At long last, Masashi would soon discover what he had been made to forget of his lost darling. He now stood before his pod in the Memory Bank, his fingers itching to type in the password. He had not expected himself to be in this situation, but it was all thanks to luck that he would see what he had lost.
He could almost laugh at how swimmingly things had gone. It felt almost too good to be true, and yet, here he was.
Without further ado, he typed "Keiko Kousaki" in the keyboard. The pod's lid then rose, letting him go into the inside. There was still the same headset, so it seemed that Monokuma had changed nothing about the pod, which Masashi had expected.
Once inside, he wore the headset, after which the pod's lid then shut itself and bathed him in nothing but darkness. A few seconds later, the headset turned on, and he saw a light-blue screen that showed a menu:
Watch Memories
History
Instructions
Leave
Experimenting around a bit, he discovered that he could still use his hands while using the program, and by touching the right side of his headset, which had a few buttons acting as a control panel, he could move through the menu. He looked at the Instructions section first, and it listed what he could do while watching his memories. There was no pause button, but there was an option to "abruptly end" the watching of a memory by pressing any two buttons on the right side of the headset. Masashi had no idea why he might do that, but it might be handy to have such an option later.
Curious about the History option, he clicked it, and the screen then showed the following:
Day 1, 7:31 AM - Pod accessed
Day 1, 7:31 AM - Memory extraction started
Day 1, 6:33 PM - Memory extraction finished
Day 1, 6:33 PM - Pod exited
Day 2, 10:34 PM - Pod accessed
Ah, so it's a history of everything done in the pod… How convenient, Masashi thought. It was most likely there to help keep track of everything that he had done with the pods, though frustratingly enough, the actual date was not shown; it instead started counting from the day when the pods began their service. Thankfully, there was a small indicator of the time at the bottom part of the screen. He must make sure that he should not stay here for too long, after all.
Now, then, it was time to see what he had come here for. He chose the "Watch Memories" button, after which he found a list whose contents were "Memory 1", "Memory 2", and so forth. He could not tell exactly how many memories there were, though if he were to guess, he would think the number to be at least fifty.
Having taken in the sight, Masashi clicked "Memory 1", after which everything turned white.
"Hey, Masashi, get up already, will you?"
The fourteen-year-old Masashi groaned as he opened his eyes and saw his twelve-year-old sister, her black eyes looking right at him, her arms akimbo. Once seeing that he would not rise any time soon, she sighed and drew open the nearby curtains of his small, cozy bedroom, which made him wince a bit at the sudden coming of light.
"Come on, get up!" Keiko said. "It's ten forty-five, you know. You usually wake up much earlier than that. Don't tell me you stayed up playing that new game of yours."
"Hey, it was recommended to me by lots of my classmates, and it was a really fun game—"
"Again with the excuses. You've got to think about your choices, you know!" Keiko replied. "Last time, you said you couldn't clean up after yourself because you'd been too busy studying for that test. But if you ask me, you shouldn't have crammed in the first place."
"I wasn't cramming! I was simply—"
"Yeah, yeah, have it your way. At least get up, will you? I can't clean the sheets while you're on the bed," Keiko said, looking half-amused. "I've already cooked your breakfast, but at this point, with how slow you are, it'll be your lunch instead."
Thinking not to waste her time anymore, Masashi got up and stretched his arms as he headed off to the bathroom. By the time he was done brushing his teeth, the bedsheets had already been taken to the washing machine downstairs, and Keiko was now cleaning his desk, humming a sweet tune. However much she might bicker with him about how lazy he sometimes was with maintaining his room, she would never threaten to deny him this service, as he could tell that Keiko truly enjoyed doing this kind of stuff.
Afterwards, Masashi headed downstairs to the kitchen and found his meal. Once he was done with it, he headed back to his room and saw that the room indeed looked smart, everything in its proper place, or at least what Keiko had deemed proper. The only thing missing was the bedsheets, but that would take some time to finish in the laundry.
"What's your plan for today?" Keiko asked.
"Well, I was thinking that we could play a game together," Masashi said. "How about the racing game I bought yesterday? You looked a bit interested in it."
"You just want to put off doing your homework, don't you?"
"I have plenty of time tomorrow, so I plan to do it then."
"If you ask me, that's a roundabout way of saying you're not doing it now."
"And if you ask me, that's a roundabout way of saying you'll lose if I challenge you."
Keiko sneered, her eyes glinting. "So you want to play it that way, do you? Well, don't say I didn't warn you when you complain about homework tomorrow."
He and Keiko then headed over to the living room and started up the console. For the next few minutes after that, they played several short rounds of the racing game, and though Masashi won a few more times than Keiko, he could see that she had as much fun with the game.
