Danganronpa: Obscurity’s Disgrace (SYOC)

by ExtraMeme

19 Graduates of Hope’s Peak have been kidnapped and thrown into a killing game by the so-called “Goddess of Fame,” Pheme. These young hopefuls who wished for stardom or who wished to keep to themselves will be forced to watch their dreams get crushed. What will happen? What drama will unfold? Stay tuned! (SYOC Closed) (19/19) Credit to Alline on Fiverr for the cover!

19. Toxic Words, Venomous Actions (Part 2)

Chapter 2: Toxic Words, Venomous Actions (Part 2)

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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!

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[Pheme's Room]

"Here we are again..." Pheme hummed to herself. "This is always favorite part."

"Indeed it is Miss Pheme." The Figure spoke while he was looking through some documents. They unfortunately couldn't be referred to as Asclepius at this point, as they hadn't received that name yet. So they'll be using their old moniker here.

"Hm... what number person are we on now?" Pheme turned around. "We are finding the twelfth person now yes?"

"That is correct Miss Pheme. And..." The Figure narrowed their eyes. "I think I found someone who would be perfect. Take a look."

"Happily!" Pheme took the document from The Figure. "This is... Damien Lux? The Ultimate Beautician? I'm intrigued already. I like him! I want him here!" She decided immediately.

"Calm yourself Miss Pheme. Let us watch one of the videos The Contact provided for us yes?" The Figure pulled up a video that would apparently showcase Damien.

"Ah yes. Good idea!" Pheme set the document down and turned her attention to the screen. "I'm ready whenever you are!"

"Very good." The Figure nodded. "Now... let it begin."

...

...

...

---

[Evenly-Regular Beauty Salon]

"I love you Damien!"

"You're amazing Damien!"

"I'll always believe in you Damien!"

"Give me babies Damien!"

A small crowd of devoted fans currently stood outside of Evenly-Regular, a brand new beauty studio that was about to open. A beauty salon that just so happened to be managed by Damien Lux, a young man who was taking the beauty industry by storm. Consider he's only in his late teens, he's already accomplished a lot.

"I ask you to settle down my dears!" Damien attempted to calm the small crowd.

The idea of there being a crowd waiting the grand opening of a beauty salon of all places is probably a little strange, but Damien Lux has more than earned the loyalty of his admirers.

"Alright. It's about time!" Damien was by himself here, but he was determined and easily able to give each girl their own personal experience with him. "Here we... are!" He unlocked the door, allowing the first girl to step inside.

"O-Oh! Hi!" The girl looked around nervously.

"Hello my dear." Damien offered his hand. "May I have the pleasure of your name?"

"Y-Yeah! It's... Alister Blighlowa." Alister shook his hand. "It's... r-really nice to meet you Damien!" The blush on her face couldn't be contained.

Damien chuckled. "Alister? What a beautiful name for a..." He bent down to kiss her hand. "Beautiful girl." He winked.

"Oh! Um..." Alister was a blushing mess.

"Come now my dear Alister. Shall we commence what you presumably came here for?" Damien started to lead her by the hand.

"U-Uh... yes! Yeah!" Alister was at an utter loss for words. I mean... she was infront of the Damien Lux! How was someone supposed to articulate words in front of someone so dreamy and handsome?

"Here we are my dear Alister." Damien led the girl to a seat and sat her down. "Now... I don't mean to rush things, but I must ask." He looked her over while she sat in the chair. "Why are you here?"

Alister blinked. "H-Huh? Why? W-What do you mean?"

"Ah, I could've worded that better. Forgive me." Damien bowed. "It's just that... does a girl as beautiful as you truly need help from myself? You have a wonderfully adorable look already. So... what is it you want? Do you believe I can improve on peak?"

Alister nervously giggled. "N-No... I'm not... adorable..." Her blush was reaching unprecedented levels.

"Is that so...?" Damien started to circle the chair. "I must disagree with you. Your style is already rather pleasing. But..." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Correct me if I'm wrong, my dear Alister. But it seems as if you don't want this for yourself. Perhaps... have you come to me for the sake of someone else?"

Alister let out a quiet gasp, then stayed silent for a moment. "The people online really don't lie... you're really perceptive." She sighed. "Well... I did c-come here for the sake of s-someone else. My boyfriend."

"Ah. I see." Damien nodded in understanding. "What is your boyfriend's name?"

"It's... Arthur Keaowl. That's his name. I..." Alister looked down bashfully. "He b-broke his leg recently... and I want to look pretty for when I g-go see him."

"That's a very nice gesture you want to make my dear Alister." Damien took her hand. "And while I will have trouble improving upon perfection... I shall do what I can." He gave a comforting smile.

Alister saw Damien's comforting smile and raised him a wide and genuine smile instead. "T-Thank you Damien! I really appreciate it!"

"Of course my dear Alister!" Damien grabbed a bottle of perfume he had on an adjacent counter. "Now then. I already have a recommendation for you..."

Damien then gave Alister plenty of beauty tips, a small makeover, as well as some Lux-brand beauty products for no cost at all.

...

"W-Wow! I look so good!" Alister exclaimed as she saw herself in the mirror.

Damien gave her one more look-over. "Indeed you do my dear Alister." He helped her get out of the chair. "Now... I hate to say goodbye, but I must unfortunately. I wish you luck with your boyfriend my dear. It was a pleasure, and I hope to get to see you again." He bowed.

Compared to how she was when she initially got in here, Alister's nervousness had definitely calmed itself. Damien had a really nice aura... and he was so nice to just... be around. And her confidence was at an all-time high!

"Thank you so much Damien! I don't know how I can thank you!" Alister smiled brightly.

Damien shook his head. "No thanks is necessary my dear. Your smile is more than enough payment for me." He gave her a wink, then walked her out.

"Thank you again!" Alister yelled out as she left with an all new look.

Damien watched her leave with a thin smile on his face. He thought to himself. Hm...

...

...

...

No. Not her.

Anyway, he made a mental note to send her a message later, to see how her boyfriend was doing.

...

After he got everything with Alister sorted out, it was time for the next girl. "Welcome in my dear!" Damien welcomed the second girl of the day with open arms.

"Oh. Uh... yeah." The girl apprehensively crossed her arms.

"Hm? May I have your name?" Damien raised an eyebrow and looked her over.

The girl sighed. "I guess so. It doesn't matter. It's Yuri Nakata. I don't even know why I'm here..." Yuri muttered.

"My dear Yuri... what's wrong?" Damien immediately asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Yuri said with a dismissive tone.

"Well I heard you mutter that you didn't want to be here. If I may be blunt, why are you here if you don't wish to be here?" Damien raised an eyebrow.

"Uh... like... um..." Yuri seemed to be at a loss for words. "Ugh... my friends. My mom too."

Damien slowly nodded. "Your loved ones then? Interesting." He tried to put his hand on Yuri's shouldler, but she shyed away.

"Can you... not? Please? Sorry... I'm not used to this sort of thing." Yuri had a very uncomfortable look on her face.

"Of course. Forgive me." Damien took a step back. "But circling back to your loved ones... am I right to assume that they got you to do this to... "expand your horizons" or something similar?"

Yuri looked up and finally met his eyes. "Uh... geez. You're scarily perceptive. But yeah." She huffed then sat down in a chair.

"I see." Damien knelt down. "Tell me." He asked gently.

Yuri heaved a heavy sigh. "Ugh... ok. My mom Yukari wanted me to get all pretty for a chess tournament I have tonight. Like, it's not even for a few hours? Why now? And my friends are here in the line to get in here too. But they just forced me in here so they could know what you're like before actually meeting you. Bleh."

Damien gave an understanding smile. "That does sound rather "bleh" doesn't it? I'll tell you what." He respected the girl, not taking her hand or grabbing her shoulder, nothing like that. "I won't force you to get a makeover or some such nonsense. A girl like you... you already have a rather charming yet unassuming quality to yourself. And you play chess? You have a rather sharp mind then. So... I don't believe you need me help."

A small blush ran across Yuri's face. "Uh... woah." She didn't realize how smooth with words he was. The people online really weren't lying.

Damien chuckled. "So your loved one forced you to come to me? Don't worry. Simply tell them I cannot improve upon the adorable qualities you already possess. And..." He boldly took her hand and led her up from the chair. "I wish you luck on your chess tournament. I know you can do it."

The blush on Yuri's face persisted. "Um..." She didn't know what to say.

"And I know you don't exactly seem like the type of girl to be too interested in beauty products... but here." Damien handed her a bag with some free Lux-brand beauty products. "Now I must unfortunately send you on your way." He led the still speechless Yuri to the door. "I thank you for coming to me my dear Yuri, and I hope to see you again soon." He winked.

"...right!" Embarrassed having her blushing face fully exposed in public, Yuri held her head down and rushed off.

Damien let out a satisfied sigh. Hm... he'd have to remember to check back in with her to see how her chess tournament went. And...

...

...

...

Yes. She might work. He'll wait for now though. It was time for the-

"O... M... G...! You're the Damien Lux aren't you? It's such a pleasure!" The next girl ran in quickly, along with a man.

Damien slightly widened his eyes. "Well then... you sure seem spirited!" He walked up to the girl. "May I have your name?"

"Obvi you can! It's cool if you haven't heard of me before. It's Raiha Miyahara! The Riactionista! It's so great to meet you! You give off crazy rizz." Raiha eagerly shook his hand.

Damine narrowed his eyes for a moment, before widening them in realization. "Ah... I have heard of you before my dear Raiha. Haven't you recently got accepted into Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Trendsetter?"

Raiha did a face like she was posing for a TubeYou thumbnail. "Wow... FR? You're like the CEO of perception. That's wild. But yeah!" She jumped up. "I have been invited to HPA! I'm doing some traveling before I officially attend... and TBH? I wanted to stop by here! Meet the Ultimate Beautician himself!"

Damien seemed baffled. "I'm sorry? I appreciate the flattery from a beautiful girl such as you, but I am not an Ultimate Beautician."

"Ah... perhaps I can step in here. Ms. Miyahara?" The other man finally spoke up.

"Oh you're so right for that! Yeah, your time to pop off Mr. Talent Scout!" Raiha took a step back.

Damien raised a curious eyebrow. "You're a talent scout? For... Hope's Peak Academy?" He started to connect some dots.

The talent scout let out a small chuckle. "Indeed. You connected those dots quick." He snuck a quick glance at Raiha. "I ran into Ms. Miyahara on my way here. I recognized her as a recently accepted Ultimate... and she seemingly recognized me somehow. She gleaned that I was on my way to invite a brand new Ultimate, and asked to join. And I chose to let her experience s fresh face being invited to the glorious Hope's Peak Academy!" He spread his arms wide.

Damien now fully realized what was happening here. Raiha Miyahara probably saw this as an opportunity for exposure, getting to be along for an Ultimate invitation. She's a smart girl, catching onto this. "So I'd be the Ultimate Beautician would I? You need not say more. I'd be happy to accept." Damien shook the talent scout's hand.

"Very good! I'm happy you accepted so quickly!" The talent scout vigorously shook the now Ultimate Beautician's hand.

"Yo! That's slay AF! Someone like you joining HPA? Nice." Raiha immediately dove into the conversation, quickly going to taking pictures with Damien for her socials.

"Hmm..." Damien quietly mused as he took the pictures with Raiha. He saw the crowd outside losing their minds. They likely figured out what was happening. That was alright. He'd address it with them later.

