Announcements: Cutting Costs (2024) » January 2024 Copyfraud Attack » Finding Universes to Join (and making yours more visible!) » Guide To Universes On RPG » Member Shoutout Thread » Starter Locations & Prompts for Newcomers » RPG Chat β€” the official app » Frequently Asked Questions » Suggestions & Requests: THE MASTER THREAD »

Latest Discussions: Adapa Adapa's for adapa » To the Rich Men North of Richmond » Shake Senora » Good Morning RPG! » Ramblings of a Madman: American History Unkempt » Site Revitalization » Map Making Resources » Lost Poetry » Wishes » Ring of Invisibility » Seeking Roleplayer for Rumple/Mr. Gold from Once Upon a Time » Some political parody for these trying times » What dinosaur are you? » So, I have an Etsy » Train Poetry I » Joker » D&D Alignment Chart: How To Get A Theorem Named After You » Dungeon23 : Creative Challenge » Returning User - Is it dead? » Twelve Days of Christmas »

Players Wanted: Serious Anime Crossover Roleplay (semi-literate) » Looking for a long term partner! » JoJo or Mha roleplay » Seeking long-term rp partners for MxM » [MxF] Ruining Beauty / Beauty x Bastard » Minecraft Rp Help Wanted » CALL FOR WITNESSES: The Public v Zosimos » Social Immortal: A Vampire Only Soiree [The Multiverse] » XENOMORPH EDM TOUR Feat. Synthe Gridd: Get Your Tickets! » Aishna: Tower of Desire » Looking for fellow RPGers/Characters » looking for a RP partner (ABO/BL) » Looking for a long term roleplay partner » Explore the World of Boruto with Our Roleplaying Group on FB » More Jedi, Sith, and Imperials needed! » Role-player's Wanted » OSR Armchair Warrior looking for Kin » Friday the 13th Fun, Anyone? » Writers Wanted! » Long term partner to play an older male wanted »

0
followers
follow

Takuya Saito

"Eh, maybe later."

0 · 593 views · located in Monokuma Resort

a character in “Dippity Doo Da--with a side of SPRINKLES!!”, as played by OstrichBurgers

Description

β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…

ImageXXXXSSXXβ–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚β–‚
Takuya Saito ✼ Taku ✼ Ultimate Masseur ✼ Male ✼ Bisexual ✼ Kibikino Akatsuki

✼Likes:
Sleeping, doing what he wants, slow days, milkshakes, silence

✼Dislikes:
People putting words in his mouth, being told what to do, hot beverages, feeling tense

✼Quirks:
Snores loudly, snorts when laughing, chews hair when nervous,
no sense of personal space






#10B0EA ✼ #8B0505
Image
β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…
Relaxed ✼ Picky ✼ Tactless ✼ Smart ✼ Doubtful

Takuya is a chill dude, and his chillness tends to vibe with everyone around him. Though his often blunt and sometimes pessimistic attitude toward things seem like they'd be a downer, his lack of care about it all combined with his general calmness usually serves as a good buffer. He tends to be touchy about things and when that usually ends up with a rather rude remark at someone else's expense, he doesn't seem to care, making him a bit insensitive.

β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…
"Your shoulders look tense. Want a massage?"

Takuya's an only child, and more than anything his parents had always wanted him to be their star. Projecting what they wished they could've been onto their son, most of his early life was full of him doing everything they said, saying what they told him to say and being forced to completely dismiss his own wants or desires. It didn't take long for Takuya to get sick of this, resolving to never do anything he didn't want to do and instead rebelling by learning something they both would detest: the art of massages.

As odd of a thing it was to focus on, even little Takuya caught onto their disdain for intimacy and the trash they talked about their massage therapists. Deciding it sounded fun (mostly because it was something they didn't like), he began researching and asking professionals for advice and tips. Catching on remarkably quickly, he began giving out massages to just about everyone he knew and his parents as well--they were appalled, predictably, but others were not. He was incredible, and everyone was catching on. Even Hope's Peak seemed to take note of his talents--when he received their invitation he accepted without a hint of hesitation, excited to rub it in his parents' faces and to pursue what was, funnily enough, a very relaxing career for him.

β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…β–…

So begins...

Takuya Saito's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Takuya Saito
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Minato awoke with a start, heart pounding in his chest.

Where...?

He sat up, blinking. Above him, seagulls squawked, tides rising to soak his shoes. The sun beat down on the sand surrounding him--he looked around, thoroughly confused. Though he'd always wanted to visit one, Minato didn't live anywhere near a beach. Actually, now that he was trying to remember, wasn't he supposed to be at his new school...?

The boy swallowed. Well. Not going to find out anything just sitting here, am I?

Pushing himself to his feet, Minato took a breath of the fresh air and dusted what sand he could off his clothes. On the bright side, the beach was beautiful--he had never seen such a sight outside of photos, so being able to look in person was quite an opportunity. Hopefully, his family had just decided to take a vacation to the oceanside and he fell asleep in the sand, somehow forgetting all about it.

Then again, that didn't make much sense, considering he wasn't exactly in beach attire.

Speaking of... I'm probably going to end up sweating in this. He pulled his jacket off, neatly folding it over his arm. He glanced around, biting his lip. Not far off, he saw something--another person, shifting in the sand. Hoping they'd know where they were, Minato made his way over to the male, taking a deep breath.

"Excuse me," he said, slowly, "but do you know where we are?"

"Mmm?"

The boy covered his eyes, presumably from the sun. His long black hair fell behind him and over his shoulders, the rest of him--similarly to Minato--covered in sand. With a bit of a groan, he sat up, stretching. Though he didn't seem to be wearing swimwear, his attire was at least a little more suited to swimming than Minato's. (Personally, though, Minato never saw the appeal of swimming in a t-shirt.)

He moved his hair out of his face, looking Minato up and down. "...No idea. Who're you?"

He doesn't know? Minato took another deep breath, suddenly nervous.

"I'm Yamada Minato," he said. "Do you--do you remember anything?"

The boy took a moment to respond. He scratched the back of his head, looking around. "Not...really. I remember Hope's Peak, then I just blank. Dude, do you know what's going on? This is kinda trippy."

Minato shook his head. "Not a clue. You're a student of Hope's Peak, too?"

"Saito Takuya," he greeted. "Ultimate Masseur."

Minato offered a hand to help him up. Saito took it--unsurprisingly, 'helping him up' turned more into 'trying not to be dragged down.' The Ultimate Masseur was far more well-built than Minato was, and it wasn't too far off to assume Minato was half his weight in muscle mass.

"Ultimate Charity Fundraiser," Minato greeted in return. "Nice to meet you."

Saito patted Minato on the back. "You too. Wanna explore?"

Minato blinked. "Explore?"

"Well, yeah." He grabbed Minato's wrist, pulling him further up the beach. "That's what you do when you don't know a place, right? There's gotta be someone here who knows what's going on. Other students, maybe."

Minato nearly tripped over the sand, attempting to keep up with Saito. "If--if you say so. We should try to be careful, though, since we don't know what's going on."

"What's the worst that could happen? We're fine," he said. He began to chew on his hair. "I mean sure, there's a chance we've been drugged and violated, or kidnapped and dumped onto a stranded island and left to rot, or I dunno, something even worse than that. Won't know unless we go around and find out."

Minato let out a nervous chuckle. "I'm sure that's not the case, there's...there's a reasonable explanation for this."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Aimi Wakabayashi Character Portrait: Takuya Saito
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Minato and Saito wandered for a bit, both eerily silent as they walked along the coastline. The more Minato thought about it, the more bizarre and vaguely terrifying the situation became. Waking up on a beach with no memory of what happened before? The presence of another person had been reassuring at first, but Minato found himself wondering if Saito was being truthful about his memory loss at all. Whether he was or not, Minato wasn't sure he wanted to know--exactly what manner of situation had the boy found himself in?