Keiko giggled as she put down the controller, having won this round. "Well, now, it's been fun playing this with you, but I have to take care of the bedsheets now. The laundry should have finished by now."
"Wow, you haven't forgotten about that?"
"You know me well enough to see I don't forget about the important things," Keiko said. "Unlike you."
"I can assure you that I don't forget about laundry at all," Masashi said.
Keiko let out a small chuckle. "Come on, you know that's not what I meant."
"Oh, I know," Masashi said as he stood up. "All right, you win. I'll help."
Keiko smiled. "You don't need to, really, but thanks for helping me out."
Of course he would help out if he felt like it. This was his home, and he had to take some responsibility in helping maintain it. His father was busy with work, and his mother was out of town right now, so while they were gone, all responsibility was left to both siblings. Keiko took care of nearly everything to the point that Masashi felt a bit ashamed, but on the other hand, he was glad that thanks to her work, the two of them now had much more time to do whatever they wanted.
It was such a sweet, peaceful life, and he asked for nothing more.
It was far more tiresome to go through his memories than he had thought; he expected it to be rather simple to go through, but to see what he had lost was beyond shocking. Every time a memory reached its end, he was taken back to the screen showing the list of memories, so it was that short break that stopped him from being fully immersed in the world of his memories. And the memories were of variable length; one memory could last about half an hour, whereas another could be as short as three minutes.
Back at the main menu, Masashi wondered whether the History section had changed at all. When he went to it, he saw that it indeed was different:
Day 1, 7:31 AM - Pod accessed
Day 1, 7:31 AM - Memory extraction started
Day 1, 6:33 PM - Memory extraction finished
Day 1, 6:33 PM - Pod exited
Day 2, 10:34 PM - Pod accessed
Day 2, 10:35 PM - Memory 1 started
Day 2, 11:07 PM - Memory 1 finished
…
Day 3, 12:39 AM - Memory 9 started
Day 3, 12:55 AM - Memory 9 finished
Though interested in seeing more memories, he decided that he had had enough of this for one day; even he could not risk staying out here for too long, as he had a feeling that staying out too late risked something bad befalling him. Moreover, he felt rather tired; even though the mind was keen, the body said otherwise, and so he thought to resume his journey later.
He clicked the option to leave, after which the screen disappeared, and all became dark. A few seconds later, the pod's lid opened, letting all light come in again; this time, he did not wince, having seen it coming. Once he left the pod, it closed, keeping the memories safe and sound.
Ah… How lovely it was to see you again, Keiko…
Masashi widened his smile as he recalled what he had seen. His memory of his memories was far from perfect, but it had been a great pleasure to find out what was missing from his blissful, peaceful life. And every moment in which he was with his sister was wonderful as well, however dull and ordinary the occasion might be. It was funny that it was the memory theft that let him fully appreciate the richness and wealth in those ordinary moments that had happened long ago, but that was how things had ended up—
And it was then that he heard the door open.
Alarmed, Masashi turned toward the door, only to freeze upon seeing the unbidden visitor.
"Wh-Wh-What… What are you doing here?" Masashi asked.
"I ought to ask you the same question, commoner!" Maiha answered, eyeing him with surprise. "I was taking a nightly walk around the ship when I happened to see a boat on the other side of the river. My curiosity piqued, I headed here at once, and whom should I see but you! Truly, I should say that I am surprised, but..." Then she sneered. "If I remember correctly, you sneaked off to the hidden library when the rest of us were still kept unaware about it. I should have expected you to wander around at night."
"Oh… Well, for your information, I was only talking a walk," Masashi said, keeping his guard up as he looked at the lady. Though she posed no physical threat to him, he feared what she might do next, given her cunning and craftiness.
"Were you, really?" Maiha chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand. "What a particularly odd spot to walk to."
"Yeah, well, I find this room oddly soothing," Masashi replied. "I don't mind Ancient Egypt, but it's not a place I'd stay in if I wanted to cool off."
Maiha chuckled again. "You really ought to cultivate your tastes more. Notwithstanding the lack of actual chariots, I find this ship to be a relaxing place to be in. The ancient Egyptians certainly had many interesting customs. Do you know that the ancient Egyptians highly valued their cats?"
"They did?"
"Indeed. And I myself know the worth of cats. I own two of them," Maiha answered.
"Well, if you say that, then who am I to argue?" Masashi said, hoping that a little flattery would distract her. "I'm just a thoughtless commoner, after all."
"Hmph. That is the most natural conclusion to draw," she said. "But… I'm surprised, truly."
Masashi looked askance at her. "Surprised? What for?"
"When we first met, you said that you were the Ultimate Lucky Student, so I thought little of you," Maiha answered, giving him a sidelong glance as she faced elsewhere. "But… you managed to figure out how that crafty clown pulled off Atsushi's murder. I was astounded to hear you accuse her."
