Dangan Ronpa: Unser Sommerende/Chapter 3 - Daily Life (1)

Continued from Chapter 2 - Class Trial.

[1]

[2]

MONOYAKI HOROSCOPE

Aquarius!

Now’s the time for cleaning, whether in the physical, spiritual, or mental world. Purity is of the essence, and if you don’t take action now, you could wake up in the middle of the night choking on a mouthful of mud. So brush your teeth twice a day!

[3]

Morning arrived, and again, it arrived with no sunlight, only with the sound of the announcement. I barely ever looked out of the windows, since the jail bars were an unfriendly reminder of our captivity. The artificial lighting was getting hard to stand.

[4]

But it didn’t matter too much. I got out of bed and dressed faster than I did the past few days. Things were going to start improving now, and I was going to make sure of it. Though getting prepared for the day was easy, preparing an actual plan to prevent another murder from happening again took a bit longer. I knew I had the resolve to do so now, and that the solution was to spread mutual respect and kindness, but... The actual method of encouraging it would be difficult. Aside from the inevitability of Monoyaki introducing another motive, a couple of us had so far proven to be completely closed off to the very idea of co-operation with the wider group. I figured that I’d try to handle them a bit later; for now, keeping the regular students together after yesterday was the main priority. Crisis either breeds solidarity or division, and I had to make sure we didn’t grow further apart.

I decided I’d just talk about it in the meeting, and figure it out as I went.

[5]

I was a little late to the meeting, nearly everyone I expected was there by the time I arrived. Dan didn’t seem to show up, leaving about seven of us in total that morning.

“You think he’s dead?” Charlotte said, unusually nonchalant.

“He isn’t!” Amber called out.

“So you saw him?”

“... I-I just don’t want him to be dead...”

“You shouldn’t listen to her, Amber.”, Molly said, irritated. “She just jumps to conclusions constantly.”

“Nah, not this time.”, the girl in the paper hat said. “Just wondering if he could’ve gone into a coma or something.”

“Well, uh...” Mia paused. “... Is he still in the trial room?”

“Nope,” I began, “I had to drag him out of there, since I was the last one to leave. He’s in his dorm now, I assume, since that’s where I brought him. He didn’t seem dead though, so, I assume he just needs some time to himself.”

“Good job.” Lucy gave a dazed thumbs up. “... Is that everything we need to talk about today?”

“I just have one more thing to say, and that’s...” I hesitated, not sure how to word myself. It was kind of hard to tell everyone to put faith in kindness and optimism the day after two more people died, or at least, it was hard to do so without looking like an idiot. “... N-never mind, it’s nothing.”

I decided that I’d just tell everyone tomorrow, when things were a bit less tense.

[6]

With the meeting over, and nothing successfully executed on my part, I was only really able to find someone to talk to in order to pass the time, and hope that I would be able to do things better tomorrow. I found myself intrigued by Charlotte today, as she seemed different from her usual self during the meeting, a lot more laid back and less agitated. I wasn’t sure why this was, but it certainly made her much more approachable.

So, without hesitation, I made conversation, in the hall just outside the dining room.

[7]

“Hi!” I said, as if I had never met her.

“Hey there.” She said, with a smile.

Despite all the friendliness from either side, I couldn’t shake that awkward feeling that something was off.

“How have you been?”

“Good.”, she said. As if any of us had been good... Such an automated, polite response. Nothing like Charlotte.

Something was really, really wrong.

“... How’s the weather?”

“Haven’t been outside yet, so I’m not sure.”

“I-I guess none of us have looked out the window yet.”

The small talk was kind of getting to me, when I noticed something different about her outfit; there was a gaping hole in her paper sailor hat. It was cut completely clean, probably using scissors. I couldn’t tell if she intentionally set it up like that, or if she was unaware... Perhaps it was a little rude, but I brought it up anyway.

“So, Charlotte, I couldn’t help but notice that your hat has changed a bit.”

“How so?” She asked in a perplexed tone.

“You haven’t noticed yet?” In a somewhat sarcastic fashion, I stuck a finger through the hole and played with her hair a little. “Your hat’s a bit broken.”

Seemingly not annoyed at all with the poke, she took her hat off, and looked over the hole. “Huh... Weird. I don’t have any spares on me, but I guess it looks fine, right?”

“Well, I suppose I could patch it up with some paper. I’ve got plenty of spare paper in my artbook, so-” I stopped for a moment as I remembered that I’m an artist. I hadn’t even thought about it at all for the past week or two, so it felt like digging up a piece of me that had been long forgotten. “... Yeah, I could tape some over the hole. It wouldn’t look that good, but... The fact it’s made of paper means it’s got a sort of ‘arts and crafts’ look to it anyway, so it shouldn’t come off as too jarring.”