"Ah, civilization." Saito tugged Minato further along and the boy stumbled after him, blinking. Sure enough, in the distance, Minato could see several buildings. He felt himself sigh in relief. At the very least, they hadn't been dropped onto some random deserted island.

"We should check inside of the buildings," Minato proposed, "look for others."

Saito nodded. "Agreed. You do all the talking, I don't really feel like moving my mouth."

"Ah--? Um, alright, I guess." He was used to talking to people for charity events, so it wasn't anything he couldn't handle, at least. He chuckled to himself, vaguely amused. Saito glanced at him out of the corner of his eye--Minato half expected him to say something, but the student stayed silent, continuing toward the buildings instead.

Minato moved to open the nearest door, but before he could, someone opened it from the other side. It smacked into his face and he yelped, stumbling backward. Saito laughed.

"Wh-wha--ah! Sorry!" A girl his age popped her head out from behind the door, green hair bouncing as she did. She gestured to someone within the building, then stepped away from the door, laughing nervously. "See? N-nothing to worry about! Sir, I'm sorry about that, but d-do you happen to know where we are? This is Hope's Peak, isn't it?"

Hope's Peak? He rubbed where the door had hit his face, frowning slightly. The last time he checked, Hope's Peak was certainly not right next to a beach. Unless he'd just never known somehow?

"I'm sorry, but I don't actually know," Minato admitted. He bit his lip. "Are you a student as well? My friend and I were hoping we could find someone with a better grasp of what's going on. We only just woke up on the beach."

"Oh...um." She glanced back at her friend, seeming nervous. "We're students, but we only just woke up here, too. We don't have any idea what's going on..."

"Then we can find out together," Minato said with a smile. "I'm Yamada Minato, by the way."

The girl nodded. "Yamada. Hello, Yamada. I'm Hayashi Sachiko, and this is..." She turned to her friend, then paused, seeming hesitant. She let out another nervous chuckle. "Ah, I-I don't really remember. I don't want to get your name wrong, so I can...you can...uhm."

Opening the door more fully, Minato stepped forward to glance inside. Another girl--a particularly attractive one, at that--stood inside. He waved.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara Character Portrait: Tomomi Tanaka Character Portrait: Aimi Wakabayashi Character Portrait: Nagisa Himura
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©

Image Image


The largest building of the compound stuck out as particularly interesting to Tsubasa. Gesturing for Tomomi to follow, he headed towards it, eyes catching on the sign at the top.

"Monokuma Resort"

Monokuma? What the heck is a Monokuma? Curious, Tsubasa glanced back at Tomomi. "Do you know anything about this 'Monokuma' thing?"

Tomomi shook her head, tapping a finger to her chin. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "What do you think it is?"

As nice as it was for Tomomi to continue giving Tsubasa something to do, her lack of a definitive response was a bit irksome. Sighing, Tsubasa looked back at the sign, examining it for any slight alterations in the lettering that might indicate some sort of clue. Finding none, he sighed. "Might have something to do with Hope's Peak. A mascot, maybe, or a company sponsor. They have to get their money for facilities somewhere."

"Great idea," Tomomi cooed. "Should we go inside?"

"It can't hurt." Deciding nothing could go horribly wrong by just going inside, Tsubasa moved to open the door, holding it open for Tomomi.

The lobby of the building looked mostly normal--it was large and open, with some large windows along the opposite wall. Potted plants sat in rows near the sides and corners, providing a lively atmosphere. The air inside felt heavier but cleaner; Tsubasa drew in a deep breath, letting himself smile. It wasn't the worst place, though it definitely didn't seem like a school. Additionally, the "resort" label had him confused.

He suddenly heard the sound of chattering voices coming from one of the hallways to the side. Instinctively, Tsubasa held out an arm to keep Tomomi behind him, watching the direction from which the voices came.

A boy and girl emerged from the hallway, the boy currently telling what seemed to be a very engaging story.

"...but since I have no idea how to play pool I totally botched my first try. It was fun anyways, though, so maybe we can try it...oh!"

Tsubasa tensed, realizing the boy had spotted him. The newcomer waved exaggeratedly, gesturing for his companion to follow him over to Tsubasa and Tomomi.

"Hi! You two must be other students. See, Yua, I told you we would probably find other people if we came this way! So what are your names? What are your Ultimates?"

Loud. Chatty. A bit obnoxious. Doesn't seem like a bad kid, though. Tsubasa offered a wave. "I'm Susugihara Tsubasa, Ultimate Aeronautics Engineer. This is Tanaka Tomomi, Ultimate...gravure model?"

"Close enough," Tomomi agreed.

The newcomer gasped, awe in his expression. "Wow, those are such cool talents. I hope mine turns out to be just as cool as that!"

Turns out to be? "What are you talking about?"

The newcomer giggled, scratching his neck. "Well, see, you guys probably don't remember how we got here either. Right? So there's that, but for me I also...can't remember what my Ultimate talent is. So I've got no idea! But anyways, it doesn't really matter--my name's Himura Nagisa. Call me Nagisa!"

Does everyone in this place go by their first names? Must be a friendly group.

"You can call me Tomomi," Tomomi added, waving.

"Nice to meet you, Tomomi!"

Tsubasa's eyes fell to Nagisa's female companion. He dipped his head to her, stuffing his free hand in his pocket. "So you guys don't remember how we got here either. And I can assume you're also looking for others. Well then, you're welcome to come along with Tomomi and I. What's your friend's name?"




β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


From the moment she woke up, Aimi couldn't help but think she had awoken in a Hitchcock movie.

The hospital she had found herself in with her companion was spacious, at least, but it was also dripping with horror movie clichΓ©s at every turn and suspense oozed over the premises. Something was wrong, in her gut she felt it...but Aimi couldn't imagine just what it was.

She bowed to the two boys who had just showed up, not bothering with a smile. She didn't know them and they didn't know her--for all she knew, they could have been in charge of this strange occurrence and simply lying about their memory loss.

At least giving them a name couldn't hurt. "Wakabayashi Aimi. It's nice to meet you, Yamada."

If nothing else, having another student to wake up with was a bit of a comfort. Aimi didn't feel quite so nervous when she had someone she could confirm as being in the same situation--she and Hayashi had woken up around the same time, so it was highly unlikely the girl could have arranged everything to be so eerie and knocked herself out in time to make it look like she was awakening from a strange unconsciousness.

Speaking of companions, they still hadn't met Yamada's. Aimi dipped her head to the black-haired boy. "And who is your companion? Are you also Hope's Peak students?"

Briefly, she wondered if the two had any belongings on them--anything worth swindling while she was walking. Aimi herself had nothing and she had already confirmed Hayashi's lack of stuff, but it was worth asking the newcomers. She was in the mood for a free bite to eat.

"On a related note to our memory loss, are you two gentlemen missing all your things too? I seem to have misplaced my wallet and other belongings."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara Character Portrait: Tomomi Tanaka Character Portrait: Aimi Wakabayashi Character Portrait: Nagisa Himura
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Even with all of the weirdness going on at the moment, Yua couldn't say she was all that disturbed. True, from the moment she'd woken up she'd gotten the feeling that something was distinctly wrong, but whatever it was, she could roll with it, couldn't she? A-after all, the view is quite nice... She followed Nagisa over to the other two.

Yua offered the two newcomers a smile, bowing. "Ikeda Yua, Ultimate Tutor. But you can call me Yua, I don't mind."

She'd always insist that the students she taught called her Yua, and seeing as these were her classmates, it only felt natural to tell them the same. Brushing blonde strands of hair out of her face, the girl turned to Nagisa, oddly excited to stick with Susugihara and Tomomi. "Joining them wouldn't hurt, right? There's strength in numbers."

