Danganronpa: Hope for the Hopeless/Chapter 1 - Lodge Life

## Story

Ding dong, bing bong.

Monokuma spoke his morning announcement just a cheerfully as before. “Rise and shine everyone. It is now 7 A.M. It is officially morning. It’s time to enjoy another beautiful day here at Newpoint Lodge!”

At that, I reluctantly awoke from my rest. At first, everything was a blur, but it all came to me as I came to my senses. I sat up, rubbed my head, and groaned. In spite of everything I had hoped, it appeared that everything from yesterday was not a nightmare. That this killing game was all too real. The others probably had the same realization as well.

I slowly dragged myself out of bed and looked around. I hadn’t really had time to search my room more closely but I would have time for that later. For now, I needed get as much control of the situation as I could. That meant getting breakfast, preferably with three other people so it would be impossible for one of them to kill me and get away with it. More importantly, it meant finding a weapon or other means deterrence and exploring the rest of the place so I didn’t have a disadvantage. Other actions would follow but the first thing on the agenda is protecting myself.

It took me about five minutes to change into a fresh pair of clothing and get ready for breakfast. It just so happened that my closet just contained ten pairs of my high school uniform, one pair of night clothes, and three silver stopwatches all attached to silver necklaces. This time, I dangled a silver watch and chain around my neck and stuffed it under my jacket, but otherwise, the outfit I wore was exactly the same as the one from the day before.

With that, I stepped out into the hallway and began to make my way over to breakfast. At least, I would have if Eto didn’t block my way. I noticed just a few beads of sweat on her forehead as though she was getting back from a jog.

She smiled at me and she seemed more cheerful and energetic than before. Though under her smile I was pretty sure I detected a hint of weariness. “There you are. I heard Seno and Naya say something about a meeting in the cafeteria and I think we should all go. We’re all probably going to get breakfast anyways.”

“That sounds like a plan.” I agreed. I returned a smile and gave a nod. It sounded as though I didn’t need to worry about finding a group for now at least.

We both made are way to the cafeteria though I kept a safe distance from Eto. It was largely uneventful save for a few monitors and cameras that had been added. I gave them the occasionally disapproving scowl but other than that, we just headed to the cafeteria like normal. When I opened the door Naya and Seno were there just like Eto said. But everyone else was there as well save for Sasori, Yasui, Saeki, Machi, and thankfully, Monokuma.

In the meantime, I sat down with one group and that was when I noticed a freshly made Kobachi had been prepared for me. I looked around to noticed that one had been made for each of us. Furthermore, whoever made it pulled out all the stops. Of course the freshly steamed rice and kale were there along with a miso soup. The latter of which had its own vegetable and dashi granules which made me wonder where it came from. Then came the grilled fish, tamagoyaki, and Natto. The aroma from it all more or less permeated the room.

I didn’t know who made it and for all I knew it could be poisoned. But everyone else was eating eat so it was doubtful. My mouth watered as I grabbed my fork and knife, but before I could continue, some more people came in. The first to come was Machi followed by Saeki a few seconds later. Finally, Yasui and Sasori showed up together. When they sat down Seno and Naya stood up.

Seno took a deep breath and spoke. “So guys. I know it’s been stressful but everyone seems to be feeling better so now might be the best time to make plans.”

“Make plans for what?” Saeki asked from the end of the table closest to the front entrance. She appeared as though she was willing to listen but she sounded wearier than before as well. At least that was what I got from the fact that she looked down at a fork she was toying with.

“Plans to get to know each other, make sure nobody gets killed, and find a way out of here.” Naya stated. “I mean, after sleeping on it I think we’re all terrified. Someone might commit a murder if we do nothing but I don’t see anyone here wanting to commit a murder…” She trailed off as though she had something else to say but she didn’t.

I stopped eating to look up and consider what was happening. Both of them were pretty scared yesterday, and while I was happy to see that they were feeling better, they should be feeling worse after the initiation like everyone else. I had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t right, but I went back to eating my breakfast and listened. After all, I could always figure out later.

Senji was the next person to speak up. He didn’t seem nearly as shaken as some of the others. “Indeed. If I recall, I made a promise that I would do everything in my power to keep everyone out of harm’s way. I have never rescinded my promises before and I would be remiss if I started now.”

“Yeah we know-” Sasori began though he didn’t sound as though he believed Senji. Honestly, I didn’t quite know whether I still believed Senji. “Well if it’s all the same to you guys, it would be logical to meet here every day for breakfast and dinner. That way we can make sure everyone is still alive, keep track of our progress, and it would be a pretty safe place to unwind.”

“Good idea!” Seno exclaimed. Then he laughed nervously. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”

I nodded and looked around. Everyone else seemed to be in agreement. At least those who were not too busy eating at the moment. I myself was multitasking between eating breakfast and paying attention. All the while of course, I took note on the mood in the room and tried to think of a reason why Seno and Naya might be happier today.

*(Seno seems to be more optimistic today. Maybe anticipation of the killing game was worse than the killing game for him?)*

I spend a few minutes thinking about it. But in the end, I concluded that I should make sure that they were both okay in my own time. I didn’t want to because it was probably nothing and if it was something, I’d be putting myself in danger. Quite frankly, I would rather just stay out of the spotlight and avoid the attention of anyone who I thought was going to kill somebody. Yet I knew that I needed to do my part if we were all to escape alive and that was making sure that everyone got along. I just needed to wait for the right opportunity to do so safely.

Machi was next to speak. Her eyes darted around, but she took a deep breath and spoke up “Let's move on shall we? I’m using my drones to scout the place so that we can find a way out of her. Anyone else who wants to search is welcome so long as they don’t get in my way. But unless we want to be idiots, we need to ask the hard questions. What is actually being done to make sure we don't get murdered?”

Seno and Naya both recoiled a tad at Machi’s question. Machi folded her arms impatiently in response but it took a while before Seno could come up with anything.

Finally, Seno spoke again. At first he was a little hesitant but he slowly grew more confident with each passing word. “Well-uhm, you really don’t need to worry about that. Senji already promised to keep everyone alive as best as he can but I can certainly help. Senji and I can keep each other accountable, we already doing regular checkups to make sure everyone is alive, and you’re forgetting my talent. My luck will easily allow me to stumble across and stop any murder.”

Naya nodded to back him up with a semi-reassuring smile. “You have our word that nobody will die on his watch.”

“I’ll pitch in too.” Wakuni said with a shrug. He sounded more reserved than worried about it all. “I’m pretty sure between me, Naya, Senji, and Seno there is enough muscle to keep everyone safe. I know it's hard to trust me but- I wouldn’t want to see my brother get executed would I? If you can’t trust me then you can trust that I wouldn’t want to get myself or him killed.”

I looked at Yakawa expecting him to shoot Wakuni a glare over his bluntness, but he only nodded in agreement. “You can include me on that list as well. And if you or anyone is hurt you can report it to me. I don’t know if I’ve told everyone yet, but you have my word as Super High School Level Paramedic that i’ll help.”

“Alright so now that we have almost a third of the class running patrol, but I was actually thinking about a possible activity to keep everyone’s minds off the killing game. Insomuch as that’s possible.” Yasui started. He frowned a little when he spoke the last part but he seemed to be in a decent mood like the rest of the group.

When he said that, I paused and dared to hope. After all, we were in a killing game but that didn’t mean some good things couldn’t happen. I stopped in the middle of picking up some of the fish and guessed with more than some eagerness in my voice. “Do you mean like stage play or something?”

Yasui just chuckled and nodded. “We have a winner!” He said rather jovially and leaving me to wonder if he got that line from a gameshow or something. “I haven’t decided which play to run but I’ll know by tomorrow.”

“So everything’s decided then.” Seno finished. “I guess that’s it for now unless anyone has any other suggestions.”

“Well you could participate in the main event?” An unmistakable voice came from behind me and everyone else. Almost everyone startled, particularly Seno who gazed at it with unmistakable shock, but I was the worst since he was closest to me. I already knew it was Monokuma before I turned around to confirm it.

*(How long had he been there?)*

However, Monokuma just went on waving his arms to get everyone's attention. Once he succeeded, he continued. “This isn’t some practical joke. This is an actual killing game. An all you can murder buffet!”

“You know we actually don’t care.” Sama retorted sarcastically earning herself a glare from the fake headmaster. I decided to intervene before things could get any worse.

“So are you here for any particular reason?” I deadpanned.

Monokuma just looked at me indignant. “I heard you brainstorming and thought I’d join in. A headmaster can’t check in on his own students from time to time?”

Monokuma didn’t get any positive reactions from the class. For the most part, it was just dead silence and disapproving looks for obvious reasons The bear seemed to pick up on this fairly quickly because he crossed his arms.

“Hmm. Well if you’re going to play hardball, I’ll just have to kick things up a notch. See you all later then!” Monokuma said. He raised his fist and then he finally disappeared to somewhere under the floorboards. Even after seeing it with my own eyes, I still didn’t know how he did it.

I sighed, turned around, and resumed eating. Everyone else had as well and the mood that existed before was pretty much killed by the bear’s visit with us. At the very least the rest of breakfast was uneventful so far and when all was said and done, everyone finished safely. I picked up everything I had used and headed for the Kitchen. For the first time I thought that there just might be a chance of us all getting out of this alive.

I stepped through the double door and made a beeline for the sink. I had scarcely put everything down by the time I heard someone enter after me. I heard the doors close and turned around to see Senji standing there. The two of us were by ourselves and he just smiled at me.

“I see you’re the first to finish breakfast. I could have taken care of that for you by the way.” Senji gestured towards the plates I had put down in the sink.

“I don’t think so.” I replied. “If anything, the person who made all of this should take care of it. Especially if it was a monster like Monokuma. But I can handle it. This isn’t the first time I’ve taken care of my own mess.”

Senji shook his head. “Actually that would be me. Everyone was so terrified last night, present company included, so when I heard about the little event Seno made I thought It might make people feel a little better. Now, I don't normally say this but before you ask because I’m sure that someone will, I feel like I should assuage any potential fears about the food being poisoned by saying that everyone knows I made breakfast.”

Given that he would be the prime suspect if he did, his argument made sense. Yet I couldn’t help but tense slightly at the mention of poison. Firstly, because I had barely even considered that before he spoke up and I needed to be more careful. But secondly, Monokuma’s message was still fresh in my mind along with Shiro’s comment about not knowing the intentions of others.

Senji must have noticed because he frowned and continued. “I told you that you can trust me, but if you can’t believe that you can trust that I would want to preserve myself. I wouldn’t have brought it up or hurt someone in a way that would point towards myself if I planned to do that. If you can’t trust that either, you can talk to Yakawa.”

“That won’t be necessary.” I said with a nod and calmed myself. It seemed like a bit much to me for him to be doing all of this just to help everyone. But then again, he was a Super High School Level Butler. And he wasn’t the only person to be trying so hard to prevent a murder. Seno, Yasui, Naya, Machi, Wakuni, and Yakawa overtly promised to try and help.

I stepped away from the sink and headed over to a cabinet in search of something else to have. When I opened one place, I found a pack of some triple chocolate bar I had never heard about before. I internally started to salivate but my anticipation turned to disappointment when I turned the package around and it was empty. I looked at Senji but he was just wide eyed with surprise.

“Those are- really good. But I don’t know when they will restock. I will see if I can’t save one for you next time they’re stocked.” Senji said. His composure was completely broken. But after one quick grunt, he regained it. “So Mrs. Toshiro, what are you going to do next?”

“I’m going to explore the parts of this place that I haven’t seen yet.” I said with just a hint of irritation in my voice. Hopefully he knew it wasn’t towards him. I started to leave out the back door of the kitchen. “I’ll see you around. And try not to push yourself too hard.”

Senji just laughed. “See you around Nishi. And I’ll try my best too. I promise.”

With that, I headed into the hallway to explore the rest of the academy. The first stop was fairly close by. Just along the hallway opposite of the entrance was a supply closet. I made my way down there and reach out to open the door.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I did but it was just a run-of-the-mill dingy supply closet. It had a rack divided into three shelves. The bottom ones contained various cleaning chemicals and a few small supplies and the top contained a few matts. In the right corner were three ‘wet floor’ signs and in the left corner was a mop and a bucket.

