Danganronpa: Hope for the Hopeless/Chapter 2 - Aftermath

## Story

The rest of the elevator ride up would have been silent had it not been for the constant clatter and occasional creak of the elevator moving up towards ground level. It was more or less obvious why nobody was speaking of course. We were betrayed twice by people we trusted only this time, the culprit planned to do it from the start. And then of course there was me. Most people kept to themselves but there were occasional glances and they were painfully obvious. They were trying to be polite and they thought they were being subtle, but I noticed. It was more than obvious that at least some people were worried about how I was doing and it didn’t please me in the slightest.

*(Just wonderful.)*

Not that I was the only person. Koike glanced at Eto as well with the same concern. And unlike me, she actually responded by looking away from Koike. I barely had time to sigh as the elevator began to screech and sparks began to erupt from the joints of the elevator. We all looked up and a few of just jumped, but nothing became of them unlike in Shiro’s case. And at last, the elevator came to a complete stop and the doors opened for all of us to leave.

“So, has anyone made any other discoveries that we should know about before we disperse?” Senji remarked in the silence. “I don’t expect it but it would be nice if we all got the chance to hear some good news.”

“Uhm, I have the gun that Shiro used to try and kill Nishi,” Wakuni offered as he pulled the gold plated revolver out of his pocket for everyone to see. “I know it’s not much but the thing is disabled so nobody will be using it again if that helps. Also, if anybody wants it, they can have it.”

The was a short pause to Wakuni’s offer. Though only Eto, Yakawa, and I explicitly shook our heads to decline, nobody accepted his offer either. I couldn’t see why anybody would accept a memento of when I was nearly shot in front of everybody or about this day in general so it wasn’t unexpected.

As Wakuni brazenly put his absconded weapon away, he spoke up once me. “Alright then. I suppose we should change the topic. Has anyone else found anything useful?”

Again, there was a small pause as we all looked around at each other as if waiting for someone to speak. But Saeki broke the silence this time. And while her tone didn't sound happy, she did her best to put on a smile. “It doesn’t look like anyone here has anything to say. In that case, we’re alive at least. And I promise that I am going to do a better job searching the lodge then I did before this trial.”

“We are alive, but for how long?” Sasori chimed in. When everyone looked at him, he winced but he continued. “I hate to say it but I have a confession to make. I- uh couldn't help but notice that we’re down four people on our way up. That’s twenty-five percent of the class. We really need to focus on getting out of here.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that right now.” Sanda replied. Albeit with a frown. “There isn't much that can be done about it right now with how late it is an all. We’ll worry about it tomorrow but for now, we should finish up whatever we left off before Seno died.”

“I kind of agree with that.” Machi concurred with a quick decisive nod. “I still have some things that I have to put away. Especially after that accident.”

Everyone must have agreed with Machi on it being time to leave because after that, the crowd began to slowly disperse. Eto, Koike, Saeki, Machi, Sama, Senji, Sanda, Wakuni, Yakawa, Sasori, and Tanabe all departed ways to head off in their various directions. Once again, I was left alone to do whatever I wanted.

Of course, it was pretty obvious what I wanted to do. I gave another sigh and headed off back towards the bedroom area. All the while, I allowed myself to calm down and focus on meeting up with Eto instead of worrying about who would be the next to die. I didn’t mean if, but who by this point since there was no need for delusions. Barring rescue, Monokuma could outright force it to happen. But I forced myself not to dwell on that notion and to consider whatever Eto wanted to confess about. And by the time I reached her room without incident, I was focused on trying to help her out with whatever it was that upset her.

*(Alright Eto, it’s time to find out what you’ve been keeping from me.)*

I forced myself to make a convincing smile and rang the doorbell prepared for anything. Not that I was particularly worried about Eto. She seemed to be telling the truth about keeping something from me and she didn’t seem to be suffering anything other than what I guessed was the shock of being betrayed by a friend. Although I was or less just happy to be alive at the moment, I supposed that I could see where she came from.

But I didn't have too much time to ponder on any of that. Soon after I rang the doorbell, Eto opened the door. At first, it was just a crack to where one could barely see the entrance of her room and she peered at out at me with eyes widened from surprise. However, she opened the door wide soon enough as she recomposed herself and explained actions easily enough. It was then that I noticed that she was still wearing her usual clothes. Probably because of the fact that she just got here if I had to guess.

