The Fool and Her Groom (Part 2)

"...A split personality?" I repeated. "Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?"

What the hell is going on here?! First, we woke up trapped on a spaceship, forced to kill each other if we want to leave, and now Cloud has a split personality? Maybe this whole thing is one big hallucination caused by smoking too much of 'the good stuff'...

"Sure, you could say that," 'Cloud' nodded, yawning. "And I'd clearly be Mr. Hyde. Cloud's way too...himself to be him."

So 'alternate Cloud' is a more confident, brazen, foul-mouthed, and dickish version of Cloud. Looks like Sunrise has some competition!

"So...you're just one of Cloud's alternate personalities?" Rose meekly asked, nervously watching as 'Cloud' lounged on her table.

"Personality, singular." 'Cloud' corrected.

"What might we call you?" Diamond asked, her arms crossed. "I'm sure you have another name other than Cloud."

"Ah, that's right..." 'Cloud' nodded. "That stupid fucking bear gave us all stupid ass 'codenames', didn't he...Then from what I've seen on that 'e-Handbook thing', I guess my codename's Shadow, a shade of black."

"Shadow, sounds fitting," Merigold observed. "I, uh, suppose it's nice to meet you..." She added, sounding a bit unsure of herself.

"Save it," Shadow scoffed. "I know I'm a fucking nuisance. You all would rather have pansy-ass Cloud than me, wouldn't you?"

"Nah, I'm chill with you, man." Sunrise grinned. "That Cloud guy was getting annoying with his stuttering."

"Shut up, ginger." Shadow retorted.

Sunrise's face quickly turned a bright shade of red as he angrily frowned. "The fuck you say to me, you little bitch? I'll beat you to a pulp in 5 seconds flat!"

"Ooo, I'd like to see that happen!" Royal cheered.

"Shut up, other ginger." Shadow retorted once again.

"OK, OK, everyone, let's all calm down!" Azure begged, standing up from his chair and walking over to Shadow.

"Oh look, here comes the hero." Shadow rolled his eyes. "Though I wonder how you can save the day when you can only see out of one eye..."

"How'd you know?" Azure asked curiously. Wait, what? Azure's blind in one eye? No matter, it didn't affect our friendship in any way.

"It's pretty fucking obvious if you look close enough," Shadow sighed. "One eyes paler than the other..." Huh, I seriously never noticed. I mean, I guess that Azure would look at me a little funny from time to time, but I just thought that was just apart of his quirky personality.

Azure nodded, not at all bothered. "Well, you seem really observant. How about you channel that energy into our brand new team building exercises?"

"Team building exercises?" Onyx repeated. "What's that?"

"It's a little something I've been working on with Rose." Azure revealed, gesturing to the Ultimate Prodigy.

Rose blushed. "Oh, um, yes. I thought it'd be a good idea to get closer to one another through various 'team building activities'."

"And I volunteered to help put it together." Azure smiled. "Our first activity should be ready by tomorrow. We'll split into groups and have some fun."

"Ew, no," Royal quickly said. "I want nothing to do with that. The only person I can semi-stand here is Crimson, but even then, he's a little too...unrefined for my taste."

"Gee, thanks..." I muttered.

"I agree with the wannabe celebrity," Sunrise revealed. "Any minute that I have to spend with you guys is a minute wasted. We should be looking for an escape, not galavanting around like fucking school children..."

"Ugh, besides his rude comment, I agree with 'anger issues'." Royal scoffed.

"I have to agree with dumb and dumber." Shadow said. "We'll all probably die here, but I'd much rather look for an escape than spend time with any of you..."

"Wow, way to be optimistic." Emerald frowned. "I think your idea is great, Rose and Azure! I'll definitely join."

"Count me in too," I nodded. "If we're going to be living here forever, we might as well learn more about each other."

"Sounds like fun!" Cherry beamed. "As long as it doesn't involve waking up too early, I'll be there."

"Um, me too." Frost quickly stated. "Sounds like a good idea."

