. He shifted over, sitting with his back up against the pillow. He patted the space beside him. "Then I'll stay up with you. That way, you won't have any nightmares."
I smiled. Despite what he said, I couldn't imagine a kind man like Kara murdering anyone. Maybe he thought he did, but I didn't think he had it in him. So I continued to trust him.
We stayed up together the whole night.
I didn't get any sleep that night. Thankfully, Kara got some though. Probably sometime early-morning he drifted off mid-conversation, leaning back on the headrest and sinking into my pillow. When he started quietly snoring, I got off the bed, pulled my blanket over him, and sat back down against the headrest. With no one to talk to anymore, I just stared at the plain, white walls in front of me. Silence took over. I sat there, hands clasped on my lap, just observing that moment of peace. Through the dimly lit bedroom, I glanced over each man - no, boys - I shared this room with.
I saw Taeki at the other end of the room, tangled up in his sheets. Though so extremely shy and quiet during the day, Taeki had no shame in sleeping completely nude. Ironic, and kind of adorable in its own way. I saw Tsuneo in simple white t-shirt that had a small flower printed on the chest, along with a pair of lavender shorts. Unlike the rest of the guys - all sprawled over, sheets thrown, limbs dangling off the sides of the beds - Tsuneo slept perfectly on his back with a small smile on his face, hands just peeking out the blanket. Ash was just across from Kara's bed, wearing this humble green-striped sweater and a pair of white sweatpants. He curled up tightly, squeezing his pillow to his stomach. His jaw quivered, and I wondered if he was having similar nightmares to Tsutomu.
Still, they all seemed so peaceful. So vulnerable. The idea that some of these boys could be dead in the next couple of days yanked at my heart. Maybe Kara didn't care, but I did. I didn't know them, but I cared about every one of them. Scanning over all the sleeping boys again, I told myself I wouldn't let anyone in this mansion fall victim to this disgusting game. Because I cared so damn much.
So I decided I'd make everyone else care too.
Right when the morning announcement played (8:00AM, the same ringtone played from our Monophones simultaniously), I was obviously the first to jump out of bed with not a single wink of sleep. My body ached, and my mind was sort of foggy, but I didn't feel quite as horrible as I thought I would. I walked into our bathroom first, taking one of the two showers. Once I cleaned up, I walked back into the bedroom, changed into my only outfit choice, and headed out into the halls as the rest of the guys just started to wash up.
Lead by a delicious smell wafting from the kitchen, I walked up to the door across from our bedroom and slid the door open.
There, I found Furanshishu working away in front of a steaming stove, poking at some greasy bacon on a pan. Laid out all along the counters were plates of heavenly-scented breakfast dishes, all in large proportions. There were plates of fluffy, scrambled eggs; mounds of bacon that seemed a bit burnt, but still smelled amazing; a perfect tower of buttered toast; a plate of crescents; and a large bowl of fruit salad. And, from the looks of Furanshishu working away in front of the stove, there was still more to come.
Picking my jaw up off the floor, I quietly walked over and hip-bumped her "hello".
She jerked a bit, not having noticed me come in. "O-Oh! R-Ryuu! Uhm, good morning." She said, awkwardly. Weird - I hadn't heard her stutter so much. She then shook her head a bit and greeted me with a smile. "Sorry. Good morning, Ryuu! Hope you had a lovely rest!"
"Yeah..." I mumbled. "So what's all this about?"
"I'm just making everyone breakfast. We all had such a traumatic day yesterday, I thought everyone deserved something nice." She said, peeling some more burnt bacon off the pan and onto a plate. "Plus there's so many ingredients here! We should enjoy the experience of having these luxuries while we're here."
Not asking for permission, I immediately started helping, grabbing the package of strawberries on the counter and chopping them up. I popped a whole one in my mouth and said, "You're so sweet, Furan. You're kind of becoming the 'Mom Friend' of the group."
Furanshishu didn't oppose the nickname, thankfully. She just smiled at that, then returned her focus to finishing up breakfast. She cracked another couple eggs into a pan, and I mixed in the strawberries into the fruit salad. We worked for a while, silent, enjoying one another's company. As she scooped her newest batch of scrambled eggs onto a large plate, I grabbed another strawberry and held it out to feed it to her. I remembered her form said she liked them. She hesitated for a moment, but then leaned forward and bit it out of my hands. My heart got kind of fast. Cute.
But as she chewed on the fruit and looked up at me, her smile turned into a look of worry. "I'm sorry I didn't notice before, Ryuu, but you look so tired. Are you well? Did you get any sleep last night?"
I shook my head. "Not a single bit." I said, but then grinned. "See? Mom friend."
Furan laughed. "Well, someone should take care of you. You need to rejuvenate, Ryuu. Maybe you should take a nap this afternoon to make up for last night."
"Yeah, I might." I said. With nothing to do with my hands, I asked, "Is there anything else I could do to help?"