I left the place but closed the door behind me. There wasn’t much to see there but I still had other places that I wanted to visit. As I looked to my left, I found the next place. Namely, that stairwell just pass the hallway intersection that I found on my way to the lounge. I couldn’t explore it at the time with Monokuma’s announcement, but now I had my chance.

I approached the stairwell and it seemed to go to the right just past the intersection, but I noticed something to my right as I reached the intersection. Namely, something that looked like a control panel behind the greenhouse shed. I might have missed it except for the fact that Koike seemed to be heavily focused in examining it as though it were really important.

I decided to approach Koike and about the time I did, she looked over and noticed me. “So you see it too?” She asked. She politely but she took one step back to keep her distance from me just like I did when I walked to the Cafeteria with Eto.

“If you’re talking about the control system then yes.” I said eying the thing closer. It had 7:30am on it but I didn’t understand what I the buttons did. It looked as though it needed a passcode to get into anyways.

Koike was all too happy to chime in and tell me how it worked though. “It’s a pretty sophisticated piece of machinery isn’t it? They require a passcode to operate but they can be set to work at a specific time or when a certain criterion is met. My family actually used to own one of these back when they were rich. I can tell you about that, but that’s beside the point.”

“I’d like to hear about it some time, but right now i’m still exploring.” I replied.

“I’ll just leave you to it then. I’ll see you around hopefully.” Koike said while shooting me a quick smile.

“Oh you’ll see me around. That I promise. Until next time.” I replied though I wasn’t entirely sure whether I was trying to convince her or myself.

I frowned and continued towards the flight of stairs I had been heading towards previously. I really wanted to know what was down there. Especially if there was something I needed to worry about.

It didn’t take me long to take that right turn down the flight of stairs and when I did, I found another hallway that curved at a sharp right angle to the right. Naturally, I continued. Around the corner, the hallway turned just as sharply to the left but to the right in the middle of it was an incinerator room. It had a reinforced steel door with a blue card reader, a control panel to the side, and even a reinforced glass window to check in there.

I tried using my ElectroID. Surprisingly, it unlocked without problem. I swung the door wide upon and once again, I got something fairly mundane. It was a steel grey empty room with some garbage inside and a fairly poignant scent that conveyed exactly that. I didn’t want to step inside and fortunately, there was no need. I could see a singly chute that dumped out into this place, a sprinkler above in case of emergencies no doubt, and a flame jet system on the floor. I turned around to leave when I nearly bumped into someone.

“Watch where you’re going.” Saeki said after we recovered from the bump. She didn’t sound too upset but she did rub her shoulder. Finally, she asked me a question. “So what brings you here?”

I responded easily enough. “I’m just exploring the place. I want to see what we’re dealing with and if there are possible dangers I should know about.”

“That’s pretty smart. I’d do the same if I hadn’t looked around already.” She replied with a smirk. She quickly lost it to her usual attitude though. “However, I wouldn't worry about this place. If you saw the control panel you would know that it won’t activate if someone is inside. There’s a safety mechanism that doesn’t seem to have an off switch. I triple checked it myself just to be safe.”

“Well, I imagine Monokuma wouldn’t want to make it that easy.” I said in reply. It was all true but the what Saeki said only made me wonder if someone could still be burned somehow. I opted to ignore the thought entirely. “So what are you doing now anyways?”

“It turns out that Monokuma assigns someone to check this room’s condition for a week. This week that individual is myself.” Saeki said pointing towards herself with her right thumb for emphasis. “Between you and me, I find this room disgusting and i’m sure everyone else will, but Saeki Masu isn’t about to cause problems with the garbage and make everyone hate her. So here I am.”

Saeki continued. She looked at her right nails and spoke neutrally again. “So if you’re exploring, you may want to try the storage room next if you haven’t been there already. I think you will find there are many interesting things there and I would tell you myself but I would hate to spoil it for you.”

I nodded happy to have the advice. It wasn’t much considering I would have figured it out in a few minutes, but I would take anything I could get. “That was my next stop. I’ll see you around.”

“Of course you will. And i’ll see you around as well. If you need me, i’ll probably be outside or in my room.” Saeki finished politely. “Really, you should come see me sometime. I’m sure we have a lot of interesting things to talk about. But until then, I will see you around.”

With that, I left Saeki to whatever she needed to do and made and continued down the hallway because I really hadn’t seen the storage room yet. Of course, when I made that left turn from earlier, I found the entrance on the left halfway down the hallway. Furthermore, there seemed to be a door that led outside. As I approached the storage room, I felt the temperature drop a few degrees though it wasn’t a really surprise with the exit close by.

I opened the door. Unlike the other places, this one had a lot of neat things inside despite being grey just like the rest. Namely, several crates on the far right end marked with different labels. I might take a closer look later but for the moment I was focused on other matters. In the middle of the room and taking the vast majority of it was a series of racks that were all littered with supplies. They were pretty tall as well because I wouldn’t be able to see anyone if the aisles weren’t facing the entrance of the room. In the back of the room were several doors starting with 2 and going all the way to 8 from left to right. To the far right was another exit as well. Finally, Seno and Sasori were searching near me in two different aisles.

*(I must have been looking around for longer than I thought if everyone has already disbursed.)*

“So what’s up with this place?” I asked out loud. It seemed to catch both of their attention because they both glanced over at me.

“Well we’re both here because we assumed there would be something interesting here.” Sasori stated blankly before Seno could say anything. “It does not have everything that I anticipated but it does have spare supplies.”

“Yeah. So far I've found a few gym weights and a ton of rope of all types. I’m not sure why there is so much either. Oh well, it probably doesn’t matter. I’m just going to keep looking.” Seno said with a shrug.

(Hmm.) I thought as I approached one of the shelves. I couldn’t help but notice an almost empty box of cherry bombs and winced.

“Seno already disposed of all of those that he could find. He only left a few that we could use to get attention in case of emergencies. I saw the whole thing so he’s telling the truth.” Sasori said. At least, I heard Sasori say that. When I looked over at him, he was already resuming his search.

At that, I decided to ask about the most obvious question that I could immediately think about. “What’s the deal with the doors in the back?”

“We don’t know yet.” Seno said frowning and crossing his arms as he looked over at it. “I imagine that there is something we need to do to unlock them.”

“You imagine correctly!” Came a voice from behind me. I just rubbed my forehead in frustration of having to listen to what I knew was Monokuma. Sure enough, I was right. “You know how when you advance a level in games, the shops in town start to sell new inventory? Well you get new murderrific gadgets if you nail a culprit in a class trial! What you see now is what’s available from the start, but if you want to next one-” He pointed to the one marked with the two on it. “You’re going to have to wait for a class trial. Well, so much to do and so little time. See you around kiddos.”

With that, Monokuma departed and we were left to stare at where he had been just moments before. I doubt I would ever know how he made such quick appearances and disappearances but quite frankly, I didn’t care. I just wanted to make sure nobody wound up getting killed. Even if I had a hint of curiosity in the back of my mind to see what was behind the door, it wasn’t worth it.

“We’re all going to make sure that door never opens right?” I asked both of them a little more sternly than I should have and pointed over to the door marked with the two. They both nodded and I sighed. “Sorry. I just wanted to make sure we were all clear on the subject before I left.”

“You can leave in peace Nishi. You have my word that nobody is going to die.” Seno said as he stopped his current task of examining a piece of wire to give me a wink.

“I’ll see you both later then.” I said and started to leave. I still wasn’t entirely convinced that he could keep his promise, but it would have to do for now.

With that, I left for the gym. It wasn’t too hard to find. I just backtracked all the way until I went up that half-flight of stairs from when I was introducing everyone. Instead of going straight or right, I simply turned left to the gym. When I approached, I reached for the handle. If anyone was in there, I expected it to be Wakuni.

It wasn’t quite what I was expecting when I opened the door. The floor was soft and black but the walls were a polished wooden all except for the one opposite of the door which was just line with a bunch of mirrors. Naturally, several pieces of equipment could be found in the place including a table full of weights and other exercise related items. And in the middle of it all was Wakuni, wearing a T-shirt that he likely wore under his jacket instead of the jacket itself, bench pressing a sizable amount of weight just like I suspected.

Wakuni set all the weight down and sat up to face me. He gave a quick friendly wave. “Hi Nishi. The bench press is occupied right now but everything else is free. The weights are over there right next to you in case you want any of them.”

“I’m actually just looking around right now.” I said in response.

I looked away. The prospect of exercising with Wakuni just seemed a little awkward. Maybe it was because he was in the best shape out of everyone here and was just average at best, maybe it was because he wasn’t wearing his jacket, maybe it was because of the killing game, and maybe it was because I wasn’t sure how Yakawa would respond. I didn’t know which reason, but for now I felt uncomfortable and I knew it would be best to wait until I sorted it all out.

Wakuni frowned and grumbled something. Then he spoke. “Suit yourself but do keep yourself in shape. I know the class is working to protect each other but none of us are miracle workers. I would do you well to be able to run away or protect yourself.”

I just nodded. To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to what he said. Well he was right for starters so started off with that. “I- I will be sure to keep that in mind Wakuni. Maybe i’ll get to this later.”

“You should.” Wakuni blankly answered. “Well, I guess that’s it then. I’ll probably be here when you come back but i’ll see you at dinner if you aren’t.”

“Yeah. I guess i’ll see you then.” I said. All the while, I slowly started to back away towards the door.

I turned around and closed the door behind me. I’d pretty much covered all the rooms left to explore which really didn’t leave me with much. There was always the first aid station but I had already seen it most of it through a window on my way to the cafeteria earlier. I suppose I hadn’t been outside or checked the laundry room either but even taking those into account, this still was no kind of place to live in.

*(I hope we all figure out a way to escape soon. I know Machi’s is working on it and I bet some other people are as well, but I’d better do my best to pitch in as well.)*

Just as I started to leave, Eto showed up coming from the library. When she saw me, she spoke up and waved to get my attention. “Oh, hi Nishi! I think I might actually need your help with something if that’s okay with you.”

“What is it?” I asked calmly. I couldn’t help but feel a little paranoid creep up since Eto was the first to ask me or anyone for a favor since the Killing game started but I forcibly ignored it.

“Well Naya and I are going to go for a little walk around Newpoint.” Eto said with a smile. “She says it would be safer if there were three of us. I came up here to find Sama. I can’t find her right now but you’ll do just as well if you’re willing to come.”

I didn’t like being a substitute but I kept that to myself and smiled back. “I’ll help. Where do we start?”

“Well we’re meeting up at the front.” Eto said as she began to count fingers. “Naya said she has four structures that she wants to take a close look at and then we’ll head back. But we should probably make it quick because it is pretty darn cold out there!”

She left after that. I started after her, but she seemed to have had a head start and by the time, I reached the staircase down to the main floor, she was long gone. Of course I knew what I needed to do and that was head back to the coat room.

I did exactly that, I went down the stairwell, turned to the area where all of our rooms were, and headed down to reach my destination. It wasn’t much of a walk after that. I just rounded the corner like before until I had reached the changing room and I went inside. This time, I went over to a locker with the same number as my room and swiped my e-handbook through a red electronic lock which was apparently added after the initiation. What I got was a pink parka with white fur trims, matching winter pants, boots, white gloves, and white trimmed goggles. All of which I grabbed before heading to the actual women’s changing room.

I swiped the card through another red card scanner for that room and it opened with a click just like everything else to reveal what was inside. The room itself had pink walls, a white ceiling, and tan tiled floors. I found it kind of tacky but decor was my last concern for Newpoint Lodge. Not much was inside really save for three changing areas that were on the right side and had doors for privacy. On the far end, there seemed to be a silver area that looked like an emergency shower of sorts and there was even a rack of four white towels opposite of it. In addition to being connected to the rest of the room, it seemed connected to the far changing area.

It didn’t take me long to complete the process of changing really. It was as simple as removing my school uniform save for the sweater and undergarments, putting on the parka and everything that went with it, putting my everything I wasn’t wearing in my locker, and locking it. When all was said and done, I was headed towards the entrance in under three minutes with my goggles on my forehead and the hood on my jacket hung down.

Naturally, both Naya and Eto were waiting for me at the front and both were wearing similar jackets. In fact, the only difference I could tell was that all of Eto’s trims as well as her gloves were light green, and all of Naya’s trims as well as her gloves were tan. And they were both looking at me expectantly the latter of which was tapping her right foot.