"Sorry, but I want to get out of here," Onyx chuckled. "Guess that means I'm siding with Sunrise."

"No thank you..." Lava said. "But, I also don't want to look for an escape...I think I'll just stay in my room."

"I think I'll aid in the search for an escape." Diamond reluctantly stated. I could tell she wasn't exactly a big fan of her fellow 'team members' on 'Team Escape'. "Perhaps we may also find answers for our captivity in our search."

"I wish to be left alone." Sage revealed. "Please do not bother me with such nonsense of 'team building' or 'escaping'."

"...I guess I'll participate in the 'team building activities'." Mauve sighed. "Though don't expect too much out of me."

"That's the spirit!" Azure smiled. "Any other takers?"

"Tính tôi vào!" Merigold beamed. "Count me in!"

"Um, m-me too," Indigo blushed. "I hope we can all get along..."

"I'll also join in." Silver nodded. "Sounds like a fun idea."

Scarlet bit her lip and slowly nodded. "...OK. I'm in too."

"Sorry guys, but I think my spy talent would be useful in looking for an escape!" Noir deeply apologized, sadly frowning.

So, everyone had chosen which 'faction' they were on. Day 1 and we were already divided!

Based on everyone's choices, the 'factions' were:

Team Building Activites

Azure

Rose

Emerald

Myself

Cherry

Frost

Mauve

Merigold

Indigo

Silver

Scarlet

Looking For an Escape/Information

Sunrise

Royal

Shadow

Onyx

Diamond

Noir

Unaffiliated

Lava (wants to be by herself in her room)

Sage (wants to be by himself...probably to focus on his drawing)

Cloud (can't vote yet)

Cotton (MIA)

"So, everyone's chosen their side." Azure observed. "Since the team building activities don't start until tomorrow, however, how about you guys hold off your search for an escape?" He suggested.

"Whatever." Sunrise shrugged. "Guess I'm not doing shit today then."

After our crazy eventful morning discussion, we were all ready for breakfast.

It hit me that I hadn't eaten in...God knows how long! We spent hours investigating the ship yesterday, and then went to bed hungry, but I wonder how long we were knocked out for before that...It could've been an hour, two, or maybe even a whole day. Regardless, I was hungry as hell.

It was pretty clear from our previous investigation that there was food provided for us to cook, but the question of who was going to actually do the cooking was a little unclear.

"Trust me, I got this!" Cherry assured. "I may not be the best cook in the world, but my experience as a food critic has led me to pick up a thing or two!"

"Are you certain?" Frost asked, who was the other candidate for the 'cook' position. "I trust you, but I am more than willing to do it."

"I'm sure!" Cherry nodded. "I want to do it. Plus, you already did the coffee-making."

"That's fair." Frost nodded with a smile. "How about you do the cooking, and I'll stick to brewing?"

"Deal," Cherry beamed.

"Get a room," Royal said in disgust. "We've known each other for less than 24 hours and you guys are already horning it up?"

"T-that's-" Cherry blushed, unable to finish her sentence.

"Anyways," I interrupted. "Cherry, how about you go in the kitchen to start the cooking?"

Cherry quickly nodded and entered the kitchen without a word.

As we waited for our food to be done, I decided to go around and talk to some people I felt that I could build a better connection with.

"Diamond," I said, taking a seat next to the photoshoot choreographer. She was currently sitting at a table by herself, observing her ring. "Don't feel like talking to anyone?"

Diamond shook her head with a slight smile. "You should know that I'm not the most sociable person."

"But doesn't your job require you to interact with a lot of different people?" I inquired. "I know, for me, I've had to talk to all sorts of people because of work, even though most of the time, I don't want to..."

"That is exactly the case," Diamond explained. "I'm used to professional relationships, not social ones."

"After my talent for photoshoot choreographing was discovered, my father encouraged me to broaden my horizons, and though I had barely turned 10 years old, I was doing photoshoot choreographing for his magazines." She continued.

"Ah, that explains it," I said. "You didn't really get a lot of chances to hang out with friends or anything because you started working at such a young age?"

