Cookieronpa: Death Dough

Chapter 17: New Rules

Espresso woke up to a loud alarm. Coming from the gym. He groaned and got ready, leaving the room when he was ready. It wasn't a body announcement, so he didn't really want to go. He was the last to arrive.
"Espresso Cookie! Care to explain why you're LATE?!" Asked Jellykuma.
"I just woke up, calm down." He sighed.
"Excuses! That's just ridiculous!"
"Okay teacher."
"Hey, I'm not the teacher! You are!"
"How did you know?"
"I know everything!"
"Can you just tell us why we're here?" Asked Pastry, rather agitatedly.
"Oh, sure!" Jellykuma stepped away from the curtains behind him and pulled them open. It was a vault door.
"What does that thing do?" Asked Parfait.
"Take a guess!" Said Jellykuma.
"Maybe the mastermind's behind it!" Cheered Parfait.
"Is it where the dead bodies are?" Asked Mint.
"I think it's probably full of deadly weapons." Said Pastry.
"Maybe... it's your bedroom." Said Lilac.
"Ring-a diiiiing! Lilac got it" Jellykuma opened the door. It was a pink bedroom full of crowns.
"Welcome to my super awesome bedroom!"
"Cool, we don't fucking care." Said Pastry.
"Hey Lilac, how did you know?" Asked Knight.
"Meh. Just a guess."
"Are you the mastermind?!"
"For fucks sake, are we still doing this?"
"Well if it isn't you, how did you guess?"
"Because this bastard sleeps somewhere. And now that I know where he sleeps, he better sleep with one eye open."
"You can't hurt him, dumbass! Or maybe you can, because you're the-"
"Knight, I'm honest to god SICK of your theories. If you want my input, I'd bet you're the mastermind. Jellykuma let you walk out of the trial."
"Hey, didn't he let Princess out too?" Asked Parfait.
"Look, I don't care who leaves the trial! As long as some people and the killer stay, I couldn't care less! And it's not like I'm that strict anyway!"
"Yes you are, you piece of shit!" Cussed Mint. Everyone looked at him with shock. Jellykuma's childish grin faded to anger.
"Huh?! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME, BITCH?!"
"You are strict. Don't fucking lie. If we can't even touch real grass, then you ARE strict."
"Yeah, tell 'em Mint!" Cheered Parfait.
"Oh? I'm strict, huh?! Then perhaps it's time for some new awesome rules! First of all, no more breakfasts! If you want food, make it yourself! Second, if you want to touch grass so badly, go kill someone for it! Third, if anyone dares to hide from me, I'll hurt them! Fourth, don't fight each other if you don't want to kill each other! And lastly, the fifth, and this one's VERY important. If ANYONE says ONE MORE WORD about the mastermind before the next murder, THEY'RE FUCKING DEAD!"
"Why not?! We can't even discuss it?!" Asked Pastry.
"Of course not, Ms Mastermind!" Laughed Jellykuma.
...
"W-What?!" Stammered Pastry with shock.
"Ah, I'm just fucking around~! I know it's not you! Or is it? We'll never know!" He cackled.
"There's one thing that you need to clarify a bit." Said Espresso.
"What?"
"You say you don't care who leaves the trial. What if a key witness leaves?"
"Up to you guys, you can kidnap them. That's completely okay with me~" Jellykuma winked and then left.
"It's you, Lilac!" Yelled Knight again.
"Are you really that stupid? You're risking your life to argue with me." Lilac groaned.
"I don't care anymore!"
"For gods sake, that is enough!" Yelled Parfait, storming over. "I never thought I'd have to snap like this, but I'm sick of you, Knight! You've known who it is this whole entire fucking time and you don't wanna tell us?! WHY THE HELL NOT?!"
"I didn't wanna tell you because I wasn't sure!" He replied.
"Oh, great excuse!" Yelled Pastry. "If you stay silent any longer, people will die! You know that?! So if you don't wanna tell us, then maybe Princess will die!"
"What?! Don't drag me into this!" Protested Princess.
"You had a fucking meltdown last trial, how does it feel to know your friend is dead?!" Yelled Pastry.
"I DON'T CARE, OKAY?!" Princess replied.
"THAT WAS SOMEONE YOU WERE SO CLOSE TOO, WHY DON'T YOU CARE!?"
"BECAUSE THAT ARROGANT SON OF A BITCH TRIED TO TAKE MY ROLE! I'M THE PRINCESS! NOT RASPBERRY, NOT THAT GERMAN GUY, NOT THOSE WORTHLESS HOLLYBERIAN NOBODIES, ME!" The five were yelling like they were having a mini debate in the room. Out of nowhere, Knight withdrew his sword. Lilac pulled out his chakrams. The two were fighting, the chakrams digging into Knight's armour as the sword pierced Lilac's dough. The cookies stood back and watched.
"JELLYKUMA!" Yelled Blackberry.
"What?" He was right at the door.
"THEY'RE FIGHTING, STOP THEM!" Chimed Mint.
"Why should I? They haven't broken any rules~"
"You said they weren't aloud to fight!" Yelled Espresso.
"I said they weren't aloud to fight if they weren't trying to kill each other~"
"Wait, what?!" Espresso stammered.
"I wanna see if someone's gonna die!"
"Oh my god, Knight, STOP!" Cried Princess, trying to hold him back. He was still trying. Lilac stopped and huffed, looking at the damage. It wasn't as bad as Knight's. He had jam on him though. He left to go clean up. Espresso looked over at Knight. The realisation hit him. He just tried to kill Lilac.
"Oh... shit..." He huffed, dropping his sword. Jellykuma clapped his hands.
"Hahahahaha! Wow, I didn't see that one coming! Especially not from the mastermind!"
"Wh... what?!" All eyes were on him. Princess backed away.