"Hm..." Stepping away from the hot stove, Furan brought her bandana up to her face to pat away her sweat. "I suppose you could take the plates to the dinning room, if you don't mind. You really didn't have to help."
"No, no. I wanted to." I said. Immediately, I got to work, resting four plates of beautiful breakfast on my palms and forearms. I had a lot of "Waiter/Waitress" gigs, so this was no sweat. Just as I headed for the door, Furan called out to me.
"Ryuu." She said. "...You're really sweet too."
"I try," I said smoothly, then walked out the door.
The second the door shut behind me, I let the blush I was holding back flood into my cheeks. A stupid grin pulled at my lips. I couldn't help it. Pretty girls and boys will be the death of me.
But the joy immediately raced out of me. I guess I really shouldn't be joking about death here...
I tried to shake off the fear, forcing a smile on my face as I entered the dinning room. I stopped by the control panel before setting the plates down, using my elbow to adjust the atmosphere around the table. I set it to a tropical sunrise on the beach; hopefully, everyone would enjoy that. I walked over and set the plates down.
Just as I adjusted the food, two people walked into the room behind me.
"Awh, did you make us breakfast, Ryuu?" A male voice asked.
I brushed off my shirt and began to turn around. "No, actually, Furan-woah..."
I trailed off at the sight of him. Minnie - no, Masashi - stood by the door, completely clear of any make-up, glamour, or extravagant wigs. He had short, cropped blonde hair and smooth pale skin. Instead of his glamorous dress from yesterday, all Masashi wore was a simple white t-shirt, faded jeans, and rubber shoes. He still had this effeminate flair to him, but out of drag, you could truly see his simple, handsome masculinity. He was just as magnetizing out of drag as he was in it.
Beside him, Naho smiled at me. Those two seemed to have already taken a liking to each other. "What's wrong, Ryuu?" She asked.
"A-Ah, sorry!" Jerked out of my gaze, I quickly apologized to Masashi. "I, uh, just hadn't gotten a good look at you last night. I haven't seen you without your make-up on." I said.
Masashi walked up to the table and took a seat on one of the pod chairs. He crossed his long legs and lounged back confidently, shooting me a small smirk. "Well? You like what you see?"
"Oh, most definitely," I said, returning the smirk. "Anyway, Furan actually made everyone breakfast. I'm just helping out. Isn't she the sweetest?"
"Yes, yes, we all get it - you're desperate to get into Furanshishu's pants." Masashi said with a roll of his eyes. "Geez, that's a long-ass name. I'm gonna have to ask her for a nickname or something."
"Hey, that's not true." I pouted. "I'm desperate to get into everyone's pants."
"Gross," Naho said, laughing.
I winked at Naho and walked towards the exit. "I'm going to get the rest of the food. Would you guys tell the others to hurry up for me? I'd hate for Furan's food to go to waste."
The two of them nodded, and I left to collect the rest of the dishes. Once Furan finished up, she helped me carry the plates to the table as well. In pairs and threes, the rest of our class filed into the dinning room, pleasantly surprised by Furan's generosity. We all sat down and adjusted our chairs, smiling at one another and enjoying kind conversations. The energy in the room was so positive, it was hard to believe just yesterday we were told to kill each other. Hope filled up in my chest, I grabbed a seat between Furan and Kara.
"Thank you so much for breakfast, Furanshishu." Ameko said, nodding her head a bit, and Furan waved her hand, mentioning how it wasn't a problem at all.
"Oh, you have a watch." Tsutomu said, noticing the hand she had lifted was the one with her digital watch around her wrist. "What time's it?"
She checked. "8:45am. Does that help you?"
"Yah." He said, short. Tsutomu's eyes were droopier than usual, with even darker eye bags than I had seen the day before. Though that wasn't surprising with the way he was tossing and turning all night. With Furan's answer, Tsutomu discretely pulled a small medical container from his coat pocket. He poured out two pills onto the palm of his hand, swallowed them swfitly, then put the bottle back into his coat like nothing happened - like no one saw. I did though. I wondered what they were for.
"Speaking of Furanshishu..." Masashi said. "Gurl, your name is waaayyy too long. We have got to give you a nickname or something."
"Oh! I vote nicknaming her 'Mom'!" I said, raising my hand. Furan playfully jabbed me in the side.
Ignoring me, Furan addressed Masashi. "R-Right! Of course! We can't waste any time!"
I didn't think the extra syllables really took up that much extra time, but suddenly the whole group was engaged in this discussion.
"I think we should call her Shu-Shu!" Okinawa said with a particularly bright smile.
"That is pretty cute." Ash said.
"Or we could go the other way and call her 'Fur-Fur'." Yume suggested.
"Our 'Fur-Gurl'." Masashi said with a laugh.
"We could literally double any part of her name." Tsutomu said, leaning back into his chair. "'Ran-Ran', 'Shi-Shi'..."
