The Fool and Her Groom (Part 4)

The aftermath of Monokuma's motive left all of us standing around, shocked, scared, and suspicious. I'm sure that there were already some people who were keeping their eye on certain people who've gotten closer, their paranoia kicking in. I, for one, wasn't super paranoid, but there was a slight feeling of uncertainty in my heart. All I could do was just hope that no one would end up killing.

"What a fucking mess." Sunrise groaned. "But whatever. If you're stupid enough to listen to Monokuma's motive, then by all means, kill away. But, because I don't want any blood on my hands, I'm implementing a new order."

"And what that might be?" Sage asked, a brow raised. "Every other order you've announced has done nothing except benefit you..."

"Shut the fuck up," Sunrise snapped. "Anyways, any object obviously capable of killing someone will now be seized."

"Do you mean anything that can be used as a weapon?" Frost asked in order for clarity.

Sunrise rolled his eyes. "No shit. Mainly, I mean the stuff in the equipment room."

Ah, that's right. There's a whole room in here dedicated to helping people come up with ways to kill someone. Me and Silver already discussed blocking it off, so I'm relieved that Sunrise is actually going through with it.

"Since most of you guys are probably lazy as hell, I'll do it myself." Sunrise revealed.

I was impressed with Sunrise actually taking responsibility for being the leader for once. So, I made my second rash decision of the week.

"I'll help too." I volunteered.

"I don't need your help," Sunrise glared. "You'll probably just slow me down anyway."

"Yeah well, I'm going to help anyway." I shrugged. "Unless you want to order me not to?"

Sunrise glared at me for a moment longer before shrugging. "Fine, if you want to help, I'm not going to stop you."

"Good luck, Crimson." Scarlet joked, patting me on the shoulder.

"Thanks, I'm going to need it." I laughed.

Hungry from the lack of breakfast, everyone but Sunrise and I made their way to the dining room.

It was a little awkward being alone with the leader of the Soviet Union, but I guess now was the chance to get to know him.

"So, Sunrise," I started, trying to find the words I wanted to say. "...How do you feel about this situation?"

Sunrise said nothing for a moment before rolling his eyes at me. "Why the fuck would I tell you how I feel about anything? You don't even like me. And trust me, the feeling's mutual, D-Lister." As he spoke, he was pulling wooden planks out of the equipment room and handing them to me.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes back at him. "...I may not like you, but we're going to be here for a while. So, it'd be worthwhile to get to know you." I explained. "Plus, I like planes, so maybe you can tell me about that."

Sunrise stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around to look at me. "You like planes? What's your favorite model?"

"...Um...First-class?" I answered.

Sunrise sighed. "Yeah, figures. You're just a poser like the rest of them." He went back to grab planks.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I frowned.

"Tch, means you're just a fake ass celebrity he wants to act like he knows more than he does," Sunrise said. "You make fun of the rest of us simply because we're 'lower on the totem pole'."

Damn, he couldn't be more wrong. All I said was that I liked airplanes, not that I knew everything and anything there is to know about them.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but you couldn't be any further from the truth," I said. "I'm not the most intelligent when it comes to planes, but I'm not feigning my interest about them. I think it's cool as hell that an object is capable of flying hundreds of pounds across the world."

"Tens of thousands, if you're talking about passenger planes." Sunrise corrected. "A hundred thousand if you're talking about a cargo plane."

"Damn, I didn't know that." I said truthfully."What types of planes have you flown?" I inquired.

Sunrise looked down for a moment before sighing and relenting to having a conversation with me. "...I've flown commercial and crop dusters."

"Crop dusters?" I repeated. "What's that?"

"It's how farmers get their plants fertilized, sprayed with protectant, and plant multiple seeds," Sunrise explained. "You fly the plane over the field and the product is sprayed as you fly."

"Oh, cool," I commented. "So that means you're a farmer?"

Sunrise slowly nodded. "...Yes. My parents own a farm back in Texas."

