Private/Closed Cold Steel

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi nodded at Honoka’s assessment of the shelf of kitchen utensils; it might as well have been an arsenal of makeshift weapons. It seemed that they were to be reminded of their looming death at every turn in this place, even amongst the otherwise mundane. With a pained expression, she turned away from the main kitchen and moved toward the iron doors. She didn’t watch her back this time, but the effort was considerable enough to make her jaw clench.

…ugh, this constant fear and mistrust is exhausting…She thought sadly. With a soft sigh, Hoshi pulled open the storage door before her and felt the first surge of optimism as she looked inside. From cold storage to canned foods, steak to tofu, and carrots to kumquats there was enough here to last the group for weeks and enough variety to sate even the most finicky palate. “…Well, at least we won’t go hungry,” she said, glad to have a reason to glance back at Honoka this time, a half-hearted smile on her face.

Hoshi moved in to explore further without hesitation, her growling stomach egging her on. She touch the boxes of pasta here, examined the saran wrapped fish there; finding herself concocting potential recipes as she went. While Hoshi had never been an accomplished chef, her mother’s insistence that she help with their meal preparations growing up meant she was at least experienced. She found herself recalling one of her mother’s many aphorisms which had been shared often, especially whenever Hoshi tried to argue study over her her responsibilities in the kitchen. ‘~Food is a universal language, Hoshi. It can bring people together, from all walks of life…~’

A lump of nostalgia in her throat and the threat of tears burning behind her eyes, Hoshi found her hand closing around a large bag of soba noodles. Odds were no one would trust food prepared by anyone except themselves in this uccidere o essere uccisi environment, but as it would be just as easy to make this dish for many as it would be for one, she guessed it wouldn’t hurt to try. Perhaps this air of animosity could be dispersed with a good meal shared. Blinking hard to rid her eyes of any lingering emotion, Hoshi turned back toward the main kitchen with her arms full of ingredients, giving Honoka an auspicious smile and a small shrug. "I can try..." her only enigmatic explanation as she passed.

 

[Crimson Sun]

"Hmm," Jane nonchalantly said. The combat medic explored clinic. The room was organized, but there wasn't much as it was a small as a closet. There were medical kits lined up, syringes and needles in a separate container. Confusingly enough, there was poison organized in there too, probably used for murders. But if used properly, the poison could actually help instead of harm the patient. Along the poisons were shelves stacked with medication. Jane picked out the necessary stuff for her small first aid. She chose as much as her bag can hold. Her hand grabbed some syringes and needles, as well as stuff some small containers filled with medical fluids for shots. She grabbed some pills and threw them into her bag. that was about much she can do. The oxygen mask and blood sacks could be useful too, in case if they can save a person right before they died, but those items were too big for her fanny pack nurse aid kit.

"That's really all I can take," Jane informed the other two males. She patted her pouch, showing how full it was already. "Can't hold much more. Would love to take the mask and blood sacks, but those would have to stay here I guess." Jane stepped out of the small room, well, closet, signalling she was done with her search.

 

[RhythmThief]

"...Well, so much for that." Arata sighed, now seeing everyone leave the common room, some grouping up together, and some going it alone. Either way, it looked like he was on his own, which was fine with him. Wouldn't be the first time.

Before going out and exploring himself, the fact that he could lose his life at any fleeting moment only just sunk in. He decided that it would be best if he could document his thoughts and findings, so that if, and when he died, he could leave the others with something which could possibly point them toward the killer. Like a journal, but in poetry form. It would probably be the only way he could actually use his talent. It would be hard to come to terms with the fact that he was pretty much already dead, but it was something that most people here had to accept, at one point or another.

After taking a quick glance at his Monopad's map, Arata sat down on the cold floor, crossed-legged, and scratching his long, bushy hair. His mind still wasn't in the best condition, especially after all that happened recently. He needed to get his creative juices flowing again. He reached into the pocket of his jeans, to reveal a small black and white striped notebook, with bright, colorful stickers of leaves and thunderbolts, in an attempt to really bring it to life. From the pocket of his trench coat, he pulled out a black fountain pen, which he called his 'lucky pen'. Many of his best works were written with that pen.

Now flicking open the notebook, he noticed that all the pages were completely blank. He had sworn he had written in this before!
"Why, in all the...Did he rip the pages out? Now that I think about it, this wasn't directly on my person, was it? I had kept in my...in my..." He mumbled, now getting a headache.
I-It doesn't matter. All I need to do is just..

He then began to write, feeling his flow and prowess return.

We awake, the metal our bed
On the screen, our fates sealed in red
We argue and conflict with one another
But our hearts truly yearn to call each other 'brother'

We, trapped, in this mysterious place,
Forced into masks to hide our face,
Like the seasons of nature, we come and go,
and in my lonely boat, toward the Rec Room I shall row.

And thus, he tucked his notebook away, and stood up, digging his hands in his tight pockets. He then made his way over the Rec Room, spotting others in the clinic on his way, but ultimately paying them no mind.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph nodded, peering up at the medic. He grabbed the surgical mask and placed it in his bag. He began to do a once through of everything inside the medical bay. While doing this, he came across a specific bottle...cyanide. In fact...all of these bottles on this shelf are poisons. This cannot stand.

“Those are too much a risk. And risks must be disposed of.”

He took an arrow in one hand, using it as a club and smashing the vials of poison. The glass fragments fell and the liquid trickled down to the ground. He had destroyed a way of killing others. He put the arrow that had smashed through the poison jars and vials back into his holster, giving a look to both paeon and the others.

“Let this be a message. All ways of killing through obvious means must be destroyed. There must be no killing.”

