Chapter 2: Mr. Know-It-All
The chiming of an alarm prodded her awake. Hanako flailed one hand to the side, searching for whatever was making the noise, but her fingers met empty air. The bedsheets were slightly stiff against her skin, and they smelled too clean.
I'm not at home. I'm not at the studio.
The alarm sounded again, and she realized it was the sound of a doorbell. She pried her eyes open and grimaced at the bright light shining through the window.
With a groan, she rolled out of bed and fumbled around for a pair of pants. She hopped into the jeans she'd discarded last night and answered the door.
Hajime was outside, hand raised like he'd been about to ring the doorbell a third time.
He lowered his hand when she appeared. "Oh. Hey."
Blinking sleep out of her eyes, Hanako leaned against the doorframe. "Hi. What's up?"
"Uh, Togami wants everyone to meet in the restaurant on the second floor of the hotel. He sent me to come find you."
"Why, did something happen?"
Hajime shrugged. "I guess he just wants to discuss what happened yesterday."
Hanako rubbed her forehead. She wanted at least a couple more hours of sleep before she started considering the absolute insanity that had taken place yesterday.
"Okay, well, thanks for letting me know. I'll ask someone to fill me in later."
She shut the door.
The beach, the bear, the bullets… Hanako flopped onto the bed without bothering to take her jeans off and squeezed her eyes shut.
Don't think about it. Don't think about it. She just wanted to sleep, and not think about the very real possibility that one of them could die on this island.
It was too late. Her body was too wired with anxiety to relax, though she stubbornly lay where she was as the minutes ticked by.
The meeting in the restaurant wasn't a bad idea. If they could all at least stand in the same room and talk things over with each other, maybe they could start trusting one another. And she wasn't exactly making a good impression by sleeping in instead.
She flipped over onto her stomach with a sigh. Five more minutes. It's Togami's fault for holding a meeting so early in the morning.
She jumped as a fist pounded on her door. She pulled the pillow up over her ears and let out a muffled groan.
"Yukimura, you in there?"
It sounded like the large chain-wearing man, which explained the volume of the knocking. She thought about ignoring him, but before she could make a decision he had already barged in.
She tossed the pillow aside. "Dude, what the fuck?"
"You're late for our breakfast meeting, young lady! Didn't you hear the morning announcement?"
"I didn't hear any announcement this morning."
"Are you feeling ill?"
"No," she said, then immediately wished she'd taken the excuse and run with it.
"Then what are you waiting for? Be a team player!"
"All right, for fuck's sake…" she muttered, pushing herself up. "Give me five minutes to get ready."
Thankfully, he let himself out without further comment. Hanako tied her hair up in twin buns and slapped some sunscreen on her arms and face. She looked just as irritable and sleep-deprived as she felt, but at least she was somewhat presentable.
The big guy was waiting for her when she stepped outside.
"Alright, then! Let's not keep everyone waiting."
"Yup." Hanako followed him down the boardwalk that connected the cottages.
"Ah, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I'm Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Team Leader."
That explains why he talks so loud. He fit the picture of coaches she'd seen on the practice fields outside of school, though for a high school student he was absolutely massive.
"Hanako Yukimura, Ultimate Tattoo Artist."
"I'm guessing you didn't get much sleep last night, huh?"
She glanced up, caught off guard by the observation. "Did anyone?"
"I thought the bed was pretty comfortable, so I didn't have much trouble. But hey, a day full of hard work is key for a good night's rest!"
"Good point," Hanako said, then hurried up the stairs on the outside of the hotel. She'd been sensing some sort of motivational speech coming on, and it was way too early in the morning for that.
The others were already seated in the restaurant, half-empty dishes scattered between them. The boy in the white suit, who she assumed was Togami, fixed her with a glare.
"You're late. Was sleeping in really more important than attending this meeting?"
She bristled at his condescending tone and took a seat, the chair legs scraping against the floor. "Well, I'm here now, so…" She held up her hands as if to say, Go ahead.
He frowned at her for a moment, then wiped his hands on a napkin and stood up.
"Very well. I'm sure none of you need a reminder of everything that occurred yesterday. We've been brought to this island for an as of yet unknown reason and asked to kill each other. Does anyone know the most important thing we need right now?"
A beat of silence followed his question, and Togami shot them all a prompting glance.
"Uh, do you mean food and sleep?" asked a girl with unruly brown hair. "Y'know, the basics."
