The Fool and Her Groom (Part 3)
My eyes slowly blinked open, and I awoke to the same ceiling I fell asleep to last night.
Yet another day aboard the HFH Enterprise...I think my wish of waking up from this nightmare and being back in my bedroom won't come true. However, there still is a chance that I'm in a medically induced coma and this is all a figment of my imagination, so fingers crossed!
"Ahem, this is a HFH Enterprise official announcement! It is now 7 AM, which means that nighttime is officially over! Time to get up out of bed. Let's all welcome this new day with an open heart and mind!"
This 7 AM wake up time is going to kill me before anyone else does. I haven't had to wake up this early since elementary school...
It's been a total of two days since Monokuma (and possibly someone else) trapped 20 (21?) of us aboard the HFH Enterprise. We've done the best we can in searching for a way out, but the revelation of us being in space kinda makes it useless to continue to do so. Yesterday, we decided that today, we'd commence the planning of the Despicocide fanatic Cotton's party, while another group of us would look for a way out and answers for our captivity.
I slowly rolled out of bed and trudged to the bathroom.
I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed.
Yeah...I wasn't looking so hot (which for me, was surprising). My brown hair was flat and slightly matted, my red eyes were framed with dark purple bags, and my tan skin was slightly clammy with sweat. I sighed once again. It was time for a shower.
I had been dreading taking a shower in this place. It wasn't that I hated showers or anything (on the contrary, I usually take a shower in the morning and at night), it was just weird to do it in this place...I mean, what if there's cameras watching our every move or something? Plus, I don't realy enjoy the thought of Monokuma seeing me in my birthday suit.
Putting aside my worries, I grabbed my things and headed in the direction of the boy's shower room.
Thankfully, there was no one else inside. I wasn't ready for my fellow kidnapees to see me butt ass naked just yet.
Each of the showers had a little section to put your clothes and get undressed/dressed, and the actual shower itself. The showers were a fairly modest size, with all of your basic controls as well as bottles of soap, shampoo, and conditioner.
I undressed myself, got in the shower, and...well, showered.
I felt a sense of...déjà vu as I entered the shower. Something felt strangely familiar. As soon as the surprisingly warm water hit my face, a shard of a memory came to me.
Rain...the smell of a forest...
And blood?
I shook off my strange thoughts and finished showering. I was probably just still groggy and disoriented from having to wake up so early, my mind must be all over the place...Plus, I was starting to feel a little planet sick. I can't even remember the last time I felt the Sun on my skin...
I got dressed in a pair of clean clothes, and exited the boy's shower room.
As soon as I left, a certain someone exited the girl's shower room.
"Good morning, Crimson." Rose smiled, her hair slightly damp from the shower she presumably took.
"Morning, Rose." I smiled back. "I see you had the same idea as me."
"Yes," Rose nodded. "I don't particularly enjoy being unclean." She added with a giggle.
"Same here," I nodded. "I wouldn't have waited so long to take a shower here if I knew the water was so warm!"
"Oh, I don't mind the cold," Rose divulged. "In fact, did you know that cold showers actually lower your stress and lower chances of becoming depressed?"
"No, I did not," I replied matter-of-factly. "Though I'm not surprised the Ultimate Prodigy would know something like that."
Rose slightly blushed. "Y-yes. It's one of the many 'fun facts' I learned during my studies."
"Oh wow, didn't know they taught that in the text books." I chuckled.
"Oh, no, you're mistaken," Rose said. "I learned information like that from science journals, magazines, essays, newspapers, cereal boxes, books, and of course, from my parents!"
Damn, is this girl Einstein or something? I don't have the time or the interest to study all that stuff, so kudos to her.
"Your parents must be proud, then. It must've taken a lot of work to get to become the Ultimate Prodigy, huh?"
"It's all actually thanks to them that I'm recognized as that," Rose revealed. "You see, my parents are college professors who had two...not so smart sons before they had me. They wanted at least one 'intelligent' child, so they'd make me study for hours on end in order to become so."
I frowned. That didn't sound like a super enjoyable childhood. I'd sooner shoot my brains out than read a book for more than an hour...