As Raiha continued to snap pictures... her and Damien shared a very meaningful glance. Hm... he'd have to watch out for this girl. She's trickier than she looks. But that's more than okay. He could work with that. He could definitely... well, he'll save that for later.

For now... he's an Ultimate. Damien hadn't even taken time to process that fact yet. He'd call his parents, but they wouldn't pick up. They rarely do. He'd worry about them later.

Because now... he was an Ultimate, bound to earn fame. Fame is both a blessing and a curse... but it's something he'll still happily embrace...

...

...

...

---

[Pheme's Room]

"Wow!" Pheme widened her eyes. "That was at least around 500 words longer than the usual video The Contact provides! How exciting!" She loved watching it, clearly.

"Quite right..." The Figure was deep in thought as they looked over Damien's form.

"It's so interesting that Damien knows Raiha Miyahara! It'd be so neat to have them both here... but you already rejected Raiha..." Pheme hung her head down sadly.

The Figure groaned. "Miss Pheme, we already went over why Ms. Miyahara wouldn't work. And... actually. You... know what?"

Pheme turned to face The Figure with a slight frown on her face. "What?"

"I believe... this'll be the same case." The Figure sighed. "Damien Lux... he wouldn't work."

Pheme frowned harder. "I felt like that was coming." She crossed her arms. "Well so be it. Damien Lux won't be in the Killing Game. Can we move on now?" Pheme had seemingly gotten rather impatient with the process.

The Figure chuckled. "Of course. Let us get back to it. But I am glad you understand Miss Pheme." With a bow, The Figure and Pheme got back to finding more fitting Ultimate alumni for the glorious Killing Game...

...

...

...

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[Damien's Room]

"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!"

Damien slowly opened his eyes. Pheme's morning announcement huh? Truthfully, he found it rather cruel. He wasn't one to simply crumble and fall in a situation like this, but the fact that Pheme forces alarm clocks upon them all is, like he said, cruel.

But... he had to make sure that none of them fell to that cruelty. He got out of bed, and looked at himself in the mirror. Hm. Even his bedhead looked rather good. Well, even with that, he had to get ready. If he was right... today could possibly prove to be rather interesting. And he wanted to be there for it. So, he got to making sure he looked his best.

---

[VIP Quarters]

Damien walked out of his room. He didn't see anyone. Perhaps they had all gathered in the cafeteria already? He remembered his dears Yoshino and Kuroko going around waking everyone up yesterday. He hoped he hadn't woken up late.

But even if he had, he wanted to make sure that someone was awake at the very least. He walked up to his dear Ayaka's door and knocked. "My dear Ayaka? I hope I'm not disturbing you. Are you awake?"

...

...

...

Nothing. "My dear Ayaka?" Damien knocked one more time.

...

...

...

Still nothing. He refused to assume the worst over his dear Ayaka... so he assumed she was already up and about. If she was, he'd be rather happy to see it.

Damien looked around the VIP Quarters once more. He didn't sense anyone still sleeping. Was he that late? He'd have to be more careful with how much time he spent getting ready then.

Eager to not keep everyone waiting, Damien went to go and leave the VIP Quarters...

...

...

...

Until he heard a door open behind him. He kept staring at the stairs, not yet turning around. He waited for a moment.

...

...

...

"...Hey. Can... you move?" Damien heard Rival's voice from behind him.

"Rival. It's good to see you." Damien turned around cordially. "How are you?"

Bags still layed under Rival's weary eyes. "...What?"

"I asked you how you are doing." Damien repeated. "We missed you at the meeting last night, where we went over what we all found. Would you care for a short summary?"

Rival closed his eyes. "Sorry... can you just... move? I want... food."

"Of course I can do that. But I'd like to know how you are doing first." Damien seemed legitimately concerned.

"...Can... you not? Please?" Rival shook his head as he spoke.

"I'm sorry? Can I not what?" Damien didn't understand what the backing vocalist meant.

Rival didn't want to deal with this right now. He didn't want to deal with much of anything right now. He... ugh. He wasn't in the mood for trauma dumping in the narration. "...Just move." Rival shoved past the beautician. "You acting actually concerned over someone... it's ironic. You didn't... even... ugh. Nevermind." He walked away.

...

...

...

Huh. That was a rather... informative conversation for Damien. But he merely wanted to see how he was doing. Ji-hoon had suggested it as well. But he gets snark thrown back at him? Not to mention, it sounded like Rival might've been talking about... well, it's not worth mentioning. And Damien could understand that Rival was going through some mental turbulence at the moment.

He decided to just move on, and leave the VIP Quarters.

---

[Cafeteria]

"I see... so I am the last to arrive this morning." Lesson learned for Damien, probably don't spend so much time in the morning getting ready for the day.

"O-Oh! Damien!" Ayaka visibly perked up a tad seeing the beautician.

"Damien? You didn't strike me as the "arriving late" type." Kei smirked.

"Well... I suppose I took too long getting ready this morning. Forgive me if I have missed anything important." Damien took a seat next to his dear Ayaka. He looked around... and saw everyone here, barring his dears Alpha and Catherine. So the usual group then. Rival had already left the cafeteria with a plate of food in his hand.

"Don't worry Damien. We've essentially just gotten started." Ji-hoon reassured him. "I still wish there was a way to get Alpha and Cathy to consistently attend the meetings... but it's fine. We don't have time to waste on them."

"But what about Val? We don't wanna just abandon the guy." Yoshino leaned back in her chair.

"Like... we won't though? No way." Raiha shook her head.

"Right." Aurora agreed. "I wish there was more we could do for him right now..."

"Yeah... normally I'd say to just leave the fucker alone." Genjiro crossed his arms. "Sometimes a man just needs to work through shit himself. Rival doesn't seem like the type of bitch to be able to do that. Someone's gotta pull that fuck out of his funk."

"Oh yeah? Will you pull him out of his funk?" Kei raised an eyebrow.

"What?! Fuck no! I don't even fucking know the guy!" Genjiro spat out.

"G-Genjiro is r-right, logically speaking." Adam nodded. "If someone is g-going to help Rival... it should be s-someone going through similar f-feelings as him. And, theoretically s-speaking, I believe it should be either Raiha or Aurora." He gave his logical and theoretical take.

"Yes... you're right Adam." Aurora darted her eyes down. "I thought about it yesterday... and I tried to talk to him yesterday. But... I was at a loss for words."

"That's okay though! You shouldn't beat yourself up over it Aurora!" Lake jumped to the rescue. "The right words can be hard to find... and if you can't find them, Raiha could instead!" They suggested.

"Hm... good idea." Aurora nodded along, then turned the the trendsetter. "So Raiha? What do you say?"

Raiha thought about it for a moment. "I mean yeah, I'd be down to try and talk to him, YK? Gotta have the besties feeling good right? And... we've both lost a bestie too. So... I'd get it." When Raiha sounded and spoke serious, that's when you know it's serious.

"So you're alright with trying to *cough* talk with Rival? Good!" It wasn't Rosalind who said that, it was Joji, who just had a random cough.

"Heck yeah... leave it to me!" Raiha accepted the job.

"Good. That's one less worry then." Ji-hoon cleared his voice. "Now, I want to address what Joji and Damien said yesterday. About their Ultimate Studios having dangerous things in them."

"Yeah..." Joji was still so split on his own Ultimate Studio. He liked that he could in theory practice his talent in there, but at the same time, he hated that it had to be full of dangerous tools. "What do you think Ji-hoon?"

"I can't say anything for sure until I actually see it." The celebrity detective replied. "But I want to do something about it. Just like with Damien's Studio."

"Yes..." Damien slowly nodded. "Yesterday, when my dear Ayaka and I were exploring my studio, I went and jammed the drawer that hid those poisonous perfumes. It was merely a temperary measure, mind you."

"Were you thorough with it?" Yoshino didn't hide that she didn't fully trust Damien, so she wanted to make sure here. "You don't think someone could've broken in?"

Damien shook his head. "You need not worry, my dear Yoshino. I highly doubt it. And even if someone somehow did, I'd be able to tell immediately. So again, I implore to not worry."

"Yeah okay..." Yoshino internally rolled her eyes. "Alright... so that's that then? Is there anything else on the schedule or... what?" She went and changed the topic.

"I b-believe that w-was it... addressing the dangerous... "t-things" was the main o-objective." Adam reminded everyone. "S-So are we g-good to end the m-meeting?"

"Ayo?" Genjiro raised an eyebrow. "You got somewhere to be nerd? A hot date or some shit?"

It was clear by Adam's expression that he didn't like being called a nerd, but he didn't express it. The blush was clearly expressed on his face though. "N-No... not at all!" Adam shook his head. "Just w-wanted to make s-sure is all."

"I don't blame you Adam!" Joji gave the table a light slam. "I want to get out of here too. The faster something is done about this stuff, the better."

"E-Exactly. It's the l-logical way to do it." Adam nodded.

"Yeah... you tell em' Ade." Yoshino shared in Adam's nodding, before turning to face the big muscular wrestler. "Don't tease the kid Genjiro! Ade is just being uh... logical!" She struggled to find that word for a second.

"The fuck did I do?" Genjiro looked baffled. "It was just a question! What if the little twerp was about to go and hookup with uh... Aurora or some shit?!"

"I'm sorry?!" Aurora immediately reacted. "Hookup?" A blush instantly spread across her cheeks.

"Hm?" Lake blinked. "What's a hookup? What does that mean?" They looked around as they got confused by that word.

"Don't worry about it Lake." Joji didn't want Lake's mind to be corrupted. Joji didn't hate Genjiro or anything, far from it, but the guy could be more than a bit crude sometimes. "C'mon man. Don't be saying shit that makes people uncomfortable." He implored his friend.

Genjiro heartily laughed in response. "Ha ha! Fine fine, I get it. Don't worry Adam." He put a hand on the academic's shoulder. "Not like you could get a girl like Aurora at all! Ho ho!" He still made fun of him anyway.

"Genjiro... please... shut up?!" Yoshino, like usual, was fed up with the wrestler's actions. "You act like you could get a nice girl like Aurora yourself!" She flipped his insult back on him.

"Oh yeah?!" Genjiro shot up from his chair. "Watch me!" He turned to the starlet.

Aurora's eyes widened. "Oh... I'm flattered but-" Her face was a mixture of looking embarrassed and mortified.

"Now look at what you're doing Genjiro!" Yoshino stood up too. "You're making the girl nervous!"

"Yeah! FR FR!" Raiha wanted to join in. "Aurora isn't interested in you and your rizz Genjiro! She's my girl-friend! My bestie!"

"Wait what?! I'm your..." Aurora found it hard to control her blush as she felt her breath get caught in her throat at the word "girl-friend". "Since when-" She stopped herself when she realized Raiha most likely meant platonically... unless?

"Calm down everyone-nya!" Kuroko stood up as well. "This has gotten out of hand-nya! ...Though a girl like Aurora definitely deserves the attention-nya!" The hypnotist gave the starlet a wink. She was more than aware that Aurora was straight, but that didn't mean that Kuroko couldn't be a little playful here and there.

"Shut it Kuroko!" Genjiro slammed the table. "I gotta prove myself! How did you say it Raiha? "Rizz"? Yeah! I gotta rizz up Aurora!" He added with another slam.

"Um... uh? Genjiro non-bestie? You're giving me the ick." Raiha looked disgusted. "Don't steal my endearing character trait!"

"Endearing is certainly a word for it... heh." Kei chuckled to himself, not wanting to get too involved.

"G-Guys, c-can we...?" Adam stood up in attempt to help stop this sudden and strange fight, but his voice got drowned out by yelling.

