Chapter 3: Thwarted by the Masked Player

Masashi woke up to the sound of waves crashing against the ship. The storm had indeed already come when they had left the Memory Bank and made their way to the dining room. Masashi had had no trouble in falling asleep, however; the cause had been both the mental exhaustion from the latest two deaths, and the relief from fully remembering his younger sister.

Keiko… Wherever you may be, I hope you're all right…

Masashi shuddered as the thought that Monokuma might do something foul to her arose. It had been days since Monokuma had revealed that something awful had happened to the eighteen participants' loved ones, and even now, the mystery of what had happened was no clearer than before. All that had been revealed was that a group called Brightmere Research was behind all this, and it had access to such technology as could bereave one of certain memories. What kind of group were he and the others going up against to escape this place?

As Masashi got up from his bed, he saw a certain note lying on the counter. It was the same note that Abraham had given him right before his execution. He had originally planned to read it with the others after last night's supper, but the others had insisted that it be done later, feeling all too tired from the class trial's ordeal. Even now, he had not read it yet. All that he knew was that the contents had not changed Abraham's mind about killing. Whatever it might be, he thought it best to read it with the others.

After he got ready, Masashi left his room, the note in his gray jacket's pocket. Though it was only morning, the scene already looked rather dreary, the clouds shrouding the heavens, the air chilly. The storm's strong rain and wind having abated for now, a drizzle came down from the great opening in the ceiling, soaking the blossoms that lay peacefully there. Though there was peace within this ship, there was still danger without, the sea's restless waves and winds harrying any seafarers.

He made his way to the dining room and saw four others: Faye, Mari, Arashi, and Haruyuki.

"Good morning," Masashi said. "How are you doing?"

"I, uh, feel a bit better from last night's ordeal," Faye answered, some uncertainty still remaining in her tone, however. "I can't say that the weather's all that swell and pleasant, though."

"Yep… the storm's gone for now, but I think it'll come back even stronger," Mari said, swaying a little.

"At the very least, we have those emergency supplies in case things should go south!" Arashi said.

"Yeah, thanks to Futaba…" Masashi sighed as memories of the lady popped up in his mind. "I still can't believe she's gone…"

"Neither can I…" Faye said. "She tried to help us as best as she could in this situation, and she even reassured us that help would come. She being our leader, I felt that we could trust her to handle the situation. And now that she's gone… I'm starting to wonder whether help will ever come."

Haruyuki chuckled. "You are losing hope already, I see."

"What? No, no, I'm not!" Faye insisted, looking a little surprised. "It's only that… I truly thought that Atsushi and Haruka would be the only poor unfortunate victims of this twisted game… And yet... not only Futaba but also Abraham are now dead... and we still are no nearer to getting out of here…"

"Yeah, no denying that…" Masashi said. "It'll be a wonder if help comes soon, now that the weather's rocky in this part of the sea."

Just then, a few others came into the dining room. Sayua and Tanjiro sat together as usual, as did Sister Hikari and Kumi. After Sister Hikari headed off to the kitchen, Kumi walked up to Masashi.

"G-Good morning, Sir Masashi…" Kumi said, smiling weakly and holding tightly his beloved teddy bear. "H-How are you?"

"I'm all right," Masashi answered. "How about you? I hope you didn't have any problems after yesterday's… incident."

Kumi sighed as he lowered down at the teddy bear. "I-I still can't believe it…' Lady Futaba and Sir Abraham aren't here anymore…"

"Oh, well… I'm sure that Abraham's the last victim of this twisted game," Masashi said, trying to sound reassuring. "We saw what happened to him. There's no way any of us would want to end up like that."

But Masashi knew full well that such an expectation was foolish at this point. Of course he hoped that another killing would not happen, but there was no denying that any of them might become a murderer, as long as Monokuma's offer looked tempting enough. He had learned it the hard way from Atsushi's murder, and Futaba's murder was another reminder of the painful truth.

"I… I hope so…" Kumi said as he rubbed his teddy bear's head. "At least the monsters weren't there last night… There were only friendly fairies when I woke up."

"Oh, really? See, that's a sign that things will get better," Masashi said, putting on a smile.

Not long after, Murphy, Maiha, and Sorao came into the room without saying anything more than the usual greeting. Once Sister Hikari came out from the kitchen, Hikari, the ever so gloomy spirit medium came in. Masashi bade her good morning, to which she reacted with a sullen expression.

"G-Good morning," she said unenthusiastically. "Wh-What do you want from me? Y-You're not going to ask me whether my powers work, a-are you?"

"Uh, no? I only wanted to say good morning," Masashi answered, intrigued by how mistrustful of him she seemed. "Why do you say that, anyway?"

"Y-You don't think I remember? L-Last time, after the first trial, you guys asked methat…" Hikari answered, glancing away from him. "A-And my answer remains the s-same…"

"Really?" Sister Hikari said with a concerned look. "You still can't access your powers at all?"

"O-Of course not… Nothing's changed," Hikari said. "I-I don't know why this is happening. Th-There's nothing on my body b-blocking my powers, so it must be something else…"

"Huh, is that so?" Masashi scratched his head, wondering what this meant. The blocking of her powers must have been due to Brightmere Research, but what had it done to make Hikari unable to use her powers? It would be one thing if she wore something like a bracelet that Brightmere Research had designed to suppress her abilities, but given what Hikari had said, the mastermind behind this must have used another method to do so.