"But you were just a kid." I brought up. "You should've been playing outside with friends, not being forced to stick your nose in a book to 'become intelligent'."
Rose shook her head. "I didn't mind," She said. "I enjoy reading, studying, and learning new things. It's like a stress reliever for me."
"To each their own, I guess." I nervously laughed. Reading and studying are common stressors for me. I prefer a simple life that doesn't involve reading anything except my lines. "Well, all your hard work must've paid off. You mentioned that you skipped a few grades before, right?"
Rose nodded with a smile. "Yes! It's one of my biggest accomplishments and the one I'm most proud of. My parents were also quite pleased with me, so that's another plus."
"Isn't it a little...uncomfortable being in classes with older people?"
Rose slightly frowned. "Not for me. I may be physically younger than my classmates, but I'm more mature than 90 percent of them!" I noticed during our first meeting that Rose doesn't like having her young age brought up. I don't know why, her being younger just means she's dying later than the rest of us!
"Well I for one definitely see you as a peer," I said truthfully. "Especially when you compare your intelligence to some of the idiots we have here."
Rose giggled. "Well, thank you. I also see you as one of the better ones here. I hope we get out of here together."
I smiled. "That's a promise."
Rose and I quickly made our way over to the dining room after we realized everyone was probably waiting on us.
Sure enough, Sunrise was sitting at the head of the table with his arms crossed. "Well, well, well, look who decided to come and join us!"
"Sorry!" Rose quickly said, sitting in an open seat next to Indigo and Mauve.
"We're not that late," I retorted. "And besides, what do you care?"
"I care because I'm the leader of this group!" Sunrise smirked.
"What the hell, since when?!" I asked in surprise. Why would Sunrise ever even be considered as the leader? All this man does is bitch and moan about every little thing and act like a dick to everyone. Actually, when the fuck did we even have a leader?
"Ever since Azure and Rose, the two de facto leaders abandoned their posts." Sunrise claimed.
Azure sheepishly smiled. "I woke up a little late..."
"I had to take a shower," Rose sadly frowned. "I didn't mean to be late..."
"Since when did we have a leader?" Onyx asked. "And since when were they determined based on who came to the table the earliest?"
"Since today." Royal responded with a smirk. She was sitting on Sunrise's right. "Sunrise and I took the liberty of being here early and imagine our surprise when no one but poor Frost was here!"
"I was actually doing just fine..." Frost muttered, handing out coffee to everyone.
"Anyways, Royal and I decided to take responsibility and take charge of our group." Sunrise grinned. "That way we'll have some order around here instead of having people running around like fucking chickens."
"Rose and the weird guy can still handle those team activities or whatever, but me and Sunrise will be taking control of all other activities!" Royal said.
"Says who?" Scarlet frowned. "We don't have to listen to a word you guys say."
"Oh yeah you do," Sunrise smirked. "According to our pilot."
A second later, Monokuma appeared on our table.
"Yup, yup!" Monokuma nodded, presumably in response to Sunrise's claim.
"How's that fair?" Mauve frowned.
"It's not," Monokuma giggled. "But who cares! Sunrise and Royal can't be worse than Stalin!"
"OK, whatever, but there's not a rule that says we have to listen to them," I countered. "So why are they saying that according to you we have to?"
Monokuma cleared his throat and pulled out a random e-Handbook. "A-hem, rule number seven, more rules can be added later, via Pilot Monokuma or a suggestion by a student (that can be vetoed or approved by Pilot Monokuma). Only one rule can be added per week)."
Oh shit, that's right...I hadn't looked super closely at rule number seven, but it did say that more rules could be added.
"What rule was added then that makes Sunrise and Royal our resident dictators?" Frost heavily sighed.
"Rule number eight," Sunrise read from his e-Handbook. "Any student who Pilot Monokuma deems fit to be 'leader of the kidnapees' may order the students around to do as he/she pleases, as long as their request is nothing too extreme (any dispute by a student will be decided by Pilot Monokuma)."