"It's times like these where I'm *cough* grateful Alpha and Cathy aren't here..." Rosalind whispered to herself as she watched events unfold.

"You're not wrong." Darren muttered as he overheard Rosalind's whisper.

Anyway, back to the drama. "Everyone... shouldn't we calm ourselves?" Damien gently stood up, opting to take over peacekeeing. "Our dear Aurora is clearly getting flustered, and my dears Lake and Ayaka are getting flustered as well."

Ayaka was currently silently staring at the floor, and Lake was just looking around, baffled and concerned.

"Fucking thank you Damien!" Joji shot up out of his chair. "Can we all just sit down?! PLEASE?!" He slammed his leg, to avoid scaring Lake by slamming the table.

Ji-hoon held his head in his hands as this unfolded. Maybe it was bad to say, but he'd almost prefer Genjiro to not attend these meetings sometimes.

"This shit is so stupid! Yoshi got me wound up anyway!" Genjiro shifted the blame of this onto the horror novelist.

"Ah come on!" Yoshino threw her hands up in the air. "You're the one who started screaming like a lunatic! You made Aurora insanely fucking uncomfortable!"

Aurora was an actress, so she was obviously used to attention. But this was even a bit much for her. She stayed silent.

"Bah! Fuckng whatever!" Genjiro finally sat back down with a huff.

"Christ!" Yoshino groaned as she sat back down too. After those two did, everyone who had stood up slowly sat back down as well.

After a second... "You good Aurora bestie?" Raiha asked her bestie.

Aurora let out a deep exhale. "I'm fine. Don't worry. That was just... sudden."

"Very good my dear Aurora." Damien had a relieved look on his face before turning to look at his dear Ayaka. "Are you alright my dear Ayaka?"

It took a moment for Ayaka to look up at Damien. "Huh? Y-Yeah... I'm okay. Thank you." She quickly nodded. Genjiro's outburst had gotten in the way of something she wanted to say... so she felt a bit uneasy now.

"How about you Lake? You alright?" Joji joined the concern train after calming down.

"Oh... yes. I'm alright!" Lake was already back to beaming with positivity. "That threw me off! I didn't expect that!" They nervously chuckled.

"Right..." Joji gave Genjiro a glare. "What the hell was that outburst man?!"

It looked like Genjiro was about to retort back at Joji... but he didn't. "I... fuck. My bad." The wrestler crossed his arms as he actually apologized.

The apology caused a small smile to grow on Joji's face. "Okay... good. And I thought I could be bad sometimes..." He muttered.

Yoshino just rolled her eyes at Genjiro's apology. She didn't say anything.

"Very good then...!" Damien looked around approvingly. "So... Ji-hoon? Shall we continue? Or... were we finished already?" Genjiro's outburst had truthfully thrown Damien off a bit.

Ji-hoon let out a long sigh. He opted to brush past everything that had just happened. "We were basically finished. I suppose... myself, Damien, Joji, and whoever else wants to join us will go up to the Ultimate Studios."

"I'll join." Kei raised his hand. "Might be interesting."

"I kinda wanna see what the hype is with Damien's Studio... but later. Dealing with poisonous things is kinda a vibe killer TBH." Raiha voiced her thoughts.

"I appreciate the interest my dear Raiha." Damien gave an approving nod.

"I might just hang in my own studio." Yoshino started to think. She was on the fence about it... but she might be able to actually write something. Maybe. "And Genjiro? Could you please-"

"Ho ho! Don't worry Yoshi!" Genjiro cut Yoshino off. "If anything... I want to check out Joji's Studio!" Genjiro seemed interested. "Later though. Call me if you need some muscles though baby!" He flexed... like he usually does.

"Alright..." Ji-hoon sounded a little tired. "So myself, Damien, Joji, and Kei? That sounds good." He then stood up. "Now... is there anything else? Anybody?" He gave the opportunity for someone to speak up, or forever hold their peace.

...

...

...

"Okay then. Let's-"

"I... w-want to say something." Ayaka of all people stood up.

"Ayaka-nya? What is it-nya?" Kuroko seemed curious.

"Hm... w-what is it Ayaka? A-An idea as to w-what to do with the dangerous things p-perhaps?" Adam seemed curious too.

"W-Well..." Ayaka looked at her feet. "No. Not exactly. It's an idea. B-But of a... different sort."

Damien gave his dear Ayaka a knowing smile, like he knew what exactly she was going to say.

"Speak Ayaka. What is it?" Ji-hoon was more than willing to let people speak their ideas, but he didn't like people who stalled their ideas too.

"Okay. My idea." Ayaka mentally collected herself. "Yesterday... I t-thought about Bessie and Aelia. Or... mainly Bessie actually. And... I got an idea."

Raiha and Aurora had... apprehension smeared across their faces. But they let the violinist finish her thought.

"I t-thought it was unfortunate that... Bessie and Rival's show never got to happen." Ayaka blinked. "It could've helped the group. E-Even if just a little. So..."

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"I think w-we should have gathering. Or... no. A party. To help build he bonds between us... or something." Ayaka held her breath as she awaited people to react.

"A... party?" Ji-hoon slowly narrowed his eyes.

"That *cough* sounds... hm..." Rosalind had to think about that.

"Fuck you mean by that?" Genjiro seemed suspicious.

"Aya... you gotta explain more. We need more details." Yoshino was going to hold off on any opinions until she heard more details.

Damien kept with his knowing smile. "I think it's a wonderful idea... but perhaps you should explain more of this idea of yours my dear Ayaka?"

"Oh... right!" Ayaka gave an understanding nod. "So... f-first. I'd Darren to help with this."

Darren raised an eyebrow. "Me? Why?" He pulled a drink out of the alternate dimension known as the "Ultimate Gambler's Station" and took a sip.

"W-Well... it's because I want it to be a... drinking party." Ayaka revealed. "It might be a fun way for us all to grow closer, I thought. And y-you are the Ultimate Bartender. So that's why."

"Sure. I'll help out with whatever." Darren agreed with zero hesitation. Truthfully, all he heard was "drinking," and that was enough for him.

"Y-You agreed that q-quickly?" Adam looked surprised.

Darren shrugged. "Yeah." And that was all he said.

"Good then. That's one person in favor." Damien waited to see what everyone else thought.

"I think... that might be fun-nya!" Kuroko liked the idea. "It's unfortunate that Bessie and Rival never got to do their show-nya. And we all saw... what happened to Bessie-nya." She avoided being specific about that. "But I still think the show was a good idea... and I think this is a good idea too!"

"Very good my dear Kuroko! I knew I could count on you!" Damien shot the hypnotist a wink.

"Yeah... thank you Kuroko." Ayaka gave Kuroko a thankful nod.

"I don't think I'd want to drink alcohol... I'm not even old enough to do that!" Lake wasn't exactly into the idea of breaking the law, even while trapped in this place. "But... it could still be fun!"

"I think I'm the same." Joji gave the idea some consideration. "I don't think I'd drink too much... but even I can't deny the potential good sharing a few drinks can do. Even if they aren't alcoholic!"

"You're quite right Joji." Damien initiated a rare interaction in where he actually spoke with another guy. "I personally don't drink alcohol much... but I agree with your sentiment." And that was the end of the interaction.

"I only drink on very specific occasions." Kei streched out his arms. "But this could still be fun."

"Drinking low key gives me the ick... but like Kei bestie said, it could be fun!" Raiha seemed to support the idea.

"I get that Rai-Rai. But..." Yoshino smirked and pointed at Ayaka. "Aya... this ain't a half-bad idea. I'm down for a drink every now and then."

"Kei, my dear Raiha, and my Yoshino too! Very good!" Damien was happy to see his dear Ayaka's idea gaining traction.

"Hey!" Genjiro slammed the table. "Are you all fucking stupid?!"

"Huh? W-What's the problem?" Genjiro's voice always surprised Ayaka when she heard it.

"Y'all are so..." Genjiro stopped himself. He was admittedly about to spout some things about "distrust" and how "reckless" this was. But... why would he do that? He's the Genjiro Mashimoto! Why should he care?! And even if someone did die, it wasn't like it'd be his fault. "Y'all are so... fucking smart! Fuck yeah we should have some drinks!" Besides, the "distrust" nonsense was more suited for Alpha anyway

"Oh... a-alright. Good." Ayaka let out a relieved breath. Genjiro sure liked to bait people. That's a part of being a wrestler though, in a way.

"I t-think the p-party, logically speaking, h-has potential to be a g-good idea." Adam shared his logical opinion. "But we should be sure to d-drink responsibly and-"

"Oh hell no! Ha ha!" Genjiro jovially slapped Adam's back, causing the academic to stagger in his chair. "We ain't having no fucking buzzkills there! Face it Adam, you should probably have a drink or too! Shit might help you!" The wrestler got to peer-pressuring the poor nerd pretty quickly.

"I-I don't k-know if I s-should do that... that wouldn't b-be smart. And-" Adam started to explain why he didn't want to drink. He wasn't even of age yet, like Lake.

"Fucking too bad!" Genjiro slapped his back again. "You gotta live life a little man! Ho ho!"

Adam sighed. "B-But that's not..."

Adam and Genjiro started to go back and forth, with Genjiro not taking a "no" for an answer from the academic in regards to drinking.

"So Genjiro a-and Adam are alright with it..." Ayaka ignored Adam's plight as she took mental notes of what everyone thought. "What about..." Her eyes landed on the one person who hadn't said anything yet. "Ji-hoon? W-What do you think?"

...

Ji-hoon was currently deep in thought. A... drinking party huh? Normally, he'd dismiss the idea fairly quickly. Following Bessie and Aelia's deaths... the first thought in his mind was to step up and lead these people. And if he's going to be leading them... he needs to be careful too. He's resolved himself to do whatever he can to try and prevent any more death. If he wants everyone to stay alive... growing closer together isn't the worst idea. But... "Okay." He stayed standing.

Ayaka blinked. "Okay? Are you..."

"After we deal with the tools... and mainly the poisons... I think that's a great idea Ayaka. Once we make sure we can stay safe... then I say we do it." Ji-hoon showed his support of the plan.

"R-Really?" Ayaka's masked face didn't show it, but she was fairly happy hearing that.

"Yeah. Let's say..." Ji-hoon trailed off. "Let's set a date for it. How about it... three days?"

"That sounds wonderful!" Damien answered for his dear Ayaka. "In three days... yes. Does it sound good my dear Ayaka?"

"Um... y-yeah." Ayaka nodded. "I'm glad that everyone like the idea."

"Indeed! I like it too!" Sensing an opportunity for her to jump in, Pheme phased into existence directly behind Ayaka. "A drinking party... that's such a genius idea Ms. Naganohara!"

"Ah! P-Pheme..." Ayaka jumped up a little and took a step back. "...What do you want?"

"Gasp!" Pheme gasped audibly. "You act like you don't want me here! What did I ever do to you?" The goddess put her hands on her hips.

"...You have time for the full list or...?" Kei chuckled.

Pheme glared at the lawyer. "Very funny Mr. Aikawa." But her face quickly lightened up. "That humor is why you're my favorite though!" She reminded everyone.

"Pheme... perhaps we can dispense with the stalling?" Damien wasn't in the mood for Pheme's antics. I mean, who would be? (Besides for Sempi)

"Y-Yes... we h-have to kindly ask you to leave." Adam got a little assertive.

"Nah Adam... that ain't how you do it." Genjiro shoved the nerd out of the way as he stood up. "You gotta approach a psycho like this." He cleared his voice.