“Oh hey Nishi. I didn't expect you to come so soon.” Eto confessed as she tapped the door handle she still held with her fingers. “I guess I kind of expected you to clean up. But I guess that doesn’t matter. You should come on in.”

As Eto stepped aside to let me in her room, I did so. I considered saying something but instead, I kept quiet and looked around the room. For the most part, it was pretty similar to my own though it reflected Eto’s talent. The walls of the room were a sage green as were the sheets of her bed, the floor was a tan carpet, and the ceiling was white. Other than that, she had a brown nightstand that otherwise looked similar to mine and her bed, closet, and bathroom were positioned in the same places. Likewise, there appeared to be a window in the back of her room as well.

To the right of the window was another light brown shelve stand that seemed to have a large number of books on them. From the appearance of their titles, they were all Ornithology related and sorted alphabetically. But what was on top of them drew more attention. There was not one but two silver bird cages with two live birds in them hoisted on red perches. In the center to the left of their food and water dispensers. I didn't know what they were, they according to gold-plated labels at the bottom front of the cages, the left one was a Eurasian Sparrowhawk and the one to the right was a Sooty Tern. To the left of the window seemed to be a cabinet with camping equipment including a sage fold-out tent as well as a sage sleep bag. And finally, the walls were littered with bird pictures so that each wall had two save for the one across from Eto’s bed which had three.

“So there was something you wanted to tell me?” I asked as I stepped forward and further pushed the door with the express point of keeping it open.

Eto just nodded and closed the door behind me with a click. Either she didn't know my intentions or she didn’t care. Something that almost made me drop my smile before she spoke up. “There is something I’ve been meaning to tell you. Follow me to the bookcase.”

I did. We both went over to where the birds were. The right one of which seemed to chirp happily when she approached. Eto smiled at the bird before she knelt down and sifted through the selection. Finally, she chose one book in the middle of the shelf and showed me. To be honest, it didn't seem to be that different from any book on her shelf. I was just a book on bird anatomy with a brown edge of some bookmark sticking out of the top.

“So what is this about?” I asked admittedly keeping a short distance between myself and Eto. I wasn’t afraid of anything, but being in the room alone with Eto was something that brought my guard up.

“That secret from earlier,” Eto said as her smile dropped to a frown with a sigh. “I know I should have told you immediately, but I’m telling you now. You don't need to worry about the last blood perk because I have it. When I told you that whoever had might have just wanted to withhold it from others, I was talking about my own motivation for keeping the ticket.”

I bit my lip and frowned myself as she pulled the bookmark out of the book to show me. Sure enough, it was a ticket of sorts that was the size to fit exactly where the last blood perk would have fit in the prize room. As if that wasn’t enough, it had more than enough inscriptions to prove that it was the last blood perk in question. Such only heightened my blood pressure at the mere thought of someone using it.

**'Last Blood:**

* Usable once upon committing a murder.
* If the owner of this perk becomes blackened, then they can show this ticket to their headmaster, Monokuma, and they will graduate. No class trial, no fuss. All remaining spotless will be punished upon use of this perk.’

“I really hate this perk.” I simply replied when I finally looked up from it and at Eto.

Eto nodded. “I know. Trust me, I would have gotten rid of this perk the second I found it but Monokuma said he’d just replace it if it was destroyed. At least this way, nobody has access to the thing no matter what. Anyways, you forgive me for this right?”

“Of course,” I replied. That part came easily. Yet, that wasn’t all that I wanted to say. I imagined that her having the last blood perk was supposed to be comforting because it meant that nobody else had it, but it didn’t change the fact that she could still use it herself. It was still a little bit of comfort I supposed to be able to keep a tab on who had it, but it barely made me feel any better about the subject. So naturally, I attempted to restrive the perk with the first lie to come to mind. “Could I- uh perhaps have it? I know a place where nobody will be able to access it-”

“Well-” Eto paused and rubbed the back of her head nervously with her right hand as though she knew that I wasn’t going to like what I was about to say. “I mean, it wouldn't be any different than if I kept it here right? You can trust your friend not to use it Nishi.”

