"Alright, so…"
Kaida turned expectantly to Naruhito and wondered what it was he was going to say. The older boy noticed her looking and flashed her a cheesy grin. She was embarrassed by how easily it warmed her up, and felt guilty at how obvious her discomfort must have been. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her school blazer, only to take one out again to re-adjust the collar of her school shirt. It chafed, and felt rough and heavy against her skin.
Perhaps she should have given up on school uniforms, the way that most of the students who'd been captured in it had done so. It hadn't been cleaned, after all, since the group had come to the consensus that they should use the bag of clothes that had been left for them rather than try to wash any clothes, so that they could save water. But when she'd heard 'trial' she'd found herself thinking of her dad, and thinking that he'd be disappointed that she'd didn't dress up smartly to attend a trial. Even if this place was nothing like a court of law.
Kaida, get a grip, she told herself. Dad wouldn't be pleased if you were drifting off during a trial to decide someone's fate, either. Her hands went firmly back in her pockets, and she forced herself to pay attention.
"So…" Naruhito was saying. "Are we sure that this wasn't like, some kind of accident? I know her head was hit, like, but…she was at the bottom of the stairs. Maybe someone hit her but didn't like, mean it?"
"They still left her there." Luca said, harshly. "If it was an accident, they should have helped Nishiya!"
"Why would they?"
This question came from Inori. Her scarlet eyes looked cold behind her black-rimmed glasses.
"Why would they?" she repeated. "You all heard Monokuma's terms. Going to get help would immediately put them in the frame as culprit."
"Y-yeah!" Chiara agreed stridently. "Yes, exactly! One of you definitely killed Nishiya-san and now you're hiding here, hoping we won't figure you out! It's so awful!"
Kaida noticed more than a few of the others wincing, as if bracing themselves for another of Chiara's wailing fits. Even Kaida was bracing herself, but now she was thinking about it, it had been a while since Chiara had been quite this hysterical. It was only when Monokuma had first implied that their food would start running out when they'd all resolved not to kill that she'd returned to her wailing and hair-rending of the early days.
Even for Kai-sempai, she's protesting a lot, Kaida thought. But that doesn't mean anything, right? People act differently under stress. And we're all stressed, right?
"Oh my!" Hayami exclaimed. "Could it be you're confessing?"
The Gymnast had rested her chin in her hands, and the elbow against the podium. Her amber eyes blinked guilelessly, but the way she looked at both Chiara and Inori was un-nerving.
"How dare you?" Chiara shrieked. "How dare you, you jumped up little-"
"Chiara! Per favore!" Luca scolded.
"What?" Hayami asked innocently. "I was just asking."
Chiara's response was to shriek more Italian. In the meantime, Kaida noticed that Inori, when had first blinked rapidly in confusion at the implied accusation, now looked rather tired. When she spoke up, although her voice rasped a little more than usual, it was enough to cut Chiara off:
"I'm not confessing, no. But that is because I am not the one responsible. We can go over the alibis if we need to. That would be more useful than going over whether or not Nishiya-san's murder was a murder or not. We all know it is, sempai, so don't waste time with stupid questions."
"Ah, yeah. Sorry about that."
Naruhito lowered his eyes as he leant against his podium.
"No harm done," Ena said pleasantly. "Or, well, not much harm done, I suppose. But let's not fight with each other, please. "
"Yeah, please let's not." Naruhito agreed.
"We're just going around in circles, though!" Dax yelled. "We've been through alibis-there's too many of us who can't be proved to be in any particular place. We can't take fucking finger prints! The killer didn't directly touch Nishiya to kill her! Only with the saucepan! And there's no vegetation here that'd prove useful!"
"This is true," Silas said. "I have been thinking and thinking over this, and I don't see what evidence conclusively points to an answer."
"We can't give up though," Kakeru said tremulously. "If we do…then we're all…we're all…"
"Upupupu!"
"Monokuma-san!" Kaida exclaimed involuntarily as the screen turned on and Monokuma's image appeared.
"You're using honorifics?" she heard Dax exclaim.
She also heard Yori and Hayami both snigger, but she ignored them in favour of staring right at the bear. This time, the bear was animated with its hands on its hips, as it said:
"Come on, you guys are SHSLs! Aaaaaaand this is a locked-house mystery, it shouldn't be that hard with only fifteen possible culprits!"
When nobody responded to this, Monokuma sighed heavily, rubbing its head.
"But, well, the day has been dragging on, and now seems like a good time to adjourn the trial for the day. So, yeah, scoot."
"Adjourn the trial?" Inori demanded. "This is the second day of the trial. What use is there in dragging it out for a third?"
"Oh, psh, you kids are clearly having a hard time! Makes sense, you are still teenagers, not seasoned detectives. It makes sense you'd find it hard."