Okinawa giggled and threw her arms in the air. "Shishi-Poopoo!"
"Aren't we missing the fairly obvious answer?" Etsuko asked. "Can we not just call her 'Furan'?"
"Oh, but I already call her that." I blurted out.
"Well then, let's make it easy and say everyone can call me that." Furan said, and I couldn't help being a bit disappointed. I liked that being my thing. "Now that matter's settled, everyone, let's eat! We have a big day ahead of us!"
All of us raised our glasses of orange juice in the air, a collective hum of agreement filling the room. We all dug into our meals, only silent for a minute before someone started more conversation.
"It's not fair only Furan and Ash get cute nicknames. I want one too!" Okinawa whined, face full of food.
"You already asked me to call you 'Oki'." Ash said.
"Oh yeah!" Okinawa said. "Everyone, call me Oki!"
"Sure, sure," Chinami said.
"If we all agree, I think it's time we move on from nicknames," Kara suddenly spoke up, "And talk about something more important. We should talk about... the situation."
"Yeah, how are we going to fix this unfair playing field?" Akira asked, clearly on a completely different set of tracks. "It's not fair you guys have the ability to kill someone whenever you want but I physically can't. How are we gonna undo my brainwashing?"
Taeki spoke up, ignoring Akira completely. "I'd first like to ask a question, i-if it's okay..."
"Of course, Taeki! All opinions and concerns are welcome!" Furan said.
"O-Okay..." He practically whispered. "Does the name 'Hasegawa' ring a bell for anyone?"
"I vaguely remember working for a family named Hasegawa." Naho said with a shrug. "Why?"
"Rule #10 clearly states we are in the Hasegawa Mansion. I thought I'd ask if any of you knew who Hasegawa is." Taeki said.
"T-That's kind of a common last name though." Tsuneo said. "I'm sure a handful of us have run into a 'Hasegawa' at some point in their lives."
"It's true. I had two different scientists hire me named Dr. Hasegawa." Ash said.
"Do you know who it is, Taeki?" Ameko asked.
Taeki shook his head. "N-No..."
"Then that unfortunately doesn't get us anywhere." Kara said with a sigh. "I think the best course of action next is to help Chinami clean up the mess from yesterday, then start spreading out, searching the floor more thoroughly, and brainstorming some plans of escape."
"Nah, don't worry, guys." Chinami said. "I can clean it all by myself."
"Y-You don't have to do it on your own, Chinami. I'll help." Kiyomi said, quietly.
Chinami narrowed her eyes a bit. "I'd rather clean it by myself."
"O-Oh. Okay." Kiyomi mumbled.
"It's a smart-ish plan, but is there really any point in doing that?" Yume asked. "I mean, rule #10 says-"
"It's clearly just to mess with us." Etsuko said, rolling her eyes. "Didn't you see how easy that wall broke down the other day?"
"Yes, my point exactly." Kara said. "If the walls are that easy to break down, then maybe this place isn't quite as secured as we're made to believe."
"You know how to make more bombs or something, Kara?" Tsutomu asked with a smirk.
"Obviously not. I'm just an oneirologist. All I'm saying is that could be an option, or maybe there are other ways to escape these walls."
Furan nodded along. "Okay. Do we all agree? Should we focus on searching for possible escapes today?" And to Furan's confident question, everyone at the dinning table nodded along with her. Everyone thought it was the best course of action. Some people even seemed to be more hopeful and determined with that plan. Everyone agreed. Except for one.
"Actually..."
Everyone turned to face me, and I couldn't help but shrink a bit at the attention.
"A-Actually," I repeated. "I think we should put our focus elsewhere."
"Like, on what?" Masashi asked.
I swallowed nervously. "L-Like on forming strong bonds with each other."
"You think we should not try and escape this killing game and to work on our 'friendship' instead?" Etsuko asked.
"...Yes."
Tsutomu laughed out loud. "Ryuu, my man, you make me cringe so hard with that 'friendship is magic' shit."
"I'm being serious."
"W-Well, we can easily work on that too as we're looking for a way to escape." Furan said, trying her best to be the middle man.
"No, actually. I don't think we should look for an exit at all." I said, then forced a smile. "Instead, let's throw a party!"
"A... party?" Kiyomi asked.
"A! Party!" Oki squealed.
"Yes! I mean, we've got the pool, the VR room - why let that go to waste? You all have to admit, this place is pretty cool. We should enjoy the stuff we've been given while we have it. Let's have a pool party or something!" I said.
"You just want to see everyone in their swimsuits." Naho said.
"Yes," I pointed at her, "but I also think it'd be fun. It'd be a great way for us to get to know each other better."
Some of the table were nodding along, warming up to the idea, but I could just feel Kara's stare beside me. His disappointment, confusion. I refused to look at him, scared of the embarrassment I'd feel if I actually got a good look at him. I ignored him and kept my eyes elsewhere.