"And Sunrise is the student who you deemed fit?" I asked, rolling my eyes.
"Of course!" Monokuma nodded. "He was the one who suggested the rule, after all!"
"And I don't suppose there's any way to dispute this rule?" Silver sighed.
"Not yet," Monokuma shook his head. "A rule can only be altered by another rule."
"And we can't suggest another rule until next week..." Scarlet frowned.
"Yup! Anyways, I don't know why you all are complaining," Monokuma said. "A leader will help you guys keep order and prevent any discourse!"
"Yeah, but Sunrise and Royal are less like leaders and more like tyrants." Emerald groaned.
"Too bad," Monokuma shrugged. "Someone should've stepped up earlier! Anyways, toodles my children, I have to go take care of 'Cotton ball'!"
And with that, he was gone.
The room was silent, with all of us uncomfortably staring at the table. We really had to listen to Sunrise's most likely awful demands for a whole week...
"Geez, relax, assholes," Sunrise said. "I'm not going to cancel your team building activities or your party or any shit. I just want to do a little...rearranging."
"What rearranging?" Merigold inquired. "Remember, we can dispute any request deemed by us as being 'too extreme'."
"Ugh, I'm not going to be 'too extreme'..." Sunrise rolled his eyes. "For one, I want out of that stupid fucking 'server rule'!" He's talking about the rule we made yesterday about the three servers every day, who are randomly chosen by the picking of names.
"So you don't ever want to be a server?" Cherry clarified.
"Exactly," Sunrise nodded. "I'm the Ultimate fucking Pilot. Flight attendants bring shit to me, not the other way around."
"OK, fine by me," Emerald said. "Just means I never have to work with you again..."
"Ooo, I want in on that rule too!" Royal eagerly said. "A person of my prestige shouldn't have to serve."
"Sure, whatever." Sunrise shrugged. "Anyways, number two: if we're going to have a party, it better be lit as fuck. So, everyone must be in attendance."
"...What?" Lava frowned. "But I don't want to go..."
"I don't give a fuck," Sunrise responded. "I'm not going to a lame-ass party. Everyone knows any good party has at least twenty people, which lucky for us, is the exact number of people here. So suck it up bitch, we're having a party!"
Lava and Sage were the only ones who seemed to care about Sunrise's rule (considering most of us were going to attend the party anyways). Lava simply sighed and reluctantly relented, while Sage said he 'might' make it.
"Remember, breaking a rule results in a painful injection of Despisocide..." Sunrise commented.
"Is that a threat?" Sage inquired, setting down his sketch book and glaring at Sunrise.
"No, it's a promise." Sunrise answered with a smirk.
As much as I hated to say it, Sunrise was right. If Sage didn't show up to the party, then that would be breaking rule number eight, which would therefore be a rule violation. And from what we've seen with Cotton, breaking a rule results in the not so pretty punishment of Despisocide.
Sage simply rolled his eyes and went back to his drawing.
"And finally, number three, to our 'party planners', I expect alcohol to be served at the party." Sunrise said. "I'll probably need to be buzzed to have a good time..."
Oh, c'mon, I like underage drinking as much as the next teenager, but forcing Rose and Azure to serve it is just shitty...
"I don't even know if there's alcohol aboard." Azure said with a sigh.
"Yeah, there is." Sunrise replied. "I asked Monokuma earlier."
Huh, Sunrise is pretty buddy-buddy with Monokuma...Almost makes you think that the two might be working together...
"Well, your wish is my command..." Azure replied with a slightly sarcastic tone.
Overall, I think we were all pretty tired of Sunrise. First, he's a dick to anyone with a pulse, and second, he conspires with Monokuma to make a rule that only benefits him? What a fucking asshole! Maybe someone should do us all a favor and do him in...
Sunrise said that if he thinks of any other rules or demands that he has, he'll happily let us know.
At last, we were finally permitted to start the breakfast making process. As usual, Cherry went into the kitchen to cook, and when she was done, she chose three names out of the cup with everyones name in it (with the temporary exclusion of Lava and Emerald and the permanent exclusion of Frost, Cherry, Sunrise, and Royal).
