Chapter 4: Spoils of Murder (A)
I know last chapter was... lackluster. But here comes brighter days
Silence. No one could utter even a peep. All the tears and sobs we probably should've been crying didn't come out. Even if we wanted to cry, we couldn't. Our tears ran dry mere moments before the execution. After that not a word... Even Monokuma didn't say anything and just escorted us back to the bus. The whole ride back felt like a silent eternity. The dull, humming of the bus is what filled our ears as we just sat back and just blanked out.
Did I do the right thing? Was I wrong for believing Akemi was my friend? Would we be better off if we were wrong...? These questions plagued me over and over again. And each time I had no answer to them. That isn't the reality we live in; we just witnessed a murder and execution. Deep down I knew that no amount of thinking about the past could change the present. And... regardless of what her intents, Akemi was still my friend. I don't care if it was a rouse or a ploy, I'll still consider her as my friend. That goes for everyone else, even Akihiro and Ikazuchi. We were all classmates before so what's stopping us from being friends now... These thoughts collected in my mind, and they became more profound and loud. I swore to myself I'd find everyone a way out of this hell hole, no matter what...!
I was surprised at myself as the bus came to a halt. Had I really just gotten over everything that quickly? I didn't feel so fired up, but I felt... relief. By acknowledging everyone as someone worthy of trust; as a friend, I feel relieved. All that guilt fell off like a heavy weight. Monokuma turned to us as the door on the bus opened. "Since it's so late, it's only fair to have breakfast run later than normal for you heavy sleepers." He said nonchalantly.
"Don't be expecting thanks, bear." Akihiro scoffed.
"You really are a true businessman!" Monokuma declared with a chuckle. "Soulless and corporate to the bitter end!" Akihiro didn't say anything as he got off the bus first. Each and every one of us filed out afterward and was back at the bus stop. It was still nighttime and the stars and moon were clearly visible and that same quiet breeze brushed past us. But this time only fourteen of us came back. Even knowing that fact, and even still feeling sadness over losing a friend, this just made me realize how tense we all were before. There was this strange relief around everyone. We were all mourning, but thankful to be alive... I hated to admit it, but Akihiro was right. We all must've been grateful to have Ikazuchi than Akemi. These mixed feelings are still very hard to understand but, we were feeling them. But... now what?
Makoto took a deep breath and stood before all of us. "Alright everyone, I know our hearts are heavy and our minds are clouded with confusion... but, we should focus on getting rest."
"How can we...?" Miyako mumbled. "Even if we are well rested, then what?"
"I understand most of you are uncertain of what will happen, but please do not let their deaths be in vain." Makoto demanded calmly. "We're still alive, so in a sense, they're still alive. So long as we look forward, then I'm sure we can find a way out of this game!" We all remained silent, dumbfounded by how Makoto could say such things so easily and with a straight face.
"...I never took you for the type to give such rousing speeches..." Izanagi responded after our long collective pause. "But, if the Ultimate Leader believes we can, then who are we to argue with talent?"
"I'm not exactly someone who likes teamwork, but why not?" Juku crossed his arms and shrugged.
"I'm with you all 'til the end!" Atsushi exclaimed. He was happier than everyone else, which was strange. But I didn't think much of it at the time. With that we all made our way to the dorms, feeling a bit easier now. I didn't sleep comfortably but I managed to be rested nonetheless. And when morning rolled around no one seemed to be any worse for wear. As usual, Makoto started the morning meeting with any sort of new information she had. We all had nothing new to give so our meeting didn't last long until it dissolved into awkwardness. We all stood around silently, the events from yesterday must've still been fresh on our minds. Akemi, Ikazuchi...
...No, I can't think bad thoughts now. I wanted to break down but, I simply couldn't. Not when there's still everyone else still alive. Just then the announcements blared. "I would like to commend all students on their work for passing the first class trial. As your headmaster I'm very proud of you." Monokuma's voice chimed. "As a reward for your efforts, I've decided to open up a new area to you all. A sports area and computer lab respectively, along with the second floor to the Gymnasium in this first area. You may ride the shuttle to and from the area as you please. That is all."