“Unless somebody else came in here for whatever reason and found it,” I pointed out. When she frowned, I did as well. Mostly because I felt a small surge of guilt for manipulating her like I was. Not enough to make me stop, but enough for a part of me to wish that I wasn’t doing it. “You yourself just said that the ideal solution would be to get rid of the perk entirely right? We can’t destroy it but if nobody can access it then neither of us have to worry about it.”

“But uh, how do I know you’ll get rid of it?” Eto asked. And as soon as she did, she looked away in what I assumed was an effort to avoid eye contact with me. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me to ask. I can’t believe I am-”

“It’s because of what Shiro did isn’t it?” I guessed. Eto nodded and I continued. “It’s alright to be a little suspicious after getting betrayed by someone you thought was a friend. I guess what I’m trying to say is I do forgive you.”

“Thanks.” Eto said. I thought I saw her begin to smile as she extended the hand holding the perk to me. “I think it's starting to get late so if you can’t get rid of it before night time, you can ditch it wherever you intended tomorrow. The only thing I ask in return is that you take a picture of wherever you put it. I know you won't try anything Nishi but it would help me rest a little easier.”

Truth be told, I didn't want to take a picture to show Eto because I knew that it meant that I had a day to find a spot to stash the thing. Granted it really would be ideal if I could get rid of it, but I didn’t know of any spot so it posed a problem in terms of convincing her that I got rid of the stupid ticket. But I didn't have a choice but to agree to her admittedly reasonable request or there was no way that she would hand it over to me. So I ignored the fairly glaring hole in my plan and continued.

“I fully understand and I’ll gladly show you a picture. Just don’t tell anyone else about the perk. We don't want them to panic for no reason.” I agreed as I took the perk that I just scammed from her a little too quickly. Luckily enough, she didn’t show any signs of noticing so I just continued. “So, is there anything else you want to talk about? I know things haven't been pleasant.”

“Not really.” Eto said as she shook her head and put the book back where it belonged. “There’s a lot that I’m upset about but it’s nothing that I haven't already talked to you, Koike, and Saeki about. You’re all the best by the way.”

“Do you want me to try and cheer you up with hypnosis?” I offered. To be honest, I wasn’t sure why but I was already here so it wasn’t like I was taking any more risks than I already was. Eto, on the other hand, would be so I didn’t expect her to accept my offer.

As I expected, Eto flatly rejected it. “I think I will be fine Nishi but I really do appreciate the offer. I imagine someone with your talent could work wonders.”

“Well I don't want to brag, but yes I can.” I agreed with a smile as I thought about my talent. It was a shame Monokuma had the ‘no sleeping outside your dorms’ rule because things would be a lot safer and a lot less awkward in the chairs in the lounge. At Least, that was what I was thinking before an announcement interrupted my thoughts.

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 once more over the school speakers. I would have considered the fact that I was beginning to get tired of his crap, but I was well past the point of just beginning to be tired of it.

Instead, I just looked at Eto just in time to see her look away from the monitor back at me. For a brief moment, she was frowning and I could tell that she was at least as irritated by that bear as I was. Which to be honest, meant a lot. But the whole event quickly faded and likewise, are moods quickly reverted back to what they were before the announcement.

“I guess I had better get going then. There’s a lot to do between exploring whatever section that is going to open up and stashing that ticket away.” I said as I slowly started to head to the door and even gave a wave to Eto.

“Wait-” Eto said. I stopped about halfway to the door when she did. “I actually have something else to confess. Nothing major like the last blood perk but it’s something that you should probably know.”

“And what might that be?” I asked with the raise of my left eyebrow. To be honest, I had no idea what else Eto would have to tell me.

“Well there’s no easy way to say this but I would probably take a shower in your bathroom,” Eto admitted with some hesitance in her tone though not enough to make me grumble at it as well as the memory of Koike and Tanabe reacting the same way. “I didn't say anything before because I didn’t want to be rude, but yeah, you kind of stink.”

“Gee thanks.” I sarcastically replied. “Yeah, I’m aware. I went to help Yakawa search the incinerator room. Whatever, I’ll see you tomorrow Eto.”

With Eto’s remark behind me, I opened the door and headed out into the hallway with one last wave to the ornithologist. And after the door shut behind me and I heard the click of the mechanism locking on its own, I paused as I had contemplated what I had and what I was going to have to do as a result.

