Danganronpa: Obscurity’s Disgrace (SYOC) Chapter 10: Burning Lights, Burning Spirit (Part 3), a dangan ronpa kibou no gakuen to zetsubou no koukousei fanfic

Chapter 1: Burning Lights, Burning Spirit (Part 3)

Warning!

This is a Danganronpa Fic, so expect dark and serious themes! And also expect some choice words that might upset people - thanks to a certain Gas Station Manager! But also expect fun and whimsical themes as well! I hope you enjoy!

[Pheme's Room]

...

"Well Miss Pheme, this has been going swimmingly so far hasn't it?" The Figure and Pheme were currently looking through more documents, now eager to find the fifth person to put into their killing game. The first four had come rather quickly to them, so they hoped to continue this momentum.

"Indeed!" She exclaimed as she skimmed through documents of Hope's Peak Alumni. "They are all... so interesting! Well, some not as much as others, but generally speaking, yeah, very interesting!" Pheme loved looking through these documents.

"I'm glad you're excited about this Miss Pheme." The Figure pulled out more documents out of a filing cabinet. "Here you are." They handed more documents to Pheme, who eagerly took them.

"Thank you very much!" Pheme nodded, then got right back to looking through them. "Yes yes yes... interesting..." She muttered as she found one that caught her attention.

"Oh? Has something caught your interest Miss Pheme?" The Figure leaned over her shoulder.

"Yes!" Pheme handed a document to The Figure.

The figure started to intently read it. "Ah... I see. Genjiro Mashimoto? The Ultimate Wrestler? He's quite the specimen." He eyed the document carefully. "I see..."

Pheme nodded. "Indeed indeed!" Pheme moved over to her computer, and started pulling something up. "The Contact had a playlist on the document... so let's look at it!" Pheme accessed the playlist The Contact had provided.

The Figure narrowed their eyes. "Very well. Let's see it shall we?" The Figure went behind Pheme.

"Yes, let's do it!" Pheme eagerly started to play the first video in the playlist...

...

[Comic Book Store]

"Wow!!! This new comic is so cool!!"

"Yeah, check out this guy! His powers are so freaking awesome!!!"

"Hey, let me see! I want to see the good guy beat up the bad guy!"

It was just another day at Cimoc's Comics, a local comic book store. Kids and preteens alike were all coming in during recess or after school to see the brand new releases. Narvel had just released new comics for Steel Man and ones for Odin. And CD had just realized new comics for Wombatman and Wander Woman.

Groups of kids were currently crowding around the shelf with the latest released, excited and eager to see what their favorite super heroes were getting up to.

"Ah crap, I'm late again!" A 10-year old Genjiro Mashimoto had entered into the comics store hoping to join in with the crowd of kids. Unlucky for him though, the main rush had started to die down. "Crap..." Genjiro went over to the new release section. Yep. All empty. Genjiro stomped his foot on the floor in frustration. "Man..."

"Now now Genjiro, calm down. What's the problem?" Genjiro's foster father, Riku Ikeda, had joined his foster son in his journey to the comics store. "Oh, I see." Riku slowly nodded as he saw the barren new releases shelf.

"Damn..." Genjiro frowned. "I hate being late to this all the time!" He pouted and crossed his arms.

Riku put a hand on his foster son's shoulder. "Hey, hold on now. Let's go up to the clerk. Don't you remember?" Riku started to smirk.

"Huh...? Oh wait! You're right!" Genjiro's smile returned to him as he ran up towards the clerk working the checkout counter. "Hey! Hey guy! Got any more of the new stuff?" He looked up eagerly at the clerk.

"Hm? I'm afraid not, we recently just-" The clerk stopped himself when he realized who he was talking to. "Wait a second... aren't you Ichiro Mashimoto's nephew? That's my bad kid, stay right there!" The clerk ran into the back.

Riku slowly walked up to the counter to join Genjiro. "There we go. Perhaps a strange way to flex your familial connections, but as long as it makes you happy Genjiro, you should do it!" Riku supported his foster son with a smile.

Genjiro happily nodded along as he waited for the clerk to return. And about a minute later, he did! "Alright, had a special copy in the back for you kid, here you go!" He handed Genjiro the comic book.

Genjiro's eyes lit up as he looked at it.

The Adventures of Killer Pain

It was an edgy super hero with an edgy name and an edgy design. Genjiro couldn't care less about that. I mean, he was so cool!!! That's all that mattered to him. And it also helped that his uncle Ichiro illustrated the comic too!

Ichiro Mashimoto was very famous comic illustrator. Not working for Narvel or CD, he basically worked freelance, and took commissions. "Killer Pain" was one of his more recent works, and Genjiro loved it!

"Hey Riku? Can Uncle Ichiro come over later? I really wanna see him!" Genjiro jumped up and down.

Riku of course wanted to say yes immediately, but he had to think carefully about this. "Hm... I'll see what Michiko thinks, then we'll see. How about that?"

Genjiro got a little disappointed, but he wasn't going to let that stop him! His foster mother, Michiko Ikeda, could kind of be a stick in the mud sometimes, but for the most part, she was still a good mother!

...

Mother...

...

Genjiro shook his head, freeing himself from his thoughts. "Okay, I wanna go home and read this now! C'mon, let's go!" Genjiro started sprinting out of the comic store, not without yelling out a "Thanks!" to the clerk before he actually left.

Riku shook his head. "Oh that boy... so rowdy." But he also smiled. "Can't imagine what he'll grow up to be one day. I'm so excited to see him prosper!" And so, Riku followed his foster son out of the comic store, making sure he doesn't get into trouble on his way home!

...

"Holy shit! Michiko! Riku! I'm back!" A now 18-year old Genjiro barged into his home, his loud voice echoing all throughout the house. "You guys need to see thi-" He stopped himself. He knew his foster parents were definitely older than most, so he tried to not be so loud around them. Ironically enough, considering his personality, he didn't want to accidentally break their ear drums or something.

Genjiro cleared his throat, and as calmly as he could manage, walked into the kitchen, with a certain piece of mail in hand. Michiko and Riku were sitting at the kitchen table, clearly already aware of what their foster son's presence in the house. "Ah, we thought we heard you Genjiro!" Michiko smiled, saying that half-jokingly.

"Yes yes... what is it this time? Is it just mail?" Riku questioned. It didn't seem like they were aware yet.

Genjiro tried to stifle the cockiest smirk ever. "Another piece of mail? Nah nah nah... it's something better than that... it's something crazier than that... it's..." He started going on like he was putting on a show.

Genjiro shot his arm up into the air, revealing to his crowd of two people what the letter really was. "It's from Hope's Peak Academy baby! I'm the fucking Ultimate Wrestler! Yeah! The "Painkiller" is an ultimate now!"

"Oh goodness! That's wonderful Genjiro!" Michiko put her hands together.

"Hey, that's my boy! Good job Genjiro!" Riku got up and patted his foster son on the back.

Genjiro was grinning from ear to ear. "Hell yeah! I knew I had the skills for this! I knew I was this great!" He assured himself. "Hey, we gotta get uncle Ichiro over! He's gonna freak at the news!" Genjiro laughed jovially.

Riku laughed with him. "Of course, of course. I'll call him right now! Riku took out his phone.

...

About an hour later, Ichiro arrived at the Ikeda residence. "There's my man!" Ichiro charged in excitedly, eager to see his nephew.

"Uncle Ichiro!" Genjiro charged up to his uncle. The two of them started to playfully grapple with each other, before sitting down on the couch. "Man... I feel so damn good right now!" Genjiro sighed. "I knew I had the skills and chops for it all... but having it right here in front of me... shit hits different!"

Ichiro laughed. "Can't blame you there Genjiro. You're a strong and a good man. You put in the effort, and now your reward came! You should feel proud my man!" He patted his nephew on the back.

"Damn right!" Genjiro forcefully nodded. "Fuck man... this is great." He closed his eyes, letting this satisfaction of this wash over him.

Ichiro was going to join him in that, but not before bringing up something a tad... delicate. "Hey, Genjiro? Just so you know... I let your mom know about the Hope's Peak thing and..."

Genjiro stopped him with a light punch on his shoulder. "Man, don't bring that shit up. I- I don't want to think about that bitc- uh, that woman right now. I'm gonna celebrate today, and worrying about her is the exact fucking opposite of that!" Genjiro grew a little more serious.

Ichiro slowly nodded. "I got it I got it. Well, whatever then." Ichiro started to smile a little. "So the "Painkiller" is about to reach the entire world huh? Especially because you'll be going to Hope's Peak Australia, right? That's a long trip to Sydney man." Ichiro chuckled.

Genjiro started to smile as well. "Hell yeah. Traveling the world and being the best fucking wrestler there is. That's how it's gonna be for me, Genjiro Mashimoto!" Genjiro jumped up from the couch and shot his arms in the air. "Fuck yeah!"

Ichiro couldn't help but smirk at the sight of his nephew. To think he'd come all this way... it was quite the sight and feeling.

And for Genjiro? In case you somehow couldn't tell, he was feeling great. He's an Ultimate now. That feeling of power and fame flowing through his blood and veins was intoxicating to him. He is better than other people. He's the "Painkiller!" He's the Ultimate Wrestler! And he's going to bask in that feeling of fame... because it feels damn good.

...

[Pheme's Room]

Pheme slowly nodded with widened eyes as the video cut out. "Well then, that was quite the video wasn't it?" Pheme smiled from beneath her mask.

The Figure kept looking at Genjiro's document, then back at the screen. "You're quite right Miss Pheme..." The Figure was thinking quite intently about something regarding Genjiro.

Pheme definitely noticed The Figure's concentrated look. "So? What do you think? A man who acts like that and lives like that would be perfect no? A man that... disgusting and self-absorbed would be a wonderful fit no? Genjiro Mashimoto almost seems tailor made for the killing game yes? A man like him...

...

doesn't even deserve to be alive." Pheme's voice grew cold and her eyes grew wide and hazy.

The Figure didn't respond for a moment, still thinking intently about something. "Hm... just to confirm here, you do indeed want Mr. Mashimoto in the killing game yes?" The Figure stared at Pheme, who happily nodded away.

The Figure stayed silent for another moment. "Very well. I find him acceptable. Genjiro Mashimoto shall be the fifth person to be a part of the killing game." The Figure nodded.

Pheme jumped up from her chair, excited. "Yes! Yes! Thank you!" Pheme ran up to The Figure, intending to hug them. The Figure merely sidestepped her.

"Not now Miss Pheme. I understand you're excited, but we need to get going on our next one now. We don't have all the time in the world, you see." The Figure handed Pheme another stack of documents.

Pheme's excitement died down, but she still held on to a little bit of it as she started to look through these new documents, seemingly forgetting about her denied hug.

Yes... Pheme couldn't stop thinking. Between Genjiro... and having eleven more people to choose... this'll be a lot of fun...

...

[Genjiro's Room]

Genjiro sat on the edge of his bed, stilling trying to wake up. No way in hell he was going to use Phlegm's morning announcement as his own alarm clock. Fuck that. He woke up a little before it, and now was mentally preparing himself for the day.

But man, he couldn't stop thinking about what had happened last night. He definitely understands that, if they're actually gonna bust out this place, they're gonna need more muscle than just himself, Joji, and Yoshino. But there's what that person said last night too...

"Genjiro Mashimoto. I'd advise you to keep your voice down." A voice suddenly reached Genjiro's ears from the darkness. The wrestler instantly turned around and put his guard up.

"Hey! Who they fuck is-!" He stopped himself when he saw who it was. "Oh."

...

"What the fuck do you want?" Genjiro lowered his guard, but not by much.