"Well… at that point, all the evidence pointed toward her," Masashi answered.
"Still, you managed to see through all her deceptions," Maiha said as she lowered her eyes a bit. "And it is so, so odd! Among the commoners here, you are the most ordinary and unexceptional, and yet it was not any of the other commoners but you that solved the case. It is such a perplexing image…"
Maiha mumbled off as her expression grew more and more confused. For a second, Masashi thought that she might think twice about her opinion of him, but he was still aware that he ought to be wary of her. Indeed, that she thought him to be exceptional might not be so good a sign as he would like; all it meant was that she would focus on him more, and he would rather stay out of whatever schemes the lady might have.
Eventually, she looked back at him, a gentle but ever so arrogant smile on her face. "Anyway… I suppose that you and I are done with our walks now. Much as I would rather walk by myself, just this once, I will let you accompany me. We both are heading for the same destination, are we not?"
"Hmm… I guess so," Masashi answered, feeling a bit more relieved that Maiha had not questioned him any further on his activities here.
Afterwards, the two left the Memory Bank together, and they rode to the other side of the river on separate boats. Without uttering even one word, the two made their way back to the fourth deck of the woodland kingdom, where everything was still at peace. The two then bade each other good night before heading back into their rooms.
Once in his room, Masashi heaved a great sigh of relief, all euphoria from remembering Keiko now gone. And it was all due to that woman, Maiha Hanazawa, whom he had not expected at all to see. In hindsight, going to the Memory Bank had seemed like a rather foolhardy idea, but he did not regret it at all; he now remembered a bit more of Keiko. And thankfully, it was Maiha and not anyone else that he had had the misfortune to see; Maiha was by no means a paragon of goodness, but if someone like Sorao or Futaba had found him, things would have definitely gone differently.
Still, his encounter with Maiha now reminded him of the risks of going off somewhere in the night. And that was not to mention that he meant to kept his knowledge of Keiko a secret from the others; the others were not to know that he not only had kept his motive video but also had taken a look at his memories in the Memory Bank. No, those were for his eyes only.
"Hey, buddy, wanna talk for a moment?"
Masashi started upon hearing that voice, but sighed as the familiar sight of Monokuma appeared right before him.
"What do you want?" Masashi asked. Instinctively, he crossed his arms, protecting the motive video from the bear.
"Oh, come on, Masashi, you know what I'm here to talk about!" Monokuma answered, looking a bit angry. "You were so loud, you know! You kept saying that delicious food product's name so many times… Cake-O!"
"It's 'Keiko', and that's my sister you're talking about," Masashi answered sternly. If the bear was going to waste his time, the least that he could do was cut the jokes and get straight to the topic. "And it wasn't against the rules, was it?"
"No, but I didn't appreciate it at all! I have to watch you guys 24-7, and let me tell you, unless there's a killing or some lovemaking going on, it's no fun to have my serenity ruined at night!" Monokuma replied before calming down. "Anyway… if truth be told, buddy, I was pretty surprised to see you like that! When I gave you guys the current motive, I didn't think you'd find your old motive video."
"Yeah, well, I did. Is there something wrong with that?"
"Oh, of course not! There's no rule saying that you can't keep your motive video, right? And it'd be unfair if I changed how the Memory Bank works, all because of you," Monokuma said. "Still… I didn't expect you to see your memories like that. I figured you'd think about killing for a change."
Masashi frowned. "I'm already happy enough being able to see my memories."
"Puhuhuhu… Fair enough," Monokuma said. "But you know, with how calm you are, I'm surprised you haven't thought about that…"
Masashi raised his brow. "What are you talking about?"
"You know… seeing that lady in the middle of the night!" Monokuma answered. "You think you've fooled her with your excuse that you were only out for a walk. But come on, have you thought about her own tale?"
Masashi stiffened upon realizing what Monokuma was hinting at. "Wait… Are you saying that she wasn't out on a walk?"
"Hey, now, I'm not saying she was lying about it! I'm only suggesting the possibility!" Monokuma said. "Are you sure that you're the only one sneaking off to the Memory Bank at night?"
The more he thought about it, the more he begrudgingly admitted that Monokuma had a point here. It was not certain, but it was awfully weird that Maiha had gone to the Memory Bank at that particular time.
No… Could it be… she went there because she'd remembered what her darling's name was? Masashi thought. Or could she have gone there for some other purpose? But what…?
"But hey, that's only food for thought!" Monokuma said. "I think I'll let you chew on that by your lonesome now. See ya!"
Monokuma disappeared in an eyeblink, after which Masashi sighed, put away his motive video, and lay down on his bed. He had begun the night on such a good note, but to have it end on encounters with Maiha Hanazawa and Monokuma made him want to go to sleep and let the night end already.