To be honest, I felt just a small stir of guilt over the way that I manipulated Eto into giving me the ticket because I couldn’t stand the thought of someone having access to it. I felt a little less guilty after her last remark, but I still wished that I hadn’t had to have done it nonetheless. I was essentially betraying her immediately after Shiro tried to get us all killed. Granted I had my reasons, but Eto had better not figure them out. It didn’t help that Eto clearly wanted to keep it in her room because she didn’t trust me with it. She tried to hide that fact from me but I definitely noticed.

Still, I wasn’t about to do anything about it. My having the ticket was the best possible outcome of this debacle. The only person in this game who I knew for certain that I could trust was myself. I only knew what was going through my own mind. And I knew for certain that, even if I couldn't find a place to ditch the last blood perk, I would never wind up using it. No matter what Monokuma threw at me, I had no intention of killing my classmates. So with newfound resolution, I headed off towards my room.

I took about two steps before I saw a door to somebody else’s room. And when I did, I stopped as the obvious idea struck me like a truck. I didn’t really have to get rid of the ticket so long as I convinced Eto that I did, but I might be able to actually do what I promised Eto and get rid of the ticket for good. The only problem was that I needed confirmation from a certain someone that this wouldn’t end with another perk in play.

So, I pulled out my ElectroID with my free hand, sighed, and spoke to seemingly nobody in the empty hallways. “Monokuma, Monokuma, Monokuma.”

I didn’t know what to expect but I had my suspicions that he would show up. Sure enough, Monokuma sprung up from out of nowhere within ten seconds of me finishing my call. He seemed to omit to dramatic bits of his entry that he usually did, however.

“You wanted to see me?” Monokuma cheerfully chimed in. His tone of voice was innocent enough. Almost to the point of almost being uncanny in fact.

“I just had a question about this,” I coldly and factually admitted and I held out my right hand to reveal the last blood perk ticket. Really, every last part of my mind fought my decision knowing full well that I didn't want to drag the teddy bear into this, but I knew it was better to be safe in the long run. “It’s about the last blood perk.”

“Ooh.” Monokuma claimed in mock impression as he leaned in to observe the thing. “This is genuine. I’ll accept it alright. If it’s the mechanics of the perk that you’re worried about, it really is a simple as the instructions read. Just kill someone, call for me, and show it to me when I show up. You leave and everyone else dies without a class trial just like it says. No strings attached! Honest. You could literally do it in front of everyone and get away with it.”

“That wasn’t the question I wanted you to answer.” I sternly rebutted as I retracted my right arm and folded them both. “You said earlier that the last blood perk would not be replaced unless this one got destroyed, correct? So if I lost it somewhere where I couldn’t regain access to it, it could be removed from the game entirely?”

“Wow, I’ve never had a student want to throw away a golden ticket out of here like that,” Monokuma replied putting his right paw up to his mouth in thought. “I shouldn’t have put it past someone like you to find a loophole. Fine, I’m a bear of my word so you can get rid of it if you find a place to lose it for good. But keep in mind that there is another one hidden in the lodge before you throw your golden ticket out of here away.”

Admittedly, I cringed at the reminder that there was another ticket hidden in the lodge. Likewise, my pulse picked up a few beats per minute for the ten seconds that followed the reminder. But ultimately, I comforted myself with the thought that Monokuma should have mentioned that someone else had the perk if someone else had found it by now. So I was probably safe. At least, that was what I kept willing myself to believe.

“That’s all I need to know actually,” I said as I started to head the opposite direction and used my right hand to brush the headmaster off. It had been a really long day and I didn't want to spend any more time with Monokuma than I had to after all. “You can leave to do whatever it is that you do. Unless of course, you want to let us go in which case I would be thrilled, but I somehow doubt it.”

I didn’t stop until I reached the front of the door to Yasui’s room. From there, I knelt down and did my best to shove the ticket halfway through the crack underneath the door to his room. While he was dead, his room would save lives. Something that I imagined he would have wanted given the fact that he regretted what he did. Yet, I couldn't even get the ticket a third of the way underneath the door before it caught something and refused to budge further.

About that time, Monokuma, who hadn’t left, came to my left side and spoke up. “Do you realize that the rooms are soundproof and fairly airtight?”