The person shook their head. "I don't want much. I merely... wish to ask you something. Hypothetically... how does this sound?"

...

The person asked their question, purposefully doing it so where the reader doesn't know what the question is.

Genjiro's eyes widened. "Seriously? You want me to do that? And if I do, you'll give me that? You're not fucking with me? For real?" Genjiro had trouble believing it.

The person shrugged. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to. Though... it's likely your only option here, if you think about it realistically. Especially considering... you know who."

Genjiro frowned. He knew they were right... but... "Fuck you. I know you're right." Genjiro stomped his foot. "Fuck it. I agree. Just give me that, and I'll do it!" Genjiro started getting a little excited about it.

The person still showed no emotion. "Very good, Genjiro Mashimoto. I'll happy you agreed..."

The person left after that, leaving Genjiro by himself by the exit doors. He promptly went back to his room and to bed, because even he knew there wouldn't be a point to pounding away on that door for much longer.

Genjiro stretched his arms. "Fuck... I feel like this'll be a long day. But it might be a good day too. We'll have to see." Genjiro smirked as he got up from his bed and started to leave his room. As he was leaving, he heard a certain announcement coming from his monitor.

"Hello my glamorous stars! It is now 8am, and that means it's morning time! It's time to wake up and get moving! Get ready for a day full of stardom!" There Gold, I bolded it. You happy? :D

Genjiro payed no attention to it as he left...

[VIP Quarters]

Roughly fifteen or so minutes after the morning announcement, most of the group had awakened and gone down to the cafeteria. Though, like yesterday, there were certain people who were a little behind. Either they just didn't want to associate with those fuckers, like Alpha or Cathy, or they had trouble trusting them, like Ayaka. Speaking of which...

Ayaka slowly crept out from her room, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw that the VIP Quarters were empty at the moment. She... really hated this. Well, that was obvious. If you didn't hate this whole arrangement, there's something wrong with your head. But it's the game of trust and betrayal... a Killing Game that she hates. Considering the things she's gone through... well, it just makes it worse for poor Ayaka.

As she fully crept out of her room, she realized that Damien wasn't around. That kind of surprised her. He had been sticking rather close to her this whole time, so it felt a little strange to not see him around. Ayaka figured he must've gone to cafeteria already. Ayaka internally groaned. She... really didn't trust anyone here at all. People like Damien and Darren are slightly different cases... but still. She was afraid of going down there. She really was. But Ayaka was also afraid of starving to death up here, and that would make for an awkward body discovery.

With careful steps, she started to fully leave the VIP Quarter...

...

"Gods sake, how late is it?" But not before jumping up in surprise at the sound of a voice from behind her. It was Ji-hoon of all people, only just now coming out of his room. Ayaka wanted to speed-walk down the stairs and forget she even saw him, but even she had to admit that she thought that Ji-hoon would be a more punctual type. Not the type to oversleep. What happened?

Judging by how Ji-hoon noticed Ayaka awkwardly staring at him, it looked like the violinist was about to get an explanation. "Ayaka? Good to see you getting out of your room at a reasonable time." Ji-hoon walked up to her. "You doing okay?"

Ayaka shakily nodded. "Y-yeah I'm doing okay. I just wanted s-some food." All Ayaka wanted to do right now was just get away from the situation, but even she had to admit, she was curious about what Ji-hoon doing being up this late. "A-are you just waking up yourself Ji-hoon?" She asked him.

Ji-hoon sighed and shook his head. "Well... yeah. I'll be honest, I've been waking up to Pheme's morning announcement. I don't think it's the worst thing in the world to wake up to that." He crossed his arms. "But for some reason, it didn't go off this morning in my room." He narrowed his eyes. "I can't imagine Pheme would have a motive for purposely doing that to just me, so I'm assuming it was some sort of technological failure on her part. So now I'm hoping to ask some of the others, to see if it was the same for them or not." Ji-hoon raised his eyebrows. "Well, actually, how about it? Did the same happen to you Ayaka?"

Ayaka closed her eyes. She already was staying here, talking with Ji-hoon for longer than she had expected. But now that he asked that question... actually...

"Now that y-you bring it up, I don't think it played f-for me either!" Ayaka nodded her head, then looked around. "It must've played for s-some of the others right? If not, then m-more people would be here wouldn't they?" Ayaka was now trying to sniff out the cause of this weird occurrence.

Ji-hoon smiled. "Hey, not bad deductive reasoning there. Fair point you have. But, we should go down to the cafeteria anyway to see who all is there. No point in wasting time and knocking on all of the doors here or something." He started you walk off, then he looked behind him. "You coming Ayaka?"

Ayaka widened her eyes in realization, then nodded. "Erm... yeah. I'm r-right behind you!" Ayaka stayed behind Ji-hoon as they both left the VIP Quarters.

[Cafeteria]

"Ah, my dear Ayaka! It's a pleasure to see you!" Damien immediately got up at the presence of his dear Ayaka.

When Ji-hoon and Ayaka entered the cafeteria, there were two main things that surprised them. First, everyone was here! All nineteen of them! Second, it looked like Genjiro had took control of their unofficial "morning meeting," which immediately caught Ji-hoon's interest.

"How are you doing my dear Ayaka? Are you feeling alright?" Damien went up to the violist and asked her, annoyed that the narration interrupted him earlier.

Ayaka blushed. "Thanks for your c-concern Damien, but I'm fine, really. But, what's going on h-here?" She looked around the cafeteria.

"Mm, it's quite the spectacle." Damien nodded. "Well first, I got here a tad late today, as Pheme's morning announcement did not play for me for an unknown reason, so I'm afraid I don't know all of the details." Damien looked at Ji-hoon. "But from I do know... it appears that Genjiro is a tad unsatisfied with your leadership so far Ji-hoon. I'd recommend you talk to him about that."

Ji-hoon seemed a little confused. Damien also didn't get a morning announcement? He was curious about that, but like every other strange mystery in this place, Ji-hoon deemed it better to leave it for later. After all, whatever Genjiro was doing was the more urgent matter.

"Seriously? He had a problem with my leadership? Damn punk..." Ji-hoon sighed. It was a little unspoken, but he had become the de-facto leader of their nineteen person group. And someone already isn't pleased with him? Well, he should get to the bottom of that, and quickly. "Thanks Damien, I'll talk to him." Ji-hoon left Damien and his dear Ayaka with a quick wave, and went over to talk to Genjiro.

"Shall we sit down dear Ayaka? Or perhaps we should get some food first?" Damien's focus quickly shifted to her dear Ayaka.

"Um... I'll get s-some food first. I'll join you in a m-moment." Ayaka nodded and scampered off to the kitchen, leaving Damien and his dear Aelia, who hadn't spoken yet, to wait for her.

...

"Okay! Now, we gotta plan our attack! Enough of being chickenshit bitches, we gotta be fucking aggressive!" Genjiro slammed his hands onto the center cafeteria table. "Enough of this listening to Pheme bullshit, and enough of looking into these little stupid mysteries! We gotta go hard!" Another slam on the table. Maybe it was a bit intense, but Genjiro was taking his boisterous self, trying to become a proper leader to the group.

"Fuck yeah, Genjiro has it right!" Joji stood up in support of his friend. "People have already died in here... and Pheme wants us to kill more?! No fucking way! We're aren't doing this shit!"

Yoshino smirked. "Damn right Jojo. Everything had been freaking stagnant in here... Pheme's not making a move, and so aren't we. So we gotta change that!"

The more hotheaded ones have started to follow Genjiro, as expected. But even some of the more mellow ones were vibing with him too.

"I may not be fully on board with the aggressive approach, but I do indeed agree with Genjiro." Aurora confidently nodded her head. "We can't... just sit here and wait for something to happen. I think this is the best course of action!" She sounded determined.

"I choose to believe in you all, no matter what you do!" Lake was giving their full support.

Alpha wasn't sitting at the center table, but even she was listening in. "Beefcake bitch over there may be stupid, but it's better than sitting here, jerking off, and doing fucking nothing I guess." Alpha shrugged.

Then there were others, who simply couldn't bring themselves to care about this sudden change. Darren didn't say anything or react much, merely observing how everything was going down.

Cathy was sitting next to Darren for some reason, leaning back in her chair. "Hmm... seeing what the smelly ape has in store could be rather fun!" Cathy sat back with a grin on her face, enjoying the tense atmosphere. She then took a swig of her drink.

Wait. Her drink? Nope. It was Darren's. Cathy managed to swipe it away from him. And luckily for her, it was just water. She half-expected that slothful drunkard (in her opinion) to be causally day drinking, but she supposed not. Almost a little disappointedly, she slid Darren's drink back towards him. Darren either didn't notice it or he didn't care about it, hard to say.

...

Ji-hoon tried to understand what was going on here. An aggressive approach? Really? How stupid could Genjiro be? Ji-hoon went up to the wrestler, the latter of which only now realizing that the celebrity detective was even in the room. "Oh shit, you're finally here Ji-hoon! Took your sweet ass time this morning huh?" Genjiro sounded more serious than usual.

Ji-hoon narrowed his eyes. "I got caught up with something this morning that's all." He darted his eyes back and forth. "But what are you doing? What're you trying to pull here?" Ji-hoon wanted answers here.

Genjiro laughed boisterously. "I'm taking control of the group, that's what." His eyes and expression grew smug. "We ain't doing your pussy ass way of getting out of here anymore. No more investigating the little bullshit secrets. We're making a plan of attack now!" Genjiro glared directly at Ji-hoon. "You don't even know how to lead either. You spout shit about wanting us all to make it out of here alive, yet you question Raiha about traumatic shit from her past? I get what your talent entails, but what the fuck man? You clearly ain't meant for this shit!" Genjiro's annoyance with Ji-hoon was clear.

It took a second for Ji-hoon to process what Genjiro had said. Raiha? Wait, she told him about that? What the hell? God he underestimated that girl. He looked over to where she was. Raiha didn't seem to be paying attention to this for the most part. It looked like she was indulging Bessie about her apparent "show." That show was another thing they needed to discuss, but now Genjiro was getting in the way of it.

Ji-hoon scoffed. He wasn't about to deal with this. He grabbed Genjiro by his shirt, and leaning in close to him. "The hell you playing at here Mashimoto?" He whispered. "What you're about to do is the stupidest thing you could possibly do in this situation. Whatever you may truly be like, I refuse to let your dumbass get killed by Pheme after you charge at her like a madman. It's clear she won't hesitate to harm us. You saw Yuto right? Who knows if she'd do that to any of us. Genjiro, you need to learn a certain word.

...

caution. You need be cautious here, and I refuse to let you do anything." Ji-hoon's morals were shining through here, even if he was a tad aggressive with the wrestler.

Genjiro glared at Ji-hoon, then just pushed him away. "Your methods aren't getting us anywhere either. Everybody is antsy for something to happen, and I'm about to grant it to them! I'm Genjiro fucking Mashimoto baby, and I'm not about to fail my fans!" He turned back around to the group.

But Ji-hoon still wasn't going to let him do anything stupid. He grabbed onto his shirt again. "These people aren't your fans! They aren't your followers! They're Ultimates, who've been brought to this Killing Game for some god forsaken reason! I'm not sure why you suddenly decided to go on a sudden power trip, but I'm not going to let it happen Mashimoto."

Ji-hoon broke away from Genjiro and started addressing the group. "Guys, don't listen to him. Let's take it practical and slow here. We're gonna escape, but we just have to-"

You really thought Genjiro was going to let that happen? Genjiro shoved Ji-hoon to the ground, and continued his own speech. "Nah, fuck that! I've been saying that your leadership is dog shit Ji-hoon from day one! This isn't sudden at all!" Their fight had become rather audible now.