Too bad none of us know about the science behind spirit channeling, Masashi thought. If we did, maybe we could help her recover those powers…

"I-I don't really care, anyway…" Hikari said, looking downwards. "Th-There's no good in my powers."

"'No good'?" Sister Hikari said. "What makes you think so?"

It was one thing to be reluctant to use them because they tired her out easily, but from her tone, she seemed to loathe them greatly.

"Does it matter what her reason is?" Murphy interjected. "There's no need to pester her about her powers if she doesn't like talking about them. Just leave her alone, I say."

"Th-Thanks…" Hikari mumbled, though not looking at the farmer in the eye.

"Anyway, Hikari, you always sit by yourself," Masashi said. "Maybe you should sit with us for today."

Hikari, however, shook her head profusely. "N-No, thanks… I-I'd much prefer not to be with any of you."

And with that, she headed off to another table, Masashi wondering whence her wary attitude had come. Meanwhile, Sister Hikari showed a rather troubled look as she eyed the spirit medium. For a few seconds, her gaze was fixed at her, but eventually, she shook her head and set her eyes back on Kumi.

"Hey, look who's come!" Sayua said, pointing at the door. The last one to come was none other than the phantom thief herself, who still wore her usual outfit. "It's Red Mask—oh, wait, that's not right… It's Kasumi Ayukawa!"

"A-Are you still going to rub it in my face that you guys know my true name now?" Kasumi said, looking bewildered.

"Pretty much," Sayua said as she sipped her can of lemonade. "Because of you, the class trial took far longer than it should have."

"Look, I'm sorry that I lied to you guys, really!" Kasumi said. "But it's just that I couldn't let you know my real name!"

"You know, if you wanted to hide your phantom thief persona's true identity from us, maybe it wasn't a good idea to introduce yourself as Red Mask," Mari pointed out. "You could've lied and said that you were the Ultimate Model or the Ultimate Athlete or something like that. None of us would have had reason not to believe you."

"Well, I thought the one behind this wanted me to be in my phantom thief persona!" Kasumi replied as she set a finger on her masquerade mask, her tone as chirpy as usual. "That's why I introduced myself to you as such!"

"Given that we know your name now, though, it wasn't a smart decision, if you ask me..." Murphy said.

"What made you think she was smart in the first place?" Sayua said snidely.

"Sheesh, tough crowd I'm talking to here…" Kasumi said as she smiled once more. "A-Anyway, you won't tell anyone else about my true identity once we get out of here, right?"

"Oh, I most certainly will."

It was none other than Maiha Hanazawa, who had answered with an irked expression. Upon hearing her say so, a few of the others grew quiet, staring at the ballroom dancer in confusion.

"Hey, come on!" Kasumi replied, trying to keep up her smile. "We're all stuck here, aren't we? Don't you think you can set that aside?"

Maiha scoffed, her frown deepening. "Why ought I to go along with your request? You're one of the worst commoners that I have had the misfortune to meet. For your lack of intelligence, you resort to taking that which is rightfully not yours. Therefore, I've absolutely no reason to turn a blind eye for you."

Kasumi winced a little. "But I've never killed anyone—"

"And what if you haven't? You still have harmed others with your foul thefts, as the very deed of stealing from another is damage in and of itself," Maiha replied, crossing her arms as she gave the thief a condescending look.

"But—"

"It's a wonder that the late Inoshishi let you be," Maiha continued, her tone growing bolder. "Had I been in charge, I most certainly would've locked you in your room, at the very least. In fact, such a measure ought to be adopted as soon as possible."

"What? What do you mean?" Sister Hikari asked.

Maiah scoffed as she raised her right hand. "Must I explain it to you? Oh, very well... It has been clear that the foul thief wishes to hide her true identity from the world. Even if I did not plan to tell the authorities upon our escape, one of you might secretly plan to do so as well."

"So even if we swore to keep it secret," Mari said, "there's a chance that one of us would blab to the police later."

"I'm glad to see that you understand my point, commoner," Maiha replied. "We all know that her name is Kasumi Ayukawa. And how does the saying go, again? Ah, yes... dead men tell no tales."

"Oh, so that's why you think she's a threat!" Murphy said, eyes widened.

"Y-Yeah… Monokuma doesn't need a motive to make her kill," Hikari said, looking at the thief with loathing eyes. "Sh-She already has one! I-I bet she's planning to kill one of us right now!"

"Then locking her up seems good to me!" Sayua said.

"N-No way! No way I'd ever kill you guys, even if I wanted to hide my name!" Kasumi said pleadingly as she smiled nervously, though only a few of the others looked convinced. "Really, I mean it!"

But the crowd was not fully settled on this matter. Some such as Sayua and Murphy looked to be in agreement with Maiha's stance, and others like Mari and Arashi looked unsure of whether they ought to follow her.

"Very few appear convinced by your words," Maiha replied, looking at her condescendingly. "It's not surprising, after all. The very nature of your so-called Ultimate talent shows a willingness to deceive others. Hence, we've very little reason to believe you now—"

"Uh, guys? Could we hold this off for a while?"

It was none other than Faye, who did not seem to sway toward either side, her face showing concern about a different matter instead.

"I understand that this is an important issue," the pastry cook said, "but don't you think we should talk about it later? It's breakfast right now."