The next morning, the breakfast meal went by uneventfully, though Masashi caught Maiha looking at him every now and then. Masashi wondered what she was up to, but he did not care enough to ask; even one encounter had been enough of her already. And besides, he had a weightier issue to deal with now.
After the meal ended, Masashi walked up to Sorao, who was about to leave with Futaba. "Hey, could I talk to you about something?"
Sorao raised his brow. "What is it, man? I've got something to do with Lady Inoshishi soon."
"It's something that may take a while," Masashi said. "And I'd rather talk about it with you in private."
"Well… if that's the case…" Sorao then looked back at the mistress. "Lady Inoshishi, please wait for me at the palace's lounge. It seems that I have a matter to settle with Masashi."
Futaba sighed, shaking her head. "I suppose that duty calls. I shall wait for you in the meantime."
Afterwards, Masashi and Sorao walked over to the lounge on the third deck, and Sorao shut the door.
"All right, buddy, what is it?" Sorao asked.
Though he had planned this meeting, it had just occurred to Masashi that he did not know exactly what to say. Sorao did not seem like the kind of man to use violence, but depending on how things go, he might find that things would turn ugly.
"Well, I have something to confess," Masashi said, thinking it best that he establish already what he wanted to talk about. "I know that you have become Futaba's lover."
Sorao widened his eyes. "Wait… you know about that?"
"That's right. I eavesdropped on your conversation yesterday as well as the one a few days ago," Masashi answered. "You know, the one in which she told you that she already had feelings for that Spanish dancer woman."
Sorao frowned a little, his gaze growing a bit stern. "Oh, that conversation…"
"I'm sorry that I eavesdropped on you, but that's not the main problem here," Masashi said.
"Problem? And what exactly is the problem, man?"
Masashi gulped. Even though his misdeed had not been exposed yet, he could tell that Sorao had caught on to what he was about to say. But he must keep on going; he must expose what Sorao's true intentions were. Since he had lied to her, it might mean that he was up to something, just like Haruka, and a preventable tragedy would later happen.
"You… You lied to her when you agreed to be in a relationship with her," Masashi said. "You didn't tell her that she already had a lover, when you knew full well that she did."
"I lied? Really?" Sorao sighed, arms set on his hips. "And why did I lie, exactly?"
Huh, that's a pretty telling response, Masashi thought. Ordinarily, anyone else would be confused about his accusation, but here, Sorao had given himself away with his understanding of the situation.
"I don't know for certain," Masashi answered, "but if I had to guess, I'd say you wanted to be her lover all along. You were disappointed when hearing that she already had one. But thanks to Monokuma's meddling, Futaba was made to forget about her lover, and so to fulfill her desire of love, she turned to you instead, and that's where things turned in your favor!"
Sorao raised his arms halfway. "Come on, man, you don't have proof that I lied, do you? All you have is a guess that I lied by not telling her. The truth is, I forgot about her former lover. I'm not particularly good with remembering things, much as I want to fix that, so that woman simply slipped my mind."
Fortunately, Masashi already had a response to that, having foreseen this kind of response.
"Well… if you truly forgot about it," Masashi said, trying to hide his unease, "then you won't mind it if I tell Futaba about her former lover, right?"
And it was then that all calmness disappeared from the musician's face, looking at him as if threatened.
"N-No way… You surely won't…!" Sorao said, his breath cut short.
"I will." Masashi looked him right in the eye. "I'm sure she'll be really interested in what she's forgotten."
Sorao ground his teeth, stiffened by his threat. Much as he did not like to do this, it was the only way to make Sorao own up to what he had done. Only then would his true intentions be shown at last.
"Nggh… All right. You win." Sorao sighed as he sat down at one of the couches, his head hung down. "I'll tell you the whole story."
Masashi did his best to hide his smile, glad that his plan had worked. "So is everything that I said true?"
"Well, I can't say that it's false," Sorao replied. "I don't deny it: getting into a relationship with Lady Inoshishi was what I wanted, so it helped me to lie to her. That's one of the reasons for the lie."
"'One of'?" Masashi raised his brow.
"Yeah…" Sorao then looked up at him. "It wasn't for my sake only that I lied. It was also... for hers."
"For hers?" Masashi looked dumbly at him, not having expected that response. "I… I don't get it."
Sorao sighed. "Let me put it another way. Suppose that I hadn't lied to her and had told her that she already had a lover. What do you think would have happened next?"
"Well… I expect that she'd have become curious about her lover," Masashi answered.
"Exactly. But don't you see the problem with that? She couldn't in good conscious make me become her lover if she knew already that she had someone else. You know that for sure from our first conversation," Sorao said. "What do you think would happen next?"