"Nah, fuck off Ji-hoon! This investigating every nook and cranny shit of this stupid studio isn't gonna get us anywhere! "Where did the bar go?" "How did Aelia spell a six-letter word with five-slots?" I don't give a shit! That information isn't gonna let us escape!" Genjiro slammed his chair into the table, and started leaving. "I'm getting sick of this investigating shit, and just sitting here twiddling our thumbs and doing nothing! Our goal here? It's to escape! So c'mon, we have our exit, so let's fucking go!" Genjiro stormed out, intending for his words to be a rousing speech.

"See? This was gonna be coming ever since the moment you wanted to give a shit about a disappearing bar Ji-hoon." Genjiro stomped his foot. "Today, we're gonna escape. We ain't gonna let Pheme stop us, or hold us back." He turned back around to the group. "Am I right?"

Genjiro was expecting a large reaction, but it was rather muted. People were thrown off by the fact that they had even started fighting about this. Truth be told... no one really hated either style of leadership here. It was of course important to be cautious and wary. But also, just looking into random things all day kind of drives a person up the wall. So, it was a difficult situation.

Ignoring the situation, Adam got up to go help Ji-hoon. He held out his hand to him. "Y-you okay Ji-hoon?"

Ji-hoon didn't say anything as he took Adam's hand. Adam had a difficult time pulling him up, but he did indeed manage to do it. After Ji-hoon was back on his feet however, he proceeded to ignore Adam. He stared right at Genjiro. "Alright tough guy, how about this? Tell me. If Pheme were to enter right now, what would you do huh? Tell me that." Ji-hoon slightly smirked.

Genjiro returned the smirk, eager to tell him off, but he was stopped by a sudden presence. "Indeed Mr. Mashimoto, what would you do if my glorious self were to enter right now?" Speak of the devil, and she'll appear. With timing as perfect as ever, Pheme entered the cafeteria, giving Genjiro a playful look. "So? I'm waiting."

Genjiro scoffed. "Ha ha! Look who's shown herself!" He wasn't acting scared in the slightest. Well, why would he? Most of the people who were on board with Genjiro's "aggressive" plan didn't seem scared. While on the other hand, the rest of the group seemed to stay wary of Pheme's presence. "What, are you here to just taunt us again? Ha!" Genjiro walked forward cockily to face down Pheme.

Ji-hoon tried to hold him back, but given the size difference, he couldn't really much. After Genjiro stepped up, Joji stepped up as well. "You... we aren't letting you have your way anymore Pheme!" Joji stomped his foot. "We're not just going to sit here and wait for our fate like an idiot... we're gonna stand up to you! You think we're going to play your game? You're wrong!" Joji's energy was at its (corrupted) peak.

Genjiro confidently nodded. "Fuck yeah Joji! We're gonna fight you! Shoulda done this before... but now... it's time! No way you can take us all on, least of all both Joji and me!"

Ji-hoon, Kei, and the other actual smart ones couldn't believe what they were hearing. Fight her? How stupid can they be? Kei stood up from his seat. "Genjiro, I'm not sure if I'd do that. We don't know what our Goddess here is capable of. I get where you'rere coming from, but that's awfully brash."

Damien stood up as well. "Indeed, this approach has reached peak recklessness." He shook his head. "You should stop before someone gets seriously hurt." He may not have explicitly said that he meant his dears Ayaka and Aelia, but Damien did motion to them though.

Adam pushed up his glasses. "As much as I do w-want to support the idea, strictly speaking, this is b-blatantly not the wisest idea." He shook his head.

Both Lake and Aurora got concerned too. "Genjiro... Joji... while I believe you two could manage it, is it truly the right time to do so?" Aurora was worried. The time to fight had come so quickly, so she was thrown off.

"Yeah... please be careful you two!" Lake was worried as well.

Ji-hoon walked up to Genjiro and got in his face again. "I swear to god Genjiro, don't do this shit. Don't get yourself killed man. Don't you remember rule two?!"

2. Violence and acts of aggression against Pheme are strictly prohibited. Ones who attempt violence or acts of aggression against Pheme will receive punishment.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she killed you on the spot if you even touch her. You know what she's capable of. Don't do this." Ji-hoon was trying not to be snarky here, as he genuinely didn't want Genjiro to get himself hurt. But it was getting harder to act like that at this point.

Genjiro rolled his eyes. "Ji-hoon my man, just fuck off." The wrestler turned to Joji. "My man. You ready?"

Joji confidently nodded. "Ready whenever!"

Ji-hoon threw up his arms in frustration. Seriously?! Really?! Fine. If these idiots want to get themselves killed, he didn't care anymore. Ji-hoon walked away to the back of the cafeteria, opting to just observe what'll happen.

Pheme blinked as she watched Genjiro and Joji get into actual fighting stances. They were actually gonna try and fight her? Fun! But wait a moment. Pheme turned to Alpha. "Ms. Alpha, I'm surprised. You seemed like the type to join with Mr. Kaneshiro and Mr. Mashimoto here. Or at least say something snarky about them having "one brain cell" or something like that. Am I wrong?" Pheme put her hand on her hip.

Alpha shrugged. "You know what? You're not wrong. But I don't got the fucking effort right now anyway. Those two dickheads want to get themselves killed, fucking whatever. If their plan had a chance of working, then who fucking knows? But for now, my ass is staying right the fuck here." Alpha looked away dismissively.

Pheme shrugged as well. "Very well then." She turned back over to the boys. "Men, are you sure you want to do this? Mr. Jo brought up the rules of course, but don't you want to wait for a moment?" She raised an eyebrow.

Joji narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean "wait a moment?" Are you trying to throw us off?" Joji kept staying stanced up.

Pheme laughed and shook her head. "Hm... well then. If Ms. Alpha won't say it, then I will." Pheme confidently strolled past the boys and jumped up onto the table. "You two truly share a single brain cell between the both of you."

Joji's rage stared to flare up. "The fuck you say to us?!"

Pheme urged Joji to stop with a hand motion. "Mr. Kaneshiro... Mr. Mashimoto... the rest of you stars... before you do anything brash, wouldn't you like to hear my news for today?!" Pheme smiled from beneath her mask.

Confused and wary looks spread across everyone's faces. "News-nya? What you mean-nya?" Kuroko tilted her head.

"N-news...? I'm not sure if I l-like the sound of that..." Aelia muttered.

Even the quiet ones like Darren and Rival raised their eyebrows at those words.

"Yeah, the hell you mean by that Phlegm?" It seemed that actually got Genjiro to calm down a tad.

Pheme looked a little disgusted by Genjiro calling her that, but she brushed it off. "Well.. perhaps news isn't the exact right word for it." She tapped her pointer finger on her chin. "Ah! I have a better word for it! You stars don't have to worry... because I have a...

...

motive to break up the monotony of this daily life!" Pheme sounded very excited.

The others though, were not. Yoshino quickly stood up. "A motive? As in, a motive to kill? You can't be serious!" She slammed her hands onto the table.

Lake's eyes widened. "A motive wasn't what we wanted when we said that nothing was happening. I'd rather just sit here honestly..." They said shakily.

Kei's eye twitched a little. "Ah, I see. Finally getting around to this part of a Killing Game huh?" He glared at Pheme.

Rival, who was currently trying to forget about his upcoming show with Bessie, decided to chime in too. "So... finally giving us a motive. Heh. Well... I can't imagine it working..." He yawned.

Cathy laughed. "Indeed! Humans don't even need a motive to be evil, so this is useless!" She said with a decent amount of snark. "You can take it and go away, we don't need it!"

This got Ji-hoon's attention back on the situation too. "I get what you mean Cathy... but..." He turned to Pheme. "What is our "motive" huh? What're you going to do?"

Some people turned to Ji-hoon with shocked faces, but others with understanding faces as well. But faces of everyone eventually turned towards Pheme in anticipation. Even Genjiro and Joji's attention have been caught by Pheme, hook, line, and sinker.

Pheme giggled. "Well, I'm glad to see I've gotten your attention everyone. You asked for something to break up the monotony, you asked for something interesting to happen, and I shall provide!" Pheme pulled out a Star-Phone. "Ms. Akiyama, you were correct! I will indeed provide you all with a motive to kill! I'm disappointed it's been taking you all this long to act, and this'll be very exciting for you all too! So it's a win-win! You'll get what you want, and I should hopefully get what I want!" She turned on the Star-Phone. "The motive I will provide... revolves around the Star-Phone!"

Unsurprisingly, that got Raiha's attention. "Oh?" She looked up from her convo with Bessie. "Pheme non-bestie, tell me more!" Raiha pulled own Star-Phone and turned it on. When she did, she instantly saw what was different. Raiha's eyes widened in curiosity at what she saw.

Pheme stifled a giggle. "I see Ms. Miyahara has already seen what's different!" Pheme gazed over the entire group. "I invite you all to take out your Star-Phones and to see what has been added!"

In response to Pheme's demand, everyone begrudgingly took out their Star-Phones. Pheme then started to guide them through what the motive would entail. "First, I added a clock to everyone's Star-Phones! So now you'll be able to tell the time. Admittedly, that was a bit of an oversight on my part, not having it on there initially, heh." Pheme laughed nervously. "Anyway, besides for that, you'll see that three brand new apps have been added!" She announced. "From now to until a murder occurs, you will have these brand new apps! First, there is a camera app! Second, there is an audio app! Finally, there is a second and slightly more special version of the map app!"

Raiha, being the only one who was more eager than scared to explore these new apps, clicked on the camera app first.

"First, I'll explain the camera app!" Pheme resumed her explanation. "When you open up the app, you'll first see a list of eighteen names! I'd assume you'd recognize them, as they're all your names!" She pointed at everyone. "Now, before you go any further... I'd like to ask one of you to volunteer! Anyone?"

Consindering that Pheme had given zero context on what they were about to volunteer for, it's not a surprise that she had no takers. "Could you, um, at least explain w-what it is we're v-volunteering for?" Adam piped up and asked.

Pheme gave Adam a flat stare. "No! Because that's no fun!" She explained. "Hmm... eh, I'll just choose one of you!" Pheme darted her eyes between all nineteen of them. "Hm... how about you Mx. Beaumont!" Pheme pointed at Lake.

Lake widened their eyes in surprise. They hadn't expected to be called out all of a sudden. "Um... okay? What should I do?" Lake sounded both confused and scared, scarfused if you will.

Pheme tried to calm their nerves. "You needn't worry, Mx. Beaumont! All I ask, is that you simply step outside of the cafeteria, and stay right there until I call you back in? Simple, no?" Pheme explained her instructions to her unwilling volunteer.

Lake still felt unsure, but they got up anyway.

Joji looked concerned. "Hey hold on, maybe I should-" Joji reached out a hand toward Lake.

"Mr. Kaneshiro. Stop." Pheme's cold voice reached Joji's ears instantly. "Don't take another step. Let Mx. Beaumont leave, and make this easier on all of us." Pheme was very matter-of-fact about the matter. In another world, maybe Joji would've just punched Pheme or something. But upon seeing Lake's face, Joji calmed down and stepped back.

Pheme sighed. "Sheesh, you act like I'm sending them into a battlefield! Anyway, you should get going Mx. Beaumont!" Pheme shooed Lake off.

Lake shakily nodded, then slowly walked out of the cafeteria.

Once they were gone, Pheme excitedly go back into her explanation of the new apps. "Now, let's get back to the camera app shall we?" Pheme cleared her throat. "As I said, you all will see eighteen names, excluding your own name, pop up after you click on the app! So, I invite you all to click on "Lake Beaumont," if you will." Pheme instructed.