 

[Retro Master]

Joseph quietly listened as Paeon spoke, putting everything out in the open. The medicine he had used was actually to help with his Schozophrenia. It made sense why Paeon wouldn’t want others to find out about his disease. If the information spread and got into the wrong hands, someone could use it against Paeon. The actor didn’t know about the others, especially ‘Red Hood’ who was currently attempting to destroy the poison jars. However, his actions were enough to assure Joseph that Ralph was prioritizing their safety.

Sighing, Joseph looked down at the film editor, who was currently sitting with his back on the cabinet. “I think I can speak for everyone here when I say you don’t need to worry about this news spreading. No one here wants to harm you.” Joseph outstretched his arm, gesturing Paeon to grab on so the actor could pull him up. Though he couldn’t guarantee that fact, Joseph hoped it was enough to reassure the film editor.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon grimaced as the pyrotechnician, the archer and the nurse pretty much ignored his shpeal. Even now, people ignored him. However, Paeon felt hope as the actor listened to him. Paeon obtained a weak smile as he remembered how many people cared for him. Before it was just his mentor, who passed away not to long ago.

...But there was now another who cared. Paeon reached out and grabbed the actors hand before he was pulled up. "...Thanks. Even then... I'm pretty sure you were the only one that listened." Paeon then pocketed the bottle of Clozapine as he walked towards the room exit. "Welp... I'm starving. So why don't we head out to grab something to eat, eh Starboy?" And for the first time for the longest time, Paeon gave a real smile.

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi was going to make ToshiKoshi Soba, a traditional Japanese dish, so at least it would be easily recognizable in form and hopefully the symbolism of the dish wouldn’t be lost on her fellow captives either. Toshikoshi Soba, or Year-End Soba as it was so often called, was traditionally eaten the night before New Year's with the shared hope of letting go of past quarrels and looking forward to the coming year. …It wasn’t New Year, not even close, but the symbolism was so relevant to their current situation, Hoshi didn’t see that it really mattered. It was the beginning of their captivity together at the very least anyway.

Reaching the kitchen counter, Hoshi let the ingredients tumble out of her arms, moving each into place for preparation. Fetching a large pot, she immediately set to bring water to a boil, then to a simmer as she submerged the noodles. The time in between was enough to prepare the rest of the ingredients; chopping the negi into fine rings, folding the spinach leaves, and selecting and battering the 13 extra-large shrimps for each ‘potential’ recipient. It was amazing how easily it all came back to her now despite having never consciously memorizing the recipe. …the thought made her immensely homesick as she wondered briefly whether she would ever enjoy her own mother’s soba again. She hadn’t realized how casually she’d grabbed the knife for her preparations, not even second guessing its use as she worked. And yet, this culinary tool, so slender and balanced in her hand, had such violent potential in the coming days.

“I didn’t come here to kill anyone. And that’s not gonna change,” she said, seemingly out of the blue but her gaze was steady and unflinching as it moved from the knife to Honoka. “I’ll find a way out of here, a moral way.” The conviction felt naïve and idealistic even to her, an attempt to convince herself as much as Honoka as she set the knife pointedly into the sink. The noodles and soup were nearly done, and she busied herself by giving the soba a final rinse. Already the savory broth and fried shrimp had filled the kitchen with an enticing aroma, one that was no doubt wafting through the rest of the stronghold by now.

 

[Retro Master]

“No problem.” The actor replied after he pulled Paeon up. It seemed Joseph had been able to lift Paeon off of the depressed state he was previously in. Sure, the fact that ‘Robin Hood’ and the others hadn’t acknowledged Paeon may have discouraged him, but judging by the smile, it wasn’t the case. After glancing at ‘Robin Hood’ one more time, Joseph went over to Paeon, also wanting to get something to eat. “Yeah, let’s go see what’s cooking.” If the aroma coming from the direction they had come from was anything to go on, dinner was going to be good.

 

[Riverrunner]

Honoka returned the Linguist's smile as Hoshi emerged from the kitchen storage with an armful of ingredients, far too much food for one person, unless…

Is she cooking for everyone?

Honoka could only stand back and watch as Hoshi placed the superfluous ingredients on the countertop and began to work. Truthfully, cooking was not her forte. Should she have known more? Probably. Considering her family's trade it would've been expected that she were to assist with the preparation of meals, even if those meals were more likely to consist of venison, but yet she'd garnered little experience from her household seeing as she preferred to stay out of… whatever was happening with the rest of her folks. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do to help here, so she opted to stand back and watch Hoshi work… hopefully that wasn't too weird.

She gave a curt nod to Hoshi's statement, returning her a smile. Honoka agreed wholeheartedly—there had to be some way to get everyone out that didn't involve stabling a blade between someone's ribs. If there wasn't, then how would they have gotten in here in the first place? Granted, the exit could be sealed off, but so far the bear had kept his word, meaning that there was a way out for the person who was crazy enough to play into Monokuma's rules.

———
Ryuu was unable to comprehend what he had just walked in on at first. While the group had just come for supplies, he didn't expect anyone else to be in there—especially anyone rummaging through the cabinets so desperately.

After hearing Paeon's announcement, he returned a thumbs up. Granted, the film editor might not have seen it, but Ryuu couldn't really think of any way to voice his thoughts that wouldn't come across as incredibly suspicious. It was an uncomfortable feeling, quite honestly, having nothing good to say and thus remaining quiet.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he gave in, trying his hand at a genuine reply. "Hey, I hope you're alright, your secret is safe wi-" he was cut off rather abruptly by the cacophony of shattering glass and cracking plastic, the origin of such soon revealed to be the archer's arrows going through the numerous containers of poison. "There was poison in there? Well, that's definitely good that it's destroyed now… hopefully you didn't, well, contaminate any of the actual medicine in there."

———
The recreation room was fairly cheery (at least in comparison to everything else), although, ironically, there wasn't much there in the way of recreation. The only visible entertainment was a pool table placed in the middle of the room—as if anyone played pool—as well as a television (connected to some kind of black box) at the back of the room and a lonely laptop on a desk in the room's right corner. The large cabinet at the back of the room, however, seemed to suggest that there was more than what met the eye. Unfortunately, none of the doors there were labelled. Seemingly, more exploring would need to be done to get a better sense of what the room contained.

