Soldier of Hope

by Fire Slash

(AU. Soldier Naegi! and Lucky Student Ikusaba). Makoto Naegi is desperate to flee from his past, one filled with nothing but death. However, upon being forced to participate in a twisted killing game, Naegi'll have to come to terms with his past to secure a future. Will he rise up to become the Soldier of Hope needed, or will the despair of his past and present swallow him whole?

4. Chapter 4: Exploration

Author's note: Hey everyone, FireSlash here and welcome back to 'Soldier of Hope'. If you're reading this around the time I posted this chapter, there's some stuff I want to talk about first. Otherwise, you can skip straight to the story.

1. I initially planned on having this chapter out earlier, but not only did it end up being longer than I expected, but this month was very hectic for me. Thankfully I still managed to hit my 1-2 month upload time, so I'm proud of that.

2. Next chapter might come out in 2-3 months instead of the usual 1-2 month chapter cause I want to update my other fic 'Doki Doki Hopeseekers Club' first (that fic has an upload schedule of every 3-4 months and it's almost been 3 months since I last updated it). If you haven't already, I encourage you to check it out :-).

3. Pairings are still up for debate. Naezono, Naekusaba, and a three-way pairing between them are the options. For those of you who are wondering, if the three-way option does win, I don't plan on writing it as a cliché harem. It would be a throuple if that makes any sense. Also, both Maizono and Ikusaba's characters will be explored in depth, even if they don't end up with Naegi. Naegi may be the main character, but their stories will be important to the themes of this fic as a whole, so expect to learn about their backstories too.

Well, I've said all that I've had to. Now let's get to the fic. Review and enjoy :-)

0000

Makoto Naegi: Age ?

Camaraderie, friendship, family, brotherhood…

War movies would have one think that such things could be found by joining an army.

Perhaps it was because he himself wasn't an ordinary soldier, but none of that could describe Naegi's experience.

There were many ways in which the boy could define his time fighting overseas, and none of it was positive.

Every day was a fight. Sometimes against himself, and sometimes with others.

His superiors were power hungry tyrants, willing to expend countless lives for the smallest of personal gains.

Things were no different for most of his fellow soldiers.

Whereas his superiors were gluttonous kings sitting on thrones made of bones, his peers were like vultures, ready to capitalize on any weakness.

The weak and dull were their primary targets.

It started with a bit of resource stealing, escalating into beatdowns once someone tried to fight back. Then a bit of sabotage, preventing their victims from completing even the most basic tasks. Eventually, the unfortunate souls who happened to be targeted would completely shatter, leaving their tormentors with less competition for necessities.

If one wished to avoid being targeted, they had to establish themselves as a top dog, or they needed to avoid having any attention thrown upon them.

Naegi knew how to keep his head down. For his early years, hardly anyone looked his way, that is, until he was eventually forced to claw his way to the top.

That was a story for another time though.

Simply put, Naegi had no friends. He had no family. For most of his life, he was all alone.

Perhaps that was why he desperately clung to the memories of his family. Even as the years went by, he always remembered their warmth and love.

When he finally found freedom, he was worried that his family wouldn't accept him. It had been seven years after all.

Yet, they showed that their love for him had never died during his absence. They were unbelievably kind, outstandingly patient, and most of all, they cared about him like no one else had before.

…Unfortunately, old habits don't die easy.

Even with his family's unconditional love, he still hid his past from them. He did not want to be thrown back into a world where he only had himself. The things he did… even though his family were a bunch of saints, there's only so many sins one could forgive. Had they known, he was sure that he'd be tossed away, and that possibility scared him more than anything else.

Camaraderie, friendship, family, brotherhood…

Naegi was someone who loved his family unconditionally.

But he didn't know if it would be reciprocated.

That's why it was so hard for him to let others in. It was why he kept even his family at a distance. And it was why he felt his demons were his to face alone.

Until the day he died, Naegi swore that he'd never allow his past to show. He would pretend that everything was fine, even when the nightmares became too intense and during the moments where his senses would be blasted back to the past. No matter how much pain he was in, he'd never, ever, open up, for the rejection would hurt him more than any gun wound. Not to his family. And definitely not to anyone else.

Naegi simply wanted to be with his family again, to be able to bask in their love and to love them back.

If it meant not being vulnerable in front of anyone, if it meant having to pretend he was someone he's not, then so be it.

After all, it's not like anyone could love him for who he really was…

…Right?

0000

'So who should I go with?'

Despite it being his idea in the first place, Naegi had no clue on where to even begin in regards to looking for a group.

He had only met most of his classmates today, and the one person he happened to know beforehand was someone he had never spoken to prior.

Add his less than stellar social skills and suddenly such a simple task was proving to be quite daunting…

How was it that he could rush towards a ticking bomb without flinching yet struggled to speak to people in a casual manner?

'Guess the only thing to do is wing it…'

Standing around and twiddling his thumbs wasn't going to get him anywhere, and neither would entertaining his insecurities. There were far more important things to worry about…

'Alright, let's see who-'

"Naegi?"

The boy spun around towards the person who had called out his name. Doing so brought him face-to-face with a certain blue haired idol, the girl flashing him one of her trademark smiles.

"E-eh? Maizono?"

The former soldier had no idea why she was approaching him of all people.

"I'm sorry, is there something I can help you with?"

The girl nodded. "Would you like to explore the school together?"

Well, now he knew what she wanted. But again, why him? Maizono could've asked any of their other classmates, classmates who were gifted, yet she wanted him to accompany her…

"You seem reliable," the idol told him, almost as if she had read his mind.

Naegi winced. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Nope!" Maizono replied with a giggle. "Did you forget? I'm psychic!"

Seeing the boy's confused face caused her smile to grow.

"Just kidding! I have great intuition."

'Right, I forgot about that.'

Between Monokuma's appearance, his missing items, and everything else surrounding the school, the idol's insane intuition was something he forgot about.

Again, he steeled himself, making his eyes and body unreadable. The only thing someone would see if they did try was the facade he wanted them to see.

"But also," Maizono continued. "I know that this is kind of continuing the self introduction thing, but I wanted to ask you something."

Naegi tilted his head. He remembered that she did try asking him a question before being interrupted by Ishimaru.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Naegi… did yo-"

"Heeey~"

A cheery voice interrupted the idol. Spinning around once more, the boy saw Enoshima walking towards them.

"Yo, M-Naegi!" The model greeted him.

'Did she almost call me by my first name?'

The near slip-up didn't go unnoticed by him. However, what did was how she didn't address Maizono. Had Naegi been paying attention to the girl beside him, he might have noticed the small glimpse of frustration that threatened to leak out of her mask.

"So…"

Enoshima crossed her arms and shot him a teasing smirk.

"Wanna tell me what the hell you were thinking back there? First you run towards a bomb and then you piss off Owada… you're either way too reckless or you've got a death wish."

Oh, right. He did endanger himself twice like a madman. Compared to some of the other things he's experienced, both situations were pretty tame. To everyone else though, seeing him run into action had probably been quite the spectacle.

"…I couldn't sit there and do nothing when someone could've been seriously hurt," Naegi admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"Ah, so you're one of those 'heart of gold' types…" the model remarked, her tone indicating that she was amused.

'I wouldn't say that…'

Naegi didn't consider himself to be a good person, not with all the blood he's spilt.

"Whelp, if that's how it is, I guess I gotta keep an eye on you!" Enoshima declared, much to his surprise. "Don't want you to hurt yourself pulling another stunt like that."

"I don't think that's necessary…"

Yeah, what he did wasn't something any sane person would do, but as much as he appreciated the concern, he didn't want the fashionista to feel obligated to watch over him. The two of them were essentially strangers after all.

Even so, despite the fact his gut still wasn't fully comfortable around her, he saw no reason to shoo her away.

"But if you're saying that you want to join us, you can. Is that alright, Maizono?"

"I guess it's fine," the idol responded, her words lacking the enthusiasm she was known for. Though she still had her signature smile on, Naegi could sense a hint of disappointment emanating from her.

'Maybe she's upset Enoshima interrupted her…'

That was twice now that the blue haired girl had been prevented from asking him her question. He couldn't blame her for being a bit annoyed.

The model raised an eyebrow at the other girl's response. For a moment it looked like she wanted to address it, but she quickly turned her attention back to the boy and grinned.

"Sweet! So, like, what now? Should we get going?"

"We still need two more people before we can head out," Naegi reminded her. "It shouldn't take too long to find them."

This was especially true seeing as both Maizono and Enoshima had more than enough charisma to make up for his lack of social skills. Perhaps it was because he himself wasn't famous, but other than someone like Togami, the boy couldn't think of anyone who'd be able to deny an opportunity to hang out with two of the world's most influential celebrities.

"A-ah, excuse me?"

See? They didn't even have to search for anyone. Just by standing around, they've encountered their fourth member.

The trio directed their attention towards the newcomer, a certain 'Ultimate Programmer' who was standing in front of them.

"I hope I'm not interrupting…" the short girl said.

Enoshima managed to beat the other two to the punch in terms of addressing the girl. "Nah, you're not. What can we do for ya?"

Noticing how the programmer was eyeing Naegi, a cheshire grin formed on the model's face. "Lemee guess, you wanna ask Naegi if you can join him?"

Fujisaki flushed at the teasing tone. "…If it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all," Naegi told her, causing the shortest of the girls to visibly relax.

He did have a question for her though.

"But why me?"

"W-well… I think I'd be safest if I was with you," Fujiski explained. "You recognized that Monokuma was a bomb and didn't hesitate to save Owada. I don't think anyone else realized what was going on…"

"That was nothing," Naegi bashfully retorted. "I'm sure someone would've stepped in if I didn't…"

"Maybe, but it was *you* who did," the programmer told him. "In this killing game, you could've done nothing, but you risked your life for someone you barely know. It makes me think that I can trust you."

'I wonder if she still would if she knew…'

The former soldier opened his mouth, but whatever retort he was about to spout died when Maizono spoke up.

