Chapter 1: Part 2
Everyone had seemingly investigated everyone room in the left wing, yet there was one oddity that stood out to Sayaka. According to the map on the monopad, there was a room in between the trash room and the storage room, but unlike every other which was labeled with an 8-Bit icon indicating what it was for, yet all this room had was a black question mark.
'That's weird,' Sayaka thought to herself. 'Why would Monokuma label the room like that? All that does is confuse people.' It was then that Sayaka realized why that was. 'He wants us to investigate it, doesn't he?'
She sighed a bit and looked at the door. Just like how the map keep its purpose a mystery, the door itself was also unlabeled. No window either. She looked over at Tenko. "I honestly don't know what to expect from this."
"It could be a trap!" Tenko said while putting her hands up to guard herself and Sayaka.
Sayaka shivered a bit. She certainly didn't want to walk into a trap. She clearly had enough life-threatening situations and couldn't stomach it any longer. Yet, she never really had a choice in these killing games. The was a trap she was constantly forced to be stuck in and had to throw herself in. And in order to learn anything, she had to throw herself in again.
"We still have to investigate it," Sayaka said.
Tenko frowned, yet she gave Sayaka a nod. "Ok, stand back for a moment," she said before stepping front of Sayaka. In case this room was indeed a trap, she would able to take the full brunt of the attack while Sayaka could take evasive action.
Tenko slowly twisted the doorknob before swinging the door open and throwing her hands up in a defensive manner. Yet, nothing came out. No swinging pendulum, rope triggered gun, not even a spring out boxing glove. The room was completely clear. Tenko let out a sigh of relief and stepped aside for Sayaka to enter. When Sayaka stepped into the room she noticed the room was almost completely empty. No desks, chairs, tables, windows. Nothing that would make this room worthy of existing if it weren't for the sole item in the center.
Right in the center of the room was a tripod that was planted into the floor and sat atop the said tripod was a ball made of black glass. It was at least the size of a basketball and only the faintest bit of light could be seen emanating from the center.
Tenko one look at the ball and said, "It looks like those electric orbs that make your hair stand up."
Sayaka tapped her chin a bit. "But would Monokuma really make an entire room dedicated to one of those things?" she asked. She took a step towards the ball and circled around it. It didn't seem to have any panel lines or buttons on it. Nothing would indicate it was interactable or had some sort of trap on it as well. Once again, the only thing that could be seen was a small green light in the center. Sayaka stopped circling around the device. With no other ideas, she placed her hand onto it.
The moment Sayaka placed hand on the orb, the green light glowing from the center became brighter and shot a light out against one of the flat, empty walls, projecting an image of a black screen with the word "Begin?" in the middle.
Tenko raised an eyebrow. "It's a projector?"
Sayaka glanced down at the projector and back at the screen. "Um, begin?"
The projector soon cut away from the black screen to a reel of black and white stock footage of japan throughout modern history. Over the stock footage spoke a rather cheesy sounding narrator straight from a 1940s documentary.
"Japan," the narrator spoke. "A nation of greatness and progress. For decades, Japan has produced the brightest minds in the world. Yet, none of it would be possible without our nation's prestigious school system!"
Tenko rolled her eyes. "This is so corny."
"Japan's high schools have made it their purpose to push students to their absolute potential and prepare them for success. And no other school exemplified this more than Hope's Peak Academy!"
That caught both Sayaka and Tenko's attention.
"Founded in 1932, Hope's Peak Academy has made it its mission to seek out the brightest up-and-coming minds in all possible avenues of society, music, entertainment, sports, business, and turn them into the best versions of themselves. Those who graduate from Hope's Peak become major figures in the directory of Japan's culture." The stock footage suddenly switched over to pictures of different classes from Hope's Peak's history. Some of them were political figures, athletes, and musicians that Sayaka recognized. "These people also represent just what Japan strives for in terms of its culture."