Everybody was a little apprehensive about it, but Raiha was still excited to see what else the Star-Phone could do. Without a shred of hesitation, she clicked on Lake's name. And after a quick second... a video feed opened up. It was a video feed coming from the camera of Lake's Star-Phone. Lake was currently holding it in their right hand at their side, so all that could be seen was a portion of their white dress pants and part of the wall. Everybody widened their eyes when they realized the possibilities of this app.

Pheme waited for the initial wave of surprise to end before she continued. "As you all may have surmised, the camera app will allow you all to access the camera feed coming from anyone's Star-Phone! So at any time and any place, you can see whatever someone is doing! Provided they have their Star-Phone on them of course. Pheme could see questions and concerns popping up in the group's minds. But she wasn't finished yet!

"Before you ask any questions, let's continue on to the next app! The second one is the audio app, and it's relatively similar to the camera app!" Pheme motioned for the group to open up the audio app.

And so, they did, with Raiha once again at the forefront of speed with it. When Raiha opened it up, just like with the camera app, she saw a list of eighteen names. Also once again excluding her own name. Sensing what Pheme was expecting of them next, Raiha went and clicked on "Lake Beaumont" once again.

Raiha assumed that everyone else did as well, as she quickly started hearing the same sounds coming from everyone else's Star-Phones. It was the sound of Lake humming to themselves. And again, everyone realized the potential with the audio app too.

Pheme giggled. "I'm happy you all caught onto it quickly! Yes, the audio app will allow you to listen in on anyone here, provided they have their Star-Phone on them of course!"

The implications of it all were starting to rush over everyone. "Fucking really? You're just eliminating our privacy basically? Christ, I don't want to listen in on any of the boys here fucking gooning themselves to death." It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Alpha said that.

Raiha got a disgusted look on her face. "Wait ew some boys here actually do that? That gives me the ick." She glanced around between all of the boys. Unsurprisingly, none of them admitted to actually doing that.

Cathy, getting annoyed by the goon-talk, wanted to move this along already. "So what? That's it? A little dip into our privacy is supposed to be enough to incite the humans here to murder each other? Hm, I'm nya-ot impressed!" Cathy shook her head.

Pheme just smiled and shook her head at Cathy's words. "Don't speak so soon Ms. Munchkin! There's still one more app!" Pheme went and resumed her explanation of the motive.

Cathy wasn't using her Star-Phone here, because she didn't have it on her, so she just opted for listening to things here. And Darren, who she was sitting next to, unsurprisingly didn't have his out either. So the cat-girl couldn't even look at a phone right now even if she wanted to.

Anyway, still being the main POV person for looking at their Star-Phone, Raiha went right back to it. Lastly, the third and final app seemed to be called Map (T). Upon opening it up, Raiha saw a map of the first floor of the studio. So, rather similar to the normal map app then.

But it wasn't completely similar. It took a second for Raiha to notice the difference. The difference was that she saw eighteen dots near the cafeteria area on the map. Like with the other two apps, everybody quickly realized what this was about.

Pheme saw that everyone realized what this meant too! "Ah, have you all surmised what the Map (Tracking) app is all about? At this point, it's essentially an upgraded version of the regular old map app! In the Map (T) app, you're allowed to see where everyone else is, at all times! Heh." Pheme seemed especially satisfied with this one.

But Darren seemed more confused than satisfied. "Looks like we can't tell which dot is for which person though. That on purpose?" He took a sip of his non-alcoholic drink.

Pheme's smile grew to unprecedented levels from beneath her mask. "You are such a treat Mr. Taylor! That's a wonderful observation! I wanted to the dots to indicate which dot is who, but the rest of the staff decided against that. So whatever." Pheme shrugged. "But you're right. You're able to technically tell where everyone else is at all times. It's rather exciting anyway, so I can deal with it, even if it wasn't exactly what I had wanted." Pheme suddenly seemed rather causal about this whole thing.

...

Pheme noticed the silence hanging over the whole room. She thought it was just her glorious stars thinking about the motive she had provided them. And sure, most people probably were. But the smarts ones noticed Pheme's particular choice of words.

Staff. So... there are more people here? I mean, that was already technically stated in rule eleven...

11. Pheme nor any of the staff will never directly commit a murder.

It hit a little different hearing Pheme explicitly imply that other people were here/involved. There have already been so many strange and mysterious things that've occurred here. And people like Ji-hoon, Kei, and hell, even Adam, wanted to know these weird details about everything. Even if the latter hasn't exactly expressed it yet.

Well, Kei was having enough with just expressing thoughts through narration, so he wanted to properly convey his thoughts through speaking. "So I do want to talk about this motive... but could you explain something else first yeah?"

Pheme noticed how abnormally serious Kei sounded. She was intrigued. "What did you want me to explain Mr. Aikawa?" She looked down at him.

Kei chuckled. "I'm assuming I'm not the only person thinking this..." His eyes darted to Ji-hoon, Adam, and others. "But you said staff didn't you? And it was mentioned in rule eleven. So you're not the only one here then?"

Pheme didn't have much of a reaction to the question. In fact, it looked like she was trying to not have a reaction to it. "I d-did indeed say that Mr. Aikawa." She stuttered a tad, then pulled out the Star-Phone. "But before you ask any more questions about that, just know that I'll not be explaining any more about that!" Pheme opened up something on the Star-Phone, then got an annoyed look in her face. But it quickly went away.

Kei smiled and nodded. "I figured you'd say something like that. Thought I'd may as well ask, right?" He smirked.

"Ah, *cough* if we are asking questions, perhaps I could ask one as well?" Rosalind had something on her mind. "I know you hate giving us *cough* answers, much more giving me answers...

Pheme blinked when she realized what she had said. "That's a good question!" Was how Pheme responded. Rosalind frowned. She might've only known Pheme for a short amount of time, but she felt like she should've known better than to have actually expected her to answer her question.

Rosalind sighed and sunk a bit further down into the chair. She kept holding onto her parasol for support. "Pheme, if you don't have any intentions of answering my questions, I'd like to ask you go somewhere else." Rosalind glanced away from her.

But I'd still like to ask something of you *cough* anyway, if you'd allow it?" Rosalind adjusted her sunglasses.

Pheme lightly scoffed. "Oh please Ms. Reinhardt, I've never had a problem with you! But yes, ask your question!" Pheme seemed eager to answer.

Rosalind nodded. "Very well. Then, was there any particular reason why your morning announcement didn't play in my room this morning? It caught my *cough* attention."

Rosalind's words caused Rival to remember something. "Now that you mention that Rosalind... it didn't play for me either." He frowned.

Bessie immediately turned and looked at Rival. "Hey, the announcement didn't play for me either! That's super strange~!" Rival didn't look at Bessie in return.

Kei raised his eyebrows. "So I'm not the only one then? Interesting." Kei got up. "Did anyone else not get an announcement this morning?"

Genjiro groaned. "This had been such a massive fucking distraction for everything! This is useless!" Nobody payed attention to him, as Kei and Pheme were taking the spotlight now. Genjiro pouted and turned away. "God these people are so fucking stupid sometimes..." He muttered.

Also ignoring Genjiro, Ji-hoon got up alongside Kei. "That's a good thing to bring up Kei. Let's get a list of every who didn't get an announcement this morning." Ji-hoon took out his Star-Phone to start noting these things down.

...

"Right then." Kei and Ji-hoon had finished getting a list of everyone who didn't get an announcement. "So..." Kei looked at everyone. "So Ji-hoon, Alpha, Ayaka, Cathy, Rosalind, Rival, Bessie, Damien, Darren, and myself. Interesting huh?"

"Verily..." Damien was deep in thought. "So Genjiro, Joji, Adam, my dear Aelia, my dear Aurora, my dear Yoshino, my dear Kuroko, my dear Raiha, and my dear Lake (who got called back into the cafeteria) did receive a morning announcement. Fascinating." He looked up at Pheme. "Do you have an explanation for this?" All eyes soon landed on Pheme in suspicion.

Pheme frowned. "I do have an explanation, yes. I unfortunately don't know which of you stars did it, but one of you messed with some technology earlier this morning. And that caused some of you wonderful stars to not be greeted by my wonderful face this morning! Luckily for the culprit, I wasn't paying attention to the cameras at the time. So you got off lucky this time." She glared at everyone.

Woah. Messed with some technology? That sounded like a big deal. That caught everyone's attention when Pheme said it. "W-wait, technology? T-that's rather..." Adam got lost in thought.

"Yeah... what do you mean by... "technology"?" It caught Rival's attention too.

Pheme stayed frowning. "If you don't already know, then I won't be telling you! That's the end of that topic of conversation. But for the person who messed with it...

...

I'm watching you veeeery closely." Her expression grew dark and lifeless. She wasn't looking at anyone in particular, but it still seemed like Pheme was talking to everyone in the room all at once.

But once Pheme got that out of her system, she jumped down from the cafeteria table. "Alright, that's it for now! We went off topic with a few questions, but I gave the motive to you all, and that was the important part!" Pheme seemed to be back to her happy go lucky self.

"Hey now, I'm sure you have time for another question." Kei stopped her. "Well, not even really a question, it's more just a thought. Care to hear it?" He smirked.

Pheme narrowed her eyes. She was on a schedule here, but... "Alright Mr. Aikawa, what do you have to say?" She decided to indulge the lawyer.

Kei chuckled. "Perfect. Now, if I know some of the people in this room well enough, which maybe I do or maybe I don't, I believe I'm not the only one thinking this. But this motive seems strange? Am I the only one?" He looked around.

"Hm..." Kuroko was deep in thought. "I think I get what you mean by that Kei-nya! It's supposed to make us kill each other right-nya? It seemed a bit weak in that case in my opinion-nya."

Cathy yawned. "Yeah, the faker has a point." Cathy stuck out her tongue at Kuroko, who gave a hurt look in return. "If anything..." The Christmas cat girl continued her thought. "This motive seems to aiming for a specific crowd. Like a certain type of human." Cathy got a very know-it-all look on her face.

Adam pushed up his glasses. "I see your point C-Cathy. It's overall a t-tad baffling. Could you explain the r-reason behind why you gave us this motive Pheme?" Adam tried to confidently look at the goddess looming over them all. "O-only if y-you want to of course..." But he got a little scared by her expression.

And Pheme's expression was one of surprise and annoyance. Surpoyance, if you will. "Well well well, look at my adorable stars taking some proper initiative here! I'm proud of you!" Her eye twitched a tad. "I understand your confusion with this "privacy eliminating" motive I've provided for you all. For the average person, the idea of this causing someone to kill another seems ludicrous, doesn't it?" Pheme raised her eyebrows. "Allow me to put your worries to rest here. Let me assure you... some people here... really don't like their privacy being invaded." She giggled. "You know who you are, and I know who you are as well! So don't worry, this will definitely cause a murder within the near future! So like I said earlier, now you don't have to wait around for something to happen! Something just did, and something else will in the upcoming future!" Pheme seemed abnormally confident in this motive, and she seemed to have fun twisting around their logic.

Genjiro didn't find that fun in the slightest. While everyone was giving each other looks and thinking about what Pheme had been saying, Genjiro had been mentally preparing himself. His energy was threatening to burst at any moment now. "Alright!" Genjiro stepped in front of the group. "We listened to this bitch yap yap yap for long enough! Joji, Yoshi, and anyone else, let's show this goddess a damn good beating yeah?" He tried to rouse the group.

But Joji, Yoshino, and pretty much everyone else gave him strange looks. "Yo Genjiro? She's gone man. Can't even defeat her now even if you wanted to." Joji said plainly.

Genjiro quickly turned around in surprise. "Wait what the fuck?!" Sure enough, Pheme was no where to be seen. "Jesus christ that bitch left here fast!" He slammed his fist down on the table. "Damn it! That motive shit just proved to be a giant distraction. We could've gotten her too!" Genjiro clenched his teeth.