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"What the fuck do you want you crazy bitch?!" Genjiro yelled at her. Adam, and everyone else, probably shouldn't have expected anything less.

Pheme shook her head. "This hostility is so rude... yet endearing!" The goddess hugged herself. "Knowing that my stars hate me this much... oh my... it feels good." She sounded a bit too excited about that.

Everyone gave her disgusted looks, besides for Lake, who gave her a confused look. "Pheme... I'm sorry. Can you be clearer on why you're here? We... well, we don't exactly like you. And we'd be happier if you weren't here." It looked like it pained Lake to say that, despite the fact thay Pheme was a crazy bitch.

"Ha! Very well Mx. Beaumont! I'll stop the stalling, but I just oh so love playing around with you all!" Pheme stepped up onto the table, knocking over Darren's drink in the process. He, nor Pheme reacted at all. "I'm merely here to share my support of Ms. Naganohara's idea! Like I said, it's genius! It sounds like a lot of fun too! I'm excited!"

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"Uh..." Yoshino's mouth was slightly agape as she started at Pheme. "We weren't gonna invite you you know."

"Yeah... you wouldn't be any fun-nya! You'd probably do something to bring down the mood-nya!" Ouch, even Kuroko was against it.

"My dears Yoshino and Kuroko are correct. Pheme... you seem like you'd be the wrong type of fun at parties." Damien worded that as kindly as he could.

"I definitely w-wasn't planning on inviting her anyway." Ayaka muttered as she looked away.

"Hmph." Pheme crossed her arms. "I see how it is. And I would've been more than willing to provide some special drinks for the occasion too but I guess you don't want them!" She stepped off the table.

Darren got the slightest bit of emotion on his face at Pheme's words. "Special drinks?" He turned around in his chair.

"Yep! Special drinks from your Ultimate Studio Mr. Taylor! I'd be more than willing to fetch nice some drinks for your wonderful party, considering Mr. Taylor's Ultimate Studio is on the next floor! It's not far from here!"

"No shit?" Genjiro actually seemed interested. "What kinda drinks? You got rum?"

"Of course it had rum!" Pheme gave a firm nod. "The Ultimate Bartender's Studio has whatever alcoholic beverage you can dream of! There's a nice selection in there!"

"Damn..." Genjiro seemed impressed. "Fuck it. You get me some fucking good ass rum, I'd be fine with the bitch joining."

Ji-hoon stopped himself mid-groan. "You can't be serious."

"Eh, Ji-hoon, you fucking worry too much." Genjiro started thinking about a damn good bottle of rum. "How about this? If it'll stop your panties from getting twisted, I'll keep an eye on the fucking goddess bitch or whatever."

"Oh yeah? Will you?" Kei crossed his arms.

"Fuck yeah! I'll be... guard duty! Ha!" Genjiro came up with an idea pretty quickly. "If it'll make your pussy asses feel better, I'll make sure nobody does something stupid! Like killing someone!"

Yoshino narrowed her eyes. "Weren't you more than willing to kill Pheme-"

"Don't worry about that Yoshi! Just know that you're in the safe and strong hands of the Genjiro Mashimoto now! Ho ho!" Genjiro stood proudly.

"He gave himself that role fairly quickly didn't he?" Aurora nervously chuckled.

"Like... Genjiro being on guard duty isn't the worst idea tho low key." Raiha was willing to consider it. "Ji-hoon kinda-bestie? Should we?"

Ji-hoon was getting so sick of Genjiro's just taking control of every conversation he was it. But even he couldn't deny... "You sure? You're willing to be on guard duty? Your eyes peeled the whole time? If Pheme is going to be there, I want you focused. Not getting too wasted either."

"Ah come on Ji-hoon! Have you seen Genjiro? Man has to be able to handle his liquor!" Joji defended his friend.

"Fuck yeah I can Joji! I'll drink all you fuckers under the table!" Genjiro flexed figuratively and literally.

"That's not the point-" Ji-hoon tried to stop him.

"Yeah yeah I know... seriously man, calm down." Genjiro sighed. "I'll keep an eye out and all that shit. Nobody ain't gonna do anything stupid. Seriously." He sounded surprisingly serious.

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"Fine. I'm alright with that." Ji-hoon gave his approval for Genjiro's guard-duty, and subsequently for Pheme joining them. He still had some reservations, but he just resigned himself to being on guard-duty, watching out for the other guard-duty.

"Fuck yeah! There we go!" Genjiro turned to Pheme. "You better get some damn good booze down here!"

Pheme giggled. "Of course! Since your glorious leader allowed me to join, I'll be happy to get some special drinks for you! I'll go fetch them now! Ta ta! Can't wait for the party in three days!" Pheme then departed from the scene.

"Hold up! You better get some good stuff you bitch!" And Genjiro ran out after her.

Darren then wordlessly walked out as well, seemingly being interested in these "special drinks."

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"Wow..." Yoshino widened her eyes. "No way he's actually serious serious right?"

"Don't worry Yoshino." Ji-hoon reassured her. "I know Genjiro is an untrustworthy hothead. But I'll keep an eye on him while he keeps an eye on Pheme. I had concerns about Genjiro's overall cooperation... but this is a start." He then turned to Ayaka. "I know this got out of hand, but I think your idea is going to end up going well." Ji-hoon still had mixed feelings on this. But after the weapons are dealt with, maybe a whole gathering to grow closer together wasn't the worst thing. He still had very little trust in some of these people... but that wasn't the point right now. He'd deal with those ones later. The focus was trying to prevent any more death. That Pheme loses. That's all. Hell, the party might even give him an opportunity to... well, it didn't matter.

"Oh, it's alright." Ayaka waited for his inner monologue to finish before replying. "T-This got kinda chaotic... but I think it'll be good." She showed a little bit of hope.

"Indeed my dear Ayaka." Damien wrapped his arm around his dear Ayaka's shoulder. "I have a feeling this'll go wonderfully."

"Yeah... I think Damien is right!" Lake showed their support. "I wouldn't drink or anything... but I still think it's a good idea!"

"Damn right it will!" Joji happily showed his support as well. And following them, everyone else showed their own support, proving that Ayaka had come up with a fairly good idea.

"In three days... alright." Kei muttered to himself before standing up. "I hate to he the guy to rush things along, but shouldn't we break this up? Ji-hoon, Damien, Joji, and I guess myself have work to do yeah?" He reminded everyone of one of the main goals for today.

"Oh shit! You're right!" Joji stood up too. "I want to get this taken care of. Let's get going boys!"

"Uh... yes. You're right." Ji-hoon stood up. In the midst of Ayaka's idea, his original goal admittedly slipped his mind a tad. "Let's go. This meeting had gone on long enough, so let's split off. Damien, Joji, and Kei. Come with me." He urged them along.

The boys started to walk out of the cafeteria. "I'll see you later my dear Ayaka!" Damien gave his dear Ayaka a wave before departing.

"Yeah... b-bye!" Ayaka spoke in her normal tone, not knowing if Damien heard her or not. She looked around. People had started to leave, and she probably should too. She realized she never even said where she wanted the party to take place... but she went to the place she had in mind anyway. The Comedy Studio...

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Ayaka left, and nearly everyone else left too. The cafeteria was left in near complete silence... besides for the two people remaining. Raiha and Aurora had already stood up. "Imma go now Aurora bestie. I gotta hunt for Rival. I'll give him a good... talk!" Raiha wanted to say a cooler word, but she couldn't think of one.

Aurora giggled. "Of course. I'll let you go. But... before you do. Would you mind stopping in... Bessie's Studio?" She knew it was a sensitive place, so she was apprehensive about bringing it up.

Raiha sighed. "Sure... yeah. I can do that. Any... reason why?"

There was a reason why Aurora wanted her to go there, but she felt a bit embarrassed saying it.

---

"Why did Bessie want to kill me...?" Aurora's voice was hollow as she pulled out two things.

"Hm? What are *cough* those?" Rosalind narrowed her eyes.

"Bessie's Star-Phone and the remote Pheme gave her." Aurora revealed. "They're pretty much broken. I'm not even sure why I have these." She set them down in the chair next to her.

---

She realized she left behind Bessie's Star-Phone and her remote. "When Rosalind and I explored the studio yesterday... I might've left behind Bessie's Star-Phone and her remote. I know they're broken and likely useless... but could you fetch them please? They're..."

Raiha didn't need her bestie to finish her thought. She understood. "I didn't realize that you took those... but yeah! I'll get them for you!" She turned around. "I'll see you later Aurora bestie!" The trendsetter waved as she left... with the starlet leaving a few moments later.

---

[Ultimate Beautician's Studio]

"So this is your studio Damien? Not bad." Kei slowly nodded as he looked it over.

"Damn strong smell in here though..." Joji fought the urge to plug his nose. "All of the perfumes I guess?"

Damien chuckled. "Indeed Joji. I can understand that the strong smell could deter people. It's not the easiest to deal with."

"It's fine. Let's not waste time." Ji-hoon wanted to get to the heart of the matter. "But even I can't deny the... aura this room has. Never really experienced an atmosphere like this." He crossed his arms as he looked around the Ultimate Studio.

"That's fair Ji-hoon. This type of place isn't for everyone." Damien understood the beauty world wasn't everyones cup of tea. "The world of beauty is an enchanting place. One that anyone can dive into at any time."

"That so?" Kei smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You want to give me a makeover then?"

"Oh no, definitely not. I wouldn't say I gave people "makeovers". Just... advice on how to use their natural looks. And..." Damien looked Kei over. "You already have quite a... striking look. I don't believe you need my help."

"Striking...? Eh, I'll take it." Kei shrugged.

"Unless you want to compliment us all Damien, can we get to what we came here for?" Ji-hoon rushed him along.

"Ah, of course. It's right over here." Damien collected himself, them showed the boys over to where he hid the poisonous perfumes.

"Alright, it's in here?" Joji saw the drawer that Damien had jammed.

"Indeed." Damien affirmed him. "The drawer appears to be unchanged as well, thankfully. But it may be a bit difficult to open it up, so perhaps we should-"

"Easy! Got it open." Joji opening the drawer like it was nothing for him.

"Damn. Not bad Joji." Kei gave an approving nod. "Now what do we got in there?"

"Let's see..." Joji pulled out all of the perfumes that Damien had stashed in here. "There are six perfumes in here. All... really fruity scents."

"Indeed. The beautician behind these perfumes, Florent L'Belle, was quite the man, with a variety of tastes. And I suppose he just liked fruity perfumes." Damien gave some brief beautician lore, before grabbing all six and placing them on the counter.

"Orange, Citrus, Orange Citrus, Grapefruit, Vanilla, and... Lavender." Ji-hoon read the scents out loud before taking one of them. "Let's see... oh. That's why they're poisonous?"

"You saw it did you?" Damien looked over Ji-hoon's shoulder. "It's the belladonna berries in it that are the harmful part. Enough exposure could easily kill an adult..." He didn't want to say out loud the fact that an "adult" definitely meant everyone here too.

"Pheme tried to be a bit sneaky with this didn't she?" Kei picked up one of the perfumes. "Probably hoped someone would use it without realizing it was poisonous."

"God... that bitch." Joji laced his words with pure spite as he picked up one of the perfumes himself. "So... what do we think about these? What should we do?"

"Hm..." Everyone took a moment to really think about it, but it was Damien who got an idea first. "Ah! I have an idea!"

"What is it Damien?" Ji-hoon kept examining the perfumes.