This would have just mindless tribble sucking up to high figures in Japan's society if it weren't for the final picture that was shown. While the video was showing a montage of different class pictures of Hope's Peak's past, it paused on a photo marked as "Class 78." Sayaka couldn't believe it. This class was comprised of everyone she met during the killing game at Hope's Peak Academy. She figured they would have been classmates if they weren't kidnapped by Monokuma, but the picture she saw…She saw herself sat next to Leon, to Makoto, to Kyoko, to all of them. They were in a classroom, all in ugly brown school uniforms, smiling at the camera. They all seemed to be close friends with each other, even the outsiders like Byakuya, Toko, and Celestia seemed to be fine being close with the class in a photograph. And strangest of all, Mukuro was there too.
'She did mention going to Hope's Peak, but I've…' Sayaka though to herself.
Tenko raised an eyebrow at the image before pointing at the screen. "Hey," she spoke up, "it's you and Chihiro and a bunch of other people. And Byakuya's skinny too."
"Wh-what is this?" Sayaka asked.
Tenko looked over at Sayaka. "Wait, what? Don't you remember taking that picture?"
"No, not at all," Sayaka shook her head. "We couldn't have. The moment I entered Hope's Peak I was knocked unconscious and then the killing game started."
"Then, could you all have met before and taken it?"
Sayaka shook her head again.
"Well, then how could that happen?" Tenko asked.
"I don't know," Sayaka commented.
Suddenly, a hole opened up in the ceiling and Monokuma dropped down to the ground. "Hey, hey, hey!" the bear growled out. "This is entering spoiler territory! Not everyone has gotten to that part of the game yet!"
"W-woah!" Tenko shouted, almost falling on her rear but she kept her foot down and put up a defensive pose.
"Monokuma!" Sayaka yelped a bit. "What is this?"
Monokuma tilted his head to the side. "Whaaaa? You expect me to answer that? You know, I'm not one of those leech YouTube channels that post spoilers on the day a movie comes out. I'm a respectable bear."
"Don't you go spouting of that respectable stuff, degenerate!" Tenko shouted. "You explain yourself this instant!"
Monokuma growled a bit and throw up his claws to intimidate the two girls. "How many times do I have to explain this you? I ain't telling you!"
"What?!" Tenko gasped. "Why not?! What's the point of this projector then?"
Sayaka glared at the bear. "You wanted to see it. You made this room to get me curious and then stop me when I was about to get a clue about what's going on. Is that it?"
Monokuma covered his mouth with his paws. "My, my, that's quite the accusation you're throwing at me. However, as I said before, I'm not a liberty to explain anything to you. Just think of that movie as nothing more than a prank video."
"Enough of your lies!" Tenko shouted. "Show us the rest of that video!"
"Oh? Are you ordering me, Tenko? What makes you think you can order your headmaster around?"
"Well, none of your robots are here to stop me! So, show us the rest of that video or-"
Just before Tenko could finish her threat, three metal spikes shot up from the ground towards Tenko.
"Tenko!" Sayaka shouted.
Luckily for Tenko, the spikes stopped just a few inches away from her face. Out of fear, Tenko back onto her rear. And there she sat, shaking as she stared up at the spikes that could have killed her in an instant.
"I don't think you understand, Tenko," Monokuma said in a low tone of voice. "I gave you back your life, but I can take it away with a snap." The spikes then retracted back into the ground as Monokuma looked up at Sayaka. "You want to know when you can see the rest of that video? You'll see it when I feel like you can. Now scram, you little bastards! I got better things to do than to waste my time talking to you!"
The tile on the ceiling Monokuma emerged from soon opened back up and like a vacuum, sucked Monokuma back up before closing behind the bear.
The two girls were like statues, stuck in place after the altercation. It was hard to say how much time passed since their encounter, but eventually Sayaka broke free of her fear and helped Tenko up to her feet.
"Tenko? Are you feeling ok?" Sayaka asked.