Yoshino shook her head. "For as much as I agree with you Genjiro, let it go man. I think some of us got caught up in the heat of the moment back there. Some of us were just seeing red all over." She sighed.

Aurora seemed a little embarrassed as well. "I think I agree with Yoshino here. I think I was, perhaps, a bit too caught up in the heat of the moment back there. I say we should rethink our approach, especially with the motive Pheme has given us." She smiled gently.

"Good point Aurora." Kei looked at her, then back to the group. "I'm not trying to steal Genjiro or Ji-hoon's thunder here, but let's get to talking about that motive yeah?"

Ji-hoon lightly chuckled. "Don't worry about it Kei. But you're right, let's talk about it." He glared at Genjiro. "You staying here?" Ji-hoon sounded a little annoyed. Genjiro just grumbled something and sat down, which Ji-hoon interpreted as a yes. "Good, let's talk about it then."

Yoshino groaned. "Yeah, we probably should." She closed her eyes. "I still don't see how it could cause someone to murder someone else, but taking away our privacy is still damn annoying..." She shook her head.

"Well... there's still a little more to it than that." Rival chimed in.

Yoshino looked over to him. "Huh? Whatcha mean Val?"

Rival didn't pay attention to the nickname he was given. "Well... think about it. All three of the apps... we can't use them at the same time. I think... that's important here." He yawned.

"Huh..." Joji thought. "I didn't realize that, but that's a good point! It makes this whole motive thing even weirder!"

Joji wasn't entirely wrong. It was rather strange. Damien, Kei, and Ji-hoon all gave each other an understanding look. "Damien, Ji-hoon, you on the same train of thought as me?" The lawyer raised an eyebrow.

Both of the boys nodded. "Indeed I am Kei." Damien straightened up his clothes. "I think... what Rival said is exactly what Pheme is going for. The fact that we can't use these apps at the same time... is the point." He said ominously.

Ji-hoon slowly nodded. "Yeah. The fact that we can only use one of these apps at a time will likely cause confusion and stress. At least, I'm assuming that's what Pheme is going for here." He adjusted his glasses.

"Oh yeah, I getcha Ji-hoon!" Bessie decided to stop thinking about her upcoming show for two seconds and to join in on the conversation. "So if we listen to someone's audio, we can't see their camera. And vice-versa~!"

"That's right Bessie." Ji-hoon affirmed her. "Along with that tracker map, I think it's just meant to cause misunderstandings. Like hearing someone's audio out of context might cause someone to get confused and agitated. Same with seeing just their camera feed. So, if that's the case, I say..."

"We don't fucking use this shit!" Genjiro jumped up. "We just don't fucking use any of the apps, and Pheme doesn't get her way. Simple as that." He threw his hands in the air.

Alpha chuckled. "Not bad beefcake, guess you occasionally have a good idea once in a fucking blue moon."

"Thanks bitch!" Hard to say if Genjiro understood that Alpha insulted him there.

Ji-hoon could tell that it was an insult, but at the same time, he was a little impressed with Genjiro. "Yeah... that's the right way to play this." He pointed at the wrestler.

Ayaka slowly nodded. "I t-think I agree with Genjiro here. I'd rather n-not use any of those. I don't want people to listen to m-me." She darted her eyes around.

"I agree wholeheartedly my dear Ayaka! We simply don't use these apps, and Pheme doesn't get her way!" Damien smiled.

"O-okay... that s-sounds good!" Aelia agreed.

Damien smiled again. "I'm glad you agree as well my dear Aelia!"

"Y-yes, this is the logical approach." Adam nodded. "As long as we don't use t-these apps, we shouldn't have a r-reason to kill anyone else."

Words of agreement slowly spread across the group, to the satisfaction of the leader-types. "Alright then." Kei smirked. "So we're on the same page? We won't be using those apps. We won't worry about them. We'll just go about this "daily life" as normal, and for now, we'll look forward to Bessie and Rival's show. That's the plan yeah?" He looked around.

Almost instantaneously, Bessie got up from her seat. "True! C'mon Rival, we gotta go plan it right now~!" Bessie grabbed Rival's hand and yanked him up from his seat, slightly dazing him.

"Geez... Bessie I don't know if I want tooooo-" He started trialing off on the last word of his sentence as Bessie started running and exiting the cafeteria, with Rival in tow. Poor guy.

Aurora smiled. "That reminds me. I'm rather excited for that."

Lake nodded. "Yeah, that'll be entertaining! I don't know how I feel about Pheme helping with it, but I think it'll be fun!"

"Ehh... I don't really give a shit." Alpha shrugged then got up. "Anyway, I've been around all of you punchable fucks for too long. So I'm out of here." Alpha left the cafeteria, to the chagrin of no one.

"Beta has a point." Genjiro took a slight jab at her. "I'm fucking annoyed at how this shit went down. We should've been able to beat this shit out of here today... but whatever. We'll get that bitch eventually anyway. Mark my fucking words." Genjiro said ominously as he stomped off.

Joji watched Genjiro as he left. "Tch... I get what he means... but man." He shook his head. "Whatever. Should we break for now guys? Not sure if we can investigate any more shit, but should we?" Joji suggested.

"Yeah... not a bad idea" Ji-hoon nodded. "Right. Let's break for now. The motive is definitely something to think about... but let's not worry about it, like Kei said."

Kei chuckled. "Right... looks like Genjiro's little coup didn't work. So that's one less thing to worry about. Anyway, I got my own thing I want to investigate actually, so imma get out of here. Good talk people." He clapped, then left.

"Nyahaha! I'm not following that lawyer human, but I want to leave anyway!" Cathy literally backflipped out of her chair, then left.

People slowly filtered out of the cafeteria, the long talk and the reveal of the motive leaving them a lot to think about.

...

Soon enough, it was just Darren left in the cafeteria. Not paying much attention to anyway as they left, the bartender just kept on taking sips of his non-alcoholic drink.

"Hmhmhm..." Pheme hummed to herself as she wandered back into the cafeteria. "Oh! Hello Mr. Taylor!" She didn't expect to see anyone still left in here.

Darren raised his cup in a toast as a greeting to Pheme. "Hey." That was all he said.

...

"Okay then." Pheme seemed a little baffled. "Well... could you leave Mr. Taylor? I have business in here." She asked kindly for some reason, considering she's holding him her hostage technically speaking.

Darren shrugged. "Sure." He got up. He slowly sauntered past Pheme, but stopped right before he reached the door. He turned around. "Hey, good job on that motive. I don't endorse it, but it was a good diversion of attention away from Genjiro's aggression." And Darren left without another word.

Pheme raised her eyebrows. "Wow." She hadn't expected Darren to glean half of her objective of announcing the motive in the first place. The other half was for course just to have a murder to happen, but still. She was confident she could take Genjiro, but it's better for something like that to not happen anyway. Yep, Pheme clears Genjiro. Deal with it.

Oh yeah, Pheme almost forgot the reason she even came in here...

...

Oh wait, you thought I'd make this a cliffhanger? No, she just needed to restock the food in the kitchen, then she'd need to get to the Grand Theater. She needed to help out Bessie and Rival with their upcoming show!

[Comedy Studio]

Even though the previous scene alluding to some Bessie and Rival screen time, nope. It's time for Genjiro screen time. After Genjiro stormed out of the cafeteria, he found himself sitting at the bar in the Comedy Studio, having a glass of beer. "Fucking Pheme..." The effect and pressure of being trapped in this place caught up to Genjiro faster than he would've thought. But... he was the Genjiro Mashimoto! He doesn't falter! He can't falter! So... he had to take down Pheme. Somehow...

"Oh, this is where you were Genjiro." Yoshino walked into the Comedy Studio, with a neutral look on her face.

Genjiro brushed her off. "Leave me be and fuck off Yoshino." He shooed her away.

Yoshino rolled her eyes. "Christ you're a dick sometimes Genjiro." She sat down on a bar stool near him anyway.

Genjiro slowly turned towards her. "How'd you even find me? Using that new app Pheme gave us or some shit?"

Yoshino looked baffled. "No?? We said we aren't gonna use those, so I didn't. You kinda seemed like the type to be here." She shrugged.

Genjiro glared at her. "The fuck? I'm not Darrem."

"You mean Darren?" Yoshino asked.

Genjiro's expression didn't change. "Isn't that what I said?"

...

Yoshino wasn't going to question it.

"Anyway... did you want to talk with me or some shit Yoshi?" Genjiro sounded a little bored.

"Ehh, kinda? Just wanted to talk about your whole approach to beating up Pheme and crap." Yoshino looked away from him. "I guess, for the record, I don't think you're wrong about that. If we can get the chance, I say we beat the shit out of Pheme, or maybe even just beat the shit out of the door again maybe." She shrugged.

Genjiro gave a slow and satisfied nod. "Damn right Yoshi. Glad one of y'all got the right idea here. Just... why do we gotta investigate shit like a disappearing bar? I know I'm repeating myself but who fucking cares, right?!" He slammed his fist on the table.

Yoshino held up her own hand in attempt to calm him. "Sheesh man. I generally agree with you, but yeah, I think we got caught up in the heat of the moment both yesterday and today. As much as I want to break out of this damn place yesterday, we gotta be at least a little smart about it. Yeah?" Yoshino attempted to try and make Genjiro see reason here.

Genjiro shook his head. "Yeah whatever... I know you're probably right. Shits frustrating, but I guess it's better to have a plan than to not have a plan or some shit." He set his glass of beer down on the bar counter with a thud. "Say, you like talking sense into people? It feels like some shit you'd like."

Yoshino hadn't expected a question like that. "I mean... sure? Kinda just who I am." She gave a simple answer.

"Fair enough mate." Genjiro said plainly. "Oh, yo, I got another question for you. The fuck is your deal with nicknames?" Genjiro seemed eager to ask this question.

And that was another question that Yoshino hadn't fully expected. "Nicknames? Oh shit, I getcha." She realized.

"Yeah..." Genjiro spoke like he was getting to the bottom of a deep mystery. "Not sure if I should've been offended, but why did you call me "Genny" for only two fucking seconds?"

It took a second before Yoshino's eyes widened in realization. "Oh... again, I getcha."

"Oi! Genny! What the fuck took you so long? I was getting nervous over here!" The girl yelled out. Her and Genjiro definitely shared one trait. Being very loud.

"You called me "Genny" like once then stopped. What's the deal?" Genjiro continued his questioning, seeming weirdly eager to solve this problem.

Yoshino chuckled. "Well... I just like giving nicknames to people. If I like someone, I'll give them one. If I don't like someone, I won't give them one. Simple as that." She explained.

"Oh." Genjiro hadn't expected an explanation that simple and succinct. It took him a second to realize the implications though. "Hold on! You don't like me then?!" He just then realized. "What's there not to like? I'm the Genjiro Mashimoto!" He flexed his arms. "I'm amazing, baby!"

Yoshino groaned. "That's what I mean man. You're a dick, and you're full of yourself! That's why I didn't give you a nickname! Well, that's why I changed my mind anyway."

Genjiro raised an eyebrow. "Changed your mind? So that's why you called me "Genny" like only fucking once?" He was curious.

Yoshino seemed to be regretting this conversation. "Yeah. When we first met in the Horror Studio, I thought you were kinda cool? Like we had the same vibes and shit. But no, you just had to make fun of me. Jackass." She sneered at the wrestler. "So yeah, I ain't calling you Genny anymore."