Of course, located just above the laptop was this room's screen, speaker, and camera. The floor still consisted of the same rigged up floor panels as it did everywhere else. Was there a single place that the bear didn't have rigged?

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon walked into the kitchen with his content smile before he noticed the two girls. "Hey Ice Queen! Hey Quiet Girl! Nice to see you guys having the same idea." However, Paeon stared at the food that the linguist was making. "...What's that? That doesn't seem like a meal I'm used to... Bah, whatever. I'm pretty sure it'll be extremely tasty."

As Paeon seated himself and waited for his film friend he pondered before opening his mouth. "Hey... Ice Queen? What... exactly is a taxidermist? I remember you saying something along the lines of you not being trustworthy... but I don't get it. Obviously, you and Quiet Girl want to help everyone so... what is a taxidermist?"

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi was pleasantly surprised to find the boy called Paeon appearing the the kitchen's threshold, her brief moment of apprehension dashed when he seemed to eager to taste her proffered food. Taking a ready-made bowl from the counter, she topped the dish with a final garnish of two spinach leaves before setting it before the talkative film editor.

"It's...I mean, it's nothing fancy. Just some Soba noodles..." she trailed off for a moment, trying to openly explain the simple ingredients to dispell any lingering suspicions. She indicated the full pot and numerous bowls behind her as she finished. "I figured...while I was at it...well, I made enough for everyone, if they want it anyway."

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon looked confused at the linguist. "Soba... noodles? Never heard of them. But then again... They never really gave me anything..." Paeon mumbled the end bit so no one heard him. "But man, it's pretty amazing how you can cook. I've never been allowed to cook and when I finally got away, I didn't have the skills to cook."

Paeon stopped as he noticed his wording. "...Forget I said that. Anyways... even though you never needed to do this... Thank you." Paeon gave her an appreciative smile.

 

[Riverrunner]

"My name is Honoka," she began, despite the fact that Paeon clearly didn't care for memorising anyone's actual name. "And a taxidermist is… well…" she trailed off, trying to find a way to explain her talent in a minimally… heinous fashion. "If you've ever seen those preserved animals in museums, that's what I do—to put it less abhorrently."

Honoka was quick to change the subject as Hoshi brought out bowls of her… what had she called it? Quite frankly, Honoka didn't recognise the name, but they looked delicious. She readily grabbed a bowl, before turning to Hoshi. "Thank you, by the way. I apologise for not being able to help, but… quite honestly, I probably would've ended up starting some kind of fire before we got anywhere."

A bit later, Monokuma's voice once more barked through the speakers, this time each screen displaying a live feed of the bear in front of some sort of red background. "Ahem, testing, testing, one two three! Welp, looks like it works. I've kept you ruffians up way too late. The time is currently 0100. That's right, one in the morning! Your dorms are all located in the west wing—that's the numbered rooms on the left of your maps. Every other room will be closed in five minutes, although you can still hang out in the common room and peruse the hallways if you feel the urge to do so, I guess. Anyway, that's enough of this for tonight. Off to bed with you kids!"

———
Each one of the dorms was laid out nearly identically behind their red doors, each distinguished from one another by a single placard with the student's roster number and surname.

The rooms were fairly small—although not unbearably so—with a single bed, nightstand, lamp, and closet in each as well as a cramped bathroom (containing a toilet, a sink, and a shower) that was closed off with at the back of the room.

Rather disconcertingly, everything that the students had brought to the school was already put up for them, all of their spare clothes hanging in their closets and additional belongings laid out tidily on the pinstriped bedspread. Interestingly enough, certain objects were missing. Any weapons or technology that the students hadn't had on their person was completely missing—presumably having been confiscated.

Most importantly, especially in a situation like this, all of the dorm rooms locked from the inside with a deadbolt and a key—a key that was left on each nightstand for the students to use. The bathroom doors locked as well, although much less securely than the main doors (seeing as it could easily be picked open with nothing more than a simple paper clip, even by the unskilled). It was better than nothing, however, providing at least a temporary place of refuge in the event of an emergency.

Unfortunately, the rooms weren't without flaw. Presumably, the same type of flooring was present (although it was mercifully covered with squares of grey carpeting), as well as the screen, camera, and speaker that the main rooms possessed. The bathrooms had a similar setup, although they had tile flooring as opposed to carpeting and their rig seemed to lack a camera. This wasn't a mistake, as made blatantly clear by the note placed in the sink; Don't try anything in here just because there's no camera, I have the entire room rigged with a motion-sensing alternative. If I see that even one of these floor tiles has been pulled out of place, the weaponry will activate just as it did in the common room. I'm warning you. - Headmaster Monokuma

It was a comfortable place to sleep, at very least, assuming one could get over the fact that there was a camera pinned on them at all times. Not like there was much of an alternative option, unfortunately.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon sighed as he heard the announcement. "Man... I wanted to try Soba Noodles... Ah, I'll take it to go." Paeon walked over and grabbed a bowl before he took a big slurp. "Mmmmm! This is delicious! Thank's Quiet Girl! Oh, by the way, Ice Queen... I know your name's Honoka, heck I remembered everyone's name. I just prefer the nicknames I gave because they have meaning."

Paeon turned and looked her straight in the eye. "You see... you a cool and collected while being able to be frigid to others when needed. However, you have a regal feel to you which gives you the Queen name. Thus Ice Queen. With Quiet Girl, it's due to her quiet nature which isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's a great thing in this situation as it allows her to think more easily then if she was chatting constantly. Not to mention she is a knowledgeable person who usually prefers quiet as it allows her true potential to shine."