Everyone paused for a moment, processing what he just said. Finally, Ryota broke the silence. "...Did he say... Sports Area?" He seemed to be a bit gleeful at the thought of being able to play sports.
"He also mentioned a computer lab..." Miyako said in a similar tone. "I know I shouldn't be happy, but..."
Akihiro just scoffed in response. "Nobody cares if you feel pity or not. Just do whatever you want." With that we walked off, showing signs of no longer wanting to be in the Dining Hall with us a moment longer.
"Alright!" Ryota shouted, with a bit more glee. "Shin, you're coming with me right?" Ryota grabbed Shin's hand and looked at him with a smile expectantly. Shin blushed and averted eye contact. He scratched the back of his head nervously and nodded in response.
"We should all go." Makoto stated. "I wonder how we could use this new facility to our advantage..." With that said she wandered off with Ryota and Shin. Miyako followed excitedly. The rest of us stood around, just unsure if we should follow.
"Um... what do we do?" Hotaru asked nonchalantly. "I can't say I'm quite fond of computers or sports..."
"Same." Izanagi said while crossing his arms. "Think I'll just go back to sleep or something..." They left too.
"I think I'll go with Makoto's group. After all, I'm curious what's on her mind." Rei stated. "Wanna come with me, Chou?"
"'Kay." The gamer said and the two wandered off.
"Hey Akiko, mind coming with me for a second?" Atsushi asked me.
"Huh? Why me?" I asked him.
"Don't worry about that for now. I just want to go to the second floor of the gym, to see what it's like y'know?" I did have to admit, his curiosity was now beginning to become contagious. I didn't see any harm in just going with him for a few moments.
"Alright, I guess. Don't see anything wrong with that." I said nonchalantly. Atsushi was still a bit of an oddball, but I don't think he's the kind of guy who'd play killer out of nowhere. It had just been a day since the last case so I doubt any sort of motive or energy to kill existed in any of us anyway.
"Mind if I tag along?" Juku asked us out of nowhere. "Jus' cuz I ain't got nothin' better to do. Besides, I don't like the idea a guy like you going with anyone somewhere alone."
"What? You're accusing me as a murderer?" Atsushi asked. "Well, you aren't exactly dressed as a saint yourself."
"The style's called 'Bancho' nimrod!" He stated angrily.
"Whatever. Don't see why you shouldn't..." The engineer brushed off the conversation entirely and wandered off. Juku and I naturally followed and made our way for the gym, leaving the few indecisive members in the dining hall. In a few moments we were in the gymnasium once more. "Alright, now how do we get to the second floor?"
I practically sweatdropped at his question. "Wha-? You seriously don't know?"
"Like we know where to go from here." Juku huffed, adjusting his aviators. "Maybe behind one of the other doors or somethin'...?"
"Brilliant!" Atsushi declared excitedly. He hurried to a door on the opposite side of the room and found a staircase. "Amazing! Are you a genius or something, Juku!?" His mood had shifted greatly from indifference to enthralled in a mere second.
"Me? Well, I uh... Don't mean to brag..." He said while scratching the underside of his nose confidently. He failed to notice that Atsushi and I had already climbed the stairs until we were gone. "H-hey wait!"
The second floor wasn't anything spectacular. It was just a corridor with several doors on the side. After a quick look into each one it was just sports balls inside each room, so nothing really noteworthy. All but one door that is. There was one door at the end of the hall with a strange mechanism attached to it. "What the heck is that?" I asked, pointing to the mechanism on the door.
Atsushi tried opening the door but with no luck. "Huh? It's locked..." He said, very disappointed with what he found.
"'Course it is." Juku said. "That right there is a mechanized deadbolt."
"How the hell do you know that?" I asked in shock.
"My brother used to deal with locks all the time." Juku told us. "We always said that mechanized deadbolts are tricky. You need a passcode or ID to get in, but even if you do manage to get in the deadbolt just records the time it was unlocked. Unless, you..." He seemed to stop himself from talking as he kept going.
"Unless you what?" I asked, intrigued by this brother of his.