But…Kaida thought in bewilderment, you just said…
"Which one is it?" Dax muttered.
"ANYWAY!"
This shriek was accompanied by a burst of static that made everyone wince, cover their ears, or both. Monokuma shook itself, and continued:
"Anyway, trial is adjourned. So get back up there!"
The door to the 'courtroom' clicked, and the screens returned to displaying the text "CHAPTER 1 KILLING LIFE: TRIAL" across them. They all looked at each other cautiously, and then Ena sighed gently and said:
"Well, let us go, then. I'll make something for us all to eat and drink."
"And I shall help." Luca said.
"I will, too!" Naruhito exclaimed.
"Oh, yay," Yori muttered. "More canned pasta and veggies. Yum."
They all started to make their way out of the door and back into what had been called their 'living' section. A few went straight across to stairs going down, in order to go back to their cells. Chiara was amongst them, loudly complaining about having to walk past Seren's body and how she hoped it would get moved soon. As promised, however, Ena, Luca and Naruhito immediately went over to the food store cupboards next to the camp stoves and the mini fridge that had been connected to the generator. All of them were still full, having apparently been restocked while they'd been in the 'courtroom' on the first day of the trial. Kaida watched them for a while, wondering if she should go over to help, and then went over to the other side of the room, where other things were kept.
"Oh hey there!"
Kagura was already kneeling in front of the cupboard's bottom shelves, going through one of the bags of clothes. The bubbly senior looked up and gave her a smile.
"Sadly, we're on the wet-wipes list today, but that doesn't mean we can't change clothes. I'm feeling kind of grotty. You must be too, right?"
"Mhm."
Despite everything, Kaida smiled slightly as she sat down beside her and went through the clothes. Fukue and Inori came over as well, and Kagura greeted them just as warmly before she blinked and glanced over. Kaida followed her glance to see that Tsubame was just standing by the door. Her droopy hazel-green eyes were vacant, and though Kaida thought she'd always been pale, now she was so pale that her freckles stood out starkly.
"Hey, Suwasaka-san. Come over here and choose some clothes."
"Yes, of course, sempai." Tsubame said, somewhat robotically.
She walked over and knelt down. She, too, had been wearing school uniform, but unlike Kaida, she had not changed out of it the entire time she was here. She stared at the clothes.
"Sempai," Kaida asked. "Isn't the school uniform uncomfortable for you after all this time?"
"It is school uniform," Tsubame said tonelessly. "As a student it is important to look presentable no matter the discomfort."
They all stared at her with confusion. Well, almost all of them. Inori's face was mostly blank, apart from her eyes, narrowed assessingly at Tsubame. Not that the girl seemed perturbed by any of their astonishment as she sat there, posture perfect as she waited expectantly.
"Well….that's…we're not in school now." Fukue eventually broke the befuddled silence.
"Precisely!" Kagura declared. "But with that being said, I sort of get you. Looking good makes you feel good, and we should take everything we can get! And I know for a fact that sadly, none of us ladies are getting a proper water wash tonight so…consolation prize of potentially pretty clothes? It looks like they've been topped up again, too! And when Seren-chan and me looked through that one time, there were some pretty neat things…"
Kagura trailed off, and bit her lip briefly. But just as quickly, she shook it off and said:
"Come on! Let's see what's there!"
Kagura managed to find clean underwear for all of them that looked as it would fit, and then procured an over-sized t-shirt that had neon blue thunderbolts printed all over it for herself. These, she declared, would go well with the blue leopard print leggings she'd found before. Although Kaida had told herself she'd hang back to let the others choose first, she ended up discovering the sweetest lilac jumper.
It felt soft in her hands, and had a cute cartoon cow printed on the front of it. It reminded her of the dark green jumper with the sheep around the neckline that she had at home, the one her dad had gotten for her for her last birthday, knowing that she'd like it even though he hated seeing things like that. This lilac jumper looked like it'd be just a touch too short for her, but she clung to it anyway as she looked for something to go with it. Inori and Fukue took longer to deliberate, but seemed to be considering a few different things.
"Suwasaka-san!" Kagura exclaimed suddenly. "That'll absolutely swallow you."
Tsubame blinked, still holding into a large, shapeless black dress with long sleeves and a high neck that looked as if it had once belonged to a larger-built middle aged woman. Kagura was right, it would likely swallow up Tsubame's body completely.
"My apologies. Do you not deem it suitable for me?" Tsubame asked quietly.
"What? No, that's…I mean, if you want to, go for it! But let's find something nicer, more comfortable."
"What about something brighter, maybe?" Fukue suggested. "That dress is rather drab."
"Bright colours do not suit me." Tsubame droned. "Only red is permitted, with caution."
"Bullshit."