"It's a simple idea, but I would personally be okay with it. First... Joji." Damien turned to the carpenter. "Your Ultimate Studio is next door. And before we do anything definitive about your tools... I'd to ask you to make something."

"Oh? You have my attention!" Joji was intrigued.

"Well..." Damien tried to think of the best way to word it. "Could you perhaps construct a safe? Or maybe not a safe, but just a simple and secure box? It'd likely have to be fairly large."

Joji took a second to think about the request. "I... should be able to do that. So what are you thinking? We throw all of the dangerous stuff into the box?"

"Essentially. And..." Damien shifted his eyes to his side. "After we store all of it, I say we have Ji-hoon hold onto the box. He is our leader after all. I'd say we all trust him with it, no?"

"Oh..." Joji widened his eyes. "Fuck yeah, I'm alright with that."

"Sure. Our almighty leader over here is a trustworthy guy right?" Kei was alright with it too.

And for Ji-hoon... "Alright. That sounds good." He was alright with it too. "I'd store the box in my room then."

"Say, could I give another idea?" Kei raised his hand like he was in a classroom. "I was thinking..." Then he spoke without being called on. "If we're going to so this... how about we don't tell anyone where it's being stored. We just say it's somewhere "secure"."

"Wait what? Why wouldn't we tell everyone?" Joji didn't get it.

Ji-hoon narrowed his eyes. "I see what you mean." He turned to Joji. "Kei means it as a sort of precaution. Just to be the on the safe side, we don't tell the others where we stashed a box full of dangerous things."

"Oh..." Joji got it. "Shit sucks... but I get it. That's smart."

"Crafty... but indeed smart." Damien sighed. "I think the plan is good then? Joji, shall we get going to your studio then?"

"Oh yeah! You're right! I gotta get to work!" Joji got some fire back. "Kei, you take the perfumes. Let's go!" He ran into the neighboring room.

Kei shrugged, seemingly alright with the job forced upon him. "You heard the man. Let's go." He grabbed the perfumes, then went next-door.

Ji-hoon was about to leave as well, but he stopped when he noticed Damien searching through one of the black stands with makeup. "What are you doing Damien?" He called out.

"Forgive me Ji-hoon, but I nearly forgot about something!" Damien called out back. "And... here it is." He grabbed the Ariadoney nail polish. "Hm? Did I spill a little when I moved it yesterday?" He whispered to himself. Small splotches of the nail polish appeared to have been spilled around the bottle itself. That was strange... but Damien decided to not worry about it and walked back over to Ji-hoon. He thought the small bottle looked a little weird too but he again decided to not worry about it. "Here it is!" He handed the small glass bottle to the celebrity detective.

"Right, you did mention this yesterday. Good. Thanks. I'll be sure to keep this secure too." Ji-hoon pocketed the bottle, then silently walked into the neighboring room. Damien joined him a few moments later.

---

[Ultimate Carpenter's Studio]

"Alright... here we go!" Despite the earlier atmosphere, Joji was admittedly a little happy to be in his Studio. It helped that he had a job to do too. "You guys do what you gotta do, but I'm going to get to work!" With that, Joji grabbed the materials and tools he needs to construct a secure box.

"Well look at the big go-getter." Kei remarked as he set the perfumes down. "Suppose we just wait now."

"Yes... I suppose so." Damien walked up to the wall of tools, the other two boys close behind him. Joji had already taken a couple off for his project. "There certainly is a lot. Let us hope Joji's box will be big enough to accommodate."

"It should be." Ji-hoon seemed confident. "The tools should be, at least. We still have to account for the table saws on the router tables... and the room with the wooden planks."

"That's true." Kei snuck a glance to the two things Ji-hoon mentioned. "We might have to rely on Joji for those. Doubt those can fit in a box."

"It seems so." Damien agreed. "Though Joji is a reliable man. I trust him."

"Right. And this way, the main dangers will be taken care of." Ji-hoon grabbed one the drills. "I don't want to be morbid, but killing someone with a table saw wouldn't be discreet at all. And someone using a wooden board would be easy to trace back to here. You'd have to be very brave or very ignorant to use those methods."

"Wow, awfully blunt way to word it." Kei chuckled. "You aren't wrong though. Let's hope that no one here is very brave and very ignorant huh?"

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The three boys all collectively thought of Genjiro at those descriptors, but none of them voiced that.

"Done!" Joji really showcased his ultimate talent, through already being done with the box.

"Damn. Once again, not bad Joji." Kei was impressed.

Joji brought the box over to the three boys. It was large and rectangular, with a lid on top of it. He managed to make a sort of lock to the lid too. "What do you think? Shouldn't it work?" Joji seemed proud.

"Well let's see if it will." Ji-hoon got right to emptying the perfumes and the tools into the box. The other three helped him, naturally.

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...

"Well..." Ji-hoon managed to pick up the box by himself. "It's a bit unwieldy... but it'll work." He made sure everything was in there before locking the lid. "Thank you Joji. And you two as well. I'm glad we got this done." The celebrity detective started to walk out.

"Hold on Ji-hoon! I'll help you!" Joji ran after him, wanting to make sure nothing fell.

And that left Kei and Damien. FTE time?

"I think I'll get out of here too." Kei whistled as he went towards the exit. "I'll be seeing you Damien!" He waved behind him as he left. It's not FTE time. :(

"It looks like it's time for me to leave then as well." Damien said to no one before heading to the exit. Yeah... he was glad to have this done. Now... there'll be nothing to worry about. His dear Ayaka's idea will go great. It'll all go well. He had faith. Oh! Speaking of...

---

[Comedy Studio]

"My dear Ayaka! I'm happy to see you already making preparations for your party idea!" A smile spread across Damien's face as he entered the Comedy Studio.

Ayaka was currently organizing and cleaning some bottles. It was only after she finished putting away a funnel that she noticed Damien enter. "Oh! H-Hi Damien!"

"You seem to be a natural bartender." Damien walked up to her.

Ayaka blinked. "T-This? No... Darren taught me a few things about bartending before he left. I've already helped by mixing in special liquor or something into Genjiro's rum. And for D-Darren... I don't know where he went."

"I see..." It was strange that Darren wasn't in the Comedy Studio, considering that's where we spends all of his time, but Damien decided not to worry about it. "Ah yes, and I made sure to tell everyone that we wanted the party to be here. I realized you hadn't mentioned that at the morning meeting."

"Yeah... I f-forgot about that. Thank you Damien." Ayaka nodded before getting back to her work. "Oh wait." Only for a second though. "H-How did dealing with the poisons go?"

"The poisons? Don't worry. They've been... taken care of." Like Kei suggested, Damien was sure to avoid telling people where they had been stashed, not even telling his dear Ayaka. "Anyway... I see you working rather diligently... it makes me so happy to see." Damien got a closer look at the counter. "So like you said, Pheme did bring down some drinks then?"

"Y-Yeah. She did. Not a lot I guess." Ayaka looked at the bottles too. "Genjiro's rum is here. And Pheme said she was going to have some special wine too."

"Pheme did always seem like a wine drinker." Damien wasn't surprised.

"Yeah. She's g-going to bring down more later too." Ayaka pulled out a note.

"What's that note my dear my dear Ayaka?" Damien saw her pull it out.

"Oh!" Ayaka handed it to Damien. "Pheme w-went around asking everybody if they wanted any special drinks. It still weirds me out that she's so excited a-about this... but whatever I guess. She made a copy of what she noted down and gave it to me."

"I see." Damien started to read over the note. It said:

Pheme (Me! :D) - Okukik Wine

Mr. Mashimoto - Four Seasons Rum: Winter

Ms. Beaufort - Okukik Wine

Ms. Kurobara - Gundo Sake

Mr. Taylor - Four Seasons Whisky: Summers

Ms. Naganohara - Laki-Laki Vodka

"This is starting to feel more and more like a proper party. I must admit I am getting excited." Damien handed the note back to his dear Ayaka. "It'll be important to keep track of who has what drink. I don't like saying it... but it was smart of Pheme to do this."

"R-Right..." Ayaka looked down at the ground.

Damien knew what she was thinking. "My dear Ayaka... I did also notice you wanted a drink as well. A specially requested one? Interesting." He gently lifted her head up by her chin. "I don't mean to judge, and I don't mean to rant about legality. But can I ask why?"

"Well... to mellow out. I g-guess." Ayaka kept making eye-contact with Damien.

"Mellow out?" Damien wasn't exactly surprised to hear that. Ever since he met his dear Ayaka back in the Action Studio, he could sense she had quite the paranoid streak. "Care to explain what you mean by that?" But he wanted to hear the words from his dear Ayaka's own mouth.

"Uh..." Every time Ayaka talked to Damien now, the sheer feeling of being comfortable around him threw her off. She... wasn't used to being comfortable around men. Not anymore at least. "Can I sit?" She eyed the barstool.

"Of course!" Damien led her to the barstools, where they both sat down. Then he waited patiently for her to explain.

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"I guess... I didn't want to f-feel so paranoid." Ayaka finally explained.

"Paranoid?" Damien still wanted her to explain more.

Ayaka internally sighed. She really didn't think she'd be explaining this stuff here... but here she was. "I've had things happen to me before... and I'm just... really paranoid now. L-Like, I don't stand with my back to a door or window."

Huh. Now that she mentions it, Damien couldn't think of a time where he saw his dear Ayaka standing with her back to a window or door. She was likely telling the truth. "I understand. I don't mean to judge, but you have given off vibes of paranoia."

"I know..." Ayaka looked down at the ground.

"My dear Ayaka, if I may ask? What haunts you?" Damien got right to the point.

Ayaka quickly looked up from the ground. "W-What... haunts me?" She slightly shook.

"Yes... what haunts you? During a conversation we had a little bit ago, I couldn't help but notice something.

---

"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."

---

"My dear Ayaka... just what is this specter?" Damien gave her a gentle and reassuring look.

"It... It..." Ayaka tightly closed her eyes. "H-" She stopped herself. "N-" She stopped herself again. She was having trouble explaining. "I'm... sorry. I can't." She looked away.

"You can't what?" Damien stayed in therapist mode.

"I just... can't." Ayaka felt her breathing start to quicken. "It's not t-that I don't trust you Damien... but I really don't want to think about him right n-now." She dropped ominously.

If Damien respected anything, he respected boundaries. So he chose not to press her any more. "That's fine my dear Ayaka. Please do not worry." He took her trembling hand. "Just know... that you can always rely on me. A person's inner voice can tell them things... but it doesn't hurt to listen to one's outer voice. Such as myself, or your own voice. Please remember that."

Ayaka slowly felt herself calming down. "T-Thank you Damien. I really do appreciate it. I don't know if I'll ever want to talk about... it. But I appreciate your words." She said sincerely.

"Of course my dear Ayaka. It's a shame that no else sees you the way I do. It's a shame that no one understands you the way I do." Damien let go of her hand.

"I mean... everyone has to w-worry about themselves too." Ayaka brought up a fair point. "N-Nobody here is as... selfless as you are it feels like. I sometimes feel like I can't trust everyone else... as m-much as I trust you." She still didn't really know why she trusted him... but she did.

Damien chuckled. "I appreciate the compliment. And you bring up a fair point with that." He leaned back against the bar counter. "I don't mean to self-indulge... but it's how I am."

"That's right..." Ayaka just remembered something. "Damien?"

Damien turned his head to look at his dear Ayaka. "What is it my dear Ayaka?"

