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Minato looked down at the handbook that had smacked him in the face. Kneeling down, he picked it up and tapped the screen, watching as it lit up and his face along with bits of information about him appeared on the screen. Reading it, he figured it was the kind of information his school would know (birthday, gender, the basics), but seeing it flash onto the screen was unnerving. It meant whoever had brought them here had access to these things, that they knew them...
How did we end up here in the first place? Minato rose back to his feet, pondering this. Maybe Saito's first theory about them all being drugged wasn't too far off the mark. It would explain their memory loss, wouldn't it?
"What's it called...uh, Monokuma did mention a price for breaking the rules. We probably should look through them," Nakano pointed out. He briefly sneezed into his arm, then straightened, clearing his throat. "...Sorry. From my experience, people don't like it when you sneeze around them, and I think I'm allergic to something here, so I can't really help it. I'll try not to get snot everywhere."
"Gross," Saito muttered beside Minato.
"He just said he can't help it," Minato pointed out, quietly. "Try not to make him feel bad about. You could offer to get him tissues instead?"
"If I did that, that'd mean I have to find the tissues, and I don't feel like doing that," Saito explained. He stared at Minato for a moment, then ruffled his hair. "You know, you really shouldn't be so thoughtful. It's gonna get you killed."
"I-is not," Minato said quickly, hating the chill that ran down his spine. He forced confidence into his voice, "We're all going to get out of here, together. No one's going to die. We're going to gather the parts we need to build this plane and find a way to get out of here safely. I'm sure of it."
"...Think for a sec. Did anyone call out when Susugihara asked if someone could fly?" Saito crossed his arms, idly chewing on a strand of his own hair. "And see, even if we do manage to find enough parts to build a thing to get outta here, we don't know where we are. We don't know how far we need to fly to get to civilization or what direction to even fly in, we have no idea what to use as fuel, and even if we do find fuel how do we know it'll be enough to actually get somewhere?"
"W-well--"
"Not even done yet, bro. Even if this plan somehow works, no doubt it's gonna take some time, so someone'll probably already have died by the time we finish. What if that person's Susugihara?" Saito poked Minato's forehead. Minato flinched. "What if it's you? All I'm saying is be careful, alright? You seem like a good person. I don't feel like waking up to your corpse."
Th-that's not...true...
Minato's heart pounded against his ribcage. He shook his head, fighting down another bout of panic. No. No. No, he's wrong. No one has to die. As long as everyone stays calm, everything will be fine. Everything will stay okay...we just...need to stick together. We have to stick together.
"No one is going to die," Minato insisted, trying to convince himself of this. "We'll make sure of that."
Most likely realizing there was no changing Minato's mind, Saito simply shrugged. "If that's what you believe, man. Just keep what I said in mind. But ignore the bleeding girl over there, because she definitely didn't almost die just now."
"A-almost doesn't mean did," Minato reminded Saito, bristling. No one is dying. It was close, but the fact is that she didn't die, and that's what important in the end.
"Right." Saito patted his shoulder. "It just means soon."
W-would he stop that?!
"The rules should be simple enough," Shimizu decided, addressing the group. Minato turned to her, glad to be distracted from his conversation with Saito. "I think everyone can go over them on their own. Those of us who are less intelligent can ask someone else for help if needed, but hopefully, that won't be necessary."
"I'd be happy to help anyone," Minato called out. "Susugihara, while you draw up plans, it might be a good idea for us familiarize ourselves with the facility. My group spotted a hospital-like area earlier, so there are probably supplies in there for Yua's arm, if anyone has medical knowledge?"
Ryota frowned. "Not sure my medical knowledge is the right kind of knowledge for this."
"I know the basics," Shimizu said, "so I wouldn't mind too terribly."
The basics? Is that enough? Perhaps thankfully, he didn't have the best view of the attack, so he wasn't actually sure how deep Mizushima had managed to cut the girl. All he knew is that there was a lot of blood. Hopefully it's not too bad.
"I actually know some things," Yua herself admitted. "I-I have a lot of younger siblings and they get into trouble a lot, so with all of their play-induced injuries I've picked up some things online. Um...n-not a lot of stuff about something like this, though, h-haha. I could try to apply what I know?"
"That might work," Minato said. "If we put our knowledge together, we should be able to deal with it fairly well. Would you two like me to show you where the hospital building is?"
"Good idea," Saito muttered. "Travel in threes."
He doesn't think Shimizu was going to jump on the chance to kill someone, does he? Minato tensed. No. No, of course not. If she killed Yua while walking her out to the hospital, everyone would know it was her...but I guess it wouldn't hurt to travel in threes anyway, right?
"I'll go with them," Hayashi offered. "I-I know where it is and I know some things about cuts, too. I know my talent is kinda useless, so I want to be able to help in any way that I can."
"Not as useless as Ultimate Reality TV Star!" Ryota called cheerfully.