"Onyx!" Cherry said.
"No worries," Onyx shrugged. "We all gotta do our 'civic duty', right?"
"Indigo!" Cherry called.
"Oh, um, OK," Indigo nodded. "I'll do my best."
"And last but not least, Mauve." Cherry finished, setting the three's papers aside and adding Emerald and Lava's names back into the cup.
Mauve shrugged. "Sure, fine with me."
And with that, our servers of the day were chosen.
I had a little time before they'd be ready to serve the food, so I decided to have a conversation with someone to pass the time.
Frost looked a little lonely since his usual partner in crime, Cherry, was having a conversation with Noir.
"Hey Frost," I called, walking over to him.
"Crimson," He nodded. "Nice to see you."
"Likewise," I smiled. "Especially because you make the best coffee known to mankind!"
"Oh, it's not that big of a deal..." Frost claimed.
"Yes bro, it is!" I quickly countered. "I'm convinced that whatever brewing method you use, you learned from some sort of myserious deity you encountered in a desolate forest during a blood moon on Friday the 13th."
"Not exactly," Frost nervously smiled. "I actually owe everything I know to my father."
"Oh, really?" I asked. "Is he some barista master like you?"
"No, actually." Frost shook his head. "My father's a normal man who simply had an affinity for coffee. That affinity sparked an interest of my own."
"Most kids find coffee disgusting," I laughed. "I know I did. I'm surprised you liked it."
"It wasn't exactly the taste per se." Frost revealed. "It was more so the connection with it that I had. My fondest memories often include my father drinking coffee."
"Oh, that's nice," I nodded. "Mine include my father drinking alcohol. Anyways Frost, I came here to you today to find out something very important."
Frost raised a brow. "And what might that be?"
"Well, my player, I noticed you've been particularly close with Cherry," I smirked. "Does someone have a crush?"
Frost immediately blushed and glanced at the floor. "I-I don't know what you mean. Cherry and I are just friends."
"That's what they all say," I mischeviously laughed. "But don't worry, Frosty, I'll keep your secret...Just saying, though, I think she may feel the same way..."
I glanced over at Cherry who was laughing in her conversation with Noir. I caught her eye and she smiled and waved at Frost and I.
Frost's face was still as red as a cherry. He said nothing but his face said all I needed to know!
A minute later, the servers came out with our breakfast. I sat back down in my original seat and feasted.
Breakfast today was French-inspired: Croissants with strawberry or chocolate filling.
After breakfast was over, Sunrise made everyone stay behind for a meeting.
"So, today is the start of looking for an escape and...team building activities." He began, saying the last part of his sentence with disgust. "I will be taking my group over to the rec center. Rose and Azure can do whatever they want."
And with that, Sunrise took Royal, Onyx, Diamond, and Noir with him to the rec center.
Since Cloud was in control and could now vote, he decided he'd be a 'hindrance' to team building activities, and went with Sage and Lava back to the dorms.
Those of us left in the dining room split into two groups per Azure's suggestion. One group, consisting of 'the cool tone colors' was led by Azure and composed of Azure, Emerald, Frost, Mauve, Indigo, and Silver. They were going to be the 'brains' of the party, and were in charge of planning everything out.
The other group, led by Rose, was made up of 'the warm tone colors', and composed of Rose, myself, Cherry, Merigold, and Scarlet. We were in charge of choosing a venue and carrying out the plans set forth by Azure's group.
"Does anyone have any suggestions?" Rose inquired.
"Of a venue?" Merigold asked. "I think the announcement room's the best option. After all, it's the biggest room in here!"
Scarlet slowly shook her head. "Sorry, but I have to disagree. The announcement room is the room where Cotton almost died."
"Oh, true..." Merigold nodded, her smile dropping. "I suppose it would be a bit of a grim reminder of what happened to him."
"Then how about the rec center?" Cherry smiled. "It's a fairly large room, with plenty of stuff to do. We'd have to clear out the big table in the middle, but I'd think it'd make a pretty good party space!"
