Chapter 20
I turned up to the dining hall early this morning.
Hisoka and Kage were there.
I waved. “Hey.”
“Hello,” Hisoka replied. “The others didn’t show up yet?”
“Doesn’t look like it yet.” I replied.
Just then, Kenji walked in. “Hey guys. I tried being early, but…” He didn’t finish. I felt the same way. After a few moments of silence, Isamu and Kazuya walked in, followed by Daisuke.
“Good morning.” Kazuya said, trying to put on a positive vibe.
None of us replied.
“Let’s just eat,” Hisoka said nervously. “Shall we?”
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We ate pancakes with orange juice. I took a sip. And just then, Monokuma appeared. I spat out my juice, startled. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?” He asked back. “Just taking over Mr. Katsu’s job. Checking out the new places for you.”
“Right because of the previous class trial, right?” Isamu asked.
“Exactly!” Monokuma replied. “Akemi’s research lab, Akira’s lab, and Daisuke’s lab as well. A construction site and a museum! Be sure to check those out.” He disappeared.
“D-Did he say my lab?” I asked, standing up from my seat.
“That means you can finally figure out you’re Ultimate, right?” Kazuya asked.
“Finally,” I said. “I’ve been waiting for so long.”
“However,” Hisoka started. “We should still stick together, and check the other places too, right? In case another murder occurs?”
“Another murder?” Isamu asked. “Isn’t the mastermind dead?”
“Hideki was really the mastermind?” Kenji asked. “Then...does he have an assistant or something that’s controlling Monokuma now?”
“An assistant?” Hisoka asked. “Like someone who agreed with him to work on this killing game?”
“Who would agree to that?” Isamu asked.
“Let’s put that matter aside,” Kazuya said. “Even though the mastermind is dead according to Tsuyoshi, the killing game appears to continue. We should just follow what he says for now to avoid problems.”
“I…” Kenji’s voice trailed off, but then he finally said. “I guess you’re right.”
“Oh my,” Hisoka started. “Kenji...you look upset.”
“Well yeah,” Isamu said. “Kenji and Hideki were like, besties, you know? And now we just figured out he was the mastermind. Of course he’s going to be upset.”
“Oh! Sorry…”
“The same thing kinda happened to you, right?” Daisuke asked.
Isamu shot a glare at him.
“So do we go or not?” Daisuke asked, changing the subject. “Kenji, I can help you feel better afterwards.”
“Hell no!” Isamu yelled, before Kenji could reply. “Not after your behavior lately!”
He let out a gentle laugh. “What are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about!” Isamu started.“You might have calmed down from time to time, but I don’t trust you! You stay away from him!”
“Oh come on,” He said. “I wasn’t planning to do any harm. I’m a psychologist, you know. I can at least put his mind at ease.”
“We sh-should just check out the places Monokuma suggested, right?” Kenji quickly asked.
“See?” Isamu asked Daisuke. “He’s scared of you.” Just then, she held Kenji’s hand and left the dining hall.
I turned to the others. “We should go too.”
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The construction site had several cranes and in-progress buildings. There was even a small shed that included tools.
“So we can build anything?” Hisoka asked.
Monokuma appeared. “Of course!”
“Ah-!”
“What do you want?” Kenji asked.
“What?” He asked back. “It kind of sounds like you don’t want me here. Anyway, I’m here to just let you know that you can do whatever you desire with the equipment we have. Shovels, ropes, pick axes and such. You can also finish up the houses here. Let’s say it’s a gift from me to you.” Before we could say anything, he disappeared.
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The museum had two floors. The first floor had a huge monokuma statue in the centre of the main hall. There were also three rooms. One room was an aquarium room. The second room was for ancient things. The third one was for insects.
The second floor also had three rooms. One was a storage. It was quite big for a storage room. There were piles of papers, boxes of different items, and dangerous ones too. The second room had a library that contained information about the museum and what it had. The third one was for plants. The room was bright, and there were so many potted plants. Unlike the first floor, the second floor has a balcony that has arched bars above it with two statues on each side. Each with a different shape. One with a pink heart, one with a blue diamond, one purple star, and one was a green monokuma statue.
Monokuma appeared. “Hello again.”
“What is it now?” Kenji asked.
“I’m just here to give you guys a little bit of information.”
“Information?” Kage asked.
“Yep!” Monokuma replied. “The museum’s statue had about the same weight as the tools in the shed, so you can move the statues to the houses you could build!”
Kenji’s eyes lit up. “Really?!”
“For sure!” Monokuma said. “Now, continue with your exploration!”
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“Now that we explored the places,” Hisoka started. “We shall stick into small groups. That way, a murder would not occur.”
