You stretch, taking enough time to make your decision. "I've got enough energy for a few throws, sure."
As you both walk to the gymnasium, you sneak a few glimpses at Tidus: he's grinning from ear to ear. When you arrive, you find that while the lights have remained on for some reason, the extravagant red carpet and chairs from earlier have vanished. You also see, with some alarm, that your bag is missing, though your Frisbee rests near the stage.
Tidus grins when he registers your alarm, holding up his hands complacently. "Hey man, relax. I heard Sylvia say that Monokuma moved everyone's bags to their rooms. Your luggage is safe and sound."
You breathe out and nod, and run to get the Frisbee. A thought enters your brain, unbidden: If Monokuma took everyone's things to their rooms, why leave this behind? Chalking up the answer to the broken front pocket, you expertly throw your trusty Frisbee in a nice, easy arc to Tidus.
He seems preoccupied with watching it move through the air rather than trying to catch it, but he manages to snag it all the same. You raise an eyebrow playfully, and he laughs and shrugs. "Ever since I was little, I've always loved seeing things move through the air. I always wondered how they moved, and so I just kept watching." He throws it back, an easy arc just slightly off target, but you manage to grab it easily.
"I suppose it just made sense for you to go into the field of aviation," you say.
He grins. "True that." Was it just my imagination, you think as you throw the Frisbee back, or was that grin a little forced?
Tidus fumbles with the Frisbee, and drops what you considered to be an easy catch to the ground. His face now matching the color of his hair, he grabs it again, changing the subject as he fires it back your direction: "So, you have any passions like mine?"
"Besides getting captured by creepy bears in a crazy game of death, you mean?" you ask playfully, snatching the Frisbee out of the air as it threatens to rocket by you.
"Well, that one's obvious," Tidus laughs, "I had you pegged for one of those the second I saw you."
You smile and pause, Frisbee in hand, to consider the question. "Well, my sister was the brains in the family. If anything, I had a passion for cutting class."
"Hey, isn't your sister an Ultimate, too?"
"Yeah," you say, throwing your Frisbee as gently as possible, "she was the Ultimate—"
"Playtime's over, you two!"
Monokuma snatches the Frisbee out of midair, cackling as it does. The bear lands on one foot, balancing precariously. Its grin is more unnerving at night.
"I wasn't going to care otherwise, but why are you playing at this hour? Why are you not trembling with despair in your beds? Or better yet, why are you wasting time when you could kill someone?"
"Nobody's going to kill anyone," Tidus says, his voice slightly shaky.
Monokuma turns away from you, to stare right in Tidus's eyes. "Are you absolutely sure about that?" it asks, its voice dangerously low. Tidus falls silent.
"Well anyway," the bear says, its voice suddenly whimsical once more, "you guys having so much fun with this Frisbee gave me a great idea! Toodles!" Tidus and you stood alone in the gymnasium once more. Monokuma had left with your Frisbee as quickly as it had come.
"That bastard!" That Frisbee had been helped you through some tough times, and to think Monokuma now had his grubby paws on it…
Tidus's hand claps you on the shoulder, and he steers you swiftly back to the dorms. "We'll think of something," he keeps saying, over and over, a mantra of hope.
The dorms are quiet, everyone probably asleep by this point. You both explore the passageway for a short time, looking for your names. You notice that, like Kaori said, each door is marked with the occupant's name, and a weird sprite of the person. Kind of looks like something out of an old video game...
It only takes a moment to find your door, the fifth one down on the right, between Aimi's and Edwin's. You fumble with your key for a moment, eventually fitting it into the lock. You glance briefly at your icon, thinking that there's a slight amount of resemblance, if you squint.
"You want to go find your room together?" you ask Tidus.
He shakes his head. "Nah, I'll be all right. Thanks, though." He begins to walk away as you open your door. "Night, Agro."
"Night, Tidus," you say, and then close the door behind you.
The first thing that attracts your attention is a piece of paper stuck to one of the pink walls. Once you start reading, you're sure that it's from Monokuma.
Room locks have been equipped with an anti-picking mechanism. The keys are a bit of a pain to make, so please don't lose yours. Every room comes with a shower. But be aware: water is shut off at night. Only the showers in the girls' rooms are equipped with a lock. Lastly, I have prepared a modest gift for each of you: ladylike sewing kits for my female students, and masculine toolkits for my male students. I would tell you how to use them, but go ahead and experiment! Don't think, just feel! Let's all have a killer time!
So much for a shower, you think.