"Texas?" I repeated. "I never would've guessed. What brought you to Japan? Hope's Peak?"

Sunrise narrowed his eyes. "None of your business." He replied coldly. "It's a shitty reason that I wouldn't tell someone I just met."

OK, fair enough. I was proud of Sunrise for at least giving me a few minutes of his time. It still didn't erase all the douchey things he's done, but at least he's making progress.

"This should be enough planks." I said, changing the subject.

Sunrise nodded. "OK. I'm going to get the hammer and nails now."

With that, he went deeper into the equipment room to obtain what we needed.

While he was getting the supplies, I took a closer look at the wooden planks. They looked like your traditional wooden planks at first glance, but upon closer inspection, I saw something familiar.

Prop. HPA

It didn't take a rocket scientist or an Ultimate Prodigy to know that HPA is a common acronym for Hope's Peak Academy, the school all of us were accepted to and set to attend.

Come to think of it...20 Ultimate students from across the world have gone missing. Surely, people must be looking for us! Our family, friends, coworkers, and fans all must be searching for us across the globe. Hopefully, they'll soon realize that we're not on Earth, though...

Anyways, does the HPA on the wooden planks really stand for Hope's Peak Academy? And if so, why? I've been thinking the school has had something to do with our situation since that note I got on Day 1, stating that we're all Ultimates. But would the 'greatest school in the world' kidnap 20 teenagers, take them to outer space, and urge them to kill each other?

My thoughts were interrupted as Sunrise came back out with the supplies.

"Let's get a move on." He demanded.

I held up the planks as Sunrise hammered them against the doorframe.

It took a while, but at last, we successfully blocked off the door. No one could get in even if they tried!

We had set aside a few important tools that could we'd need for emergencies, but other than that, all of the dangerous weapons were locked in the room.

"I'll bring these tools to my room," Sunrise said. "If anyone ever needs to use them, they can ask me."

"OK, fine with me." I nodded.

Sunrise wordlessly left me alone in the announcement room.

I sighed, looking around at my surroundings. It was pretty sad that we had to resort to blocking off a room in order to ensure that no murder would occur, but hey, it was better safe than sorry.

As I thought about it more, however, there was still one place that someone could get weapons. The solution to prevent someone from obtaining and using them wasn't as simple as hammering a door closed, however...

"Onyx," I called in surprise. I had entered the kitchen to come up with a solution to someone possibly using the knives in there as a weapon.

Onyx was currently eating a cookie, presumably taking a break from looking for an escape.

"Hello, Crimson." He nodded after he finished his cookie. "What brings you here? Are you also hungry?"

I chuckled. "Well, yeah. Monokuma's announcement and helping Sunrise made me miss breakfast and lunch, but I had other reasons to come here."

"What might that be?" Onyx inquired. "If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"It's no big deal," I shook my head. "I was just wondering if there was any way we could get rid of the kitchen knives...without getting rid of the kitchen knives."

Onyx chuckled. "I'm not following."

I also laughed. "Like, we can still have the kitchen knives, but just for cooking purposes. The rest of the time, we'd have them locked up somewhere or something."

"Ah, I understand now." Onyx nodded. "Maybe you'll have some luck talking to Cherry. She is our cook, after all."

"You don't have any ideas, Onyx?" I asked. "I don't want to bother Cherry when she's already done a lot for us."

Onyx thought for a moment. "Hm, I've had to come up with many ideas, with me being a salesman and all. But this is definitely a unique situation. A way to ensure other's use the kitchen knives for what they're intended for, not as weapons."

We both stood in silence for a moment before Onyx suddenly smiled. "I got it! What about, a kitchen bodyguard?"

"Kitchen bodyguard?" I repeated. "What do you mean?"