“I see that. I’m just here to take a picture is all.” I said as I flicked my ElectroID open, selected the camera function, took the picture, and grabbed the ticket. All before I took the perk and stood up again without so much as heeding him my care. “You can go away now.”

“Okay then.” Monokuma complied. “But before I go, here is something for you to think about. Everyone has a breaking point. Are you sure that you don’t want to have that perk when you hit yours?”

That forced to look in his direction. I opened my mouth the reply. But like that, he ducked under the floorboards and disappeared without so much as a trace. I put my ElectroID away but I clenched the ticket a little harder upon his disappearance as I pocketed the thing. I didn’t know why he was acting all friendly all of the sudden but I had a feeling that it has something to do with the fact that he wanted those perks to be in play which was all the more reason to get rid of them.

I just shook my head as if to remove the thought of him and bounded back to my room. On my way, I happened to pass Sanda who wordlessly stopped in front of his own room. But other than that, the hallways were empty and I made it to my room without any incidents. To finish the day, I swiped my ElectroID through the card reader, opened the door when I heard the click, stepped inside, and closed it behind myself until it clicked locked. For all intents and purposes, the horrific day had come to a close.

After that, the process was fairly routine. I took the two recorders and put them on my nightstand where they should be. From there, I removed almost everything that I had and put it next to the recorders. The knife and my ElectroID were all lined neatly on the stand ready for tomorrow. However, the stopwatch was placed in the closet and I stopped when I reached the ticket for the last blood perk.

I bit my lip and looked around the room for a suitable place to put the perk. It wouldn’t do after all to have it in the open. Not when I had the occasional visitor to deal with. Even if they didn't just take it for themselves, it would alarm them, to say the least. So, I looked around the room for a suitable place to hide the ticket.

My first thought was to put it inside a book much like Eto had done before, but that would be the first place that Eto would look if she ever became suspicious. My gaze shifted to the couch next to it and the chairs nearby. Hidden them under the seats was a viable solution but anyone who wanted came by might find it accidentally by fiddling underneath the mats. However, I smiled when my gaze met something much more promising. Nobody was going to check my bed unless they were in my room and I was already dead. Long story short, it was the perfect place to put something that you were never going to use.

So I trudged over to the closest corner of the bed, knelt down, and gently pulled all of the sheet corners out from under that particular corner of the mattress. There appeared to be three sheets and none of them appeared to be too special. Not that I needed anything special. All I needed was inconspicuous. With my free hand, I pushed the ticket between the bottom and middle sheet as far as I could reach so that nobody would find the thing even if they pulled out all three sheets. And finally, I reversed the process of untucking the sheets.

When all was said and done, I stood up and breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t happy at all about what had happened today but a smile came to my knowing one of two things. First was that half of the last blood perk threat had been removed from the game entirely. And second, there was only one more thing that I needed to take care of before I could slip into sweet blissful unconsciousness. And that was the cleaning up.

The actual process of cleaning up was pretty much the same as all the other times with me putting my clothes into a basket though I resolved to wash them tomorrow. Even if I couldn’t smell them, I was willing to bet that I had become nose blind to whatever mess that they had on them. It didn’t help that I noticed a few stains on the clothes. One along the right cuff, three on my right sock, and four on my left sock. All of which made me stick my tongue out in disgust as I tried not to think about what the stains might be. Likewise, I did everything else from brushing my teeth to washing my face.

The only real change in my routine was that I was willing to do the one thing that I had been hesitant to do ever since I came to the lodge. I took Eto’s advice and took a much longer than usual shower than I normally would have taken. It was about as uneventful as the rest of the ordeal but I knew that in spite of the steam that the whole act generated, the bathroom camera was watching me. And as I finished, dried off, and put on my bedtime clothes, I could only pray that the lens had fogged over.

I more or less finished putting on my clothes when I heard the doorbell ring and turned around to face the door. I raised my eyebrows admittedly with my curiosity piqued. And while I didn't want to answer the door for reasons such as my hair being wet, I knew that I should. Somebody was waiting for me and it would probably be worse off for me if I refused to answer him or her than if I did.

So, I took a glance at the knife on the nightstand to take inventory of where it was in the event that whoever was calling wanted to hurt me, headed over to the door, and cautiously opened the thing. At first, I only opened a slit just large enough for me to see the other person as well as what he or she was holding. But when I saw that it was Yakawa and that he did not seem to be holding anything in either hand, I opened the door wide and motioned for him to come inside. All with a weary smile in spite of everything that had happened today.