"Actually, I'm kinda curious, how did you know Monokuma was a bomb?"

"Uh…"

"Yes Naegi, how *did* you manage to deduce that Monokuma was about to explode within seconds of the alarm going off?"

Enoshima nearly leaped out of her boots due to the new voice. "Whoa, where the hell'd you come from?!"

Right next to her was one Kyoko Kirigiri, who was once more giving Naegi an analytical glare.

The long haired girl didn't even bother to acknowledge the model, her attention remaining on the boy, causing the blonde to sulk.

"Alright, just ignore me I guess…"

"Uh…" Naegi desperately wracked his mind for some plausible explanation to give to Kirigiri, one that would make some sort of sense. The moment his brain developed one, he opened his mouth.

"I've seen many action movies."

Only to regret it immediately. Keeping his facade up, the boy fought the urge to wince. He could not show any signs of weakness, especially not around someone as sharp as her.

His interrogator crossed her arms, clearly not satisfied with his answer.

"Is that also why you brought a sword to the gymnasium?"

Naegi blinked, quickly looking at the fake katana in his hand. He had completely forgotten that he had it with him once Maizono had spoken to him. Thankfully it was something he could easily explain without revealing much.

"I wanted something to defend myself. Just in case."

Even with such a fair explanation, Kirigiri didn't relent with her rapid paced questioning.

"And the chair from earlier?"

The three other girls shot him a questioning look, interested in the answer to that particular question as well.

"…Also to defend myself."

"With an object that's both heavy and clunky? You do realize how impractical that is, right?"

She had a point. Who would ever use a chair as a weapon except as a last resort?

"It was the only thing I could find."

'She's not letting up…'

He had to admit, Kirigiri was doing a great job at pressuring him. He could tell she was trying to back him into some sort of corner, and if she were to do that, then his secret would be exposed. There'd be no way that she wouldn't spill the beans, especially in an environment where the goal was to kill one another. If his talent was discovered, then he'd be enemy number one…

Much to his relief, right as Kirigiri was about to fire another question at him, Maizono stepped forward, releasing a fake cough into her hand.

"Ahem. Sorry Kirigiri, but we should get going. The school isn't going to explore itself. You can join us if you'd like."

Naegi raised an eyebrow. There wasn't anything rushing them, but with the slight hint of sternness in the girl's voice, one would've thought this to be the case.

Seeing the boy from the corner of her eyes, the blue haired girl shot him a small smirk of what seemed to be reassurance.

'Is she defending me?'

Touched by the gesture, a tint of red spread around his cheeks.

If Kirigiri had noticed the idol's slight tone shift, she didn't make it known.

"You're right," the unknown Ultimate replied. "I intended to ask if I could travel with you, so I'll accept your invitation."

Naegi was about to ask why she wanted to join them, only to stop himself. The answer was obvious, the girl clearly wanted to keep an eye on him. Ever since he introduced himself, Kirigiri had him marked as a suspicious person. Those two stunts of his had to have affirmed her assessment of him.

'Not that I can blame her.'

"S-so that's five of us, right?" Fujisaki asked. Her question caused the remaining tension to die down.

Doing a quick head count, the sole boy of the group nodded. "Yeah… I think we're ready to start exploring now."

Enoshima crossed her arms. "So…where to first?"

"For now, let's check out each room as we pass them," Kirigiri replied. "There's no need to complicate things. If we pass by something interesting, then we'll do an in depth search."

"I can get behind that," Maizono said in agreement.

With no one else having anything to say, Kirigiri turned around and began walking towards the gym's exit. "Alright then. Let's go."

0000

With the trophy room being connected to the gymnasium, it was the first place the five teens decided to explore. However, as everyone quickly discovered, there wasn't anything noteworthy to be found there outside of the trophies. As such, they didn't spend much time in the room.

Before he left, Naegi placed the fake katana back on its stand. He saw no reason to keep it on his person.

Upon exiting the room, the group was greeted with a choice. To the left, the hallway continued. To the right, a large gate awaited them. Behind said gate was a set of stairs leading upwards.

"The hell? What's this doing here?" Enoshima asked out loud, eying the gate.

"I-I think it's to keep us out," Fujisaki replied. "But why?"

Kirigiri walked forwards. Gripping the fence, she tried forcing it open, but had no luck. Seeing what she was trying to do, Naegi proceeded to mimic her actions. Even with his immense strength, the gate wouldn't budge.

"This must be what Monokuma meant by 'minimal restrictions' in the fourth rule," the lavender haired girl noted. "It doesn't look like we can do anything about it. Let's move on."

Wordlessly nodding to one another, everyone proceeded to walk down the hallway.

It didn't take them long to reach another area of interest, a set of bathrooms. One for males and one for females.

'Are they open now?'

When he was first walking towards the front entrance, none of the other rooms would open. However, the sole male of the group found it hard to believe that Monokuma would only limit them to two rooms if he expected them to live here forever.

Grabbing the door handle to the male's bathroom, the boy managed to open it with no difficulties.

'Looks like they are.'

He glanced to his right. Most likely having similar thoughts about the situation, Kirigiri had opened the door to the other bathroom, confirming that it was also accessible.

"I guess I'll check the boy's bathroom while you all check the girl's bathroom," Naegi said with an awkward laugh.

As a soldier, he was unfortunately used to raiding places that weren't meant to be raided. This was not the battlefield though. Even with the chaos surrounding it, this was a high school, and one does not go into the wrong bathroom without looking like a pervert. He'd do it if necessary, but he was sure that the girls had it handled.

"That would probably be best…" Maizono replied.

Kirigiri turned around. "We'll meet back here."

One by one, the girls entered the bathroom. Naegi noticed how Fujisaki seemed very hesitant to enter, but the boy chalked it up to her being extra cautious.

Entering the boy's bathroom, the former soldier was greeted with, well, a bathroom. There was nothing to be said about the bathroom because it looked absolutely ordinary.

Checking each and every stall did nothing to change his stance. He paid close attention to the walls, curious to see if maybe there was a hidden door, but found nothing. There was a vent on the ceiling, but it was too small for even Monokuma to crawl through. In conclusion, the bathroom was indeed a bathroom and it wasn't hiding any secrets.

Leaving the room, Naegi saw that everyone, aside from Kirigiri, were waiting for him.

"Nothing?"

"Nah," Enoshima responded. "It's just a regular ol' bathroom."

"Same with the guys' bathroom."

"Kirigiri's still checking things out," Maizono noted. "She said that she wanted to be sure that we didn't miss anything."

"She's very thorough," Fujisaki remarked, a sentiment that Naegi shared with her.

"Did she ever say what her talent is?"

"If I remember, uh…" Maizono began to think to herself, only to draw a blank.

"…huh, you're right. I don't think she did."

Naegi did not like the direction that this conversation was going. He knew that it would not take them long to remember that he never gave them his talent either.

Thankfully, before anything else could be said, the lavender haired girl returned.

"I'm done. We can go now."

Not waiting for a response, Kirigiri briskly walked down the hall.

'Did she hear them?' Naegi asked himself. He wouldn't be surprised if she did and this was her way of shutting down the conversation.

If it was, it worked as the rest of the girls followed suit, but not before exchanging confused glances at one another.

With nothing left to do, the sole boy of the group joined them.

0000

"Locked."

Judging by the white doors leading into the room and the symbol of a medical kit that was on a small plate next to the entrance, the next room they found appeared to be some sort of infirmary.

Oddly enough, the doors were plastered with yellow caution tape. Having tried to open them himself, Naegi could tell that the tape was only there for cosmetic purposes.

"Locking the infirmary's definitely a choice…" Kirigiri said to herself, but loud enough for everyone else to hear.

Enoshima was not happy. "Yeah, what the hell're we supposed to do if someone gets sick or hurt?"

"…I think that's the last thing Monokuma's worried about…" Maizono mumbled, reminding everyone once more about the life the bear wanted them to live.

A moment of silence ensued before being broken by Fujisaki.

"Um, isn't it weird that this is the only room so far that's still locked?"

"Now that you mention it… it's definitely weird," Naegi noted.

"When I first woke up, everything but the front entrance was closed, and the gym only opened after Monokuma's first announcement… what else has opened up and what else is still off-limits?"

"The only way to answer that question is if we keep moving forwards," Kirigiri responded.

The five of them pressed on in silent agreement, nothing else needing to be said.

0000

Walking past the infirmary, the group approached a square roundabout. In the center was a pillar. To the left was a room with orange doors and a wooden sign that said 'shop' hanging above the doorframe. To the right was a familiar room, that of the front entrance.

"I've already explored the front entrance in depth," Kirigiri told everyone.

Enoshima raised an eyebrow. "When did you do that?"

"I was the first person to arrive there," Kirigiri replied. "I had more than enough time to look around before everyone started showing up."

"Did you find anything?" Fujisaki asked her.

"Outside of the vault door and machine guns, there's nothing to note."

Maizono flinched. "Wait, machine guns?"

Naegi nodded. "Yeah, there's two pointing at the vault door. I've never seen their type before, so they've gotta be custom made."

The boy immediately regretted saying that as he felt Kirigiri's eyes land on him. He had expected her to interrogate him once more, so he was surprised when she instead switched the topic.

"He's right. We can do a one-over if you'd like, but I think we'll be more productive searching the unknown first."

With no one having any objections, the group made their way to the set of orange doors.

Grabbing the knob, Naegi opened them, revealing a small room full of random items. Full sets of plate armor, a snack/drink vending machine, and a variety of other objects littered the room. A wooden countertop table was in the back, and on it was a capsule vending machine, one colored with an all too familiar black and white pattern.

"What's with all this junk?" Enoshima asked as she picked up something that looked to be a vase.

Fujisaki began examining the snack/drink vending machine. "Maybe there's something in here that could be useful."

On that note, the group started searching around for anything of interest.