Onyx cleared his throat and put his hand on my shoulder. "Allow me to explain," He started. "We could have someone designated as guarding the kitchen during the day. We could pick a different person every day, similarly to how we pick different servers every day. Having a kitchen bodyguard would ensure a 100% survival rate among us, as the bodyguard would oversee proper usage of kitchen supplies, and make sure they don't leave the kitchen. Consider my offer, it won't stand for long!"

Then he realized what he said and chuckled. "Haha, sorry, old habit."

I nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. But what happens if the bodyguard is the one with sinister things in mind?"

Onyx thought for a moment before nodding. "A-ha, you've brought up a very valid point! Well, my friend, I offer you an alternative offer: why have 1 bodyguard when you can have 2!"

"2 bodyguards?" I repeated. "Tell me more."

"Having 2 bodyguards will ensure that they keep each other in check," Onyx explained. "So if one gets a wicked idea, the other one can stop them!"

"Sounds like a plan," I nodded. "Thanks, Onyx! I think I can figure out the rest of what to do. You've definitely helped me out."

"No worries," Onyx smirked. "We're all trying to help each other out, right?"

"Exactly," I nodded. "If only Sunrise and Royal could realize that."

"Haha, they're not so bad." Onyx chuckled. "I've been working on them with finding an escape, and so far they haven't made Diamond, Noir, and I crazy. Shadow is really the only one who pisses us off whenever he's in control..."

"Sounds about right," I nodded, remembering Shadow's unlikeable personality. I suddenly remembered when Scarlet and I investigated the rec center, only to find that Team Escape was M.I.A.. "Hey, Onyx, if you don't mind me asking: What exactly has Team Escape been up to?"

"Well, looking for an escape," Onyx answered. "We've mostly been focusing on locating vents, analyzing the maps, looking for keys, codes, and just everything that could help lead to an escape."

"Have there been any major discoveries?" I asked.

Onyx shook his head with a sigh. "Not really. Honestly, I think you and Scarlet's discovery of the note in the rec center has been the biggest discovery so far!"

I chuckled. "True. But, I hope you guys manage to find something. It'd be great to get out of this place."

Onyx suddenly looked like he remembered something.

"Ah, that's right!" He said. "We did realize something."

"What was it?" I questioned.

"After looking at the map of the ship, we drew a mental picture in our heads. And we realized that the layout of the ship, for supposedly being a ship, doesn't make any sense." Onyx explained.

I thought about it, and I could see where Onyx was coming from.

There's a basement on the bottom floor, with a bunch of incinerators for some reason. Then, there's a stairway leading to another floor, which continues for a long way. Then, there's yet another floor.

Plus, there are so many things that we shouldn't be able to do aboard a normal space ship. Eating normal foods, standing on our own two feet without any problems, breathing like normal...

"That definitely fuels our 'we are not actually in space' theory." I nodded.

Onyx shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, man. It's definitely weird." He said. "Plus, Sunrise said he can't remember any conversation about anyone building a spaceship like this."

"It's not even like a space ship, in my opinion," I said. "It's more like something from Star Wars or something."

"Star what?" Onyx laughed.

"Oh, it's an American movie," I explained. "Anyways, thanks for your help Onyx! I owe you one."

"No worries." Onyx nodded. "Although, I'll have to think up a favor..."

Bonus Scene: Girl Talk

After my conversation with Onyx, I decided it'd be best to report to Rose. According to the schedule she gave us on our first day of team building, she and the rest of the 'warm tone' group should be in the computer lab today.

Upon entering the computer lab, I was immediately greeted by a chorus of laughter.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

Cherry, Rose, Merigold, and Scarlet were currently sitting around a table, each of them holding some sort of magazine.

"Crimson," Scarlet smiled. "You have to come play with us."

"This is probably the most enjoyable activity I've done so far here," Rose beamed. "Thanks for the idea, Merigold!"

"Oh, no problemo." Merigold winked. "When I found these in the rec center, I knew they'd be a perfect 'team-building exercise'." She added with a giggle.