"B-But... Uhm... I-I just don't think it's productive to be throwing a party in this situation." Ash said. "S-Sorry, Ryuu."
"Yes, I think we should really focus on getting out of here before... anyone starts the game." Ameko said, fiddling with her fork.
"Which won't be me, by the way!" Akira grumbled.
I sighed. "Okay. Real talk? The only reason I suggest throwing a party instead is because I'm scared shitless. I didn't get a wink of sleep last night because I was so fucking scared. And I think not everyone here wants to say it out loud, but I'm pretty sure we all feel the same." I paused. "Okay, except maybe Akira and Oki. Look, I love you two - I think you're both adorable in your own kooky ways - but the way you two have reacted to everything is a bit fucking weird. You're being weird." They just both gave me blank stares. I couldn't practically see my words just going in one ear and out the other. "Anyway, I think it's very possible that there's physically no way to escape here, which means sooner or later - because we're human - one or two of us might... snap. And I really, really don't want any of you to die. I think you're all awesome. So instead of trying to find a way to get away from one another, we should learn to love each other and create close bonds. We should learn to enjoy ourselves until someone comes and saves us. If we're all really close, and if we all love each other, our friendships will become what's important to us. And we wouldn't kill what's most important to us."
The dinning room filled with an awful silence as everyone took in my words. Yes, my words were meant to bring hope with words like "love" and "bonds", but there was a heavier meaning behind them. It meant more or less throwing away the lives we had outside the Hasegawa mansion. With motives from previous games that included family, dreams, friends, lovers - we had to let that go, and let our friendships with one another become more important than all that. And that was hard to promise to a group of people we had only met yesterday.
"Okay. I think both Kara and Ryuu make excellent points." Furan finally broke the silence. "Let's do this: let's have some people work with Kara on looking for possible ways of escaping, and let's have some people work with Ryuu and I on the party."
My heart instantly warmed. "W-Wait, really? You're gonna help me?"
"Of course," Furan said. She turned to me, the softest, most genuine smile on her face. All I could think was how she really was too sweet for this world. "So, uh, who else would like to help us?"
"Naho and I will help," Masashi immediately offered.
"Actually, I think I want to help Kara." Naho said. "I've got some ideas I've been wanting to brainstorm some more on."
So Naho might've been a bit more brain-sy than I originally thought. I think Masashi thought the same way too.
"What? But, like, a party's waaayyyy more fun!" Masashi complained.
"I'll help you, Masashi." Ameko said. He looked her up and down.
"Hm. Okay."
Etsuko spoke up next, holding her brother's hand. "Tsuneo and I are going to help Kara. We want to get out of his prison as soon as possible."
"R-Right." Tsuneo said.
"I'll help too. I-I think I could be of use." Ash said.
"U-Um, me too..." Kiyomi added.
After that, no one else spoke up to work with Kara, so Furan took the initiative and decided the rest of our classmates would help in one way or another with the party. We didn't go into much more detail after that. Instead, we all decided to just enjoy the last of our breakfast. When we finished, Kara spoke to his group, saying that once Chinami was finished cleaning, they'd get together in the dinning hall and talk about their plans. Neither Furan nor I talked about the party anymore, mostly because I didn't really know where to start with that either, but I made note to find Furan later in the afternoon and talk it over with her.
Chinami left the second she was done, forgetting to thank Furan for her meal. Guess she was anxious to get her job done. The others sort of lounged about in the dinning room, driving their chairs over to those they were closer to and making various conversation. Furan began to pick up the plates, but Tsuneo insisted he'd do the dishes for her. I was surprised to see his sister talking to Tsutomu. One: Etsuko hardly broke off from her brother's side, and two: I really didn't think Tsutomu and Etsuko were matching personalities at all. But this was what I wanted. I couldn't help but smile. Our group was surprisingly in a positive state of mind.
I looked up at Tsuneo heading for the door. This is probably one of the rare times I'm gonna catch the guy without his sister...
Should I hang out with Tsuneo?
Yes / No
I picked up some plates, called out to Tsuneo, and followed him into the kitchen...
Ryuu: (I spent some time doing dishes with Tsuneo.)
Tsueno: R-Ryuu, you didn't have to help... Honestly, I can do it on my own.
Ryuu: Don't be silly. You shouldn't be doing all this by yourself. And anyway, I thought this would be a good time for us to get to know each other, 'cause, y'know, with your sister...
Tsuneo: Haha, yeah. We're just very close is all.
Ryuu: It's not a bad thing! I think it's super sweet. Just hard to get you one on one.
Tsuneo: ...You really want to get to know me that bad?
Ryuu: Why wouldn't I?
Ryuu: (Tsuneo just shrugged, then fell silent.)
Ryuu: So, tell me about how you became the Ultimate Florist. That's pretty cool.
Tsuneo: It is pretty cool, isn't it? I love flowers. They're as meaningful as stories or art, you know. You can say a million things to someone by what flowers and colours you put beside one another.