"You... haven't r-really told me anything about yourself. You've told me a little about why you pursue your talent... but that's it." Ayaka pointed out. "If you wouldn't mind... I'd like to hear more about you."

"Of course! What would you like to know?" Damien was happy to talk about himself.

"Well... I was thinking about something earlier... and..." Ayaka let out a quiet sigh. "W-What about your parents?"

Damien blinked. "My parents? Why would you want to learn about them?"

"Um... humor me?" Ayaka shrugged.

Damien shrugged as well. "So be it. My parents... Victor and Sasha Lux. My father was a business man and my mother was a fashion model."

"Okay... d-did you get your talent from your mom then?" Ayaka decided to ask.

Damien had a surprisingly seirous look on his face. "I wouldn't say that. My mother was often wrapped up in her work. Truthfully... well, I was never around her too often."

"Oh." Ayaka thought she might've struck a nerve. "W-What about your dad?"

"The same case unfortunately." Damien left the statement at that. "But back to your earlier question... beauty was a passion I just so happened to a stumble upon. A coincidence, if you will. But a very happy one all the same. Imbuing people with that confidence... it's a nice feeling." He spoke very sincerely.

"I see." That all made sense. Ayaka wasn't too surprised. "Did your p-parents support your talent?"

"Of course they did." Damien answered immediately. "It was less about me and more about the family image... ah well, that doesn't matter." He sighed. "How about you my dear Ayaka?"

"W-What about me?" Ayaka didn't expect the question to be turned back around at her.

"What about your parents?" Damien turned to fully face her. "You've told me about your younger sister Ritsu... but how about your parents?"

"Oh! Um.. sure." Ayaka nodded. "Their names are Yuu and Mai Naganohara. My mom and dad."

"I see..." Damien was interested. "Did they support your talent?"

"Mm hm." Ayaka nodded again. "My dad was a violinist actually. I inherited m-my talent from him I guess. Both him and my mom were very supportive. They didn't f-force me into it or anything." She narrowed her eyes for a second. "I suppose I found my talent just like you. It w-was a coincidence that I found it... that I had these skills... but it was a happy one nonetheless."

Damien could sense a certain sadness from her as she spoke... despite how happy the memories sounded. He decided to not push it. "It appears we are similar in a way, like you said. That makes me happy." He smiled.

Ayaka tried to hide the small blush that started to spread across her face. "Right..."

"My dear Ayaka... I have another question. I'll have this be the last one for now." Damien glanced over the bottles and such she had been preparing. "I don't want to take you away from your party idea after all." He winked.

"Ah... it's fine." Ayaka had truthfully forgotten about the party for a moment. She just enjoyed talking with Damien-

"Why did you bring up the topic of parents?" Damien cut off his dear Ayaka's inner monologue.

Ayaka widened her eyes for a moments. "Parents- oh." She realized what he was asking. "To answer h-honestly... I was thinking about Aelia."

Damien got a look on his face that Ayaka didn't quite know how to describe. "Why?" He asked simply.

"Why? Um... I don't know." Ayaka truthfully didn't really know why. Aelia kind of just... drifted into her mind. "But... I thought of what P-Pheme showed us... those videos of her parents. And how horrible they were to her." She closed her eyes. "I know she w-was a murderer. Even if Bessie was a robot. But it just... I don't know."

Damien still had an unexplainable look on his face. "I understand. The studio trial we had to go through... nobody could simply forget that overnight. But would you like the truth my dear Ayaka?"

"Y-Yeah?" Ayaka wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"In the end... Aelia was a murderer. Plain and simple unfortunately. It's sad she resorted to what she did... but I'm not one to live in the past. I'm one to live in the present and the future." Damien took his dear Ayaka's hand. "So I want you to live in the present with me too my dear Ayaka. Aelia... Bessie... we have to keep going, no matter how hard it is. There will be time to worry about them after we escape from here. So for now, put Bessie and that heinous-" He coughed. "And Aelia out of your mind my dear Ayaka. That's all you can do."

Ayaka took a few seconds to process Damien's words. He... was right. Aelia was a murderer and she tried to get all of them killed. It was hard... but she needed to accept that, and permanently destroy the Stringpullers ship. She couldn't linger on the dead... she had to try not to.

"You're right Damien. I'm sorry." Ayaka tried to muster a smile.

"Nonsense my dear Ayaka, don't worry about it." Damien stood up. "I hate to cut our wonderful conversation off... but I'll leave you be. I'll let you continue your work. But don't hesitate to call on me if you need aid." With a wink and a wave, Damien left the Comedy Studio.

"Damien... t-thank you." Ayaka said to no one. It still felt like she was getting pulled in two different directions regarding Damien... but she decided to ignore that "specter" and get back to her work.

Sorry Gold, but Damien and Ayaka grew a little closer today!

---

[Romance Studio]

"Huh... you're in here awfully early Kuroko." Ji-hoon walked into the Romance Studio, wanting to investigate it one more time before he went ahead and started recruiting people for whatever this "puzzle" was.

"Oh! Hai hai Ji-hoon-nya! What are you doing here-nya? And I could same the same to you-nya! You're here pretty early too-nya!" Kuroko turned around from looking at the monitor.

"I wanted to investigate this place one more time..." Ji-hoon looked around. "Though I don't know what I expected to find." It wasn't like the Romance Studio changed at all from yesterday. It looked exactly the same.

"Okay... I can understand that-nya! Being thorough is important-nya!" Kuroko sat down on one of the sofas.

"Right." Ji-hoon narrowed his eyes. "So why are you in here then?" He went and stood in front of the hypnotist.

"Hm... for fun I guess-nya! The design of this room was super adorbs... so I wanted to see it again-nya!" Kuroko looked around happily.

"Oh." Ji-hoon wasn't sure what he expected as an answer, but it wasn't that. "You're... very carefree aren't you? Do you realize the severity of the situation we're in?" He glared at her.

Kuroko seemed confused. "Why are you giving me that super scary glare Ji-hoon-nya? You're act like I did something wrong-nya!" She pouted.

Ji-hoon internally groaned. He had admittedly wanted to have a conversation with Kuroko about this... and it seems like now was the time. "I'm not saying you did anything wrong. It's just your very bubbly personality that throws me off. It's like you sometimes don't realize where we are."

Kuroko kept pouting. "Um... that's not very fair-nya? What, am I supposed to be ultra grumpy like Alpha-nya?"

"That's not what I'm saying." Ji-hoon shook his head. "I just want to make sure you know... that you have to take this situation seriously."

"I do-nya? Why are you so worried-nya?" Kuroko was getting even more confused.

"It's because-" It was... complicated for Ji-hoon to explain the whole reason. "It's nothing. There's nothing wrong with staying positive in this place. But at the same time, being too positive will make things difficult in the end." He sat down on a neighboring sofa.

"Hm... I think I get it-nya." Kuroko took a second to think about it. He was right about that for the most part. "You're... a very passionate leader-nya."

"Passionate?" Ji-hoon looked at her.

"Yeah! I know you come off as a bit rigid and strict sometimes-nya. But it's like... what's the word?" Kuroko had to think for a second. "Oh yeah-nya! It's like tough love-nya!"

Ji-hoon frowned. "Tough love? Really?"

"Really really-nya!" Kuroko innocently nodded. "You're fierce with people... but because you uh- love us-nya!" She was aware that sounded a little strange, but she said it anyway. "You fight so hard to make sure none of us die... you're like a super hero-nya! You might only be a boy... but I trust you-nya!"

Huh. Ji-hoon had a lot to process in that statement. "Kuroko. First, love is a very strong word. Second, I'm going to try and prevent it... but I'm still expecting more death at the end of the day. Third, I don't think you're actively trying to be sexist, but I don't think that was necessary to say."

...

Huh. Now Kuroko had to process that statement. For the sake of progressing the conversation, she decided to focus on the second thing he clarified. "Ji-hoon... you're still expecting death to happen-nya?"

Ji-hoon sighed. "Yeah. I am." He looked away from her. "I'm going to do all I can to prevent it of course. But when you deal with people, especially celebrities, you have to expect the worst. And it only gets worse when you take in account we're here."

Kuroko looked down at the ground sadly. "That's... kind of dark-nya."

"You're right. It is." Ji-hoon dismissively replied.

"But wait-nya." Kuroko looked up. "If you feel like someone is going to die anyway, why bother trying to prevent it-nya? And why didn't you object against Ayaka's party-nya?"

Heh. It was slightly refreshing for Ji-hoon to be the one being interrogated here. "I'll answer. Your first question first." He made eye-contact with the hypnotist. "Why I try to prevent it... it's because I have a duty. Have you... heard of me at all prior to this?" He had mixed feelings asking a question like that, but if Kuroko did hear of him, it'd make explaining a little easier.

Kuroko thought for a second. "Erm... I think so-nya. Not much though-nya."

"Alright. That's fine." Ji-hoon wasn't looking for recognition from Kuroko of all people anyway. "I can't stand seeing people get away with crimes simply because of their privilege. And I've put people like that behind bars."

"That makes sense-nya." Kuroko has heard a little bit about him before, like she said. "So you have a duty to put the bad guys behind bars... and to protect the innocent victims-nya?"

"I don't think I'd word it that simply, but yes. Essentially." Ji-hoon affirmed her assessment. "Tell me. Have you heard the case of Sonosuke Sonohara?"

Kuroko had to think about that one too. "Sonosuke Sonohara-nya? I don't think so-nya?"

"That's fine." Ji-hoon could get why who was essentially a normal civilian wouldn't know it. "It was a case my father Sung-min was assigned to. Zainichi Korean boys went missing... before ending up dead. It was determined that their ethnicity was the main motive."

"Oh wow..." Kuroko had no words for that.

"Sonosuke Sonohara was the initial suspect... but he was the son of a very prominent business man. His father used yakuza, forged evidence, absolutely anything to protect his son. And it evidently worked, as the case was dropped." Ji-hoon chuckled. "That was how I truly got my start. That was when I felt that sense of duty for the first time."

"That was your start-nya? How so-nya?" Kuroko didn't get it.

Ji-hoon chuckled again. "He brought home some case files, and I snuck a peek at them. It was obvious Sonohara got away with due to his privilege. And it was there... I decided. I always had this natural sense of justice... so I did my own thing. I waited for Sonohara to strike again."

"Wow! This is starting to sound like a movie-nya!" Kuroko widened her eyes. "How old were you when this happened-nya?"

Ji-hoon took a second to answer. "Mm... I don't remember exactly. I hadn't started middle school yet."

"Double wow-nya! That's impressive-nya!" Kuroko was on the edge of her seat. "I want to know more-nya!"

You'd think that Ji-hoon would have reservations talking about stuff like this, but most of this case was public knowledge by now. So he didn't mind that much. "Well... from there I researched Sonohara's habits, movements, and whatever else I could. Scrounged up enough pocket money to hire some private eyes. After enough effort, I managed to spot the guy throwing out a laptop. I copied the hard-drive and sent the laptop to the police. The laptop being sent wasn't enough to get him though."

"Wait really-nya? Why not-nya?" Kuroko was very invested in this now.

"Privilege. Money. Whatever you want to call it. It still stuck." Ji-hoon said with a scowl on his face. "But... I got an idea from what I found on the laptop."

"An idea-nya?" Kuroko leaned forward a little.

"Yeah. I managed to discern who his next victim was going to be from what I found. I tracked down the victim, and watched and recorded Sonohara's encounter with him. Sonohara led him to a secluded area... and started to attack him. It was then I went to intervene." Ji-hoon showed Kuroko his wrist. "See this?" He pointed to a small mark on it. "I got a variety of injuries from it. I sprained my wrist too. This is the only little remnant of the attack."