“Sounds good!”

So I went into my room, got out a piece of paper and some tape, and then cut the paper into a square large enough to cover the hole. When I came back, she gave it to me, I patched it up, we chatted a little, and I gave it to her complete.

“Thanks a lot!” She grinned, putting it back on her head.

“Oh, it’s fine! It’s just that I’ve been trying to be kinder recently since-”

(SOUNDTRACK PAUSES)

I noticed a look on her face, one of confusion, followed by the usual pouty glare that Charlotte usually gave off. “I can’t believe it... She tricked me! She must be one of them!”

[8]

“Wh-who did?! What are you talking about?!”

“Molly! She took some scissors and cut that hole, how evil!”

“B-but why would she want to do that?!”

“BECAUSE SHE’S A LIZARD PERSON! She exposed me to the government mind control waves so I wouldn’t find out the truth about their control over the world! Well, too bad for them!”

“W-wait, so you’re saying... The hat... Blocks... Mind control...?” I asked, trying to follow along.

“Of course. Paper’s the one thing that their waves can’t pass through.”

“I thought that was tin foil-”

“The tin foil myth was made up by THEM to trick us into using the wrong material, obviously!”

... It seemed she was back to her old self... Which was, well...

“Are you sure that you shouldn’t take your hat off again for one-”

“On the contrary, I think you should make one of your own! You seem smart enough to catch on to the stuff they’re trying to hide, you can figure stuff out, right?” She smiled again for a second, as if imagining the two of us working together on... Whatever crazy ideas she was coming up with.

“I, uh... I’ll consider it.”

[9]

The conversation trailed off from there, and we eventually parted ways. The fact that Molly had deliberately cut off part of the hat for some reason did seem really weird and suspicious to me... I supposed I’d just ask her tomorrow. If it was to try and get Charlotte to go into her more docile state, I wouldn’t blame her. Although, I’m not sure how she’d know about it in the first place...

And it was pretty funny when I realised that Charlotte was probably acting normal just because she thought she was getting brainwashed.

Reasonably entertained, I went to sleep, and felt determined to set my plans in motion properly tomorrow.

[10]

MONOYAKI HOROSCOPE

Pisces!

The future has a high likelihood of popcorn getting stuck in your teeth. It tastes good, though... You know what? I can’t think of anything more for today’s horoscope, I’m just gonna go eat popcorn. Bye bye!

[11]

Morning came as it always did, and once again, as always, I went to the meeting, although I had to psych myself up on the way there to try and get me in a confident position to try and make a speech about getting along or something.

Arriving there, the same people were there as last time, with the addition of Dan, who... His hair was dyed completely white, and his usual outfit was replaced by a blue sheet, like that from the beds of our dorms, wrapped around him like a cloak. The whole getup was really odd, but I just tried to focus on saying what I had to say.

“I, uh, I think I have a way to try and stop anyone from dying.” I said, still having trouble wording things out.

“Go on.” Archie responded, looking at me with an expression that suggested a hint of doubt.

“Well, it’s just... Being friendly, I guess?...” The doubtful expression worsened, and spread to almost everyone else. “I-I mean, just some sort of agreement based on trust and pacifism or something! I mean, before we were just ignoring the threat, or trying to logically neutralise it, which didn’t work, so... I thought that taking a more emotion-based approach would help, since I’m pretty sure we’d only murder under intense emotional pressure.”

“And...” Mia twirled a bit of her hair, slightly disinterested. “How’s that gonna work?”

“You mean how we’ll do it? W-well... I... Don’t know yet...”

(SOUNDTRACK PAUSES)

“Don’t bother.”, Dan said, not looking at anyone in particular. “It doesn’t matter.”

“W-wait, what doesn’t matter?”

[12]

“In the grand scheme of things, our lives are but miniscule blips in the cosmos. Trying to keep ourselves alive is only a temporary retreat from the void, to which all living beings come from and return. Clinging unto this fleeting state is natural, but ultimately in vain, and thus, as there is no true objective reason to do anything or exist, the only logical conclusion is to lay down all thoughts and surrender to the void.”

“... What?...”

“Just been trying to open my mind recently.” He stood and exited, his footsteps so quiet like he was still unconscious and frozen.

(SOUNDTRACK PAUSES)

Lucy blinked three or four times. “What an interesting fellow.”

“That didn’t help.” I thought aloud. “That really, really didn’t help. How is anyone supposed to take the plan seriously now?...”

“I take it seriously...” Amber mumbled. “In fact, I... I think he needs kindness most out of everyone here! I think your idea’s great, Jane! Thank you!!!” She quickly got up and ran out, presumably following Dan.