Naegi decided to check out the armor first, knocking on it with his hand.

'It's fake.'

Though it looked extremely realistic, the interior of the armor was actually made of poster boards. If he really wanted to, he could probably rip off an arm.

Switching his attention towards the capsule ball machine, the boy couldn't help but notice that despite its small size, it stood out the most compared to the other objects in the room.

'What is this thing?'

Just like Monokuma, the machine didn't feel like it belonged in the school.

Getting closer, he tried to see if he could spot what was inside the machine. Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything as the interior of the machine was wrapped in decorative paper, one which had a capsule ball pattern, giving off the illusion that it was full.

"Ah, I see you've found the MonoMono Machine!" A gleeful voice shouted from behind him.

Naegi's heart skipped a beat as his muscles tensed up. Swinging his right foot back, the boy began to turn around while preparing to slip away from any incoming danger, only to abandon the maneuver upon seeing Monokuma standing at the door.

'How'd he sneak up on me?'

The former soldier believed himself to be very good at remaining alert, no matter the situation. For the animatronic to casually avoid triggering his senses, it reinforced the idea that the bear, and whoever was controlling him, were unbelievably dangerous adversaries.

Similarly, Kirigiri swiftly turned around, her attention now on the newcomer. For a brief moment, enough of her mask had fallen to where Naegi could tell that she had also been caught off guard. Everyone else released a small yelp before looking at the source of their surprise.

"Hey now, why so jumpy?" Monokuma asked, tilting his head in a manner that could only be described as mocking.

Kirigiri wasted no time, firing a question at him. "What's the MonoMono Machine?"

The animatronic's grin grew. "What's the MonoMono Machine you ask?"

The bear walked forwards until he was next to Naegi and the machine.

"This bad boy's loaded with all kinds of rare goodies."

Monokuma patted the machine.

"A bunch of useful stuff can be won, but what you get is decided by chance."

"…How does it work?" Maizono asked him.

"All you gotta do is put a coin in the slot, twist the knob, and voilà! You've got yourself a prize!"

The bear paused for dramatic effect, only to sulk when all he got were blank stares.

"You could at least pretend to be excited…"

He then perked up.

"Oh, almost forgot! The MonoMono Machine only takes Monocoins."

Maizono shot him a confused glance. "Monocoins?"

"Yep! I've hid several special coins with my beautiful face around the school for you all to find."

Enoshima scoffed. "Egotistical much?"

Monokuma ignored her. "There's other ways to earn them too, but you'll learn about them soon enough."

Before anyone could ask him what he meant, the bear pulled out a coin from thin air. Where he had hidden it, nobody knew.

"Since I'm such a generous headmaster, I'll let you have one spin for free!"

The bear handed Naegi the coin. Though cautious, the boy took it and inserted it into the machine. Twisting the handle, he waited until a capsule came out. Opening it, the former soldier raised an eyebrow at what was inside, a small piece of paper.

"Yeah, I wanted a bigger machine so I could fit everything in there, but the school budget's a bit tight," Monokuma informed the group.

"So I had to improvise. The paper's got the name of your prize."

Naegi brought the small strip to his face, only to frown upon reading its contents.

"Hand bra?"

"Ooh, that's a personal favorite of mine," Monokuma gleefully said. "Gimme a sec."

The bear leapt behind the counter, a comical rustling noise following immediately after. A few seconds later, he popped out with a mysterious object.

"Here ya go!"

Taking the item, Naegi's frown grew. What he had in his hands was indeed a bra, but instead of normal cups, two hand shaped ones took their place. Why such a thing existed was unknown.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

Monokuma shrugged. "I dunno. It's up to you."

A mischievous grin appeared on his face. "You do got a nice batch of women here. How about you have them model it for you? Maybe even make it a contest to see who's the most sexy…"

"Ew."

Enoshima's simple reaction was enough to convey how the group felt about his suggestion.

Monokuma scoffed. "Well, whatever. I've already given you a free spin so my work here's done. Enjoy your price!"

The bear walked out of the room, leaving behind five disgusted and confused teens.

"…I think we should go somewhere else," Maizono said.

No one had any objections.

0000

Passing the roundabout, the five Ultimates found themselves staring down another hallway. At the end was another route split; they could either turn left or right. However, there was another room that needed to be explored first, one behind a yellow door with an 8-bit sprite of a cassette tape.

Just like with the bathrooms and shop, the door opened without any issues.

The room itself was quite large, though not as large as the gymnasium. Multiple rows of desks filled up the place, each having a screen attached to them. All the way in the back, on the wall, there was a large screen with two boombox shaped speakers on its sides.

Fujisaki only needed a small glance to recognize the purpose of the room.

"It's an AV room…"

Enoshima glanced at one of the screens, a hopeful look shining in her eyes. "You think any of these can connect to the internet? Maybe we can call for help!"

"Maybe."

The programmer walked up next to the model and turned on the screen, frowning when only a blue light flashed.

"I had a feeling… these are only DVD players."

Kirigiri, who had been walking past each row in search of anything useful, nodded. "Makes sense. Our kidnappers would've been foolish if they gave us access to a means of contacting the outside world."

Taking inspiration from the girl, Naegi and Maizono had also started investigating the room. Sadly, the only thing they had to show for it were three Monocoins that the former soldier found.

However, the boy did notice something odd.

"The tables are almost spotless too…"

Besides the edges of the metal plates, the school was quite clean. Even the various knickknacks in the shop had minimal dust.

Having heard the shorter boy, Kirigiri spoke up. "Someone must've cleaned everything before we woke up, and made extra sure to be thorough about it."

Maizono tilted her head. "But why would they do that?"

The lavender haired girl was about to respond, but Naegi beat her to the punch.

"It's to stop us from finding out how long we've been here. If this place had a lot of dust, it'd possibly be because it was abandoned."

"So what you're saying is that we could've been knocked out for longer than we thought?" Enoshima asked.

Kirigiri nodded. "It's possible that we've been out for days, or that we've only been out for a few hours. I'm leaning towards the former."

The model shuddered. "Creepy…"

0000

With the AV room properly scoped out, the group was ready to move on to the next room. Arriving at the intersection, they were greeted with a set of large red doors on the right, and more of the hallway on the left.

Deciding to tackle the mystery room first, the teens quickly learned that the door was locked shut.

"Another one?" Enoshima asked out loud as she watched Naegi's attempt at opening the door.

The boy stopped trying to force it open. "Yeah."

"How curious," Kirigiri muttered. "What could possibly be behind that door?"

No one had any answers as a moment of silence enveloped them.

"I guess we should go left now," Maizono suggested.

Agreeing with the idol's words, the five teens began walking the other way until they were faced with another choice.

Going forward seemed to lead to another part of the school. However, there were two rooms to the left that have yet to be searched.

"Hey, it's the classroom that I woke up in," Maizono said, pointing to one of the two doors. Upon following her finger, Naegi had to do a double take. Next to it, there was a sign that said 'Classroom 1-A', but that wasn't what was troubling the boy. The room the idol was pointing to was also the room he found himself in when he first regained consciousness.

Enoshima raised an eyebrow. "Huh? This is the place I woke up in, and I didn't see you at all."

The two celebrities shot each other confused looks.

"Uh, are you sure about that? You're probably confusing this one with another classroom."

"Nope, no way. It was definitely this one."

The blonde pointed at the sign.

"Yep, 1-A. I couldn't get into 1-B. I remember that for a fact. You probably woke up in the other one."

Maizono adamantly shook her head. "I definitely didn't."

"…how odd."

The voice of Kirigiri snagged their attention.

"Because I also woke up in 1-A, and I didn't see any of you despite being the first person to make it to the front entrance."

"I did too," Fujisaki said. "And I didn't see anyone either."

'What is going on?'

Naegi was stumped. He had also woken up in 1-A and hadn't see anyone. The latter could be explained as him being the last person to get to the front entrance, but if everyone woke up in the same spot, then one of the girls should've seen him. According to them though, they were alone during that time.

Placing a hand on his chin, the boy began to think to himself.

'If we all did wake up in the same place, that means for every time someone woke up, someone else was put into the room. But how did they know the order in which we'd wake up?'

The more he thought and learned about the situation at hand, the more confused he felt.

Kirigiri opened the door to 1-A.

"Perhaps there's something inside the classrooms that can clear things up for us."

Once more, everyone began searching for something that could give them answers, and once more, the only thing anyone could find were five total Monocoins that they split between themselves.

"Ugh, there's nothing here," Enoshima groaned before sitting on one of the desks.

"Uh, well, I did find something," Fujisaki timidly said.

Seeing that everyone's attention shifted to her, the girl continued speaking.

"I don't think it's anything important, but there's a chair missing."

One of the desks was indeed missing a chair.

The model couldn't help but smirk in amusement as her head shifted to the sole boy of the group.

"I think we all know who's responsible for that."

Naegi rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. The missing chair was still over at the front entrance. He'll have to bring it back later.

"Well, I believe we're done here," Kirigiri said. "Let's see if the other classroom will open up."

Moving to the next room, which had also been unlocked, the group continued their search.

The two classrooms were nearly identical to one another, and as such, there was nothing of note to report. This time there wasn't even a single Monocoin laying around.

There was only one way to go now, and that was the hallway to their left. Making their way through it led them to a pair of large double doors that were already open. Next to them was a sign, one which Naegi moved closer to so he could read its contents.

"Hotel Despair…"

"Geez, that doesn't sound ominous at all," Enoshima snarked. "The hell's up with this name?"

"Well, I dunno about the despair stuff, but a hotel's a place that you stay at, and we were supposed to get dorm rooms," Maizono reasoned. "Maybe this is them?"

"That would make sense…" Fujisaki agreed. "Rule 3 said that we do get them…"

The model nodded, agreeing with their points. "Think maybe we'll find our stuff there?"

Naegi shook his head. "I doubt it. There's no way Monokuma's giving us our phones back, and he's not going to give us anything we can use to escape either."