Tsuneo: You can express all different kinds of love... Rosas are the most diverse in that regard. Or "roses" as we call them. Red roses obviously represent deep, passionate love, filled with both strong lust and romantic feelings.
Tsuneo: Lavender roses can also tell someone how much they love you, but it's more of a whimsical, love-at-first-sight kind of feeling.
Tsuneo: And then you can proclaim your platonic love for someone with yellow roses. Or you can convey admiration with pink roses. Or you can-
Ryuu: (Oh, God. He's rambling.)
Ryuu: (I cut him off mid-rose-speech.)
Ryuu: H-Hey! That's great! But, uh, you didn't actually answer the question. How did you become the Ultimate Florist?
Tsuneo: W-Well, y'know. I own a flower shop and one thing led to another and...
Tsuneo: So, back to what I was saying before, flowers have a lot of symbolism and importance in plenty of movies, artwork, novels. Next time you watch a movie, keep an eye out for what kinds of flowers are shown. There's a lot of symbolic messages told through what specific flowers and colours they use!
Tsuneo: Lots of gorgeous flowers are used in K-dramas too. Have you ever watched any?
Ryuu: (We're way off topic! He just keeps rambling.)
Ryuu: Uh, no, I-
Tsuneo: Oh, really? M-Maybe you should give them a shot. I really enjoy them.
Ryuu: (I feel like he's just avoiding the question.)
Ryuu: (Well, he clearly doesn't want to talk about it. Maybe I should just give in and talk about something he likes.)
Ryuu: Yeah, sure. If you have one you'd recommend, we should snuggle up and watch one together.
Tsuneo: Oh, yeah. Okay...
Ryuu: So since you know so much about flowers and their meanings, I'm curious - what kind of flower do you think I'm most like?
Tsuneo: Ah, that's a fun question. I'd have to get to know you better, but, uh, let me think...
Tsuneo: Well, the obvious answer would be a red rose, because you're so flirtatious and all, but...
Tsuneo: I actually think you're suited to an anemone sylvestris. O-Or a snowdrop anemone, is what it's usually called.
Tsuneo: It's believed that anemones first sprouted from Aphrodite's tears when she was mourning the death of Adonis.
Ryuu: T-That's kind of sad.
Tsuneo: A bit, but I feel like that sort of represents you. Like you're so full of love and lust, but there's a sadness underlining all that. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but there's a deeper reason as to why you are the way that you are. You're the embodiment of lust and beauty, you have everything anyone could want, and yet... There're lots of things that keep you up at night.
Ryuu: (I was speechless for a moment. I wasn't expecting that response.)
Ryuu: (He clearly took a deeper look into things, which was incredibly flattering.)
Ryuu: Wow, Tsuneo.
Ryuu: That's kind of hot.
Ryuu: (Tsuneo's face turned an adorable shade of red, and he clumsily dropped the plate he was scrubbing.)
Tsuneo: U-Uh, uhm...
Tsuneo: I-I... Heheheh...
Ryuu: (Tsuneo suddenly raced out the door.)
Ryuu: (I laughed. I thought it was cute at first, but then I realized he didn't even finish doing the dishes with me.)
Ryuu: W-Wait! Tsuneo!
Ryuu: Ah, geez...
You just gained a Friendship Cube!
Tsuneo Yokoyama (1/4)
Despite my asking, Tsuneo constantly avoided talking about his ultimate talent and how he gained the title. Instead, we talked about how much he loves how flowers can send so many different messages. He also mentioned his love for Korean dramas, which maybe I'll look into. I decided to ask him what kind of flower he thought I was, and he told me I was some type of anemone. Apparently, the myth is that the flower sprung from Aphrodite's tears when she mourned Adonis's death. I'm not sure about that other stuff, but Tsuneo comparing me to Aphrodite was super flattering. What a cutie. I hope I can get him to come out of his shell a little more soon.
A few minutes after Tsuneo left, the short Danganronpa~ tune played from my Monophone again. It couldn't have been the morning or nighttime announcement. Confused, I pulled my Monophone out of my pocket and saw a notification on my Friends app. When I tapped it, it immediately took me to Tsuneo's page, a quarter of the square by his photo now filled. A little message box appeared: "You just gained a Friendship Cube! Would you like to send one back?"
I see. So Tsuneo thought we'd bonded and sent me a Friendship Cube. I thought the idea was cute, but now I just wondered what would happen if I got them all. I selected "Yes" and the animation of a cube flying away from my hologram played.
I put my Monophone away and focused back on the piles of dishes I still had to clean myself. Forty minutes probably passed before I was done. If I wasn't feeling utterly sleep deprived before, I sure felt it now. Yawning, I decided to take Furanshishu's advice and take a nap in my bedroom.
The second my body hit the mattress, I was completely knocked out.