"Ah, thank you for reminding us, Faye," Sister Hikari said. "Yes, I agree with you here. We all need some time to think about this."

"Y-Yeah, that's right!" Kasumi said, still trembling a little. "N-Now's not the right time to talk about this!"

"Yeah... Lady Inoshishi wouldn't want us to skip breakfast over something like this..." Sorao said, who had noticeably not spoken a whole lot since he had come here, looking slightly tired.

Maiha scoffed as she leaned back on her chair. "Very well. We shall continue our talk on this matter. I hope that by that point, you who still have doubt about my proposal will have realized your error."

Masashi sighed in relief as the others agreed to Faye's suggestion. Thank goodness things have settled for now. Things were starting to get rather heated.

"All right, then, could someone help me set the dishes on each table? The one who usually does it can, well… no longer help out..." Faye said, growing quieter upon mentioning the late waiter.

"Ah, well, then," Sister Hikari said, "let me help—"

"Let me help you, Miss Nirigiri!" Arashi said excitedly, getting out of his seat at once. "I can handle this without a problem!"

"Well, if you really want to help, then I guess I shouldn't refuse you," Faye said, brightening up a little as she chuckled. "All right, Arashi, go right ahead."

After the dishes were set—and one near accident in which Arashi had nearly spilled the contents of Maiha's dish onto her dress, after which the lady chid him for his lack of attention—the group began its breakfast meal.

Though the fourteen members engaged in friendly chatter among one another, Masashi caught more than a few glancing at Kasumi with skeptical eyes. She said nothing in regard to that, instead blithely recalling the tale of one of her heists with Murphy and Haruyuki, the latter of whom nodded along with an amused smile. But Masashi suspected that deep down, she was not so cheerful as she now seemed; something about her attitude felt a bit off, and certainly, her usual blithesome self was not all there was to her, as Masashi could still remember her angry protest in the class trial. She was hiding something, but what exactly it was he could not tell.

Oh, yeah, and there's this as well... Masashi thought as he felt the note in his pocket. Now seemed like the right time to read the contents of the note with the whole group.

Just as he opened his mouth, however, an annoyingly mirthful laugh rang through the room, one that chilled all the students insofar as they became silent at once.

Oh, no… Masashi thought as the self-called captain showed up.

"Good morning, everyone! Lovely weather we have today, isn't it?" Monokuma began as he eyed Faye's dish. "Oh, hey, that's some delicious toast you've got there! You mind if I take a piece?"

"Wh-What? My toast?" Faye said, astounded. "If you're hungry, there's plenty of food in the kitchen."

"And that's why there's no problem for you!"

Monokuma then snatched the toast and began to chew on it, at which sight the others stared with bemusement. "Mmm… Tasty. Could use some more butter, though."

"H-How dare you take Miss Nirigiri's toast away?!" Arashi exclaimed, raising his right fist at him. "G-Give that back at once!"

"Uh, actually, I don't want it now," Faye added, looking at it with a hint of disgust. "I don't think I want to put in my mouth anything that our captain's touched."

"You see? She's given me it, so there's no problem..." Monokuma answered as he kept chewing. "Yep, no problem at all…"

"Eww…" Sayua muttered once Monokuma had let out a small burp.

"You're not that much of a gentleman, are you?" Murphy said.

"Hey, now, don't you make me out as a bad guy!" Monokuma replied. "I'm a believer of repaying debts, you see. For your efforts in the class trial and the mostly delicious piece of toast, I've decided to give you something special!"

"Wait, you don't mean…" Masashi said.

Monokuma then opened up his arms. "A whole new world is open to you here in Brightmere Mirthyard!"

"Ah, so it's another ship…" Sister Hikari said. "Well, that certainly is far greater than a piece of toast."

"And far cruddier as well," Sayua remarked. "Can't you give us some new clothes. Wearing the same dang clothes every day has become boooooring."

Haruyuki chuckled. "With a new area come new possibilities on how things will play out. I look forward to seeing what awaits us this time."

"Now, then, I'll let you kids check it out now," Monokuma said as he took a piece of toast from Kumi's dish.

"M-My toast!" the storyteller said.

"If you'll excuse me, I have a piece of toast to butter in my cabin. Bye-bye!"

Monokuma then disappeared, taking the toast with him. For a few seconds, all were silent at what had just happened here. Eventually, Sister Hikari spoke up.

"Well, uh, I guess we should go check that thing out," Sister Hikari said. "I don't think it's a trap, so there's no harm in checking it out, right?"

"Yeah, and maybe we'll find something useful, something that'll help us escape this place," Sorao said.

"It's unlikely, though," Murphy replied. "That'd be pretty careless of Monokuma."

"Not an optimistic fellow, are you?" Haruyuki asked.

"Hey, don't get the wrong idea. I want to think otherwise, but I've learned the hard way that this killing game's serious business," Murphy said as he scratched the back of his neck. "There's no way that the ones behind this would slip up that easily."

"M-My toast…" Kumi bemoaned, staring at his dish with watery eyes. "I can't believe that Captain Monokuma's taken it…"

"Oh, don't worry, Kumi," Sister Hikari chirped. "After we're done exploring the new ship, I'll make you a piece of toast with whatever you want on it."

"R-Really? Thanks, Sister Hikari!" Kumi said, now beaming.

"All right, then," Masashi said. "Let's meet back here after we're done looking around."

