Chapter 3: Helena Beat
There was a stage in the middle of Jabberwock Park. Hanako assumed Monokuma had been the one to set it up before he summoned them all. Most of the others had already arrived, and were standing in a tense group in the center of the park. Unease prickled on the back of her neck.
"I could do it, you know," Fuyuhiko was saying. He scoffed. "Like any of the rest of you would have the guts to win this killing game."
"Don't toss around threats like that," Mahiru said with a scowl. "You've been talking big since we got here, but I bet you won't do anything to back that up."
"Oh, yeah?" His face flushed. "Try me, bitch. Any one of you can step forward, and I'll end you right here."
Hanako frowned. Judging by his size, even Hiyoko would have a chance at beating him in a fight—but that was only assuming he didn't have a weapon. He was a yakuza. What had his own cottage been stocked with? Guns?
Akane cracked her knuckles with a smirk. "You askin' for a fight? I'll take you on right here."
"That's enough."
Everyone turned to Byakuya, whose commanding voice had cut through the tension.
He crossed his arms and stared down Fuyuhiko. "The notion of killing another student is foolish enough, but doing it in front of everyone would guarantee your own execution. Dying like that just to escape this situation is cowardly at best."
Fuyuhiko glared back at him but said nothing.
"I'm responsible for all of you as your leader," Byakuya continued. "Including you, Kuzuryu. I promise that none of you will become a victim while I am leader. I'll ensure that you all return safely to your homes."
He sounded as if he truly believed his words. It was almost enough to make his promise feel less empty than it really was. Hanako crossed her arms. Maybe he was the right choice to lead us.
"So, are you all done arguing now?"
Everyone stiffened and turned towards the stage. Monokuma was standing in front, wearing a little blue suit that clashed with his black and white fur. He grinned at them.
"My, how awkward. I was trying to pick a good moment to jump in, but I guess timing isn't my strong suit."
"Speaking of suits…" Chiaki murmured.
"Oh, this?" Monokuma spread his arms. "I thought I'd get all dressed up for the fun time I mentioned in the announcement. And what better way to celebrate tropical life than my famous two-man comedy show?"
"But there is only one of you," Sonia said.
"Well, that's why I brought my adorable little sister!"
Monomi crept out from behind the stage, wearing a frilly pink dress.
Hanako raised her eyes heavenward. She wanted to be annoyed. If this was a typical school trip, she would have waited until the stage lights went on, then snuck away to do just about anything else.
But she hadn't forgotten the display in the park, the way Monokuma and Monomi's ridiculous back and forth had turned suddenly into violence. And she wasn't optimistic enough to believe that Monokuma had summoned them here just for some pathetic attempt at entertainment.
He was certainly taking his time, though. Hanako crossed her arms as Monokuma and Monomi took their positions on stage and acted out a clumsy couple of bits that barely counted as comedy.
Monokuma swung an arm towards the rest of them. "Now, I have a question for the audience. Has anyone guessed yet why you don't remember coming to this island?"
All heads snapped forward to face the stage. Monokuma's grin widened.
"It's all right, I won't call anyone out. In fact, it's Monomi's fault. She's responsible for stealing your memories!"
Hanako blinked. What the fuck?
Monomi tugged on one of her ears. "W-What are you saying?"
"You heard right," Monokuma said. "Monomi is one of the bad guys. She's stolen your memories of coming to this island…as well as the time you all spent at Hope's Peak Academy."
Several people let out murmurs of disbelief.
"You all thought you were freshmen, but you were wrong," Monokuma continued. "It's just because you don't remember being students."
Monomi waved her stubby arms. "Don't listen to him!"
"Quiet over there!" Monokuma turned and punted Monomi off the stage. The lights dimmed, and he hopped onto the ground. "Well, anyways, how would you all rate the show? Hilarious? Side-splitting?"
"No, go back to what you were saying earlier," Byakuya demanded. "You said our memories had been stolen."
"Oh, right. That. Yep, that about sums it up. Hmm, I wonder how many years have passed since you first walked through Hope's Peak Academy's shining doors…"
Ibuki let out a nervous giggle. "That's not possible. I arrived at the academy, and then we came to this island."
"But didn't you all experience a strange dizziness when you first walked through the doors?"
Hajime blanched. "How do you know about that?"
Hanako squeezed her eyes shut for a second. That gap in her memory was hazy at the edges, but she definitely remembered walking through the doors. After that was just…blank.
"That was the cut-off point," Monokuma continued. "Everything after that has been scooped out of your head like seeds out of a melon. But there's no need to worry—I can give you your memories back. For a price, of course."