"Bummer…"

Wordlessly, everyone began going through the door, ready to see what was on the other side.

0000

Compared to the lighting of the rest of the school, Hotel Despair was illuminated by normal lights, with the exception of the back section, which was a dark red instead.

The closest door to them was to their right, and that was the first place they decided to check out.

"This has to be the cafeteria," Naegi said to himself as he surveyed the room. In it, there was a long and large table with enough seats that the entire class could sit together. To the left of the table were two smaller tables that were circular in shape.

'Is that what I think it is?'

Turning his attention to the right of the bigger table, the boy was greeted with the sight of a large windowed area. He could see several trees outside, a peek at the world he wished he could go back to.

'Wait, no...'

However, it didn't take him long to realize that what he was looking at was not a windowed area, but an area painted in a way which made it appear to be a window. The painting was very detailed, so much so that it even managed to fool his eyes for a moment.

Not wasting any time, the group began surveying the room. Only finding a single Monocoin, Naegi turned his attention to the back of the room, where an empty door frame was waiting for him.

Walking through it, he found himself in what was obviously the kitchen. On the walls and ceilings were various cooking equipment such as knives, pots, and drainers. Various ingredients were neatly organized on a countertop and there were multiple refrigerators and freezers around. Opening each of them revealed different kinds of foods. Dairy products and desserts were stored in a different place than the meat, which in turn was not kept with the fish, and so on.

Picking up a fresh apple, the boy gave it a quick sniff. Naegi didn't trust the food one bit.

'Don't sense any poison on it.'

He then licked it.

'Don't taste anything either.'

"The food's not poisoned, so you can stop being a pansy about it."

Muscles tightening, the boy had to stop himself from throwing a roundhouse kick. At the entrance to the kitchen was Monokuma, who had once again managed to sneak up on him.

Putting a hand into his pocket, Naegi clenched his fist as a means of relieving some stress.

"How do I know you're not lying?"

The animatronic groaned in annoyance.

"Weren't you paying attention to the entrance ceremony? I want you guys to kill each other. If I did it, it would defeat the entire purpose of this game."

The soldier crossed his arms. He had to admit that the bear had a point there.

Biting into the apple, Naegi confirmed that Monokuma was indeed telling the truth. Either that or the poison was the type that would kick in later if he ate too much of it.

Speaking of eating…

"What happens when we run out of food?"

"Psh, that'll never happen," Monokuma replied. "We've got enough food here to feed you all for more than a hundred years, so you don't have to worry about food shortages. Old and bad ingredients get replaced daily too!"

'So he's completely prepared the school for us…''

Turning around, the boy continued searching the kitchen, taking count of all the kitchen equipment. Several of them could be used to kill, especially the knives, so the moment something went missing, he'd notice.

"Hey! Don't just ignore me! At least thank me for feeding you. Getting all of that food wasn't easy ya know…"

Oh, right. Monokuma was still there. The soldier didn't particularly feel like interacting with his kidnapper at the moment.

With one final hmph, the bear left the room, grumbling on his way out. A few seconds later, the sound of human footsteps took his place.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Maizono asked. "I saw Monokuma walk out of here upset."

"Ah, everything's fine," Naegi told her. "He's just mad that I was ignoring him."

He then decided to tell her about the kitchen.

"None of the food's poisoned, and according to Monokuma, we don't have to worry about starving to death."

The idol smiled at the news. "That's good. It's one less thing to worry about."

"Yeah."

Not even a second later, Kirigiri entered the kitchen and began conducting her own research. As she did so, Naegi gave her the news.

"Either Hope's Peak is always stacked with food or our captors had plenty of time to transport food here," the lavender haired girl said in response.

For the hundredth time today, the students couldn't help but wonder how long they'd been unconscious for.

0000

Reconvening with Fujisaki and Enoshima, the group made their way to their next destination, a room that was to the left of them.

The first thing that immediately stood out to them was the large blue sign that said 'bath' placed on the top of the doorframe.

The second thing was that there were no doors.

"More tape?" Enoshima asked out loud, giving the room a questioning look.

Just as she said, there was caution tape sealing the room's entrance.

"Why the hell does a bathhouse need to be locked?"

'That's a good point.'

Naegi definitely found it odd that the room was closed off. What was inside that Monokuma didn't want them to see?

Walking towards the tape, the boy gently tugged it, testing its properties. From what he could tell, it was just ordinary caution tape.

Grabbing it, he was about to rip them apart, only for a voice to stop him in his tracks.

"Hey! Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Instinctively releasing the tape, Naegi prepared to dive out of the way, only to stop when he saw that it was Monokuma who once again managed to surprise him.

Enoshima jolted upwards. "Gah! Seriously, where do you keep coming from?"

"Don't you know what caution tape's for?" The animatronic asked the sole boy of the group, not acknowledging the model.

He then sighed.

"Ya know, I really didn't this really needed to be made a rule, but *someone* clearly has no manners!"

Huffing, the bear ran away at a surprisingly fast speed.

*Ding dong, bing bong*

The sound of a bell caused the group to look around, their eyes eventually landing on a monitor that had turned on.

Unlike last time, Monokuma's silhouette wasn't blurred out, being fully visible.

"Attention everyone! Due to a *certain* someone, rule 5 has been updated. Please read it at your earliest convenience."

The monitor shut off.

*Ding*

The group whipped out their e-Handbooks, having felt them vibrate. Turning it on immediately displayed the updated rule.

'Rule 5: Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of the following: surveillance cameras, monitors, mounted guns, and any barriers marking places that are off-limits.'

Turning off the e-Handbook, the boy frowned.

'That makes things a bit more annoying…'

It would've been far more convenient if he could tear off the caution tape and the mounted guns. Of course, he should've expected that Monokuma wasn't going to make things easy for them. If they wanted to leave the school, they were going to have to work for their freedom.

0000

Traversing further into Hotel Despair, a laundry room was the next room the five teens approached. However, there was nothing to note about it as it was a simple laundry room. Washing machines and dryers were there, alongside a pool table and a regular table.

Despite not discovering anything of interest, the soldier did manage to find two more Monocoins at least.

Upon moving on, the group found two more places that needed exploration. One was a room hidden down a small hallway to the right of them. The other was a set of stairs that were at the end of said hallway.

Unfortunately, the stairs were once again locked behind a gate, one that couldn't be forced open.

"Another one?" Maizono asked.

"Looks like it…" Fujisaki mumbled.

With the stairs being inaccessible, everyone's attention shifted to the door. Sadly, it was also sealed off, this time with caution tape.

Not having anywhere else to go, the group made their way to the dorms.

Had this been an ordinary first day of school, exploring the dorms would've invoked some feelings of excitement in them. Sadly, between Monokuma running amok and the dark red lights illuminating the hall, an ominous atmosphere clung to the air. The dorms were no longer just a safe place where one could enjoy some privacy. They were a reminder of a new, shaky, potentially hopeless future...

"To make things quick, we'll each check out our own rooms," Kirigiri said to the group.

She then pointed to the closest room, which so happened to be hers judging by its name plate.

"We'll meet up in front of my room. Sounds good?"

Everyone nodded, no one having any objections.

"Then I'll see you shortly."

The girl was about to enter her room, only to stop. Following her eyes, Naegi saw that she was looking at what seemed to be some sort of card reader.

It took her less than a second to figure out how to open the door. Tapping her e-Handbook against the card reader, a small *ding* rang from the device, accompanied by a clicking noise.

"The e-Handbook's how we unlock our doors," Kirigiri said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Best we make sure never to lose or forget them."

She proceeded to enter her room, closing the door behind her.

Following her lead, the rest of the group began searching for their own rooms.

Naegi didn't have to look too long for his, as it was right next to Kirigiri's. To the left was Maizono's room, so the idol didn't have to go far either.

Unlocking the door, the boy entered his room, making extra sure to shut the door behind him.

0000

From first glances alone, his room didn't appear to be anything special. It looked like an ordinary dorm room. In the center of the room was a full sized bed. Next to it was a desk with some shelves. Across from the two pieces of furniture were a small table with two chairs. Finally, a large closet was placed in the corner of the room where the table was at, with a small trash can keeping it company.

"Looks normal so far," Naegi mumbled to himself.

Walking towards the bed, he noticed a door that had been out of sight.

"Is this the bathroom?"

Preparing to open it, the boy was surprised to find that it wouldn't budge despite the door not having a lock.

"Locked but with no lock…"

This wasn't the first time the soldier had been in this sort of situation, so he already had an idea of what he needed to do.

Turning the knob, he pulled upwards before pushing the door open.

"Looks like a faulty door frame."

Peeking inside, he was greeted with the sight of an ordinary bathroom. A shower, toilet, trash can, and sink were present, alongside a mirror.

The boy decided to walk to the mirror, staring at his reflection in the eyes.

"I should probably check myself now."

While there was a camera in his room, there wasn't one in the bathroom. As such, he felt far more comfortable with stripping down there.

Doing just that, he began looking around, using the mirror to help him.

'I hate doing this…'

Naegi disliked his body. Immensely.

Despite his short size, the boy was deceptively muscular, with visible muscles and a six pack.

But that's where the positives ended.

Around his body were numerous scars, each one having its own story. Lashings, burnings, bullets… they were a constant reminder of the life he once lived.

There was one aspect of his body though that never failed to put him in a bad mood.

To say he hated it was too soft of a word to describe how he truly felt.

He outright despised the blemish that occupied his body.

It was a reminder of his lost innocence, serving as a tombstone for the life he could've lived.

Tattooed on his chest was 'J-78'.

Before he was known as 'coyote', before he was known as a monster, he was J-78, a small child ripped away from his family for the sole purpose of being cannon fodder.

The boy scratched the tattoo. Every time he looked at the damn thing, he'd relive that specific moment of time. Him being paralyzed with fear, him screaming as his flesh was being cut, and him struggling to fall asleep that night, it had been a hopeless situation all around...