"Don't forget shitting," Nekomaru said.
"Do you mean a bond?" Nagito said, saving the rest of them from having to follow that comment. "Something to motivate us to work together?" He looked around at the others with a smile. "Surely there's nothing you all couldn't accomplish by combining your talents."
A girl with blonde pigtails scoffed. "You sound like a motivational poster."
Togami sighed. "Does anyone else have an answer?"
Hanako raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"How about a working phone line, so we can, like, call for help?"
"A means of communication would certainly be useful, though I find it unlikely we'll be able to find one easily. But I'm not talking about that, nor am I talking about a bond." He surveyed them all again. "No, what we need is a strong and capable leader to take charge of the situation."
Hanako's interest in the conversation evaporated, and she started picking through the leftovers on the table.
"Rejoice, for I have decided to accept that position."
"Hey, wait a second." A girl with red hair straightened in her seat. "You can't just pick yourself to be the leader."
"I've already decided I would be best suited for the role." He lifted his chin. "After all, I am Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny."
"So what if you're rich?" Hanako said. "We didn't even vote for you."
Byakuya merely raised an eyebrow. "If there's anyone willing to step forward as an opposing candidate, I'd be more than happy to bring it to a vote."
Hanako glanced around, but the others remained quiet.
"Well, what about Sonia?" the redhead gestured to another table. "She's the Ultimate Princess. She'd be able to lead too, right?"
A delicate-looking blonde smiled and shook her head. "Please, perish the thought. I am merely a figurehead in my own country."
When no one else spoke, the redhead sat back in her chair and pressed her lips together.
Hanako paused in picking apart half of a pancake and looked Byakuya over. It didn't sit well with her either how quickly he'd assigned himself the role of a leader, but she understood why none of the others had volunteered themselves. If anything bad actually happened, it would fall onto his shoulders.
"Now that we've resolved that topic, I want to move on to the main question," Byakuya said. "We need to head over to Jabberwock Park."
Hanako blinked. Now?
But there was no need to ask the question aloud—Byakuya was already halfway down the stairs.
The others exchanged bemused glances, then one by one, got up to follow him.
Any doubts they'd had about Byakuya's insistence evaporated as soon as they entered the park.
It was strange to think it had only been last night that they'd stood here and faced down five enormous mechanical beasts. That they'd been told to kill each other if they wanted to escape. The air was warm now, and the trees rustled gently in the sea-blown breeze.
But their attention was immediately drawn to the centerpiece of the courtyard, where the Monobeasts had first appeared. Someone had installed a giant mechanical tower, fixed with spinning gears and blinking red lights. At the top of the tower, next to a jagged symbol that looked like Monokuma's left eye, was a timer.
Twenty one days, three hours, and forty two minutes until…what, exactly?
Hanako glanced around at the others, who were looking up at the timer with matching expressions of foreboding. They'd exchanged introductions on the way to the park, so she could place a few more names to the faces around her.
Kazuichi gulped. "I-Is that a bomb?"
"Unlikely," Byakuya said, one of the few who didn't look shaken by the appearance of the tower. "There would be no need to have such a long delay if it were a bomb—whoever is behind all of this would have detonated it already."
"Then what else could it be counting down?" Mahiru asked, fiddling with the strap of her camera. "And how did it get here? This thing wasn't here last time, was it?"
"I found it this morning when I was exploring the island," Byakuya said. "It must have been erected overnight, which seems a rather impressive feat for such a short period of time."
"It must have been Monokuma," Peko said.
"It was definitely that awful bear! No one else could have made something like this," added a high-pitched voice.
They all spun around. Standing at the entrance to the park was a tiny, rabbit-shaped figure.
"Monomi?" Ibuki yelped. "We all thought you were dead!"
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," Monomi said, toddling closer to them. "After all, I can never die."
"I guess that makes sense, if she really is a mechanical stuffed animal," Chiaki said.
Before anyone could try and follow that line of thinking, Byakuya spoke up.
"Well, since you've returned, there's something we need to ask you. What do you know about that timer? What is it counting down?"
Monomi followed his pointed finger to the tower behind them and let out a little squeak. "What is that?"
"We were hoping you might tell us."
"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what that is."
"Then you're of no use to us. Get lost."
Monomi shrank a little at his dismissive tone. "Let's all try our best…"
Byakuya shot her a glare, and she scampered off.