Who am I kidding, he won't mind. Yua straightened her posture, taking a deep breath. "It's a little alarming that all four of us don't know what's going on. Hopefully, we'll run into someone with an intact memory and a good explanation for why we're all here..."

Another tall strong guy, she hoped, for no reason in particular. One who wasn't accompanied by an actual model.

"...Mmm. You seem capable, so I'll follow your lead." She latched her arm with Susugihara's, craving the closeness of another person in such a scary situation. "Onwards?"






β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Behind Minato, Saito briefly stuck his hands into his pockets--he flipped them inside out, revealing them to be empty. He shrugged. "Saito Takuya. We're from Hope's Peak, yeah."

"It's nice to meet you too, Wakabayashi." Minato briefly bowed his head to her. "Like Saito said, yes, we're also Hope's Peak students. He's the Ultimate Masseur, and I'm the Ultimate Charity Fundraiser. And...now that you mention it, I think I'm missing my things, too."

Feeling a panic begin to stir in his chest, Minato checked his pockets, even more confused than before when he found them completely empty. He usually didn't carry much around, but he always had his wallet, a business card or two...what was this?

It was too strange to be a string of coincidences now.

Seeming nervous, Hayashi took a deep breath. "Did you guys see anything outside? Do you have an idea of where we might be?"

Minato shook his head, frowning slightly. "Not really. We only just woke up the beach. Neither of us knew what was going on so we resolved to look around until we found something, and this building was the first thing we saw. There were some others, too, if you two think it'd be a good idea to try and explore those?"

Hayashi nodded. "Maybe. Wakabayashi, what do you think?"

Saito watched the other two girls, frowning slightly. "...Your Ultimates?"

"Hm?" Hayashi turned back to Saito.

"Yamada just told you our Ultimates, so tell us yours," Saito insisted. "It's only fair."

Hayashi chuckled nervously. "Oh. Um...I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student. Wakabayashi is Ultimate Movie Director, I think. ...D-did I get that right? I'm sorry if I didn't."

"Ah. So you're talentless." Saito's rudeness took Minato off-guard.

"G-guess you could say that," Hayashi said with another nervous laugh.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara Character Portrait: Tomomi Tanaka Character Portrait: Aimi Wakabayashi Character Portrait: Nagisa Himura
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Tsubasa couldn't say he was disappointed with Yua's closeness--he offered her a smile, offering his other arm to Tomomi. Shrugging, she took it.

"Nice to meet you, Yua." He nodded to Nagisa. "Let's get our bearings. Tomomi and I came from the pool and went straight here. Where did you two wake up?"

"I woke up in this recreation room," Nagisa answered. "It's behind this room here, I think. Yua was there too, so we decided to walk around and find some people. And what do you know? We found people!"

Tsubasa nodded. If Nagisa and Yua had come from the left hallway, that meant no one else was beyond there. The question, then, was what was down the right hallway. There was also the matter of all those other buildings outside, but they could probably get to those later--as long as they were inside, looking around more here couldn't hurt. He wanted to look for clues about this "Monokuma" thing, anyway.

"Let's go down this other hallway," Tsubasa decided, already moving towards the right hall. "We might as well finish exploring this place before we go back outside. If anyone notices anything suspicious, let me know and we'll stop to investigate."

"That seems like a good plan," Tomomi offered. Nagisa nodded to show his approval, toddling behind the three.

Tsubasa had no idea what to expect heading down the hallway, but it was worth a look. Hopefully their little investigation would teach them that everything was perfectly fine and normal.

And if it isn't?

Tsubasa pushed that thought aside. If it wasn't, he would handle it the same way he always did--make a plan and follow through with it.




β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Aimi offered Hayashi a smile to try and reassure her, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. "Well, luck must be some sort of talent," she decided. "You got it right, Hayashi. Well...short films, specifically, but I won't protest being called a 'movie' director. Losing all our things is worrisome, though..."

Nothing worth taking, it means. Oh well--gives me a break from having to turn up the charm.

"What are the odds there's a theater here?" she asked. "We're practically living a movie now--like a Kurosawa film. Mr. Kiyoshi, I might add, not Mr. Akira."

How likely was it they would encounter a similar situation as was in Retribution? A series of clues that points right to one of the students--or even Aimi herself. How much did they all not remember? Had someone in the very room kidnapped all of them?

She shuddered. Sometimes, her extensive movie knowledge was a curse--she was always thinking up ways to connect real life to a movie.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara Character Portrait: Tomomi Tanaka Character Portrait: Aimi Wakabayashi Character Portrait: Nagisa Himura
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


"Nice to meet you too." Yua smiled back at Susugihara, happily walking alongside him. Everyone seemed nice enough, so she figured if the situation didn't pick up soon, she could find a way to get used to it. And if everything was really just fine, then that would be even better, right? She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. Everything's fine, Yua. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.

Without realizing it, she moved closer to Susugihara, the foreboding feeling looming over her beginning to make her anxious. The building was nice-looking and spacious, but eerily empty aside from the four. This couldn't be normal, could it?

As they were walking down the hallway, Yua noticed a door slightly ajar. Both curious and apprehensive, she glanced back at Nagisa to make sure he was paying attention, then gestured to the door. No doors they'd encountered thus far had been open, save for the ones they'd opened on their own.

"Another person?" She suggested quietly. It seemed like a reasonable assumption.

The door eased open--a tall, slender and, admittedly, beautiful blonde girl stepped out, examining the group. Though her stance was oddly relaxed, her expression spoke caution. Yua found she couldn't blame her, assuming the girl was in the same situation the rest of them were.

"And you are?" She asked, the soft, smoothness of her voice somehow fitting with the grace she carried herself with.






β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Hayashi smiled gratefully, rubbing her arms. "Th-thanks. I'm nothing compared to you guys, though. You're all so amazing!"

Minato offered her a smile in return. "I'm sure you're amazing, too. Everyone is, really, in their own way. ...Ah, would there be a theater here? I guess one could be in one of the buildings outside."

He glanced back at the door, the frame of which Saito had taken to leaning against. Whatever this place was, it was big, so they couldn't be the only people here. Could they? Even if they were living some movie-esque scenario as Wakabayashi had suggested, surely their supposed kidnapper wouldn't have dumped just four kids onto such a large complex. There had to be others.

"Maybe there are others?" Hayashi proposed, following his gaze.

Minato nodded. "Maybe. It wouldn't hurt to check."

He was curious to find out what was in the other buildings, after all. Seeming in agreement, Saito gestured for them to follow him as he stepped out of the building and back outside.

"Oh--I guess we're checking now?" Looking back to make sure the two girls were coming, Minato walked outside after Saito, only somewhat surprised when the boy clapped his hand on Minato's shoulder.

"Say, how strong are you?" He asked.

Minato hesitated. "Um...moderately? I wouldn't call myself weak, but I wouldn't exactly call myself strong, either. W-why do you ask?"

Surely he didn't think they were at the threat of being attacked? "I don't really feel like walking anymore. Was wondering if you could carry me, but you're probably too tiny. Forget I said anything."

...Oh. Somehow, Minato wasn't surprised. He walked in pace with Saito, heading toward a more circular-shaped building up ahead. "I'm assuming you'd still like me to take the lead in upcoming social situations?"

Saito grinned. "You learn quickly, Yamada."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara Character Portrait: Tomomi Tanaka Character Portrait: Aimi Wakabayashi
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Almost instinctively, Tsubasa moved to guide Yua and Tomomi behind him, as if guarding them somehow. His eyes flickered to Nagisa, who was distracted humming a song and examining the paint on the walls.

Direct, Tsubasa thought to himself, turning back to the new girl. Seems cautious. Graceful. She probably wouldn't try to hurt them--if she did, while Tsubasa was no fighter, he felt fairly certain he could subdue her enough for everyone else to get away. What were the odds Nagisa's hidden talent had something to do with judo?