"I suppose that is a large part of it," Diamond nodded. "My father wanted me involved in his business from the moment I could talk. I did, however, get the chance to make friends once I started school, but I never did get a lot of chances to hang out with them due to work."

I hesitated for a moment, but then asked the question that had been plaguing my mind since I met Diamond. "If you don't mind me asking, is school where you met your...fiancé?"

Diamond also hesitated for a moment, before shaking her head. "No. I met my fiancé through work." She explained. "He's a model, you see."

I chuckled. "Maybe he knows Royal?"

Diamond thought for a moment before nodding. "Hm, yes, I suppose there is a possibility. The Albert-Reeves' are very well known in the modeling world."

I looked at Diamond with a hint of shock on my face. Albert-Reeves? "Albert-Reeves? That's the last name of your fiancé?"

"Yes, that is correct." Diamond nodded. "My fiancé is Aidan Albert-Reeves."

"That's crazy!" I remarked. "I love the Albert-Reeves' fashion designs. And I've seen some of Aidan's work, he's totally talented. I had no idea he was engaged, though,"

Diamond raised a brow. "Is that right? Our engagement was completely public. Practically all of the news outlets were reporting on it when the news first broke."

I racked my brain, trying my hardest to conjure a memory of an engagement between Aidan and Diamond. But no memory came.

I sighed. "I can't remember..."

Diamond shook her head. "No need to fret, it's quite all right."

Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly spotted a strange sight. Royal was hovering over Sage, trying to snatch his notebook out of his hands.

"It was nice talking to you, Diamond, but I must excuse myself to deal with...whatever that is." I sighed.

Diamond nodded understandingly. "Of course. Take care."

I left Diamond and made my way over to Sage and Royal.

"C'mon, just a peek!" Royal whined. "I promise I won't tell anyone! Oh, who am I kidding, yes I'm going to tell everyone, but why do you care? You're just some lame-o who took a few art classes when he was younger, why does the drawing need to be finished in order for me to see it?!"

Sage frowned, his face red with anger. "Perhaps if you were more likable, I'd let you see it. However, due to your irksome behavior, I'd like you to leave me alone this instant!"

"What a dick!" Royal scoffed. "And to think I was going to hire you to illustrate my autobiography!"

"I don't need or want to work for you." Sage remarked coldly. "I have plenty of clients that aren't whiny, spoiled brats that think they're the center of the universe when they're really just bottom of the barrel trash who are here in this world for the sole purpose of wasting oxygen."

Royal turned a bright red, and quickly stormed away back to her table.

"Wow, Sage," I smirked. "That was ice cold."

Sage turned towards with me with his usual, neutral expression. He sighed. "Ugh, would you all just leave me alone? I'm working here," He stated, gesturing towards his notebook.

"I know," I nodded. "I've seen you working on that drawing since yesterday. You don't have to show me, but I'd just really like to know what you've been spending so much time on. Please?"

Sage sighed once again, before closing his notebook and surprisingly giving me his attention. "...Normally, I'd just tell you to leave until you did so, but unlike the others, you seem interesting. Don't expect my full life story, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you a bit about myself." Wow, his drawing requires an explanation about himself? Must be some heavy, edgy artist stuff that I probably won't understand.

"Tell me, Crimson, you seem like a ladies man," Sage started. "What is the best way to impress a girl?"

My eyes widened a little bit. I wasn't expecting to be quizzed. "Um, well, there's a lot of ways, but I guess the best tactic is giving her a gift. It's pretty full-proof: everyone likes gifts."

"True," Sage nodded. "But you also have to take into consideration what gift she'd like. Not everyone likes chocolate and flowers. For example, what would you give...Scarlet? If you wanted to impress her?"

"Um, Scarlet?" I repeated. I turned to look at her. She was currently sitting with Emerald, Indigo, and Noir. She was glancing at the table, not actively participating in the conversation, but still listening. "For someone like her...I think she'd appreciate a poem."

