Short reminder/context, because it's been a while: The students agreed to have an mandatory meeting for breakfast and a voluntary one in the evenings in order to strengthen the team spirit. This chapter starts with the first evening meeting.

Chapter 14: Do Video Games Cause Violence?

The hotel lobby was unexpectedly crowded, Byakuya noted as he entered it. He hadn't considered that so many of the students might attend the second meeting in the evening, especially as it wasn't mandatory to come. Seeing them flock together out of their own free will… he carefully categorized it as a small success.

They were loud, too. He had been able to hear them from outside without even opening the door. Now he noted that Ibuki was the rowdiest of the bunch, skipping from group to group to loudly contribute to their conversations, though Nekomaru easily outnoised her when he spoke. Quickly doing a headcount, he ended up counting eleven students, excluding himself.

"Yo," Akane spoke up behind him, "you're blocking the doorway."

He stepped aside to let her in. Twelve, then. Even Gundham was there, though lurking in a secluded corner by the reception desk. In fact, the only one who hadn't come was Fuyuhiko, which surprised no one.

Hiyoko looked like she didn't want to be here either, but she stuck close to Mahiru anyway. However, when she spotted Byakuya by the doorway, her bored expression shifted to a derisive smirk she immediately hid behind her hand. Her snort and the way her eyes darted above his eye level told Byakuya that he should have checked a mirror before coming here.

"What's wrong with your hair? Do you realize that it looks stupid?"

Not wanting to give her the satisfaction of getting a rise out of him, he just stared her down with a deadpan expression. "Nothing is wrong with it. And you of all people don't have any right to question other people's hair style." He gave her absurd pigtails a meaningful glance, making her gasp and back away from him in horror.

"Shut up! At least I've got an actual hair style instead of trying to make myself look like an attention whore!" she snapped back.

"Excuse me?!"

Her mouth curled in a sly grin. "You heard me. I don't know of any hair style that's just a ridiculous antenna sticking up from your head. It just screams 'look at me, I'm so important!'" she said, changing her voice to sound even dumber than usual for that last part.

The nerve of that girl!

Clearing his throat loudly, Hajime parted from the crowd to step up to them. He looked mildly irritated, maybe because Hiyoko had (unintentionally?) targeted him as well with her mockery. Even so, he left her remarks uncommented and just started talking to Byakuya as if nothing had happened.

"Before you arrived, we were talking about what we wanted to do and we came to an agreement to take up Chiaki's suggestion and play some games today. We have the arcades, the pool table and the table soccer right here, so there should be enough options. If that's okay."

"Of course it's okay," Byakuya said. It wasn't like he actually cared what they were up to.

"Aww, and I was looking forward for some exciting fights or at least some training," Akane complained.

Hajime shrugged. "Sorry. Most of the students were in favor of some games."

"The arcades have a really great fighting game with awesome combos. It's not as physical as a real fight, but you might enjoy it anyway," Chiaki contributed with a smile.

Akane had perked up hearing the word 'fighting' and Byakuya wasn't sure she had even listened to the rest of what had been said. With a lot more enthusiasm now, she said, "Awesome! Which one of you wants to get their ass kicked?"

"Pff, I bet you've never even played a video game in your life. You're going to lose for sure," Hiyoko said.

Akane slammed her fist into her other palm in response. "Is that a challenge?"

"You bet it is!"

"Alright, bring it on!"

"I'll stomp you so hard you won't know what hit you!"

Within seconds, they were at the arcade machine, exchanging taunts as they started up the game.

"Looks like they're having fun already," Chiaki commented.

Hajime scratched his head. "I'm not so sure about that…"

"Of course they're having fun!" Nekomaru came up from behind, his massive hand crashing down on Hajime's shoulder. He managed to withstand the blow, but Byakuya noticed that his knees wobbled dangerously. "Exchanging banter during combat is just part of a good fight. It's a great way to get fired up!"

Chiaki glanced at the other machine. "Well, we have room for two more players on the arcades, so who wants-"

"I'll go!" Kazuichi stepped forward, striking a confident pose and giving a thumbs up. "I'll show you how it's done! Miss Sonia! Please watch…" Turning around in search of her, he trailed off when he saw that she was completely ignoring him as she walked up to Gundham's dark corner.

"Gundham, you should join us! I'm sure it will be lots of fun! Would you like to, ah, 'one v one' me?"

"Miss… Miss Sonia?!"