Tenko was so shaken up by the encounter that she didn't even look at Sayaka. She was staring off into space. She only responded with a meek nod.
Sayaka sighed a bit. "Let's get out of here," she said. "I think we investigated enough today."
"O-ok," Tenko said.
With that, the two girls exited the room.
It had been around an hour since everyone had split up to investigate the left wing of the building and every room had been seen by then. It was then that the students began to make their way over to the right wing of the building. They had checked their maps to see that the cafeteria was one of the first rooms in the right wing. Kirumi, Teruteru, and Gonta broke away from their partners and all united together and entered the cafeteria.
Fortunately, this cafeteria was much cleaner than the one in the previous building's cafeteria. No cracks in the tiles, no plants growing into the building, well lit, and well equipped for large groups of people. There was a total of nine tables in the room, one massive table big enough for all the students to sit around and eight overs surrounding it that could hold eight people each.
Kirumi smiled at the clean cafeteria. "This a much more acceptable dining area," she said.
"I 100 percent agree with you, love," Teruteru said before making his way to the kitchen. And just like the cafeteria, the kitchen was very clean. So clean that all the pieces of silverware and metal counters reflected off all the lights in the room. "And the kitchen is perfect."
"Gonta and I will layout all the plates and silverware," Kirumi said with a polite smile.
"Gonta love to help!" Gonta proclaimed.
"And I shall prepare a proper meal for you all," Teruteru said. "I know it's been a while since my classmates got to dine on best meals, and I imagine it has been longer for your class and Celeste's."
"Gonta not sure," Gonta said. "Gonta liked Monobear's food."
Teruteru laughed. "Listen, Tarzan, that bear has got no sense of cooking or fine dining. Let a master show you what good food is like, ok handsome?"
Gonta could scratch the back of his head at Teruteru's comments. Kirumi sighed and tugged on Gonta's arm and led him over the plates and silverware. While Kirumi had to slow down her pace to help guide Gonta along the way, Teruteru immediately got to work cooking. He set up several stoves and ovens at once as he cooked a wide variety of vegetables like onions and peppers as well as a variety of meats like chicken, steak, and turkey. All while that was set up, he was carefully cutting bread, carrots, and apples as sides. He was a one-man cooking team.
"Do you remember what sides the spoons and forks go on, Gonta?" Kirumi asked.
Gonta paused for a moment as he looked down at the plate before him. He scratched the back of his head as the gears began to turn in his brain. He placed the knife on the right side and the spoon on the left side of the plate.
"No, Gonta," Kirumi walked over to Gonta's side and swapped the placement of the spoon and fork. "Spoons and knives go to the right side of the plate while forks go to the left. Do you understand?"
"I think so," Gonta said, copying Kirumi's method as the continued.
After around seven minutes of placing the plates and silverware and teaching Gonta along the way, they had finished setting up the table. Their partners, Chihiro, Celestia, and Mikan made their way into the cafeteria.
"Oh, hello there," Kirumi said with a polite bow. "Please, take a seat. We were just finishing with the preparations"
Celestia looked around at the table and smiled. "I'm impressed, Kirumi. You made this common cafeteria look even slightly appealing."
"Gonta helped too!" Gonta said with a smile.
Celestia's smile shrank as she looked at Gonta. "I see…Well, I hope you continue to learn from Kirumi, Gonta." Celeste then sat herself down at a table.
Immediately, Teruteru dashed over to Celeste's side with love in his eyes. "Aww, Miss Ludenberg," he said as suave as he could. "If you'd like, I'm willing to take a special order for you."
Celeste looked over at the small boy and smiled. "A specially made order?" she asked. "How kind of you. As a meal I'd like tiramisu and I'd like milk tea along with it. However, I must warn you I will only accept the milk tea if it's made correctly. The milk must be brewed with the tea."
Teruteru nodded as he took mental notes of Celeste's order. "Hmmm, I see," he said. "It should be simple enough for a master like me." With that, Teruteru went back to the kitchen to prepare the gambler's meal.