"Perhaps." Sage said. "But what'd you do if she instead saw your poem as...an act of kindness, and not one of love?"

I shrugged. "I guess I'd keep trying. Keep doing things for her until she saw that I was interested.." I answered. "Sage, as much as I enjoy this quiz, why are you asking me this?"

Sage glanced at his notebook. "I am in a situation where I am properly unable to express my feelings towards someone. I've tried many times, but to no avail."

"Why is that?" I asked.

Sage blushed slightly, before quickly shaking his head. "That's none of your business! The point is, I am drawing this particular person a portrait as a gift, that I'm hoping she sees I've done out of love..."

It all made sense now! Sage has been working on this drawing so hard because he wants to make sure his girl realizes how much he cares about her. "So you want to make sure this drawing is perfect, so she'll know how much time you spent on it and that you love her?"

"Precisely," Sage nodded. "Now that you know the reasons for the time spent on this drawing, can you please leave me alone?"

"Sure, Sage." I nodded with a smirk. "I appreciate you telling me, man."

Sage said nothing but opened his notebook, picked up his pencil, and continued to draw.

I made my way back to my seat, and after a few minutes, Cherry announced that the breakfast was done.

It was decided that we'd alternate who'd serve the food. There will be three people who serve breakfast and dinner one day, and three different people who will serve it the next. Cherry and Frost were exempt from being servers due to their work as our groups' respective cook and barista.

We wouldn't have any servers or cooks for lunch, we'd have to make the food for ourselves (which I was fine with).

We wrote our names on pieces of paper we found in a drawer in the kitchen and put them into a cup. Then, Cherry chose three names to choose the three servers.

"Today, our servers are..." Cherry began, opening the first name.

"Lava!" She announced.

Lava shrugged, looking unbothered. "I don't mind."

"Emerald," Cherry continued.

"No problem!" Emerald smiled. "I'm happy to help."

"And Sunrise." Cherry finished.

"Fuck me..." Sunrise groaned. "This shit's annoying..."

"We're all going to do our part to help," Scarlet frowned. "I don't see why you have to complain about every minor inconvience."

"Fuck off," Sunrise rolled his eyes. "I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Hey, back off," I quickly intervened. "You don't have to be a douchebag when she's just stating the truth. You've been complaining this entire time."

"Why the hell are you talking for her?" Sunrise sneered. "Are you her puppet master or some shit?"

"No, he's just not a roach like you," Scarlet answered. "Some people here actually want try to be friends with each other instead of pushing other people away with their awful personalities."

Sunrise simply rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Whatever, I could care less about the opinion of a stripper." What a fucking dickhead, modern dancer isn't a codeword for stripper...

"OK, OK, everyone," Cherry said, slightly exasperated. "Can we just serve the food and enjoy our meal?"

"Yes, instead of this pointless bickering." Frost added.

Sunrise wordlessly trudged away to the kitchen.

"Don't worry guys, we'll make sure the asshole doesn't drug our food." Emerald joked, following Sunrise, with Lava right behind her.

Scarlet turned towards me with a slight smile. "Thanks for sticking up for me. I appreciate it."

"No problem." I nodded. "Guys like that need to be put in their place."

While we waited for our food, Azure suggested that we pushed all of our tables together so everyone could sit with each other. Onyx, Silver, Mauve, and I helped to do so. In the end the tables turned into one. It was a little crowded, but it was nice to sit with everyone rather than being separated. That way, we could all address one another.

Shadow and Royal (and most likely Sunrise if he were here), were the only ones who vocally opposed the joining of the tables.

"I don't want to be any closer to you guys than I already am..." He stated coldly, taking his chair and moving it to a corner.

"I swear, if you guys get even so much as a crumb on my coat, I will literally gouge your eyes out with a spoon." Royal threatened, turning to the two people sitting next to her: Silver and Rose.

At long last, Lava, Emerald, and Sunrise came out with the food, using serving trays that Cherry had found in a cabinet. Today, breakfast was simple Japanese: steamed rice and fish. For those who did not eat meat, there was also the option of baked tofu.