"Susugihara Tsubasa," he said at last. "I'm a student on my way to Hope's Peak Academy. I woke up here. The others are the same as me."

"I'm Nagisa!" Nagisa piped. "Nice to meet you! Wow, those are really neat clothes."

Tomomi waved.

"You don't happen to know what's going on here, do you?" Tsubasa continued. "I can't remember how I got here and neither can they. We're on our way around the building exploring for clues to the situation. Have you found any?"




β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Exploring seemed like as good an idea as any. Aimi began to follow after Yamada and Saito, looking around at all the buildings scattered around the premises. Most of them were labeled in some way, with most of those labels applying to something called a "Monokuma", though nothing stuck out to her as particularly interesting.

Across the way was a building labeled as "Monokuma Dormitories". Aimi squinted at it, adjusting her glasses.

A humanoid shape emerged from the door to the dormitories. Glancing around, the shape seemed to notice the group and ran over to join it at a surprising speed. As it approached, Aimi realized it was distinctly female.

The girl skidded to a stop near the group. "Yo! Civilization! Have you guys seen anyone else 'round here? It's pretty spacious, eh?"

Aimi hesitated to answer. Sensing her uneasiness, the newcomer laughed awkwardly and scratched her neck.

"Oops. My bad. Here I am runnin' up to you all excited and you don't even know me, eh? I just assumed y'all must be Hope's Peak students just like myself!"

Her dialect was a bit off--Aimi realized she most likely came from a rural area. Aimi bowed, stepping away from the rest of the group slightly. "So you are also a Hope's Peak student?"

"Yep! M'name's Futami Chou. I'm the Ultimate Marathon Runner! I've already run this whole complex once or twice, got bored and popped in that building to check it out. Looks like we got dorms, eh? Whoever brought us here wants us to be comfy, at least. Pretty neat place!"

She seemed spirited, at least--if not too spirited. Aimi dipped her head, a bit put-off by Futami's energy and unusual dialect.

"Wakabayashi Aimi," she announced. "The Ultimate Short Film Director. I will let my new companions here introduce themselves--I don't want to get any of their talents wrong."

Futami waved to everyone, then began jogging in place, turning to look over her shoulder at the other buildings. "This place is huge, eh? You could get lost in a compound like this!"

Is she listening? It was hard to be sure if Futami was even still paying attention to the current conversation with the way she swapped subjects on a dime, but somehow Aimi got the sense she was always listening.

She was unusual, that was for sure...but most of them were in some capacity.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara Character Portrait: Tomomi Tanaka Character Portrait: Aimi Wakabayashi
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Aware of Susugihara's caution, Yua suddenly felt more nervous, moving to step behind him fully but without blocking her view of the girl. Her hardened expression seemed to soften at the mention of them all being students--folding her arms, she sighed, gently shaking her head.

"Sorry," she murmured. "I haven't found anything yet. The cameras are bothersome, though."

Cameras... Yua's gaze drifted to a camera mounted on a nearby wall. There'd been one in the recreation room and the hallway outside there, as well, but Yua had just brushed it off as some kind of security measure. Then again, what were the chances someone was actually watching them this very moment?

She shuddered, not liking the odds. Hopefully whoever manned the cameras was a friendly person and was on their way over to clear up the entire situation. In the meantime, Yua figured it wouldn't hurt to ask more about this newcomer, seeing as she didn't seem very intent on explaining things about herself. "Are you, um...are you also a student?"

The girl seemed oddly hesitant to respond. "Shimizu Hekima, Ultimate Acrobat. You're...?"

"Ikeda Yua, but you can call me Yua," Yua responded. "Ultimate Tutor."

Shimizu nodded, then looked at the others, reciting their names aloud. "Nagisa, Susugihara, Yua..." Her head tilted slightly when her gaze fell upon Tomomi; she apparently decided to leave the matter for the moment. She ran a gloved hand over her arm, looking back to Nagisa instead. She offered a small smile. "Thank you. They aren't the most ideal for the situation, but they're what I was wearing before this happened, so...I suppose I'm stuck with them now."

Yua noticed Shimizu's eyes flickered back to the camera, briefly.




β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Minato smiled at Futami, her exuberance more than welcome. "Yamada Minato, Ultimate Charity Fundraiser. Nice to meet you, Futami. As for the rest of us..."

He glanced back at Hayashi and Saito, the first of which seemed shy and the second of which probably expected Minato to do all of the talking for him. Resolving to introduce them himself, he first gestured to Saito, "this is Saito Takuya--did I get that right?--the Ultimate Masseur, I believe. And over here is..."

"Hayashi Sachiko," Hayashi filled in for him, smiling. "Ultimate, um, Lucky Student. I guess this place is pretty huge, huh?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah. Any buildings catch your eye, Futami? We haven't seen anyone else around except each other and now you, and...we're actually still wondering where we all are. If we're not too slow for you, would you like to tag along and check the buildings with us?"

"I'd offer to try and keep up with you, but you'd probably just outrun me," Hayashi chuckled.

Minato was inclined to agree. He'd never been much of a runner, much less into sports at all. Well--runner in terms of running events, he supposed he was good at, but anything athletic wasn't really his strong suit. He could kick a ball, but that was about it.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara Character Portrait: Tomomi Tanaka Character Portrait: Aimi Wakabayashi
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Tsubasa felt someone staring at him. He glanced at Tomomi, who watched him expectantly as if for instructions. He nodded to her. Taking this as permission, she turned to address Shimizu.

"I'm Tanaka Tomomi," she announced. "Please, call me whatever you like. Um, I'm the Ultimate Swimsuit Model."

"Swimsuit," Tsubasa muttered. "Not gravure. You could have corrected me earlier."

"Oh, no, it wasn't a big deal," Tomomi insisted.

Nagisa continued humming, examining the cameras. He waved to one, laughing. "Hello! Hello, camera people! Say, do you know where we are? Do you think we're in a movie?"

Tsubasa huffed. As nice as it was having people to follow him around, when one of them was a doormat and one of them was just way too happy about the current situation, it left a bit to be desired. "If there was someone manning those cameras, you'd think they would give us some kind of hint by now. No, this isn't a movie--we'd need a director for that. And our memories. Could be a psychological experiment, though--throw a bunch of high-schoolers in a strange situation and see how quickly they can work their way out of it. Well, if that's the case..."

He paused, seemingly thinking of something. "Oh, right. Our Ultimate talents. Mine is Ultimate Aeronautics Engineer."

"Mine exists!" Nagisa exclaimed cheerfully.

"Nagisa can't remember his," Tsubasa added. Nagisa nodded, then returned to humming his song and began heading down the hallway. "Shimizu, I apologize for jumping subjects so quickly, but...did you wake up in that room, or have you had a chance to walk around a bit already? We were heading down that hallway if you felt like coming along."




β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Futami leaned forwards, suddenly examining the group. "Yamada Minato...say, that's a familiar-soundin' name! Have you ever run charity runs before? Feel like I've done a couple!"

Aimi suddenly realized these were all rather famous students--for the first time, she was more aware of them and their talents. The names had a slight familiarity--Saito's and Yamada's, at least. Aimi tilted her head at the two, wondering how it hadn't yet occurred to her that she was vaguely aware of them.

"Actually..." Aimi paused. "Come to think of it...your names sound familiar to me in a vague sense as well, Saito and Yamada."

Though I most certainly never donated to any charities. Aimi liked to keep her wealth where it belonged--with herself. Not that she considered herself stingy, she was merely cautious. If an economic collapse struck, she would wish she hadn't donated hundreds of dollars to such-and-such charity or thrown away her money in a massive shopping spree.

That was why getting free stuff from gullible men was such a joy to her. She could pick up a bite to eat without spending a cent.

"I think my memory is coming back in patches," Aimi said. "That may be why it didn't click before that I had heard of you."