It seemed that the note would have to be read another time. In the meantime, the investigation of the new location was afoot.

Masashi was by himself, the others having gone ahead of him. Though he had given up on what Monokuma had in mind for them, the sight of the next ship on the woodland kingdom's starboard side still managed to astound him. What caught his eye at once was that nearly half of the main deck stretching all the way to the stern was covered by a structure that looked like a great cove. The rest of the deck looked like a shoreline, and by the bow was a small shallow pool of water that ebbed back and forth. Thankfully, when he walked onto the deck through the gangway, the pool was still a distance away.

Oddly enough, by the cove were what appeared to be the uppermost parts of a ship's masts. They leaned slightly to Masashi's right, as if to suggest that their ship was unsteady, and on one of the masts flew a flag that betokened at once what kind of ship this was meant to portray, as it was a skull that wore a red bandanna and was on a black background.

This time, it's pirates, huh… Masashi thought.

He had, of course, never seen a pirate in the flesh before, the only pirates that he knew of coming from either the realm of former ages or the realm of fiction. Personally, it was not something that he would ever imagine himself to be in a parallel world; he much preferred being a warrior or a mage that practiced bedazzling fire magic. At least then he could stay put in one place and protect his home from any monsters. And a pirate's life hardly seemed glamorous to him, what with the constant maintenance of the ship and the lawbreaking piracy entailed.

Masashi headed into the cove, after which he found himself in a small hallway that was dimly lit by a light on the ceiling. On the walls were such decorations as skeletons dressed like typical pirates, barrels, and signs warning any unfortunate visitors from going further. On the other end of the hall were two sets of stairs. One set was on the left wall and headed down, and the other was on the right wall and headed up.

Huh, so there are decks above the main deck this time, Masashi thought, now seeing the reason for the cove's great size. I guess I'll look at the upper decks first.

He walked up the stairs and found himself in another narrow hallway. This time, however, there was light coming from an archway on the left wall near the end of the hallway. As he approached it, he also saw a door at the end that was labeled "STAFF ONLY". By the door was also a set of stairs that went up, but Masashi would rather check out what was on this deck first.

"Whoa… What's all this?" Masashi said upon peeking into the archway.

What awaited him was a great room throughout which arcade machines were strewn. Though the walls and floor were colored light gray, the bright lights from the machines livened up the room and even made Masashi want to move around; something about the lights simply forbade him to stay still for too long. There appeared to be sundry games available, ranging from racing games to platformers. On one corner of the room was a counter behind which were many different kinds of things; given the function of this room, he assumed it to be the prize counter. There were a few vending machines by the walls, some offering drinks, others simply acting as places to exchange money for arcade tokens. There were even restrooms at another corner of the room, and altogether, it felt like a rather cozy room to play games in. The whole room looked as if it were an ancient cove's room with a hint of modern civilization added.

"Hey, Masashi!" It was Arashi, who was with Murphy. Both stood by a machine in which the player was to shoot as many basketballs through a hoop. "Check it out! There are so many games offered here! I'm pretty sure I've played some of these before!"

"You have?" Masashi said.

"Yep! My grandparents would take me out to many places, and I had a lot of fun playing in arcades!" Arashi answered brightly. "How about you, Murphy?"

Murphy chuckled as he rubbed his chin. "Well, I've played some of these games, even though I've never tried the arcade versions."

"The arcade versions?" Masashi said, intrigued by his choice of words.

"Yep. Believe it or not, I like to play games in my free time," Murphy said, spouting a rather uncharacteristic grin. "I've tried out nearly every genre. Action, adventure, strategy, puzzle… you name it."

"Wow, really?" Masashi said. "If truth be told, I've never taken you to be that kind of guy. You seem more like an outdoorsy man."

Murphy clicked his tongue as his grin disappeared. "Well, it's all due to my blasted talent, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah, you're the Ultimate Potato Farmer, aren't you?" Arashi said.

"Unfortunately," Murphy answered, his tone growing somber. "I can't believe it's what I'm expected to do… There's hardly anything good about potatoes."

"You know, Murphy, I still don't get it," Masashi replied. "Why don't you like being the Ultimate Potato Farmer? It's not the most glamorous profession, sure, but you provide other people with food through your farming, don't you?"

"Yeah! And if you make other people happy, then it's something you should be proud of!" Arashi added.

Murphy frowned as he tipped the brim of his straw hat. "You think you like what you have now, but let me assure you, as time goes on, you'll grow sick of what you do."

"What?! What kind of answer is that?!" Arashi exclaimed. "I'll never get tired of fireworks! I swear it by my grandfather's name!"

The farmer only scoffed as he sat down at one of the machines. "I don't feel like talking about this anymore… I'd rather check out some of these games."

However much as Arashi protested, true to his word, Murphy said no more on the matter and ignored his demand for an explanation. Meanwhile, Masashi looked around the room some more and saw that there was a set of stairs going up. Before that, however, he headed back to the hallway and walked over to the room meant only for staff. He touched the doorknob and opened it without a problem, though opening it caused the door to make a loud creaking sound.

The room too had a few arcade machines in it, but there were also a few couches set by the corners, as well as a few appliances such as a coffee maker and a water cooler. This room must be a lounge for staff, though Masashi doubted that any staff would pop up in the flesh any time soon. It was also rather warm, which was likely due to a heater set in some part of this room, and with the cold weather and slight rain outside, even if it were ever so short, the warmth was still a relief.