"I was thinking that, but unfortunately, the rec center is one of the rooms that closes at nighttime." Rose sadly frowned.
"Then I guess our only option is to just do it here," Scarlet said. "In the dining room."
Thinking about it, Scarlet was right. Every other room in this place is either too small or too cluttered. The dining room is the only room that makes sense.
"Perfect." Rose nodded. "We'll rearrange the table the day of the party to have the food on top of them, and we can get some chairs from the computer lab for people to sit!"
"All right then, what's next?" I asked, glancing over at Azure's group. They were hard at work working on the preparations for the party. Truthfully, there really wasn't a whole lot we could do without their finished ideas.
"One of the things Azure and I discussed was food," Rose brought up. "We were thinking that we could serve a variety of Japanese inspired foods since Cotton is Japanese. Maybe some of us can stay here and look around for ideas, while two others can stop by the rec center to maybe find a recipe book? I'd suggest more but I don't want Sunrise to be upset..."
"I'll go," I volunteered. "I wouldn't want him bitching at you guys."
"Me too." Scarlet said. "That roach doesn't scare me."
"Well then, looks like Rose, Merigold, and I will stay here to think up recipes!" Cherry smiled.
"Makita ka mamaya!" Merigold waved as Scarlet and I stepped out into the hallway.
"I think that means see you later?" I laughed once me and Scarlet were in the hallway.
"Probably." Scarlet nodded, smiling.
We started our trek to the rec center. I decided now would be a good idea to get to know Scarlet, so I slowed down and started a conversation.
"So, Scarlet, you're a dancer." I said.
She nodded. "Yes, ever since I was little I loved to dance."
"What got you into it?" I asked.
Scarlet smiled thoughtfully. "My friends, actually. We formed a dance group, 'the Butterfly Gang', and people really took a liking to us!"
"Ooo, a dance group," I laughed. "Sounds like fun. Are you still in it?"
Scarlet's smile fell from her face and she sadly frowned. "No, unfortunately not. I had to move to Japan from California when I was 15...My father got a job there that was going to bring money for our family. I understood, but I really didn't want to go...Unfortunately for me, it was my parents' decision, and my fate was sealed."
"That must've sucked," I sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that. But hey, Japan isn't that bad, right? I was born and raised there, after all!"
Scarlet laughed. "It wasn't Japan that I didn't like, it was some of the people. Some kids at my school thought I was weird for not knowing the language, and because of the fact that I would sit by myself. They didn't try and bully me or anything, it was just the fact that I felt like an outsider looking in."
"I feel you." I nodded. "Starting over in a new country would be hard for anyone."
"No kidding," She laughed. "But, I actually started to get kind of popular once kids saw me dance during a school event. They were impressed with my talent and wanted to learn how to dance like me."
"Nice, there was a happy ending after all!" I smiled.
"Not quite," Scarlet sighed. "I learned very quickly that people only wanted the fame and fortune that came with dancing. But that's not me at all! I dance for the feeling I get, the butterflies in my stomach, the adernaline rush! I didn't care that people started to dislike me again. To me, dance is worth giving up everything for."
"That's very respectable," I nodded. "Your parents must be very proud."
Scarlet glanced at the ground and smiled. "Yes, they were. Sadly, my mother passed away in a car accident when I was 16," She sniffed. "The accident had a negative effect not only on me and my dad's emotions, but also on our financials. My dad had to take out loans from a variety of loan companies, and the stress really did a number on him..."
"I'm really sorry about your mom," I said. "And your father too. Dealing with loans is always stressfull...Hey, did your father ever try out Okane Loans? My parents have always had a good experience with them."
Scarlet uncomfortably shifted away from me and frowned. "Yes...my father has definitely dealt with Okane Loans. In fact, they're the roaches who decided to raise his interest rates by 5% a week without telling him."
"H-huh?!" I asked in surprise. "That's crazy! That's never happened to my parents."
"Yes, when I tried to protest them, the rich were the first ones to shut me down, so that figures..." Scarlet sighed. "Okane Loans makes money by overcharging those without a voice, like my father. And those with the most powerful prescenses, like the parents of a famous actor, are undercharged, to keep them quiet and compliant. It's the cycle that never stops..."