"Ahh, forget I said anything..." Juku said while scratching the back of his head. "It wouldn't matter much without the passcode anyway..."
"This was... anticlimactic..." Atsushi sighed. "But, I guess the mastermind doesn't want us to find them this early."
"Wait, you wanted me to help you find...!?" I gasped.
"Yep. The mastermind's control room. I doubted it would be here, but I wanted to make sure." He replied. "Also, there's something else..."
"Something else? Like what?"
"How should I explain it..." The engineer pondered. He gave a 'hmm' before finally saying what was on his mind. "Remember back when we said we couldn't find traces of anything?"
"Yeah? What about it?" Juku asked.
"Well, believe it or not, I found something I thought I lost." Atsushi said.
"Wait, what!? Really!?" I gasped. He nodded and from his pants pocket he pulled out a small stick like device. "A... A thumb drive?"
"Yeah... This thumb drive is mine, to be exact." Atsushi said. "I can tell because my initials are carved into the back." He flipped the thumb drive over and revealed his thumb drive had some characters carved on it.
"Holy...!" Juku gaped. "A-are you sure you ain't pullin' are legs, right!?"
"Of course not!" Atsushi snapped back. "I found it lying on my desk when I woke up this morning. There was a note attached to it saying it was a 'reward' for clearing the trial."
"A reward?"
"I wish I knew what it meant, but I haven't checked the contents of it yet." He replied with concern. "But, I'm not sure if the stuff on the device had been manipulated in any way. Who knows how long the mastermind or whoever had their hands on this..."
"But... we literally just got here." Juku said. "I can get that in the two days maybe..."
"He's right. We just got here a few days ago." I said. He seemed displeased with our logic, but didn't call either of us out on it. Still, two days is a lot of time so who knows what went on with it. However, a thought occurred to me. "We have the computer lab, right?"
"Oh, right!" Atsushi said with surprise. "I must've missed that part..." He sounded disappointed in himself.
"Why? It was in the announcements?" I said.
"Forget it. Let's just get going to that computer lab." Atsushi said.
"Maybe Miyako can help since she's good with computer's right?" Juku asked. He did have a point since she was the Ultimate Hacker...
So we made our way to the bus stop. I was beginning to get flashbacks of what happened the night before... It was hard not to be reminded of the first class trial. This entire place just had the presence of death now. We all found a corpse, and we all witnessed an execution. I wanna stop bringing this up, but I couldn't help myself... Akemi, Ikazuchi... We stood there in silence until the bus came roughly 15 minutes later. We rode it to the second area and I stared out in awe.
The entire field was green with a thinner sidewalk than the first area. There was one building which must have been the computer lab, and another which didn't look like any of the other school buildings so far, except maybe the gymnasium. The rest of the areas were outdoor courts for basketball, tennis and bat mitten, baseball and several others. I couldn't see Shin or Ryota anywhere, so I assumed they must've been indoors. "So this is that new area?" Atsushi asked. "It's really pretty, don'tcha think?"
I looked at him with confusion. "Pretty?" I reiterated into a question.
"Yeah, pretty. But I guess you want to solve the mystery of the flash drive like I do." He said. "Alright, then let's get going." We then proceeded into the computer lab. Inside were rows upon rows of computers and computer towers. Inside were Miyako, Makoto, Rei, and Chou respectively. Miyako was typing away hurriedly at the computer, almost as though in her own world. Makoto was watching over her expectantly, Rei had been watching with curious eyes but seemed to have yet ask a single question, and Chou sat around the room bored. The gamer girl was the first to notice the three of us walk in and seemed to brighten up.
"Oh, hey guys!" She said excitedly.
"Uh, what the heck are they doing?" Juku asked.
"Hmm, well Makoto asked Miyako if she could find a way to communicate with someone outside the school. Er, anyone for that matter." Chou responded. "She wants to see if she can get a connection to help plan an escape."
"So, how's it going?" I asked.
"No idea. They've been like that the entire time..." Chou admitted.
"... Darn." Miyako muttered.
"Is something wrong?" Makoto asked the shorter girl.