*(It looks like everyone has a special color scheme)*

“Nishi can come with us right?” Eto said to Naya pleadingly. Again, I hid a frown because all things considered, Eto already had to deal with a potentially disappointed Naya.

“I only asked for her because she didn’t sound like she was too busy. If Nishi wants to join us then she can.” Naya responded in a somewhat reassuring tone. Then she looked over at me. Couldn’t see her face, but she sounded serious. “It gets cold out there really fast so you need to put everything on before you head out. I think Eto can lead the way since she took a trip out there before, and that’s about it.” She started for the door and paused. “I would brace myself if I were you.”

I slid my goggles down to cover my eyes and pulling up the hood to my coat just as Naya opened the front door. I was close enough so that the cold front reached me before I stepped outside. I shivered violently as my body adjusted and I realized just how right Naya was about the temperature.

I stepped outside and the door closed behind the three of us, naturally I could see my own breath but more importantly, I saw the vastness of the mountain in which we resided as well as the steady falling snow and the dark clouds above. Monokuma was absolutely right about us all dying before we reached the bottom.

“How about we m-make this quick?” Eto said holding her arms for what I would bet was warmth. She hadn’t quite adjusted to the climate either. Yet, she started to head away without even waiting for our answers.

Both Naya and I followed her until we approached a shed to the east of the main structure. From what I could tell, it was about one and a half stories tall which meant that it had either a high room or a big loft at the top. The roof looked to be a traditional hip roof and it seemed to have a weathered grey brick exterior. There was a big faded red door as well. At that moment, I looked over to my left, actually saw what appeared to be the side entrance from earlier, and held back a complaint.

“Alright, so why don’t I search the building counterclockwise, you can search clockwise Nishi, and you can try to check the door Eto.” Naya stated. She sounded calm and her tone was all I had to go by because of the apparel.

“You got it!” Eto said. After that, she practically bounded towards the door.

I stayed behind just long enough to see her unable to open the thing but I left her to whatever she wanted to try next. I knew she was smart enough not to try anything stupid or to violate school rules by forcing the door open. At least, I thought she wasn’t. Yet the doubt made me hesitate for a second before I continued. It didn’t look like she was trying anything of the sort when I left so in the end I did what Naya asked of me.

I looked up at the side of the building. Nothing was out of the ordinary and the building was pretty plain from the outside. Furthermore, I could only find one window on the side of the building and it was on the loft so I couldn’t see anything behind it. Monokuma probably made sure not to give any hints to what was inside.

I shook my head and made my way to the back of the building. The back was just as plain as the front only it didn’t even have a door on it. Fortunately, Naya caught up with me about that time.

She looked like she was going to continue but I grabbed her arm to stop her. If I were being fair with myself, it was almost instinctual. I honestly didn’t know why I reached out to her. It would only put me at risk. But I was kind of concerned about her sudden change in attitude and besides, I already made up my mind to ensure that nobody was suffering too much stress. Especially when buckling under stress could lead to a murder.

I let go after a quick tug from her but I spoke up. “Hey Naya. I have something to ask you. You seemed to be really worried earlier before we knew that this was a Mutual Killing Game. You seem to be feeling better but I just wanted to make sure you actually did feel better than last night.”

Naya stopped for a few seconds and gave a drawn out sigh. When she spoke, she looked me directly in the eyes and spoke in a darker, more serious tone. “I’m still just as worried as before. It’s just that Seno came to me for help so I’m just trying to put that aside to help Seno and the others shut down this horrible killing game. I trust you understand that.”

I nodded because I understood completely. I opened my mouth to reply but before I could, Eto came into view and spoke up. “What are you girls doing back here?” She stopped for a moment as if she were waiting for us to respond but she continued before either of us could. “Never mind that. The door here is locked and there is nothing we can do about it. Did you find a way inside?”

We both shook our heads. Naya spoke up ruefully. “There is nothing on the side I explored. Not even a solitary window.”

“I saw a window but it’s on the loft so I couldn’t see inside. I bet it’s locked as well.” I said disdainfully.

I heard Eto grumble in response and she spoke with more than a hint of irritation in her voice, yet she was still somewhat hopeful. “It sounds like there isn’t a way inside. Well, I guess we’d better get going to the next building. Hopefully there will be something useful we can find there.”

Eto started and we followed when out of the snow came an all too familiar half-white and half-black teddy bear. I wanted to continue but the rest of the group stopped and I figured I had better stop as well.

“Out for a leisurely stroll?” Monokuma just asked in a way that I couldn't tell whether he was mocking us again or actually wondering. It turned out that animatronic teddy bears were harder to read than people.

I didn’t want to explain but everything was on camera so it wasn’t as though we could lie to him. Naya must have figured this out because she stepped forward and answered honestly if not irritantly. “We’re just exploring since you said that we could with minimal restrictions.”

“Well i’m glad to see that this class has read the rules at least.” Monokuma said as gleefully as ever. He seemed to emphasize ‘this class’ for some reason but I was too busy listening to think of the implications. “I’m actually here to give you three a fair warning. In five minutes, I’m going to make an announcement for everyone to meet me at the lounge. Point is, I expect you all to be there in ten minutes. Well, I would stick around but I have stuff to do. See in the lounge!”

With that, he was gone and we were left staring at each other. Obviously, this meant our search would need to be put on hold. Yet I was personally more concerned that Monokuma had a reason for meeting us all in the lounge. Especially considering he said he would ‘kick it up a notch’ this morning. Like a creeping feeling of dread in my stomach that something really bad was going to happen.

“I think we had better get to the meeting. There is no telling what will happen to us if we refuse.” Naya slowly said after a long silence. Technically, she was wrong since I knew we would all likely be executed if we refused, but she started to leave as soon as she finished speaking and I wouldn’t have told her even if she had stayed.

“Hey Nishi?” Eto said to me moments after Naya had left. She looked at me vacantly and didn’t sound as cheerful as usual either. “I have a really really bad feeling about this. Like ‘somebody is going to die soon’ bad. I-I just don’t think the class is as cohesive as it claims to be. I could be wrong but if i’m right, I just hope you aren’t the first to die.”

“Well- thanks” I said with just a little hesitation between words. I had to admit, Eto mentioning the possibility of me getting murdered and suddenly revealing just how little she trusted her classmates surprised me, but it wasn’t too hard to respond. “Eto, I hope you aren’t the first either. But remember that everyone here is just a scared teenager trying to get home alive. Nobody here actually desires to kill someone. If we do that, nobody has to die.”

Eto seemed to have stopped listening at the first sentence because she waved her right arm as though she was brushing the notion of her possible death aside. “Please Nishi, as if I would be the first to get murdered. Now come on!” She said in what sounded like a desperate attempt to cheer herself up. “Follow me and i’ll lead you to the coat room.”

I did so. True to form, we made our way safely back inside the lounge through the front door and it only took a few moments fro me to bask in the wonderful heat of the lodge. From there, I reversed everything I did when I changed into the jacket. And before long, Eto and I were in the lounge and I was in my normal school clothes.

It didn’t seem like we were so much as a moment too soon. Once again, the lounge was packed with all sixteen students including Eto and myself. And once again, the lounge appeared to be the same save for two things. First, the turrets we had seen yesterday were thankfully absent from the room. Second, there was a cart in the far left other corner of the room with bundle of newspapers.

Most were standing up but a few had chosen to sit down in chairs. I myself chose one close to the fireplace. The cushion was soft and the heat from the fireplace was more than welcome. It might have even been a pleasant experience if it weren’t for the impending Monokuma.

“So where were you?” A voice asked cooly. I looked over to see that it was just Saeki talking to me while trying to maintain a calm and collected posture and tone. “You, Naya, and Eto were almost late and I know Eto for one doesn’t just slack off.”

“We were outside looking for clues outside when Monokuma showed up and told us to meet him in the lounge. We found a shed east of here and examined it but there’s no way inside. The door is locked and the only window is to the loft. You can go ahead and tell the others since we’re trying to pool our knowledge and all.” I explained with a hint of resentment in my tone. I tried to mask any hint of impending dread Saeki must have noticed.

Saeki did applaud me, and I imagine the others, quietly. “Well you did a good job. If our investigation continued to go this smoothly, which I’ll make sure it does, we just might all escape by the end of the week.” She then looked and the podium and allowed herself to scowl. “All in spite of Monkuma who is bound to show any minute now.”

Saeki was right, It didn’t take him much time to show up after her comment. Monokuma sprung up within a minute of when Saeki finished. Like before, he made he landed on the podium. Except this time, he was holding a bundle of newspapers. If I had to guess, I would say that they were the same newspapers that the cart in the corner of the room appeared to supply.

“So what’s the occasion this time?” Yasui grumbled. Both his arms were crossed and he made no attempt to hide his disdain.

“It probably relates to how nobody’s murdered anyone.” Tanabe claimed from the outer fringes of the group. He didn’t sound too upset about the meeting, but he wasn’t smiling either. He didn’t even sound afraid as he said it but he spoke in his usual quiet tone albeit with some irritation. This elicited a few glances from the others. “I’m only making an observation.”

“The spider freak is right! Nobody has dropped dead yet. And while it is only the first day, I am disappointed by your lack of initiative!” Monokuma stated. “When I was a cub, people jumped at the tasks they were given!”

Shiro crossed her arms and looked at the group. “You can keep being disappointed. Trapping us here in this dredgery is disgusting enough but none of us want to commit such a deplorable act.”

“That’s the problem haven’t you been listening!” Monokuma shouted all while leaning forward, raising his claws aggressively, and almost jumping off the podium. However, he regained his composure just as quickly. “So long story short, you’re all probably eager to know about the outside world. That’s why I, your generous headmaster, has composed our very own Hope’s Peak Hokkaido Branch News Article!”

At that, he did a flip off the podium and held them out for the students to collect. There were only five in his hand, but there were plenty more available over by the stand for those that couldn’t get one from Monokuma. A few people approached, but I thought of a potentially life-saving question.

“Is it mandatory?” I asked quickly, desperately, and loudly enough for everyone to hear me. A the same time, I got up from my comfortable chair.

“Upupupu. Well no, but some of you have already started reading it.” Monokuma pointed out. To be exact, he pointed at a now blushing Sama who must have grabbed it from the stand earlier. “She isn’t the only one either. So if you want to not know something that a potential murderer does, be my guest!”

My whole body tenses and I hesitated to act on what our self proclaimed headmaster had said. I scowled at him, but at the same time the last thing I wanted was to make myself vulnerable to murder. For a few seconds, I stood there torn between the two. I looked around and saw that I wasn’t the only one either. However, we all eventually made our way to either the teddy bear or the cart and I was no exception.

*(I swear that no matter what happens. I won’t commit a murder.)*

I swiped a newspaper from the stand and quickly found my way back to the seat. Reluctantly, I opened the paper up expecting some sort of catastrophe, news about our families, or some ultimatum. But I got none of it. Instead, it had all the usual elements of a typical newspaper. Sure Monokuma had added morbid twists to what I was looking at, but nothing that induced murder.

The front page had events that have happened such as the group meeting, but the main section was the start of the killing game complete with a few quotes from some of the students. I skimmed it and flipped the page and found the weather. Apart from the warm and cold fronts having Monokuma heads and a few of the weather symbols being distorted, it wasn’t too different. There was a severe weather alert though for the next two days so it was nice to know about that though.

I flipped the page again. A comic section fell out but I refused to so much as pick it up let alone read the thing. Instead, I continued on what mattered. The Tokyo Nikkei stock index was next. Apparently they were in a bear market.

I frowned internally and I refused to look up from reading my papers, but I knew that the rest of the class would be taking worried glances at Shiro, Koike, Yakawa, Eto, and Wakuni. All of their talents or attitudes either required a great deal of wealth or meant they were raised in a wealthy environment. All of which meant their families had the most to lose. There might have been others here as well, but those people stood out by their talents.

I flipped to the back finally. Apparently it had a homemade recipe column for anyone who enjoyed honey. I wasn’t going to try anything Monokuma had given me, but it was at least reassuring to know that there wasn’t anything else to worry about on top of their current concerns.

After all of it was over, I reluctantly put the newspaper aside and looked at the group to determine what the damage was. Just as I suspected, people were keeping their distance from those they suspected had the most to lose from the falling stock market index. Shiro seemed to have the worst of it and her right eye seemed to twitch in response.