It took Genjiro's entire willpower to not make fun of her for her fear of the dark again. Instead, he used his willpower to reword his insult into a question. "Yeah whatever, you're fine." He dismissed Yoshino's concerns anyway. "But I guess I should ask, why the fuck are you afraid of the dark?"

Yoshino could see Genjiro struggling to not smirk. God, why was she wasting her time with this guy? Why is she humoring him? "Ugh..." She groaned. "I know I'm gonna regret saying this, but I just am okay! The dark makes my skin crawl! Shit's creepy!" Yoshino defended her fear.

Genjiro tried to have the mindset like he was doing a try not to laugh challenge. "Aight... that's fair?" He thought the fear was stupid personally, but he was trying to rein it in.

Yoshino sighed. "That's enough about me. I might regret this, but if you're getting stuff out of me, I should get stuff out of you too."

Genjiro got a giant smirk on his face. "Oh ho ho... that's damn right! Enough talking about your boring ass, it's time to talk about my amazing ass!"

Yoshino rolled her eyes. "Just get on with it man." She was starting to have enough of this.

Genjiro laughed heartily. "I hear you! Well what could you possibly want to know about the "Pain Killer" huh? Probably a lot right?"

Yoshino was regretting this conversation more and more as time ticked away. "Uh... what about your wrestling epithet? How'd you get that?" It was the first question she thought of.

"Oh ho ho! Wonderful question!" He slapped the bar counter. "I was into anime and comics and shit when I was younger. My uncle illustrated for comics too. One of the things he drew for was called "The Adventures of Killer Pain." Then when it came time for me to choose my amazing title, I thought back to that! Amazing story right?"

Yoshino sighed. "I guess? You said your uncle right? How about your parents then?" Even Yoshino wasn't sure why she was continuing this conversation.

And that regret deepened when she saw Genjiro's face turned into a scowl. "Parents huh? Never knew my dad. Don't know where that fucker is." Genjiro shrugged. "My mom... well, I know where she probably is."

Yoshino tilted her head. "Where is she then?"

Genjiro stayed quiet for a moment. "...Rehab."

...

Oh wow yep, Yoshino regretted bring that up. But still... "You alright Genjiro?" She asked anyway.

Genjiro turned away from her. "I'm fine. I don't like to think about that woman anyway." Genjiro jumped up from his bar stool. "Alright! Enough fucking around! I'm gonna get back to beating the shit out of the door! Join me later if you want to Yoshi!" And then he charged out the door, leaving Yoshino behind.

She sighed and held her head in her hands. "God that guy is crazy..." Yoshino muttered before getting up and leaving the Comedy Studio herself.

Believe it or not, Genjiro and Yoshino grew a little closer today!

[Horror Studio]

Kei found himself slowly walking along the walls of the Horror Studio. Honestly, the whole matter of the "fake killer" still had his interest peaked. Back when they split up to thoroughly investigate things on the first floor, Kei hadn't gone to the horror studio that day. He chose to rely on Ji-hoon, Adam, and Lake's findings there. But... he still wanted to look around himself.

He's been poking and prodding at walls, looking at trees, and more. It helped a lot that the studio was now fully lit compared to his first time around. It made traversing this studio a lot easier. "Heh." Kei chuckled to himself. He came across the campfire where he met Yoshino and Genjiro. Admittedly, he was feeling a teensy bit nostalgic. But that's something more fitting for chapter 5, when the other three are dead and Kei is still alive. I mean uh what?

When Kei had reached the campfire, he started to investigate it more. And surprisingly, he found something rather quickly! One of the trees near the campfire seemed a bit... strange. Kei started to knock on the bark, and it sounded... hollow? Kei wasn't the strongest man in the world in terms of muscle, but he tried to rip off a portion of the bark. It wasn't too taxing luckily. And beneath it...

"Well, what do you know? It's a camera. Rocking a glass black lens. Kei tried to pull the camera out of the tree but it wouldn't budge. He immediately got reminded of something that he was told about yesterday.

Kuroko's tone of voice dropped any cheerfulness it had, sounding more serious than usual. "Well... there was a part of the wall in my Ultimate Studio that was loose-nya. I looked behind it, and there was a camera in the wall-nya."

"Yeah... apparently Kuroko's Ultimate Studio had a camera hidden in there as well." Kei kept talking to himself. He kind of wished Rosalind was here now, so he could get her expert opinion on this. And not to mention, he'd love to hear her explain how she knew about this place anyway.

Kei sighed. He wasn't taking the leader role like how Ji-hoon or Genjiro was, but he was still curious in learning about things here, and breaking out of here. Too many things on the agenda. Kei kept trying to see if he could glean any information from this hidden camera.

...

Until he felt a poke at his back. Hm. He had a feeling what it was. He decided to ignore it.

Poke.

But the pokes kept coming. Yeah, Kei definitely knew who this was. As much as he wanted to play along, he decided to end this early. "You having fun back there Lake?" Kei didn't turn around.

He heard a small gasp, then a chuckle from behind him. "I guess I couldn't fool you huh?" Lake said, a little disappointedly. It sounded like they had fun with it anyway.

Kei turned around. "Yeah... afraid I couldn't be gotten that easily. You need something from me?"

"Honestly, not really." Lake shrugged. "I remembered exploring here with Ji-hoon and Adam the other day. And I just... I don't know. I wanted to see if I could find anything. I wanted to do my part! You know?"

Kei slowly nodded. "Sure. I get it. Then you saw my back turned, and you took an opportunity?"

Lake chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so! Sorry if it was annoying. That wasn't my intention!"

Kei slowly shook his head. "Not at all, don't you worry. But..." He narrowed his eyes. "I'm assuming Joji was a different case when you assaulted him with pokes?" He asked.

Lake laughed sheepishly when Kei brought up his name. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot I did that. That was fun! Even if Joji was a little scary then..." They nervously looked away.

Kei raised an eyebrow. "Scary huh? You still think that way about the big guy?"

Lake looked back up at the lawyer with a cheerful look on their face. "Not anymore! I can tell that Joji is a good person, just like everyone else here!"

Kei looked a little baffled. "Awfully presumptuous of you no? How are you so sure?" Kei might not've had Ji-hoon's range of information on these people, but he knew that a few of these people here are... well, to be blunt, scumbags. He didn't want to share that with Lake though. Not yet at least.

Lake thought for a second, before giving a determined nod. "Yeah! I'm sure! I know that evil Pheme has forced us into this... but I don't want to distrust people! That sounds horrible!"

Wow, Lake's naivety was almost blinding. "Fair enough I guess. But what about people like Genjiro? Like Alpha? What about those types?" He started to grill the ballet dancer.

Lake seemed shocked for a moment. "Well..." They had to think about their answer for a shock. "Genjiro is very spirited! I know he's aggressive and mean... but his heart is in the right place! I believe in him!"

Kei sighed internally. Poor Lake. Unfortunate attitude to have here. "Okay. What about Alpha then?" He continued his questioning.

Lake seemed even more stunned this time. There haven't really been any, well, good moments from Alpha yet. So Lake decided to skirt the question. "I'm undecided on her! But I'll choose to believe in her!" They happily nodded.

Kei couldn't help but feel bad for them here. Again, Kei wasn't Ji-hoon. But with the stuff he knew about people here... that attitude wasn't going to do Lake any good. "I guess I won't tell you what to think and what not to think Lake." He shrugged. "But, some people here aren't all sunshine and rainbows. Call it a lawyer's intuition maybe. Got a gut feeling... some people here are straight criminals."

Lake heard Kei drop his casual attitude for a moment, when he said "criminals." He sounded very serious there. "Kei..." Lake was apprehensive about asking this. "This might be a stupid question... but do you hate criminals?" They were aware at how silly that question sounded, considering they were talking to a lawyer here. But Lake wanted to ask it anyway.

Kei closed his eyes. "Heh. I wouldn't call it stupid. It's a valid question. But yeah. I do hate criminals. Have a feeling me and Ji-hoon are similar in that fact." He said bluntly.

Lake looked worried. "Is there any reason why you hate criminals?"

Kei dryly chuckled. "C'mon now. You're talking to a lawyer here. Of course I have a reason." He said ominously, not continuing his thought.

...

"What's the reason then?" Lake inability to read rooms was shining through here.

Kei let out a light groan. "Yeah. Don't want to mention it though." He looked away.

Lake seemed disappointed. "Oh okay. That's fine!" They slowly nodded, then tried to collect themselves. "Well then. What now?"

Kei seemed a little surprised. He hadn't expected Lake to drop that so quick. He wasn't objecting though. "Well... probably go and fetch Rosalind then?" He looked back at the tree. "Yeah..." Since Lake had arrived, Kei hadn't gotten the chance to properly think about the implications of these hidden cameras. Pheme would have to monitor them of course. But was there really a reason to hide some of these cameras though? The fact that they were being monitored should be obvious. So then...

Kei ended up getting lost on his mind, thinking about these cameras.

...

Until he was brought out of his mind by a tug on his blazer. Yeah, it was Lake again. "Do you wanna go find Rosalind then? The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better. Right?" Lake had a hopeful look on their face.

Kei sighed. "I suppose you're right." Besides, probably wasn't much he could do with these cameras at the moment. May as well go a find their resident expert. While not using those apps Pheme gave them. Those have to be traps.

Lake let go of his blazer and jumped up. "Alright then, let's go!" Lake started to go and leave the Horror Studio, with Kei close behind them.

Apparently, Kei and Lake grew a little closer today!

[Action Studio]

Darren found himself walking into the Action Studio. Not into the Comedy Studio for once! He'd probably go there after this, but he wanted to investigate something first. According to what Kei and Genjiro had said...

Kei chuckled. "Well sure, I don't see why not. First, our group explored the Action Studio. And..."

"It was boring as shit! Fucking nothing there at all!" Genjiro cut in with a slam of his fist on the table, almost knocking over people's drinks.

A flight of stairs disappearing seemed rather interesting. And Darren wasn't about to forget what he saw on that maintenance room below the road. So that was why he wanted to investigate!

Darren walked slowly down the Tokyo highway that made up the Action Studio. Considering that the stairs were indeed gone, he had a hard time finding where those stairs used to be. But he was able to roughly find the right place.

And now Darren just stood awkwardly, looking down from the railing of the highway, only able to see a slight sliver of that maintenance that was below the road. Well, if he can't do anything about it, he can't do anything about it. But considering what he had seen in there, perhaps there was another way in? Darren looked up and around the Action Studio. Actually, probably no. Can't imagine how they'd hide something like that.

He looked down at his hands. Well, he wouldn't call this a complete waste of time, but he wished he could've done mor-

Hold on. Darren narrowed his eyes as he look at his hands. Wow. Again? Darren looked up. "Cathy? You around here?" He spoke into the void.

Soon enough, a "Nyahaha!" reached Darren's ears as Cathy jumped down from who knows where to greet the bartender. "I'm surprised you noticed me here human!"

Darren didn't react at all to Cathy's sudden presence. "Well it's less me noticing you, and more me noticing that another one of my rings is missing." He gestured with his eyes down to his right hand. Nobody knows how many rings Darren actually has, so let's just pretend like we all noticed the difference!

"Nyahaha! Indeed it is, I notice the difference!" Thanks Cathy.

Almost like magic, Cathy made a silver ring appear out of nowhere, then she shoved it into Darren's face, smugly. "You want it back big boy? Huh? You angry? Gonna pull my tail?" She started taunting him, for someone reason expecting that to actually have an effect on him.

Darren shrugged. "No." He then turned back towards the railing on the highway. "Say, Cathy, you remember the stairs that were once here?" He asked, with his back turned to her.

Cathy strutted up him. "Stairs? Oh yes! I took those when I stole your first ring!" Cathy pulled out the first ring she stole from Darren. She shoved this one in his face too, but once again, Darren didn't react. Cathy pouted a little, then pocketed it again. "Why do you care about some stairs, human?"