"This is delicious, Cherry!" Emerald smiled. "I've always loved Japanese cuisine."

"Same here," Merigold added. "All the unique flavors blend so well together."

True to Emerald and Merigold's word, the food was pretty good. It did make me miss my mother's homemade cooking, though...

"U-um, is anyone else a little worried about Cotton?" Indigo suddenly brought up, looking rather concerned. "We haven't seen him since yesterday..."

"The Ultimate Escapist, right?" Mauve clarified. "Monokuma said he was going to take care of him, though I'm not so sure how true that is...Regardless, there's nothing we can do for him, so I would relax if I were you."

"But it's kinda strange..." Onyx said. "How he just suddenly snapped like that. I thought he'd have more common sense."

"We were all on edge yesterday," Rose defended. "Maybe he was just a little frustrated with the codenames, and he wanted to try and prove Monokuma wrong?"

"There are some people like that," Noir nodded. "They can't stand not being right. Cotton was just a little too cocky in the way he went about things..." She nervously laughed.

"I wonder what's happening to him." Cherry frowned. "I hope he's ok..."

Without warning, the devil appeared in the middle of our table.

"Hmmmmm? Cotton?" Monokuma repeated. "Oh, yeah, that guy's doing fine. Nobody's picking him!"

...

...

...

"That was the worst joke I've ever heard." Noir sighed.

"Y-yeah, that wasn't funny..." Indigo agreed, meekly sinking into her chair at the sight of Monokuma.

"Hey, no need to be a douchebag when I'm just stating the truth!" Monokuma frowned, crossing his arms. "Mr. Escapist is doing A-OK! He just needs one more week to recover!"

"One week?" Indigo gasped. "W-what are you doing to him?"

"I have him on all the best antibiotics for his injuries," Monokuma explained. "The Despiscocide needs to be drained out of his bloodstream, and his stomach needs time to repair."

"But still, a week?" Mauve frowned.

"Yes, a week!" Monokuma repeated. "Geez, you guys are so impatient! Cotton is too weak to do things such as eating normal food and getting out of bed on his own. So, to save you all the burden of having to look over him 24/7, I'm taking the responsibility! Isn't that what you guys wanted when you asked me to save him?"

"If you're watching him 24/7, who is watching him right now?" I frowned.

Monokuma looked at me with a blank stare. "Bye, bye!" Then, he was gone.

"So, Mr. Cotton still needs more time to recover." Silver observed.

"It shouldn't be of any surprise given what happened to him." Diamond nodded.

I shuddered, remembering the look he gave us once he was injected with Despiscocide. The look of shock, horror, and pain.

We ended the discussion about Cotton, and continued eating.

Once I was done, I excused myself. "I'm going to do some looking around."

"OK, just be back in time for dinner." Cherry smiled.

"See ya, don't do anything I wouldn't do." Azure joked.

I bid farewell to the others and made my way towards a certain location.

There was one place on this floor that I hadn't seen yet. I opened the door to the announcement room, walking towards the stage.

On my way, I noticed that Cotton's blood was completely gone. There was not even a trace of it ever being in there. I frowned, but kept moving.

I gripped the handle of the door of the room I intended to search. I felt a little guilty, like I shouldn't be doing this, but I didn't know why. I wasn't doing anything wrong, I told myself, so I entered the room.

"So, this is the equipment room..." I muttered, looking around.

It was a small room, about as big as a closet, with the walls being lined with various...equipment. Some of it made sense to use on a ship, like hammers and rope, but other than that, it got pretty weird. Knives, glow in the dark paint, wood planks, high-intensity flash lights, empty spray bottles and syringes, duct tape, zipties, and masks.

Back then, I had no idea why there was a room such as this in this place, but after Monokuma's revelation of a Killing Game, it all made sense.

This room encouraged us to kill.

Along with the weird syringe of poison in our rooms, this room probably serves as a purpose to give us ways to kill. Stab someone, hang them, poison them, tie them up and leave them for dead...It was all disgusting. Why the hell is Monokuma doing this to us?!