“Hey Yakawa.” I simply greeted. “Is there something that you wanted to see me about? You can come in if you want to.”

He did exactly that and stepped in with his right foot first. From there, he just looked around the room with a rather amused expression on his face. That wasn’t to say that he was mocking me, but he seemed to be smiling. However, his smile quickly dissipated when he noticed my drawer. I followed his gaze to see what the problem was and when I did, the answer became obvious. I imagined that nobody would be happy to see the combat knife.

“It’s only for self-defense-” I defended as I eyed the knife myself. “And before you jump to any conclusions, I’ve had it for a while now. About the time they became available.”

“Even so-” Yakawa replied with a warning tone and frown that all but confirmed my suspicions. “Self defense isn’t a valid defense here. Blackened means blackened regardless of the reason according to what Monokuma told me. You know that I’m dead meat if I have to stop someone’s heart with a defibrillator and I fail to save them afterwards?”

I actually raised my eyebrows in shock at that. I supposed that stopping someone’s heart like that might have murder in the most technical sense but there wasn’t a single country with an adequate healthcare system in the world that punished doctors for doing their job if they failed. I opened my mouth to say something, but the obvious fact that this was Monokuma that we were talking about made me close my mouth and grumble begrudgingly to the fact.

“Gosh, I thought I had it rough.” I finally replied.

“Don’t worry about that. I’m not about to let his rules stop me from doing my job. Anyways, that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about.” Yakawa said as he took one glance at the knife and took a single step away from both it and me. “I just wanted to say that I was a little worried about you and Eto was all. In fact, Wakuni volunteered to stand guard outside tonight to make sure nobody tries anything. Not that I think you will, but we just saw how someone reacted to believing that their life was in danger. And it was you that Shiro pointed that revolver at.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. I couldn't exactly blame Yakawa for coming to that conclusion considering what happened to Yasui, in fact, I might have had the same concern if I were him, but it was annoying and inconvenient nonetheless. So I couldn't help but frown by the time I opened my eyes again.

“So you don’t trust me?” I bluntly asked him as I crossed my arms. The message came out a little stronger than I intended, but I refused to relent.

“No, I do trust you Nishi. It was Wakuni’s idea to stand guard. And he trusts you too by the way in case you’re asking.” Yakawa defended with vehemence in his attitude. “It’s just that I wanted to check up on you like I had you check up on Machi and the others. To make sure that you are okay after everything that happened to you. I guess you could say that there are a few people who don't want either of you to do anything bad or have anything bad to happen to you. So I just wanted to be here if you needed me.”

I nodded, took a second to process what he was saying. I still didn't like it but he was trying to do something nice so I just continued. “I appreciate it Yakawa, but I really am fine. I haven’t done anything to break your trust so far right? I promise, I really will be okay Yakawa.”

It was true. Though I wasn't the fondest of the fact that he and a few other people thought that I could possibly act out, I did appreciate the gesture of his being here to hear me out. Though the truth was that there really wasn’t any problem. Granted I felt horrible, constantly had the concern in the back of my mind that I could be the next to die, and still had the images of Seno’s death, Shiro’s attempted murder of me, and Shiro’s execution in my mind. But I refused to let that force me to do something horrible like what the others might have feared.

“So is that it?” I asked him innocently enough.

Yakawa nodded. “It’s like you said Nishi, you haven’t given me any reason not to trust you. There are other safety precautions that I could take but they all would be rather unpleasant and quite frankly, unfair to you. I just wanted to see if you had anything that you wanted to talk about and let you know that I’m here if you need me for treatment and whatnot. I’m probably not the best for everything you might want help with but you can always come to me if you need to. And that’s better than nothing I figure.”

“You’re right. It is better than nothing.” I replied. About that time, another idea came to me. I didn't perk up, but I frowned less. “I have an idea. If you want, we can promise to each other that neither of us will commit a murder. It’s not much of a guarantee at all but I personally think it’s harder to do something when it means breaking a promise.”

At that, Yakawa gave another forlorn smile. “I don't see any harm in it. You should already know that my brother and I are not going to kill anyone. But- I promise that no matter what the future holds in store for me here, I will not harm my classmates.”