Kaida felt her eyes bug out at Inori. Though the Mathematician was very blunt, she didn't think she'd ever heard her swear. Tsubame stiffened slightly.
"Decide for yourself," Inori said, still incredibly harsh. "You are the one who is wearing these. It is your comfort that matters."
Tsubame's lips quivered as she said:
"But I am-"
"She's right!" Kagura exclaimed. "I mean, we're literally in captivity! Nobody reasonable could get mad at you for wearing something different if that is all that is there. And honestly? I think you'd trip over this dress if you wore it, it's like double your height. Length. Whatever."
"Of course, I did not consider the practicalities, I do apologise-"
"Decide for yourself."
Kaida gasped as Inori ripped the black dress away from Tsubame's reach. With surprising anger, Inori repeated:
"Decide. For yourself."
Tsubame stared with wide eyes, and then she lowered them.
"Whatever you think best, Izawa-san."
Inori sighed heavily at this, but she, along with everyone else, watched expectantly as Tsubame carefully went through the clothes. Most of the clothes were now surrounding them, but there were still a few in the bags. Tsubame went through them all carefully, methodically, re-folding them neatly as she did so. It did not seem as if she had a particular opinion of any of them, more that she was going through the motions. But then, she stopped at one particular item. Her fingers shook, but she forced her hand to remain still when she looked and realised they were all still watching.
"No, go on." Kagura encouraged.
Tsubame's fingers twitched again, but she did not. Inori huffed, then reached over to shake out the garment. It was another long dress. But this one was gathered at the waist with a ribbon that looked as if it were meant to tie off the sides, and had little pearly buttons at the cuffs of the half-length sleeves, as well as on the bodice. But the most important difference was the colour. It was a gentle, soothing shade of yellow, with the exception of the lace collar and the lace at the hem, which were both cream-coloured. Like all the items of clothing, it didn't look particularly new, but it was still in good condition.
And Kaida didn't know for sure, but this looked like it would be as close to a perfect fit for Tsubame as it was possible for it to be.
"That's so pretty!" she exclaimed.
"Ah, do you believe so, Adachi-san?"
"I do. And I do not think you will trip over it, either, although it is still modest as well."
Fukue and Kagura both chimed in with enthusiastic agreement. Tsubame's fingers twitched as she touched the material, and though her face didn't change, it was clear from the way she held herself that something had captured her about this dress.
"Izawa-san, you think that it's a nice dress too, right?"
Inori pursed her already thin lips, and looked at Tsubame, who stared back expectantly.
"If you want to wear that, then that is what you should wear."
Tsubame's brow furrowed very slightly, and Inori sighed heavily:
"Alright. If it moves this situation along, then: I am ordering you to change into this dress. Once you have had your dinner, and cleaned up with the wet-wipes, wear this dress."
"Of course, Izawa-san." Tsubame said immediately.
It was at that moment that Naruhito called out for everyone to go and eat.
"Shall I go downstairs and call, too?" he asked afterwards.
"No, don't worry," Ena replied. "I'll go downstairs. I'll use the air freshener while I'm down there, too."
As Ena did this, Kaida and the other girls got up and went to the small, rickety fold-out tables, where an attempt at a meal had been put together and set out. As had been her gradually developing habit, Inori immediately went to sit beside Dax. Kaida decided it would make sense for her to sit with Fukue and Kagura, and did so. She turned to invite Tsubame to sit with them, too, but saw that the girl was studying Inori. Kaida watched as, after a few moments of this, Tsubame took a few careful steps over and asked:
"Is this seat unoccupied?"
Inori looked up from the discussion she had just started with Dax, and nodded briskly.
"That's fine."
"Thank you very much, Izawa-san. I will endeavour not to disturb you as I consume my meal."
Inori narrowed her eyes, but then nodded before returning her attention to Dax, whereupon she softened slightly. Kaida was immediately swept up in an inane conversation with Kagura, Fukue, and Naruhito when he came to join them, and so she focused on that instead.
And tried very, very hard to not think too much about the next day.
Characters Introduced This Chapter:
Missing Students:
Kaida Adachi, first year, SHSL Herbalist (belongs to: Ziggy)
Tsubame Suwasaka, second year, SHSL Student (belongs to: Prince PokePersona)
Inori Izawa, second year, SHSL Mathematician (belongs to: Orlando Butler)
Hayami Motowari, third year, SHSL Gymnast (belongs to:WolfieRed23)
I've decided that although disappearance chapters will be in chronological order, I won't necessarily do the KG chapters in chronological order. So those will be hopping back and forth across the events of the game, depending mostly on what I think pairs well with various aspects of the main story but also sometimes just what I had the inspiration to write. I do have plans for the different KG scenes I want to show, though, and that includes using as many different POVs as I can so you get a good feel for these characters.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this second little snippet into the game.