"Well, this is working out better than expected," Byakuya said, watching Ibuki drag Mahiru to the table soccer while Nekomaru rounded up Peko and a terribly stressed looking Mikan to play pool against him. Still, the nurse kept a firm grip on the cue when it was handed to her and Nekomaru started setting up the game.

It was then that they were interrupted and the room froze.

"You're calling this a success? Don't make me laugh! This is lame as hell!" an annoying voice shrieked out and Byakuya stiffened, recognizing it instantly. He quickly looked around for the source and found Monokuma standing at the bottom of the stairs leading to the restaurant.

The lobby, previously noisy from the various sources of chatter, was eerily quiet, with just the 8-bit music coming from the games interrupting the blanket of nervous silence. When he had the attention of all the students, Monokuma hung his head. "Seriously, I can't even describe my disappointment. This is what you consider fun? Where's the blood? Where's the murder? You can't even rip your opponent's spine out of their body or gut them when you finish them! The characters just fall over and faint!"

"You are not welcome here. Leave," Byakuya said, stepping forward. He was well aware that he couldn't do anything to force him away, but as the leader, it was his responsibility to act on the students' behalf. Besides, he couldn't sit watching quietly while that stupid bear ruined everything.

Monokuma looked back up, his left eye flashing in an angry red. "I try to liven up your party and this is how you thank me?"

"We didn't ask you to."

"Well, I don't care! I'll do it anyway!"

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling that he might know where this was going and he didn't like it one bit.

"You know, even if this is a class trip, as a teacher I can't just ignore the fact that you shouldn't be playing these mindlessly violent video games. Instead, you should be playing an educationally violent video game! And I'm just generous enough to provide one."

"Please don't."

But Monokuma was already gone the next second. In his place, the monitor behind the reception bar lit up and the bear cleared his throat on the green-tinted screen. "Ahem! Attention! Attention! This is a message to all students! Please assemble at Jabberwock Park immediately! Anyone who doesn't come will be executed. See you there!" The screen went black again just as soon.

Byakuya's jaw was tight and he took a slow, deep breath to focus.

"So… what do we do?" Ibuki asked, poking her fingers together nervously.

Hiyoko looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Are you stupid? We go, of course! Unless you want to die!" She was obviously trying to act tough but Byakuya noted that her hands were trembling around their iron grip on the edge of the arcade machine.

Looking up, he saw Hajime shooting him a searching glance, looking for direction, and Byakuya quickly nodded his head. "It seems we don't have a choice in the matter. We will have to follow his orders for now," he said.

The students all looked tense and nervous, which was understandable. They didn't know what exactly Monokuma was capable of yet, but nothing good had ever come from the bear and his long absence had lulled them into a false sense of security. Well, even if they did know, it wouldn't exactly help to reassure them.

"Before you go," he added quickly while they were all still assembled like this, "I want you to be aware that this is a trap. Monokuma is probably going to try and give you an incentive to commit murder. Do not fall for it! He has no power over you if you don't go along with it. He cannot force us to do anything unless we take the bait. I expect you all to be smarter than that."

Some of them nodded, there was muttering here and there, and his words seemed to have a positive effect on them. Most of them looked a little surer of themselves. It wasn't a guarantee that they wouldn't cave, but it was a start. It would have to suffice for now.

He observed them as they filed out quietly, one by one, until Sonia walked past the others, approaching him with a hardened look on her face. Seeing her like that, her leadership position as a princess was obvious. "Byakuya," she said curtly, "What about Teruteru and Nagito?"

Byakuya was about to ask why she brought them up, but he quickly recalled Monokuma's words and caught on to what she meant. And it was a good thing she had approached him about them. There was not a shred of doubt in his mind that Monokuma would be all too happy to execute them for not coming to the park. Never mind the fact that they couldn't leave their cottages without assistance. Leaving them there would have been a fatal oversight.

He gave her a grateful nod. "We will have to bring them along. Tell Mikan. Even if Nagito's wounds aren't completely healed, it must be done," he instructed her before turning around. Nekomaru was so tall, a quick glance over the crowd was enough to spot him. "Nekomaru!" he quickly called out just as the coach disappeared through the door.

Pushing Mahiru and Chiaki out of his way, Byakuya hurried to catch up with him. Thankfully, Nekomaru had heard him and was waiting for him outside the door.

"What's the matter?" he asked as soon as Byakuya reached him.

"I need your help. Could you carry Nagito to the park?"

Nekomaru nodded. "Of course. Leave it to me."

When they were halfway to the cottages, they were joined by Sonia and a fretting Mikan.