I completely understood where Scarlet was coming from. But she has to realize that I, nor my parents, had any idea about Okane Loans' wrong doings. My parents are good people, and I know they wouldn't support a company that takes advantage of those who are less fortunate, considering we've been there before. I'd never want Scarlet to think I was a greedy, selfish, asshole. I'm only an asshole, nothing more.
"I'm sorry about your situation, I had no idea that Okane Loans was that shitty." I sighed. I watched her shoulders relax and she made eye contact with me, but I still felt like she didn't fully trust me. So, I made a possibly rash decision, that hopefully wouldn't come back to bite me in the ass.
"I'll help you." I said.
Scarlet raised a brow. "Um, what do you mean?"
"I mean, I'll help you." I said again. "Once we get out of here, me and my family will cover the costs of your mom's car accident, and we'll help you deal with Okane Loans."
Scarlet's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. "N-no, it's fine! You don't have to!"
"But I want to." I smiled. "You seem more than deserving of a break from the stress."
"But you've just met me," Scarlet stated in disbelief. "How do you know I'm deserving?"
"I have a good sense about people," I replied. "And ever since I've met you, I've felt good vibes from you. I can tell you're a good person."
Scarlet slightly blushed and she smiled. "Thank you, Crimson. You have no idea how much this will help my father out."
"No problem," I smiled. "It's the least I can do."
Before we knew it, we were in front of the rec center door.
I sighed. "Ready to deal with Sir Sunrise?" I sarcastically asked.
"Not really," Scarlet laughed.
I opened the door and we were greeted by a most strange sight.
...
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...
Hey, I'm an actor, I like dramatic pauses!
Anyways, the strange sight was the fact that nobody was in the room. Sunrise and his crew were nowhere to be seen.
"He probably went off to look somewhere else," Scarlet suggested. "After all, their whole goal is to look for an escape, and they certainly can't find one if they stay in one room."
"True," I nodded. "Well, who cares! Just means he won't get in our way."
Scarlet and I split up and each took a different bookshelf, and pulled all of the recipe books we could find.
Then, we looked at each recipe book and seperated them based on what country of cuisine they were about.
"Another American one," Scarlet said, handing me a book by someone named Bobby Flay.
I set it on our tallest pile: the American recipe books. "Geez, you Americans love your food."
Scarlet laughed. "Hey, you haven't lived until you've tried avacado toast!"
I raised a brow. "The only thing avacado should go on is salads and in sushi rolls."
We continued our way through the books, and eventually came across some that weren't about recipes, so we decided to sort those too.
Before we knew it, we had pulled out all of the books from the bookshelf, from whatever horrendous sorting method that Monokuma used.
"There, all better." I sighed in relief. "Now we'll actually know what we're looking for whenever we need a book."
"It took a while, but I think we managed to find every recipe book about Japan and books about Japan in general. " Scarlet laughed.
"Hey, what's this?" I asked. There was a note on the last shelf, that was previously covered by books.
I picked it up, and read the very interesting contents...A lot of words were scratched out or faded, but I was able to make out what the letter said.
To: -scratched-
From: -scratched-
Thank you for cooperating with us on -scratched-. In return, we're more than happy to help you with your request on learning about -scratched-. This actually goes along with your request about using codenames for -scratched-.
To achieve -scratched-, a very useful method is the use of codenames rather than real names. Real names can be triggers for -scratched-, and seeing as we'd like to avoid that at all costs, codenames are a great idea. We'd suggest using codenames related to the -scratched- past, as it'll be easier for them to feel a connection to their new codename, even if they don't realize it at first. For example, Cotton would be a great codename for -a long scratched sentence- due to -a long scratched sentence-.
If you have any more questions or need additional help, please don't hesitate to contact us again.
God bless the HFH -scratched-,
-scratched-
What the fuck? This looks like this is a letter about giving people codenames to avoid...something.
And it's pretty damn clear that we're those people. I instantly showed the note to Scarlet.