"Ah… Now that hits the spot," Sayua said, sitting on the couch relaxedly as she drank a cup of coffee. Meanwhile, Tanjiro walked around the room, checking out the machines.

"Hey, guys, have you found anything?" Masashi asked.

"Oh, lots," Sayua answered. "This room's not too shabby, truly. With the heater, the comfy couch, and the coffee machine, I think I'll be coming here often."

"Uh, that's good to know, but what about anything that we can use to get out of here?" Masashi asked.

"Well… Not much, really," Tanjiro answered. "There's a closet full of tools, but that's it."

Tanjiro pointed to the door at the opposite end of the room. Masashi peeked inside and saw a somewhat small room that was cluttered with such things as brooms, loudspeakers, and a few other gadgets. The closet led to no other place, so that was about it for this part of the deck.

Oh, yeah… I guess I should ask him about that, Masashi thought.

Masashi nudged Tanjiro's shoulder and took him to a corner of the room so that Sayua may not hear them. "Hey, Tanjiro, aren't you bothered by what Sayua did earlier? You know, the whole thing with Kumi's teddy bear?"

Tanjiro sighed as he moved a fringe of his blue hair out of the way. "Well, of course I was bothered. I tried to talk Sayua out of hiding it somewhere in the palace, but she wouldn't listen… Then again, I suppose it was a blessing in disguise, given our witness account."

"Yeah, who would have guessed that Kasumi would run by at that time and place?" Masashi said. "Anyway, getting back to the point… if you're bothered by Sayua's theft, why are you still hanging out with her?"

"Well… For one, if I don't watch her, she'll likely do something more reckless," Tanjiro said, "and without anyone around, who knows what she might be up to?"

"Yeah, good point…" Masashi said. "But is that your only reason?"

"Hmm… If truth be told… if I stay with her, maybe she'll grow to be a bit less negative," Tanjiro answered as he nervously glanced toward the side. "From my time with her, I can tell that she's of the kind that takes feedback only from those close to her. Maybe if I spend more time with her, I can curry favor with her."

"Ah, so you think you can change Sayua into a better person?"

"Not to that extent, really… I don't think myself to be that influential. Maybe she can be a bit less self-centered, at the very least. In any case, she's certainly not as bad as he has been…"

"'He'?" Masashi said. Surprisingly enough, he sensed a bit of hostility in his voice.

Tanjiro sighed, the gloom on his face growing. "I'm talking about Sorao… As he said a long while ago, we live next to each other in the same apartment block."

"Oh, right…" Masashi said, vaguely recalling what Sorao had said on the night that the killing game had begun. "You seem to have problems with him, though. Is there any reason for that?"

Upon hearing the question, Tanjiro grew squeamish, his lips quivering. "I… have my grievances with him, to put it lightly."

"Really? But he seems pretty cool and friendly..."

"You may think so, but please trust me when I say that he's not the kind of character you should much hang out with," the writer said. "He may look cool and refreshing, but—"

"Hey, Tanjiro!" It was Sayua, who looked at the writer with the same annoyed eyes as before. She extended the arm that held the cup from which she had drunk her coffee. "Make me another one, and add some more sugar to it. That's my bidding, and you have to do it now!"

Tanjiro sighed, looking ever so dreary from hearing her cheerleader chant. "Ah, right… I guess I'd better get to it."

Masashi could only pity him as he left the room, bidding the novelist good luck as he was left to tend to the cheerleader. He wondered what Tanjiro had been about to tell him, but he figured that he could talk with him about it later.

Though interested in trying some of the arcade's games out, Masashi was more curious about where the stairs by the staff lounge led. He walked up and found himself in a hallway that looked nothing at all like an arcade, instead having the dark forbidding feeling that the main deck gave off.

There were only two rooms, each on opposite sides, and the door on the right was labeled "STAFF ONLY". What awaited him behind this door was a small white room whose walls were lined up with switchboards and panelboards. There were even a few power panels on the wall opposite to the door.

Yeah, nothing exciting here... Masashi thought. I'm not even sure how they each work, so it's best not to fiddle with them...

He headed back to the hallway and went into the other room on this deck. To his surprise, he was greeted by a wide room that had a great window on the wall opposite to the door. Through the room were strewn many chests, most of which were open and showing nothing of worth. There were even a few maps hung on the walls, none of which referred to places that Masashi recognized; he assumed that the amusement park designers had simply made them up.

On the wall at the other end of the room was the opening of a tunnel that continued deeper. What was more noteworthy was that there was water flowing through the tunnel, the flowing making a tranquil sound such that one might sit by and listen to it all time while thinking about life.

"Ah, that's a water slide." It was Mari, who had been wandering around the room. "I asked Monokuma earlier. Apparently, it goes all the way down to a pool in the lower third deck."

"Wh-What?! The slide's that high?!" Masashi exclaimed, glancing with awe at the slide.

"Well, it twists and turns in a lot of places, and there are some lights inside, so it's not as if one fell straight down in the darkness," Mari answered.

"Still… I don't really like the sound of that…" Masashi replied, shuddering at the thought of sliding down the tunnel. "If I feel like it later, I'll try it out."

"Keep in mind that it'll send you into the pool if you try it out later," Mari replied as she set a finger on her chin. "I don't think you'd want to swim in those clothes."