"And..." Futami rubbed her hands together, suddenly looking at Hayashi. "You said you're lucky, right? So, so, can you predict the winner of the horse races? Bet you're real good at chance games, eh? You must be like a world-class gambler!"

Aimi decided someone had to steer Futami back to the original question. "Buildings. Are there any that stuck out to you?"

"Hn..." Futami began jogging in a circle around the group, seemingly thinking. "Not really? But there were these weird speaker-lookin' thingies mounted all over the place."

As if on cue, a static sound suddenly filled the air. Aimi whirled around, noticing for the first time the speaker and monitor poking out the ground partway between the hospital and the dorms.

"Upupupu..."

What?

What is that sound?

"All Hope's Peak students, please report to the gym for your student orientation! I repeat, all Hope's Peak students, please report to the gym for your student orientation! And no dawdling, you hear me?!"

"Gym," Futami repeated, remarkably calm. "Must be our headmaster callin'! The main resort building's this way--that's probably where the gym's at. I'll jog so I don't go too fast. Follow me!"

With that, Futami changed course to head further inland. Figuring she probably knew what she was doing better than anyone else, Aimi began to follow, a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Why do I get the sense this isn't going to end well?

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Machiko Nakamura Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Ryota Nakano Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Student orientation? What in the world...

As bad of a feeling as Minato was getting, the voice over the speakers clearly knew something about why they were all here. Following after Futami with Saito and Hayashi close behind, the five made their way over to the main building Futami had been talking about and stepped into the building, looking around. Looping through some rather confusing hallways, they eventually found themselves in the gym, among several other teens their age--students, Minato could only assume.

They began scattered conversations as they waited for something to happen.

Saito crossed his arms, frowning. "This is f*ckin' weird."

"Surely there's an explanation for this," Minato muttered, looking around. It was the same thing he kept telling himself over and over again--there was an explanation. There was a reason. And if they could find at least that out, then that would be a good first step in the right direction.

"I mean, an explanation, sure," Saito agreed, "but not a good one."

"Can anyone remember anything?" A person called out.

Is everyone just as clueless as we are? Minato took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Whatever the circumstance, they were all smart people, weren't they? They could work through this. They could work together, figure out what was going on, and come up with a solution together. Everything was going to be fine.

As one more student--the last one, perhaps?--walked through the gymnasium doors, all attention was brought to the stage. The floor rumbled. The students whirled around, all looking in different directions, when a robotic, black and white teddy bear suddenly popped out from one of the tiles, regarding the students with a sickening grin. Two sides, one cute and the other quite horrifying, complete with a red, shining eye--somehow, the combination of both was enough to make Minato's stomach turn.

"Welcome to student orientation, kiddos!" He exclaimed, rubbing his paws together. "Man, you guys took forever to get here! The least you could've done was bother to be punctual!"

"O-our apologies," Minato said, cautiously. "We didn't know wh--"

"Can it, scrub! Did I say you could talk?!" The bear spat. Minato jumped, heart racing. "Don't interrupt your headmaster when he's talking, you got that?! Jeez. Kids these days!"

Saito suddenly pulled Minato closer, as if protectively. Terrified and oddly thankful, Minato went with it, though still trying not to lose his nerve.

"Aaanyways, before I was so rudely interrupted," the bear started, "I was going to tell you guys all about how this is your new home, so you'd better get used to it! And get to know it better so that you don't have to be so late next time, got it?!"

What is he...talking about...?

"I already have a home," a rather frail-looking boy pointed out, frowning slightly. "And I'd like to get back to it now, actually, if that's alright."

"Well, too bad! Ya can't!" The bear exclaimed. "This is your home now, and you've gotta deal with it! There's no escaping, no goin' back to your mommies, no nothin'! You're living here forever!"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Machiko Nakamura Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Ryota Nakano Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


There were too many questions on Aimi’s mind for her to even form coherent sentences.

β€œYou cannot keep me here!” a blonde boy yelled out. β€œDo you know who I am?! My daddy is going to sue you so bad, your children will be dealing with lawsuits!”

β€œChildren?” The strange robot bear suddenly looked depressed. β€œAh...to meet a nice Monokumette and settle down...hey, don’t go making me all upset in the middle of orientation!”

There was an odd whisper. Aimi looked around, trying to pinpoint the noise; finding no one, she faced the bear again.

β€œWait a minute.” Nearby her group, a redheaded boy who seemed to be at the head of his own group spoke up, arms folded. β€œAre you the Monokuma whose name is plastered on the front of this building?”

β€œYou got it, bucko!” The bear--Monokuma, apparently--twirled, holding a paw to his red eye. β€œIt’s me! The famous Monokuma, the Ultimate Des-bear!”

This time, Futami ventured a shot at speaking to the bear. β€œWhat did you mean when we said we had to stay here forever? I don’t plan on spendin’ the rest of my life here! Nice place, sure, but what about Hope’s Peak?”

β€œOh, right…” Monokuma sneered at the students, his blood-red eye glowing. Suddenly nervous, Aimi took a step closer to Yamada and Saito, figuring them more capable than herself if a fight broke out. β€œYou’re still totally Hope’s Peak students! Yep, the real deal! It’s just that this semester is gonna be a little...different.”

There was a chill in that cutesy voice. Aimi grabbed Futami’s hand in one of hers and stretched out the other to touch Hayashi’s shoulder.

β€œYep! We’re gonna start the school year with a bang! Either you live here forever, or--if you pansies really decide you want a chance at escape--you have a simple way out.”

β€œAll you gotta do is kill someone!”

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Machiko Nakamura Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Ryota Nakano Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Saito's grip on his arm tightened tremendously, almost to the point that it hurt. Breathing suddenly unsteady, Minato had to focus on just being able to stand. He rubbed his eyes, willing himself to wake up. It's a dream. It's a dream. It's all just a dream, none of this is real, it's too bizarre to be real, th-this can't be...

One girl screamed, and another broke out into a stream of stutter-filled curses. Someone else suddenly began backing away from the others, trembling.

"Y-You're l-lying, he's lying!" Someone cried. "Th-there's no way th-this is r-real!"

"Hey, now!"
Monokuma complained, holding a paw over where his heart would be. "Monokuma's an honest bear! Of course this is all real! You don't think I'd lie to you all, do you?"

"Lies!" She screamed. "L-let me go back home!"

"No can do, pal! You're stuck here forever unless I get to see some blood on the floor!"
Monokuma declared, in a voice implied that he was actually excited about all of this. Minato tried to force words out of his mouth, but found he was still too stunned--he stared, legs still threatening to buckle.

"Y-you want blood?!" The girl screamed. "FINE! H-here's some f*cking blood!"

Yanking a knife out of her pocket and taking the arm of the nearest girl--blonde, purple eyes--and slashed at it, cutting deep into her skin and drawing enough blood to start a river of it down her arm. The blonde let out a blood-curdling scream, trying desperately to pull away as the one girl latched onto her arm.

Minato screamed as well, stumbling back into Saito. The boy's grip on Minato's arm grew even tighter. "What the f*ck?! Get your f*cking hands off of her, you psycho!"

"Here you go!" She cried, ignoring Saito. "Blood! Now let me leave!"

"Oh, wowie! I didn't expect violence so soon,"
Monokuma cooed, seeming pleased. "But that's not enough. Just a stab to the neck should do it, though, if you really insist."

"S-stop! Don't!" The blonde girl screamed desperately, thrashing.

Realizing the increasing likeliness of a murder taking place right in front of him, Minato trembled, more terrified than he had been in a very long time. "Stop! Hands off of her, please!"

Just when it looked like the most definitely crazy girl was about to take a knife to the blonde's throat, another, taller girl stepped in, quickly grabbing the girl's wrist and twisting it behind her back. The crazy one let out a yelp--sobbing, the blonde managed to tug free, stumbling away from the girl who'd sliced her arm open.