"You were definitely right!" Cherry laughed. "I don't usually like super girly stuff like this, but it does help take the stress of Monokuma's motive off."

"That was the intent." Merigold smiled.

"What's up?" I asked, pulling up a chair next to Rose. If I remember correctly, Rose said we'd be coming up with possible passwords for the computers today. But the computers were completely untouched, with all of the girls instead holding a magazine and a pencil in their hand.

"Merigold found this magazine, where you're supposed to rank how cute your classmates are." Rose blushed.

"But we've been doing them using the guys here!" Cherry explained. "So far, we've put Sunrise and Shadow at the bottom of our lists."

"Definitely." Merigold nodded. "They're not that bad looking, but their personalities are a definite turn-off."

"Agreed." Scarlet said.

"Hey, what about the girls?" I questioned with a sly smile. "Shouldn't they be ranked too?"

"Trust me, I wouldn't be opposed," Merigold started. "But there's not enough space on this page. We'll have to save that for another day."

"Well, whatever. I'll play." I laughed, taking a glance at the magazine. They had written the names of every guy aboard the ship, and so far ranked Shadow 11th, and Sunrise 10th.

"I'm going to have to say my boy Sage next. I think he's far better than Shadow and Sunrise, but he's still far from an Azure or me." I grinned.

"True!" Cherry nodded. "He seems nice, he just needs to talk more."

"Then next would be Frost," Merigold suggested. "I like him, but he can be a bit...plain sometimes."

"Hey, I disagree!" Cherry quickly protested. "I've had some really nice conversations with Frost."

"Well, that figures." I chuckled. "You two are always joined at the hip."

"I have noticed that." Scarlet smiled. "Almost makes you think something's going on between you two..."

Cherry blushed. "T-that's not true, we're just friends!"

"If you say so..." Rose said very quietly with a giggle.

"Silver's next." Cherry said, changing the subject. "He's nice, but a little intimidating."

"It's the height." Merigold added. "I mean, his head almost touches the ceiling. Effrayant!"

So, Shadow's 11th, Sunrise's 10th, Sage's 9th, Frost's 8th, and Silver's 7th. Then 6th would have to be...

"My boy Mauve." I sadly sighed. "I hate to rank him so low, but he's another one who doesn't speak up too much."

"Aw, Mauve!" Merigold smiled. "He's really sweet though, when he wants to be."

"Really?" Rose asked in surprise. "I find him to be a little...on the annoying side."

"Annoying?" Scarlet raised a brow. "How so?"

"We were playing cards," Rose explained. "And he kept...winning! Over and over again, like it was nothing. Honestly, I think he might've been cheating...And he kept calling me 'kid'. I hate when people do that, so I'm starting to hate Mauve."

"Wow, Rose, I've never seen you so passionate before." Cherry remarked in surprise.

Rose immediately blushed and looked down. "W-was I too much?"

"No, not at all." Scarlet shook her head. "We're are here to build each other up, right? So, I think we can talk about whatever's on our mind."

"Exactly," Merigold smiled. "Rant away!"

"I'm OK now." Rose shook her head. "I'll propose Onyx to be our 5th."

"Onyx definitely has some jokes up his sleeve." Merigold laughed. "He's made me laugh on more than one occasion."

"True, and his eyes are a pretty color." Cherry smiled.

"His hair too oily and combed down for my taste." Scarlet giggled. "It makes him look older than what he really is, in my opinion."

"You like fluffy hair then?" I asked, gesturing to my own hair. "So I'd be more your style?"

Scarlet quickly shook her head. "U-um, that's not what I meant!" She blushed. "I'm just saying on him-"

"No worries, Scar." I laughed. "Just teasing. Anyways, who'd be 4th? This is getting hard now."

"It is." Cherry frowned. "Every other guy left is so sweet and cute!"

"Cloud, maybe?" Merigold suggested. "He is the other half of Shadow, and that creeps me out."