Additionally, Naya and Seno both paid each other worried glances to which Seno grunted, shook his fist at the bear, and spoke up. “You aren’t going to make us kill each other!” He started to head over to the fireplace. “Heck. I don’t even see anything important to us here. You failed this time Monokuma.”

As if for emphasis, he tossed his newspaper, comic section and all, into the fireplace. I watched as the whole thing caught alight and burning the now cackling fireplace. It wasn’t against the rules so it wasn’t like there would be any retaliation.

“Really Seno? You don’t see anything important?” Monokuma questioned in his usual teasing manner though it sounded more like someone would when they called out a stupid response than anything else.

“Well we already have a third of the class working to protect the others.” Yakawa chimed though he didn’t sound completely convinced of everyone’s safety.

“Yeah, it’s like Seno said. Nobody is going to die on his watch.” Yasui said with a growl. “And we’re all going to help make sure of it too. Even if we have to punt you halfway across the world!”

“That reminds me. I know this is off-topic, but have you decided on the play you said you would perform.” Saeki asked. She sounded calm but she looked like she just snapped back to reality as she said it so I imagined the motive managed to trouble her.

“Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.” Yasui said completely calm while looking over at Saeki. He really was a good actor because I couldn’t pick up a single trace of his anger which I was pretty sure he still had.

At that, Monokuma jumped up to the podium and looked down at the ground. “I am really disappointed in you guys.”

The was a pause where everyone either looked at Monokuma and glared or cowered to themselves and looked around the room at other students. Obviously, everyone hated Monokuma but I took note of the people who seemed anxious because it meant the motive got to them in some way or another. Most of them, it would only cause them to distrust others. But it might trigger a murder.

Monokuma however, just looked at the floor. Probably disappointed by the group’s defiance. It took a full minute before he spoke again. “I’m going to go now. But before I do, consider this question. You know that I’ve handed you a motive to kill each other. Knowing that, can you really rely on the protection of those who have a reason to kill you?”

Afterwards, Monokuma flipped back behind the podiums and disappeared to leave us all in thought and silence. In spite of Seno’s efforts, nobody felt safe. I knew this because everyone stood still like me and I for one felt a chill unrelated to the climate.

Eventually the group started to leave without anyone making more a faint murmuring. The crowd started to pull out and I started to go with them though I stuck to the back of the group. It really didn’t take to long after that for us all to make our way through the door. I did so with several questions weighing on my mind but the most immediate was obvious.

*(What am I going to do next?)*

It took me a few seconds but I decided that the best course of action was to go to follow Naya since we were searching the lodge before Monokuma showed up and interfered. I did so and unsurprisingly found my way to the front room with Naya and Eto before she stopped the both of us. I looked through the window and it wasn’t hard to see why. Not only had the snow picked up but so had the winds. Suffice to say the weather didn’t seem fit for an outside trek.

“I think we need to wait before the weather clears up.” Naya stated. She sounded calm enough it seemed almost as though she was a little paler than before Monokuma’s meeting. Likewise, she was fixated on the clouds outside the windows.

“H-how about we take a closer look at our rooms! Or somewhere safe.” Eto stated in response to both Naya and the storm. Of course, ‘somewhere safe’ didn’t exclusively refer to the weather outside and we all knew it.

I just nodded in agreement though it felt more like I was surrendering than agreeing. “That’s a good idea Eto. We should all find someplace safe to explore until we’ve had the time to calm down. With just a little bit of luck, this whole thing will blow over.”

“You really think this will blow over?” Eto asked as she crossed her arms and actively avoided eye-contact with me.

“Of course.” I lied completely without so much as hesitating and forced a weary smile. “Monokuma is only doing this because he knows that nobody wants to commit a murder. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be cautious. I’m only saying that everyone will calm down after a few days. Hopefully there will be nothing to fear.”

“Well I hope you’re right.” Was all that Naya said as she parted way from us. Apparently, she was the only one of us three not headed to her room.

Eto and I found our way to our own rooms quickly enough without her though it was a rather silent trip. She was the first to go into her room. I scarcely caught a glimpse of her room but what I did see included a few bird cages and a few posters on them that included stuff like their habits or anatomy. I considered talking to her some time about it as I made my way to my own room. It wasn’t much of a journey since we were in the same hallway so all I had to do was swipe my card and let my door unlock.

When It finally did, I entered and closed the door behind me. Everything was still there. The couch, the rug, the bookcase, the bed, the nightstand, the monitor, and the annoying camera. Only I caught a glimpse of something sticking out from underneath the pillow of one of my beds. I headed over to examine the thing closer.

*(A monocoin?)*

As soon as I picked it up, Monokuma appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. This time, I didn’t even flinch as I was honestly expecting him to come and explain everything to me. It’s what he did in the past without fail and it was what he was doing right now. I did however, take a deep breath.

“What’s the deal with these monocoins?” I asked pinching it between two fingers and holding it up for him to see.

“Well I’m glad you asked! Especially since I came to explain them to you.” Monokuma chimed in. “There’s a shop on the second floor where you can buy stuff to make your community life more comfortable. It also works on the vending machine down here if you don’t want to wait for someone’s punishment.”

“Nobody’s going to commit a murder.” I retorted. I pocketed the thing and looked away from the bear in an attempt to ignore him.

Monokuma wasn’t having any of it. “You’re pretty good at lying but there are two people you didn’t fool. Yourself and I. Did I say that right? It is yourself and I right?” He brought his arm up to his mouth in thought.

I paused at what he said, closed my eyes for a few seconds, and then resumed looking around the room. There was a cabinet in the night stand. I opened it to find a sewing kit inside a clear plastic case. In the sewing kit, I could see several unnecessarily large razor sharp needles and a diagram of the human anatomy. Below that was a series of shipping charts but that wasn’t important to me at the moment.

I quickly closed the cabinet before Monokuma could comment and expected him to do it anyways, but when I heard nothing. I took a quick glance over my shoulder to see if Monokuma had left my room yet. He hadn’t left.

I gave a small sigh of disappointment. My day was already bad enough without Monokuma interfering with my room search. I looked back at the top of the night stand. Like before, I still had three tape recorders on it. And that was when I got an idea of just how to use them.

I pocketed two of them so that I could record any expected meetings in case something went wrong. At the very least, I could hide one in my room if I ever knew ahead of time that someone was visiting. If necessary, I could even warn someone that they’re being recorded as a deterrent. It likely wouldn’t be enough, but it was the perfect start.

(I will always have one on my person but if anyone actually kills me they wouldn’t know-)

I shook my head and tried to force that thought to the back of my mind. Fortunately I had just the distraction, my search. I had already seen the closet and the couch didn’t have anything special on it but that left the bookcase and the bathroom. The former of which I approached to inspect ignoring Monokuma entirely.

“You know most headmasters consider it rude to just ignore them when they go out of their way to explain things.” Monokuma unhelpfully added.

I turned around and looked at the bear. Snapping out at him wasn’t an option physically or otherwise so I had to ask him to go away. I took a deep sigh and responded as politely as possible. “Look. I don't like you, and you want me to kill someone or get murdered. I already understand how Monocoins work now but I really don’t have anything else to say and I doubt you want to spend the rest of the day here. Surely there’s someone else who needs to hear your explanation.”

“Alright, alright, I’m out of here. Yeesh I explain how something works and this is the thanks I get. You’re lucky I have other things to do. Ingrates.” Monokuma mumbled before disappearing.

I didn’t know why he left me, perhaps someone really did need the explanation about monocoins, but I was thankful regardless of the reason. I turned back around and searched my bookshelf. It turned out that there was nothing special about the bookshelf either. Just several psychology books. No secret passages either though I wasn’t expecting any. Yet, a quick search did reveal that most of the books were about hypnosis and/or criminal psychology. I also found my favorite book, but left it on the shelf for later.

With that out of the way, I sought my sights on the private bathroom. I headed over there and slowly opened the door. Inside was a white and grey checkered tiled floor with a white ceiling and walls. There was a porcelain toilet in the right corner and an actual shower nearby in the left corner covered by stained glass and grey metal frames. There was also a wood cabinet to my immediate left with a tile cover complete with a sink, mirror, and all of the toiletries. Finally, because Monokuma was apparently a total pervert, there was a camera and monitor in the room.

I groaned just as I heard the sound of some bell play in my room. It took me a few moments to realize that it was the doorbell and head over there. Cautiously, I set one of my tape recorders to play and opened the door. Like the saying goes, I hoped for the best and prepared for the worst.

What I got instead of either was Shiro standing in the doorway. Her arms were down to her left side and she was waiting patiently. I didn’t know why she was waiting so quietly but I would guess it had some to do with her public appearance and whatnot.

“Sorry to bother you Nishi but i’m told that someone prepared dinner for us. Senji even said he checked the ingredients for poison to make sure whoever prepared them wasn’t trying to harm us.” Shiro stated as though it were common knowledge by now.

“Okay-” I began. All the while, I put my hands in my pockets and pushed the delete button on the recorder. The notice came rather sudden to be honest, but I didn’t have anything else to do. “Lead the way.”

She did. I left my room, closed the door behind me, and we made our way to the cafeteria without any trouble. But when I opened the door and stepped inside, I noticed that the tables seemed to be socially divided. Naya, Saeki, Eto, Yasui, Yakawa, and Wakuni all sat at one table and I imagined this was because the other subconsciously distanced themselves from them. There were two open seats available. One meant for Shiro, and one was left over because nobody else wanted to sit there. Koike wasn’t there, but only because she sat next to Senji.

I went into the kitchen, grabbed Yakitori, went back into the cafeteria, and took the unwanted seat. Just as I started to eat the kabob, Saeki spoke. “Nice of you to join us.”

It was almost as if she was welcoming me. While the groups at the two tables certainly didn’t seem to shun each other, they likely ate in their respective groups because they had more similar circumstances and they were probably more comfortable with each other given those similarities. The family I grew up in was far from rich, but if they knew that, they either didn’t care or Saeki overrode it.

“Actually that reminds me. You haven’t heard the news yet Nishi.” Saeki coolly continued. “I heard your trip was interrupted so I took my own. I found three structures that you didn’t have time to find. First, there’s a cavern mouth north of the shed you’ve found but it’s gated just like the staircase to the second floor. Second, there seems to be another shed east of the one you found. It is bigger and has chairlift cable running from it but it’s just as impossible to access as the shed. Finally, there is a third and final shed to the south of here. It has garage doors but no windows so I couldn’t determine what was inside. Pretty impressive huh?” She beamed.

“You really should have waited for the storm to clear up.” Yasui butted in. He looked like he was going to stand to call her out but he didn’t. “What if something happened to you?”

“I’m afraid that wasn’t an option. The storm won’t be clearing up for three more days and the Masu family will not tolerate failure.” Saeki said crossing her arms indignantly.

“Will they tolerate injury and sickness?” Wakuni asked in a rhetorical tone. “My brother has something to help with hypothermia but I can’t promise he’ll find you out there. You did good but be careful.”

Saeki nodded, Yakawa rolled his eyes as Wakuni stated he couldn’t find her, and we all got back to eating our food. It really was the best Yakitori that I have had in a long time actually and despite the circumstances, I allowed myself to relax and enjoy it.

It didn’t take long from there for me to finish my meal. And when I did, I got up to leave with a specific place in mind. Namely, the vending machine. Now that I had a monocoin, I wanted to take a closer look to see if it had any treats that I might be able to enjoy.

I went out the back door and continued until I had stopped in front of the vending machine. It was then that I took a closer look at it’s contents. About half of the items in there were chips and there were a few drinks as well. Most of those could be accessed in the kitchen. However, there were also several treats and only a few were otherwise available. I spotted one in particular that interested me. The same triple chocolate bar that empty earlier this morning. There was no way of knowing when it would be restocked so I might as well give it a try.

I inserted the monocoin and made the selection. A click told me that the machine received the coin, yet nothing seemed to move. The vending machine supposedly ‘finished’ what it was doing without so much as starting to give me what I requested.

I hit the machine. Partially to get what I paid for, but also because of the day’s frustrations. It reverberated, but it didn’t so much as move and a quick glance at the ground informed be that it was nailed to the ground. If there was a silver lining, it was that nobody would be able to hurt themselves by accidentally tipping the thing. Not without some considerable effort. Yet at the moment, it only irritated me more.