"She… She'd want to find out what she'd… forgotten…"
"And the only way to do that is... by killing someone."
Masashi realized with growing dread what Sorao was getting at. He had not imagined it at all, but given that it was the truth behind Sorao's deed, then suddenly, everything became a bit more complicated than he had expected.
"But what about her memories in the Memory Bank?" Masashi suggested. "Can't you let her see her memories in the Memory Bank to satisfy her desire of love?"
After all, he himself had rediscovered some of his memories of Keiko, and he had not felt tempted to kill. It could be the same for Futaba.
Sorao looked astoundedly at him. "What…? Go to the Memory Bank and let her see her memories…? Are you serious?"
"You know her former lover's name, don't you? So you can do that," Masashi replied.
"Yes, but… don't you think it might tempt her even more?" Sorao replied. "Sure, you may think that if it were you, you wouldn't feel tempted at all. But you can't say that for certain about her. If she watched her memories, she might become more tempted to forsake us all and kill to get out of here and find her former lover. It's too risky."
Too… risky?
Upon hearing that, Masashi dropped all his protests against Sorao's unwillingness to go with his suggestion. He had a point, after all; the outcome of rediscovering the lost memories by going to the Memory Bank could be the same for Futaba as it had been for him, but on the other hand, it was just as likely that it would be different. He had not fallen for the first motive, but as they all tragically knew, Haruka could not resist it, and so he could hardly think that they were all alike.
"That's why I can't let her be exposed to anything related to her former lover. Not her name, not her memories, not even her being," Sorao said. "Lady Inoshishi had already admitted that at times, she was close to falling for the killing game's temptation. So it's too risky to potentially kindle her desire to kill to discover what she had lost. I can't let it ruin my relationship with her, when it stops her from killing. If she ever killed and succeeded in getting away, she'd be the only survivor; I, her lover, would be lost, so she'd only lose if she were to kill now."
"And… you took into account all this when you agreed to it?" Masashi said.
"Yes." Sorao then looked sternly at him, as if to reassure him that this was no lie. "It was part of my promise to her."
"Sorao… Please remember what we talked about the other day," Futaba said, she and her deputy standing in the back. "If Monokuma should try to tempt me with his motive… then you must do whatever you can to help me resist it."
Sorao nodded, a strong-willed expression on his face. "And I promise you that I won't forget."
"No way… That's why you lied to her?" Masashi uttered, all breath taken from him.
Sorao nodded. "When she said that she loved me… I was so happy. I could then make not only myself happy… but also her! It seemed so good that even I doubted that it was true at first!
"But it was clear that it was no lie. Becoming her lover was the best way to ward her from temptation, so I gladly went along with the lie.
"Masashi... now that you know the whole story behind this… can you in good conscience tell Lady Inoshishi the truth?" Sorao asked, gazing at him with beseeching eyes. "Can you truly tell her, when you know what will likely happen if she learns of this?"
Once he was done, Masashi was at a loss on what to say.
It felt so wrong to hide the truth from her. Futaba deserved to know what she had forgotten, since she would have a far better idea of the weight of her decisions. But on the other hand, he understood why Sorao had done what he had done; it was an awful lie, but he had done it to ward her from the killing game. It was almost cruel that he must think about this at all; in an ideal world, this would not be happening, and they could all live together in harmony.
But… aren't things all right the way they are?
A few seconds later, Masashi made a decision.
"No... I can't tell her."
Sorao cracked a little smile. "So you understand now, huh, Masashi?"
"Given how things are right now, I think it's the better option. I don't want to potentially let her feel tempted enough to become a killer," he answered. "But let me make it clear: ideally, I wouldn't lie to her about this at all."
"Well, keep in mind that not all lies are told only to benefit the liar," Sorao said. "Lies can help others as well. In fact, sometimes, the lie is better than the truth... especially when the truth is not in others' benefit to know."
"Yeah... I get it."
Masashi was fully aware that he had been lying to the others about what he had done. He had hidden his motive video and later gone to the Memory Bank in secret, and both had been done only for his benefit. But with Sorao, his lie benefited not only him but also Futaba. If what it took to keep the peace here was a lie, then he had no reason to tell the truth in this case.
"But what are you going to do once our memories come back?" Masashi asked. "She'll remember her relationship with that dancer."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Sorao said. "For now, though, my priority is to make sure that she should not fall to temptation.
"Now, if you'll excuse me," he then said as he got up from his seat, "I have an arrangement with Lady Inoshishi. See you later."
Sorao then left, leaving Masashi alone. For a while, Masashi thought about whether he had truly made the right choice by deciding not to tell Futaba, but in the end, he thought it best that he let things be.
At the dinner meal, Mari asked whether she could say something to the whole group.