Shaking his head, Naegi began putting on his clothes, not wanting to look at himself anymore.

Before slipping on his gloves, the boy glanced at the back of his right hand and smiled.

There was something else about his body that he didn't hate, and that was the wolf tattoo on the back of his hand.

Whereas his scars and chest tattoo were reminders of a bleak time in his life, the tattoo on his hand always reminded him of how he eventually fought back and reclaimed his life. It was a reminder that even in the darkest of places, he still found hope.

0000

Exiting the bathroom, Naegi sat on his bed.

'Nothing new on my body…'

Glancing around his room once more, the boy realized that he still had two things that he needed to check out, the closet and desk shelves.

Deciding to search the shelves first, he didn't even have to open anything to notice something strange. On the desk were three items, one of which immediately caught Naegi's attention.

'Is that my alarm clock?'

Sitting on the desk was indeed an alarm clock, a digital one at that. The clock was the first purchase he made upon returning to Japan, it being used to wake him up at 5am every morning so he could do his exercises.

He had sent the alarm clock to his dorm before the first day of school, hence why it was here and not at home.

Picking it up, the boy examined it, making sure that it hadn't been modified in any way.

'Looks good to me…'

It was unfortunate that the clock didn't display the date or else he could've used it to figure out how much time had passed since he fell unconscious. He doubted Monokuma would allow him to have something that could provide him with such important information though, so it's not like it mattered much.

Determining that his clock hadn't been touched, he placed the device down and set an alarm for 5am. If he was going to stay here for the foreseeable future, then he wasn't about to miss his exercises.

Done with the clock, the boy decided to check out the other items that were on the table, but seeing as they were a notepad and a lint roller, he didn't spend too much time with them.

He then opened up the first drawer, and what he saw inside made his blood freeze.

"What? How?"

What he was looking at were a small gun, a switchblade, a box of bullets, and three orange bottles.

The gun and switchblade were things that he immediately recognized; they were the weapons that he always carried around.

"I never sent them to the school…"

He definitely didn't, especially when he had them on his person as he was first entering the school.

'Why are they here?'

It didn't take him long to come up with an answer. Monokuma must've taken them to his room.

Now the question was, why did he? Why would he allow someone to be armed?

A pang of worry thumped in his chest, almost causing the boy to drop the weapons.

'He knows…'

The reason they were in his room was obvious… It was a message. Somehow, Monokuma knew of his talent, and despite knowing of said talent, the person/people controlling the animatronic didn't view him as a threat.

Clenching a fist, the boy stared at the camera, conveying to his captor(s) that the message had indeed been sent and issuing a challenge of his own.

If they were going to underestimate him, then he'll make sure that it'll be their biggest mistake…

Unfortunately, the mastermind(s) knowing his talent did give them a sizable advantage over him. The moment they decided that they don't want to be silent about it was the moment where he'd lose the support of his classmates. He'd have a big target on his back, with no allies to help…

Softly slapping his cheeks, Naegi decided to refocus on the mission.

Placing the weapons on his bed, he pulled out the box of bullets and opened it.

'Sixteen bullets…'

He felt like he had a vague idea as to why Monokuma decided on that number. There were fifteen students currently, and there was a bullet for each of them. Himself included. One bullet would be spared.

'But why?'

Assuming that his theory was correct, the extra bullet was something which confused him.

'Wait, is it for the Ultimate Lucky Student?'

The mystery surrounding the missing Ultimate Lucky Student was still fresh on his mind. Adding them to the mix would make the total number of students sixteen. But where were they? Did they actually get lucky and managed to avoid being kidnapped?

Shaking his head, the boy decided to resume focusing on his room. Right now, it was a bigger priority to him.

Glancing at his gun, the boy loaded it with the bullets before pocketing his weapons. Even though he had no intentions of using them against his classmates, he always felt safer with them on him. Plus, in case of an event where he'd need to defend himself, having them would increase his chances of survival.

Tossing the empty box back inside the drawer, Naegi picked up the bottles and immediately noticed that they had labels on them.

'These are my meds!'

Just like his weapons, they were on his person when he first stepped foot into the school, so Monokuma must've also brought them to his room.

Opening the bottles, he popped one pill of each into his mouth. He had no idea how long it'd been since he last took them.

'Maybe now I can think straight.'

Having his medicine was a major blessing as they definitely helped regulate his mental state.

'But what happens when I run out?'

A bottle of his medicine had enough pills to last a month. Once it runs out…

He didn't even want to think about it.

Placing the bottles back in the drawer, he closed it and opened the one below, revealing two items.

'A tool kit?'

The first item was indeed a tool kit, one filled with a hammer, a few wrenches, and a few screwdrivers.

The second item was a piece of paper. Picking it up revealed to him that it was a note.

"To the owner of the room," it said. "I have placed specific items in each of your rooms. For the girls, a sewing kit complete with a map of the human body. Just follow the instructions if you wish to use this as a weapon. As for the boys, a toolkit. One swing to the head from most of these tools will be game over for your victim. Happy killing!"

Disgusted, Naegi immediately tossed the note in the trash can and placed the toolkit back into the drawer.

Shuffling through the remaining drawers revealed that they were empty, so the boy decided to move on to the last item in the room, his closet.

However, there was a problem.

"What's with this lock?"

On the two handles of the closet was indeed a lock, but unlike the one for his door, this one required a physical key to unlock it, a key he didn't have.

*POP!*

The sudden noise from behind him triggered his instincts, causing the boy to throw a roundhouse kick. It never hit anything though, for the source of the sound was out of his reach.

Standing in his room was Monokuma, who had a used party popper in his hand. Despite the door being locked, he still somehow managed to find his way inside.

"Woah! Easy there Rambo!" The bear said once Naegi noticed him.

"You almost broke Rule 5. Thankfully, I'm such a sweet and understanding headmaster, so I'm always ready to accommodate any special needs my students have."

Naegi didn't like the nickname Monokuma gave him, nor the remark about his reaction. They were obvious taunts.

"What do you want?"

Monokuma's smile grew. "Oh, I just wanted to congratulate you on being picked!"

The bear was clearly trying to pique his curiosity. Unfortunately, it worked.

"Picked for what?"

His red eye twinkled with mischief, something that the boy found to be far too human-like in appearance. The fact it came from an animatronic unnerved him.

"You, Makoto Naegi, have been picked to be the Coyote of the Killing Game!"

A pulse of dizziness shot through the soldier's body. His muscles tensed up, hardening to the point they felt like steel.

"What?!"

It took a lot of effort to even say a single word. He felt like Monokuma was physically strangling him.

'Coyote' was one of his monikers, one given to him by the people he fought against. The fact that the bear used it meant that whatever this 'Coyote' role entailed, it wasn't going to be anything good.

Monokuma blissfully smiled before mimicking the voice of a narrator.. "Ah yes, the coyote. Although it isn't very big, it's deceptively strong and very cunning, making it a great predator that can adapt to even the most dire of circumstances."

The bear's black side turned to face him.

"Just like you."

He repositioned himself again so that the two were once more face to face.

"You both even have the same hair color."

Monokuma took a second to giggle, speaking again once he was done.

"Now, I dunno why coyote was chosen over something like jackal seeing as they're only in North America and you were in the Middle East, but hey, I can't say it doesn't suits you."

Once more, Monokuma was taunting him, this time by showing off how much he knew about the boy.

Refusing to let the bear get into his head, Naegi quickly cut to the chase.

"What does it mean to be the Coyote?"

A sinister grin grew on Monokuma's face.

"I saw all of you reading the school rules like the good students that you are. Don't tell me you already forgot about Rule 7…"

"Huh?"

Rule 7, the most mysterious of the bunch. Even with him being occupied with other things, he still remembered the rule.

"One student has special perks and a different graduation requirement…"

"Yep! That one!"

The whole time, that rule was placed for him and he didn't know it…

"But why me?"

"Why?"

Naegi felt a shudder roll down his back. The way he spoke was different from his usual tone. Sharper, ominous, and hateful were the only ways to describe the shift.

"Because I absolutely despise you."

The boy had no idea what he did to make Monokuma hate him so much. Was it because of his past?

"And no, it's not 'cause of your body count," the animatronic said, as if he had read Naegi's mind.

He then stared at the boy in a manner that displayed an overwhelming amount of abhorrence, one that rivaled the way the boy looked at himself in the mirror. The black eye glared at him emptily, whereas he could see a wild flame of wrath locked behind the red one. The bear's right jaw no longer had its sinister smile. Instead, it looked like he was clenching his teeth. Naegi knew that Monokuma was absolutely disgusted by his presence, and with how well he was able to emote this, he couldn't help but feel even more unnerved.

"I couldn't give a half eaten salmon's ass about any of that. The reason I hate you is simple: you are the antithesis of everything that I believe in. You are a glitch in the matrix. I want nothing more than to completely shatter you, to drive you into the deepest pit of despair. If I had you play this Killing Game regularly, it wouldn't be enough to break you, which is why I needed to take things a step further."

Naegi didn't know how to react to all of that. If Monokuma didn't hate him due to his past actions, then what was he talking about?

Before he could give it any more thought, as if a switch had been flicked, Monokuma resumed his usual posture.

"Eh, but enough about that. I bet you're dying to hear about your graduation requirement and all of the juicy perks you'll get!"

Naegi's eyes narrowed as the bear continued to speak.

"Well, let's start with your graduation requirement, shall we? Instead of having to kill one person, you need to kill everyone in the school if you wanna leave!"

"What?"

Once more, the soldier had been caught off guard by his captor's words.

Monokuma nodded. "Yep, you heard me. While everyone else will be playing a boring detective visual novel, you'll be playing a thrilling and action packed first person shooter!"

He then smirked.

"By the way, once you kill someone, you have ten minutes to gun down everyone else. If you fail… you're not going to like what happens next."

Naegi had a feeling that death was what awaited him. What else would there be?

"Sounds fun?"