I pulled my hand back to hit it just one more time. I drove it forward to hit the vending machine. This time it was more out of frustration than anything else. I hit the vending machine without thinking. And like before, nothing happened. The only difference this time was that I felt a dull throbbing pain in my hand. It wasn’t injured, but it hurt enough to make me realize that hitting the vending machine again would not have been a good idea.

I sighed. All I wanted was a stupid candy bar to help ease my nerves after the motive if only for a few seconds. But it appeared as though I couldn’t even get that. In the end it was inconsequential, but I still wish I could have had it. About that time, Monokuma flickered on a nearby monitor and a familiar announcement played.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Attention everyone. The time is now 10:00 P.M. It is now officially night time. Goodnight everyone and rest well. You never know what tomorrow will bring.” He said through the monitor.

I took one last glance over at the vending machine, sighed, and started to head back to my room. I didn’t see anyone else on my way there but they were probably busy finishing whatever they were doing while I wasn’t going anything at the moment. The walk itself was uneventful but I reflected on what I had done today.

*(You haven’t really accomplished much and someone is probably going to die soon.)* That was what I thought. I hated it but it was really what I knew to be true.

Still, I made it to my room and entered without any trouble. From there, I got everything ready. Namely, I took a few minutes to change my clothes and prepare for bed. All the while, my thoughts kept going back to some of the ‘highlights’ of the day. Mainly the debacle with the vending machine but only because it was recent, the motive, and the fact that I was trapped in a mutual killing game. Everything else wasn’t that bad I admitted, but they were eclipsed by the bad things.

With that on my mind and everything taken care of. I slid into the bed. It was a little early compared to the last time. I wasn’t too tired either. But when I turned the lights off, I managed to slowly doze off nonetheless. The world went darker than it already was as my consciousness slowly faded into a slumber.

…

Ding dong, bing bong.

Monokuma spoke his morning announcement just a cheerfully as before. “Rise and shine everyone. It is now 7 A.M. It is officially morning. It’s time to enjoy another beautiful day here at Newpoint Lodge!”

I woke up and sat up in bed. All the while I had dull headache. I briefly wondered if it had anything to do with the killing game, but I ultimately determined that it was just a normal headache. I did rub it nevertheless.

I got out of bed and started to get ready for breakfast with one question in mind which was determining what to do today. I already explored the place yesterday and while I needed to find a weapon for deterrence purposes, I could just simply use either a spare knife from the kitchen or needles from the sewing kit.

I finished everything, grabbed two recorders, and grabbed a stopwatch. As I walked out the door. A realization hit me. It seemed like the best thing to do at this point was to get to know people more, safely of course which meant not meeting them anywhere shady, and possibly helping them in their respective tasks to get everyone out of here.

It wasn’t that I wanted to avoid them either. Even if it weren’t important for survival to maintain positive relationships, I still enjoyed talking to most of them. It was just that the killing game made me focus elsewhere so far.

Once again, I did not run into any trouble on my way to the cafeteria. However, the same problem that was there last dinner persisted. Shiro, Naya, Saeki, Eto, Yasui, Yakawa, and Wakuni all sat at the same table from before. The only difference in the seating arrangement was that Machi, Sama, Sanda, Seno, Sasori, and Tanabe took the center table and Koike was isolated along with with Senji at the remaining table. Naya also seemed to be a little shaken up if her looking down at her food was anything to go by.

I sighed, went into the kitchen, made breakfast for myself over the course of a few minutes, and returned to the kitchen to sit across from Naya. I would have sat with Koike but Naya was starting to concern me. I would just have to find her and Senji later to apologize to them. In the meantime, I had more pressing matters to attend to. Namely Naya and breakfast which included eggs, bacon, and sausage. I sliced into the sausage but I also looked to check if Naya was okay.

Shiro must have noticed because she gave a quick answer. “She’s a little anxious about the storm though she doesn’t need to be. She said she was afraid of getting snowed-” She looked over to Naya. “Didn’t you say yourself that that wouldn’t happen?”

“The storm’s safe.” Naya said barely making eye contact. “I suppose you could say it feels stuffy in here. I know It’ll all be alright though. I just need to wait for the storm to let up.”

I looked out the window. True to what Monokuma said earlier, there was a storm. Dark grey clouds had already rolled in. The snow picked up like from last time and seemed to pile up, and there was the occasional lightning strike. All of it was harmless from inside and it would likely clear up as the newspaper said it would, but it was inconvenient to say the least.

I pulled the stopwatch out to show her and spoke up. All the while, I remembered my plan to bug my room and grab a knife as a deterrent. “If the storm’s causing you anxiety then I may be able to help.”

“I appreciate it but no.” Naya said with a smile. “I really am fine. It just reminds me of a bad memory and it will disappear once this whole thing blows over.”

“I’m sure you’ll forget all about it.” Yasui said cheerfully. “Would you like to be part of that play I was going to have? Even I can’t run an entire play by myself and I think you’d play Portia perfectly. It’s a pretty important role if I say so but I think you have what it takes.”

Naya blushed but replied. “I don’t know about that- but I guess someone has to do it. But that means you’ll need more people.”

“I know. I’ll round them up this afternoon and tell them about it. Obviously, nobody has to do anything but I bet we’ll find more than enough takers.” Yasui said giving the best charismatic smile he could. It may have been because he was a star but even I couldn’t say no to that.

Regardless, Naya’s worry seemed to disappear and could focus on eating breakfast. I ate the sausage first. It wasn’t perfect but it was good. After that, I ate the bacon. Finally, I finished with the eggs. When I finished, I looked up to see if Koike and Senji were still alright because I wanted to say hello. However, they both were gone when I looked over at their table.

“I gotta go.” I excused myself. I grabbed everything and got up. I was finished anyways.

Like the times before, I went into the kitchen and placed everything in the sink. I would be sure to come back and make sure it was washed assuming Senji didn’t first. I ought to do it even if Senji was planning to. It really wasn’t fair leaving everything to him. For now though, I did want to see where the two ran off to. Apologies aside, I figured that Koike would be a good starting point on getting to know my classmates better if for no other reason than the fact that I was pretty sure I could take her if the worst came to pass.

With that in mind, I headed out the back once more to search with them. It seemed like a reasonable place to start to me at least. Most people were still finishing breakfast and the greenhouse was a calming enough place.

When I exited, I passed by the vending machine from last night. Everything on it was the same save for a crudely plastered ‘out of order’ sign. I just shook my head in disgust and continued past it. It wasn’t like I even had a coin to use.

Regardless, I pressed my hand against the glass of the greenhouse. It was warm, but it didn’t burn my hand. I peered through the glass looking for Koike or Senji but nobody else was in there. I wasn’t particularly worried about the situation though since either of them had no reason to be there and it was way too soon to even consider that something bad has happened to them.

I turned around only to literally run into Seno’s left shoulder. Both of us staggered back. I bumped into the glass and he rubbed his shoulder with his right arm though I wasn’t hurt and I highly doubted it was anything more than a nuisance to him either.

“Sorry about that.” I said all while making a mental note to myself to be much more careful for their respect and for my own safety.

“Just be more observant next time.” Seno said with a smile but with a warning tone. “What are you doing anyways?”

“I’m just looking for Koike.” I answered truthfully. “I’m trying to get to know my classmates and I thought I could start with her.”

“Have you checked the library?” Seno asked putting his hand to his chin in thought. I was about to say no but he just continued. “I heard Sama say she was interested in the library. And that she asked her to show her around. It’s probably safe to pay them a visit if you want to.”

I nodded in agreement. “I’m headed there now.”

“I’ll see you around” was all Seno had to say before heading off. He seemed calm enough but as I made eye contact, he seemed tired. Probably from dealing with all the stress of the killing games.

I just waved goodbye and headed for the library. That was where Seno said they would be and I decided to check it out. On my way, I couldn’t help but think of Seno and Naya. They weren’t leaders per se, but they seemed to be inspiring hope in most of their classmates. At least they were when Monokuma wasn’t around. Even if Naya was stressed out herself and Seno was undoubtedly exhausted. I made a mental note to make sure they were alright when I finally came around to spending free time with them.

It didn’t take me long to make my way to the library and when I did, Sama and Koike were already inside. Sama had taken the center seat once again and Koike had taken a seat next to the bookcase-lined walls. Both of them were reading books though I couldn’t make out what they were reading from the entrance, but Sama was the only one to glance up.

“How are you both doing today?” I said as I approached the bookshelf near Koike. I wanted to say hello but I figured I might as well try to find something for myself after all.

“I-” Koike began before looking over at Sama. “We’re hanging in there- I think. Breakfast was alright enough and now Sama introduced to some book called 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. A lot of things could go wrong from here but today has been a good day so far.”

Although I thought the book choice was a good decision on Sama’s part, I mainly just winced at the mention of breakfast. “Speaking of breakfast, I probably should have said hello. I know it’s-”

Koike interrupted with a smile. “I’m going to stop you right there. Me and Senji were the first to arrive and everyone was too busy dealing with other people’s problems to pay attention to us. I didn’t hear anything you were saying but whatever you and the others did seemed to cheer Naya up. That’s nothing to be upset about.”

Koike stopped and awkwardly looked at me as if she was trying to figure out what to say. But eventually, she figured it out and continued. “Now you seem like a nice enough person but if you don’t mind, I think I’m going to get back to this book.”

I nodded because again, the book was a fitting choice on Sama’s part to recommend to Koike. In the meantime, I still had enough spare time on my hands to try to find a book for myself. There was no reason for me not to wind down for a bit and it was the perfect opportunity to talk to one of the two others. I grabbed a dark red hardcover book from the shelf when Sama spoke up to interrupt me.

“If you’re going to spend your time reading with us, you might as well be reading a good book.” Sama said. She put whatever book she was reading down and headed over to me. “You don't want to read that. Trust me.”

While I didn’t necessarily trust her, I let her grab the book I was holding and put it back. Instead she flipped through random sci-fi books presumably because she figured I was interested from the book I grabbed. To be honest, it didn’t matter to me too much as long as it wasn’t murder mystery. The only way that genre wouldn’t be ruined for me would be if we all lived and even then I would need a break from it.

“It doesn't have to be Sci-fi. It just happened to be closest and I’ll take almost anything.” I said.

“I know” Sama replied with a small hint of disgust in her voice. She didn’t even stop looking or “That’s the problem. You’re and so many people keep your expectations low and that’s why at least some writers have become complacent. You should strive for something you can really enjoy.”

I stopped and thought about what Sama had said for a moment before I replied. “Out of curiosity, what do you really enjoy?”

She stopped and mouthed something to herself as if she were debating whether or not to tell me but in the end she stopped what she was doing, turned to face me, a spoke up. “The genre doesn’t matter. I’m a universal critic which means I need to judge each work based on its own genre. Now I keep my personal preferences separate from my reviews but I prefer books that make you think, stuff that challenges your intellect and reason. That’s-”

Sama’s speech was cut off by non other than Sanda bursting into the room. He sounded somewhat concerned but not overly concerned “Guys, I think Yakawa wants to see everyone.”

“Right.” Sama folded her arms and looked over at Sanda. “This better not be another one of your schemes.”

“Don’t worry, it isn’t.” Sanda brushed his left arm as if he was waving the notion aside. “How to say it- I suppose the best way to start is to say that nobody was hurt that badly. But- the shed Machi, Seno, and Yasui wanted to explore caught fire.”

At that, everyone’s attitude dropped to a cold serious. Koike stood up and walked up to where the rest of us were. From the look on her, Sanda, and Sama’s faces, they were just as worried as I was. It did sound really bad.

“They weren’t in the shed when it caught fire were they?” I said without even pretending not to be worried about them.

Sanda thankfully shook his head and I exhaled a sigh of relief. “They wanted to search it later. They only went outside when one of them noticed the shed on fire.”

“It sounds like we had better check up on them then.” Koike said with a frown. I nodded in agreement and I was pretty sure Sama agreed even if she didn’t express it.

“Take us to Yakawa then.” Sama just said cautiously. Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, and if this is a trick or some practical joke on your part, you will regret it.”

“Not this time four eyes. Follow me.” Sanda stated. Sama opened her mouth to make some remark but he started to leave before she could.

Of course, the three of us followed him across the hall. Right away, I notice a few specks of soot at the bottom of the stairs that roughly made a trail from what I guessed was the first aid station to the dorms. I imagine it was only worse between the route outside and the first aid station. If that were the case, the three must have been closer to the fire than anticipated. As we continued, we wound up in the dorm area with everyone save for Seno, Machi, and Yasui crowded around Yakawa.