"Knight, it's actually you?!" She cried.
"P-Princess I-" Knight tried to form a sentence, but Princess teared up and ran out of the room.
"KYAH! OH MY GOD, SPARKLING WAS RIGHT! IT REALLY WAS HIM!" Screamed Parfait. Everyone looked at her.
"What?! Sparkling?!" Asked Blackberry.
"SPARKLING TOLD ME AT THE START OF THE GAME IT WAS KNIGHT! HE SAID HE HEARD HIM TALKING TO JELLYKUMA ABOUT LEADING A KILLING GAME!" She ran out of the room. Eyes were once again back on Knight. He was so shocked, he froze.
"Sparkling knew? Hmm... so what if it wasn't Chilli?" Asked Pastry. Knight freaked out.
"N-No, it was Chilli! I had to pretend I saw noth-" Knight paused again. His hands flew over his mouth.
"O-Oh my god, I think I'm gonna throw up..." Mint sighed, running out. He was so disgusted at what he had heard.
"Anything else you want to tell us?" Asked Blackberry in a mocking yet angry tone.
"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! IT WASN'T ME!" Knight yelled.
"I think we know who it is. May we go home now?" Asked Blackberry.
"Who said it was Knight?" Asked Jellykuma.
"What?! But you just said it was!" She protested.
"Hah! Why would you believe ANYTHING that comes out of my mouth? I lie a lot, and I have a shit ton of secrets! But to be completely honest, so does Lilac." He left again. Everyone was silent. And surprisingly, Knight started tearing up.
"I... I didn't... I didn't do..." He muttered, sitting down on the floor. Espresso ignored the crying idiot and went to find Lilac. He was still assessing the damage, and also washing the blood off in the bathroom sink.
"Lilac, may we talk?" He turned to look at Espresso. He seemed fine.
"What?" Espresso was taken aback by his careless tone.
"What are you hiding from us?"
"Nothing."
"You know who it is, don't you?!"
"No. I am not sure. As crazy as he may be, I'd doubt it's Knight."
"Are you the mastermind?" Espresso knew he was jumping to conclusions, but he didn't care. Lilac groaned. He was getting annoyed with all the questions.
"Espresso, give it a rest. I'm not the mastermind." Espresso grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the wall.
"I'm gonna ask you again. What are you hiding?!" Lilac countered, flipping Espresso to the wall by his wrists.
(Lilac simps, pretend that you're in Espresso's place. You're welcome.)
"There is nothing that I'm hiding. If you want to know a specific thing, ASK ME PROPERLY."
"Are you the mastermind, what happened to Sparkling and WHY ARE YOU SO SUSPICIOUS?!"
"No I'm not the mastermind, I don't know he's dead and WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
"Knight showed me a letter a while ago, one from a K. Cookie."
"Wh... what?" He seemed nervous suddenly.
"Lilac, what was that letter about?"
"... It's not what you think it is... I was offered to be the mastermind of a killing game. I didn't want to, so they went to someone else. I swear on Yogurt Cream Cookie's life, and that's because I'm literally his bodyguard, I didn't say yes."
"... Then who the hell is K. Cookie?"
"... I don't remember. Some cookie I've never met before. Unless it's Knight, which I seriously doubt."
"... I believe you, now let me go." Espresso was released. Lilac let out a sigh of relief.
"So... what did I miss?" Lilac asked, trying to move on from the little argument they just had.
"Jellykuma fucked over Knight, several people ran out, Sparkling apparently knew who the mastermind was, and he thought it was Knight, Knight saw the first murder, a lot of shit went down."
"I see. And... do you think it's actually Knight?"
"Truthfully? No, I still don't know. But what's confusing me is Parfait. She remembers that Sparkling said Knight was the mastermind. Do you remember that?"
"Not really, I was drunk out of my mind. But from what I can remember, I think he said something else. I dunno, I wasn't in the right mindset."
"Hmm... so maybe Parfait was lying?"
"Or maybe not thinking right. Like I was when I was drunk."
"Okay. Do you think maybe Sparkling didn't say anything and Parfait is trying to get rid of Knight?"
"I dunno. Perhaps she's drunk out of her mind."
"Okay Lilac, I get it."
"I was very drunk. Know that? Very very drunk."
"Okay, thank you Lilac. I know you were drunk."
"I was seeing things. Because I was very-"
"SHUT UP! I GET IT, YOU WERE DRUNK!"
"... Okay fine. I'll stop."
"Wait hold on, when were you and Parfait together? I swear it was Fig." Asked Espresso. Lilac looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember.
"Oh, we went back a second time. Also, maybe Fig could help us."
"Are you an idiot? Fig's dead." Groaned Espresso.
"So? Doesn't mean they can't help us."
"How can a dead person help us?"
"I know just the person to help us. Doesn't Blackberry communicate with spirits?"
"... You might be onto something! Let's go talk to her!"
"Can't tonight, sorry."
"Why not?"
"I'm tired, in a lot of pain, and kinda drunk."
"What?"
"I didn't get much sleep last night, I've just been stabbed hundreds of times, and I'm kinda drunk."
"When the hell did you get drunk?"
"Even with Sparkling dead, the bar is still open. There's a pretty famous alcohol in Yogurca. Anyways, goodnight." Lilac exited. Espresso sighed and left. This game actually sucked ass.

HOLY SHIT WHEN DID THIS GET 8K READS?!
I CAME UP WITH THIS BOOK AT MIDNIGHT LAST YEAR AFTER SEEING A COOKIE RUN DANGANRONPA TIKTOK
THANKS GUYS 🫶🫶🫶