Clenching his fist, the boy steeled himself before answering.

"I'm not going to kill anyone."

An elegant flame danced in the boy's eyes, the words coming out of his mouth being said with authority. He had made a promise to himself that he wasn't going to get out of here without murdering anyone, and it was a promise he intended to keep.

Monokuma sighed in faux disappointment.

"I knew you'd say that."

A grin took over his face.

"Just know that no matter how hard you try to suppress them, your instincts will always be there. After all, you've already killed so many people, so what's stopping you from adding some more to the pile?"

Not even giving the boy time to respond, the bear's posture jumped up.

"Oh! Almost forgot. I still gotta tell you about your perks!"

Monokuma patted his closet.

"I bet you're wondering how to open this. Well, you'll need the key, which I have right here."

Out of nowhere, Monokuma whipped out a small key, which he handed to the soldier.

"I've placed some nice goodies in here that'll help you. Your closet's the only one that locks too, so you'll be able to hide them easily."

Eyeing the key, Naegi opened his closet, weary of what was inside.

"Bet this looks familiar to you, right?"

In his closet were clothes for each day of the week, but that wasn't what Monokuma was talking about.

"The hell?"

Alongside them laid a submachine gun and a box of ammunition.

Naegi grabbed the submachine gun and gave it a quick look over. Monokuma was right that the weapon was one he was familiar with, but he never owned one himself upon returning to Japan. This was an entirely new weapon he was holding in his hands.

"This outta make killing everyone easier," the bear gleefully exclaimed.

"And by the way, you getting your weapons back is also part of this perk."

Placing the gun back into the closet, the boy pulled out of the boxes of ammunition. Opening it, he was surprised to see that, just like with his handgun, he was given sixteen bullets.

"You only have so many bullets, so make sure you use them wisely."

Naegi closed his closet, locking it and pocketing the key. He took a deep breath as the bear kept talking.

"You'll get all sorts of lovely things later on. Oh, and technically these aren't perks, but I thought I'd let you know that your medicine will be refilled every month *and* I made sure that your talent won't show up in the e-Handbook's student profile list."

A small wave of relief washed through the soldier's body upon hearing that statement. He didn't have to worry about running out of medicine, nor did he have to worry about his classmates already knowing his talent.

The part about there being student profiles was something that caught his attention as well. He'd have to check them out later.

The bear grinned evilly before he continued.

"But hey, someday I just might spill the beans."

The boy stared blankly at him. Even though the statement did put him on edge, the soldier refused to give Monokuma the reaction he was seeking.

"Anyways, that's it from me. Hope you enjoy your presents and happy killings!"

Turning around. Monokuma exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Once he was gone, Naegi collapsed onto his bed, mulling over the bear's words.

'He knows everything… and not only that, he wants me to kill everyone in the school. He made a role specifically for me, and gave me weapons no one else has…'

It was all a lot to take in. Monokuma had truly built him up to be enemy number one. If anyone found out about his talent or role, then he'd be ostracized by his peers. Not only that, but if someone killed him, they'd instantly graduate, which would be another thing he'd have to worry about.

*Ding dong, bing bong*

Upon hearing the familiar chime, Naegi's attention immediately turned to the monitor that was in his room.

"Ahem! Attention everyone! As you know, there was an issue with Rule 7 that made it appear glitched. It has been fixed, so please read it at your earliest convenience."

The monitor shut off.

*Ding*

Not a second later, his e-Handbook vibrated. Powering it on, Naegi was greeted with the updated version of Rule 7.

Rule 7: One student has been chosen to be the Coyote. The Coyote will have special perks and a different graduation requirement. Any student who kills the Coyote will instantly graduate.

The boy sighed once more. He sure had his work cut out for him.

However, for better or worse, he was someone who refused to give up. He may loathe himself for the things he's done for survival, but even so, he always pressed on. An undying light beamed throughout his body, and no matter what challenge awaited him, he'd fight with everything he's got if it meant keeping his promises.

'I won't let him win.'

0000

Done with searching through his room, Naegi decided to reconvene with the group. His encounter with Monokuma had taken quite some time, so he had a feeling that everyone else was finished with their rooms and were now waiting for him.

Unlocking the door, the boy nearly swung it open, only to stop when he saw a shadow through the bottom crack.

Gripping the knife that was in his pocket, the former soldier's body tensed up, prepared to retaliate if the owner of the shadow tried anything. However, he relaxed upon seeing that its owner was Maizono.

Seeing him exit his room, the blue haired girl's face lit up.

"Phew, you're okay. You were in there for so long that I started to worry."

Hearing this made Naegi feel guilty. It hadn't been his intention to make anyone worry about him.

"Ah, sorry about that. I'm okay, I promise."

"That's good… did you find anything?"

The boy shook his head. "There's a toolkit in my room, and I have some extra pairs of clothes, but that's it."

For obvious reasons, he had purposely left out the details about the weapons he found.

"It's the same here," the idol told him. "But instead of a toolkit, I found a sewing kit and a note saying that all the girls got sewing kits while all the guys got a toolkit."

Naegi suppressed a frown, being reminded of the note that he had found as well.

"Uh, by the way, I saw Monokuma leave your room. What was he doing there?"

'Crap!'

Once more, Naegi had to hide something from the girl in front of him. This time, he was able to think of a convincing lie to cover his tracks.

"My door had a faulty frame and he was showing me how to open it."

The blue haired girl nodded in understanding. "Ah, alright. Seeing him leave your room really made me think something bad happened to you, so I'm glad you're okay..."

The boy felt a blush creep up on his face. The fact that *the* Sayaka Maizono was so earnestly worried about him... it was very touching.

'Looks like the rumors are right.'

From what his sister had told him, according to the tabloids, everyone who had ever worked with Maizono could only praise her. Kind and down to Earth, she was said to be a rare example of a genuine person in an industry where faking kindness was common.

Deciding to switch the subject, the boy asked her a question of his own.

"Where's everyone else?"

As of right now, it were only him and Maizono. The boy found it hard to believe that everyone else would take longer to search their rooms than him, so he was confused as to where they went.

"Oh, they're over on the other side of the hall," the idol replied. "We thought that it'd be best to explore some more until you were done."

'Ah, that explains things…'

Another question popped into his head. "Why didn't you go with them?"

Maizono shot him a bashful smile. "Well, if you left your room and none of us were waiting for you, you wouldn't have any idea where we are, right?

"That's true…"

"So I chose to wait for you. We're close enough to the others that if something happens, we'll hear it."

The boy nodded in understanding. He had no issues with that line of thinking.

"Enoshima wanted to wait for you too," the idol told him. "But we didn't need two people waiting for you."

'She did?'

Naegi had no idea why Enoshima wanted to wait for him too. Once again, the two hardly knew each other.

In fact, now that he thought about it, he was surprised that Maizono was the one who decided to stay behind. Just like with the model, the two were minor acquaintances at best.

If anything, out of everyone, he would've expected Kirigiri to be the one waiting for him. With the group preoccupied with checking out the rest of the area, she'd have the perfect opportunity to grill him without any interruptions.

"But also," Maizono continued. "I stood because there's still that thing I wanted to ask you…"

'Ah, right.'

Between learning about the Coyote role and exploring the school, the boy almost forgot that she indeed had tried asking him something, only to be cut off not just once, but twice.

"Oh, right. What was it that you wanted to ask me?"

The girl's eyes narrowed. "Naegi...did you happen to go to Blackroot Junior High? Were you maybe...in class 2?"

"Huh?"

The soldier was surprised by the question, not because of what was being asked, but because of what she already knew. He hadn't expected her to remember that they did go to the same school, much less the exact class he was in.

"Y-yeah, I actually was…"

Suddenly, the idol's smile grew, full of excitement.

"I knew it! I went there, too! I was in class 4, though. Do you remember me?"

Naegi looked at her as if she had grown another head. Unless he ended up suffering from amnesia, there was no way that he'd forget the fact that he went to the same school as Japan's biggest idol.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Blinking, the boy realized that he still had to answer her.

"Oh, yeah. I'm just surprised, is all. I wouldn't have thought you'd remember me."

Maizono frowned at his remark. "We went to the same school for a year, of course I remember!"

It seemed the difference between their statuses wasn't something the girl understood.

"Well, that's true," Naegi said. "But there were lots of students in our grade that you've known for all three years of middle school, right? Plus, I've never been the type of person to ever really stand out."

The only thing the former soldier was known for back in middle school was being 'the new kid'. He purposely avoided the spotlight, which was easy to do when attending school with a celebrity.

"What are you talking about?" Maizono asked him. "You're so strange!"

He had no idea how to respond. For once, he felt like his line of thinking was normal. Was it really that weird to her?

"S-Strange? That's-!"

Whatever retort he was about to spit out died when Maizono started giggling in relief. Somehow, the mere sound of it caused his overly cautious heart to calm down.

'So this is the power of the Ultimate Idol…'

Whenever he watched her performances, something he noticed about them was the girl's ability to influence the emotions of the audience. With most of her songs revolving around positivity, her concerts always had an uplifting atmosphere, one that could be felt by someone watching her through a stream rather than in person. Even the most cynical person couldn't help but crack a smile at seeing Maizono on stage. Other idols have tried replicating this feat, but none of them were even close to being on her level. There was a reason why she was considered the Ultimate Idol after all, and it was because she was the best there was in her field.

Her special ability to influence people's emotions seemed to work in casual conversations as well, for a mere giggle was enough to spread her joy to the boy in front of her.

"Anyways, I'm really glad…" the girl said once she regained her composure. "That I know somebody here."

Naegi nodded in agreement. Even if they never had spoken to one another in middle school, just having someone he was somewhat familiar with definitely helped his spirits.

"Talking to you has made me feel a lot better about all this... You're amazing Naegi!"

"N-No, I'm really not…"

The soldier suppressed a frown, making sure his facade stood up.

He didn't feel like he did much to help her mood, but that wasn't the reason why he didn't feel worthy of such praise.