"Aw, but he's so cute!" Cherry stated. "I just want to give him a hug every time I see him getting anxious."

"He does have that 'puppy-dog' look about him, doesn't he?" Rose smiled.

"I'm gonna have to say Cotton's 3rd." Cherry said. "He's cute, sweet, and smart, but also totally impulsive."

"Yes, regrettably." Merigold sighed. "I feel bad for him. He hasn't even gotten a chance to know any of us yet."

"But he'll be better soon." Scarlet reminded. "And I'm sure he'll love the party."

"True." Cherry nodded. "Anyways...Ladies and gents, we're down to our last 2 bachelors!"

"Hm, Azure and Crimson, huh?" Rose thought.

"Heheh, you ladies know the correct answer, don't you?" I smirked, flashing a wink.

"Of course we do!" Merigold smiled back. "Azure!"

"W-what?!" I asked in shock. "Azure?"

"Azure." Rose nodded. "He's sweet, cute, smart, level-headed, and a great leader."

"Yup!" Cherry agreed. "Crimson, you definitely have the looks and the personality going for you, but you haven't really shown us how smart you are, and you don't have the best track record when it comes to angry outbursts."

"Fine." I pouted. "Azure is pretty cute..."

Our 'girls talk' took a pretty long time, so it was already time for dinner. As usual, Cherry went into the kitchen to cook. The servers today were Sage, Rose, and Lava.

I decided now would be a good time as any to share Onyx's idea about having two bodyguards to watch over the kitchen equipment.

"I like it!" Emerald nodded. "It'd definitely make us feel a lot safer."

"I'm up for it too." Mauve agreed. "Anyone tries something and I'll restrain them right away."

"I like that idea." Indigo said quietly. "I don't want anybody to get hurt..."

"It's definitely intriguing." Diamond nodded. "Though, we'd have to work out some specifics."

"Count me in as a bodyguard, sounds like fun!" Noir cheered.

"I also wouldn't be opposed to being a bodyguard." Silver said. "It'd be an honor protecting you all."

"Tch, Cloud's weak body can barely lift a fork, so count him out." Shadow sneered. "And I guess that means me, too..."

"Well, King Sunrise, what's your ruling?" I asked, watching as Sunrise boredly watched us converse.

He thought for a moment and sighed.

"...I guess it's a good idea." He said with a dry tone. "But I have a few rules that I want to add."

"Shoot away." I encouraged.

"First, me and Royal will never be bodyguards. And, I'll also excuse anyone who was assigned as a server for that day. Lastly, no one can be a bodyguard two days in a row. Other than that, do whatever the fuck you want." Sunrise yawned.

"Thanks, Sunrise." I smiled. It was refreshing to see him actually act like a leader, unlike Royal, who was currently retouching her make up.

"Whatever." Sunrise shrugged, going back to doing nothing.

Soon after our discussion about the implementation of bodyguards, Cherry came out and announced the food was ready.

Our servers took off, and soon after came back with our food of the night: Greek salad.

We ate our meal in relative silence.

I think everyone was a little on edge with the announcement of Monokuma's motive.

Looking around at everyone, I couldn't help but get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

There are 18 people I barely know sitting with me.

Would it really be possible for all of us to resist Monokuma's motive?

You know what, I'm going to try and be positive! I'm sure we're all strong enough to resist his temptations.

We'll get out of here together!

I'll make sure of it, even if kills me.

A/N: Yay, new chapter time :) I always look forward to seeing your guys' reactions.

This chapter can be kind of seen as a 'filler chapter'.

This is the shortest chapter yet, to segway into the biggest one yet, next chapter. Nothing super important happening in this chapter, just a few details you'll want to take note of, and a bonus scene inspired by Kaede and Rantaro's bonus scene in DRV3.

Let me know your guesses for the first victim and killer!

Or who knows, maybe Crimson's right and they'll all live happily ever after aboard the HFH Enterprise?