"What is it?" Futaba asked.
"It's about the weather," Mari answered. "I've been noticing that the weather has been getting harsher and harsher each day. The signs suggest that a storm may come soon."
Many of the group looked a little worriedly at one another. Up until now, the weather had been swell, even if there were the occasional strong winds at nighttime, but the possibility of stormy weather had not been talked about.
"And what's the problem?" Sayua asked. "If it rains or whatever, we can always just stay inside."
"True, but there's something else that concerns me," Mari replied. "It's about supplies. Monokuma's the one that refills all our food, isn't he?"
"Yeah… Thanks to him, we don't have to worry about how to get food," Sorao answered. "You know, now that you mention it, how does he even do that anyway?"
"If I were to guess," Haruyuki said, "I would think that a ship with supplies comes here at some point in the night. Monokuma or an underling working for him can then refill that which is in low supply."
"Hmm… That sounds plausible," Masashi said. "But if that's true, then what'll happen if there's a storm?"
"Supplies may not come to us…" Faye said, she and a few others realizing the implications.
Sorao frowned as well. "Oh… Well, that wouldn't be good, would it? We have to do something about it. We have to make sure that we won't starve or anything if we ever run out of food in a storm. What's the plan now, Lady Inoshishi?"
"Hmm… I have one idea in mind," she answered. "Captain Monokuma!"
"Yes?" And just like that, Monokuma appeared in their midst, which startled a few of the people near him.
"You've been listening to this conversation, so you are aware of our circumstances," Futaba answered. "Is it possible to deliver some canned food and water to us, just in case an emergency should arise?"
"What, you're concerned about that?" Monokuma said, cocking his head. "Really?"
Futaba stared blankly at him. "Have I misspoken?"
"Oh, no, no, I'm just surprised that you're actually thinking responsibly!" Monokuma replied. "Usually, teenagers just laze around and leech off their parents when it comes to basic necessities."
The lady scoffed, her arms crossed. "I would appreciate it if you did not lump me in with that crowd. Anyway, could you fulfill the request?"
"Why, sure I can! According to the weather reports, a storm's coming our way soon, so it's best to get ready!" Monokuma said, trying to look cute as if he were a mascot used in an emergency announcement. "But, uh, since you've just asked me, it'll take a while to deliver supplies."
"A while?" Tanjiro said. "Then when?"
"By my estimate, the supplies will come around six-thirty next morning," Monokuma answered. "Oh, and I can keep delivering you supplies, but only once a day. A batch of supplies should include about thirty cans of food and ten gallons of water."
"That'll be enough," Futaba answered.
"With the current weather, I guess we shouldn't be swimming in the pool for now," Mari said.
"Well, if you want to go swimming, the river should be all right. It's indoors, right?" Sorao said.
Monokuma cocked his head. "What? You don't know? You're not allowed to swim in the river, buddy!"
"Huh?" Sorao said, he and many others looking bemused. "What are you talking about?"
"It's in the brochure, buddy. Swimming in the river's not allowed!" Monokuma then took out the same kind of brochure that Masashi had seen Tanjiro with during the first exploration of the Egyptian palace. Monokuma opened up the brochure to the page that showed a map of the palace and pointed to the part about the river. "See here? 'No one may swim or dive into the river'. We once had an incident where a boat accidentally hit a swimmer, and sure, the guy didn't die, but we put in that rule to avoid having that kind of incident again."
"Huh... It does say that," Tanjiro said, looking with awe at the brochure. "I think I saw that, but forgot to mention it to you guys."
"Either way, we can't swim in the river as well." Sorao sighed as he shook his head. "Man, and here I was, thinking we could have a nice relaxing swimming session."
Once Monokuma left, the others looked more relieved, now that they had some assurance of supplies in case the upcoming storm should prove far stronger than they thought. Masashi was thankful that Monokuma would not deliberately starve them, either to toy with them or to use their disadvantage as part of a motive.
"Uh, I have a question," Tanjiro said. "Will we keep the supplies in the kitchen?"
"Of course. I see no problem with the arrangement," Futaba answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Well… I'm concerned that if an emergency should happen," the writer said, "one of us may end up taking all the resources. After all, there's nothing stopping us from going to the kitchen and taking whatever's inside."
His answer quickly rid the group of the relief that they had just felt, each student looking at one another with eyes filled with suspicion. There were no locks in the kitchen, after all, so the greediest one among them would not be hindered in any way.
"Yeah, that's a good point there!" Sayua said, nodding. "I was about to bring it up, but you know, good job speaking for me, buddy."
"And I can think of a certain person that would underhandedly take our supplies," Maiha said, eyeing Red Mask.
"Hey! Why are you looking at me like that?" the phantom thief said. "What kind of girl do you take me for?"