"Desist or I will break your arm," the tall girl warned, eyes narrowed slightly.

"F-f*ck off!" The crazy one spat, squirming.

True to her word, the taller one began twisting the other's arm in what looked like a very painful way. Crying out suddenly, the crazy one quickly shook her head, teeth clenching in pain. "F-fine! F-fine, you win, I'll stop, d-don't break it! I'll stop!"

"Wise choice," the taller one murmured. Holding her wrist in one hand and prying the knife away from Crazy Girl with the other, she tucked the bloody knife into her leggings, most likely because she didn't seem to have any pockets anywhere else on her. Almost as if conducting a pat down, she checked the girl for any more dangerous items and then released her, watching the girl with careful eyes. "Try anything again, you'll break both arms."

The girl stuck out her tongue, though she was clearly trembling.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Machiko Nakamura Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Ryota Nakano Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Aimi took a step back, trembling. What kind of Shimizu film have I stepped into? Is this real?

β€œYua!” If nothing else, the redheaded boy seemed to have control of himself. He tore off his jacket, immediately rushing to the blonde girl’s side and wrapping it around her arm to try and stop the blood. β€œThanks for stepping in, Shimizu! Yua, are you alright?! I’ve got you! What’s wrong with you, psycho b*tch?!”

Someone started crying. Again, when Aimi looked around she found no one.

β€œAnd here I was thinking I’d have to come up with a motive! Upupupupu, you guys sure are eager! Oh, but before you get to killing yet…”

Digging around behind his podium, Monokuma uncovered a series of digital tablets. He began to toss one to each student.

β€œYour student handbooks! These babies give all the rules! Make sure you study them carefully, β€˜cause there’s a price to pay for breakin’ them!”

Aimi felt sick. She tried to look anywhere but at the blond girl bleeding on the floor or the crazy girl who’d almost gotten her arm broken. Biting her lip, Futami rushed to the blonde girl’s side, asking if any of them needed anything she could run and get.

A tablet suddenly flew at Aimi. She managed to catch it, stuffing it in her pocket for safekeeping.

This is a movie, isn’t it? Well, the director has talent, but he also has balls. Both important, though I could do without the latter. Doesn’t he realize forcing us to perform our own stunts without prior information is grounds for a lawsuit?

Aimi tried to distract herself planning this lawsuit while Monokuma passed out the rest of the handbooks. The air was clogged with uneasiness, each student processing through what could only be described as β€œshock”.

This must be a trick, right…?

β€œAnd that concludes our orientation!” Monokuma exclaimed. β€œThanks for stopping by! With such a willing crowd, I might even offer a special perk for the first killer! Won’t that be a great time? See ya later!”

β€œWait!” the redheaded boy called. β€œI still have questions!”

β€œHuh?” Monokuma paused, thinking. β€œI covered the β€˜stuck here forever’ thing...I told them about the killing game...I passed out the student handbooks…”

β€œOkay, so what about β€˜what happens if no one kills each other?’” the redheaded boy asked.

β€œThen there will be a motive, of course!” Monokuma said, as though it were obvious. β€œYou can’t have a killing game with no killing. All the kiddies reading along will get bored!”

β€œAnd the killer? Do they just...get away with it?!”

β€œOh!” Monokuma stood straighter, rocking. β€œI thought I was forgetting something! I still have to explain the trials.”

Trial? Whatever that was, Aimi knew it couldn’t be good.

Please...whatever nightmare I am living, let me wake up from it.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Machiko Nakamura Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Ryota Nakano Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Saito was actually hurting Minato's arm now. Minato would have minded if the pain and Saito's support weren't the only things keeping him from collapsing on the spot.

"What was I supposed to do, just stand here and take this?!" The crazy girl cried, fists clenching. She reached up to tear at her own hair, beginning to hyperventilate.

Minato shivered, staring as the bleeding blonde girl--Yua, had the redhead called her?--shook violently, letting out sobs full of what could only be described as shock and terror. The girl who'd helped her gave a curt nod toward the redhead and gracefully sat down on Yua's other side, placing a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. She began talking back and forth with Futami, remarkably calm considering the situation.

"Wh-what are trials?" Minato managed to ask, looking back at Monokuma. He turned his head just in time for a tablet to smack into his face.

"Why, I'm glad you asked! Let's get this over with quickly so you eager beavers can get to killing," Monokuma began, clapping his paws together. Minato felt sick. "After a murder has occurred, we'll start what will be known as investigation time. You kiddos will have until I get bored to gather clues about who the blackened is, the 'blackened' being the one who killed another student. After investigation time, we'll gather by the big red doors you all saw on your way here, sending you all down to the trial room!"

Trial? What kind of trial does he mean?

"There, you'll debate to try and find out who the killer is. Guess right, and the killer is executed..."

Minato swallowed. Executed?

"...Guess wrong, and you're all punished instead!"

"Punished and executed, meaning...?" The tall girl from before asked the question Minato couldn't bring himself to ask.

"Well, what do you think it means?" Monokuma asked, seeming annoyed. His red eye glinted as he went on, sending quakes of fear through Minato's body. "Killed! Speared! Suffocated! Cooked! Blown into a bazillion pieces! It's like I said--executed!"

He felt like he was going to throw up. Wake me up...someone, wake me up...please...

Besides him, Hayashi burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. One boy sneezed, while another starting covering his ears and murmuring to himself to try and block out Monokuma's voice. Meanwhile, it was all Minato could do not to drop to his knees and start hyperventilating.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Machiko Nakamura Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Ryota Nakano Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Almost instinctively, Aimi moved to sling her arm over Hayashi and bring her closer in a sort of half-hug. It was meant to comfort Hayashi, sure, but if Aimi were honest she meant it just as much for herself.

Stay calm, Aimi. You are the master of paying attention to detail and you’ve seen enough detective noir movies to make two of your own. You are prepared to deal with this.

But even so...executions…?!

Whoever they were dealing with was gruesome, clever, and most of all, very rich. How else would he afford to rent out an entire resort compound just to turn it into a Battle Royale?

β€œAny more questions?” Monokuma called. β€œThis is your last chance to ask!”

β€œUm, yes I have questions!” the blond boy shrieked. β€œWhat are you going to do when the police come looking for me?! When my parents come looking for me?! I am TV’s darling and I will not sit back and allow you to keep me kidnapped here!”

β€œCan it, Kardashian!” Monokuma snapped, his paws now gleaming with very obvious claws. Aimi clung tighter to Hayashi, her nerves skyrocketing. β€œYou will notice there are no phones, no computers, no internet, no nothing anywhere on the island! Just you, me, and a whole lot of blood!”

β€œThis is an outrage!” The blond boy promptly began stomping. β€œI insist--no, I demand you let me go right this very instant or I...I’ll scream! I’ll scream so loud everyone will hear it and they’ll come running!”

β€œScream all you want!” Monokuma’s gleaming red eye was more menacing than ever. β€œBut only whoever you see in this room will hear you. No one else is on the island, you know?”

That knocked the blond boy silent for now. He stared around at the others, mouth agape.

We’re really the only people here? In this huge place, it’s just us who are here?

β€œWell, that seems like a good place to end!” Monokuma waved. β€œBest of luck with the school year, kiddos! See ya later!”

This time, Monokuma dropped back into the floor before anyone could call out to him. Several students were crying by now, Aimi herself on the verge of being one of them. There was a lengthy pause.

β€œWow…” a boy in a green hoodie whispered. β€œ...That was super, super convincing! Great acting, Yua!”

β€œWhat the h*ll, Nagisa?!” the redhead snapped. β€œShe’s bleeding!”

β€œI know!” Somehow, the pure cheer in the hoodie-wearing boy’s voice was simultaneously chilling and relieving. β€œThe special effects here are so good!”