Paeon then walked to the exit before giving a final look. "So yeah, I'd say take the nicknames with pride because they're meant to show some of your best aspects. Thank you again for the noodles and have a good night." And... Paeon walked away as he enjoyed his meal.

 

[_obsequious]

Ophelia looked over once more at Jason as he persisted, her brow furrowed in curiosity at him.
A pit of worry had formed in her stomach, not that she’d ever admit it, though. The idea of him trying to befriend her in this psychotic murder situation unsettled her. Besides, it’s not like it’d be the first time she’d killed someone...

(Suggestive scene warning!! Lots of language too.)

January 19th, last year.
She had just turned sixteen.
Her at-the-time boyfriend had invited her over to ‘celebrate’. She’d obliged, riding downtown to visit. He greeted her warmly, a bit too warmly, in fact, resting a hand on her bare shoulder and pulling her in, closing the door behind her. He led her to the couch, proceeding to insist she sit in his lap. When she declined, he huffed loudly; his breath smelled of cheap alcohol.
He leaned forward, grabbing her by her wrist and pulling her towards him, forcing her into a hot kiss that was nowhere near enjoyable. Rearing back, she fought against his hardening grip, tugging desperately to free her hands.
“Trent. Let me go,” she insisted coldly, worry in her eyes, yanking her hand away as he pulled her to her feet. He made a noise between a growl and a groan of annoyance as he lurked closer, with her slowly backing away, until he shoved her against the wall, her back hitting the surface with a low thud. She let out a sharp breath at the impact, trying to squirm away, kick him off of her. She flinched as a harsh hand met her throat.
“Listen here,” he growled, “I’m sick and tired of you teasing me. I can tell you want to. Anyone can, i mean you dress like a total sl-
And with that, she’d managed to shove him off of her, his drunken body quickly losing coordination and crashing down into his glass coffee table, his head hitting the corner with a dull thud.
His eyes were glazed and lifeless, a small pool of blood forming on the floor where his head landed.
Shit.
Oh God, oh God. Shit.
She reached into her pocket with a shaking hand, tears blurring her vision as it dialed calmly in her ear.
“Dad?”

She’d been alone then.

She blinked as the memory subsided, her eyes back on Jason. She narrowed her eyes, puzzled, before the realization of what was happening came back to her. She inhaled sharply, rubbing the bridge of her nose as if to say I can’t believe I’m doing this.

“Fine. You’ve flattered me enough. You can stick with me for now but I swear to God if you try anything I will not hesitate to kill you, understand?” She breathed defeatedly, and with that, she went off into the kitchen, where she was greeted by an offering of food.
Her stomach rumbled loudly, tempted by the meal, but she firmly shook her head, denying the food.
“I’m deathly allergic to shrimp. Sorry, but no thank you,” she lied. She wasn’t. Ophelia absolutely loved all things seafood, shrimp included, but.. the idea of poison lingered in her mind, running off her appetite.

She looked up as an announcement was made, advising them to head to their rooms. She looked around the room at those in the room with her- most notably, Paeon, who she’d noticed was acting oddly earlier. She brushed it off and, for once, did as she was told, disappearing into the room marked 8.

She didn’t bother showering- she was too overwhelmed to deal with hygiene, too panicked to eat. She did, however, notice her backpack slumped in the corner, and after looking through it, Ophelia let her guard down and cried.

In the bag were her most important belongings, most specifically a series of photographs. A group picture of Hellfire, a picture of her gritting her teeth as the symbol was tattooed to her shoulder, a picture of her dad. She studied the photographs with teary eyes and the occasional sniff, wondering if she’d ever see anyone in these pictures again.

And like that she stayed, and Ophelia Morales fell asleep holding her leather jacket, her tattoo on display, the photographs laying limply in her hand with dried tears on her freckles face.

 

[Riverrunner]

During the night, the students may have been able to hear the muttering of voices outside of their rooms, although they quickly ceased. However, it didn't seem that anything else noteworthy had happened between 2200 and 0700—probably a good sign.

———

The speakers crackled, Monokuma's voice booming over them far too cheerfully for such an early hour, "Good morning, class! The time is now 0700, time for you kids to wake up! Get used to these morning announcements, they're the standard here and will play on the daily. Anyway, up and at 'em! Out of bed!"

He didn't seem to care in the slightest that he had sent everyone to bed mere hours before, not to mention that it was most likely that not everyone had fallen asleep until later. Seriously, it wasn't like anyone was attending any classes, why couldn't the announcement just have been moved a couple of hours back to compensate?

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason Vellance left from the room numbered as 5, clearly not having slept a wink. He was used to staying up a lot due to being busy, but this... this was a new kind of stressful, and he feared his lack of sleep would catch up to him soon enough, doubtlessly at a bad time. The SHSL Therapist quickly made his way down the hallway, finding his way into the common room.
He had been up all night “working”, so the lingering worry that despite his predictions, they would wake up to find a corpse strewn about somewhere, thus invalidating all his planning, was very present.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Percy woke up, giving a big yawn In his room. In no time it all, his room was decorated with dozens of drawings that looked remarkably identical to comic books. He looked at them and prided himself on the drawings. His smile although slowly faded as he was reminded of his current predicament.

A killing game.

He shuttered at the thought. Considering he was still breathing however, proved that he wasn’t going to die, for now anyway. He took a shower and got ready for his day, taking an extremely long time getting his elaborate poofy hairstyle in order. He felt good about today, or at least better. Putting a hand on the door, he felt his hesitation to leave his oasis of heaven and delve right back to hell...but he forced himself to follow through.


......


Ralph was oddly awake before the Monokuma announcement call. He was ready and already doing push-ups in his room before the announcement followed. He has a strong body, which was deceived by his slender form. Getting up from the ground, he pulled his green leather hoodie back on, holstering his weapons. It was time to leave.

Heed this room, making a beeline for ryuu and Jane’s room. He knocked on them both.