Just as Chihiro and Mikan were about to pull out their seats, Gonta dashed over to them. "Gonta get chairs for you!" he said. "Gonta true gentleman!"
"O-oh," Chihiro smiled at the giant. "Thank you, Gonta,"
"Y-yes, th-th-thank you!" Mikan added.
Gonta smiled as he pulled two chairs out for the shy girls. Chihiro sat down calmly while Mikan took her time to make sure she wouldn't somehow fall on her face. Once they sat themselves, Gonta pushed them towards the table.
Soon, everyone began to make their way into the cafeteria. Taka and Kaito made sure that they would sit at the head of the table while Mondo and Kaede sat back in amusement, Mahiru and Hiyoko sat together with the redhead comforting the blonde, Ibuki was still pestering Peko, Mukuro made sure to sit far away from Junko, and so on. It wasn't until Sayaka led the still shaken up Tenko into the room that everyone had reunited.
"Excellent," Taka said as he rose from his chair. "Now, we can begin our discussion on our findings!"
"Aww, can't we just eat first?" Leon whined out.
"No," Byakuya disagreed. "We need to get everything out of the way before we forget anything."
"Would you like me to make notes, Mister Togami?" Hifumi asked.
"Yes, in fact I recommend everyone take notes," Byakuya said. "First thing to note is that they're fifteen rooms in the left wing. Two of them were restrooms and seven of them were classrooms."
"And the rest were more specialized rooms, correct?" Kiyo asked softly.
"That's correct," Byakuya said. "Gundham, Kokichi, and myself discovered Monokuma's office."
"The fiendish bear gave himself a throne to sit upon and desk designed to tower over us," Gundham said as he crossed his arms. "His ego truly knows no bounds."
"So, is there anything of note about the office?" Mahiru asked.
"As far as I know, it's just where Monokuma is most willing to meet us at," Kokichi said. "I mean, after all, you really expect Monokuma to put his main base in such an accessible spot on the first floor?"
"So, it's just a waste of time then," Hiyoko spat out.
"Exactly!" Kokichi smiled.
Byakuya sighed a bit. "So, what other rooms have you all found?"
"We found a basketball court!" Nekomaru said. "But it's not just for basketball. They got plenty of equipment for dodgeball, baseball, treadmills, and all sorts of other stuff."
"So, nothing of value again," Celeste said.
"Nonsense!" Nekomaru shouted and slammed his hands against the table. "Physical fitness is one of the most important things in life! To say it has no value is moronic!"
"Celeste does have a point, Nekomaru," Kaito said. "I mean, I like a workout as much as the next guy, but it really doesn't help us figure out what's going on."
"Oh…right," Nekomaru sat back down in his seat.
"What about the rest of you?" Taka asked.
"Oh, oh, oh!" Ibuki raised her hand. "Ibuki and Peko found the trash room!"
"Ok, is there anything interesting about it?" Leon asked.
"There's a giant incinerator," Ibuki said proudly.
Leon groaned a bit. Some old memories of failing to properly use it came to mind. "That's just perfect," he said sarcastically.
"At best, it's good to know where it is while we're trapped here," Peko said calmly.
"Indeed," Taka said. "Thank you for this information, you two."
"Hifumi and I found the nurse's office," Tsumugi spoke up. "It looked like it had plenty of first aid supplies like bandages, medications, and beds to rest on. Monokuma even said that those recovering from injuries are the only ones allowed to sleep in the room."
Everyone stopped and stared at Tsumugi. The otaku girl looked around at the staring faces and shuffled awkwardly in her seat.
"Um…did I say something wrong?" Tsumugi asked.
"N-not at all," Kaede said before smiling. "It's…it's just nice to see you acting like you again."
"Yes, yes!" Angie added. "It seems Auta has blessed you with the confidence to keep moving forward."