"That's definitely weird." She frowned. "According to this letter, we were given our codenames to avoid triggering something, and the codenames that were given to us were to make us feel a connection to them regarding our past?"
"I don't know about you, but Crimson doesn't ring any bells at all." I frowned. "If anything, it's one of my least favorites shade of red." I've always disliked the color crimson since it doesn't complement my eyes.
"Scarlet doesn't relate to my past, either." Scarlet shook her head. "Maybe this letter isn't about us?"
"I don't know," I sighed. "All I know is I have even more questions as to our captivity here..."
I stuffed the letter in my pocket, intending to show it to the others later. Scarlet and I put the books back in order, took the recipe books, and made our way back to the dining room.
As me and Scarlet entered the dining room, I realized that we had spent hours in the rec center, which made sense considering all the work we did.
Everyone was now was back in the dining room for dinner.
"What took you two so long?" Shadow (who now as in control of Cloud) sneered.
"None of your business." I rolled my eyes, setting the books in a corner and taking a seat next to Indigo and Mauve.
"We were busy with reorganizing Monokuma's mess." Scarlet explained with a sigh as she took a seat.
"Sorry guys, I knew it'd take you awhile!" Rose said. "But luckily, we now know what to do for the party."
"Now we just have to actually decorate." Cherry laughed.
"We should probably start the day before, correct?" Frost suggested.
I nodded. "Sounds like a good idea to me."
"In the meantime, we'll do other activities for team building." Azure nodded.
So it was settled. Planning for Cotton's party was complete, and we didn't have to worry about it until the day before, where we would then start putting decorations up and preparing for Cotton's return.
Dinner tonight was sandwiches that Cherry and Frost had previously prepared.
Our servers from this morning were able to quickly get them from the fridge and bring them to us since they were just wrapped in aluminum foil.
Halfway through eating I decided now would be a good idea to talk about the note. I passed it around, and everyone read it.
"This is definitely strange." Diamond frowned. "Two people were in collaboration with creating our codenames, for a specific reason to avoid a trigger?"
"What the hell does this mean?" Onyx groaned. "My head's spinning all over the place!"
"I feel like we know even less than we did before." Mauve rolled his eyes, visibly frustrated.
"That damn bear, he's playing games with us!" Emerald remarked.
"Exactly," Merigold sighed. "He's giving us half-answers instead of just telling us the whole truth."
"It's all to encourage more distrust among each other." Silver theorized. "He's creating more questions to inspire more arguments, which he hopes will eventually cause one of us to snap and kill someone to find out answers and to get out of here."
"It's ridiculous!" I said. "We're just fucking high school students, not killers..."
"Exactly." Scarlet nodded. "I don't see any of us killing anyone."
"We'll find out the answers in time, guys." Azure smiled. "Let's just be patient and make Monokuma even more pissed off!"
And so, it was decided. We had no clue what the letter meant, but we weren't going to stress over it. Who knows if it's even real?
We may all be strangers to each other, but we were starting to get closer everyday. And the thought of killing anyone, especially these people, was out of the question.
Two days later, I awoke to a strange announcement.
"Gooodd morning everyone! Please head to the announcement room, for a beary special surprise!"
Huh? That wasn't the usual morning announcement...
It's been a total of four days since we've been kidnapped. In the two days since the planning of Cotton's party and the discovery of the letter, not much has happened. I've just been participating in Azure and Rose's team building activities (which has included cooking together, playing board games, and cleaning.), while Sunrise and his team has searched for a way out (to no one's surprise, they've found nothing.). Other than that, nothing dramatic or interesting has happened.
But now Monokuma wants to meet with us in the announcement room? I didn't have a good feeling about this...
After getting ready, I headed to the announcement room. There, everyone sat in the same seats we had sat in just four days before, waiting for Monokuma's announcement.
I took my seat next to Azure, Rose, and Frost.
"I'm not looking forward to seeing what the bear has to say." Frost frowned.
"Me neither." Rose sighed. "Whatever he has to say can't be good..."
"Maybe Cotton's all better?" Azure suggested, trying to remain positive.