"Now, then." He turned back to the rest of the group. "The mysteries seem to keep piling up in this place. What is this timer, and how was it built in one night? More importantly, how were all sixteen of us brought to the island in the first place?"
"Maybe a plane?" Kazuichi said. "There is an airport on one of the islands, after all."
"Perhaps. But that doesn't explain why we haven't seen any other people here. Jabberwock Island is known as a popular tourist destination, yet both islands we've seen so far have been totally uninhabited."
Hanako glanced away, a chill crawling up her arms despite the heat. She thought back to the eerily quiet supermarket, the empty roads, the cottages that had been furnished for them and only them. Maybe she would have felt better if the whole place had looked abandoned, if the pool water had turned green and everything was overgrown and covered with dust. Instead, their surroundings were perfect and clean, the picture of a resort—just without the people.
"It stands to reason that a large and powerful organization is behind all of this," Byakuya was saying. "There must be some clue here indicating who or what it is. If we can identify them, we stand a better chance of discerning their motive for bringing all of us here."
"But how are we supposed to figure out something like that?" Teruteru asked.
"Observe your surroundings," Byakuya replied as if that was obvious. "We're free to explore both islands without limit, so we have an opportunity to search it top to bottom. This is your leader's order."
He lifted a finger to them, as if expecting them all to turn heel and run off in search of clues. A few people began to drift away from the gathering.
Hiyoko giggled. "Your hands are so chubby! I'm gonna start calling you Ham Hands."
Hanako rolled her eyes and followed the others out of the park. She would have liked something more specific than "look around" from someone who had immediately started bossing them around.
Then again, it wasn't like they had any other leads. At least Byakuya had given them something to do other than panic.
She did another sweep of the supermarket, but didn't find any of the clues Byakuya was adamant on uncovering. She did find a CD player and a few discs stuffed at the back of a shelf, and took it back to her cottage with a slightly lifted mood.
Since her breakfast had only consisted of half a pancake, she swung by the hotel restaurant to quiet her growling stomach. As she emerged from the kitchen with a tray full of food, she spotted Hajime and Nagito sitting at one of the tables on the deck.
Nagito waved her over, and she set her tray down at an empty seat.
"Who made all the food in the kitchen?" she asked, sliding into the chair next to Hajime. "Was it Hanamura?"
"Apparently not," Nagito said. "He insisted his own dishes would be far superior to any of this."
"My guess is that Monokuma prepares the food somehow," Hajime said. "But it doesn't appear to be poisoned, at least."
"Well, good. Because then we'd all be dead before we could kill each other," she muttered.
Hajime shifted in his seat, but Nagito laughed.
"I'm sure we won't have to worry about that. Togami is proving to be a remarkable leader so far."
Hanako shrugged at that. "So, did you guys find any clues?"
Hajime shook his head. "I'm not even really sure what we're supposed to be looking for. What about you?"
"Not a thing. I don't know what we would do if we did find something. Knowing whoever is behind this isn't going to help us get off the island."
"Togami will probably formulate some sort of plan once we have that information," Nagito said. "Not to mention we have the Ultimate Yakuza and the Ultimate Princess on our side." He turned to Hajime with a smile. "Who knows? Maybe your talent also involves a strategic mind."
Hajime's cheeks darkened slightly. "I don't know about that."
Hanako sat back and crossed her arms. "You're being really optimistic about all this."
"I suppose you could call it that," Nagito said. "But it seems only natural, given everyone on this island is extraordinary. Except for me, of course."
"Maybe, but I'm pretty much only good at injecting ink. I don't have a 'strategic mind' or whatever."
Nagito's smile faded. "You shouldn't sell yourself short like that. Talent shouldn't be reduced to mere skill. For example, am I correct in assuming that you have a high pain tolerance?"
A frown twitched on Hajime's face. "What kind of question is that?"
Hanako didn't break eye contact with Nagito. His tone had been casual enough, but the question still bothered her.
"No, actually. I cry like a baby every time I stub my toe." She gestured to her arm and lied, "I usually have to put on numbing cream whenever I work on myself."
Nagito's placid smile returned. "It seems my guess was wrong, then. Still, the kind of artistry you perform is very impressive."
"Thanks." Her gaze shifted to Hajime. "So, you still don't remember what your talent is?"
"No," he said with a small shrug. "I guess it hasn't been on my mind much with everything else going on."