A few hours later, I woke up to an almost empty bedroom. Taeki, who sat on his bed quietly, tapping away at his Monophone, and...
Furanshishu?
I let out a strained groan as I shifted out of the sheets. I propped myself up, sitting on the edge of the mattress. Furan sat across from me, cross-legged on Kara's bed. In front of her was her digital watch, unlatched from her wrist, and she prodded at it with a small screwdriver. She noticed me sit up and waved.
"Good morning, Ryuu!" She said, brightly.
I rubbed my eyes. "What're you doing to your watch?"
"I think it's broken, so I'm trying to fix it." She said. "Usually, it can tell me exactly where my location is, or scan the area and create a 3D diagram of my surroundings, but every time I click those functions, this whole thing shuts down."
"Monokuma or the Gamemaker might've done something to it. It wouldn't be smart to just straight-up tell us where we are."
"I suppose that's true. It's quite rude to touch someone else's things though..."
"Yeah, I don't think Monokuma cares much about being polite." I said. Furan finally gave up after a minute, closing up her watch and wrapping it back around her wrist. "Hey, how did you get in here anyway? I thought rules #3 and #4-"
"Ah, right! Kara and I executed an experiment regarding those two rules." She said. "Did you notice how those two were a bit different than the first two rules? The punishment for breaking rules #1 and #2 is internal combustion, but for rules #3 and #4, it's an electric shock. Kara and I both thought that was weird, because an electric shock doesn't seem too bad compared to actually exploding. So we decided to test it out."
"T-Test it out?!" I panicked, stepping off the bed and walking over to Furan's side. "Are you okay?! It could've been a fatal shock or something!"
"Y-Yes, of course, both Kara and I thought of that. I didn't think the percentage was too high, but we both knew there was a risk of the electric shock being a fatal punishment, so neither of us performed the experiment." She said. "Tsutomu did instead."
Well, that didn't make me feel any better. "Uh... Did he volunteer?"
"Of course! When Kara asked him, he said something along the lines of, 'it can't get much worse for me,' or something." She said. Geez, her and Kara are kind of ruthless. "Anyway, Tsutomu first tried to open the female bedroom door, but it wouldn't open. I think the door sensed he had a male Monophone on him, so it automatically locked. He tried opening the door without any Monophone at all, and it still wouldn't open. Of course, when I pulled the handle, it opened no problem. So then I tried holding the door open for Tsutomu and letting him through the doorway. He walked in with his Monophone on him, and it immediately released the shock-"
"Shit, is he okay?!" I asked.
"He was fine, albeit a bit frazzled after that. It wasn't that huge of a shock. Anyway, he then tried walking in after leaving his Monophone out in the hall, and he got into the bedroom no problem."
"I see," I said. "So all you need to get around rule #3 and #4 is a girl or a boy to open the door for you."
"Exactly, so Kara let me in here after I left my Monophone outside." She said, smiling. That was good to know. I'd have to thank Tsutomu later for literally risking his life for that test.
"So you made Kara let you in so you could... watch me sleep?" I asked, and Furan immediately blushed. I couldn't help but laugh at how cute her cheeks were, stained red like that.
"N-No! Of course not!" She exclaimed. "No, no. I just thought I'd talk to you about the party, but you were still sleeping, so I thought I'd let you rest a little longer while I fiddled with this." She poked at her watch.
"I'm just teasing," I said, bumping her shoulder. She just blushed more.
"Well, now that you're awake..." She said. "I think the party idea is great. I think keeping everyone's hopes and spirits up will help us in the long run as we try to get out of here. So did you have any ideas?"
"None." I scoffed. "I just came up with the idea this morning."
"Unfortunately, there's not a lot of stuff we can use. We can set up the lights and the water fountain in the pool, but other than that..."
"Well, as long as you've got fun people attending, you don't need much for a party. All you need is a good location, good music, and good food."
Furan snapped her fingers. "Oh! How about we do a potluck? Everyone can make one dish each. There ingredients in the kitchen for all kinds of meals. Then we'll have lots of food."
"Yes! That's a great idea! And I could mix drinks for everyone!" I said. I had some mad mixology skills I was dying to flaunt.
"...Drinks? L-Like alcohol?" She said, her smile dimming. I nodded quickly, but that just seemed to make her smile completely vanish. "Ryuu, how do you know how to mix alcoholic drinks?"
"I had this big bartending job a while back for this client. Learned a lot of stuff."
"But you're a courtesan; why were they hiring you as a bartender?"
"Hm? Bartenders are the best. They get you drunk, supervise you and make sure you don't do anything stupid whilst drunk, and then they listen to your drunk sob stories without any complaints. There's nothing sexier than that."
"Well, I'd argue that, but I guess I wouldn't know. I've never been drinking before." Furan said.
I gasped. "You serious?!"
"Of course! We are underage-"
"Furanshishu, we are so getting you drunk."