"I wouldn't hold my breath." I frowned.
Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long.
In an instant, Monokuma appeared on his podium, looking at all of us with a strange, gleeful expression.
"I'm disappointed in you guys!" He said with a smile (for some reason...).
"W-why?" Cloud asked.
"I'm glad you asked two-face!" Monokuma cackled. "Because, none of you are dead!"
"That's kinda mean..." Noir frowned.
"Yeah, it's a good thing that we're all still standing!" Cherry retorted.
"So you're saying that you all want to stay together on this ship that much?" Monokuma asked in disbelief. "If I were you guys, I would have killed someone the second I heard that I was in space! I mean, haven't you heard that being in space makes you gain weight?"
"It's lose weight..." Diamond corrected.
"And according to you, our conditions here on this ship are perfect." Mauve brought up. "That means that we don't have to experience the negative effects of space, right?"
"Grrr, I should turn off the oxygen generator to teach you all a lesson!" Monokuma threatened.
"Cut to the chase, furball." Royal said, rolling her eyes. "Why are we here?"
Monokuma evily grinned, looking like he was about to reveal the most despicable thing ever.
"Well, since you're all so unmotivated to kill, I thought I'd spice some things up a bit!" Monokuma replied.
"What's that mean?" Onyx questioned with a frown.
"It means, I'm giving you guys extra encouragement to kill!" Monokuma laughed. "I understand your main concern about killing someone! You've all grown so close to each other, and the thought of leaving here all alone must be sooooo lonely. So, I'm implementing the Savior Perk!"
"Savior Perk?" Emerald repeated.
"Yup, that's right!" Monokuma nodded. "The Savior Perk is like a one for two deal! Kill one classmate, and escape with you and someone else for free! In other words, kill someone, and you can take someone else with you back home to Earth!"
We all quickly grew quiet, all glancing at each other with uncertainty and wonder. One of the mains turn offs about the whole killing game was that you'd be considered selfish if you ended the life of another just to save your own. But the Savior Perk would mean that you'd be doing it save yourself and someone else.
I wouldn't stoop that low.
However, someone here might...
I looked around at some of the students who have gotten close to each other...
Frost and Cherry, Cherry and Noir, Royal and Sunrise (they still kind of bitch about each other to each other, though), hell, even me and Azure...Would one of us kill someone else just to escape with our friend?
"Anyways, I must be on my way. Gotta take care of Houdini," Monokuma said. "Consider my offer! Think about it, you'd be killing one bird to save two stones!"
And with that, he vanished.
"...No one's seriously thinking about his offer, right?" Emerald worriedly asked.
"Not me!" Indigo quickly said, with a distressed frown on her face.
"You don't have to worry about me..." Lava said.
"If someone were seriously thinking about it, they wouldn't tell us..." Mauve sighed.
"So, we just have to trust each other." Azure smiled. "Shouldn't be hard, we've been doing it since we've been here."
"Yeah, I'm not killing anyone just to have to bring one of you with me." Sunrise scoffed.
"I'm sure everyone feels the same way, Sunrise..." I muttered.
So, Monokuma's given us an extra incentive to murder. Kill someone, and rescue another.
It was honestly a great plan. Wait until all of us got closer to each other, and then spring a motive on us that's based on the fact that we've all gotten closer to each other.
But still, I wasn't going to give in! Cotton's party was just a few days away, and he must have some idea on how to get out of this place, with him being the Ultimate Escapist. We just have to be patient.
I just hope that everyone here feels the same way...
However, there might be one person here who just can't resist...
A/N: Woo-hoo, a new chapter! I hope all of your guys' 2020 is going good so far. For me, it's been going great! I'm in college now, and I only have school two days a week, so I'm able to do a lot more writing!
We're getting really close to the killing, guys. I'm not going to tell you what chapter it is to ruin the surprise, but it's soon! Hell, maybe it's the next chapter?
Who do you guys think our victim and killer are? Remember, it could be anyone, regardless of the fact if they've had a Free Time Event or not. Let me know your theories and what you guys think about the chapter!
Until next time!