She sighed and shook her head. "No matter what I try, I can't get a stable connection. Without some sort of connection to a network, communication is beyond what I can do. But, it's weird. It's like, there is something there, but then it's not... It's hard to explain simply..."
"Freaky..." Juku gaped.
"Sorry..." Miyako looked like she was going to cry again at her inability to communicate with anybody outside.
"You don't need to beat yourself up, Miyako." Makoto explained. "You did your best. But I assume Monokuma planned this out earlier to keep us from trying anything of the sort."
"She's right." I said. "You were definitely trying. And I'm sure you'll be able to break through!"
"Akiko?" Miyako asked. "Atsushi and Juku too. W-when did you come in?"
"Just now." Atsushi put mildly. "There's something I need you to see." Atsushi revealed his flash drive and explained to the others the circumstances behind it.
"That's incredibly... suspicious." Makoto stated bluntly. "Are you sure Monokuma or the mastermind left this for you to find?"
"Yes!" Atsushi insisted. "I swear that this wasn't in my room until this morning!"
"Peculiar..." Makoto said. "No doubt that whoever left this wanted us to find it."
"No shit." Juku replied with his usual snide tone. "It was a 'reward' so they had to made sure Atsushi got it."
"That's what I'm worried about. This all feels too easy somehow." Makoto elaborated. She did have a point. We found this flash drive with exceptional ease. I didn't want to be suspicious of Atsushi, but...
"Why Atsushi in particular?" I asked aloud.
Atsushi shrugged. "I dunno. But let's get crackin' on what it has!" He insisted, trying to push the topic from our minds. Regardless of our suspicions, we were all curious about what that USB had exactly, it was evident on our expressions, and how much tampering happened to it. So Miyako popped in the flash drive and it appeared on the screen a few moments later. Miyako tried selecting the icon, but an error message kept popping up.
"Oh boy..." The hacker sighed. "It seems like Monokuma is protecting the files with some kind of code."
"That's a problem, right?" Juku asked.
"Yeah, until I crack the code we won't be able to read any of the files on this USB..." Miyako said, sounding disappointed.
"Don't worry." I had said to her. "You're not the Ultimate Hacker for nothing. I'm sure you got this down."
She looked at me with surprise then nodded determinedly.
Students Remaining: (26)
Akiko S. - Ultimate ?
Hajime "Jay" Kazuki - Ultimate Luckster
Akemi Hanako - X (Former Ultimate Actress)
Ryota Takao - Ultimate Sports Master
Akihiro Junichi - Ultimate Merchant
Shinju Suzu - Ultimate Instrumentalist
Destiny Kiro - Ultimate Vocalist
Kazuhiro Hisao - Ultimate Heir
Kohaku Mari - Ultimate Medium
Tatsuya Raiden - Ultimate Combatant
Chidori Yukimura - Ultimate Charisma
Hiroaki Hisashi - Ultimate Fanfic Author
Shin Yuzuki - Ultimate Artist
Chou Ayano - Ultimate Gamer
Amaya Chika - Ultimate Collector
Emiko Kamiko - Ultimate Fashionista
Masato Osamu - X (Former Ultimate Mathemitician)
Yoichi Kunio - Ultimate Web Star
Juku Kunio - Ultimate Chef
Saburo Kunio - Ultimate ?
Natsuko Ren - Ultimate Traditional Dancer
Shigeo Kyou -X (Former Ultimate Connosseiur)
Ikazuchi Michi - X (Former Ultimate Electrician)
Miyako Usagi - Ultimate Hacker
Yukino Toshiko - Ultimate Doctor
Izanagi Katsu - Ultimate Gambler
Makoto Takeo - Ultimate Leader
Rei Naoko - Ultimate Student
Atsushi Tamuki - Ultimate Engineer
Hotaru Haruki - Ultimate Botanist
Yukio Yuudai -X (Former Ultimate Hero)
No murders this chapter. Gotta show some brevity between the cases, otherwise it'll be a horribly paced mess. And there's not really much else I wanna add for now. I'm saving FTE for a later time so next chapter is gonna advance the plot a bit more.