Two people leaving was enough to make the rest of us disperse, and though there wasn’t any concrete plan of action, at least I actually managed to say something. That’s an improvement, right?

[13]

After the meeting ended (without much fanfare, as usual), I didn’t really have much of an idea about what I wanted to do for the day. This was probably the first time in a while that I felt like this. Before the killing game started, what I’d usually do on days with nothing interesting happening was paint, make some sort of art, the stuff you’d expect. I was a little scared that I wouldn’t be able to do it as well as before since my mind had been so distracted from art, but I figured that, if I was getting rusty, there would be no time like the present to create something new.

After having thought through that decision, I was tapped on the shoulder.

“Ahem.” Molly said, which was really weird since the tap on my shoulder would have been enough to catch my attention, so she wouldn’t need to go ‘ahem’ since I was already- “Excuse me.”, she said with annoyance, interrupting my process of overthinking something small and insignificant.

“Yes?” I said, turning around.

“I believe I have... Matters... To discuss with you. I’ve just noticed something, is all, and I’d like to bring it up over tea.”

“Well, what is it?”

“... I said I’d talk about it over tea, i-it’s just awkward for me to discuss matters of importance without having some sort of meal ready.” She flicked her hair, as if trying to look dainty and superior. “I suppose you wouldn’t be used to it, it’s a rather posh thing.”

“Err, that’s fine, then.” I figured I could maybe get some ideas for my artwork through conversation, which would be nice, although I’d first have to navigate whatever ‘matters’ the maid had in mind.

[14]

“Earl Grey.”, Molly said, laying two cups and a teapot upon our small table. We were in the recreation room, though I don’t quite recall why, other than that Molly just seemed drawn to the room because of the piano. “Do you like bergamot? It’s very beneficial for your health.”

“Yes, it, err, does sound quite nice.”, I said, having no idea what bergamot was. She poured into both cups, sat down with a sweet smile, picked hers up, blew on it a couple times, steam rising up, took a small sip, and put it back down. Her smile then immediately dropped, and she shot a glare at me.

“You’re the one who fixed Charlotte’s hat, aren’t you? I saw you following her around.”

“Um, yes. That was me. I didn’t know that she’d go back to being all crazy and stuff if her hat was fixed.”

“And you didn’t guess that she was acting differently because of the one noticeably different thing about her?” She continued, clenching her mug’s handle.

“... No?... I just thought she’d turned over a new leaf or something, I was just trying to be helpful...”

She sighed. “Great. I went through so much to trick her into closing her eyes and letting me cut it. I had to tell her that there was a government agent coming to get her, and that he couldn’t see her if she couldn’t see him...”

“... Okay, but... Why did you feel the need to cut the hat in the first place? And how did you even know that her hat was so integral to her behaviour?”

“She just mentioned that it stopped her from being mind controlled or something of that sort, so I wanted to try and prove her wrong. And, well... I’m worried about her theories, she keeps making up more and more of them, and they could very well spread some bad rumours about. We wouldn’t want that, now, would we?”

“I mean, nobody takes Charlotte seriously, so I don’t think that’s a concern.”

“Still... I don’t want her trying to stalk me and trying to find out secrets about me. I think that she’s more than capable of spying on people. You’d be surprised, but, when she’s not getting worked up over things, she moves about very quietly...” She faltered for a second. “All I can say is that there are things about everyone that are best kept as a secret.”

“... Like being a lizard?” I chuckled. “She said you’re a lizard alien or something.”

“... What if I am?~” She giggled, a hand over her mouth like young ladies do when they giggle about something in those old-timey movies.

We talked about various things for a while, until the tea was all finished, and we bid each other farewell. Truth be told, I forgot to ask her about ideas for an artwork, but I figured that it’d be best if I came up with it myself, since I’m apparently the ‘Ultimate’ Conceptual Artist. I mean, the tea was really nice, so I guess I’d expect that from the Ultimate Maid...

At the end of the day, I lied around on my bed, trying to think of something to paint or make. I probably stayed up a bit late doing that, but eventually, I had an idea... A piece that’d maybe even be useful in trying to keep everyone together. I mean, artists are supposed to say stuff about their society, right?

[15]

MONOYAKI HOROSCOPE

Aries!

Fill up a pie with chalk and give it to your friends. If you don’t do this, they’ll probably do it to you first! Don’t forget to make the pastry exceptionally tasty, to help express the beautiful, chalky texture.

[16]

I was a little zoned out during the meeting, since I was just thinking about my plans for later that day. I just sort of sat there while everyone else discussed other things.

“So...” Lucy began, leaning onto the table. “Amber, how did it go yesterday with Dan? Is he of good cheer now?”

Amber just looked away and whimpered.

“... It’s okay... Look, he’s still at the meeting, see?” The girl pointed a gloved finger over at him.