Darren closed his eyes. "It's that maintenance room, where us two first met. Was wondering if I could somehow get down there again. Maybe not though."

Cathy smirked. "Oh, poor human! If only there was someone with graceful and acrobatic abilities to use to hop down there! Too bad there isn't!" She stuck her tongue out.

Darren blinked. "Yeah. Too bad." He obviously knew that Cathy was referring to herself, and was trying to get Darren to ask for her help.

Cathy stared at him for a few seconds. "Hm, for a human, you're awfully boring! You're not fun at all!" She looked strangely appalled by Darren.

Darren didn't react. "I guess not." He shrugged.

Cathy scoffed. "Ha! Not to mention your constant inebriated state! You're pathetic!" She rolled her eyes.

And as an honest surprise to Cathy, she saw the ever-so-slightest reaction on Darren's face. "That's how you see me? Huh." He leaned against the railing.

Cathy crossed her arms. "Are you implying that I'm wrong, human? Do tell!" She looked expectantly at the apparently not constantly inebriated bartender.

Darren shrugged. "Well, I'm not. I know I'm an Ult-" He coughed. "I know I'm a bartender, but I'm not always drunk. Wouldn't be a good one if I was." Darren was staring off at nothing.

Cathy narrowed her eyes. "Hmph. Sounds like a typical human excuse to me. Whatever." She dismissively looked away.

And silence ensued.

…

"Hey, Cathy?" Until Darren surprisingly broke it. "Random question."

Cathy looked smug. "Oh? Wondering where all of your treasure has gone? Don't look for long, because it's all gone! Nyahaha!"

Darren didn't understand what she had just said, so he went along and asked his question anyway. "I remember… an old friend of mine went to a place called "Piero's Playground" I think it was called. They saw a person called "Mrs. Claws" there. That you?"

Cathy looked strangely appalled by Darren, again. "Ha! I know of what you speak!" She started to pace around. "That "Mrs. Claws" is a fake and a phony! Absolute baloney! Their CEO Silver M. Ark16, stole my likeness!"

Darren didn't expect Cathy to be so passionate about it. "Wow. So do you go by Mrs. Claws then?" Even Darren wasn't sure why he was continuing this conversation.

Cathy laughed. "Nyahaha! Of course I do! Santa Claus I am not, for I strike fear into the greedy and malicious lot!"

Darren slowly nodded. "Neat." was all he said. He was definitely starting to regret this conversation.

Unfortunately for him, Cathy kept on going. "Along with "Mrs. Claws," I've been called the "Reverse Santa" as well! Humans take from me, so I take from them in return! Nyaha!" She held up one of Darren's silver rings.

Wait. Darren looked down at his hands. Wow, she somehow stole a third ring. Even he had to admit that that was fairly impressive. He wasn't going to say that though. He looked up at her. "So are you gonna go down there?" He gestured to below the road.

"Hm..." Cathy acted like she was actually thinking about it. "Nope!" It didn't take for long get to answer. "Besides, I have no reason to help out a human like you! One riddled with sloth- no..." She stopped herself. "You're a human filled with sorrow as well, aren't you?" She poked Darren on his chest.

Darren calmly stared at her. "You a seven deadly sins detecter now? I'm not sure what you mean."

Cathy smirked. "Oh no, I'm very sure you know what I mean. Just like other humans, you're not very vocal with your true thoughts, are you? Hmph!" She crossed her arms.

Yeah, alright, Darren had enough of this. He turned away from her. "I'm gonna go. Probably a waste of time just staying here." And Darren walked away, presumably towards the Comedy Studio.

Cathy stood there for a few seconds, then scoffed. She stared closely at Darren's back until he left. "Tch. I should've known. I wonder if that beautician human is right about him..." Cathy then jumped off, to who knows where.

Did Cathy and Darren grow a little closer today? Maybe a little!

[Grand Lobby]

As Darren slowly walked out of the Action Studio, going towards his destination, he saw Ayaka going past him. She didn't seem particularly perturbed or anything. "Ayaka?" Darren asked. Was he curious about what she was doing? Eh.

Ayaka quickly turned her head over to Darren. "Oh? D-Darren? Hi!" She timidly waved. "I'm going to m-meet with Damie- uh, I mean, I need to go. B-bye!" And she speed-walked away.

Darren just quietly stared at Ayaka as she went towards the boarded-up room. Well, time for Darren to go to the Cuck- oh uh, I mean the Comedy Studio.

...

Ayaka walked away from Darren, then went up the boarded-up room. Damien had asked to meet with her here. So, that's why she's here. But something that kind of caught her attention was Raiha walking away from the boarded-up room, and leaving Damien's company. "I'll see you later my dear Raiha!" Damien bid the trendsetter farewell.

Ayaka didn't hear if Raiha said anything back, but she assumed it was some dialogue with a lot of brain rot in it. Anyway, Ayaka walked up to Damien. "H-hey Damien. Was that Raiha j-just now?" She looked at Raiha's back.

Damien promptly turned around, and smiled wide at the sight of his dear Ayaka. "Ah, my dear Ayaka! It's great to see you!" It took a quick second for Damien to process Ayaka's question. "Ah, and yes, that was indeed Raiha. I found her standing outside of this boarded-up room, seemingly examining it. Alas, I don't believe she found anything of note." He shook his head. "Anyway, I'm glad to see you here, my dear Ayaka!"

"R-right..." Ayaka decided to just forget Raiha's presence here. "But, w-why did you want to meet with me here?"

Damien cleared his throat. "Well, I merely wanted to have a talk with you, my dear. I know this is perhaps not the most enclosed or private space, but I thought it might make you a tad more comfortable?"

Ayaka blinked. "C-comfortable? I don't..."

"Forgive me for being so blunt my dear Ayaka, but... I just... wanted to talk." Damien seemed oddly serious.

Ayaka's eyes widened. "U-uh, okay." Ayaka tried to hide her nervousness here.

Damien closed his eyes. "If I'm off here, feel free to interject. But ever since I laid my eyes upon you, I've had a lingering feeling in my chest. Or more like an observation. I can see you are a fairly nervous person. And... it feels like you have something haunting you. A specter looming over your shoulder, or some such. They whisper things in your ear to control you. I of course don't mean a literal specter, but perhaps it's just something in your mind." He opened his eyes. "Am I off?"

Ayaka looked away. "I, um, don't h-have anything to say to that." She dodged the question.

Damien chuckled. "Fair enough, my dear Ayaka. I'll drop the subject for now. Just know that... I realize we haven't known each other for a long time. But I'd like to you to know that you can confide in me. I trust you and I want you to trust me." Damien put his hand on Ayaka's shoulder.

Ayaka didn't know how to feel about this. Trust. Damien said trust. For as much as she wanted to return that trust... she... "C-can I ask you something Damien?" Ayaka decided to take a little initiative here.

Damien smiled. "Of course, dear Ayaka! You can ask me anything."

"U-uh..." Ayaka didn't know how to word this. "That. That word "dear." Why do you do that? And why are you so... kind? Why do t-that?" She looked directly at the beautician.

Damien blinked. Admittedly, he hadn't expected his dear Ayaka to just... ask that. Interesting... he didn't think she had that bold side to her. "Well... I'm hadn't expected you to be so forthright in asking that, my dear. But let me assuage your concerns. I merely do it... out of the kindness of my heart. I don't have any hidden motives or hidden agendas." Damien started pacing around.

"I..." Ayaka stammered out.

Damien didn't let her speak. "My dear Ayaka, it just breaks my heart to see someone of your caliber, being clearly frightened by this horrid game. I of course cannot blame you for that, but i feel like it'd be a disservice to not do something about that. And that's what I do. I want to make sure that you... and the others... I want to make sure they don't feel alone."

"But what about the b-boys-" Ayaka tried asking.

But Damien cut her off again. "Anyway, let's get back on topic-"

Ayaka returned fire by cutting off Damien. "H-hold on Damien. How d-do you just... know these things? I haven't even m-met you prior to being t-trapped here... and you..."

Damien raised an eyebrow. "Hm? I don't wish to be rude, but are you implying I'm wrong in my assessment, dear Ayaka?"

Ayaka looked down at the ground. "W-well, I'm not alone. I have my f-family. I h-have my little sister. So..."

That peaked Damien's curiosity. "Oh? I sensed some extra emphasis on "little sister." Is your little sister notable?" He asked.

"O-oh!" She hadn't expected him to ask about that. "It's not a b-big deal, but yeah. She really likes my v-violin playing." She timidly nodded.

"Ah yes, that's correct!" Damien smiled. "Truthfully, I had almost forgotten your ultimate talent. Tell me, what is your sister's name?"

"Um..." Ayaka slowly looked up at him. "It's Ritsu. R-Ritsu Naganohara. She's f-five years younger than me."

"Ritsu you say? She sounds rather interesting. Not as interesting as you of course." Damien chuckled. "But I semi-take back what I said earlier. I'm gladdened to hear that you are indeed not alone. But I'm afraid that this horrid game is a different case. I just..." He closed his eyes. "I just want to make sure you're alright, my dear. I trust you, and I want you to trust me as well. That's all." He sounded surprisingly serious.

Ayaka stayed still for a moment, then let out a deep exhale. "O-okay. Thank you Damien." Damien could swear she was slightly smiling from beneath her face mask, but it was hard to tell. "I-I... yeah." She couldn't articulate the rest of her words.

"You don't need to say a thing my dear Ayaka. Just you being here with me is enough." Damien smiled. As far as Ayaka could tell, it felt like a genuine one.

But... "C-can I ask one other thing of you D-Damien? This isn't an accusation or anything, b-but, since I told you about R-Ritsu, can you tell me something about y-yourself?" Ayaka seemed a lot more comfortable in Damien's presence now.

Damien chuckled. "Why of course! Any preference of information?"

Ayaka thought for a second. "N-nothing in particular. Just thought t-that it'd be nice to b-build the trust between us. I g-guess... your talent? W-what about that?"

"Ah! A fine topic!" Damien raised his hands up in an exuberant manner. "I am the Ultimate Beautician. You know this of course." He started to straighten his clothes. "To describe it simply, I take joy in transforming people's appearances and boosting their confidence! It's the smiles! It's the feeling of having your client feeling special! It's as simple as that." He nodded. "Has that satisfied your curiosity?"

Admittedly, no it hadn't. Damien had calmed her down earlier, but she still couldn't fully bring herself to trust him. At all. But it's just the way he looks at her... it's something about it... but if Ayaka was going to make any progress at all... "Yeah. T-thanks Damien." Ayaka nodded.

Damien sighed. Ayaka was such a wonderful girl. And he really hoped he'd be able to see that wonderful smile of hers one day. He could sense it. He could sense an aura coming off of her. Not an evil aura, but one of... hope? Perhaps. Damien chuckled to himself. He'll just see what happens... "Oh!" Damien exclaimed. "I'm sorry my dear Ayaka, but I clean forgot why I called you here in the first place!"

Ayaka was shocked by that exclamation, but calmed down when he explained. "That's f-fine Damien. It was a n-nice talk anyway!" She nodded.

"Very good then my dear Ayaka." Damien went to grab her hand, but pulled back when he noticed her flinching. "Let's... go to the cafeteria for now yes? Fancy a bite to eat?"

Ayaka nodded. "S-sure!"

The duo of Damien and his dear Ayaka walked to the cafeteria together, which in doing so caused Aelia to join Darren on the cuck chai-

Uh, I mean, it looks like Damien and Ayaka grew a little closer today!