Monomi stood up and brushed herself off. "You'd better not tell them!"
"I'm sure you've already guessed it." He spread his arms. "All you gotta do is kill another student. A penny for your thoughts, a murder for your memories! And I've been nice enough to give you a little motive to get everyone started. Sometimes all the right person needs is a little push." His red eye flashed in what might have been a wink.
"Stop this at once," Byakuya growled. "This ploy of yours won't work."
"Yeah, there's no way any of us believe this story you've made up," Mahiru said.
"And are you sure it's better to believe in each other?" Monokuma paused, as if savoring the moment, then said, "After all, none of you have realized there's a traitor hiding among you."
"A traitor? What kind of crap are you trying to pull now?" Fuyuhiko snapped.
"All I'm saying is, it's rather odd." Monokuma tapped his chin. "I took a peek at the student roster for this trip, and there are sixteen students on the list. But I count seventeen of you here. Now, isn't that just awful, that one of you has been tricking the others this whole time?"
Hanako didn't want to look at anyone else's face. She was afraid of seeing guilt or worse, suspicion, on the others. She wasn't sure if it was more dangerous to believe Monokuma, or to overlook someone that could already be planning a murder.
"Well, I'm pretty parched from all this talking. Show's over, so…" Monokuma shooed them away. "Don't just dawdle! You're free to murder as you please!"
All they could do was stand in breathless silence as he disappeared.
"I-Is that really true?" Mikan said after a while. "Is there really a traitor among us?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she flinched. "It's not me! I know I look suspicious, but I p-promise it's not me."
Nekomaru cracked his knuckles and swept his gaze over the rest of the group. "Well, whoever it is better show themselves now. They're only gonna make things worse by hiding."
"That's enough," Byakuya snapped. "There is no traitor, and discussing such things is foolish."
"Why don't we ask Monomi to confirm?" Peko turned her piercing gaze to the rabbit, who was half-hidden behind the stage. "Is what Monokuma said about our stolen memories and the traitor true?"
"Um…" Monomi stammered for a moment. "There's no use looking back on the past. S-So let's all focus on the future and do our best."
She vanished before anyone could press her.
"Fucking useless," Fuyuhiko muttered.
Hanako shook her head, rubbing her forearm with one hand. "He's lying."
Everyone turned to look at her.
"If we did lose any memories, it can't have been for that long," she continued.
Byakuya crossed his arms. "How can you be so sure?"
She spread her arms. "Because I basically have a permanent record on me." When the others continued to look nonplussed, she added, "I haven't gotten any new tattoos since I left for Hope's Peak, and I give myself new ones all the time. If a long period of time had passed, it would show on my skin."
Byakuya let out a considering grunt. "Perhaps."
Kazuichi scratched the back of his neck. "Are you sure you checked..everywhere?"
She stared at him with raised eyebrows, daring him to continue that line of questioning.
Teruteru chuckled. "Well, if you need help with a full-body inspection—"
"Finish that sentence and I will crack your fucking skull open," she snapped, one hand curling into a fist.
"Wowee, mere minutes after I revealed the first motive and the temperature's already rising!"
They all turned towards the piercing voice. Monokuma stood at the edge of their group.
"This must be a new record!"
A few of the students shot her uneasy looks, and Hanako felt her face heat up. She hadn't been threatening to kill Teruteru exactly, even if she felt the rising urge to knock out a few of his teeth.
"Why did you come back?" Byakuya demanded, scowling down at Monokuma. "Did you neglect to reveal some crucial piece of information?"
"Kids these days, always wanting something. Whatever happened to just a friendly conversation?" Monokuma hung his head, then straightened up. "I wanted to remind you all not to get ahead of yourselves. Just because a few things don't add up doesn't necessarily mean I'm lying."
Though it was hard to tell where his eyes were pointing, Hanako felt a shiver run down her spine. It was clear that last comment was directed at her.
"Of course, if you do want more information, I'd be more than happy to provide it…in exchange for another student's life. And then you might get a better picture of what you've been missing in the rest of the world."
With one final cackle, Monokuma disappeared.
Hanako rubbed her arm. It's a lie. It has to be.
Byakuya let out a huff and turned to address the rest of them. "There's no sense in indulging in such nonsense. As your leader, I order you all not to think about unnecessary things. We'll reconvene tomorrow for breakfast."
She had to resist the urge to give him a sarcastic salute. As if he could simply order them not to think about the deluge of information they'd received that night.
Hanako couldn't help but glower as she made her way back to her cottage. She was going to try not to think about it, even if it proved impossible.