β€œThis is seemin’ very real, y’know!” Chou cut in.

The hoodie-wearing boy merely shrugged. β€œMaybe, but I bet it’s just a psychological experiment like Sususgihara said. So then it’s easy, right? To get out, we just have to prove we can work together no matter what happens and then they’ll give us a way out and we can all go home!”

Aimi couldn’t explain it, but she found herself wanting to believe him.

If that’s true, then we can get out of here easily, right?

It’s simple.

After a moment, the redhead sighed. β€œ...Nagisa has a point. Nothing will go wrong if we all just keep it together, right? Whatever β€˜motive’ he throws, we can handle it. But in order to do that, we have to know each other.” Looking out at the other gathered students, he offered a brief smile. β€œLet’s get names and talents out of the way. I’m Susugihara Tsubasa, the Ultimate Aeronautics Engineer.”

An idea occurred to Aimi at the same time as it must have to Susugihara. She had just begun saying something when he cut her off.

β€œThere we go, right? We just need to find materials and I can design us a plane to get us out of here. Does anyone know how to fly?”

β€œYou’re an engineer but you can’t even fly a measly plane?” the blond boy scoffed. β€œMy pilot could definitely--”

β€œI just never got my pilot’s license, okay?” Susugihara cut in, sounding vaguely flustered. β€œOkay, bigshot. Why don’t you go next?”

β€œI shouldn’t even need to, but fine.” The blond boy bowed, making a grandiose gesture. β€œYes, it is I! Kisaragi Katsuro, the Ultimate Reality TV Star!”

Susugihara scoffed, muttering something under his breath.

β€œLine up for autographs one at a time, please. If you prefer, you can call me Mister Kisaragi, or Master Katsuro, or my personal favorite, Prince Katsuro.”

β€œOkay, Prince Katsuro!” the hoodie-wearing boy exclaimed cheerfully.

β€œDon’t humor him, Nagisa!” Susugihara insisted.

β€œWhy not? He seems nice.” Hoodie Boy shrugged, then waved to the others. β€œOh, right. I’m Himura Nagisa--call me Nagisa--and I...can’t remember what my Ultimate talent is. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually. I’m not too worried about it!”

Somehow, his optimism was contagious. Aimi took a deep breath, forcing herself to smile.

β€œI’m Wakabayashi Aimi, the Ultimate Short Film Director,” she announced. β€œIt is possible we’re all in some sort of movie--it seems our host has the financial means, at least, and there are cameras--though this possibility seems unlikely. Until we figure everything out, I am pleased to work with all of you.”

β€œName’s Futami Chou, Ultimate Marathon Runner!” Futami yelled. Susugihara flinched. β€œWe’re gonna be here a while, so let’s really try to get along, eh?”

A new voice spoke up. When Aimi turned to see who it was, she noticed for the first time a tall, athletic-seeming boy in one of the far corners...who was currently wearing only a pair of boxer-briefs.

β€œHi. My name’s--”

β€œDude!” Susugihara cut in. β€œPut some clothes on!”

The boy only blinked. β€œWhy? I’m going back to the beach after this, so…”

β€œThere are girls in here. Aren’t you just a little embarrassed?”

β€œMmmm…” The boy shrugged. β€œI don’t really care. At least I put these on before I came in.”

β€œWait a minute, you were completely naked earlier? Who...who does that?”

β€œAnyway…” The strange boy stretched, seeming completely at-ease. β€œBefore I was interrupted, I was gonna say my name’s Kagakagari Hideyoshi. You can call me Kaga. Or Yoshi. Or Hide. Or whatever, I don’t really care either way. I'm the Ultimate Mountain Climber.”

Aimi swore she saw someone else in the corner trying desperately to say something, but somehow she convinced herself it was a ghost.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Machiko Nakamura Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Ryota Nakano Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Minato stared at Kagakagari, swallowing. Well...to each their own, right?

Saito flashed him a thumbs up. "All natural. I like it."

Somehow, Minato wasn't surprised. He shifted, Saito still having a firm grip on his arm. Finally, the student seemed to notice he was probably cutting of Minato's blood circulation and released him, chuckling awkwardly. "Oh, woops. Sorry. Got a little tense there, didn't mean to hurt you or anything. People tell me I have really strong hands. You okay?"

"D-don't worry about it, it's alright," Minato assured, though glancing down at his arm. There was a distinctly hand-shaped mark left where Saito had been holding him.

"Ah...should I introduce myself next? I'll introduce myself next." A boy with a band-aid slapped across his cheek and a head of blonde and brown hair straightened his posture. "Nakano Ryota, Ultimate Optometrist. Nice to meet you all, I guess? Really wish I had my notepad with me..."

Minato was suddenly reminded of his empty pockets. Had everyone's things been taken?

Where did that girl get the knife? He suddenly wondered, gaze drifting to the crazy brunette who had now collapsed onto the floor, sobbing. He had a feeling they wouldn't be getting her name for a while--not unless she'd told someone before her breakdown.

The girl Susugihara had referred to as Yua wiped her tears on her non-injured arm, still very clearly shaken up (who could blame her?) but suppressing her tears. She whispered something to Susugihara and the girl next to her, then, wearing an uneasy smile, addressed everyone else. "I-Ideka Yua, but you guys can call me Yua. I'm the Ultimate Tutor."

The girl next to her gently squeezed Yua's shoulder. "...For those I haven't introduced myself to yet, my name is Shimizu Hekima. I'm the Ultimate Acrobat."

"How does an acrobat know how to break people's arms?" Saito asked, seeming vaguely interested. "You watch a lot of fighting movies or something?"

"No." Shimizu's hand drifted to the knife she'd taken from the girl and tucked into her leggings. "Knowing how to defend yourself is important, so I learned how. That's all."

Minato had never really liked violence for several reasons, but he supposed she had a point. It prepared one for situations like this. ...Though, then again, considering how bizarre this all was, there shouldn't have been the need for someone to prepare for seemingly evil bears and people with knives in their pockets.

Straightening his posture, Minato realized he should probably introduce himself next. He awkwardly cleared his throat. "I'm Yamada Minato, the Ultimate Charity Fundraiser. ...The person standing next to me is Saito Takuya, Ultimate Massuer, I believe."

Saito nodded approvingly.

"Oh. I-I know you, I think," Yua said. "I've donated before. You always seemed like such a nice person."

Minato grinned, heart lifting. It was always so uplifting to hear people donating for the sake of those in need. "Oh, awesome! Thank you! Which cause did you donate to?"

"Fund for homeless people, I think," Yua replied. "Or it may have been a different one? I'm not sure, I've donated more than once."

"Whichever one you donated to, I'm sure there's some person out there who's eternally thankful for what you've done," Minato said confidently, "so thank you for that."

"A-ah...i-is now a bad time to introduce myself?" Hayashi murmured, seeming nervous to interrupt the conversation.

"Go ahead," he said, offering her a smile.

She smiled back, nervously hugging Wakabayashi's arm. "I-I'm Hayashi Sachiko. U-Ultimate Lucky Student...b-but I guess this isn't very lucky, haha. We'll get through it."

"We will," Minato agreed, glad that his strength was finally coming back to him. "Has everyone introduced themselves, or are we still missing some names?"

"I-Ichiro Fukui," a boy greeted. "Ultimate Astrologist."

"Nice to meet you, Fukui," Minato declared, waving to him. "Alright. Anyone else, or is that all of us?"

He looked around. No one else moved to speak, so he assumed that must have been everyone. There was still the girl who had sliced Yua's arm open, granted, but no one seemed brave enough to interupt her breakdown to ask for a name. After a moment of silence, Shimizu hummed to herself. "Miss, are you going to tell us your name and Ultimate?"

The girl didn't seem to hear her.

"Miss," Shimizu repeated.