"Yeah, of course not!" Masashi replied. "I have some swimwear in my room."

"Oh, but I've got something even better for you!"

Just then, however, Monokuma popped out of nowhere.

"Oh... it's you," Mari said, her voice's chirpiness dropping. "Is there something you want from us?"

"Oh, no, no! In fact, once you hear what I have to say, it'll be you that wants something from me!" Monokuma began.

Masashi looked askance at the bear. "What...? What are you talking about?"

"Believe it or not, your dear captain always had an eye for working with clothes!" Monokuma replied. "My old man always insisted that I focus on carpentry, but that's just not my kind of thing. I want everyone in the world to know of my charm, and a few buildings won't do the trick. That's why I've begun my own clothing line!"

"Uh, all right..." Masashi said, utterly befuddled. "How is that relevant, though?"

"Well, since I heard you guys mention swimwear, I thought it was a good opportunity to show off one of my first products! Here, take a look at this!"

Monokuma then held up high a black pair of swimming trunks that had small versions of his face all over it. "Aw, isn't it beautiful to see me on this thing? Wanna try it on?"

"N-No way!" Masashi responded at once, pointing at the bear with frustration. He had already foreseen that Monokuma would simply waste his time with his usual hogwash, but that thing's very sight was too much. "I'm not interested in that thing at all! And there's no way I'll ever become the first person to wear something with your face on it!"

"Oh, is that so? Are you sure you want to pass up on this special offer?" Monokuma asked coyly.

"Special offer? How much is that thing, anyway?" Mari asked.

"Not much, really! I'm sure you guys can afford to pay one million yen."

"O-One million yen for those trunks?!" Masashi exclaimed, growing more and more flabbergasted. "You know, the more I hear about your clothing line, the more I think it's a failure in every way!"

Monokuma growled as he showed his claws. "Why, you... You think that my Monokuma brand ought to come cheap, then?!"

"It'll at least get people to actually think about buying that thing," Mari replied.

"Grr...! Well, I can see that it was a waste of time to try to sell my luxury clothes to you!" Monokuma said, feigning grumpiness. "I'll be on my way now! I'm off to meet someone of better taste!"

Monokuma then disappeared, thankfully not leaving his shorts behind.

"Well, that was a great waste of time," Masashi said. "It's bad enough that he's trapped us all here, but now he comes showing off his ridiculous clothing."

"Yeah, I don't care much for the design, either," Mari said, nodding along. "Can you imagine what I'd look like if I wore a swimsuit with a Monokuma theme?"

"I'd rather not defile your image," Masashi said, a sudden feeling of disgust setting in.

Seeing that there was nothing else on this deck, he headed back down to the main deck, climbing down two sets of stairs. After going down the stairs leading to the lower decks, he wound up at one end of a hallway, from which end he could see yet another intersection. As he arrived, he saw three ways to go forth. The first was to go straight through the hallway, which led to a door at the other end. The second was to go through the "STAFF ONLY' door that was set where the hallway continued. And the third was to go into the room on the right wall, which room was labeled "Pirates' Rest Spot" by the sign above the door.

"Pirates' Rest Spot"? I wonder what's in that room, Masashi thought before he headed inside.

As it turned out, the room was nothing more than a small dining room that still used the cove's light gray aesthetic. There were a few wooden tables scattered around, benches used instead of chairs, and there was a counter behind which a cashier would normally stand. But there was no one here but Sorao and Faye.

"Is there even anything available to use here?" Masashi asked.

Faye scratched her cheek. "Well… there's some more kitchen equipment as well as some more cooking ingredients. I guess that's kind of useful."

Masashi stared at the menu above the counter. "Wow, look at all the options available on the menu... Anchovies, cod, salmon… and yet there's no one to take any orders. Kind of a shame that there's no one working here."

"Well, at least we're lucky that Monokuma supplies us with food and other supplies regularly, I suppose," Faye said.

"Yeah…" Sorao sighed as he shook his head. "Yeah, it's a good thing we're all still alive..."

"Hey, are you all right?" Masashi asked the musician.

Sorao looked at him with a slight smile. "Yeah, man… I'm only a little tired, that's all. I didn't sleep too well last night, see. I couldn't stop thinking about her…"

Ah… he still must be recovering from Futaba's death… Masashi thought, noticing that Sorao looked a little tired in his eyes. Then again, they were lovers… I can't imagine how it'd feel if I found love, but were bereft of it later...

"You know, I should make you a small treat later," Faye said. "After everything that's happened, I don't blame you for not feeling as energetic."

"Oh, uh… thanks, Faye, but you really don't have to," Sorao answered. "As I said, I'm all right. I'll be back on my feet in no time."

"Still, you ought to have a treat," Faye insisted. "It's the least that I can do."

"Hmm… If that's what you want, then I suppose it'd be wrong to refuse." Sorao then widened his smile, looking at the pastry cook with delight. "Yeah... Now that I think about it, a treat will help! After we're done looking around, cook me whatever's in your mind. I'd love to have a taste of your delicious cooking once more."

Faye smiled. "Now that's what I want to hear from you."

Well, I'm glad to see that he's feeling better now, Masashi thought. I guess he'll be all right for now.

Masashi left and headed back to the intersection. Behind the "STAFF ONLY" door was another hallway, but this time, he saw no other intersections, the hallway utterly straightforward. There were two doors on the left wall, but what was inside the first one was nothing but a storage room full of boxes and other nautical equipment.

