Day 4
*Ding dong, bing bong* Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!
It doesn't matter how well I sleep, waking up to that will always ruin it...
The moment Quill's feet hit the floor, *Ding dong* his doorbell rang. He dragged his feet on the way to the door
As he opened the door "A fantastic morning, isn't it!? Now then, if you'll pardon the interruption!" Taka shouted as he just barged into the room without invitation
"...What do you need?..." Quill was trying not to seemed annoyed from having to deal with his volume first thing in the morning.
"No matter how intensely the stormy seas may batter me, I will not fall as long as my feet are firmly planted! ...You agree, right? And if you can't do it alone, just find someone to support you, and you can support them back! That's how you can overcome any storm!"
"*yawn*... I don't think I would know what your talking about even if I was fully awake"
"I was thinking about it last night, and...I decided we all need to really come together. And that was when I realized... Every morning from now on, after the morning announcement, everyone should have breakfast together! And now is the beginning of that fateful day! Please head to the dining hall at your earliest convenience! That's all for now! I have to go let everyone else know the good news!" and he left
...I can't say it's a bad idea, but I'm still upset he had to do all his yelling this early...
********************************
Quill was one of the last to make it to the dining hall
As soon as all of them were present, Taka started "Okay, looks like everyone's here. So then, let's begin our very first 'breakfast meeting'! Everyone, thank you for making time in your busy schedules to come together."
"I didn't make time for shit. You dragged me here..." Leon complained
"I know I already mentioned this earlier, but... In order to get out of here, it is essential that we all cooperate with each other. And the first step is this breakfast meeting, to allow us to become friends and build trust! So from now on, let's all meet here in the dining hall every morning after the morning announcement! Now then, let's eat!"
"You w-want me to eat breakfast with other p-people? I've never done that b-before. I'm not s-sure..." Toko oddly smiled
"Yeah, it's been a while for me, too." Leon added
"Well anyway...did anyone happen to come up with any clues?" Junko asked, only to be met with silence "Seriously? Nothing at all!? Anything, it can be about how to get out, or who's doing this, nobody has anything!?"
Then Celeste spoke, "...You are going to die."
"Huh...?" Junko was reasonably surprised
"If you can't stop yourself from showing weakness in front of others...you will die."
"Wh-What the hell? Don't even freaking joke about that!" Junko shouted
"I am not joking. Adaptability is survivability. Did I not say so? So you'd better hurry up and adapt to your new life here."
"Have you gone completely insane? Adapt to my new life here? Do you have any idea what you're saying?"
"Adaptation is important, yes, but the way you're talking about it is just giving up" Quill added, followed by Mondo
"Yeah, sounds like the girl wants to live here. And hell, more power to her. But shit... No way in hell am I living here! I'm gettin' outta here, I don't give a shit!"
Celeste fake laughed "Hmhm. Sure, feel free."
"Okay, so...nobody has any clues?" Leon changed the subject back
"One thing I can tell you is who's behind all this. Something who's totally weird and messed up. Why else would we be trapped in here in the first place?" Hina said
"Well, sure, it could be something like that. But for right now, actual clues are..." Leon's voice trailed off
"U-Umm" Chihiro struggled to speak up
Quill turned to her "You got something?"
"If you think in terms of people who are really abnormal or bizarre... Do you think maybe the person responsible for all this could be a certain murderous fiend...?"
"A murderous fiend... Chihiro, do you have some idea who might be behind all this?" Makoto asked
"Well...maybe. I mean, I can't really be certain, but..."
"That doesn't matter right now, we know next to nothing so any theory is worth thinking about" Quill assured her
"O-Okay, well... Have you guys heard of Genocide Jack?"
"You mean that serial killer that's been in the news and all over the Internet?" Makoto asked for clarification
Byakuya decided to explain "The monstrous villain who's murdered scores of victims in brutally bizarre fashion... The word bloodlust was left at each murder scene, written in the victim's own blood. Whoever he is, he's like a ghost. He strikes without warning, and disappears without a trace. And on the Internet, they started calling him... Genocide Jack. That about covers it, I think." He's leaving parts out on purpose, isn't he?
"They say he's claimed over a thousand victims..." Hiro added
"That's just an urban legend though, right? I mean even like, ten people would be totally insane." Junko questioned.
Toko was silent, but seemed oddly nervous
"Anyway, whoever Genocide Jack really is, he's obviously some kind of super crazy killer." Chihiro concluded
"And if he really is this 'ultimate' psycho, I wouldn't be surprised if he put together something like this." Mondo said angrily. You know, I wouldn't even put it past Hope's Peak to enroll someone as an 'Ultimate Murderer'
"But like I said, I can't be certain. I don't have any evidence or anything. It's just a thought..."
"But if they're the killer, isn't that like a killer of a problem for us!?" Leon... I don't know if that was supposed to be a joke or not...
Hina tried to cheer everyone up "It's okay! Everything's absolutely, positively, one hundred percent without a doubt gonna be okay! Cuz help's gonna be here soon, I'm sure of it!"
"Huh...? H-Help?" Toko asked
"We've been stuck in here a few days already, right? Nobody's been able to contact us, so I'm sure they're getting worried. I bet they called the police already!"