"We're going to have to move Nagito. Do you think his injuries have healed enough to not cause any major issues?" Byakuya addressed the nurse.

"I… I wouldn't normally recommended it, but… he has made great progress in his recovery, so it sh-should be alright."

Byakuya unlocked Nagito's door and watched as Nekomaru and Mikan went inside to pick up the patient, before he went over to Teruteru's cottage to let him out. The cook was pale when he hesitantly stepped out of the hut, his eyes darting immediately over to where Nekomaru was carrying Nagito out the door and looking away just as quickly.

"Hey, uh, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Teruteru asked, his voice shaking a little.

"No," Byakuya answered quickly, "and we should keep it that way. Monokuma no doubt wants to give us a reason to do something stupid. Whatever it is, don't let it affect you. Just come with us quietly."

It was Nagito who then spoke up, sounding unreasonably happy. "There is no need to worry! Whatever it is, I'm sure we can turn it into something hopeful with you on our side!"

A moment of silence followed in which everyone stared at Nagito.

Byakuya carefully didn't flinch away from the bright eyes directed at him. He scowled. "There wouldn't be anything to worry about if you weren't so…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "Never mind. Let's just go, before Monokuma decides that being late is punishable by death."


"Finally! I was starting to wonder if you'd decided to ditch the meeting entirely!" Monokuma exclaimed when they joined the rest of the students in the park.

Byakuya rolled his eyes at his theatrics and crossed his arms. "Say what you have to say and don't drag this out any longer than necessary." He really didn't look forward to hearing what ridiculous things the bear had to say now.

And ridiculous it was. He presented this stupid game, Twilight Syndrome or something, with a flashy presentation on a big screen like it was a revelation the world had been waiting for. Thankfully, the other students didn't buy it and started complaining soon after the bear was done.

Byakuya had to admit that he was a little confused. He had seen Monokuma's motives, and that one didn't seem to fit the pattern. How would a video game be an incentive for murder? Judging by the reactions, the majority of the students proclaimed that they were not interested in 'adventure games'. And Chiaki, the only one defending the genre, also didn't seem to be too keen on playing a game developed by Monokuma.

There had to be more to it than that. Something he couldn't quite see yet. Therefore, Byakuya silenced the discussion by proclaiming loudly, "None of you is to play this game."

"Hey bastard, that's not for you to decide." Naturally, Fuyuhiko would oppose him just for the sake of it. Typical.

Byakuya gave him a pointed look. "So you'd rather take Monokuma's bait?"

"That's not—!"

"He wants us to play it. Everyone with half a brain should know that it's a trap. With that in mind, why would you still go along with it?"

Fuyuhiko glared daggers at him. "Obviously to be prepared. Who says someone else isn't going to play it behind everyone's back? Not knowing what the motive is puts you at a disadvantage."

"That's correct. We shouldn't be completely oblivious to any possible threat. Which is why I will be the only one playing it. When I know what the motive is, I can take measures to counteract it. The less people in the know the safer we all are."

"Bullshit! Who says you won't murder someone after you've seen it?"

Byakuya sniffed, a little offended. "Because I am trying to save your lives," he said, speaking slowly as if he was addressing a child.

Fuyuhiko rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in response. "That's what you say. You could be lying about that."

The stupidity was starting to hurt.

"How about a compromise?" Sonia stepped in with a diplomatic smile. "I agree that the contents of this game should be viewed by as few people as possible. However, I think it would be a smart decision to have two people play it together, to avoid one person being biased."

"… I guess that is an option," Byakuya conceded, not entirely happy about it, but he could see her point.

Fuyuhiko snorted. "Aren't you one of his lap dogs or something? You'd just do whatever he says anyway."

"I could play it with him."

Byakuya's eyebrows rose when he turned to Chiaki.

Fuyuhiko didn't look convinced either. "You?" he asked.

Even when she was met with two skeptical pairs of eyes, she didn't look deterred. "Of course," she said. "I'm a neutral party, so I won't favor anyone and if it's something all of us should see, I'll tell everyone else, no matter what Byakuya decides."

Byakuya scowled.

"Besides, I played the original games. I don't know how relevant this might be, but I would be able to spot anything that might be strange about this one", she added.

"You do realize that this makes you a very likely candidate to be a target of this motive?" Byakuya said. "You are the Ultimate Gamer and the motive is a video game you're familiar with. Everything suggests that it might be specifically tailored to you." Even if that would be an unusual modus operandi for Monokuma. Wouldn't he usually try to tempt as many people as possible? A motive that would only target one specific person was highly unlikely.