“Isn’t that what happened last time?” Kenji asked.
“Well, splitting up is just going to make us doubt each other.” Isamu pointed out.
“If anyone actually cares what Hikari wants, a murder would never happen.” Daisuke said.
“You can keep saying that, and then someone else is going to die.” Isamu said.
“Come on now Isamu,” Daisuke started. “Why give off the bad vibe?”
“If we’re splitting into groups,” Hisoka started. “Who’s going with who?”
“I don’t care,” I said, biting my nails. “I just need to check my lab out.” I could feel Kazuya’s hands press my shoulders. “Looks like Akira is getting excited. I don’t mind going with her.”
“Hmm,” Kage started. “I understand. Then, I’ll go with Daisuke.”
“Daisuke?” I asked.
“Well, I can’t let Daisuke and Isamu get close, so I’ll keep one of them with me.” Kage explained.
“So that’s me, Kenji, and Isamu.” Hisoka said.
“So we just do whatever but in groups?” Kenji asked.
“Yeah.” Kage replied.
We split up in different directions.
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“Finally.” I said, hovering my hand over the door handle to my research lab. The house was just a dark shade of red, and it had a black door. I turned the handle. What? I thought, perplexed. I tried turning it harder and harder, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Could it be…” Kazuya’s voice trailed off as Monokuma appeared. “Haha! That’s right! It’s locked!”
“But I’m not dead,” I said. “Why is it locked?”
“It's saved for later,” He replied. “You will soon see it eventually.” He disappeared before I could say anything.
I stomped. “That’s not fair! My lab finally shows up so I can know my Ultimate but it’s locked?!”
“It will be alright,” Kazuya started. “Monokuma said it will open up later right? You’ll still find out your Ultimate.”
I sighed. “I guess you’re right.”
Kazuya then held my hand with both of his hands. “Oh, I know! How about we check out my dorm? I decorated a bit more than on the first day. Well-it’s not like you have seen it before.”
“Oh yeah,” I replied. “I only saw Akemi’s and Hideki’s.”
“Then let’s check out mine,” He said. “Come on, it will be fun!”
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Kazuya’s room had jewelry hung on the wall, and he had a desk.
“This looks nice!” I said.
“It’s a good thing it has a window,” Kazuya said. “It makes the room brighter.”
I glanced around. “So what do we do here?”
Kazuya held up a necklace. “Want to learn how to make jewelry?”
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After a while, I made myself a bracelet. I held it up. “Wow, I actually made myself a bracelet!”
“You did well.” Kazuya said, before taking it from me. He gently unclipped it and then clipped it around my wrist.
“That was fun,” I said. “But it’s getting dark outside.”
“Oh yeah,” Kazuya replied. “What should we do about that?”
“Huh?”
“We should stay in small groups,” Kazuya said. “To be safe, you know?”
“Yeah,” I agreed before I froze. “Wait- are you saying-”
“If that makes you feel safe, then sure,” Kazuya said. “But we should also let the others know about this.”
“B-Before we go,” I said, before looking at the bracelet on my wrist. “Do you want this back?”
He laughed. “It’s for you, you made it after all.”
The atmosphere in the room suddenly felt hot. I have to get out of here. I quickly left the room as Kazuya followed me.
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When we found the others, we decided to discuss in the dining hall.
“So what’s the plan?” Hisoka asked.
“We should pair up with someone to sleep with, right?” Kazuya asked.
“That would be the best idea,” Kage started. “But...who sleeps with who?”
“I say we stick with our partners.” Daisuke said.
“No one asked you.” Isamu said.
“I actually agree,” Kenji said. “I would make things simpler.”
“So we stick with our partners?” Kazuya started. “That’s cool with me,” He placed his hand on my shoulder again. “How do you feel about this, Akira?”
Everything felt hot again. “U-Um sure.”
“It’s settled then,” Kage said. “We can sleep with our partners.”
“Then let’s get going,” Isamu said. “I’m exhausted.”
“We should go then.” Kage said, before we split back into our partners again.
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I ended up staying at Kazuya’s.
“You can sleep on the bed you know,” Kazuya said. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked. “That’s not even fair, I can sleep on the floor. You sleep on your bed.” I lied down, facing away from him. I heard his footsteps approaching me and that he sat down.
I turned to him. “Wh-What are you doing?”
“I’ll sleep on the floor if you’re doing it as well.” He replied.
“Huh? You don’t have to.”
“But it makes you feel safer, does it not?”
I didn’t know what to say. So I just turned back and lied down. I could tell he was still sitting down. “A-Aren’t you going to sleep?”
He let out a little laugh. “Don’t worry about me.”
I sighed, and forced myself to sleep.
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