“You two. It’s time to get up. I’ll wait here until both of you are ready.”

 

[_obsequious]

Ophelia, having been rudely awoken to the blisteringly cheerful tone of Monokuma, questioned her location for a moment before groaning loudly, burying her face in the pillow they’d provided.
“For the love of God, stop droning on, you shithead bear!” She roared, voice muffled by the pillow but definitely audible if someone had happened to be lounging outside her room, or maybe roaming the halls. The little outburst had successfully calmed her down a little bit, and with jerky, angry movements, almost like those of a toddler throwing a fit, she heaved herself up, finally admitting her need to bathe and groggily stomping over to the little bathroom they provided, taking a more than swift shower before exiting, her fiery hair damp, proving to be more of a rusty brown color when wet, as opposed to the fiery ginger hue it held yesterday.

She crossed the hall to find herself in the common room, unwilling to go into the kitchen to cease her desperate hunger; the paranoid thoughts of poison still lingered in her mind. Ignoring the hungry ache in her stomach, she crossed into the common room, finding her new “ally” standing there, seeming worried. Not necessarily for her sake, nor his, but simply worrying about the situation and what was inevitably coming closer in the near future.

Can’t believe I let myself get in a group... it’s just gonna make it harder to get out of this hellhole...

She sighed, approaching Jason with a tired look in her eyes. If anything, she was just glad she didn’t subject herself to pairing up with Whiskey, that cheeky bastard...
It occurred to her that she hadn’t seen or heard from him since last night- which wasn’t that big of a deal, but definitely not something she’d let go unnoticed.

She nodded a silent greeting at her ally, shoving her hands in the pockets of her jacket. It seemed she was fractionally more polite than yesterday- now that she knew it wasn’t a joke, she’d have to try to get on people’s good sides (which, it seemed, she’d done a bad job of earlier).

Her stomach rumbles loudly, a dead giveaway to the ache in her stomach from lack of food. Praying he’d say nothing, she looked up at him, her eyes defeated and her face somewhat pale.
“Morning,” she muttered quietly.

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason was lost in mumbling to himself, eventually stopping and turning to her, a slight look of surprise on his face, which resulted in him spitting out his first thought without really running it through first.
“Glad to see you’re alive...”
He was about to tack ‘and well’ onto the end of that statement, however one look at her was all it took to realise that was more than stretching the realms of believability.
Although, he wasn’t sure if anyone here was really in their usual states. High intensity situations had that sort of effect on people.
“Means I didn’t completely screw up my decision making.”
It only then just occurred to him that what he said implied that her state of mortality was something that could change in a second, and despite that being the case, it probably was a bit morbid to just outright say. This prompted a half smile to curl on his lips and a slight chuckle.
“Yes... after those words I can definitely see not sleeping was a bad move.”

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi hadn't been roused by Monokuna's morning announcement, in fact she hadn't even heard it. Her earbuds set firmly in her ears, she was slumped in a sitting position against her bed's headboard, head lulled on one shoulder.

She had always been one to push the night into the daylight hours for the sake of learning and, with a phone full of new code to decipher, the temptation to stay up last night had simply been too great to resist. It hadn't been until around six in the morning that fatigue had finally forced it's hand and cast her into unconscious right where she was...and even with hours of work, she hadn't put a dent in the stronghold's siphoned cookies. There had been so many sections of the code that were just unreadable... Granted, coding had always been just a hobby and not one she'd bothered to master, so it could simply be acronyms and abbreviations she didn't recognize...but they sure seemed like foreign languages to her critical eye.

It was her own snort of a snore that finally roused Hoshi, an unsightly and certainly unlady-like sight had anyone been monitoring the room's camera. She blinked heavy eyes, hand going immediately to the sore ache in her cricked neck. Half asleep, she pulled her earphones out by the cord, rock music still echoing from its speakers on it's endless loop. She paid neither them nor her phone any mind as they tumbled from her lap onto the still folded bedspread as she stood up. She was still half-asleep as she fought a fresh shirt over her head, ran a hand through her tangled hair, and stumbled out into the hall.

Whether she passed anyone on her wayward journey to the kitchen, Hoshi couldn't even have said. The bear's killing game was the farthest thing from her mind as she rummaged for an apple in the cold storage. She presented an easy target as she sat down right there in the cool air to bite into her breakfast/lunch.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon mumbled as he was awoken by the monochromatic bear. Within room number 7, Paeon decided to have his tripod and camera put together. As he pressed the record button, he sighed.

"Well, day 1's over. And now it's time for day 2. So, I guess a recap of what's going on will help. So the first key point is that I'm in a strange location with twelve other students and we're being watched by a black and white bear named Monokuma. Apparently, this is a killing game so everyone's on high alert. However... I noticed something strange."

Paeon placed his arm on his leg as he placed his head on his hand. "Even though he wants us to kill each, Monokuma set up the place for our very needs. Hell, he even has a shelf with my prescription medication. Speaking of which, I have to make sure I take it every morning or else I'll go crazy. But even then... I'm always keeping it with me. After all, more than two a day and it's overdose for me."

As Paeon dealt with his medication, the thoughts and voices disappeared. "Now... as for friends and allies... I'm not too sure. Joseph seems like he wants to be my friend... and hopefully, Honoka and Hoshi want to be my friends? But other then that, it's the same sh*t again. Some people just ignore me while others probably wish I was gone. Whatever..."

Paeon stopped. Suddenly, he stared at the camera with a serious look for one final message. "To anyone who finds this... Give this message to my family... F*ck all of you. As my mentor said, I'm not the mistake you thought me to be. I was able to make a name for myself even while dealing with the treatment you gave me. I mean, my family didn't care about me so I rarely got food at home and... what kind of family waits for the day their son jumps? So f*ck you."