"I'd hate to play devil's advocate, but-" Quill was cut off by obnoxious laughter
"AHHH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Monokuma appeared "The police? You're putting your faith in the police!?" He really can just appear anywhere...
🎵Mr. Monokuma's Lesson
[Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc]
"What are you doing here!?" Sakura asked angrily
"You guys, seriously... Do you understand what role the police exist to fill? All they're good for is being a foil, playing against a villain or anti-hero or evil organization. The bad guys come along and destroy them, and that shows just how badass they really are. Are you sure you wanna rely on such an unreliable group of losers? I mean come on! If you really, REALLY wanna get out of here, all you gotta do is kill!"
Hiro started laughing
"Why the hell are you laughing?" Leon was shocked
"I'm just impressed at the total commitment to this whole act."
"...You're still going on about that?" Junko seemed more angry than shocked
Mondo brought attention back to Monokuma "So, mister serial killer psycho freak bastard...what the hell do you want!?"
"Mr. Serialkillerpsychofreakbastard, huh? That's a pretty long name! German, maybe?"
"We know who you really are!" Mondo shouted
"Maybe if I ignore him, he'll just go away..."
"Hey! Don't ignore me, asshole!"
Monokuma ignored him anyway "Okay, okay, let's get back to business. Your life here has already begun and a couple of days have gone by, and nobody's killing anybody! I thought all you kids were lazy and selfish, and here you are working together. But I'm totally bored!"
"There's nothing you can say that'll make us start killing each other..." Makoto... if only that was true...
"Wait, I think-yes! Ding ding ding! I figured it out! All the mystery ingredients are here-right people, right place. So why hasn't anyone killed anyone yet? That's what I couldn't understand. But I just realized there was one very important piece missing!"
"Wh-What are you...?"
"If you wanna know, I'll tell ya! It's motive! Puhuhu! It's so simple! I just have to give everyone a motive!"
"Motive? What the fuck are you talking about!?" Mondo shouted again
"Oh, by the way! There's something I wanna show you guys!"
"Stop changing the goddamn subject!"
"... He's not" Quill glared at Monokuma
"I have a little video I'd like you all to see. Oh, but don't worry. It's not some pervy "adult" video or anything. Seriously, it's nothing like that! It's a special video for each of you showing what's going on outside the school."
"Outside the school...? What are you talking about?" Makoto nervously asked
"Heh-heh! Ooh, Master's so impatient today! Why don't you just watch it and find out? Here in the school, there's a specific place you can go that has everything you need to watch the video."
Kyoko spoke up "Good, then we can go watch the video right now. But before we do that, I'd like to know... What are you? Why would you do something like this? What do you want from us?"
"What do I want from you...? Well, if you must know..." Monokuma somehow gave a more sinister smile as his red eye glowed "Despair. That's all. If you want to know more than that, you'll have to figure it out for yourselves. Do whatever you need to to uncover the mystery hidden within this school. I won't try and stop you. Cuz to be honest, it's entertaining as heck watching you guys search so desperately for answers! So I guess I want amusement from you, too." and he disappeared
🎵X
"He's gone... And once again, he left before we could find out anything useful." Sayaka sighed
"No, We just learned something important" Quill disagreed
Kyoko finished the thought "Yes. He has no intention of standing in the way of our pursuit of the truth. Interesting..."
Without another word, Quill got up to leave. "Where are you going?" Makoto questioned him
He looked over his shoulder "The A/V room, where else would he have been talking about?"
"...Is it really a good idea to watch them?" Chihiro asked, concerned
"Well, no, but I can near guarantee he either has someway to force us, or some consequence if we don't."
"But is it safe to go alone?" Makoto stood up "M-Maybe I should go with you"
Quill shrugged "not like I can stop you."
Sayaka also stood up "...If Makoto's going, I'm going with him."
he continued my way out the door "Yeah, sure" It's probably better if you weren't alone anyway
********************************
They entered the A/V room, and the box on one of the monitors stood out. Quill looked in the box "16 DVDs, each one has one of our names on it, these are the motives"
"I'd better go tell everyone!" Sayaka ran out
"Do you think we should watch ours before the others get here?" Makoto asked
"I don't see how it would be a problem" Quill grabbed the DVD with his name on it and put it in one of the players
The screen lit up, showing a girl a couple years younger than Quill.
She started speaking "Hey bro! Being an 'Ultimate' is gonna make your job easier isn't it? Although is that really a good thing for you, or are you gonna get too bored?" she giggled "Just you wait! Two more years and I'll be there with you! Oh! See if you can sneak any scrap metal home for me. If you're all elites up there, there's gotta be some good quality metal, right?" The screen cut out as if it ended
🎵Black Silver Devastation
[Fire Emblem Engage]
but Quill knew better, it wouldn't be much of a motive otherwise. The screen fizzed back in, showing the same room that the girl once stood in, however it was completely destroyed. Suddenly Quill heard Monokuma's voice "Quill, accepted into Hope's Peak Academy as the 'Ultimate Canary'. Always supported by the only one he still had to call family... But it seems like... something's happened to her well-being! Oh boy, this is bad! What could have possibly happened to his sister's well-being!?" The screen showed 'Look for the answer after graduation' before shutting off.