"Your whole character already shows that you're willing enough to take that which you do not deserve," Maiha replied coldly, looking at her unamusedly.
"Well, I always return whatever I steal, I'll have you know!" Red Mask answered blithely.
"That's not really making it any better, though..." Tanjiro said.
Maiha merely frowned as she gave the thief the evil eye, and from the expressions of some others, it seemed that they too shared feelings of mistrust and suspicion of her.
"Hmm… anyway," Mari said, looking upwards at no particular place, "if we need a place to safely stow our supplies, why not use the second exhibit room for that purpose?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess we can do that," Sorao said. "Though since the supplies will be delivered really early in the morning, Faye and Abraham have some extra work to do."
Abraham scoffed. "The time is no problem for me."
"Y-Yeah… I can handle waking up an hour or so earlier than usual," Faye replied.
"Then it's settled," Futaba said. "We shall do whatever we can to prepare for whatever may come our way."
After the dinner meal ended, all the students split off as usual. Abraham, who had not eaten dinner yet, having declined as usual, stayed here, cleaning up the others' messes. The only other ones who stayed as well were Sister Hikari and Kumi.
"S-Sister Hikari?" Kumi said, who looked a little tired, if his eyes were any sign, "When are we getting our memories back?"
"Oh, Kumi… I wish I could say for sure," Sister Hikari said, who too looked a bit tired, though she kept her usual gladsome tone in her voice, "but I assure you, they will come back eventually, one way or another. In the meantime, we must not waver in this trying time. This is yet another trial of hardship that we must endure and overcome."
"Hey, is something the matter?" Masashi asked.
Sister Hikari widened her eyes a little. "Oh, Masashi! Well, as you may have seen, Kumi's still having trouble coping with the loss of his memories of his darling."
"If I may ask, who's his darling, anyway?" Masashi wondered how important that person was to Kumi and whether that person might have anything to do with Kumi's eccentricity.
"Ah, well… Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. Hold on." She then turned toward the storyteller with a bright smile. "Oh, Kumi, I'll be talking about something with Masashi for a while. Could you stay in your seat and choose a story of yours to read me later?"
"R-Really?!" Kumi said, eyes beaming. "I-I'd love to read you another story of mine! All right, I'll think very hard about which one we should read! I promise you, it'll be wonderful!"
As Kumi took our his book of fantastic tales from his satchel, Sister Hikari led Masashi to another part of the dining room.
"Well, to begin with," Sister Hikari said, now showing a more serious look on her face, "from what I can tell, he can't remember anything about his mother. He can hardly remember anything about his father, either."
"Huh?" Masashi said. "Wait, but how? Didn't Monokuma erase only one person from his memories?"
"Well, yes, but if you think about it, there is a plausible explanation for it," Sister Hikari replied. "Monokuma said that he'd erased all memories of our darlings. That means that the other people in those memories have been erased as well. We may still remember those other people as long as they aren't in any memories featuring our darlings."
"So we can easily guess that most of his memories of his father featured his mother as well…"
Masashi sighed, not having realized how nefarious the motive could be. Though he had forgotten about Keiko until he had found the motive video, he had remembered such people as his parents and his friends, because he had spent time with them without having his sister involved.
Sister Hikari nodded. "Uh, Masashi, this may sound odd, but… I'm not sure how much his well-being will improve once our memories come back."
Masashi looked at her bemusedly. "Huh? What do you mean?"
The nun scratched a side of her neck. "I'm not sure whether you know this already, but… according to Kumi, he lives in a small orphanage. Even though he says he lives a happy life at the orphanage, it still doesn't change the fact that his parents aren't there for him anymore."
"Oh… And does Kumi remember why he was put in an orphanage in the first place?"
Sister Hikari shook her head. "Kumi remembers that he was put in the orphanage at a really young age, as well as the fact that he's been there for years… And he's aware that something must've happened to his parents, but he doesn't know what. And it's something that bothers him a little, he tells me. Is there anything that you suggest that I do?"
Masashi then looked at the storyteller, who was blithely going through the pages of his book of fantastic tales. Seeing how gentle and innocent he was made it all the drearier to think about what might have separated him from his parents. Masashi could hardly imagine what it would be like to lose his own parents; it was bad enough to be trapped in a killing game, but at least he was sure that one day, he could go back home and see his parents again.
"Well, there's nothing else you can do about that issue right now," Masashi said. "You can deal with it once our memories come back. But until then, all we have is speculation. What you're doing now to take care of him is good enough."