"Hello? Yukimura, are you awake in there or not?"
Hanako cringed as another series of sharp raps sounded at her door and rolled out of bed. She dressed as quickly as she could and pulled the door open. Mahiru stood on the other side, arms akimbo.
"You're late again. Didn't you hear the morning announcement?"
"No, I did not hear this fabled morning announcement." Hanako leaned against the doorway. She'd heard the one that went off at ten at night, so she assumed the other was Monokuma encouraging them to wake up. "I must have slept through it again."
Mahiru frowned at her. "Have you considered getting an alarm clock?"
"Nope." She crossed her arms. "Togami wants everyone at the restaurant, right?"
"Everyone else is already there." Mahiru raised an eyebrow like she was waiting for an apology.
"Okay, well." Hanako gestured for her to lead the way.
Still frowning, Mahiru turned on her heel. Hanako followed her towards the hotel, hoping that was the end of the lecture.
"You know," Mahiru said as they passed by the pool. "I don't think you should have threatened Hanamura last night."
Hanako turned and shot her a look. "Seriously—"
"But, I'm glad that someone finally told him off. I don't like the way he talks to the other girls."
She deflated from her defensive posture. "Me neither. I mean, I'd never do anything serious, but if he tries to touch anyone I'll kick his ass. Not like my foot has that far to go."
Mahiru cleared her throat rather violently, and Hanako thought it might have been to cover up a laugh.
"Well, anyway." She smoothed the front of her dress as they began climbing the hotel stairs. "Try not to be late to breakfast again, okay?"
"Yes ma'am," Hanako muttered under her breath as they entered the restaurant.
Everyone was already seated, and Byakuya greeted her with a stern look.
"Are you going to make a habit of being late every morning?"
Jeez, I am getting it from all sides today.
"No, I just love hearing you lecture me every morning." She flopped into an empty chair and made a grand gesture for him to continue. "Don't let me hold you up."
He let out a grunt and looked around. "That's everyone, then?"
"We're still missing Kuzuryu," Chiaki said.
"I ran into him outside a few minutes ago," Peko said. "I told him about the meeting, but he declined."
Byakuya nodded. "Well, if it's only one person, I suppose that's fine. Someone can fill him in later."
Hanako raised a hand. "Wait, why does Kuzuryu get a pass?"
"He seems like the kind of person who would not attend even when summoned," Byakuya replied coolly. "You, on the other hand, came to both meetings, despite your penchant for oversleeping."
"It's not like we need a bunch of lone wolves running around, anyway," Mahiru added.
Hanako rolled her eyes and decided it was useless to argue.
"Anyway, on to the purpose of today's meeting," Byakuya said. "I'll be throwing a party tonight, and I expect you all to be there."
Murmurs of confusion and surprise rippled through the restaurant. Hanako tried to imagine the kind of party someone like Byakuya Togami would attend. She pictured black ties and long, thin glasses of champagne. It made her want to laugh.
It didn't seem feasible for them to set up something fancy like that, though. They bounced ideas for a venue between them, but the only place Byakuya approved of was the run-down building next to the hotel.
"We'll need someone to clean the inside and make it presentable." Byakuya crossed his arms. "Any volunteers?"
Everyone fell silent.
Nagito stood up. "I had a feeling something like this would happen, so I brought these." He pulled a bundle of chopsticks out of his pocket. "Whoever draws the one with the red mark will be assigned cleaning duty. Sound fair?"
Does he just carry those around? He'd even brought seventeen exactly, one for each student.
Once everyone had drawn a chopstick, Hanako examined her own and quietly fist-pumped. Clear.
"Oh." Nagito held up his own. "It looks like I got the red mark."
Hajime smirked. "You know, for the Ultimate Lucky Student, you don't seem very lucky."
"It's decided, then. Komaeda will prepare the venue, and I expect to see the rest of you tonight after Monokuma's announcement," Byakuya said. "Attendance is mandatory."
"Please don't say there's going to be some kind of dress code," Hanako said.
He shrugged. "I see no reason to ask that of anyone. But I won't allow anything dangerous to be brought into the building."
She frowned. He'd been so insistent last night about protecting all of them, and now he was demanding they all spend the night together in some crummy old building. Whatever his ulterior motive was for this party, she couldn't parse it.
But he'd promised to keep them safe. She had to trust in that.
Hanako took a few CDs with her to the supermarket. They were all jazz, classical, folk music—genres she wasn't interested in listening to. She'd begrudgingly kept a few discs of pop music in case Byakuya didn't have anything available for the party.