Furan's pretty face got all blushy again. She scooted away from me on the bed, and her hands flew up to fiddle with her bandana. "No, no. I-I couldn't, Ryuu. Besides, there's no alcohol in the mansion."
"Did you look hard enough?"
"Y-Yes!"
"Well," I said, reaching over and grabbing her arm. "No harm in taking another look!"
A hesitant Furan shuffling behind me, I headed straight for the kitchen and started my serious mission. For the next half-hour, Furan and I hunted the kitchen for any sort of alcohol. Furan mostly searched through the fridges and freezers while I surfed through the pantries and shelves. If there was any, it must've been well-hidden. All of the pantries and fridges were stocked with foods and liquids from all over the world. From instant noodle-boxes to beluga caviar, I could literally have any dish I wanted. And yet, no alcohol. What kind of boring millionaire owned this mansion?
I opened up one of the many fruit pantries, and grabbed one of the perfectly ripe avocados. I set it down on the counter and sliced it in half, sighing in defeat. "Guess there really is nothing here..."
"This place was set up for Danganronpa. They probably cleared the mansion of any alcohol or drugs." Furan said, resting her elbows on the counter across from me.
"That's stupid." I pouted. I took one half of the avocado and dug into the centre with a spoon. I then turned around and tilted the fruit towards Furan. "Think fast!"
I flicked the spoon up, flinging the pit of the avocado across the room. Furan gasped, immediately ducking out of aim. The pit fell to the floor and rolled across the tiles until it slipped between the crevice of a freezer and a mini-fridge. I hoped the stupid joke would at least get a bit of laughter out of Furan, but as I walked across the kitchen to retrieve the thrown pit, Furan stayed completely silent. She fiddled with her bandana again.
I crouched down to the floor and pushed the mini-fridge aside. But the second I did, I was surprised to find not only the now-dusty pit of my avocado, but...
A glistening bottle of whiskey.
"Oh, hell yes!" I shouted. I swiped up the bottle and swung it around for Furan to see. "I am getting wasted~!"
"You seem like you already are," I swear I heard her mumble, but maybe I heard her wrong. She sighed and shook her head. "I was hoping you wouldn't find that..."
"What?! So you were hiding this from me the whole time?"
"Not specifically you, per se..." She said. "I found it yesterday and tried to hide it. I thought it wouldn't be too smart to include alcohol in a Danganronpa game."
"Don't worry, I'll keep this away from Akira." I said. Really, he was the only person I feared getting intoxicated. Alcohol could undo his brainwashing for all we knew, and that brainwashing was probably the only reason we were still alive.
Before Furan could say anymore, the kitchen door swung open. Oki popped her head in like a little cartoon character.
"Ryuu! Shishi-Poopoo!" Oki squealed. "Chinami cleaned everything up! The pool room is open again!"
"That's excellent, Oki." Furan said, gently.
"What did she even do with all that debris?" I asked.
"Don't know, don't care." Oki said. "More importantly, want to see what I made?! It's sooooo cool!"
"I'll see it later. Now that the laundry room is open again, I want to see if there's any tools I could use to fix my watch in there. But you two have fun." Furan said, patting me on the shoulder.
Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about what Oki was up to.
Should I hang out with Okinawa?
Yes / No
"Alright, take me wherever, Oki." I said, holding out my hands to her. Oki's eyes seemed to sparkle at the invitation, which honestly, made me a bit nervous. Still, I let her take my hands and guide me all the way down the now perfectly cleared hall. We entered the pool room together...
Ryuu: (Oki continued to pull me through the pool room, until we reached a makeshift, metal boat floating in the water.)
Ryuu: What's this?
Oki: Stupid Ryuu. It's a boat.
Ryuu: I-I know that, Oki. I meant, like, "where did this come from and why is it here?"
Oki: Oh! I made it myself from the broken pieces of the wall before Chinami cleaned it up. It should be enough to stay afloat.
Ryuu: (Oki stepped into the boat and reached out for me.)
Oki: C'mon, Ryuu! Step in!
Ryuu: Oh, I should probably change into my swimsuit first though, in case we fall.
Oki: Ryuu, I'm the Ultimate Sailor. I'm not gonna let you fall overboard.
Ryuu: (Fair point, I guess.)
Ryuu: (Oki took my hands in hers and held me as I carefully stepped onto her small boat. Up close, I noticed a handful of scars on her wrists I hadn't noticed before. It was fairly obvious where they were from, but the thought hurt to imagine. Oki was so happy all the time. Was there really a time when she...?)
Ryuu: (I decided not to ask about it. That was probably too personal of a conversation. Besides, it could be from something else. We both crossed our legs and sat across from each other, then Oki put her arm in the water and rowed us into the middle of the pool.)
Ryuu: So what made you into the Ultimate Sailor, Oki?
Oki: Oh! Oh! I know the answer to this one!
Ryuu: (Obviously...)
Oki: Okay, it's a bit of a long story. Strap yourself in.