'If she knew, she wouldn't be saying that.'

Naegi knew exactly who, or what, he was. A monster, capable of ending lives in the blink of an eye. A greedy coward who sacrificed the lives of many to keep himself alive.

In a school full of hope, he was nothing more than a blemish on that legacy, someone who was never meant to step foot in here.

"Naegi?"

The boy in question blinked. He had gotten caught up in his own little world for a second. Not wanting to make the idol worry, he decided to continue the conversation.

"Thanks for saying that, but I'm nothing compared to you Ultimates."

He had hoped that would've been the end of the topic, but Maizono was persistent in her efforts to make him accept her compliments.

"But *you're* the one that helped me find my courage again. Not any of those 'ultimate' students."

'I really didn't do much.'

Naegi gave her a bashful smile. As much as he wanted to challenge her words, he knew that he wouldn't win this battle. Her words were way too earnest, so even if he felt like he didn't do much to help her, she clearly felt differently.

"Thank you for saying that…"

The blue haired girl smiled as she gave him a cheerful nod.

"Wait a second…"

Suddenly, her expression turned into one of confusion as a wave of realization hit her.

"You said that you're 'nothing compared to you Ultimates,' but aren't you an Ultimate too?"

'Crap!'

This was bad. Really, really bad. Why the hell did he have to open his stupid mouth?

There was a reason Naegi liked to avoid attention; it was so much easier hiding things when nobody was focused on him. It was much easier for him to stay silent while being tortured than navigating through normal conversations.

His brain working overtime, the boy tried to come up with another lie to get himself out of this situation.

He could claim to be the Ultimate Lucky Student, but that could and would immediately blow up in his face. So would claiming any other talent. People would begin to question why they never heard of him. Ultimates were some of the biggest celebrities in Japan after all. Even the more niche ones like Hagakure were decently famous.

'Then again, Kirigiri didn't have any information about her…'

How she managed to avoid any of her information being discovered without enrolling in the Anonymous Talent Program was beyond him.

For now, he'll have to stall for time. Maybe if he's lucky enough, everyone else would return shortly.

"Haha, yeah, I am, but…"

Maizono tilted her head.

"But?"

"My situation is different…"

"How so?"

Naegi let loose an awkward laugh. "My talent is…really lame…"

That was true. In a school where people like the Ultimate Idol and the Ultimate Programmer existed, people who could cause great change in the world, he was nothing. Even the Ultimate Lucky Student was more valuable than a monster.

"Everyone else's are far more exciting than mine. I can't really consider myself to be an Ultimate when compared to you."

"Why would that matter?"

The boy had to do a double take. "Huh?"

"I mean, an Ultimate is someone who's the best at what they do," the idol explained. "Whatever your talent is, the fact that you put so much effort and passion into honing your craft is already extremely impressive as it is."

'Please stop…'

Why the hell did she have to be so kind and earnest?

Such a positive outlook about talents, yet none of what she said applied to his story.

Ok, well, he did have to put in effort to become the soldier needed to survive his old life, but it was out of necessity. He did not like hurting people, much less killing. Sadly, it was him or them and he selfishly chose to preserve his own life…

"Yo, we're back!"

Thankfully, as if he was the Ultimate Lucky Student, the rest of the group had conveniently returned, signaling the end of the conversation.

'Thank God…'

He could've probably stalled for a bit longer, but that was one less thing to worry about now. Now he just had to hope that the idol would forget about the topic of his talent.

"Finally done with your room?" Enoshima asked the boy. "Geez, what took you so long?"

"Monokuma showed up," Naegi explained. "Did you guys find anything?"

"Not really…" Fujisaki replied. "We found a garbage room on the other side of the dorms, but the incinerator's blocked off by a gate."

"We also found some bathrooms," the model added. "But there wasn't anything in them."

"Ah…"

An unfortunate, but expected outcome.

"We encountered Ishimaru while we were searching the garbage room," said Kirigiri. "He wishes to have a meeting in the cafeteria once we are finished. It might be worthwhile for us to attend."

The boy nodded. "Yeah..."

Perhaps someone found something they missed.

"Well, we've explored everywhere that we could for now, right?" Maizono asked. "Should we head over?"

Enoshima shrugged. "I guess. Don't see why not…"

With that, everyone made their way to the cafeteria.

0000

"Ah, classmates! It's great to see you all again!" Ishimaru shouted once the group arrived.

Enoshima winced at the boy's booming voice. "Argh, my ears…"

Glancing around, Naegi noticed that Owada, Togami, Ogami, and Asahina were already seated, either talking amongst themselves or sitting in silence.

'I didn't expect them to group up,' the boy thought to himself.

He couldn't see Togami and Owada wanting to interact with one another, especially after their earlier altercation. He had a feeling Ishimaru somehow had something to do with this.

'He probably wanted to keep an eye on them…'

The former soldier had to admit that The Ultimate Moral Compass's decision was smart. Between Togami's hostility and Owada's temperament, he could see why the taller boy wanted to keep an eye on them. Bringing Asahina and Ogami along was smart as well. Both were very physically capable, especially Ogami, so if things between the two boys got physical, they'd be able to separate them.

'That means that everyone else is together…'

Recalling the remaining students in his head, the boy was curious as to how things went between them. He couldn't see someone like Celeste or Fukawa getting along with the likes of Kuwata, Yamada, or Hagakure. That group was definitely an odd one.

Greeting everyone in the room, Naegi grabbed a seat at the table. It didn't take long for the rest to arrive, the boy taking some amusement from watching Celeste quickly separating herself from her group. Even if she didn't show it, he could tell that she hadn't enjoyed their company.

Eventually, once everyone was seated, Ishimaru spoke up.

"Okay! It looks like everyone's here. Time to start the meeting! Let's all go around and share what we found during our respective investigations! The sooner we find out what's going on, the sooner we get out of here!"

Kirigiri was the first to speak.

"Before we begin, I want you all to look at this."

The girl slid a piece of paper onto the table.

Glancing at it, the former soldier noticed that it was a map of some kind, one that he felt was quite familiar. It didn't take him long to realize why that was.

"Is this a map of the school?"

She nodded.

"If you compare it to the one on our e-handbooks, you'll notice that they're almost a perfect match…except for some strange renovations."

Several of the students pulled out their e-handbooks, wanting to confirm the truth of the girl's statement. Whipping his out and comparing the two maps, Naegi noticed that she was indeed correct. For the most part, the two maps were nearly identical. However, one thing immediately stood out to him. There was an extra room on the e-handbook that wasn't on the paper map, the one locked behind the big red doors.

'I wonder what's up with that?'

The map confirmed that they were at Hope's Peak, so any lingering thoughts about that were quelled. However, a new mystery was revealed. How did their kidnappers manage to install a whole entire room to the school? And what other renovations should they expect to see in the future?

"So then...this really is Hope's Peak…" Fujisaki mumbled. "We didn't get kidnapped and taken to some other place…"

"*This* is where the country's future elite are supposed to come and learn?" Owada loudly grumbled. "What a load of shit…"

Asahina frowned. "But if this really is Hope's Peak, where are all the other students?"

'That's a good question…'

How come they were the only students to get dragged into this mess. Where were all of their upperclassmen?

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention Kirigiri," Ishimaru said. "Now we know that we are indeed inside Hope's Peak. Does anyone else wish to share what they've found?"

"I wanted to try and find some clue as to who's responsible for imprisoning us here…" Togami stated before rolling his eyes. "But unfortunately, since you decided to waste my time and drag me into your little group, I made no such discoveries."

"But that's not to say that we didn't find anything!" The Ultimate Moral Compass hastily added. "We spent some time looking around the dormitory, and there we made the discovery of the century! We found that there was exactly one room for each person!"

Though Ishimaru looked proud of himself, everyone else eyed him as if he had said something dumb.

Asahina shrugged. "We did, but I figured that out before anything else, so we can't really call that a big find."

"Speaking of the rooms," Enoshima began explaining. "Fujisaki and I found out that they're totally soundproof."

Naegi couldn't help but feel relieved about that. He had worried that Maizono had managed to overhear his conversation with Monokuma while she was waiting for him, but with the rooms being soundproof, that was impossible.

The programmer hung her head. "Your next-door neighbor could scream their lungs out, and you wouldn't hear a thing…"

…And all those positive emotions instantly left his body.

"Okay, so they got a bunch of rooms ready for us," Owada said before scoffing. "They're assuming we're gonna be here a while…"

"Well, better to have than to have not!" Ishimaru declared. "At least we don't have to worry about surviving like wild animals."

Fukawa let loose a disappointed sigh. "Th-That can't be all you have to r-report, can it Mr. Honor S-Student?"

The boy in question flinched. "W-well Owada and Ogami tried breaking the metal plates off the walls… but they had no luck."

'Figures…'

Despite the immense strength both of them possessed, there was no way that they'd be able to remove what was most likely a bulletproof metal slab off of the walls.

"We hit it with desks and chairs," the biker gang leader explained. "But nothin. It was as hard as, like… metal."

"Well, yes. It *is* metal," Celeste replied, matter of factly, causing the boy to grumble to himself in annoyance.

Asahina suddenly jumped out of her seat. "Oh! We also found some stairs leading upwards. But they were behind gates."

"It's safe to say we can only explore the first floor at this point," Ogami confirmed.

With nothing else needing reporting from his group, Ishimaru pushed the conversation forward.

"I believe that is it for us. Does anyone else have anything to report?"

Celeste took this as her chance to speak.

"If I am being honest, I can't quite say we acted as one. Rather, we did *nothing* as one. We spent the entire time in the gym. Honestly, we are not exactly the types to go running around a school like a gaggle of junior detectives."

'…'

Somehow they did even worse than Naegi thought they would.

Enoshima shot the gambler an exasperated look. "What the hell were you thinking, just sitting around the gym the whole time?"