“Nice talk-” I began. It actually did bring me out of my sour mood before I was interrupted.

“It’s the truth you know and I mean it. I confess that the mastermind behind all of this might not be safe from me but I will never hurt people like you. Even if my brother weren't here, it goes against everything that I believe in from being in the medical field,” Yakawa insisted. “And we aren't going to cross that bridge until we all know for certain who is behind this. So you don't need to worry about my jumping the gun on this either.”

“Of course. Once we have the mastermind, we’ll have to decide what to do as a group,” I concurred. “Now it’s my turn to make the promise I assume. I promise that no matter what happens in the future, and no matter what Monokuma tries to do to convince me otherwise, that I will not harm any of you. Your lives are important to me and I promise not to cut any of them short no matter what the future holds for me.”

We looked at each other for just a few seconds after that. If he was lying to me, he showed no signs of it. And I knew for a fact that I wasn’t lying to him. The whole situation was terrible in every way imaginable and we both knew it. But I knew that was going to move on just like I would eventually move on from the loss of Naya and Yasui.

“Anyways, I think I had better get going before Monokuma shows up,” Yakawa finally said as he eyed the door behind him over his right shoulder. “You know how he is. He’s probably watching us right now.”

I bit my lip and nodded with a flat answer. “Yeah. Anyways, I’ll see you around Yakawa. And I do believe that I’ll see you around.”

“I’ll see you too Nishi-” Yakawa said as he gave another smile a small wave of his right hand to bid farewell. “And Nishi, get some rest. It’s been a really long day, to say the least and the one thing that Monokuma is right about is that we don’t know what he’s going to do to us. And you know this already, but stay safe Nishi.”

I nodded and opened my mouth to reply. But by the time I had gotten to answering Yakawa’s final response, the guy had already headed out of the room and closed the door behind them with the familiar click of the door locking from my side. The guy could move pretty fast although I supposed I should expect nothing less for a guy with his talent.

With him gone, I headed to my bed once more. The rest of my routine went without any other incident. I turned off the lights just like before and started to reflect on the day. And gradually, my thoughts began to grow darker. After all, a lot happened today and almost none of it was pleasant.

The first thing was the motive of course. It didn't start today but today was the day when it picked up and today was the day where Monokuma confirmed that we would all be condemned to death if a murder didn’t happen. It was more or less the day where we all found out that Monokuma was willing to actively force us to kill each other. And while the culprit was planning to kill someone from the start, the notion of it only made me frown. Everything about Shiro was wrong from what she did to how she disposed of Seno’s body to how she pulled a gun on me when I caught her. The image of which flashed all too vividly in my mind once more.

But Monokuma wasn’t the only problem of course. I solved most of the case again and there was absolutely no guarantee that nobody was going to come after me next. The only good thing that happened today was that I was that Eto turned out to be okay, and with some manipulation, I managed to get one of the last blood perks which she so happened to have. Of course, that also meant I’d have to sell my lie to her tomorrow. Suffice to say, it wasn’t a pleasant day. Not for me and probably not for anyone else. Everyone had problems like Sasori who sound worried about our dwindling numbers or Koike who never had a chance to talk to Seno again or Tanabe-.

At that notion, I closed my eyes and sighed. I had forgotten about Tanabe and I would probably have to talk to him tomorrow if I remembered. There were a lot of things that I would have to do tomorrow really between exploring and trying to prevent anyone else from committing a murder.

But I shook my head and took a few deep breaths. Save for what Shiro did, nothing about the situation was any scarier or any more alarming than before. Besides, while tomorrow wasn't going to be fun by any stretch of the imagination, I didn’t have too much to worry about and it probably wasn't going to be as dangerous as today was either. And after a moment, I realized that I felt tired. Not as tired as before, but enough for the world around to fade into a blur as I finally drifted off to sleep with one last thought on my mind.

*(I hope tomorrow isn’t like today.)*

## Trivia

* The original recipient of the last blood perk in the prize room was going to be Seno, but after some speculation from another reader, the creator realized that it would not make sense for Seno to be the recipient since Shiro would have just obtained the perk.
* As mentioned before, there are two last blood perks. One in the prize room and the other hidden elsewhere in the lounge.
* Ever since the conception of the perk, the creator intended for Nishi to obtain one of them.