Your room has combined a hideous teamwork of pink walls and dark blue floors. You're not even surprised when you find iron plates over the windows, and a security camera and a small screen on the walls. "Watching me even now, eh Monokuma?" you say, voice low.
There's a door to your bathroom, which you find clean and mercifully only white tile and plain walls. True to Monokuma's word, your bathroom door doesn't lock and no water comes when you turn one of the sink's spigots. Back in the main room, you investigate your large desk, finding your promised toolkit inside one of the drawers. You leave it within easy reach, plastic seal unbroken. You never know when it might come in handy.
Last, on the table is your bag. You feel a wave of exhaustion pass through you, and quickly change into your pajamas and turn out the lights. Wishing you were anywhere else but here, you crawl into bed and close your eyes. Sleep does not come easy that night. You keep waking up several times throughout the night, each time thinking that you're back in your family's apartment, each time remembering where you truly are, each time reminding yourself that your "School Life" isn't just an illusion, but despairingly real. It comes almost as a relief when bells fill the silence and Monokuma's face appears on the screen on your wall, shouting that it's seven o'clock. Remembering your promise for a group breakfast last night, you shuffle out of bed to the shower, carrying new clothes identical to the ones you wore yesterday. You'd brought more variety with you, of course, but this exchange was probably Monokuma's idea of a joke.
You were too numb to care that much, anyway.
The warm water feels nice, at least, and after a longer shower than normal you step out dripping but feeling more refreshed. You glance at the clock, and see that you have only minutes to spare. Making sure you have your key with you, you leave your room, stomach growling slightly.
Kaori is cooking up a storm in the kitchen, it seems, and the smells are enough to make your mouth water. Others seem to be helping out in some regard or another: Sylvia is searching around the kitchen for silverware; Dio is carrying a stack of plates; Tadakatsu is carrying jugs of juice of various flavors and milk; Yosuke is attempting to flip pancakes the size of his head and struggling, so Miyuki takes over. You are about to ask if anyone needs any help, but before you know it the meal is finished, and equal portions of pancakes and sausages are dolloped out. You look around, and see that Tidus and Kanzaki are late; the others are already beginning to dig in. Just as you are about to say something, the stragglers enter at different speeds: Tidus runs in to take the seat to your left, and Kanzaki slouches to a chair in the corner.
For a moment, only the contented sounds of eating and drinking can be heard.
"Kaori, this is amazing!" Tadakatsu says in between bites.
Kaori blushes slightly. "Thanks, but Yosuke honestly did more than I did."
"I…I couldn't flip the pancakes," Yosuke says, stuttering slightly.
Miyuki can't stay silent on this matter, despite still having a bit of food in her mouth. "They were large pancakes! There's no need to be ashamed!"
Conversation subsides after that, but you can tell that the mood is much improved from last night, and it stays that way throughout the meal. Once everyone has eaten their fill and disposed of their trash, Tadakatsu takes charge.
"Now, friends, to business!"
Toshi fits her top hat snugly on her head. "And what business would that be, oh great and powerful leader?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Dio says, snorting. "We've got to escape this joint!"
She pouts. "But I wanted to put on a magic show for everyone! Besides, we already looked for a way out and didn't find anything yet!"
Dio glares and her, and Toshi glares back, unafraid. Tadakatsu looks to be at a loss with this sudden conflict, and so Miyuki takes charge. "You know," she says, "did it occur to either of you that we can do both?"
"Splitting up our forces," Tadakatsu says, voice low. His face creases into a smile, and his nod grows more powerful by the second. "A genius maneuver, Miyuki! We'll divide up between those who want to help Dio and those who want to help Toshi! Any objections?"
Kanzaki speaks for the first time that day. "No objections, really, but I don't particularly want to do anything with either of them." He rises to his feet, and casually raises a hand as he leaves.
"Man, what's his deal?" Tidus whispers. You shrug.
No one else follows him out.
Dio sets up at one table, and Toshi at another. The rest of you begin to split up. Yosuke and Aika sit with Toshi, and Tadakatsu and Miyuki sit with Dio.
As Ichigo skips over to Toshi's table, Tidus suddenly runs out, saying that he forgot to do something. You call out to him, but he doesn't stop.
"All those who want to join Toshi's Magnificent Troupe of Amazing Talents, step right this way!" Toshi calls, throwing her blue hat up in the air.
"Those of you who actually give a damn about us being trapped in here, come give us a hand," Dio says. "We'll need every bit of help we can get."
You look from Dio to Toshi and back again. Which group do you want to spend at least the next several hours with?