"Maybe we could help you remember," Nagito said. "It seems most of the talents here fall into different categories—athletics like Owari, leadership like Togami, or artistry like Yukimura."
"So, what, do I just try different things until I find something I'm good at?"
"That's actually not a bad idea," Hanako said. "Unless your talent is something really specific. Like…"
"Coin counting," Nagito finished for her. "Or operating heavy machinery. Maybe you're the Ultimate Spiky Hair."
Hajime's lips twitched. "That's not a real thing."
"I don't know," Hanako said with a smile, glancing up at his messy hair. "If not even hair gel can tame that, Komaeda might be on to something."
The three of them laughed, and any leftover tension in the air dissolved. Conversation was a little easier after that. It wasn't easy to forget their current situation, but they tried anyway.
Hanako lingered in the restaurant even after Hajime and Nagito left, staring out at the lush trees outside the hotel. Restlessly, she rolled one chopstick between her fingers. She wanted a cigarette or something else to calm her nerves.
Finally, she decided to get off her ass and head back to her cottage. She still had a pile of CDs to rifle through, and music would definitely fill the space in her head that was currently buzzing with anxiety.
She descended the stairs to the lobby. Chiaki was playing the arcade machine in the corner, but she looked so absorbed in the game that Hanako didn't bother to greet her.
She stepped out into the mid-afternoon heat and stretched. The pool area was empty, so she assumed the other students were in their cottages or exploring the rest of the island. She doubted anyone was still looking for clues like Byakuya had ordered them too. She was about to head back to her own cottage when a murmuring voice made her pause.
"That was quite an impressive display back at the restaurant. I didn't realize you were quite so flexible."
"Ah, but that was so embarrassing!" That was Mikan's voice. "I-I'm not flexible, just c-clumsy."
"Don't sell yourself short." A low chuckle. "I wouldn't mind seeing how far you can spread your legs."
Hanako stepped around the corner of the building, following the sound of the voices. Mikan was there with her usual cramped posture, along with Teruteru. Her lip curled. She hadn't missed the way he'd been eyeing the girls who had changed into their swimsuits.
Her shoes scuffed the pavement, making them both turn towards her. Mikan flushed bright red, while Teruteru smirked.
"Hello there, Miss Yukimura. I was just telling Miss Tsumiki—"
"I don't care what you were talking about," Hanako said. "Leave her alone."
"Hm, is that jealousy I detect?" He put a finger to his chin. "Perhaps you were hoping to have first dibs on the nurse?"
Mikan let out a little squeak, and Hanako's hands tightened into fists.
"I ever see you talking to one of the girls like that again, I'll break your nose," she growled. "I'm not gonna tell you again. Get lost."
"No need to get all hot and bothered." Teruteru pulled a comb from his pocket and smoothed back his tightly coiffed hair. "I'll be seeing you ladies later."
Hanako bit the inside of her cheek to avoid snapping back at him, though she was satisfied to see that he gave her a wide berth as he headed back towards the cottages. She wanted to hit something—preferably something wearing a chef's hat.
"I'm s-sorry," Mikan said, standing with her head slightly bowed. "You didn't have to stand up for me like that."
"You could try standing up for yourself." Anger was still running hot through her veins, and the words came out harsher than she intended.
She let out a nervous giggle even as tears filled her eyes. "I'm pretty weak, though. Y-You probably hate me because I can't stand up for myself, right?"
Hanako blinked. "...No." She stepped closer. "Listen. Scumbags like Hanamura will never leave you alone if they know you're an easy target. You have to find the courage somehow to tell him to fuck off. Next time I might not be there."
Mikan lifted her watery gaze to meet Hanako's. "Y-You'd stand up for me again?"
"Well, yeah. Obviously." Her anger was beginning to dissolve. "I'd never let him…"
Mikan blinked her tears away and brightened. "That makes me so happy! I'll do anything you want, okay?"
"Okay." Hanako tried not to let her discomfort show on her face. "Then go practice rejecting creeps, I guess."
"I can do that. A-And if you ever want to draw on me or give me a tattoo, you can do that too."
Hanako nodded slowly, now focused on escaping the conversation. She took a couple steps back.
"Well. See you later, I guess."
Mikan nodded enthusiastically, and Hanako felt the intensity of her gaze all the way back to her cottage.
The song for this chapter is Mr. Know-It-All by Young the Giant. Thank you all for reading!