As Paeon finished the recording and closed the camera, he packed his bag and headed out of Dorm 7. He walked into the dining area he gave smile to the others. "Morning everyone." Paeon then walked into the kitchen and stayed in there for a bit before he stuck his head out with an embarrassed grin. "Uhhh... does anyone know how to make Pancake Mix? I've... never cooked before..."

 

[Crimson Sun]

Jane woke up from her respective room, room number four. The pounding on her wooden door woke her up and Ralph's voice shot through the closed entrance, telling both her and Ryuu to wake up. Jane looked at her surrounding bedroom. It was small, but comfy enough to hold a small bathroom and a desk and a bed. It's been a while she slept soundly. The last time she slept soundly was before she decided to enlist in the military. Conveniently enough, she was on her way home for a family visit before she ended up here, in this killing game. "Okay," Jane mumbled, maybe or maybe not Ralph heard, who knows. The combat medic went to her restroom to freshen up before going out and meeting Ralph, wanting outside of Ryuu's room.

Nathan, on the other hand, was wide awake. He had trouble sleeping last night. Black circles encased his eyes and his head drooping in a beat. He was terrified about a possible murder in his room, room number three. So, he woke up almost every hour, just to see if his body was in tact or still alive. Luckily, he was still alive. Unfortunately, he was still sleepy and afraid for dear life. Nathan stumbled out of room still on boxers and a tank top and headed to the kitchen, deciding he can change later.

 

[Riverrunner]

"Ngh?" Ryuu answered the door, clearly exhausted. Had his hair not been dripping with water, it would've been difficult to tell if he had just woken up after falling asleep in his clothes or had actually put some sort of effort into his appearance. Evidentially, the latter was true which was… kind of sad considering he looked almost exactly the same.

"Oh, it's you!" His face seemed to light up almost immediately. He quickly ducked into his own bathroom, returning as he vigorously dried his hair with a towel. "So, what are we going to do today? We should probably explore a bit more, just to make sure there's not something dangerous just… stashed innocuously in the laundry room or something." Ryuu jerked his head to the right, gesturing towards the rooms labelled A and B on the map. "I didn't get a chance to check those yet, maybe there's something useful in there. If not, maybe we should, um, call everyone together or something? Wait, actually, that might be a really bad idea."

———
Honoka woke up with a start at the bear's announcement, quickly freshening up and leaving her room with all the grace of a groggy, red-haired pigeon. With the threat of the newfangled killing game looming over her head, she'd hardly slept a wink, only finally passing out minutes before the bear's morning announcement chimed through the speakers.

As opposed to heading to the dining area where other students seemed to be congregating, she chose to first head to the library in hopes of finding some sort of information regarding what was going on.

Unfortunately, the library was a letdown. The entire place looked as if it hadn't been dusted in ages, and whoever was there last had left quite a few pages of (admittedly immaculate) comic book sketches in their wake. The only point of interest was a book titled On Stranger Tides. Granted, that wouldn't help much with anything, but at least it looked as if it would be a good read.

Returning the book to her dorm, Honoka headed back towards the dining area where several students were, ducking into the kitchen and grabbing a single pear before sitting down at a table near the back of the room.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph nodded, his team fully formed again for the new day. All accounted for, as it should be. He listened intently to ryuu’s suggestion, stroking his chin in response.

“A and B you say? This was something I was also curious about-“ he started before ryuu quickly doubled back. “...what makes you say that? Monokuma wouldn’t have wanted us to explore if we were to get killed by some trap. That would disregard his own rules. That is, unless your worried about something else?”

 

[Riverrunner]

"No, exploring those rooms is a great idea, it's having everyone congregate that I thought was bad. I mean, based on what happened in the common room when we first woke up… I'm pretty sure multiple punches were thrown in there, and that was only after an hour or two." Ryuu stepped out of dorm twelve, taking a couple of steps towards the rooms. "We definitely can't ignore whatever's in here, it could be…pretty much anything. I mean, A and B just mean that they're similar, probably. They don't really give any indication of what's in there. It could be the rest of our stuff or… uh…" he paused for a second. "I don't know, an entire aviary or something." Probably a bit far-fetched, but Ryuu didn't seem to care. "Anyway, you probably want to go in first again… if the doors are even open."

 

[The Kitsune]

With a crisp apple on her stomach, Hoshi's mental faculties slowly returned and the gravity of her own stupidity hit her hard. She could hardly remember the walk here, she’d been so tired, much less who she might have passed on the way. Perception of the living world around her had never been high priority, but here, it could get here killed. Whether the others were openly hostile or not, someone was bound to be looking for the easy way out. And here she was, willing segregating herself inside the cold storage area with a half eaten apple core as her only means of defense.

...she'd be dead if she kept this up. But she wasn't a soldier, and she wasn't diluted enough to believe she had the decipline to change her habits overnight. She would just have to work faster... Grabbing an extra apple and a pear for later rations, she pushed open the cold storage door (thankfully no one had seized the opportunity and locked her in). She would go right to the library, see if she could find any code references and then...

Paeon's heart wrenching plea for help with breakfast stopped her before she could leave the kitchen. Being the first to take the risk and trist her cooking last night, she taken a small liking to the older boy and couldn't in good conquious just ingore him now. With an internal sigh that didn't show through her pressed smile, she went to his aide, showing him how to prep, mix and cook the ready pancake mix. She'd never made them herself but the box instructions were easy enough to follow. She left him well on his way to a fluffy breakfast before making her exit.

Stopping back by her room to retrieve her phone, she made a bee-line for the library. Beyond the dust and wear, only a few titles were clearly readable from the spine, so Hoshi took on the tedious task of pulling each from their shelf, glancing over the contends, before sliding them back in place. She found herself distracted by a book written entirely in Kanji before she forced herself to push on (pocketing the Kanji book for later).