The hammers weirded me out. There were three of them, each with different 'heads'. One hammer had spikes on the head, another had barbed wire, and another had nothing, but was the biggest hammer of the three. Jeez, this bear must really want us to kill each other...

"Planning on killing somebody?" I turned around and saw Silver standing behind me.

"Hell no," I answered. "I was just curious to see what this room has. Nothing of interest, though."

"Yes, I did look in here when I first woke up." Silver nodded. "But upon seeing there was really nothing to see, I quickly left."

"I was about to do the same thing." I nodded. "We should find a way to block this room, or something. It'd be too risky leaving it unattended."

Silver sighed. "You are unfortunately right. We don't know what other people are thinking, after all."

"True, someone could be plotting a murder right now," I shuddered.

"I hope not." Silver chuckled. "I don't see how one could be so desperate to end the life of another to further their own."

"Some people are unfortunately that selfish, man." I sighed. "Trust me, I haven't met a serial killer yet, but the people I deal with sometimes do the shadiest things just to get ahead."

"Ah, yes, you are also in the entertainment industry." Silver realized. "It is a most...interesting field."

I laughed. "Yes, yes it is. How'd you become the Ultimate TV Host, if I may ask?"

Silver thought for a moment before smiling. "It is a simple story. One way or another, I ended up working as an intern for a popular TV show. Then, I worked my way up and became a TV host. Due to all my accomplishments, I was recognized as the Ultimate TV Host. Anyways, it is not I that I wish to talk about. Would you mind telling me some things about yourself, Mr. Crimson?"

I frowned at the vague response. I guess Silver isn't much of a sharer. Though, by his smiling expression and the look in his eyes, I couldn't help but wonder if he was hiding something...

"Well, what do you want to know?" I asked.

"Being an actor, it must've been hard growing up and making friends." Silver said.

"Not exactly," I shook my head. "I had a pretty normal childhood. I went to school like everyone else, and only worked after school, on Sunday, and during breaks." I explained.

"Oh, really?" Silver said in surprise. "I wouldn't have thought so."

"Yeah, my parents made sure I wasn't isolated from my friends or anything." I nodded. "The only thing is, everyone kinda knew I was an actor. So I had to deal with a lot of fake friends and even bullies. It kinda made me develop a tough skin, hence some of the things that come out of my mouth..." I chuckled.

"True, you do have a little bit of a defensive temper." Silver chuckled. "The way you defended Ms. Scarlet, from that Ultimate Pilot, for example."

"Yeah, that guys' a dickhead." I sighed. "But you're right. Growing up, it was just me and my parents. I didn't have anyone to protect me from people, so I had to defend myself. I did make a few mistakes, though, when I started getting into fights..."

"Did one of those mistakes, include...?" Silver asked, gesturing to the scar on my nose.

I nodded. "Yes. It was my first fight. The guy I was picking a fight with made fun of me for not getting a role I had bragged about auditioning for."

"Ah, the Ultimate Actor didn't get a role?" Silver inquired, raising a brow.

I nodded with a chuckle. "Yup. It would've been a major role in a TV show that was going to air internationally. One of the things I had to learn about with acting is that you unfortunately don't always get what you want. And sometimes it's not even your fault! The director might've just preferred the way someone looked better than you, or the sound or tone of their voice...Anyways, this guy calls me, and I quote" 'an untalented, cocky-ass, loser-ass bitch'...so, naturally; I sock him in the stomach. Unfortunately for me, this psycho has a knife, which he uses to cut me in the face, and ended up slashing my nose."

"Must have hurt, I'm guessing." Silver chuckled.

"Like a bitch," I laughed. "He ran away once people noticed, and I got taken to the hospital. They stitched up my nose, but it still left this gnarly scar..." I sighed, gesturing to my nose. "Basically all the roles I get require me to cover it up with make up, so a lot of people are shocked when they find out I have a scar. But geez, that guy seriously pissed me off, I wasn't that cocky..."

