The Killing Game - A DRV3 Fanfiction

4 ~ A Tunnel To Nowhere

I didn't know how I got into my room, neither how long I'd been in there.  But here I was, lying on a bed, with faint knocking coming from my door.  I wanted to be left alone.  I wanted the knocking to stop.
But then, I heard my door open and a familiar head of green hair walked into my room and sat on a chair next to me.  I heard Amami's muffled voice saying my name. 
My name.
My..first name.
"Alex."  The world crashed back into focus and I gasped, sitting up.  My head was woozy, I felt dizzy.  I groaned and gripped my head, waiting for it to subside.
"So you're awake."  Amami said from my right. 
"I'm awake?"  I asked, looking over at him, "This isn't..a dream?"  Amami looked at me with pity.
"What's that look for?"  I scowled.
"What?  This is how I always look, isn't it?"  He asked.
"No, you were pitying me.  I saw your eyes."  I glared at him.
"Pitying you?  I would neve-" 
"And what's with calling me by my first name?"  I cut him off.
"Hey, look, I know it's confusing, but can you hear me out?  I need to explain things to you."  He leaned over the back of the chair, resting his chin on his arms. I opened my mouth to say something, but something about his face told me to stay quiet, so I did.  He smiled and reached behind him, grabbing something out of his pocket.  When he brought his arm back around, I saw a small pad in his hand, black and white in colour, with a small logo on the back.
"Check in your pocket.  You've got one too."  He said.  Cautiously, I did so, and felt the cold metal of the pad.  Frowning, I looked down at it and tapped the screen.  Surprisingly, it switched on, showing a school logo on a blue background.
"What's this?"  I asked.
"This,"  Amami switched his on, "Is your Monopad.  It tells you the rules of the school, and shows the other students that go here."  He flicked through it briefly, showing me everything.
"Wait, was this given to us by Monokuma?"  I asked.
"Yep."  Amami switched his off and put it back in his pocket.
"Then I don't want it."  I raised the pad above my head, ready to throw it across the room, but Amami grabbed my arm tightly.
"Don't."  He said, "The rules forbid it."
"Who cares about the damn rules?"  I tried to shake his arm off.
"Monokuma, and if you break a rule, then you get punished."  Amami's grip tightened.
"Punished?  What, a slap on the wrists?"  I rolled my eyes, "Let go.  You're hurting my arm."
"Punished means executed, Alex."  Amami said. 
I felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach.  Executed?
No.  I couldn't afford to be executed for a dumb reason like throwing my Monopad.
"What the fuck."  I said softly.  Amami released his grip and I slowly dropped my arms, letting the Monopad rest on the bed next to me.
"Next, the reason I'm calling you by your first name."  Amami said, "Kaede held a meeting with us while you were still out of it, and she said we all needed to get along.  'If we get along, we'll all defeat despair.'  I believe those were her words.
"She said that if we called each other by our first names, then it would make us more friendly with each other."  He explained.
"How long ago was this?"  I asked.
"Only about twenty minutes.  Don't worry about it, you've only been gone for about an hour."  Amami shrugged nonchalantly.
"Only an hour?"  My eyes widened, "I wasn't that bad, was I?" 
"Well, you could still walk, and you talked to us a little bit, so probably not."  Amami replied.
"What'd I say?"  I asked.
"That's irrelevant.  Back to the point, you can call me Rantaro now, if you want."  Amami smiled at me genially.
"Are you sure that's okay?"  I asked quietly.
"It's fine, I promise."  Amami replied.
"Okay then..Rantaro."  The word felt strange coming out of my mouth.  Calling someone I've just met by their first name.
"I know it's weird, but you'll get used to it."  Rantaro smiled at me, "Anyway, we need to head down to the backyard.  Everyone's waiting."
"For what?"  I asked.
"I'll explain on the way.  Come on, let's go."  He reached out a ring-clad hand and I took it, letting him help me stand.  On my way out, Rantaro had me grab the keys to my room and lock the door.  'It's dangerous to leave your room unlocked', he told me.
As we headed to the backyard, I found myself finally getting a good look at the academy and surrounding area.  The school itself was a huge, dilapidated building, overgrown with plants but still quite fancy-looking.  The building with my bedroom in it had everyone else's as well, and from the outside it was a very sleek, shiny building, with the word 'dormitories' painted on it.  As I looked up at the sky, and finally noticed the wall that Monokuma had been talking about. 
It looked more like a cage, and I could see the sun shining through, high in the sky.
"Like birds trapped in a cage."  I murmured to myself, looking at it.  Rantaro heard me, and replied.
"Indeed."  He said, looking at the sky himself. 
But strangely, I could see no birds, animals, or even bugs around.  Were we the only people?  Were we the only animals in this place?
I distracted myself from thoughts like that by asking Rantaro where we were going.
"Gonta found a manhole in the backyard earlier today.  He wanted us all to go down and find out what it was together."  He shrugged.
"What if it's a trap, though?"  I asked.
"We went down there after bringing you back to your room.  There was nothing except an exit tunnel, so who knows?"  His nonchalant attitude was simultaneously unnerving and calming.
"Hey, Rantaro."  I said, a thought coming to mind.
"What is it?"  He asked.
"Thanks for helping me.  I don't know how lost I would have been if you weren't there this morning."  I smiled up at him.  He said nothing for a moment.
"It's nothing."  He didn't look at me, but I saw a light pink flush across his cheeks. 
The rest of the walk was in silence, until we headed down the ladder into the basement.  Everyone was already there, chatting in small groups.
"And the star of the show arrives!"  Oma-no-Kokichi, said.
"What?"  I asked.  Kokichi laughed.
"That was a lie!"  He grinned, "You're only here because Kaede wanted everyone to be here."  I rolled my eyes at him and walked over to where Kaede was standing, talking to Shuichi and Angie.
"Atua will protect us during this escape!"  Angie was saying.
"Ah, how will he do that?"  Shuichi asked, awkward smile plastered on his face.
"If Monokuma tries to block us, he will bring forth Atua's vengeance and rain it down upon him."  She laughed.
"He sounds like a scary god."  Kaede said.
"Only to those who pretend to be a god themselves~"  Angie replied, before noticing me, "Ah, Alex is here." 
Kaede and Shuichi turned around to greet me.
"How are you feeling?"  Kaede asked, worry in her voice.
"Fighting fit!"  I replied. Kaede had some sort of energy around her that was infectious.
"That's great to hear."  Shuichi smiled at me from under his hat and then turned to Kaede, "Should we go?" 
"Yes.  I'm sure we'll be able to escape.  There's 17 of us here, and there's power in numbers!"  Kaede pumped her fist in the air and called everyone to attention.  After a short speech, we all descended into the darkness of the tunnel for the first of many times, hope in our hearts and energy in our bodies.