"Um, actually," Hifumi spoke up, "I was the one that-"
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Byakuya asked.
"Well, Hifumi and I just thought that Mikan could make some use out of the room," Tsumugi asked.
"H-huh?!" Mikan yelped a bit. "Y-y-you're not worried I-I'll screw it up?"
"Of course not, Mikan!" Taka said with a bright smile. "You are the Ultimate Nurse after all!"
"I agree," Byakuya said. "I recommend you work there for the meantime."
"O-o-ok," Mikan said meekly.
"Now, what about the other two rooms?" Taka asked.
"Kaede and I tried to check out the storage room," Kaito spoke up. "But-"
"BUT JUNKO AND MUKURO ALREADY CHECKED IT OUT!" Kaede blurted out.
"Jesus, Kaediot!" Miu rubbed her ears. "You could have burst my eardrums with that shrieking!"
"Yeah, is something bothering you, Kaede?" Rantaro asked.
Kaede blushed heavily as she waved her hand. "N-no!" she denied any questions. "Just wanted to answer that."
Mukuro facepalmed to hide her embarrassed blush.
"Well, I guess I should tell you all," Junko said. "So, the storage room is just filled with boxes and scraps. You could spend a whole day diving around in there and still not find everything."
"So, it's definitely a room to go back to later," Kiyo said.
"There could be plenty of sharp items in there," Chiaki commented. "If we aren't careful, someone could use them as weapons."
"An excellent point, Nanami!" Taka said. "I recommend a group investigate the room to gather and dispose of these sharp objects!"
Junko narrowed her eyes at Chiaki. "That could take some time," she said. "What makes you think everyone will be honest in returning those weapons?"
Chiaki looked back at Junko, her eyes filled with determination and defiance. "I have complete faith in everyone."
Junko wished she could just strangle the gamer. If it wasn't Makoto, it was Chiaki standing in her way. Both so filled with hope and way too persistent. However, Junko had to keep her hand hidden. She sighed and leaned back in her seat.
"Then there's the final room," Nagito spoke up. "I think I saw Sayaka and Tenko head inside it. Am I right?"
Sayaka nodded. "We did."
"I tried to check it on my map, but the room was only labeled with a question mark," Chihiro explained. "W-was anything in the room?"
"Well, yes but it's…hard to explain," Sayaka said. She looked over at Tenko in the hopes she could help explain what they saw, but her friend was still too shaken up to say anything. Sayaka held Tenko's hand underneath the table to comfort her friend before looking back at the rest of the class. "There was a projector in the room and it played a documentary about Hope's Peak."
"It did?" Rantaro asked.
"So, that proves Hope's Peak was real, right?" Kaede asked.
"Who gives a shit?" Miu shouted. "It's just a school."
"It's the biggest school in Japan," Taka said. "Proving its existence can allow us to focus on the question why you don't know anything about it."
"But that's not what was bothering me," Sayaka said. "At one point, it started showing class photos and it ended with a picture of…us. Like our killing game group as a class."
"What?!" Leon shouted.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Mondo asked.
Junko could feel a bead of sweat trail down the side of her head.
"Sayaka Maizono!" Taka rose from his seat. "I demand that you elaborate!"
"I-I'm trying!" Sayaka said. "It was all of us. You, Mondo, Chihiro, Celeste, Makoto, Kyoko, Aoi, even Byakuya was there…Back when he was skinny, I mean."
Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "I was?"
Sayaka nodded. "But the strangest part was that Mukuro was there too?"
Mukuro turned completely pale at the news. 'Shit!' she thought to herself. 'How did a documentary have a photo of us like that?! I could get caught if they pry any further.'
"She was?" Junko crossed her arms. "That's weird. I thought she wasn't in our killing game."
"She wasn't," Celeste said as she glanced at the soldier. "Although, she never did get the chance to explain what happened to her."