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon watched and listened as Hoshi explained how to make Pancakes. Paeon was ecstatic at the completed fluffy treats that when he turned around to thank her, she was already gone. This caused Paeon to sigh as he ate his fluffy breakfast. Once he was finished, Paeon walked around the area and checked the different locations. He decided to check the library first, but when he entered the library, he noticed Hoshi sitting down.

Paeon was about to head over until he noticed a book that stood out. "...The Language of Sowa? Weird... wait..." Paeon turned his head back towards the linguist as a light bulb lit in his head. Paeon grabbed the book before he headed over to the girl reading. "Hey. I just wanted to thank you for helping me this morning with breakfast. So... I found this book and I figured that you'd may like this. So here you are." And with that, Paeon placed the book at the girl's table and began to walk away. "See ya Quiet Girl!"

 

[Riverrunner]

Four chimes sounded through the speakers, followed by the sickeningly cheerful warble of Monokuma's voice. "Ahem, the time is now 2200. As you now know, every room—bar for the dorms, common room and hallways—will close for the night. Basically, what I'm trying to say is: finish up whatever you're doing and hit the hay! You've got five minutes before all of those rooms close until seven, so you'd better be quick!"

The announcement, already? Then again, it had come much later yesterday, so a bit of disorientation was to be expected. Seemingly, not much had been done today, unfortunately. Hopefully tomorrow would be more eventful.

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi didn’t want to admit she hadn't heard Paeon's approach. She been so absorbed in her research mission that even his soft words on the shoulder made her jump. "Oh. Thanks, Paeon, I-" Her next words died as she caught sight of the spine of the book he'd set down and immediately reached it. Language of Sowa It wasn’t a language she knew, or even heard of. A brief glance at the author's note told her it was a Pentecost language, we'll that explained it. The Vanuata-

Her thoughts were interupted by the timely ding of Monokuna's nightly warning. "Well, I guess that means bedtime..." Taking the Sowa book and the Kanji book in hand, she followed Paeon out of the room quickly. Back to her room for another night in the stronghold...and from her new books it didn't seem like she'd get anymore sleep tonight than she had the last.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph ignored the nightly announcement, as Monokuma just spoke about it as if it were morning only mere moments before. He fathered his troupe, motioning to go to the location marked ‘B’ on the map. He approached the supposed door.

“Alright, let’s see whats inside this ever so mysterious zone.”

He then pressed on the door, attempting to open it and find out what was in the mystery room

 

[Riverrunner]

The door opened fairly easily, giving way to reveal a... storage room? Granted, there were an abundance of closets elsewhere on the first floor, so it wasn't too terribly unusual. It just seemed like it should have been something more important.

As the floodlights flickered on, it was evident that although this particular room didn't seem to have too much in it (aside from a crate labelled "blankets", several vacuums and brooms, a few miscellaneous articles of clothing piled into a box, several piles of scrap metal, and a couple of dumbbells placed in the corner), it did have an electronic door on the left wall as well as a lever that presumably powered it open. If the map were to be trusted, this lead to the "A" room, although there was only one real way to find out.

This room was just as heavily monitored as the others in the stronghold, with the flooring consisting of the rigged tiles and a monitor sat perched in the room's upper left corner. However, seeing as there weren't any rules against taking supplies, anything here was fair game.

 

[Crimson Sun]

"A storage room," Jane questioned no one in particular. She examined the room carefully, eyeing the crates and boxes, cleaning material, random items and scraps of sorts. Her amber orbs soon directed her attention to an electrical door that had a lever. It seemed a bit too suspicious and out of the ordinary to be randomly placed there. She quickly opened her guidebook, seeing that the map should lead the latter to the adjacent room: Room A. "There's nothing much here..." Jane tried to scan for any details, but everything seemed so out of the ordinary that one wouldn't be able to tell what is out of place in the room. "How about checking Room A," Jane asked. The most obvious way they can enter the other room is through the other hallway door. Or if they'd like, they can check to see if the electrical door of Room B would lead to Room A, but she didn't like the feeling she felt in her abdomen.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph took note of the storage room, scanning the boxes for material. If a storage room was to live up to it’s name, there was surely a lot of supplies here that could be potentially useful...or hazardous. Ralph stroked his chin, analyzing the situation.

“Sine Jane got the medical supplies from the med-bay, I think it would be best that our engineer and tactician got to stock up on material for our jobs as well.”

He came many containers, he peeled open each and every one of them to show for some tactical advantage. One thing was got sure though, he wasn’t safe with anyone but the trio being able to access the storage room. Something he was aching to correct

 

[Riverrunner]

Whilst there weren't too many boxes to open in room B, but what Ralphie did find was certainly somewhat useful.

The clothing box was pretty much exactly as advertised—opening the box caused several miscellaneous shirts, pants, and a few hats to tumble onto the floor. Probably not the best when it came to supplies, but it was a step above nothing. Sort of.

The 'blankets' crate, however, had either been mislabelled or was intentionally deceptive. Instead of blankets, the crate was filled with even more scrap metal, among which were three number combination locks. Granted, these were the kind that would go on a locker (and hence weren't incredibly sturdy), and one of them was missing its combination, but technically, under the domain of rule four…

"Yeah, but we should probably get to the A room through the hallway, that door looks… kinda sketchy." Ryuu commented, kicking a piece of scrap metal. Evidentially, he hadn't noticed any of the locks, nor the fact that the blanket crate was indeed not filled with blankets. "But I don't really think there's anything I can use here. The scrap metal is great… I guess… but without the tools to fashion it into anything it's almost completely useless. Unless you just… throw it, I guess." He gestured towards the hallway door, before pushing it open and stepping foot outside the room. "I'm going to go check out the A room, uh, if anyone wants to come."

———
The speakers crackled and popped as the bear once more appeared on screen. "Not gonna lie, things are moving a little bit too slowly for my liking, so I've got a couple of big announcements for you kids. I'll be in the common room, so you guys'd better head over there, stat, or you're going to miss it! I'd just shout them out over the intercom but… where's the fun in that? I'd rather see your reactions in the flesh instead of through these cameras. Anyway, common room, A-S-A-P. It'd be a shame if you missed out!"