We came just in time to hear Yakawa make a statement. “Everyone just relax. Machi has a few cuts and bruises but she was the only one. Everyone is fine and they all will fully recover in time. In the meantime, I have insisted that they stay in their rooms, rest, and be left alone for a little bit.”

The group didn’t look too satisfied by the answer. I didn’t know what everyone had been told or if they even knew all the facts such as the fact that nobody was in the building when it caught fire. They didn’t seem to because they seemed just as concerned as before his comment with just a few not trying to prod for information. Senji being one of them.

“In that case I’ll grab spare dinners for them.” Senji remarked. When Sasori looked over at him quizzically, he defended himself. “It won't be too difficult. I’ll just make four instead of one and take the three of them by when I’m finished.”

“So what happened to them anyways?” Wakuni plainly asked. He wasn’t the only one who wanted to know either.

Yakawa looked around the room. Possibly to check if everyone was here but I didn’t know for certain. Regardless, he deemed it fit to explain everything to us. “Remember the lodge Naya found?-”

Naya winced but Yakawa just continued with little notice. “Seno found the key to it in the storage room so he got a search party consisting of himself, Machi, and Yasui. They were going to search the building later but Seno saw the building catch fire so they all got their coats on and rushed out to investigate. Nobody knows how the shed caught fire but they all suspect that a lightning strike from the storm is the cause.”

“How did Machi get injured?” I couldn't help but ask out loud.

“I was actually getting to that.” Yakawa added. “The building caught fire but Machi tried to open the door anyways to see how bad the fire had spread inside and if anything could be saved. All she accomplished was getting her hand scalded and getting several cuts and bruises from falling debris. Just small pieces but enough to give her a few minor cuts, bruises, and a bit of a scare. Seno and Yasui were too stunned to help but I found them all by that point and pulled everyone out of harm’s way. Machi was hurt and terrified, Yasui was panicking, and Seno was having an outright panic attack so I brought them all here.”

Eto spoke up after that. “And after all that, they’ll all be fine right? I’m really glad that everything worked out but what do we do now?”

“Well, I’m going to stay here in case i’m needed, but they really need to be left alone. The best you can do is go back to whatever you were doing and give them time to rest.” Yakawa stated with an exasperated tone. If I had to guess, I would say that it wasn’t the first time he said it.

I sighed and looked at some of the other people in the group. Most looked like they were considering what to do save for Wakuni who appeared to show a mild degree of concern for his brother. At least he walked up to him and said something I couldn’t quite hear. I myself was thinking about what I was going to do or even if I was going to leave.

I didn’t get much of a chance to decide because Wakuni interrupted. “Alright everyone. My brother here is the closest we have to a medical expert and he says there isn’t much we can do except to leave them alone so we’d better leave them alone. I for one am headed to the gym if you need me.”

With that, Wakuni left. At first, some looked like they were going to argue but they seemed to relent one at a time.

“I’m off to the library again. Let’s try to avoid situations like this from now on.” Sama said with a snap in her tone before turning to Koike. “Are you coming?”

“I think I’m headed to my room.” Koike replied. “I don’t really feel like reading at the moment any more.”

“Well if anyone needs me, I will be busy looking for stuff suitable for our escape in the storage room. I’m just hoping we get out of the deathtrap soon.” Shiro butted in. With that, she, Koike, and Sama left for their respective activities.

Senji was the next person to speak up. “I regret to say I can’t take requests for a while. I have to make dinner to make for myself and three others. It isn’t like the mess in the hallways will clean itself up either and Machi has equipment she left in the AV room. She’ll want that returned.”

“That’s too much for one person. Why don’t I worry about dinner for Seno and the other’s. Besides, I think it would be optimal to give Yakawa a break. At least for dinner time.” Sasori argued. He looked at Senji and for one of the rare moments, he didn’t look disinterested.

Yakawa just sighed and nodded in agreement. It didn’t take a genius to realize that he didn’t want to spend the day, and possibly a majority of the night, standing guard in the event that something goes wrong.

“It’s settled then. Sasori, I appreciate your help.” Senji said as he smiled at Sasori. With that, the two of them left for the center hall and kitchen respectively.

“I’ll be in my room practicing tricks if anyone wants to stop by. It’ll be a blast and i’m sure it’ll take your mind off what’s happened. Great job pulling Machi out of the way by the way” Sanda said gleefully before he joined the others in leaving.

“I’m headed outside.” Saeki said earning the stares of myself and few others. “It’ll only be a few minutes and I won’t take unnecessary risks. I know the weather’s only gotten worse but there may be some valuable clues left behind in the fire.” Before any of us could protest, she headed into the coat room.

Naya was the next to speak. She just sighed and got on with it like it was some sort of secret being spilled. “Well, there was a small accident in my room and I got dirt over most my clothes so i’ll be in the laundry room. I think Eto is headed there was well.”

“I- there was a bird incident in my room. Naya is right.” She said sheepishly. With that, the two entered the laundry room.

“And then there were three.” Tanabe said with a smirk that made me almost squirm. “What was I doing? Oh right. I was looking for a misplaced tarantula near the greenhouse. If either of you want to help, just give me a holler.”

*(How one of your pet tarantulas escape your sight? '**You're'** supposed to be the Super High School Level Arachnologist!)* I thought with exasperation.

I didn’t want to ask him for further details. But even if I wanted to, I didn't have time to ask. Tanabe left leaving only myself and Yakawa. Part of me wanted to help Tanabe catch the tarantula because I would rather have it in his captivity than roaming the school freely.

But I had other agendas in mind like going to the library. In fact, I started to turn around and do just that when Yakawa grabbed my right arm to stop me. My arm went taught and looked at him for some explanation.

Yakawa must have known because he gently let go of me and explained himself before I could ask. “Nishi, I actually need your help with something.”

“What might that be?” I asked in the most polite and friendly tone I could muster. I would have been just a little irritated but it sounded like it was important.

“Well, I am a Super High School Level Paramedic which means that I can treat people when they get hurt.” Yakawa began before taking a deep breath for a long winded explanation. “I’m excellent at doing that, but they all saw a building catch flames right in front of them. Machi was the only one who got hurt and she wasn’t hurt badly, but things could have been a lot worse. Like if they were inside when it caught fire for instance. I think they realize it too.”

I nodded, looked over at the nearest door that seemed to be cracked open, and took a few deep breaths. I understood exactly what he wanted me to do though I wasn’t too happy about it.

“You want me to make sure that nobody is distressed or otherwise unsound don’t you?” I said flatly. “Do you have a way to get in if you get locked out of any of the rooms?”

“Hey, you can trust me.” Yakawa just said all while he showed me four electroID’s belonging to him and the three under his care. “If anything happens, then all you have to do is holler and i’ll say the word. I know I can’t access them but I can still swipe them through the scanners. I tested it.”

I took a moment to process the information and replied. “Alright. I’ll let you know when i’m finished.”

I headed for the closest door. It was still on the other end of the hallway, but it didn’t take me too long to reach it and open the door. Inside was Yasui’s room and it appeared to be some mix between a bedroom and one of those rooms you would see in a studio where an actor was changing. It appeared to have a night stand and a bathroom entrance much like mine, but everything else looked rather different.

For starters, the color scheme of the room and furniture was more of a velvet red curtain-like color and the floorboard was polished wood. The closet was there but judging by the door, it was much larger than mine. On the far left of the room was a cabinet with all sorts of makeup, a mirror, and a bust wearing some wig. There was a red cushioned stool in front of it. Finally, there seemed to be a large wooden drawer set that seemed to have scripts almost spilling out next to where the window would be but there was no window. I noticed the guy pacing around the room and he noticed me just as quickly.

Yasui crossed his arms and stared at me but he didn’t seem to be too upset by my presence. Luckily, Yakawas assessment appeared to be correct since he had no indication of injury. However, I did pick up a faint scent of smoke and I doubted it was pleasant to him.

“Did Yakawa send you to check up on me?” Yasui said paying me a quick dull glance and looking back at the wall.

I partially closed the door behind myself and replied. “There was just a bit of concern-”

“Yeah, I know.” Katai cut me off exasperatedly. “It really is something isn’t it? Did Yakawa tell you? I- I thought she was going to get herself killed when she tried to open that door. She’s lucky she couldn't go inside. This- This killing game is a little to real for me.”

“It’s too real to all of us.” I agreed somberly. Seeing Yasui like this was a troubling reminder of how dangerous it was to stay here. “How do you feel right now?”

Yasui looked over at me again. This time, he made eye-contact and didn’t lose it. He actually laughed just a little “I think you’ve noticed by now Nishi that I’m a bit shaken up. I mean, I could have burned alive if we’d explored the shed and it caught fire then-” he shuddered. “I don’t know what you want me to feel but-”

“You’re doing fine” I reassured him. I even gave him a smile. “I fully expect you to be scared after what you have gone through. Just let me know if it persists or if you start having nightmares.”

“Or if I start having darker thoughts?” Yasui suggested with a raised right eyebrow. Then without waiting for a response, he nodded. “I’m not going to do anything drastic but I promise i’ll let you know if and when I need your help.”

After, Yasui paused. And when he spoke again his tone and expression softened a little. “Will you thank Yakawa for helping us? At first when Monokuma showed up, I thought we would be at each other’s throats. But you people are some of the nicest I've ever met.”

“I’ll be sure to let him know” I said with a nod.

After I said that, there was nothing else to do. He just found the stool next to me and sat down facing the mirror. I could tell he was ready for me to leave and I was ready to leave as well. So I did. I exited the room, closed the door behind me completely, and headed to the next room. It was around the corner but it still wasn’t too far.

When I opened the door, I could tell that it was Seno’s room. This time, the closets and bathroom door had the same proportions but it otherwise looked like a VIP room you would see at a hotel. The walls were gold with white embroidery, the floor was dark red carpet, the nightstand was marble, there was a fluffed couch to the far left, and finally, along the walls on the far end were unlockable display cases full of gambling or luck related items. What caught my eye the most out of those was a golden horseshoe. Of course, what caught my eye the most out of everything in the room was Seno lying on the aforementioned couch.

Seno for the most part seemed fairly comfortable resting his head on his arms and leading back sprawled across the couch. Just like Yasui, he didn’t seem to have so much as a scratch on his body. He did take notice to me fairly quickly though as he looked up at me with a raised eyebrow.

“I was worried about the three of you and wanted to let you know that I am available if you ever need me.” I explained calmly.

Seno grit his teeth and looked down at the floor. “I worry you that much huh?”

“You watched a building catch fire and you suffered an anxiety attack when Machi got hurt. So yes, I would say I am justified in worrying about you. It’s a pretty serious situation.” I asserted while I crossed both of my arms.

He seemed to get the point because he half-raised his hands in mock surrender. “Alright you’re right I know. Look, I was pretty scared back there. Anyone at the scene will tell you I had a panic attack. But-” he paused as if thinking of what to say. “I know it’s come to pass so I just need some time to cool down and I’ll be fine.”

I pretended to agree with a nod and partially closed the door behind myself. However, the way he was acting still told me he was more concerned about the situation than he let on. For some reason, he didn’t want me to know it either.

“Actually, I have another question for you and now seems like as good of a time as any to ask.” I said pleasantly enough. I knew it was dangerous to ask, but it was too important not to. “You seemed so worried when first came here. Now you find out that we’re trapped in some sadistic game where we kill each other but you seemed to have calmed down pretty quickly-”

Seno cut me off and resumed his previous position, but frowned while he spoke. “Oh that. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared at all about it. Just like I would be lying if I said that the fact that I could have been inside the shed under other circumstances doesn’t terrify me. But there comes a point where you got to show people some degree of trust and I know we all have the same goal of getting out of here alive. We just need someone to channel it towards a solution. Besides that, Naya also helped me calm down quite a bit.”

*(You’re right about everyone having the same goal except Naya implied that you came up with your plan first...)*

“Yeah. In times like these, trust is important. Just make sure you don’t blindly trust anyone. We are in a mutual killing game after all.” I said with a hint of disdain in my tone. Partially because I didn’t trust anyone yet but mostly because I didn’t believe Seno. He didn’t seem to notice though.

“I’m a little exhausted now but I think I will be back to normal by the morning” Seno said while giving me a faint smile.