Nothing much of use here... Masashi thought. I should check out the other room now.

He headed into the second door in this hallway. Instead of a comfortable lounge, however, the room was cluttered with many such things as mannequin stands in pirate clothing and unsteady towers of old treasure chests. Masashi walked a few steps in and then turned to the left, only to trip over something.

"You ought to look before you go, commoner." It was Maiha, who was accompanied by Sister Hikari. The ballroom dancer looked at Masashi with condescending eyes and crossed arms as Masashi got back up and saw that what he had tripped over was a small box.

"Now, now, I don't think we should lay any blame on him," Sister Hikari said as softly as always. "With so much stuff in this room, it's rather hard to go through this room without tripping or bumping into something."

"Ugh... What is this place, anyway?" Masashi asked as he rubbed his head.

"I assume that it is a storage room," Maiha said. "The ones who put these things here were obviously thoughtless. This room is an utter pigsty."

"Well, I can't say that I care much for how things are organized," Sister Hikari said. "I would clean it up, but I suppose it would take a long while… and there are other things that I would rather do."

"Yeah, that I understand," Masashi said. "Maybe if my younger sister were here, it would be no problem to tidy this place up."

"Your younger sister?" Sister Hikari said. "Ah, is she good at cleaning?"

Masashi chuckled. "Oh, she's more than that! She's the Ultimate Maid!"

"Really?" Maiha said, eyes widened. "What is her name?"

"I don't know whether you've heard of her, but her name's Keiko," Masashi answered. "She's working at some rich man's mansion. At least, she's supposed to be…"

"Ah… is that so?" Maiha said, who grew quieter as she set her hands together.

"Hmm? Is something the matter?" Sister Hikari asked.

"Nothing that concerns you, commoner," Maiha answered, her usual sharp tone returning.

"Uh, all right…" Masashi said, wondering what she had thought about. "Anyway, why are you two together? I don't usually see you like this."

Maiha scoffed as she looked elsewhere. "The foolish nun here has tried to convince me to drop my harsh stance against the idiotic thief."

"I simply think that we ought to give her a chance," Sister Hikari explained. "I understand why you're so skeptical toward her, as she has unfortunately the great sin of theft many times."

"Then why do you insist that we let her be?"

"Well… even with her transgressions, I believe that she is earnest in her insistence that she will not kill," Sister Hikari answered. "We ought to give her a chance to show that she stands by her word."

"Hmph. Is that all you have to say, commoner? Such carelessness will lead to your end," Maiha said as she touched a lock of her red hair. "I've shown why we ought not to let Kasumi Ayukawa be for the remainder of our time here. She's simply too dangerous to keep around. Do you not agree with me, commoner?"

"What, me?" Masashi said as soon as Maiha glanced toward him. "Well… I don't know. On one hand, I get what you're saying. Kasumi has a pretty strong motivation to make sure that her true identity should be kept secret. But on the other hand, maybe she really won't kill if we let her be. I've never really gotten the impression that she's not hesitant to do murder if need be."

Maiha sighed, crossing her arms. "Have you somehow forgotten that she is a phantom thief? She's had experience beguiling others into doing what she wants them to do. If you feel at all sympathetic toward her, then you have already fallen into her trap."

"I…"

Masashi fell silent. He hated to admit it, but Maiha had a pretty good point about Kasumi. She had a strong motivation to win the killing game, and simply beseeching the others to trust in her hardly sounded convincing. In comparison to Sister Hikari's suggestion that they leave her alone, Maiha's solution to this problem seemed like the better one to maintain peace and security within the group. With it, there would be no more problems from Kasumi, and the peace would be kept.

"Well..." he said, but he could not continue. Though he could understand her reasoning, Masashi felt that after everything he had gone through, it was best not to come to a decision until he got more information on this. The reasons to mistrust Kasumi had been given, but Masashi had not heard from the other side as much, and so it seemed too hasty to decide without talking with Kasumi first.

In any case, his lack of a definitive answer apparently displeased the ballroom dancer, as her frown deepened.

"Hmph. You still are uncertain, I see. And here I thought that you had enough sense to see that I am right," she said. "Well, then, later on, if you still have not realized your foolishness... then I will gladly wipe off that uncertainty off your face."

Finishing her declaration, Maiha stepped out of the room.

"She sure is rather sure of herself, isn't she?" Sister Hikari said, her tone full of astonishment.

"Yeah… she really doesn't like Kasumi," Masashi said. "Even if she changes her mind about Kasumi's punishment, I don't think she'll ever grow to like her."

"Well, it'd be ideal if we all got along, but realistically, I'm not the kind of person that will force others to like one another," Sister Hikari said, setting a hand on her right cheek. "Anyway, Masashi, I'll look around this room a bit more. Maiha and I took only a short glance, so there may be something of use here."

"All right, then, I'll leave it up to you."

Masashi left the room and headed back to the intersection from before. There was only one place that he had not checked yet, so he headed down the stairs to the lower third deck.

"Whoa… What a sight this is."