"Geez..." Kuroko didn't even know what to say anymore. "So did that nasty Sonohara get arrested-nya?"

"He sure did." Ji-hoon thinly smiled. "I recorded everything that happened. The recording, plus witness testimony, plus the laptop... it all equaled jail for that scumbag. He couldn't run away anymore."

"That was... wow-nya! Ji-hoon, you really are like a real life super hero-nya! Do you have any more stories-nya?" Kuroko wanted to hear more.

"Eh... that's enough for now. Besides, I have to answer your second question now don't I?" Ji-hoon pointed out.

"Second question- oh. About Ayaka's party-nya?" Kuroko realized.

"Uh huh." Ji-hoon nodded. "Consider it another way of doing what I can to prevent things. The party is already a different beast compared to what Bessie and Rival's show would've been."

"A different beast-nya?" Kuroko wasn't sure what he meant.

"That's what I said. It's different because, for one, it's a much smaller room. And there aren't any blatant ways to kill someone. You could poison the drinks, but I've taken care of the poisons. And it also means that most everyone will be in one place at the same time. So it's easy to watch everyone too. And Genjiro and I will be keeping watch anyway." Ji-hoon explained his reasoning. "So that's why."

"Oh... I see-nya! I get it-nya!" Kuroko got it. Ji-hoon was certainly an interesting person... and a capable leader! "You're very realistic Ji-hoon... but I think that's good in the long run-nya."

Ji-hoon chuckled. "So you really do get it? Good." He stood up. "Alright. I think that's enough for now. I have other places I want to look over." He cut off the conversation.

"Oh, okay-nya!" Kuroko stood up too. "It was fun hearing your story Ji-hoon-nya! I enjoyed it a lot-nya!"

"That's good." Ji-hoon was glad that turned out relatively well. Because he still had another thing he wanted to mention to Kuroko. And if she was in a happy enough mood, he may as well bring it up now. "Kuroko. Before I go, I have one more question for you.

"Really? What is it-nya?" Kuroko was more than happy to answer.

"Just tell me... what does the name Miyuki Majima mean to you?" Ji-hoon crossed his arms.

Kuroko visibly flinched. "W-What? Huh?"

"You heard my question. I just want to know what the name Miyuki Majima means to you." Ji-hoon repeated himself.

"I-" Kuroko's lip quivered. "I can't-"

Bringing up her name had a bigger impact on her than Ji-hoon thought. "I just want to hear your words on it. Listen, I know you didn't-"

"I have to go-nya!" Kuroko ran out.

"Kuroko!" Ji-hoon yelled out. "Damn it." He stomped his foot. At least with Raiha, the trendsetter just deflected the question and left. But with Kuroko... hm. He'd have to approach the topic more carefully in the future. For Kuroko and Raiha.

Despite how it ended, Ji-hoon and Kuroko grew a little closer today!

---

[Ultimate Pop Star's Studio]

"Heh... I knew it. Aurora bestie was right." Raiha had a sad smile on her face as she walked into the late Bessie's Studio. "I felt like I could find you here Rival bestie."

Rival, like yesterday, was currently staring absentmindedly at the large stage. He didn't respond or react to Raiha entering.

"You just gonna stare at the stage or what?" Raiha walked up next to him.

"...I can do whatever I want to." Rival muttered.

"True! That's kinda a mood too." Raiha sat down in one the seats closest to Rival. "Hey..." She just now realized that she had to somehow play therapist here. She should've thought about this more before going for it.

...

Oh well! Here goes nothing! "You wanna sit down Rival bestie?" Raiha patted the seat next to her.

"I'm good." Rival was apparently fine where he was.

"Uh... cool!" Raiha was already throwing this.

"I don't want to be rude Raiha... but do you have a reason for being here?" Rival spoke tiredly.

"Dang Rival. That is low-key rude." Raiha giggled. "But..." She had to make sure to play this right. "I... do have a reason. IG... I wanted mourn Bessie bestie. I haven't gotten the chance to yet." And that wasn't even a lie.

"Oh... right." Rival muttered. "...Same."

Raiha could definitely tell he was doing the same. "Yeah... I had ofc heard about Bessie B. Blossom before, YK?"

"...I heard some about her too." Rival didn't make eye-contact with Raiha as he spoke. "I never thought much of her... honestly."

"But meeting her hit different?" Raiha finished Rival's thought.

"You could... say that." Rival wordlessly sat down in the seat next to Raiha. "She reminded me so much of- nevermind." He immediately cut off his thought.

Raiha decided to be bold. "Remind you... of Hanako?"

Rival flinched. "...Ugh. Yeah."

---

"What? Really?" Aurora had trouble believing that. "Hanako Kaneko? Who's that?"

"..." Rival stayed silent.

...

"Oh forgive me Mr. Seizon, I know this is..." Pheme really found this funny. "I know this is unbecoming of me..." She took a deep breath to compose herself. "Okay... alright. You want to know why you saw the information of your Hanako? It's simple! I did that just to mess with you!"

---

"From what Pheme non-bestie said, it sounds like you had your own Hanako? Do you... want to spill? Or...?" Raiha tried to be as respectful as she could here.

Rival... didn't know how to answer that. On one hand, it was a topic he really didn't want to talk about right now. But on the other, everyone basically knew of her existence now. So... "Hanako was... the name of a good... friend of mine."

"I got those vibes back in the trial. Hanako sounded like she was really important to you." Raiha listened intently.

"You... could say that. You know how I'm a backing vocalist?" Rival slowly started to get a bit more talkative.

"Well yeah. That's your talent! It's kinda a sic one too." Raiha smiled.

Rival eyed her for a moment. "You don't need to say that." He shook his head. "But... you know. I'm a backing vocalist... and Hanako was the lead vocalist. Or... lead singer I guess. That was her talent after all."

"Oh?" Raiha raised an eyebrow. "Hanako was an ultimate? That's some tea right there."

"Yep." Rival sighed. "She was the Ultimate Lead Singer. And I... was the Ultimate Backing Vocalist."

Raiha giggled. "It sounds like you were quite the duo. Did you have a lit duo name or anything?"

"We did. It was... Shinsenna Niku. It translates to "Fresh Meat" in english." Rival explained.

"Fresh Meat huh? That's a... name." It was a strange name to say in english. "It's giving... we're new and inexperienced... but we're ready to get out there and slay."

Rival turned to fully look at her for the first time this conversation. "You got that in one. Not... bad."

"Well obvi? I'm the riactionista after all!" Raiha glazed herself a bit. "The Ultimate Trendsetter! Right here!"

"Right... that's true. You're a trendsetter and... yeah." Rival had forgotten about that. "I never really... follow content like that. It was... never my thing."

"Mm... that's fair." Raiha nodded in understanding. "But you should follow my litty content. You won't regret it!"

Rival felt like he would regret it. "What kind of content do you make anyway?"

"That's a great question Rival bestie!" Raiha stood up out of her chair, eager to get to talking about herself. "I am the Ultimate Trendsetter!" She acted like she didn't literally just say that. "I take pictures of what outfit I'd wear for the day, my brand new and sic accessories, and like, the new and hype restaurants in town! My Riactioneers eat it up, let me tell ya!"

It was clear to Rival that Raiha liked talking about herself. "...Yeah?" It was also clear to him that that content sounded insanely boring.

"Yeah!" Raiha kept going. "My mom and dad kinda helped me get started tho. Kanami and Tomohiro Miyahara! Mom is CEO for a company called EyeCandy! A makeup and beauty cosmetics company!"

"Huh. Your... mom... hm." Rival thought about something. "Makeup and beauty cosmetics? Kinda sounds like what... Damien does. Did you know Damien... prior to this?" It was just a random question that popped into his head, but he was curious enough about it.

"Uhh..." But Rival didn't expect Raiha to think about it so hard. "Umm... totes! Yeah! IK him!" It look Raiha a weirdly long amount of time to answer. "We were just acquaintances tho! No scandals here! Anyway..." She quickly moved on from that topic, but Rival didn't care. "But yeah. Dad was a marketing and business consultant. Call me a nepo baby if you want, but their influence defo helped me get started!"

"I can definitely... see that. It seems nice. It seems like your life was... pretty nice." Rival didn't mean for that to sound sarcastic, but it did kind of come off like that.

"Nice? I mean... IG." Raiha shrugged.

"You guess? That's... a weak answer." Rival pointed out.

"Yeah... it was mostly nice! I love my riactioneers! They're always so loyal!" Raiha liked thinking about her riactioneers. "But... it wasn't all nice. There was this complete bitc-" She stopped herself. "Er... nothing. Nevermind!" She sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

Hm... Rival definitely noticed that Raiha cut herself off. Ordinarily, he wouldn't care. But he was admittedly a little interested in what she was about to say. "Who's a... complete bitch?" He copied her wording.

"Huh? Bestie?!" It thre Raiha off to hear Rival swear. "Ugh... fine. IG I'll explain. It's a mountain of tea tho, so only a little."

"Okay." Rival shrugged.

"So the thing is... I used to have this "friend" named Airi Nishigai yeah? And let me tell you. She was such a poser. And..." Raiha stopped herself again. It hit her that she was supposed to be helping Rival here... and not just talk about herself and her own tea. "YK... nah. Sorry bestie, that's all the tea for now."

"Oh. Okay." Rival shrugged again. He was still curious, but he wasn't going to push anything. Heh. He found himself more invested in the conversation than he would've thought. "So... is that all then?" But he stood up as well.

"Yeah. IG!" Raiha wasn't exactly sure if she did her "job" or not. But... Rival seemed to be in a slightly better mood. "Oh! One more thing tho!" She could sense he was about to leave. "Lemme explain the tea you've missed!"

Raiha explained the overall findings from floor two, as well as the drinking party.

"Huh. Alright. Thanks." With a yawn, Rival walked out of the studio.

Raiha silently watched him leave. Again... she wasn't sure if that went well. She could only wait and see now. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" She exaggeratedly spoke out loud, as she remembered Aurora's words.

---

"When Rosalind and I explored the studio yesterday... I might've left behind Bessie's Star-Phone and her remote. I know they're broken and likely useless... but could you fetch them please? They're..."

---

Raiha had a look around. "Huh... nothing." She couldn't find the Star-Phone nor the remote. "Hate to disappoint Aurora bestie... but I gotta." With a sigh, and one last quick look around, Raiha left he studio.

It looks like Raiha bestie and Rival bestie grew a little closer today!

---

[Comedy Studio]

"Oh. Didn't expect someone else to be in here." Darren had wandered back into his usual place, eager to get to his usual routine. He also wanted to check on all of the drinks Pheme had brought down here.

"Yeah? Too fucking bad you drunkard." Alpha scowled at him as she sipped on a water.

Darren payed the insult no mind as he went behind the counter, and started to prepare his own drink. "So."

Alpha glared at the bartender. "So? Fuck you mean so?"

"So... why are you here?" Darren finished his thought as he finished his drink.

"Why am I here?" Alpha rolled her eyes. "I don't have to answer your damn questions you emo bastard." She took another sip of her water. "I can be here if I want to be here."

"True." Darren leaned back, relaxed, and said nothing else.

...

...

...

"You just gonna stare at me like a fucking creep or...?" Alpha had something to say though. "Why come in here if you're not gonna say anything?"

Darren shrugged. "I like the atmosphere. I'll probably move over to my Ultimate Studio on the next floor when we get there." He more than realized the morbid implications of what he said, but he said it anyway.