"I'm sure you were just confident in your abilities to get the role," Silver nodded. "It's definitely better than those who are so negative and pessimistic about themselves and their abilities."

"Exactly," I said. "I like to put out positive vibes rather than whining like a little bitch. Well, our kidnapping is a little bit of an exception..." I chuckled, remembering all of my meltdowns so far.

Silver and I chatted for a little bit more about my various roles, but he ended our conversation once I asked him about himself. He said he was hungry and was going to the dining room...

I personally felt pretty exhausted from waking up at 7 AM, so I decided to take a nap.

I woke up from my nap and stepped outside. My stomach was grumbling, so I headed to the dining room.

On my way, I noticed Mauve was also heading in the same direction as me.

"Hey man," I called.

He turned to look at me. "Oh, hey, Crimson. Heading to the dining room?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm starving. Wanna grab a bite to eat with me?"

Mauve hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Sure."

The two of us entered the dining room, and I volunteered to make lunch.

After a few minutes, I headed to the table with our food in hand.

"Hey, this looks pretty good." Mauve commented, observing the sandwiches I brought.

"To be honest, they were already made." I chuckled. "I just grabbed them out of the fridge and warmed them up."

Mauve nodded. "Oh, I do remember Frost and Cherry saying something about making a bunch of food for us to grab for lunch..."

"Wow, those two must get along pretty well," I remarked. "They've been hanging out with each other since this morning."

"I couldn't imagine spending that much time with someone..." Mauve said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

I raised a brow. "Not a people person?"

Mauve shook his head. "No, it's not that. It's just hard to trust people, especially here. We don't even know each other's real names."

"True," I nodded. "But I mean, we're going to kind of have to. If what Monokuma says is true, we'll be stuck here for a long time."

Mauve looked down for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "However long we have to stay here is however long we have to stay here. I'd like to imagine that there's a way out, but given the fact we're in space: it's highly unlikely."

"True," I sighed. "I feel like Team Escape's efforts to look for a way out are fruitless. We've already searched this ship from top to bottom..."

Mauve slowly nodded before looking like he realized something. "...There is one room we didn't look at..."

"What?' I raised a brow. "Know something I don't?"

Mauve shook his head. "No. You were there, remember? The last door in the hallway that we couldn't open?"

Oh shit, that's right! We were able to enter the room, but we couldn't open the door in the room. "Huh, you're right. I wonder why it's locked..."

"That could very well be the solution to our problem." Mauve suggested.

"You mean an escape?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yes. There has to be some way off this ship, right? After all, we had to be brought on somehow."

"Then it makes sense as to why the door is locked," I sighed. "Monokuma doesn't want us getting out of his killing game and 'taking the easy way out'."

"Exactly." Mauve nodded. "I'm guessing that Team Escape's main objective will be to find a way to open that door." He suggested.

Mauve and I talked for a little while longer about the killing game and looking for an escape. Before we both knew it, we were finished with our food.

"I am impressed with Cherry and Frost's cooking ability," Mauve complimented. "Almost reminds me of the food served at my family's casino."

"Oh yeah, you had mentioned that you wanted me to spread the word about it." I said. "Mind telling me a little bit more about your business?"

Mauve averted his eyes before shaking his head. "...Now is not the time." He said.

"Oh," I nodded. "OK, no problem."

I realized that quite some time had passed with our conversation. People were beginning to file into the dining room for dinner.

Azure and Rose in the middle of the table, looking as if they had an announcement to make. Poor Azure couldn't sit next to me since Mauve already was. On my other side was Indigo.

Sure enough, after everyone got settled, the pair stood up.

"Um, attention everyone," Rose said a little timidly, her cheeks slightly red, presumably with embarrassment.

"We have an announcement to make," Azure cooly smiled, his usual chill expression on his face.

"No shit." Sunrise rolled his eyes.

"Azure and I were thinking of something that'd take our mind off of...this situation." Rose started.

"Yeah, we know that nothing could truly put all of our minds at ease, but we thought that...a party might cheer up all of us a little." Azure announced.