Most of this deck was made up of water; that was to say, the right side of the deck was a swimming pool that was accompanied by a few chairs by the side and a great tube that was slightly above the pool water. It must be the end of the water slide that he had seen at the upper third deck. On the other half of this deck was a curved course of water in which was parked a boat that looked like a small pirate's ship, its black flag showing a skull and crossbones. Amazingly enough, that part of the deck continued upwards at a moderate slant, and the height in which it stopped slanting was rather high. That the deck was essentially split into two floors explained why the trip down the stairs had gone longer than he had expected. From where he was, Masashi could not tell what this deck's upper section was, but he guessed that it had nothing else to check out and was made only for the looping watercourse.

"Ah! Sir Masashi!" It was Kumi, who waved at him while he stood at the section between the watercourse and the pool, and he was accompanied by Haruyuki and Hikari.

"Oh, hey, Kumi," Masashi said as the three approached him. "What's up?"

"Well, I was thinking that with how watery this place is," Kumi said gleefully, eyes glinting, "we can go hunting for water fairies now!"

"Oh, really?" Masashi said, who had expected him to say something about fantastic creatures. "You couldn't catch water fairies earlier?"

"There is a pool on the first ship, but it's not that large," Kumi answered. "Water fairies like to gather in places where there's fresh water, which is why we don't see a lot of them near the sea. With all this water, a lot of water fairies should come here sooner or later! Maybe we can see some of them and be blessed with their protective magic! Water fairies are very helpful, you see, and one time, they even helped the great hero Alfred in his journey to seek a legendary sword..."

As the storyteller continued his tale of the water fairies, Haruyuki chuckled, hands in his black coat's pockets, and leaned toward Hikari, speaking quietly. "It is rather interesting, is it not? How he derives value from such a place as this... How he draws excitement from these calm, tranquil waters… How he stumbles onto a new tale to tell in a matter of seconds..."

"M-More like 'weird', if you ask me…" Hikari mumbled, putting her hands in her white kimono's sleeves. "I wish that he knocked it off…"

"Is that so?" Haruyuki replied quietly. "I wish that the setting of his next tale were more fantastic. Perhaps a setting like floating islands in the heavens would be interesting to explore. What do you think, Hikari?"

"I-I don't really have an opinion about it… All I know is that he'll still put his stupid fairies in it somehow," Hikari said.

As Kumi, apparently unaware of their commentary, continued to tell his tale to his two companions, Masashi noticed that Kasumi was far off from the pool, leaning on a wall. Wondering what she was up to, he quietly left the three and approached her.

"Oh, hey, Masashi!" Kasumi said with her usual blithesome voice, smiling. "Good to see you!"

"Yeah, likewise," Masashi replied. "What are you up to right now?"

"Ah, nothing much, really!" Kasumi answered. "I was simply thinking about one of my former heists."

"Really? Why that of all things?"

"Ooh, well, one time, I was after a valuable broach stored in a museum," Kasumi began, her tone growing in excitement. "You see, this broach belonged to a famous pirate, and an archaeology team had discovered a grave with his remains in it. They sent the treasures in the grave to the museum, and once I'd heard about it, I couldn't help but send the curator my calling card!"

"And did you get away with it?"

Kasumi giggled as she covered her mouth with her hand. "Naturally! Those silly guards tried to use thermal imaging goggles. They figured that I wouldn't be able to sneak around the museum." She giggled again. "But I found a way to use that against them, so I got the broach in no time! Oh, man, you should've seen the look on their faces!"

"I think I can imagine well enough how they felt…" Masashi said, admittedly impressed by her deed. "You know, Kasumi, with how much you seem to like to be free and to steal treasure, I think you'd enjoy being a pirate."

"What, really?" Kasumi tilted her head a little, sounding a little less chirpy. "Sure, I guess it's fun to dress like a pirate… but to be one? Nah, I'll pass on that."

Masashi looked puzzledly at her. "Huh? Why?"

"Pirates aren't that much like phantom thieves, you know," Kasumi said, the usual glee in her face now disappearing. "They may be after treasure as well, but they're willing to use violence and even kill if need be."

"Oh… So you won't ever kill, I see," Masashi said.

Kasumi nodded. "That's right. I've never killed anyone, not even in my heists. Valuable as all the treasures I've stolen are, they're incomparable to life itself. Once one takes a life, one can never give it back."

"You wouldn't kill, even if your own life were in danger?"

"If it ever got to that point, then it would mean I've made a great mistake somewhere," she answered, setting a hand on her red masquerade mask. "Thankfully, things have never gotten that bad, so I've never had to think about it."

"Huh… I see…"

Given how oddly serious she sounded, Masashi could not but feel compelled to think that she meant every word that she said. That she kill no one in her heists was one of her principles, and given how much she loved being a phantom thief, Masashi could not see her ever breaking it.

But on the other hand, he recalled Maiha's words and her warning that this was all a trick of hers. Even now, it might be that Kasumi had already planned to get out of here, and her vow of never killing was all a lie. Going with Maiha's solution to lock her up was then the safer option.

Still... even if we don't trust her, is it truly the right move to lock her up? Masashi thought.

Hello, everyone! Sorry for the month-long absence, but I've been pretty busy with a lot of things going on in my life, so I couldn't get this out earlier. Anyway, Chapter 3's begun, and this time, the new ship is meant to represent a cove taken over by pirates. I've already planned out much of this chapter, but I still have room to add in new things if I feel like it.

Now that you've seen Chapter 3's beginning, what do you think will happen in this chapter? Which characters do you think will die? And which characters do you hope will survive? As always, thank you for the reviews! I've enjoyed reading your guys' reactions and thoughts.