I started to leave. “Like I said, if you ever need me, I am available. I am a hypnotherapist and I know quite a bit of psychology. Point is, I know I can help if anything is troubling you.”

Seno just waved goodbye as I left and shut the door behind myself. Now that that was taken care of, there was only one person to worry about and her room was on the opposite end of the dorm area. I didn’t mind too much though because it really was a pretty tight loop and I just needed to take one of two routes there. I personally opted for the one that did not take me past Yakawa as I wasn’t ready to report to him yet.

Machi’s dorm was in the same hall as my own conveniently enough. When I opened the door, I could see that it was very fitting to something befitting of Machi’s talent. The bed was in the corner this time. The night stand, closet, and bathroom door looked similar to mine. However, the furniture was different. The walls were a darker yellow, the floors were the same as the hallways, and the roof was white. Additionally, there seemed to be several sorted bins full of parts and blueprints neatly lined on the right side of the window. On the left side was clear bin full of tools. Finally, to my left was a table complete with a robotic assembly arm.

Machi happened to be sitting there. Part of her clothes seemed to be singed and her entire right wrist was bandaged and a few spots were treated along her face and extremities where bandaged covered what I guessed were cuts and other injured areas. Additionally, some parts of her seemed to bruise. Otherwise, she was looking healthy. She didn’t seem to notice me either. Instead, she sat, looking at a half-finished quad-wheel drone, either lost in thought or just vacant.

I cleared my throat and spoke up. “Machi, how’s the recovery going?”

Machi took a second to look at her injuries, but she turned to me and pointed to them with her hands. “Oh these? It’s just a few cuts and minor burns like when scald yourself or touch a hot stove. Yakawa says they’ll all disappear within a few days. Actually, if that’s the only reason you’re here, you can just ask Yakawa.”

I shook my head. “I’ve had clients that have gone through similar experiences. I’m not about to give any names but I know that being in dangerous situations can take a toll on a person’s life. I’ve already made sure the other two were alright and I wanted to check up on you as well.”

“Go figures I’m last.” Machi mumbled crossed her arms. She took a deep breath. “I-” She took another. “Well you’re experience is probably right. Really that’s why i’m cooperating with this fiasco. Because I need to clear my thoughts. Things could have been a lot worse-” she said solemnly.

“But they weren’t” I interrupted before she could start down that train of thought.

“I know. In fact, I probably owe Yakawa for helping me” Machi agreed. She stopped, and I thought to say something, but she resumed talking before I could. “You’re right to worry about me but I will be fine. If I start suffering some stupid crisis I’ll come to you before I consider murder and all that. Besides, I doubt i’m nearly going to burn to death again so It’ll all work out in time.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. The hesitance was evident in my voice.

“That’s what I said wasn’t it?” Machi retorted with a hint of irritation. With that, I decided not to press the matter further.

“Alright I said. Well if you ever need me, just let me know.” I said.

I started to leave, but before I could, she spoke up one more time. This time, she sounded upset more than anything else. “Nishi, you trust that I wouldn't kill anyone right?”

I turned around and thought about what to say. I could lie of course but in the end, I thought it was better to explain the truth. “I don’t trust anyone here yet. But I think I will get to trust everyone with enough time. Just keep doing doing what you’re doing to get us all out of here.”

“Will do.” Machi said and even gave a hint of a smile. “I think it’s time for you to get going though.”

I agreed and turned to leave. When I opened the door, I saw Senji standing in front of the door next to Yakawa. Except unlike Yakawa, Senji held a drone in his right hand and a few wires and controls in his right. All carefully as not to drop or damage them in the slightest.

I normally would have asked him what was happening but we both already knew Senji was delivering stuff to Machi and Yakawa as he went into her room so his intentions didn’t need to be questioned. I walked outside of her room and in turn, he walked in closing the door partially behind him.

“Is he the only one?” I asked Yakawa curiously.

“Not the only one. Yasui had me call Naya so he could hand her her script for that play. But It only took a few seconds and I sent him back to his room after that.” Yakawa said. Then he added something like it was an afterthought. “He agreed of course.” Yakawa paused for a moment. “Anyways, what do you think about them?”

I sighed and responded. “Yasui and Machi are both shaken up but their reactions are to be expected. I think they’ll have to deal with nightmares for a few days but I made it clear they can come to me if they have trouble coping and I expect that they’ll feel better if there are no more incidents. Also, Yasui thanks you for helping them back there.”

“I guess I have to trust you on this. I’ve been in the thick of these kinds of experiences before but i’ve never dealt with the aftermath.” Yakawa said with a shrug. He didn’t seem overly worried about it so I supposed that he trusted my judgement as he should. “So what about Seno?”

“Well- Seno is another story. I’m not writing him off as a killer because it could be anything, but he’s hiding the way he feels for some reason.” I said. I scratched my head in thought with my right hand. “Not just from the fire either. He’s a lot more nervous about the killing game then he’s letting on.” Once I finished, my tone dropped to a more commanding. “You can’t tell anyone this though unless you think someone’s life is in danger.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Yakawa said reassuringly complete with a wink. “I’m not the kind of guy to go around spilling secrets unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

I was about to comment on how glad I was that Yakawa understood when I heard someone approach us. Both Yakawa and I looked over in time to see Sasori approach us bearing food. Of course that meant that it must have been dinner time for Yakawa and a few other people as well.

“I can take over from here.” Sasori simply stated. “You probably should. I’m happy to help but I have better things to do if you’re just going to stay here. No offense but we are trying get out of here.”

“Right-” Yakawa said with a slight frown. Nevertheless, he held out the three ElectroID’s that belong to the three patients for Sasori to take. “I was just talking to Nishi about something important but we’re both finished now. I’ll see you in a little while. I’m sure you’ll be fine but stay safe.”

Sasori didn’t say anything but instead, silently took the three ElectroID’s and left Yakawa to do whatever he wanted. In turn, Yakawa chose to start towards the cafeteria. The paramedic wasn’t in a hurry but he did round the corner at a steady pace.

I followed Yakawa to the cafeteria since I was headed there myself though he didn’t talk much to me. It wasn’t too important and it wasn’t like I was trying to draw attention to myself so I didn’t pay it any attention. However, this changed when we got to the top of the half-flight of stairs. Neither of us stopped but he glanced over in my direction.

“Nishi.” Yakawa began calmly. “Thanks for helping out. I’m not an idiot. I know I asked you to talk to three people because they were at risk of lashing out. But you did what I asked without hesitation.”

I smiled at him and I felt a warm feeling that I personally attributed to pride. “Well you said yourself that you would back me up if anybody tried anything and I highly doubted they would anyways.”

We both rounded the corner to the front area and paused just in time for Senji to catch up with us. Quite frankly, it was a good thing that he managed to get everything finished in time to join the others. And it did seem like he was finished if the now clean floor were anything to go by.

“Even so, I appreciate it-” Yakawa continued irrespective to Senji’s arrival. However, he was caught short as his gaze met the first aid station.

He wasn’t the only one either. He went into the first aid station and both Senji and I stopped to follow. Almost immediately the place reminded me somewhat of a hospital room in so much that it had white walls, a white ceiling, and a polished floor. Furthermore, it seemed to have various pieces of equipment. For one, it had a few monitors, gurneys, a cabinet full of equipment, a biohazard container, and everything else someone would need for first aid. However, almost everything that wasn’t bolted down was overturned and the cabinet looked pilfered.

I watched and followed as Yakawa, with both of his hands shaking in anger, push through a door on the other side of the room. When we all entered, the havoc was worse. The room we entered seemed to be a backroom accessible only from the first aid station. It was long and narrow but otherwise followed the color scheme and design of the previous room. The only piece of furniture was a long row of glass cabinets that covered the right wall. All of which held medicine. However, the medicine looked as though it was hastily put back in place.

“Really?!” Yakawa shouted. After that, he took a deep, slow, sigh and turned to face the two of us. “You guys go on ahead and explain to Sasori that he’ll have to take over watching the others. I’m afraid I’m the only person who knows where everything goes so I need to do this myself unless unless you want blood thickener mixed up with headache medicine.”

I opened my mouth to say something but thought better of it. To be honest, the thought of medicine being switched around made my heart pick up a few bpms with concern. Especially since Yakawa’s judgement was the only thing to stop someone from getting poisoned and that was assuming he didn’t try anything. In the end, though I turned around and left.

Senji did the same. I could tell he was reluctant to at first, but he clearly didn’t know anything about proper medicine storage. Yakawa probably didn’t either but he had at least been in the room before the event happened. Regardless, the two of us made it to the kitchen without any more trouble.

Of course it was the same process as the last few times. Head to the kitchen, get myself something to eat, in this case squash fried with pork, find a table, and sit down. Fortunately, half the class was there and everyone seemed more intermingled this time. Nothing like a near-tragedy to make you forget about your possible differences. Regardless, I found a seat between Koike and Naya and across from Senji who sat next to Tanabe.

I started eating just as Wakuni and Sama came through the door. I glanced up to watch them both heading to the kitchen but glanced back down at my food again. Despite everyone cooperating, the room was still silent. If I had to guess, it was from the fact that everyone had an example of the danger that they were in shoved in their faces.

Eventually, Senji decided that that time was as good as any to break the silence because he grunted and spoke up. “So, I actually I have something that I should get around to telling everybody before I forget. It’s not as serious as the fire or relevant to our escape-”

“No problem.” Koike said with an evidently weary smile as she propped herself up. “It would be stressful if we only ever talked about the bad stuff.”

“Well this is bad, just not serious.” Senji said. By his tone, he sounded just a little upset but not very. “It’s almost embarrassing to say but I’ve received numerous complaints from people not having a chance to try those triple chocolate bars from the kitchen. That’s why I’m going to ration them from now on.”

“What!?” Shiro cut off. I saw the doorway behind her finished closing and concluded that she arrived just in time to hear him talk about the rationing.

Senji continued unphased. “It’s nothing. It’s just that I’ve received multiple complaints and something being eaten too soon for some people to get a fair share. So I decided to hide the source of it and give them out of people each day. It's not life or death but I would say it is embarrassing.”

Shiro just groaned and headed to the kitchen with her head hung somewhat downtrodden. The other people who heard Senji weren’t nearly as pronounced but they each showed some sign of being displeased by his statement.

Regardless, dinner continued without any trouble even if it did take me longer to finish my dinner than the rest. Each of them filed out one-by-one and I barely even noticed until I was the only one left in the cafeteria. For that time, I had a moment of quiet and serenity to myself. I relaxed, enjoyed my food, and tried my hardest to forget about the many problems that lie in wait for us.

Of course all of that came crashing down when I heard a scream come from somewhere else in the lodge. I frowned, but I took my time to put everything up before I checked it out. It sounded like a scream of frustration rather than one of distress, but I knew I was still needed to calm whomever the source was down before they did anything drastic.

I headed out to search for the source. During which I saw that Yakawa at least had left for the source, Tanabe was bounding up the stairs from the dorm area, and Sanda was picking up what looked like solitaire cards off of the floor in the back hallway. I first thought it was down in the dorm area, but I saw Yakawa bounding up the stairs steadily to the gym, theatre or library.

It didn’t take me too long to figure out what the problem was when I reached the top of the stairs. Everyone except for Senji, Sasori, Seno, Machi, Yasui, and Sanda were crowded around Sama and a quick glance told me that Sanda was right behind me. As I came closer to the door, I saw the the door was closed and there was a broken blue electronic lock to the right of it. I supposed I hadn’t noticed before because the door was always open and I took it for granted, but now we were all locked out of the library.

“What is going on here?” I asked as I approached the crowd and crossed my arms. To be honest, I was pretty sure I already knew but I wanted confirmation. And while understood Sama’s plight, it was a bit of an overreaction that I imagine some thought were life-threatening.

“Somebody broke the lock and now there’s no way inside. I’ll give you one guess what’s wrong.” Sama stated while glaring at me. However, it seemed to have lost the usual edge her retorts carried. She didn’t like she was upset with me so much as just lashing out.

I brought my hand to my forehead and sighed. “I know this is important to you, but I think at least some people might have thought you were really in danger. You see how this could be problem?”

“Nishi, I understand what you’re trying to say, but this was the only way to take my mind off of our predicament.” Sama relented. Her glare visibly softened as she took a few breaths to calm herself down. Then she she just shook her head and sighed. “I’m sorry if I caused a false alarm for any of you.”