"Well, if I am the target, you'd find out right along with me."

"I think this is a reasonable solution," Sonia said, clapping her hands together. She turned to address Fuyuhiko. "Do you find this acceptable?"

"Tch. You're so busy kissing each other's asses that you wouldn't listen to anyone else anyway," he spat. "For the record, I still think this is stupid and I won't be the one caught unaware if you fuck up." With those words, he left the park.

"Oh dear," Sonia said quietly.

"Don't mind him for the time being, we can take care of him later," Byakuya said. Though he couldn't help but worry about it too. That they would have to deal with Fuyuhiko at some point was getting increasingly clear. The peace wouldn't last forever and Byakuya couldn't risk him snapping when his frustration grew too high.

But there was a time and place for everything. Right now, the most important thing to do was to look into Monokuma's newest motive. Byakuya took a few steps toward the game and turned around to let his gaze sweep over the students.

"Well, you heard it. Chiaki and I will stay here and play the game. The rest of you will go back to the hotel. If there is anything you should know, we will inform you tomorrow morning. If the game turns out to be just a waste of time, which is more than likely, then there is no reason for you to play it either way. In any case, it would be for the best if you just ignored it. Rest easy knowing that we will take charge and keep the situation under control."

With a certain amount of satisfaction, Byakuya noted that more than a few students looked a little less tense at that. People could be so simple. As long as someone else took responsibility, they lost some of the pressure of not knowing the best course of action. He walked over to where Teruteru and Nekomaru were still standing close together. He motioned for Sonia to come with him and waved Hajime over to them as well.

Once they were all assembled, Byakuya addressed Hajime and Sonia, "I don't expect anything to happen, but see to it that they all get back safely. I mostly just want you to bring Teruteru and Nagito back and make sure to lock their doors again."

He took the cottage keys out of his pocket and handed them to Sonia. Teruteru grimaced but didn't say anything. When Byakuya noticed Mikan lingering near them and casting hesitant glances in their direction, he added, "And it looks like you will need to wait for Mikan to do another check-up on Nagito."

"I'm fine," Nagito said cheerfully. "It's incredible how gentle Nekomaru can be when he has so much strength to spare. Even though I certainly would have deserved a rougher treatment."

Byakuya ignored him and focused on his two helpers instead.

Hajime looked a little uncomfortable, but he nodded anyway. "We'll take care of it. I just hope the motive isn't too bad."

"It probably isn't," Byakuya assured him. "Monokuma likes to be dramatic, but he mostly relies on people's overreactions. If nobody has an incentive to make any rash decisions without thinking things through, nothing will come from it."

"I'm sure you're right. We'll leave the matter to you then," Sonia said. With a confident smile on her face, she nodded at him and turned around. It was a little impressive to see that the others immediately followed her lead and left the park, while Mikan quietly joined them when they passed her.

In no time, he was alone with Chiaki who stared at the arcade with a bit of a forlorn look. When she realized that he was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, she smiled a little sheepishly. "I really liked the Twilight Syndrome games. It's a shame that Monokuma meddled with it. It almost feels like he tainted the series." Then she sighed and shook her head. "I just have to think of it as a bad fan hack. It has nothing to do with the original."

"If you're quite done reminiscing, do you think you can handle playing the game now?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Chiaki almost pouted. "I can play it anytime. It's not like I can't handle it. It's more… imagine if you were served a delicious meal you've been waiting for years to have, only to find out that Monokuma cooked it."

Byakuya wrinkled his nose. He could have gone without picturing that scenario. "Alright, I get the point. Try to put your disgust behind you while we play it."


A/N: Writing this took a lot longer than I thought. Even once I had time to write again, I spent so much time staring at the document only writing a sentence or two, it's not even funny.

It ended up being more of a transitional chapter, but this was probably the best place to make a cut. There will be a lot more characters and plot threads to keep track of rather soon, so I didn't want to touch upon that yet. With the chapter ending where it does, you get to see where the story is going next, but it still has a basis in canon, so remembering what was last going on after a break should be easier. Unfortunately, that's relevant because the next chapter will probably take another while to get posted. I'm guessing around February? I feel terribly sorry that I have to take two longer breaks in a row, but it's a bit of a weird time right now. I plan on having more regular chapters again after that, I swear.

Also, this is basically the only motive I'll take from the game, because it's a good motive and it fits nicely into the plot. But neither the despair disease nor the funhouse will appear in this story.