Indeed, Dan was still here, sitting there with complete stillness as last time. “I’m here merely out of curiosity, yes. What happens here doesn’t matter, really. It’s just something to occupy myself with.”

“... Cool...”

“Whatever the case,” Archie started, “Dan remaining here helps retain group cohesion. I’ve thought it over, and realised that one of the major reasons murders happened previously was because of a lack of connection and communication. I feel that it would be beneficial to somehow attract the students who currently aren’t attending these meetings.”

Charlotte looked off to the side, looking somewhat doubtful. “We can’t trust those people in the first place if they won’t come on their own. Just asking them won’t make them come, anyway. More trouble then they’re worth.”

“Perhaps... But, if we can get them to trust us, then we’ll be able to trust them.”

A few of us agreed to seek the three remaining students out to try and get them to attend the next meeting. Not many of us, albeit. Fortunately, this task happened to tie in somewhat with my planned artwork, so without waiting, I went to my room and retrieved some art supplies...

[17]

“And here it is!” I said with a somewhat overdramatic flourish, seeing that Mary seemed to like overdramatic things, since walking around dressed like Napoleon every day is somewhat overdramatic.

“... Where’s the artwork?” She said, in genuine confusion.

“R-right here...!” I pointed to the piece itself: a chess set from the rec room, with all the black pieces painted white, exactly the same tint of white as the white pieces.

She just stared at it without much of a reaction. “And what exactly am I supposed to make of it?”

“Well, you have to find that out yourself by analysing the piece. It’s actually kind of interactive, you see...” I pulled out a couple chairs on either side of the table, one for each of us.

“... So we’re supposed to play it then?”

“Yeah, just like a normal game of chess.”

“But if they’re all white, who’s supposed to go first?!” She said, sounding genuinely panicked.

“Doesn’t matter. You can go, I suppose?...”

We were partway through the match. Mary was doing better than me overall, though she looked uncomfortable with the change I had made to the game. Trying to power through this discomfort, she put on a more confident face, and moved the rook forward in order to... Well, I forgot the exact situation on the board, but what I do remember was the conversation that followed.

“I’m pretty sure that was my rook.”

“It was?” She stared at it for a few seconds. “You’re completely sure?”

“Not completely. But pretty sure it was.”

(SOUNDTRACK PAUSES)

“... Well, great. We can’t play like this, can we? You broke it.” She leered at me. “That’s what happens when you just do weird shit for the sake of attention seeking.”

“It looks like attention seeking, but it points out something important.”

“And that is?”

[18]

“That we’re all human.” I paused, to give her time to react, though she didn’t respond. “... Chess is about black versus white, us versus them, so I figured that by making the pieces indistinguishable from each other... Well, it’s an allegory. We’re all human, no matter where we belong or what we believe. So... Fighting is just pointless, isn’t it?”

“... That’s... Disgusting...” Mary gave an offended look, but rather than the usual angry disgust, she seemed genuinely frightened by what I’d said. “You’re going to invalidate the entire history of Earth like that?! Every single triumph, every great empire... That’s all just ‘humans’ to you?!”

“... I mean, if your idea of a ‘triumph’ is war and bloodshed, then I don’t see the harm in invalidating that.” I snickered. Looking back, perhaps I shouldn’t have been that frank, it went against the whole ‘kindness’ thing that I was supposed to be practicing. Still, I had to give some sort of counter-argument to what she was saying, something to try and explain myself. “Look, if this has anything to do with our current situation, what I’m saying is that, if everyone just tried to be a little more harmonious, then there wouldn’t be any more murders.”

“As if that’s even possible.” She huffed. “Look, your dumb hippy peace-activist ‘artwork’ thing isn’t going to convince me. You’re just doing weird shit that doesn’t represent the way the world actually is, and always has been. I mean, you haven’t proven what you said is possible, okay?”

“Well, can you prove that it’s impossible?”

She just stared at me, twitching for a few seconds, until standing up. “I’m not playing this silly game any longer. If you’re trying to get me to start coming to your idiotic meetings, then you should know that I wouldn’t go under any circumstances.”

(SOUNDTRACK PAUSES)

“... Would you go if I promised to paint half the pieces black again?”

“....................................................... Fine...”

I guess the interaction was, overall, a success, considering that I was able to get Mary to start coming to the routine meetings... But it hurt a little that she got so worked up over my art. Still, I think that was probably the first time I ever really stood up for myself in regards to an art piece I had created. Usually when people didn’t understand it, or thought I was just doing it for attention seeking, I’d... Just say nothing, I guess.

Whatever.

The day having passed, I went to bed, happy that we were starting to make some amount of progress.

Continued in Chapter 3 - Motive