[Grand Theater]

Like how Pheme mentioned in the first scene, Bessie and Rival had gone to the Grand Theater to start the main planning for their show. Aurora and Aelia joined them there out of curiosity, and out of excitement.

"Oh boy oh boy~!" Bessie jumped up onto the stage of the Grand Theater, seemingly excited about it, even if her expression or her voice didn't show it.

Aurora smiled. "Yes... I feel like this'll be enjoyable. I think a concert like this will do everyone some good. Don't you agree Aelia?" She looked over at the puppeteer.

Aelia shakily nodded. "Y-yeah... this'll be really... exciting!" She couldn't lie to herself here. She wanted to be up on that stage too. But a puppeteer couldn't join in on a vocal act. How could they? So Aelia settled to just... attempt to enjoy the upcoming show. It'll be fun. Yeah.

The girls might've been excited, but Rival was dreading this. God he wished he could say the word "no" easier. And not to mention what he saw on Bessie's Star-Phone yesterday... He was still trying to convince himself that it was just Pheme messing with him. But... her profile really did say "Hana-"

Rival was brought out his thoughts by the terrifying sight of Bessie staring at him, directly in the face. There were barely a few inches between their faces. "Heya Partner~! Pheme's here, so let's talk to her!" Bessie pulled Rival out of his chair. Rival then promptly looked behind him, and Bessie was indeed correct. Pheme was skipping down the steps to the bottom of the Grand Theater.

Rival's groan counter was only getting higher at this point. He should've expected Pheme to get here soon. Oh wait! Before whatever might happen was about to... well, happen. Rival wanted to do something first. He pulled a certain something out of his pocket. "Here." He handed Bessie's Star-Phone back over to her. He'd been meaning to do that.

At an unnatural speed, Bessie swiped her Star-Phone away from him. "Thanks Rival~! Now c'mon!" Without even questioning why he had her Star-Phone in the first place, Bessie once again grabbed his hand and led him up onto the stage with her. Rival had loads of questions he wanted to ask her, mainly about what he saw on her profile app. And not to mention...

Pheme set the phone down and made a hand motion over all nineteen of them. "Like you can see, there are nineteen of them! So one for each of you! They've been pre-assigned, so search for the one with your initials on the back and grab it!

The initials on the back of Bessie's Star-Phone were just... confusing! Rival didn't know what to think. But he didn't have any more time to think about that as, after Bessie had fully led him up onto the stage, Pheme had joined them up there as well. "Ah, I'm excited to see you too are ready to go for your upcoming show!" Rival was still so baffled by how excited Pheme seemed about this all. Pheme then turned to their audience (of two). "And I'm glad to see that you already have an audience! You two really are worthy of the fame you possess!"

To Rival, it kind of sounded like Pheme was mocking them with that last statement. But whatever. Aurora and Aelia looked to be waiting in anticipation for what might be coming. "Hey... doubt we're actually gonna do anything today. You two... really want to be here?" Rival honestly couldn't understand why those two girls were here.

Aelia shrugged. "W-well... I just thought it'd be interesting!"

Aurora nodded. "Indeed! And I wish to support my... how did Bessie say it? "Bestie?" Yes, I want to support my bestie Bessie! And you too Rival, of course." She gently smiled.

"Obvi! You gotta support and glaze the besties Aurora!" Raiha jumpscare! Raiha had wandered into the Grand Theater a couple seconds ago, and went and sat next to Aurora. "Atta girl, you get it G." Raiha smiled at her starlet bestie. And Aurora returned the smile.

Rival decided to not question it.

"So Pheme? Where's are equipment gonna come from? It's gotta have the right buzz, you get me~?" Bessie got right to business.

Pheme eagerly nodded. "Ah yes! I'll be getting the equipment down to you tomorrow! I'm having some of our staff fetch in from the Ultimate Pop Star's Studio!"

Oh. Fair enough. Rival half forgot that there were even other Ultimate Studios in here. "Um, if I may?" Aurora chimed in from the audience.

Pheme turned towards Aurora. "Yes Ms. Beaufort? What is it?"

Aurora coughed. "Well, out of curiosity, where is Bessie's Ultimate Studio?"

"Yeah... I'm curious about that too." Rival legitimately was curious about that.

"Hm... that's a good question Ms. Beaufort, Mr. Seizon. Alas, I'm not going to answer!" Pheme said smugly. Should've figured. "Brushing past that question, let's get to the main event!" Pheme turned to Bessie. "What've you got planned so far Ms. Blossom?"

Bessie rapidly nodded her head. "Well, I've got a couple of songs planned I want to serenade the audience of my seventeen little helpers~!" Bessie stated eerily at Pheme. "I was thinking, my partner and I should sing "Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land," "Oh no!," and "I Love You!" Sounds good Pheme?" Bessie quickly turned over to Rival. "Sounds good Rival~?"

Well, at the very least, Rival did know those songs. Those were all some of Bessie's songs. He wasn't necessarily a fan of hers, but he didn't hate her either. Her songs just occasionally showed up on Stripeify. Wait. "Bessie, I really don't think-" Rival still needed to get out of this somehow.

But Bessie wasn't going to listen. Gotta love selective hearing. "Great~!" Bessie jumped up. "So that sounds good Pheme?"

Pheme jumped up in excitement as well. "That sounds very good Ms. Blossom! And I'm so glad that Mr. Seizon is so willing to perform with you!" Pheme shot a smug glare Rival's way. The backing vocalist just looked away.

"Yo??? So you're defi gonna perform those songs Bessie? Lit. This performance is gonna be craaazy." Raiha was getting really excited now.

"I agree." Aurora nodded. "My excitement is growing as well. This'll be... good. Really good."

Aelia nodded as well, attempting to out-nod Aurora. "Y-yeah... this'll be a lot of fun! S-surely nothing will... go wrong! Yeah!" The others decided to ignore Aelia's ominous comment.

"Ah, I'm so happy that my lovely stars are excited as well." Pheme spread her arms out wide. "And... if they decide to..." Pheme seemed deep in thought. "Bah, it's nothing. Anyway, did you need anything else of me Ms. Blossom?" She turned back over to Bessie.

Bessie shook her head at inhuman speeds. "No! I think we're good! When we get that equipment, then we can really rock~!"

"Very good!" Pheme jumped off of the stage. "And I'll take care of the spotlights and the technical stuff! When the time comes, you two just focus on performing your hearts out! Ta ta!" Pheme then skipped on out of the Grand Theater.

...

Bessie turned and look Rival right in his eyes. "Boy oh boy~! Aren't you getting excited Rival? I know I am~!" She jumped off of the stage, not waiting for Rival to give an answer. "Let's meet up back here tomorrow, okay besties? My partner and I will get to really show off once we get that equipment Pheme mentioned!" Once again, not waiting for an actual answer from anybody Bessie started to dash out of the Grand Theater.

The four remaining shared a soft chuckle with one another. Rival wasn't really in a "soft chuckle" mood, but he still didn't really know how to properly react here. He was gonna have to take a bit more of a... aggressive approach with Bessie here. Not explicitly mean or anything, but he had to do... something here. He jumped off of the stage, and looked at the three remaining girls. "I'm gonna... go too." The only thing on Rival's mind on Bessie at this point, so he didn't know what to say at this point. But as he started to walk off...

"Attention my glamorous stars! It is now 11pm, and that means it's night time! It's time to go to bed, and get a good night of beauty sleep! Sleep well my stars!" Don't worry Gold, it's still bolded. :)

Christ it's already nighttime? Rival, Aelia, Aurora, and Raiha all checked their Star-Phones. Sure enough, it was 11:00 pm. "It appears we all are leaving now aren't we?" Aurora giggled.

"Well, guess we gotta GTFO!" Raiha jumped out of her seat. "C'mon besties, let's book it!" Wordlessly, Rival watched the three girls exit the Grand Theater. He shortly joined after them.

[Grand Lobby]

People were slowly filtering back to the VIP Quarters. Rival just watched as everyone made their way up to their rooms, as he was waiting for the crowd to clear up. Soon enough, when it was just Genjiro left, Rival walked up to the VIP Quarters door. As soon as he sensed his presence, Genjiro shot Rival a glare. "Sure taking your sweet time heading to bed aintcha?" He lightly punched Rival in the shoulder.

Rival slowly turned his head towards him. "Guess so." He mindlessly walked up to the door.

Genjiro stopped him before he could enter. "Man, I'm not sure what this show bullshit with Bessie is gonna be about. Just whatever you do... don't fuck up my plans. Ji-hoon got us to play nice this morning, but I'm still gonna destroy Pheme. Don't let your little show get in the way." He forcefully poked Rival's chest. Genjiro then scanned his Star-Phone, then headed on up.

Geez, Rival didn't get why he was being pissy with him of all people here. This show wasn't even his damn idea... whatever. Rival just wanted to sleep.

...

Wait a second. It took Rival a second to process that Genjiro scanned his Star-Phone before heading on up. Since when did they have to do that? Rival started to inspect the door, and quickly found a new scanner next to it, along with a paper note taped up next to the scanner.

New scanner was installed.

Scan your Star-Phone to open the door.

Pheme told me to tell you all.

-Darren

Wow, not even enough effort to tell the group this information in person? Darren's apathy is something else. Rival shook his head. Now wasn't the time. He did as the note told, and scanned his Star-Phone. Sure enough, it promptly unlocked. Rival was about to step inside. But...

...

He sensed two people behind him. He quickly turned around, but there was nothing there. Huh. Must've been his imagination. Shaking his head once more, Rival headed up to bed... to get some sleep.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Who did Rival sense? I don't know! (I do know)

Anyway, hi again! We're are Part 3, and another chapter closer to the murder!

I've been anxious to show off the motive for this chapter, and here it is! Basically complete and utter privacy annihilation! Fun right? Any thoughts about it? Please do share!

Genjiro trying to usurp Ji-hoon is fun too isn't it? How's that gonna turn out? I don't know! (I do know)

Lastly, unrelated to the story, but I want to shout out Danganronpa: Algorithmic Alteration by Otterplay. It's an Danganronpa SYOC that the lovely creator of Darren made! He's a cool guy with a cool story, so go check it out! :)

Anyway... I think that's it. How are y'all's theories progressing? Let me know! And I hope you're exciting for Part 4!

Glamorous Stars Remaining: 19

Adam Brooks - Ultimate Academic [PROJECT DRAMA]

Aelia Celani - Ultimate Puppeteer [theycallmewotch]

Alpha - Ultimate Gas Station Manager [Epifanio Therion]

Aurora Beaufort - Ultimate Starlet [WolfieRed23]

Ayaka Naganohara - Ultimate Violinist [Sempi]

Bessie B. Blossom - Ultimate Pop Star [CandleFire45]

Catherine Munchkin - Ultimate Cat Burglar [Nekoja]

Damien Lux - Ultimate Beautician [oddlyillregular]

Darren Taylor - Ultimate Bartender [Otterplay]

Genjiro Mashimoto - Ultimate Wrestler [Grandma Sue]

Ji-hoon Jo - Ultimate Celebrity Detective [TheRoseShadow21]

Joji Kaneshiro - Ultimate Carpenter [SureJahn]

Kei Aikawa - Ultimate Lawyer [theotakureader101]

Kuroko Kurobara - Ultimate Hypnotist [MrUtenaHolic]

Lake Beaumont - Ultimate Ballet Dancer [KadachiNova]

Raiha Miyahara - Ultimate Trendsetter [Prince PokePersona]

Rival Seizon - Ultimate Backing Vocalist [SinWriter7]

Rosalind Reinhardt - Ultimate Cinematographer [Orlando Butler]

Yoshino Akiyama - Ultimate Horror Novelist [DeathlyJazzHands55]