She dumped the array of plastic onto the shelf where she'd found them and ventured towards the chattering voices at the other end of the store.
Mahiru, Ibuki, Peko, and Sonia were gathered around a rack of clothing, perusing the various shirts and dresses there. Mahiru noticed her first and waved.
"Hi, Yukimura. Are you coming to pick out an outfit, too?"
"Outfit?" She moved closer and looked over their options. There were several bright-colored t-shirts emblazoned with an illustration of Jabberwock Island. Most of it looked like the clothing one would find in a gift shop.
"When you mentioned a dress code this morning, it got me thinking," Mahiru said. "If we all have to go to this party, we might as well dress a little nicer for it."
Sonia held up a light blue dress with a scalloped neckline and smiled. "We have decided on 'beach casual' for our outfits."
Hanako vacillated for a moment. She hadn't even been planning on changing for the party, and she wasn't much of the shopping type. She kind of wanted to get back to her cottage and hunch over her CD player.
She was also sick of being alone.
"Anything good here?" Trying to seem nonchalant, she walked over to the rack and examined a black tank top. It had an island logo embroidered on the breast pocket, but it didn't look terribly tacky.
"It's not about the clothes, it's about how you style it!" Grinning, Ibuki held up a Jabberwock Island tee. Her other arm was laden with pink and blue clothing. "I bet I could chop this into a wicked crop top."
"I think it is about the clothes, a little." Mahiru wrinkled her nose at a shawl with an ugly floral pattern and pushed it aside.
"Anyone know if the old building has air conditioning?" Hanako asked, twisting the strap of the tank top around her finger.
"It might be prudent to wear multiple layers so we can adjust as needed," Peko said. She hadn't even touched any of the clothes, and Hanako wondered what she was doing here in the first place.
"If we get too cold, we can just dance until we're hot again," Ibuki said, and Hanako's lips twitched. That sounded like her kind of party.
"I feel bad for Komaeda, cleaning that whole building by himself," Mahiru said. "But I guess it had to happen since no one stepped up."
"I guess he technically stepped up since his chopstick trick backfired on him," Hanako said.
"I hope he does a decent job. I'm taking pictures at the party, and I want a good backdrop. Speaking of…" Mahiru reached down towards her hip, where her camera hung on a worn leather strap. She aimed it at Peko. "Smile!"
Peko's eyes widened like Mahiru had just pointed a gun at her. "What are you doing?"
"Uh, taking your picture? Just try to look nice."
Hanako rested her elbows on the clothing rack. "Is this, like, the first time someone's ever taken a photo of you?"
"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt unless she uses the flash," Ibuki said.
Peko turned to her with a questioning look, and the camera shutter clicked.
Mahiru examined the photo for a moment. "Well, I guess it's okay."
"I'm sorry," Peko said quietly. "I don't know much about posing for photographs."
"Next time don't worry about posing. Just be yourself and I'll do the rest." Mahiru gave her a small, encouraging smile.
Hanako was so wrapped up in observing their conversation that she didn't notice Ibuki had sidled up to her until she spoke.
"Find anything good?"
"Oh. Um…" She took her elbows off the rack and grabbed the tank top she'd been looking at earlier. "If it's warm enough I might wear this, but the design on the pocket looks kind of dumb."
"I could probably cut that off."
"Oh, yeah?"
"You bet." She winked. "Ibuki has to mod her clothes all the time for stage performances."
It made sense once Hanako thought about it—the rips on her arm warmer and stockings were artfully done, the edges neat without looking too purposeful.
"Yeah, sure. If you don't mind." Hanako held out the tank top. "By the way, do you know if Togami has anything planned for music tonight?"
Ibuki's eyes widened. "No way!"
"Huh?"
She grabbed one of Hanako's hands with both of hers, her expression deadly serious. "You just gave me an ultra-important mission."
"...Okay?"
"I'm gonna bring my guitar and sing tonight!" She grinned. "You might have just saved the party, Yukimura!"
"Yeah. Cool." Despite the air conditioning in the store, Hanako was staring to feel hot. Ibuki was…a lot, but she was normally better at brushing off people with that kind of energy. "Looking forward to it."
"I'll thank you later." Ibuki plucked the tank top from her hand and practically bounced out of the aisle.
The fuck was that?
Hanako was startled out of her momentary stupor by the click of a camera shutter. She turned and glared across the clothing rack at Mahiru.
"You get a good shot?"
Mahiru glanced down at her camera, and a small smile appeared on her face.
The title for this chapter comes from Helena Beat by Foster the People. Next chapter is Meat on the Bone time :)