Sister Hikari sighed, looking a bit disappointed. "Yes… That's pretty much I expected you to say. I wish there were more I could do, but I can see that there's no use thinking more about it." Sister Hikari let out a small yawn, covering her mouth with her hand. "By the way, I was hoping that the problem of Kumi's nightmares wouldn't come back, but for the last two nights, he's been plagued with them. And to top it all off, they've gotten worse. Last night, he dreamt that Monokuma captured us and wolfed on our brains before eating our bodies. He woke up just as Monokuma was about to eat his brain...
"I've tried whatever I can to soothe him and make sure that he should know how to deal with them, but…" She rubbed her eyes before yawning again. "Oh, excuse me. I feel a little…"
"Overworked," Masashi finished for her. "You really should take a break, Sister Hikari. I appreciate what you've done, but we all have limits. In fact, you should rest tomorrow."
Sister Hikari widened her eyes, as if horrified by the suggestion. "But I can't very well do that! Ever since the nightmares started, I've had to take good care of him!"
"Still, if you overwork yourself, it'll hurt you in the long run!" Masashi insisted. "Tell you what: maybe I could look after Kumi tomorrow, while you spend the day tomorrow taking a break."
"No, no, you can't! I mustn't burden you like that!"
"It's no burden, really!" Masashi said determinedly. "Trust me, I'm more than glad to look after him in your stead!"
"But…"
"Sister Hikari, I appreciate that you want to keep on helping the rest of us," Masashi said, "but you can't help others if you can't help yourself."
The nun returned another bewildered gaze at him. "Well… if that's what you insist, then… I suppose I can't afford to jeopardize my health. Very well, then. Just this once, I'll rest. I'll tell him later that I won't be with him tomorrow."
Masashi smiled. "After all your hard work, you deserve it."
Just then, however, the sound of dishes falling onto the floor echoed throughout the room.
"M-My God!" Sister Hikari squealed.
It was none other than Abraham, who had fallen onto the floor as well, the broken remains of the dishes scattered before him.
"Aah! What's going on?!" Kumi said, rushing over while holding onto his book.
"Abraham! Are you all right?" Masashi said as he moved to help him get up.
"U-Ugh…" Abraham groaned, lying flatly on the ground. "D-Don't…"
As Masashi tried to pick him up, however, Abraham weakly waved him away. "Don't you touch me! I… I'm all right!"
"Y-You don't look so all right to me!" Kumi said.
Nonetheless, Masashi thought to hold back his help once he saw Abraham begin to rise. In a few seconds, Abraham slowly managed to get back up, though his expression showed a little dizziness and weakness. It took a few more seconds until he seemed to have gotten all his bearings.
"Are you all right?" Sister Hikari asked. "You certainly gave us quite a scare!"
Abraham frowned as he dusted off his black vest. "I assure you, I'm all right. I just happened to slip and fall."
"Then it must've been a fairy!" Kumi replied, nodding along. "I wouldn't be surprised if the fairy had wanted to play mischief on you and had made you trip!"
Abraham deepened his frown. "What a load of bull—I mean… what imaginative thinking you've got there. I mustn't forget about etiquette and proper behavior while at work..." He then sighed as he looked down at the broken dishes. "Great. Just great. Now I have to clean it all up."
It was then that Masashi noticed that Abraham appeared to be rather tired, the face and the slightly slouching posture a dead giveaway.
"Hey, Abraham, you don't look so good," Masashi said. "Have you been taking care of yourself?"
"Wh-What? What do you mean?" Abraham said, staring at him coldly.
"You know, making sure to eat well, sleep enough, and whatnot."
Abraham looked away, giving him a sidelong glance instead. "I assure you, I am in sound condition. You're making a mountain out of an anthill."
"Still… even if you're only a little tired, you shouldn't neglect your health."
The waiter merely scoffed as he headed off to the kitchen and came back with a broom and a dustpan. "There's no need for any more concern, so I ask that you not bug me with any more of your questions. And besides..." Abraham then grimaced, as if about to talk about a topic that he did not particularly like. "I haven't eaten dinner yet, and I prefer to eat without your company."
Merry Christmas, everyone! This is a pretty lengthy chapter, but it's pretty important, for one reason or another. And just in case this needs to be said, you don't have to agree with everything that Masashi does, even though he's the protagonist. I wasn't surprised to see that none of you apparently saw Sorao in a positive light after the previous chapter's events, so I guess that the outcome of the confrontation against Sorao likely would've been different if you'd been in Masashi's shoes.
By the way, to help you guys, every now and then, I'll remind you which characters I've shown off in Free Time Events.
Chapter 1: Kumi, Haruka, Futaba, Sorao, Faye, and Arashi
Chapter 2: Sister Hikari, Abraham, Mari, Tanjiro, Murphy, and Sayua
Of the surviving students, Haruyuki, Hikari, Maiha, and Red Mask have yet to be shown off. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that they'll all survive this chapter; after all, Atsushi never got a Free Time Event, and yet he was still killed.