"What?!" The girl spat, looking up with her tear-stained face.

Shimizu was still remarkably calm. "Your name and Ultimate, please."

"It's M-Mizushima Kokoro," the girl stuttered out. "Ultimate B-Baker. N-Now leave me alone."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Machiko Nakamura Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Ryota Nakano Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Hearing everyone's names was somehow comforting. If nothing else, Aimi now knew the people she would be living with a bit better.

She noticed a particularly voluptuous girl near Ikeda, Futami, Shimizu, and Susugihara who hadn't yet introduced herself. Susugihara smiled reassuringly at Ikeda before turning to this girl and muttering something to her. She nodded.

"I'm Tanaka Tomomi," she announced. "The Ultimate Swimsuit Model."

Someone was trying to whisper something again. Aimi glanced around the room, her eyes landing on the strange ghost following Kagakagari around. Kagakagari didn't seem to have noticed her--briefly, Aimi wondered if she was the only one.

She pointed the girl out. The girl straightened, brightening tremendously.

"Kagakagari, you seem to have brought in a ghostly companion," Aimi said. Kagakagari turned around, noticing the strange ghost girl for the first time. He jumped.

"Huh. I guess I did."

The girl wilted.

Kagakagari tilted his head at her. "So we can both see her? Must be a pretty cool ghost."

"I bet she's the Ultimate Ghost!" Himura exclaimed.

Somehow it didn't seem farfetched, considering Aimi vaguely remembered Hope's Peak accepting some talents that just flat-out made no sense before. Kisaragi was one of them.

"Ultimate Ghost," she decided.

The Ultimate Ghost made a series of rapid hand gestures and continued making her strange whispering noise.

"Just what this Shimizu movie needed," Aimi muttered. "A ghost. As if things weren't spooky enough already."

The Ultimate Ghost continued making incredibly rapid hand gestures.

"Alright." Susugihara gave a firm nod. "Now that we all know each other, we should start working on a way out of here. I'll sit down and draw up some plans...I hope they have blueprint paper in here. I can let you guys know what we need to get out of here and then we'll pool our talents to make a plane and get out of here. This place is big enough to make a runway...Futami, you said you're a runner?"

"Guilty as charged!"

"Excellent. You can help us run around and gather things we might need." Susugihara smiled, patting Ikeda's back. "We're going to get out of here, everyone. We just have to stick together and stay calm. Now, Monokuma mentioned the rules. Does anyone want to go over those with everyone?"

Somehow, having someone around who seemed perfectly keen to take complete charge of the situation was refreshing. Aimi could stay in charge and on top of things herself perfectly well, but even directors had assistants--she decided she liked Susugihara's air of professionalism and drive.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Machiko Nakamura Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Ryota Nakano Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


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.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Machiko Nakamura Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Ryota Nakano Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.50 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


"I resent that!" Kisaragi snapped. "My talent is very useful, thank you very much."

"Everyone, let's please not pick on each other!" Himura insisted. "Even if a talent seems pointless, that's no reason to pick on anyone!"

"Are you saying my talent seems pointless?!"

"If we're already being mean to each other, then we'll never actually succeed at this psychological experiment." Himura gave a decisive nod as if what he'd just said solved everything. "Right! Well, I don't really remember a whole lot about myself...I can't even remember if I have medical knowledge, haha! But I'm willing to do whatever you guys want me to do! If you need someone to run errands and stuff, I can do that! And, and...I can reach stuff on really high shelves!"

"His talent is clearly more useless than mine," Kisaragi decided.

Aimi tried not to eavesdrop too much on Yamada and Saito's conversation. Every word Saito said was too true--no one here knew how to fly, they didn't know where they were, and the odds of this place having everything they needed was unlikely. She wanted to believe that Susugihara's plan was going to work out, but...

But...it is more likely that before any of this can happen, we are all going to die.

There was no use dwelling on it. She tried to focus in on the antics going on around her instead.

Someone began whispering again. Aimi glanced over at the Ultimate Ghost.

She made a series of hand signs.

Aimi had no clue what they meant and figured it didn't matter.

"Why don't I run the complex, figure out where everything is, and draw up a map?" Futami suggested. "I'd be happy to! Runnin's fun for me and I can doodle well enough. Uh, it might not be up to scale, though..."

"I could alter it to scale," Susugihara offered. "If I knew exactly how many miles were between everything, at least..."

"No problem!" Futami winked. "I've got a patented distance-measuring system! I know exactly how fast my fastest mile is, so all I gotta do is time myself running between the buildings and calculate everything based on how long I took!"

Susugihara blinked. "That's pretty impressive, but somehow it feels like it leaves too much room for inaccuracy..."

"Well, it's better than nothin', right?"

"That's the spirit!" Himura began to hum, heading towards the door. "Alright! That's a plan, right? Ooh, and I bet the dorms are super cool. I'm gonna go check out my room! Let me know if you need anything off a high shelf!"

Aimi found herself oddly grateful for Himura's optimism even if it was a bit grating. At least he seemed cheerful.

That's what we need right now. We just have to relax and think about this in terms of positives.

"Do you want any help getting Ikeda to the hospital?" Aimi asked. "Otherwise, I think I'll go to my room for now. We should all try and take time to relax as best as possible...if we're going to be living here, it'll be helpful to actually enjoy being here."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sachiko Hayashi Character Portrait: Machiko Nakamura Character Portrait: Chou Futami Character Portrait: Ryota Nakano Character Portrait: Minato Yamada Character Portrait: Tsubasa Susugihara
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©β–©
Image Image


Yua offered Wakabayashi a smile. "Like I said, you're more than welcome to call me Yua, I don't mind at all. Unless it makes you uncomfortable..?"

"You can go to your room, I think we're alright," Shimizu told Wakabayashi. She stood, Yua getting up alongside her. "Miss Hayashi, you wouldn't mind if I took you up on your offer, though, would you?"

"N-not at all!" Hayashi exclaimed, eyes brightening. She eagerly caught up with Shimizu and Yua, who were already heading toward the door. She took note of Susugihara's jacket, still wrapped around Yua's arm. "A-ah--Susugihara, do you want your jacket back? It's...it's kind of bloody. Wh-which probably isn't much of a surprise, um. Ha..."

"There's a laundry room," Shimizu said. "You can wash it there. Considering the circumstances, there's probably something to wash blood stains out with, don't you think?"

Minato bit his lip. Please don't say things like that.

Shimizu took Susugihara's jacket and moved to hand it back to him--Hayashi offered to instead, however, taking it into her hands and walking it back to Susugihara with a smile. Seeming motivated, she rushed to join Shimizu and Yua as they started making their way out of the gym.

At least there are some people here who are still optimistic, Minato thought, taking a deep breath. So long as they could manage to keep everyone's general spirits up, they could manage to prevent any deaths. Really, the biggest weight on his mind was Mizushima...if she'd attacked someone once, who was to say she wouldn't again?

If we're meant to be killing each other, then no doubt this place is stuffed full of knives and other dangerous objects. D-do they even have poison hidden away somewhere? Do we need to check food before we eat it just in case? That same uneasy feeling crept back up on Minato. Is there food here? Is there enough for us all to eat for a while, or are they going to drive us to cannibalism? O-oh god...

Feeling sick again, Minato once again had to remind himself to not think about it. He was definitely going to go and check their food supply as soon as possible, however. Their food supply, their purified water supply--the last one was a bit less urgent because they could probably find a way to purify the ocean water if they grew desperate, but hopefully it wouldn't come to that. On that note, if they could build a plane, they could build a boat, right? At least one sturdy enough to go out fishing on the water with. That solved the food problem, if it was a problem at all.

See, Mina? He sighed in relief. There is a solution to every problem. Think things through, and you can find it. No one is dying. Maybe we can all try to think of this as a nice beach vacation. It's a resort, isn't it? So let's treat it like one.