"A party?" Noir repeated. "Is it someone's birthday?"

"No," Rose sheepishly smiled. "Just a party. All of the planning and setting up responsibilities would fall to everyone who signed up for the team building activities."

"That sounds fun," Emerald smiled. "I'm in! Well, I guess I already was since I signed up for the team building activities..."

"Ugh, I have to find something to wear!" Royal groaned. "Nobody else better try and outshine me or I'll gut you!"

"...What are you going to find to wear?" Scarlet raised a brow. "We only have copies of our current clothes and pajamas..."

Royal snorted. "Hah! As the Ultimate Runway Model, I have the skills necessary to make a paper bag look chic!"

Scarlet shook her head but backed down.

"The party would be a week from now, to celebrate Cotton's recovery." Azure continued.

"Awe, that's really sweet!" Merigold gushed. "A mi me gusta!"

"That sounds like a good idea," Indigo smiled, looking rather interested.

"You don't have to come," Rose said. "But it'd be appreciated, especially given what Cotton has been through."

"We'll see if I make it." Sunrise remarked, putting his feet on the table and his hands behind his head. "That little shit did piss me off more times than I can count."

Shadow...Actually, now that I looked closer, I think Shadow might have changed back to Cloud. His expression was Cloud's default, nervous, timid, anxious, stressed, shy, quiet expression. Anyways, he slightly smiled. "C-Cotton is one of the nicer ones here, so I'll g-go..."

"Are you sure it'll be you and not your other self?" Royal inquired, crossing her arms.

Cloud's face quickly turned a bright shade of red and he buried his face in his hands.

"Typical," Royal muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Um, I'll go," I said, changing the topic. "I think Cotton deserves this."

"Even though he may have put himself in the situation he's in now," Diamond remarked. "I'll go to support his recovery."

"Me too," Indigo added. "He'll probably be so happy and feel a lot better seeing all of us there..."

"Sure, I'll go." Onyx smiled. "Always up for a good party."

So, it was decided. We would have a party for Cotton in one week. Soon after we finished discussing the party, Cherry announced the food was ready and the servers from this morning served us our food (some more reluctantly than others).

Dinner tonight was simple Italian: spaghetti and meatballs. We ate in relative silence, not having much to discuss.

As I looked at everyone around the table, I couldn't help but get a bad feeling. I didn't know what it was about, but something felt...off. I almost felt as if something bad was going to happen soon...

I shook the feeling off however as soon as Azure made a joke about how he 'had to get kidnapped in order to taste good food' and made the room burst into laughter, myself included.

Who am I kidding, nothing's gonna happen. We all may not know each other super well, but we don't have it in us to kill.

We're just kids, after all.

"Ahem, this is a HFH Enterprise official announcement! It is now 10 PM. As such, it is officially nighttime. Certain locations will now be locked for the remainder of the night. Sweet dreams my passengers, let the sparkle of the stars and the roar of the spaceships' engine lull you into a deeeepppp sleep. Gooood niighhttt!"

I sighed. Finally...

I was so tired that my eyes felt like they were going to fall out of their sockets. I think space must be having a negative effect on me.

I got ready for bed and then stared at the ceiling for a little while.

Tomorrow would start the team building activities that Rose and Azure had planned. They'd presumably be centered around getting ready for Cotton's party in one week.

I smiled. I know we were still stuck in space with no way out, but I was starting to feel a little more comfortable being here. I made some friends today, and tomorrow, with the team building activities, I'm sure that I'd make more.

I'm not usually all 'friendship is magic' or anything, but it's nice to have friends in this place. It makes me feel a little less lonely.

Plus, it reassures me that we won't kill each other.

A/N: New chapter time! 2020 has been a great year for me so far, and I'm feeling more inspired than ever. I have so many ideas with this story that I can't wait to portray. Please let me know what you guys think about the chapters in a review, and especially if you can count all the hints I may or may not have dropped about the first case!

Thanks for reading, see you in the next one!