Chapter 12122Please respect copyright.PENANAVzBMhdp7RK
The next morning, everyone was thrilled.
“The party was amazing!” Chiharu exclaimed.
“It was definitely great.” Amaya agreed.
“The food was really good too.” Genki said.
“I’m glad everyone had fun.” Yasuo said.
“That totally lit up the mood, thank you Chiharu!” Nikko exclaimed.
Etsuko turned away. “Ahem.”
“Ah-you too, Etsuko.”
“That party was a blast. You guys have mad skills.” Isamu said.
“After we eat, I gotta clean some stuff up.” Chiharu said.
“Can I help?” Akihiko asked.
“Sure.”
Everyone was talking about the party while eating.
“If I remember correctly,” Satoshi started. “From my angle, at some point I saw Misaki dancing-”
She choked on her food. Then she swallowed and resumed eating. “I suppose I did.”
“But during our introductions, you said you didn’t like dancing.” Akihiko pointed out.
“I don’t like dancing.” She said flatly.
There was an awkward silence before she explained. “I only did it because I needed to regain energy. I was feeling tired.”
“Are you having trouble sleeping?” Kenji asked.
“It’s fine. More importantly, we should finish up and clean the main hall.”
Everyone continued eating and then cleaned up the main hall, which took a couple of hours.
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“Hello Students! Please come to the Main Hall quickly.”
We stayed and waited. Luckily, we finished cleaning.
Monokuma appeared. “I have created a new motive for you to get things exciting again!”
“Another motive?” Yasuo asked. “Could it be...for murder?”
“Of course!”
“No one’s going to fall for your motive!” Isamu yelled.
He laughed. “We’ll see about that.”
“S-So um...what is the motive this time?” Hanako asked.
“I sent videos to your E-Handbooks,” Monokuma explained. “You can watch them, right now. Well, it’s not optional. All of you have to watch it.”
“They can’t be that bad,” Chiharu began, looking at everyone. “My mind is still in the party. We can get through this!”
And with that, we turned our handbooks on. I clicked on the video that Monokuma sent.
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It was my office. Destroyed. My desk tipped over. My computer is shattered in pieces. Then it showed through the rest of the building I worked in. Lots of people were lying on the floor or on furniture. In pools of blood. They were all dead. The video cut off from there. And I turned off my E-Handbook. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. There’s no way that’s real. Monokuma is just trying to scare us. I stole a glance from everyone who looked equally terrified.
At last, Kenji said, “Don’t listen to the videos. Monokuma is just trying to scare you.”
Monokuma was already gone.
Chiharu’s leg shook. Her face was pale. “Ah...Ahh...Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
“Chiharu!” I called.
She dropped her E-Handbook and sobbed while running away.
“Chiharu!” Akihiko called, holding up her E-Handbook. “You dropped this!” He chased after her.
“This is Monokuma’s doing,” Isamu said. “I’ll follow them.”
She left and we just stood there.
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“What do we do?” Yasuo asked.
“Just resume your activities,” Akira responded. “This is just a trick arranged by Monokuma. I’m sure whoever you care about the most is safe.”
“N-Not that I’m disagreeing,” Hanako started. “B-But you don’t exactly know what’s happening out there either. It’s been over a week since we’ve been here.”
Akira just looked away.
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I followed Akihiko. He was by Chiharu’s door, talking to Isamu. I overheard a bit of the conversation.
“She left her E-Handbook.”
“I can keep it with me until she decides to come out.”
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He nodded and turned to leave. Then he noticed me. “Oh, Asami. I was just returning Chiharu’s handbook.”
“She didn’t look well at all,” I said. “What do you think we should do?”
“Well, Akira said to resume our activities, but…”
“Monokuma probably wants us to feel this way,” I began. “We just have to hope for the best and listen to those three.”
“I guess you’re right,” He agreed. “But we weren’t really doing anything, just cleaning.”
“Yeah...you’re right.”
“Oh, I know! Do you want to do something together?” He asked.
“Sure,” I replied. “Did you have something in mind?”
“Well, I was thinking we could go to the library or the pool,” He replied. “But I don’t know which one you find more suitable.”
“Any is fine with me.” I said.
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He decided to go to the pool. We headed into the changerooms to change and got out. Only then, we noticed Amaya was there. She was already dressed in a swimsuit.
I waved. “Hey, Amaya. Were you going for a swim, too?”
“Yeah. I saw you two guys walk in and I thought we could swim together.”
“That sounds fun.” Akihiko said.
“Notice anything?” Amaya asked.
“Oh, is it your necklace?” Akihiko asked.
Now I noticed it. Her necklace which had a key on it wasn’t around her neck anymore.
“Exactly,” She replied. “I tossed it in the pool.”
“Wh-Why?!” I stammered.
“I was planning a game where we find it,” She explained. “The pool is pretty large, so I don't know where it is. Whoever finds it first, wins!”
Akihiko and I ran and jumped into the pool. Amaya followed, and we searched for her necklace. I swam under the water near the right side of the pool. Then I saw something shining in the deep blue. A key. I grabbed it and swam up to the platform. “I found it!” The other two swam to me and I gave it to Amaya. She tied it around her neck. “Great job, mate!”
Just then a huge wave surfaced. We were all pushed away. I crashed into the corner of the pool.
When the water calmed down, we saw Nikko in the pool with his surfboard. “Surprised you, didn’t I?”
“Nikko,” I said, aghast. “What are you doing here?”
He laughed. “I came here to practice some tricks since this pool is so big.”
“Shoot, I suddenly remembered,” Amaya said, getting out of the pool. “I have to meet Yasuo at the library. It was fun hanging out with you guys. Later!” She dashed into the changeroom and left the pool room.
Nikko scratched his head. “Dang it, just when I arrived.”
Akihiko’s eyebrows creased.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
“It’s just Chiharu,” He started. “Don’t get me wrong, I had fun but I couldn’t help but worry about her. We were close ever since we were little. So for her to act like this...it’s not like her at all.”
“It was probably those motive videos,” I replied. “Despite what Kenji, Akira, and Isamu said, it still got to us.”
“They were horrible.” Nikko agreed.
“I’m scared something might happen to her.” Akihiko said.
“I’m sure everything will be fine,” I said. “I mean, she’s in her room, right? And Isamu is guarding the door.”
He gave a little smile. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Man, I wonder what Taishiro is doing.” Nikko said, before leaving the pool.
When he was gone, it was just the two of us.
“What should we do now?” I asked.
“Hmm, maybe we can check the library,” Akihiko replied. “Since there’s a lot of time left.”
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We both changed and headed to the library. We went by the side, where there were couches.
“Prince Akihiko…” I began.
“Please, just call me Akihiko.” He said with a smile.
“Akihiko,” I tried again. “What kind of books do you like to read?”
“Well, I don’t know all that much,” He answered. “Back in my kingdom, I just read several history books of our past.”
“I see. Want to try fiction?” I asked.
His eyebrows rose. “What’s fiction?”
“It’s a story that doesn’t happen in real life,” I explained. “It can have anything in it.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Want to pick out something?”
“Hmm...how about that one?” He pointed at a book with a dragon illustration on it.
“Fine with me.” I said. We sat on the couch, reading the book together until dark.
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We did the night roll call, and I headed to bed, entering a dreamless sleep.
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