"Huh? How the fuck do you know your bullshit studio is on the next floor?" Alpha wasn't there for the morning meeting, so she missed out on a lot.

"You weren't there this morning. Pheme said my Ultimate Studio is on the next floor. We're also going to have a drinking party in three days." Darren summed up what Alpha missed as he took a sip of his own drink.

"The fuck? A drinking party?" Alpha looked baffled.

Darren sighed, then explained in more detail what Alpha missed, but off-screen.

"Really? God you all are so fucking stupid." Alpha rolled her eyes.

"You interested in joining?" Darren took another sip.

"No! Fuck no!" Alpha answered immediately. "I can't even- ugh." She turned her head away. "I don't drink a whole lot anyway."

"Oh. Why?" Darren could sense... something in that last statement. He wasn't sure what though.

"Why? You hoping to make me drunk enough to suck your ridiculous cock? Fuck off." Alpha was finished with her water, and slid the glass away. "I got a history with that shit. I went a little crazy with booze and... other stuff when I was younger. I barely touch the stuff any more."

Oh... Darren understood. He had gotten those kind of vibes from Alpha before. "Fair enough. Should I just ignore you at the party then?"

"What?!" Alpha frowned. "Wait- no! I already fucking said I ain't going to that shit! I got better shit to do!" She spat on the ground. "It's fucking stupid anyway. I can't understand how you can stand doing this stuff."

"What stuff?" Darren wanted Alpha to continue her thought.

"This "trusting" and "bonding" crap. It's fucked." Alpha groaned.

"Why is it fucked?" Darren took her used glass and passed her another glass of water.

Alpha eyed the glass of water. "Better not of roofied this." She muttered to herself. "Anyway, like I was saying. Everyone being so easy and keen to trust each other in this place just throws me the fuck off."

"Why's that?" Darren tried to keep her going.

Alpha took a sip of the water. "People are natural betrayers. It's simple shit. No matter what you want or what you wish... you'll get betrayed. So, I naturally refuse to trust any of you motherfuckers."

"I see." Darren took a sip of his own drink. "You know about betrayal?"

"Hmph." Alpha crossed her arms. "...You could say that. People are jealous... vindictive... and idiots by nature. And that drives betrayal."

"I get that... in a sense. So you stay away from us because you don't want to be betrayed?" Darren took another sip.

"That's what I just fucking said! Pay attention!" Alpha slammed the bar counter. Darren didn't flinch. "Not letting any of you get the better of me. Not you, not Genjiro's bitch ass, not Adam the school shooter's bitch ass, not Damien's fake ass, not anybody."

Darren couldn't help but notice she referenced very certain people. "Hm. I can see the argument for Genjiro and Damien. And... maybe Adam. But I'm not trustworthy?" Despite the statement itself sounding sarcastic, Darren's tone didn't make it come off that way.

"Is that a joke?" Alpha glared at him. "Out of everyone here, you're the only person who has said jack shit about yourself. Not saying I blame you. I think you're playing the game right." She crossed her arms. "But that shit makes you less trustworthy. You're not trustworthy in general though so fuck you."

Hm... Darren could get where she was coming. "I see where you're coming from." He repeated the narration. "I'm not playing any games though. This is just... who I am."

"Oh yeah? You fucking sure?" Alpha didn't believe them.

"You don't believe me?" Darren finished his drink.

"No. I don't." Alpha moved up sunglasses up to the top of her head. "I don't read people's vibes or some shit like Damien the love-bomber. But you have the same vibes as the puppeteer girl."

Darren slightly raised his eyebrows. "Aelia? Why her?"

"Was that that bitches name? Eh, doesn't matter. No one liked her anyway." Alpha had honestly forgotten Aelia's name. "But it ain't cause' you're similar to her. No... you give off the vibes of someone who'd kill. Wouldn't be surprised if you became... what was the word that masked up BDSM bitch used? Right! Blackened. I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up becoming the blackened one of these days."

"Damn... you don't mince words do you?" Darren couldn't help but be a little amused by that. "I'm going to murder someone? ...Nah. Can't imagine I would." He decided quickly.

"Heh. Sure." Alpha didn't believe him for a second.

"You make some bold claims. Do you think you'll kill someone?" Darren turned the question around.

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Alpha stayed silent for a moment. "Can't say. I don't know the future. Who fucking know what'll happen."

Darren felt like she dodged the question, but it was a morbid one anyway. One he wasn't exactly eager to think about. "Fair enough." He took another sip of his drink. "So there's no chance you'll cooperate?" He circled back to a previous question.

"Fuck no. Why do you care?" Alpha answered then asked.

"I don't. Just... asking for Ji-hoon maybe?" Darren shrugged.

"Ohh... so you're sucking him off now? You seemed like the type." Alpha stood up. "You can take the water." She slid it over to him.

"Alright." Darren took the glass, dumped it, and set it in the sink. "You sticking around?"

"Nope." Alpha started to walk away. "I've had enough. Besides-"

"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!"

"I've got better shit do to." Alpha walked through the doorway of Comedy Studio. "Fucking prophecy and ending bullshit..." But not without muttering a rather ominous remark.

But Darren didn't care. As soon as she left, he inspected all of the special alcohol that Pheme had brought down from apparently his Ultimate Studio. He couldn't help but be curious about the place, but it wasn't like he could reach it now anyway.

"Summers Whisky... nice." Darren spotted the drink he'd requested. He was a little excited for it. But he'll wait the three days. But everything seemed right. Some of the booze had already been mixed with some stuff. He had Ayaka do that. He wasn't sure why Ayaka of all people would request something like this... maybe she was more bold than he thought. "Huh. Was this always here?" Brushing past his thoughts of Ayaka, Darren picked up a funnel. "Hm. Maybe it was." It probably wasn't important.

Darren put it down, made sure everything seemed right, and went to leave.

---

[Grand Lobby]

As Darren left, he saw the others slowly making their way up to their rooms. Damien and Ayaka walked together, Yoshino and Kuroko walked together, and... Rival and Rosalind walked together too. He could see that happening. But as he observed people walk up, he couldn't help but see Aurora approaching him.

"Darren? I hope I'm not bothering you. I have a quick question." She had a slightly worried look on her face. "You haven't seen Bessie's Star-Phone and remote anywhere have you?"

"Nope. Sorry." Darren immediately knew he hadn't.

"I see... thank you." Aurora forced a smile before walking up to the others. Hmm... surely that won't be important.

But after a few more minutes, he saw mostly everyone go up... besides for one person he hadn't seen yet. But he decided not to worry about it, and went up anyways.

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Genjiro was the last person to make his way to his room. This drinking party and everything had him kinda pumped. He needed to work out some energy. He thought back to Bessie's show. He wasn't into that sort of thing... but a drinking party could be fun. And besides, there's nothing like a good bottle of booze to strengthen the bonds. Even he wasn't one to deny that. He didn't know how he felt about Pheme getting that bottle of rum for him... but who was he to object? He gets some damn good alcohol? Fuck yeah!

Ayaka said they'd have it be in... three days? Sounds good to him. He wasn't one to shy away from some good suspense. And fuck... who knows? Maybe he'll actually enjoy it. Watching Pheme was gonna suck, but he'd deal with it.

But that was enough inner monologuing. Genjiro went up to the scanner outside of the VIP Quarters, ready to scan his Star-Phone... until...

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"Mr. Genjiro Mashimoto. We meet again." A familiar voice suddenly sounded out from behind Genjiro.

The wrestler fiercely turned around. "Who the fuck-?! Oh. You again."

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"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."

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"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?"

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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?" He 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." He stomped his foot. "Fuck it. I agree. Just give me that, and I'll do it!" He started getting a little excited about it.

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

---

"Hey you fucker." Genjiro greeted them. "You haven't gone out of your way to talk to me in a while."

The person sighed. "That is because... you weren't fulfilling what I asked of you." They seemed almost... disappointed in the wrestler.

"Oh come the fuck on! It's easier said than done with these bitches! They're all insane and-" Genjiro attempted to give excuses.

"Stop Mr. Genjiro Mashimoto." The person cut him off. "I'm not in the mood for excuses. You were getting better this morning though. I thought I made a mistake initially... but I think I have an idea on how to help you."

"Help me? The fuck do you mean by that?" That got Genjiro's attention.

"I want to give you two bits of... information. It should make what I asked of you a little bit... easier." The person pulled out... a Star-Phone.

"Oh yeah? Information huh?" Genjiro crossed his arms as the person showed him their Star-Phone.

"Look." The person gave a one-word response as they showed off their Star-Phone.

"That's..." Genjiro narrowed his eyes. "Wait... what the fuck? Holy shit!" He then widened his eyes at what he saw.

"Shush." The person held their finger up to their lips. "We need not wake everyone up."

Genjiro shook his head. "Fuck you're right." He actually attempted to lower his tone a little. "So... what's the deal?"

"Listen." The person whispered as they clicked a button on their Star-Phone.

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"What... was that-nya? What was that... feeling-nya?"

"What the fuck? That's Kuroko's voice isn't it?" Genjiro whispered.

The person didn't respond as the audio recording continued.

"What... I feel so... ugh... Why was that there-nya? I can't... I can't let anyone see it-nya! I'm... scared-nya! I need to keep it hidden-nya! Yeah... then I won't have to-"

The audio recording stopped.

Genjiro was speechless. "...Okay. What the fuck was that?" Speechless only for a few seconds apparently.

The person chuckled. "I overheard this... you know? And I know exactly what Kuroko Kurobara is talking about. Would you like to know?"

Would he like to know? Fuck yeah he would! "Fuck yeah. What's the deal with this?" Genjiro kept whispering.

The person chuckled. "I'll tell you. It's the first little bit of information I wanted to tell you. So... in her Ultimate Studio... there is a..." The person finished their explanation off screen, so that the reader was kept in suspense of what this information was.

"Holy fuck... that's insane." The bit of information Genjiro just heard... well, it sounded fake as hell. But this person... Genjiro couldn't imagine them lying, considering everything. So... "Alright. I'll do something about shit tomorrow then. Damn right this'll help." He chuckled to himself.

"Indeed..." The person chuckled with him. "Now... the second bit of information. It involves... something happening tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Genjiro raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Allow me to explain..." The person once again did their entire explanation off screen.

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"What... the... fuck?" Genjiro has been getting hit with a lot of crazy information. "So..."

"So... I want you to choose. I've given you the information. Now... choose." The person said ominously. "I can... make it happen."

"Uh... alright. Fuck it." Genjiro decided to roll with it. "I choose..."

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---

Ha! You don't get to see what he chose!

Anyway, here we are! I had bit of a writing funk while writing the beginning of this chapter... but I worked through it! I'm not even sure why I had difficulties, but it's in the past now.

I know not much happened in this chapter besides for the drinking party where surely nothing bad will happen. But just wait for part 3. Part 3 is going to be wild. Trust meh.

But alright. Short Author's Note. Got nobody to shout out... and now I don't know what to put.

Um... you come here often? Sorry, Raiha would be disappointed in my rizz.

Alright, that's enough of that. I hope you're excited for Part 3!

---

Glamorous Stars Remaining: 17

Adam Brooks - Ultimate Academic [PROJECT DRAMA]

Alpha - Ultimate Gas Station Manager [Epifanio Therion]

Aurora Beaufort - Ultimate Starlet [WolfieRed23]

Ayaka Naganohara - Ultimate Violinist [Sempi]

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]