Evidentially, this wasn't a normal morning or nighttime announcement (where had those gone, anyway?). Of course, seeing as this was coming from Monokuma, the news couldn't be anything pleasant.

 

[Retro Master]

Joseph had to admit, Monokuma had a point about things going slow recently. For like the past day and a half, Joseph had done absolutely nothing. Eating and walking around didn’t really count as much. The most positive thing about the slowness was that no one had gotten killed. On the way to the common room, Joseph grinned as he realized that the bear was probably pissed about that as well. He still found it hard to believe that the bear actually thought they would start killing each other. Other than the little rivalry between ‘Robin Hood’ and ‘Mr. Whiskey’, it didn’t seem as anyone else had problems with each other. Then again, it wasn’t as if Joseph had been watching over everyone the past day. Maybe something had gone down while he wasn’t paying attention and now there was some unknown friction that he wasn’t aware.

As for now, Joseph decided to shove those paranoid thoughts to the back of his mind as he considered how unlikely they were. Stepping into the common room now, Joseph looked around to see if there was anyone else other than the bear who was presumably waiting for them. Unfortunately, it seemed he was the first and only captive there at the moment. “Uh, what’s up Monokuma? H-how’s your day been?...” Joseph greeted awkwardly, running his hand through his hair. It had been awhile since he had seen the bear personally. Might as well try and get on its good side while he could.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Hm....these piles of scrap metal. Perhaps if we had welding tools we could find a way to use them, or perhaps make fortifications using the metal. We have to make do with what we can get.

Before Ralphie could comment on a tactical way to use these scrap metal boxes, the intercom sounded. Monokuma had something to announce. Ralph cocked his head toward the screen and managed to listen through Monokuma’s announcement.

“It seems like we have no choice but to go to the common room, wouldn’t want another death trap to come in after us if we disobey?” Ralph said somewhat whimsically, keeping his stone cold expression. “Let’s move out.”


.......


Percy had quickly scurried it of his room, the announcement making it clear that their captor expected an audience. It was like a minion going to talk to an evil mastermind after they messed up, they knew they were a glutton for punishment. He didn’t want to be punished. He gulped, remembering what nearly killed Ralphie. He ever so slowly managed to force his body into the common room, where already about four or five people had made it to

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon grumbled as he was awoken by the black and white bear. "I swear to whatever god decided to look after me, I am not in the mood." As Paeon continued to stir away, he took his medication and exited the door. As he rubbed his eyes while he noticed the drawer scurring by... to which he sighed. "Whatever... I'm not awake enough for this..."

Paeon entered the common room as he looked around. He smiled as he waked up to his friend. "Hey Starboy. What's up Twitchy? So... Yogi... why the heck did you wake us up? I'm really tired and personally, I want to go back to bed."

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi stood in a cascade of scalding water and steam, enjoying the thermal limits of her private shower, when the crackle of the speakers rang through the room. Cutting off the water and poking her head around the curtain, she listened with increasing unease to Monokuna's message.

Moving too slow? If that was his reaction to zero deaths in this short span of time, she dreaded to think what motivation he had in mind to spur them toward murder. As she quickly towelled off and threw on a extra large shirt and night shorts on, Hoshi took the short trip down the hall and into the living room, her stomach in an knot of apprehension. Lingering at the back of the room nearest the dorms, she towelled the trailing water droplets from her hair and waited.

 

[_obsequious]

Ophelia had essentially done nothing, and it was really starting to piss her off.
Almost two days had passed, and she hadn’t made really any effort to get closer to her ally, determine weaknesses of the others around her, or even familiarize herself with her surroundings.
That, and she also hadn’t eaten since they’d arrived, with maybe the exception of her chewing on her bubble gum, and it was starting to get to a noticeable point. Her hair seemed thinner, her skin a little paler, and the circles under her eyes had gotten progressively darker.
But that didn’t concern her, not at all really, as the only morbid thought running through her brain at the moment was death. She’d begrudgingly accepted that the odds of her dying at this point were gradually growing as the others got themselves used to this new environment, and she’d really have to buckle down if she wanted to survive.

As of late she’d found herself drawn to the dining room, scribbling down anything and everything she discovered in a little notebook that was originally for mediocre schoolwork. Most noteworthy, she found herself stuck on Paeon’s use of Clozapine; she could be wrong, but the girl was pretty positive it was a medication used to dull out the effects of schizophrenia, mostly to lessen suicidal tendencies.
In truth, Ophelia was rather familiar with medication, as being in a gang often came with many disorders and such. She remembered overhearing Lash, formerly known as Nicholas Jerr outside of Hellfire, requesting his dose of that particular drug, so naturally it caught her attention when she watched with a careful eye as Paeon slipped it into his pocket.

Unfortunately, confining herself to the dining room wasn’t the most pleasant task, as she was often haunted by the smell of food coming from the neighboring room. This often triggered a loud rumble from the girl’s stomach, which usually resulted in a quiet hiss of annoyance at herself, as though she were scolding herself.

All throughout the day she sat there, watching carefully as people passed through, not bothering to say anything to them. Her not-so-secretive secret of her lacking food made the once snarky and bold girl rather quiet and defeated, the look in her brown eyes almost dead.

She perked up faintly as the crackling of the intercom was heard, none other than Monokuma himself. Fed up with his curfews and bedtimes, she snapped her book shut, brow furrowed, going to head to her room, but stopping mid-stride as he requested their presence in the common room.

She obliged, figuring she had nothing else to lose, and despite her exhausted senses and thoughts, curiosity still ran strong through her, and she quietly crossed to the common room, as she’d been told. Like a god damn dog.

Too slow?