Ryuu: (I pretended to put on my seat belt, and Oki laughed.)
Oki: Okay, so when I was thirteen, I wanted to go on a cool adventure like my dad used to do, so I got on one of the row boats my family owned, built a sail for it, and went for the ocean!
Ryuu: ...On a row boat?
Oki: Yes! I sailed aimlessly on the ocean for three weeks!
Ryuu: (Three weeks?! On a freaking row boat?!)
Oki: And then, I woke up one day to find my row boat had hit some sand. I got up and was greeted by a tribe on this small, uncharted island. They were super weird. A little more... monkey-er, haha!
Oki: I stayed with them for three months, I think. They were so much fun to hang out with! They held festivals almost every night! They called me "Little Sailor Girl", which I thought was super cute.
Ryuu: (Okay, none of this sounds believable.)
Ryuu: Didn't your dad worry?
Oki: Probably.
Oki: Anyway! The tribe helped me build a bigger ship to go home on. It was a whole lot more spacious than my row boat, and it could hold a lot more food so I wasn't so hungry. And, and, and! I also had a Captain's Headquarters built in there! Isn't that awesome?
Oki: The tribe let me bring a couple of their drawings home as souvenirs, which were just bad stick doodles on big rocks. Then I sailed home on my beautiful ship, hitting five rainstorms, a whirlpool, and a tornado along the way. So annoying...
Oki: But my ship and I got out without a scratch! And then when I got back, a whole bunch of people interviewed me. And some people even sponsor all my trips now! I'm like a famous person and stuff!
Ryuu: I'm more worried about how awful you must've made your father feel, just up and leaving like that.
Oki: Oh, yeah, he cried and stuff. But what's more important is how awesome that adventure was! I dream of sailing back to that tribe once I graduate and I've got my freedom.
Ryuu: (Geez, I feel for her dad. This girl's such a handful.)
Ryuu: So...
Ryuu: (-if this kooky, obviously-made-up story is true-)
Ryuu: -how come I haven't heard about the discovery of such an island?
Ryuu: (Oki started to rock her weight side to side, making the boat nearly tilt over. I nervously gripped the sides of the boat.)
Oki: Hahah! That's 'cause I won't bring anyone else to it! I want it aaallllllll to myself!
Ryuu: T-That's a bit-
Oki: Weeeeee!
Ryuu: (Suddenly, Oki leaned to far to the side, making the boat flip all the way over. The two of us tumbled into the water.)
- SPLASH! -
Ryuu: AAAAGHH!
You just gained a Friendship Cube!
Okinawa Otonari (1/4)
Oki took me to the pool room, showing me a boat she built using the materials from the blown-up wall. We went for a little ride in the pool, and I noticed some scars on her wrists that I decided not to point out. She told me all about how she became the Ultimate Sailor, though her story sounds a little too outrageous for me to believe. Apparently, she sailed out one day on a row boat, just coasting until she found some mysterious island full of humans that were less-evolved than us. She stayed there for three months, not worried about her family at all. Once she got back, she had a little bit of fame from her insane adventure. Everyone wants where she went, but she won't say. She wants the knowledge to herself. She also got my nice tie wet. Geez...
Once I got back to the bedroom, I squeezed out all the water from my clothes into the shower drain and changed into my extra pair. Sighing, I walked up to the mirror and wrapped my tie around my neck. I was just going to let it dangle as I usually did, but when I looked in the mirror, Kara's suggestion came back to me. Do up your tie and try to look like a proper gentleman.
"..." I pressed my lips together.
Maybe that's what I needed. Maybe I needed to clean myself up, act more mature. Maybe that'd get us out of here.
Maybe I was wrong with my alcohol and my parties. Maybe I was wrong with my smiles and my Friendship Cubes. Maybe the truth was, we just needed to get as far away from each other as possible. Because what if this doesn't work? I might be sending one of us to our death, bringing everyone together in one place to drink and party. The closer you are to your friends, the easier it is to kill them, isn't it?
"...Maybe I need to be more like Kara." I said to myself in the mirror.
I tightened my tie around my neck.
Then my phone let out a ding.
It was the same sound that played when PinkSkull first messaged us. Panic rising in my chest, I reached over for my Monophone on the counter and clicked the notification on my ChatPal app. However, it wasn't a message from PinkSkull...
KOPIKA: Don't say that. Don't be Kara. Be you.
"What the hell is this...?"
BAM. DONE. THANKS FOR READING.
Let me know what you think about the format for the FTEs. I think it works a bit better, it's easier to read, and it makes them a bit quicker too. I will probably use the script format for Class Trials as well. If y'all hate it, I'll readjust it :)
Remember your homework, kids: go to my profile and vote on the FTE poll! Otherwise, there are no other assignments I am giving you as your teacher. It'll be a while before I update again, so you guys have, like, a month to do it. Hahah... hah... *cries*
Until next time!
-hurgleplargh