"W-Well it's not like any of you i-invited me along!" Fukawa fired back. "Nobody said hey, c-come with us! I blame y-you for leaving me out! I-It's your fault!"

The model crossed her arms.

"If you wanted to go with someone, you should've just said something!"

The author glanced to the side. "Hmph. F-Forget it. Like I'd w-want to go anywhere with a dirty s-slut like you…"

"Slut...?"

"Your mind is as th-thin as your body. You m-make me sick to my s-stomach…"

"I...I don't even know how to react," the blonde admitted. "How can you say something so awful to someone you just met?"

With the atmosphere now tense, Ishimaru decided to steer the conversation back on track.

"I-I see… is there anything else that needs to be reported?"

Not allowing the chance for another argument to break out, Naegi answered the question.

"Well, it's not a way out or anything, but we don't have to worry about running out of food or water. Monokuma said that there's more than enough food to feed us and that old ones get replaced daily."

"You saw him?" Asahina asked the boy.

"Unfortunately…"

"And he didn't try to eat you or something?"

The soldier shook his head.

"No. I don't think that he intends to hurt us himself. He mentioned that the food wasn't poisoned too, and he wasn't lying."

"And how would you know?" Celeste asked him, curious.

"I ate an apple and I felt fine afterwards."

He wasn't about to tell her that he had also tested it for poison before Monokuma told him it was safe. He already gave away his secret too many times now, and the last thing he wanted was to further the gambler's interest in him.

The black haired girl nodded, accepting his answer.

"A weaponized toy that can just appear from nowhere and won't hurt us unless we break the rules…" Fujisaki wondered out loud. "I can't tell if we're supposed to be afraid or not."

A moment of silence enveloped everyone, it being broken once Enoshima slammed her head against the table.

"This sucks...It *really* sucks! It sucks sucks sucks sucks SUCKS! What the hell are we gonna do!?"

"Alright guys, everybody just calm down, okay? All this stress is bad for your skin, y'know?" Hagakure said in response.

Owada facepalmed himself. "Oh god damnit…"

"A-aren't you worried?" Yamada asked the fortune teller, surprised by how calm he was acting.

"Worried? What's there to be worried about?" The older boy questioned. "I mean, this was all planned out, right? The people in charge of Hope's Peak put this all together, right?"

His words earned him several confused and annoyed stares.

"What?"

"Hahaha!"

Everyone turned to the source of the spontaneous laughter, one Celestia Ludenburg.

Even with her pristine mask on, Naegi knew that her laugh wasn't genuine. The only reason she laughed was to gain everyone's attention.

And it worked.

"Wh-Why are you laughing?" Fukawa asked her. "What's so funny!?"

"I am just happy, that is all," the girl replied. "It seems splitting up to investigate was a good idea, after all."

The author gawked.

"Haven't you b-been listening!? Looking around was a t-total waste of t-time! We d-didn't find a way out, didn't f-find who's behind this. We still have no idea what's g-going on!"

Celeste tilted her head. "Huh? Is it not crystal clear to you what is going on? It is perfectly obvious that we have been imprisoned in some secret location, with no way out."

Everyone stood quiet. Even though they had long figured this out already, saying it out loud really brought home the severity of their situation.

"You didn't h-have to go and s-say that, Fukawa moaned. "I w-was trying not to th-think about it... N-No way out... We're t-trapped in here. What are w-we supposed to d-do...?"

Togami crossed his arms. "It's very simple. If you want to leave, you just have to kill-"

Enoshima interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. "Don't even joke about that!"

Maizono tried to ease the building tension. "Everyone just calm down, please! We need to stop and think about what to do from here."

Kuwata began scratching his head, eyes furrowing in thought. "There's gotta be *something* we can do…"

"All we can do is adapt," Celeste calmly said. "Adapt to living our lives here from now on."

The former soldier wanted to question her about her words. Coming from the Ultimate Gambler herself, they felt extremely out of place. Giving up wasn't what earned her her reputation after all. Was she acting like this as a means of coping?

Fujisaki teared up. "Live here...? Are you saying we should just accept it?"

"A lack of adaptability...is a lack of survivability," the girl answered. "Survival is not based on who is the strongest or the smartest. It comes down to who can adapt."

'She's right…'

Part of the reason he managed to survive the trenches of war was due to his ability to adapt to whatever was thrown his way. Brains and brawn were definitely huge advantages, but in a situation where the difference between life and death came down to the millisecond, if someone wasn't able to quickly adapt to using them in different ways, then they might as well not even have those skills.

'But that doesn't mean I'm going to accept having to live here forever!'

For some, adaptation meant to settle. To reach a certain point where one could survive, but make peace with the environment around them… it was a strategy that worked.

However, Naegi didn't want to 'settle'.

He wanted to live.

He could live out the rest of his days at the school and abandon his family, but that was not him.

To him, to adapt meant to evolve. It meant honing his skills and learning about his environment. It involved patience, flexibility, and determination. Eventually, whether by chance or by his own efforts, an opening would present itself, and he'd capitalize upon it in order to get to where he wished to be.

Makoto Naegi was great at adapting, but he refused to settle when he could live.

"As someone who has come out on top more than once, I have a suggestion."

Owada shot the gambler a quizzical glance.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"We all understand that we are trapped here. Which means we will be spending the night. However... You all remember the rules regarding nighttime, right?"

"Some areas are off-limits and you're not allowed to sleep in class, right?" Maizono asked her, earning a nod from the other girl.

"Yes. Now, regarding this 'nighttime,' I think we need to add a rule of our own."

"What do you mean?" Kuwata questioned.

"Going out at nighttime should be prohibited altogether," Celeste proposed. "The school regulations do not actually tell us not to go out at night, so I would like to make it official."

Fukawa pulled her braids in frustration. "B-But why...?"

Celeste gave her one of her signature smiles. "The way things are now, every time night comes we will all start to get worried and anxious. We will be afraid someone might try and come kill us."

Maizono gasped. "What!?"

The 'Queen of Liars' didn't acknowledge the idol's reaction.

"If we have to worry about that night after night for who knows how long, it will wear us down in no time."

"So you're suggesting we limit our activity at night as a kind of preventative measure…" Ogami noted, crossing her arms.

The gambler nodded.

"However, unlike the other rules, nobody can be forced to comply. We all have to agree to follow it."

"I see what you mean," Enoshima mumbled, contemplating the other girl's words.

She then gave everyone a determined look.

"But...I think I can agree to that. It's just like the little goth lolita said. Without something like that, we're just gonna self-destruct."

Her words seemed to have made an impact on Ishimaru, as he made a declaration of his own.

"On behalf of all the men here, I agree to comply!"

Kuwata gawked at him.

"Hey, you can't just decide to speak for us!"

Despite his words, everyone could tell that the baseball star didn't have any objections to the unofficial rule.

However, someone else did.

'Not being able to leave our rooms during nighttime… that cuts right into my exercise time. I wouldn't be able to go on my run.'

From an outsider's perspective, such a thing could seem odd to complain about. However, for Naegi, his exercises were an important part of his daily routine. They put his mind at ease and kept him in shape. To move them to another time would throw everything off balance.

'But if I'm the only one who's out at that time, nobody will know.'

Such was true. Plus, if anyone decided to break the rule and try something, he'd be there to stop them.

With all that in mind, the boy decided to keep quiet and pretend that he would follow the proposed rule as well.

"So everyone is in agreement?" Celeste asked out loud, waiting for any objections.

Not receiving a single one, she continued.

"Good, then if you excuse me."

With a level of elegance that could only come from a high level of practice, the gambler stood up and began to leave the cafeteria.

"Huh? Wait? Where are you going?" Fujisaki asked her.

"It is almost nighttime. I want to take a shower before it arrives. So...goodbye."

With that, she made her exit.

"S-So I guess it's pretty obvious where we go from here," Yamada shakily said. "We'll be spending the night, it looks like."

Ogami closed her eyes as she began contemplating Celeste's words from earlier.

"Adaptability…"

Enoshima turned her head towards the Ultimate Moral Compass.

"So, Mr. Chairman...what next? One person already left."

The boy in question, having been taken off guard by Celeste's departure, straightened himself out.

"U-Umm... Well then, what say we call an end to today's meeting!? Like she said, it's almost nighttime anyway. We can reconvene first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Do we really have to stay here?" Fujisaki asked, eyes watering.

"We don't have a choice," Enoshima reminded her. "We can't go for long without getting some sleep."

Owada hung his head down in frustration.

"So we have to just give up…"

"That's all f-fine and good for t-today," Fukawa grumbled. "But what to we d-do tomorrow?"

"Our only option is to split up and look around again, and let everyone know if we find anything," Ogami told her.

Asahina shakily nodded in agreement before pumping herself up. "Yeah, okay. Let's do that...!"

"Then we're done for today? Enoshima asked. Not being told otherwise, she too began to leave the cafeteria.

"Good, I'm exhausted…"

One by one, everyone dispersed, making their way to their rooms.

Only two remained.

"Naegi, are you ready to call it a night?" Maizono asked the soldier.

"… I think I'm going to hang out here for a bit longer," he replied, much to her confusion.

"Are you sure?"

He gave her a reassuring smile. "Yeah."

The girl wasn't swayed, it was very obvious judging by her face.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. Just got a lot on my mind."

"I understand…"

Sighing, Maizono stood up and began to leave, but not before sparing Naegi one last glance.

"Goodnight. And be careful, alright?"

"I will."

Once she left, the boy began scouring the kitchen for something to eat. Not being in the mood for anything big, the former soldier settled on eating some instant ramen. As he waited for his food to finish preparing, he glanced over at the camera in the room.

'Trapped in an enclosed environment and forced to kill if we want out… it's oddly similar to what my life was like back then. I don't know what Monokuma's deal is, but it's only a matter of time until I get out of here, and I won't be playing his game to do so…'

He glared.

'So whoever's behind all of this, I hope you're ready, 'cause I'm coming for you…'