Danganronpa: Sub.Mel

Documentation: Driven Exploration (Prologue, Part 7)

Marise turned to look behind her, "And yet, what's this? People are following me. Look, it's not like I want to be the leader, but I wouldn't let Haru do it."

"Why not? Do you... not trust me to be in charge?" Haru frowned, catching up to Marise.

She looked up at him and paused her stride, "Well, let's see. From what I know about you, you're a distraction. Clearly, your playing is good, else you wouldn't be the Ultimate Cellist but guess what, music boy? I don't like classical. And besides, a cellist like you? Doomed to be accompaniment for eternity. Followers can't be leaders."

Unable to come up with a retort to that, Haru lowered his head in defeat. Kouki, who had caught up, frowned at Marise, "Why does there need to be a leader anyway? We're exploring as a team. I can tell you don't do well on teams, but still. You're an author, you can pretend."

"Tch. Author, not actor. And I don't write about goody-goody slices of life," Marise snorted, but as she opened her mouth to say more, Rikuto's large shape passed her, pushing open the door, Shigeru closely following behind.

"Yeah, you write about murder mysteries, so one could say you're in your element," Haru glared as he followed after Shigeru. Marise watched as he disappeared, anger burning in her green eyes. One by one, the others entered the room until Marise was left with no choice. She felt a tug at her leg and looked down to see Keroko. With a heavy sigh, the novelist entered the next room.

"My, my. Certainly, the thought that the bear was lying crossed my mind, but this does seem to be a canteen or dining hall... of sorts," Shigeru brought a finger to his chin as he entered.

The room held four different tables, each with four seats. Perfectly sixteen, Shigeru noted. There didn't seem to be any sort of assignment within the seats, which was probably for the better. Had it been so, would anyone have followed that rule? Well, it's quite impossible to judge what cannot be, I think you would find, should you ever try. Thus, Shigeru put his mind away from the logical impossibility fallacy.

"I-Is there's a k-kitchen, I wonder... I-If so..." Shohei curiously stepped forward, his voice warbling as it trailed off.

"Kero!" The frog girl hopped in front of the barista, pointing a finger at the other end of the room, where a door lay ajar. Tugging on Shohei's pant leg, much as she had done with Marise's leg, she pulled. Shohei, however, felt very little tug and as a low croak began to emit from Keroko's throat, Shohei saw beads of sweat form on her brow.

"A-Ah. It's okay, I-I see it. Let's go," Worried for the herpetologist, Shohei began to walk off toward the door, Keroko hopping behind him and panting.

"O-Oh! Hey, I wanna come, too!" Niseko called out, chasing after the other two with precision quite unlike a doll. Over and over, Niseko had proved to be almost more human than doll and that idea worried Haru.

The cellist frowned as Niseko's form disappeared through the door until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned, expecting Kouki, but instead, he met Shigeru's gaze. "Now, now... Are you worried about the doll? I was speaking with Yudai and he told me that maybe it might be unnecessary to worry about her for now."

"For now?" Haru frowned, glancing back toward the door, "What does that mean?"

Shigeru brought a finger to his chin, his expression one of careful thought, "Well, he told me that the real one to watch out for is Setsuka, but she doesn't seem to be here. It crossed my mind that maybe Setsuka is hiding or even the one behind all of this, but if you watch that doll carefully... Well, doesn't it seem like she's the slightest bit distressed?"

Haru thought back, but then shook his head. There was no way he could get a read on an emotionless doll, right? He didn't want to. If it turned out that he could feel Niseko's emotions just like he could with a normal person... "No, I don't... Maybe you can explain what you mean. After all, learning about Setsuka could be very beneficial."