“You have no need to worry Sama, someone wanted us shut out for a reason which means that they clearly have something to hide.” Shiro started. “Point is darling, we’re going to find another way in and figure out what they’re hiding. Besides, we understand why you want a distraction from this- event as we call it.”

“But how?” Tanabe cut in as calm as ever. “The door is locked and the rules strictly say that we can’t force open locked doors. Not without execution anyways.”

“Assuming Monokuma doesn’t fix it, which doubt he will if someone is hiding something-” Wakuni said. “We could probably get Machi to take a look at the lock. I doubt it will work but she has to know something about electronics.”

I would have agreed but I didn’t have much of a chance to. The group looked behind me and I turned around in time to see Senji approaching. That was when he asked us a question. “Would someone please explain the disturbance?”

“The library lock is broken and Sama is overreacting.” Wakuni blurted out unapologetically. “Anyways, we figure someone has something to hide in there so Machi will take a look at the lock. I think she’ll help since she wants to get out of this place.”

“It’s good to know we’re all in agreement then!” Sanda beamed. “This could be a good thing actually. Once we fix that lock we’ll be another step closer to solving the mystery of why we’re all here.”

“Right, like it’s going to be that easy.” Sama mumbled sarcastically and glared at Sanda. Then she pointed at him with her right arm and accused him. “You probably did this. You’re always the one messing with me.”

The friction between the two was palpable after that. Sama looked like she could have lunged at him and Sanda looked like he was on the verge of laughing. Wakuni meanwhile stepped forward as though he was going to get between the two and the others looked like they were ready to pull the two apart. But before anything became of it, the monitor nearby came to life and a familiar sound cut in.

Ding dong, bing bong.

“Attention everyone. The time is now 10:00 P.M. It is now officially night time. Goodnight everyone and rest well. You never know what tomorrow will bring.” Monokuma said through the monitor.

“Lets all get to bed before this gets worse.” Wakuni said in a desperate attempt to save face. However, he positioned himself to grab Sama in the event that he couldn’t.

In the end, it turned out not to be necessary. Sama just nodded and the crowd slowly did the same. Likewise the crowd was already starting the dissolve with just a few murmurs among the group now headed to the exit. Through sheer dumb luck, the impending conflict seemed to have been dissuaded for the moment. Still, it was another relationship to keep track of in the event it deteriorates.

I started to leave, but before I could, Yakawa came between me, Senji, and the exit. “Has either of you told Sasori about the what happened to the first aid station?”

I shook my head and looked at Senji. I hadn’t had the time and I was ready to explain it if he said no, but he didn't say no. “I have already told Sasori about your plight. He assures me that he can take care of the situation. Everyone except for you it seems will be going to sleep soon anyways.”

Yakawa frowned but stepped to the side and let us head down the stairs to our dorm room. After that, we followed everyone who had left except for Yakawa who headed for the first aid station. I looked away as he left and continued to my room with a pang of regret. He would likely be up for another hour or so cleaning up the mess. But he said he was the only one who could so I couldn’t help.

I swiped in and started the process of going to bed. Namely, changing and cleaning up. I left the bathroom and looked at my bed. Today was a pretty big day and a pretty hectic one at that. But at least everyone seemed to be getting along save for a few. What really worried me was the dramatic events such as the shed burning, the library lock being broken, and the first aid station getting ransacked. It all pointed to something bigger. It looked at my bed wanting more than anything to go to sleep and save it for tomorrow when the doorbell rang.

I quickly slid one of the recorder under my pillow since I didn’t currently have any better places to hide it. I set it to record and then I approached the door. What I wanted to know was why someone wanted to see me this late but the immediate answer that came to mind was that I offered help four different people in case they needed it.

When I opened the door, I saw one of the four people who I offered help to, yet for some reason I doubted that she showed up for that reason. Naya was leaning against a laundry cart and I could tell from the fact that a sleeve from Koike’s shirt was hanging over the side that she was collecting. Even if it was unnecessarily soon.

Naya just looked over at it and back at my puzzled expression, then explained herself a little sheepishly. “Look, Senji is doing a load and I thought this might be a good time to help him. I- want him to notice me.”

I nodded understandingly. “Trying to impress him I see. I do have one thing that I need washed but I want to do it myself. I want to know how everything works in case I need to.”

“Alright-” Naya just said. She didn’t sound too disappointed and I figured that that was because I wasn’t too much of an interference with her plan. Yet, her voice trailed off when she saw something on my nightstand which she barged in to pick up. She picked it up and examined it with her back turned to me. “Is this a tape recorder?”

“It might be.” I said. At that, she turned around. Since she was no longer holding the tape recorder, I assumed she had put it back. “So Naya, I have an important question for you. Did you say anything to Seno before he came up with the idea of the breakfast meeting?”

“No. We didn’t even meet after Monokuma’s introduction until he approached me with the idea and asked for help gathering everyone.” Naya stated. She paused, frowned, and continued with more than a hint of concern in her tone. “Why do you ask?”

I paused. For a second, I thought about telling Naya, but I didn’t want her to risk any confrontations. In the end, I figured it would be best not to confront Seno without backup. Something that I would do with Naya and a few others tomorrow. “Nothing. I just thought that I heard a rumor about you two. I may need your help straightening it out tomorrow though.”

“Figures. You can’t be with someone for five minutes without somebody saying something. Romantically or otherwise.” Naya grumbled as she headed to the door. In the end, she turned around, resumed her previous attitude, and bid farewell. “I guess I’m off then.”

“See you around Naya.” I said. I scarcely finished when Naya closed the door for me. A click told me that it locked.

With Naya gone, I put all my recorders back where they belonged and collapsed on my bed. I let sleep overtake me with just a few passing thoughts on the day. Everyone was getting along well on the surface but saying something was wrong would be an understatement. In fact, several things were seriously wrong. At the very least, I would be able to confront one of those problems and Yakawa promised to let me know if another problem turned out to be serious.

*(Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for me.)* That was my last thought before I drifted off to sleep.

…

Ding dong, bing bong.

Monokuma spoke cheerfully through his typical morning announcement. “Rise and shine everyone. It is now 7 A.M. It is officially morning. It’s time to enjoy another beautiful day here at Newpoint Lodge!”

I woke up actually refreshed and ready for the day. I knew I would need to be as well. Dread filled me like a rock at the bottom of my stomach. Like it or not, three people nearly burned to death, Seno was hiding something, somebody ransacked the first aid station, and the motive was still in effect. But hey, the storm was expected to finally clear up outside later today so we could resume our search.

I followed the same pattern that I did the two days before. I suppose I was getting into the routine of things which both reassured me and concerned me to be honest. I got ready, pocketed the two recorders, changed, grabbed another silver stopwatch, and got ready for the day. However, I did notice that one of my recorders was missing.

*(Naya?)*

Once again, I made my way to breakfast. I didn’t run into any trouble on the way there but I couldn't help but think about how Naya stole one of my recorders and if it might be connected to any of the other problems. Even if it wasn’t, it still needed to be dealt with in it’s own right.

Regardless, I entered the cafeteria and repeated the same process as before. I grabbed the same breakfast as the day before and looked for a seat. Everyone appeared to be here except for Koike, Naya, Sasori, Machi, Seno, and Yasui. However, Yasui and Sasori came in just moments after I surveyed the room and past me before entering the kitchen. By the time I had sat down, Machi did the same.

I chose a seat across from Wakuni and Yakawa because I had something important to ask of them. It wasn’t something that I wanted to do, but I figured that the problem was only going to get worse and possibly meet a fatal end if I didn’t confront it. I just didn’t want to confront it alone lest I be the one the meet the hypothetical fatal end.

“Hey Wakuni, Yakawa I have a bit of a favor I need to ask both of you.” I said hesitantly. Both looked at and I started to get second thoughts, but I knew it was important.

“Need something or someone dealt with?” Wakuni teased making a finger gun. He stopped immediately after however. “In all seriousness, what do you need?”

I leaned in and dropped a low tone so that only those close by could hear me. “There’s something I need your help and I think something really bad will happen if I don’t do it. Right now I just need you guys to find Naya and meet me in the greenhouse as soon as you can.”

“Alright then.” Yakawa said. He seemed to drop most of his friendly demeanor but only because the situation sounded serious.

Seconds later, I saw Seno enter the cafeteria. And a short time after that, the remainder of people who had been in the kitchen joined us at breakfast. Everyone except for Koike and Naya at least. Most of the others just sat down somewhere but I did notice a few things about them before they at down. Seno looked tired and Machi seemed slow to response and distant from the prompts of others. Finally, I noticed Yasui headed towards me.

“Hey Nishi.” Yasui said with a weary smile and faintly bloodshot eyes. “So, I know I had a delay with the incident yesterday and whatnot but the play is still going on and I thought that maybe you might want to join me at noon at the theater? I can work around whatever lunch schedule you have although I’m not sure how much that matters to you.”

“I would love to.” I said as I tilted my head and smiled with delight. It seemed like my day just got even busier although this was more of an opportunity than a chore. “Just one question. What do you mean about lunch not mattering to me?”

“He means you’ve been skipping it.” Wakuni cut in. He looked away from Yasui, myself, and Yakawa and crossed his arms.

Yasui didn’t miss a beat replying to me. “I’m sure you’re just busy. Anyways, I’ll see you at noon unless you want to talk to me earlier. In which case you can find me at the gym or theater.”

With that, he walked away and sat down leaving me to finish my breakfast. I did finish my breakfast although it wasn’t nearly as good as before. Not that I cared. It had more important things to worry about like theft, lies, ransacking, and a murder motive in play. I put everything up and went out the back kitchen door. First thing was first, I needed to meet the Shoda brothers in the greenhouse and explain to them and Naya that Seno was hiding something.

Once again, the vending machine caught my eye. It appeared as though Monokuma happened to fix the vending machine because the “out of order” sign no longer there. Yet I noticed something to the left of the vending machine inside of the greenhouse and what I saw made me shiver violently.

*(No, it’s nothing! I can’t see it properly because the greenhouse is steamy! It is a perfectly innocuous object and I will see that when I make it inside!)*

I kept telling myself lies as I dashed to the entrance. I couldn't tell whether the dizziness was from the speed I was going or what I thought I saw. Regardless, I tried to push the door open to no avail before seeing the new red card reader in front of it. I swiped the card in a frenzy and burst into the greenhouse as soon as I heard the click telling me it was unlocked.

Almost everything in the greenhouse was the same except for a few notable differences. Some of which were life altering. First, the whole greenhouse appeared to me to be damp. There was nothing wrong about that since the sprinkler system would have activated recently. If that were the only thing, my heart wouldn’t have been pounding practically out of chest.

But when I looked, I saw Naya suspended from the catwalk above. More specifically, hanging in the air with a noose wrapped tightly around her neck. She didn’t appear to be otherwise restrained but a large blood stain pooled around the front of her chest right where her heart was all too visible. Similarly, her head was slumped forward with what looked like a kitchen knife sticking out the back of her head roughly where the head attached the the neck. She wasn’t struggling nor did she give any other signs of life.

I looked up at the catwalk. I still felt dizzy and my eyes were swelling with tears but I could still see clearly enough to see how it was rigged. The other end of the noose was simply tied in a knot fastened to the railing of the catwalk. It was already enough to make my stomach turn, but I saw Koike fiddling with the knot. For a moment, our eyes met. But she stagger back into the railing on the other side almost as though she were hit by an invisible force.

“Nishi, we can’t find Naya. We’re kind of worr-” I heard a voice behind say. I pivoted around as I came crashing back to reality and I saw that it was Wakuni who spoke with Yakawa right behind him. Both of them happened to be holding rifles pointed at the ground that I only guessed came from Wakuni’s room and both looked up at the body.

Ding dong, bing bong.

We didn’t even look at the monitor but we heard the impending message from Monokuma. “Attention everyone, a body has been discovered! That means, after an alloted period of time, we’re going to conduct a class trial! Everyone should make their way to the greenhouse.”

*(...)*

## Trivia

* The creator realizes the fact that the incident during the investigation is a tad heavy handed. It was included for two reasons; To remind the characters how dangerous it was to be there and cause a few lasting consequences.
* Of all the books mentioned, only one actually exists. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea the book Koike ended up reading.
* Yasui is refering the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare in his planned play.
* The creator did not mean for the story to be this long.