'Fuck you both,' Mukuro thought to herself. Mukuro kept her cool and looked at Celeste. "I told you," she said out loud. "I went to Hope's Peak, but I blacked out. I was in a killing game, but it immediately broke down into madness immediately. I was impaled immediately in front of everyone." Another half-truth. A bit of her and Junko's first killing game and how she actually ended up dying. She just hoped that Celeste's internal lie detector wouldn't pick up on anything.
"Wait, wait, wait," Kaede spoke up. "I thought you guys said you didn't know each other."
"We don't," Leon said. "I mean…I think?"
"Now that I think about it," Peko spoke up, "I recall Monokuma admitting that he had erased our memories. Perhaps the same is true for you."
"So, are you saying that we were actually classmates?" Chihiro asked.
"Gonta head hurts," Gonta whined a bit.
"Look, maybe we should shelve this conversation for now?" Kaito asked. "I mean, we aren't in the best state of mind right now and continuing at this rate will just stress us all out."
Byakuya sighed a bit as he readjusted his glasses. "Normally, I'd find that a foolish suggestion. Putting this off instead of solving it now is foolish…yet it's hard for me to disagree with you this time."
"So, are we done now?" Sakura asked.
"For now, yes," Byakuya said. "However, we will continue this tomorrow. I'd also like for us to go over how we all ended up dying. It would help shed some light on somethings. So, rest well and prepare yourselves for that discussion."
"I also would like to remind everyone that we will be meeting in here each morning!" Taka shouted.
"Alright then," Teruteru rose up from his seat. "I believe it's time for you all to get the best food you've ever had."
"Oh, right," Nekomaru said as he recalled what situation they were in. "We're eating."
Everyone seemed to shift into a better mood as they prepared to feast. Sayaka looked over at Tenko to see if she was feeling any better. She wasn't. Sayaka sighed. She wanted to help her friend, yet nothing was coming to her mind. She was normally very good at lifting people's spirits. She recalled receiving plenty of fan mail saying how her songs and their meanings saved their lives. Surely, she could think of something. She just had to do what she always would.
Sayaka then got an idea. She really did just have to do what she always would. She smiled at Tenko and spoke. "Hey, Tenko? Do you want me to cook something for you? I'm actually a very good cook."
Tenko looked over at Sayaka. She still looked shaken up, but at least she responded. "You are?" Tenko asked meekly. "What do you make?"
Sayaka, with a completely straight, gave her answer. "Chili oil."
Tenko broke out of her traumatized state to look at Sayaka in complete bewilderment. "WHAT?! The condiment?!"
Sayaka immediately laughed. "Come on, Tenko," she said as she giggled. "I was kidding."
"Oh, really?" Tenko asked. It took her a minute, but she eventually laughed. "Th-that's really funny, Sayaka. I wasn't expecting that."
Sayaka smiled at Tenko. She succeeded in bringing her back to reality. "So, what do you actually like to eat?"
"You know what, Sayaka?" Tenko asked. "I want to see what you come up with."
"Hmmm, ok. I'll see what I can come up with," Sayaka said before rising from her seat and heading to the kitchen.
So, I was planning on having this little section go on until they all leave for bed, but it's getting pretty long as is. On an off topic note, I cannot stand going back to an older chapter and seeing a typo. It makes me so mad. I try to catch them as I write, but that's clearly not a good method of proof reading.
As for this chapter, more mysteries! I know a lot of you are asking questions, but as tempted as I am to just spoil it all to calm your nerves, that's not good for a mystery story.
Also, got to do more with Gonta and Chiaki this part than I have so far. I know you all love them, but man they're actually harder to write than I originally thought. Same with Ibuki. I want them to match the games but not feel too one note. I'm also sort of pushing Sayaka back to being the perky idol she was before she snapped. I've been struggling with keeping the angst match with how she acted previously. I think I like writing angst too much. How annoying.
I don't know what else to say now. As always, keep leaving your reviews, spread the word maybe, and thanks for reading. Seeing reviews keeps me motivated.