It seemed like Makoto's ended a bit after his "Wh-What is this? What happened to everyone!? GOD DAMMIT!" he repeatedly slammed his fist on the desk "I have to get out of here. I have to get out, right now! I need to make sure everyone's safe!"
"Makoto...? What happened? Make sure who's safe?" Sayaka asked as everyone walked in
"Wh-What's going on?"
Quill answered Hina since it seemed like Makoto couldn't "The box on the monitor. There's a DVD in there for each of us"
"Is that what Monokuma was talking about?" Leon asked
"What's on them?"
They all grabbed their DVDs and put them in the players, a minute or two later they all started reacting
First Mondo "What the fuck...?"
Then Hina "Th-This can't be real, right? It has to be fake, right!?"
Leon "Yeah, no way it's real. Haha...no way."
Toko "I can't t-take it anymore... I c-can't take this anymore! Let me out of h-here!"
Kyoko started actual conversation "I see... So this is what he meant by motive. He wants to fuel our desire to leave so that we're more likely to start killing each other." Yeah, that's generally what a motive means
"It is the classic 'prisoner's dilemma'." Celeste added
"... Huh?"
Hifumi didn't seem to be the only one who didn't understand that, so Quill explained "Prisoner's dilemma... Say there were two prisoners, if they work together, maybe they can get out, but each is offered some benefit if they were to betray the other. In our case, we could all work together, but if one of us successfully betrays the rest, their benefit is guaranteed escape. It's meant to tear down trust and keep the prisoners as just that. Prisoners"
"In other words, the fear of invisible treachery becomes the greatest enemy of stability." Celeste simplified
"S-So... Everyone says they'll work together, but in our hearts we're all afraid someone might betray us..." Toko reworded what was said twice already
"Don't put those awful thoughts in our head! That's exactly what they want us to do!" Taka shouted
"You can say that, but maybe you're thinking that once everyone drops their guard, you can just..." Leon accused, which greatly offended the moral compass
"What!?"
"Well look at that, the prisoner's dilemma is working..." Quill mumbled
"This is exactly what Monokuma, or whoever's behind this, wants. They want us to fight. Don't you see?" Sakura tried to get them to listen to reason
"Yeah, you're right. We all need to calm down..." Chihiro added
"Okay, then. Maybe we should start by all just...talking." Junko suggested "Maybe if we all just talk about what we saw, that'll help get everything out of our system. Besides, I think we're all super curious, right?"
"Makoto turned to Sayaka "Hey, Sayaka..." no response "What was in your video, Sayaka?" still nothing
"What's wr-wrong? Just hurry up and t-tell us..." Toko tried to get an answer, which failed
"Sayaka?" Makoto put his hand on her shoulder
"... Stop it!" she pushed him away as she darted out
"Sayaka!?" Hina called out to no avail
"Let her go." Byakuya clearly could not care less
"I-I can't do that! I have to go make sure she's okay!" Makoto defended
"I h-hate romantic comedies like this. I don't care what h-happens to her, personally..." Toko grumbled
"That's because you're totally thoughtless!" Junko argued
"I'm...really worried." Hina said
"Then why don't you go do whatever you think you have to? We don't all have to stick around together, right? Speaking of which, I have my own things to take care of. Goodbye." Celeste left.
As Quill went to leave, he was stopped by a tug on his sleeve. He turned around to see Chihiro looking up at him, on the verge of tears "... How can you be so calm about this?..."
"They're all alive, I guarantee it" Quill spoke without a hint of doubt in his voice
"But... H-How are you so sure?"
"Think about it, this wouldn't be much of a motive if they were dead. Lets just head back to the dorms."
As they went back, Chihiro stayed closer to Quill, who suddenly stopped as he heard something from one of the classrooms
"-id we do to end up like this...? Why are they doing such terrible things to us...? I want out! Let me out of here right now!" Sayaka was screaming
"Sayaka! Calm down!" Makoto's voice "I understand. I know how you feel right now. When I think what might have happened to my family... But now more than ever we have to stay calm! This is exactly what they want. They want us to lose our composure and stop thinking rationally. Think about it, those videos have to be fake! Because if those things really had happened...people out there would be in an uproar. Our families, the police, everyone! Right? So let's just calm down, okay? Otherwise, we've already lost. As long as we work together, I'm sure we can find some way out of here. And help might even come before that."
"But...what if there isn't a way out? What if help never comes?"
"I-If that happens... then I'll get you out of here myself! No matter what it takes!" Those are big words Makoto, for your sake I hope you can keep them... Some movement was heard "Sayaka...?"
"Please...help me..." Her voice was muffled, but audibly shaky "Why...? Why is this happening to me? To kill, or be killed... I just can't take this anymore...!"
"Sayaka..."
"Can I...can I believe what you said?" her voice had calmed down and unmuffled
"Huh?"
"That you'll help me get out? No matter what it takes...?"
"A-Absolutely"
"Makoto... You're the only one I can trust. So please... No matter what happens, please always be there for me. I need you on my side..." That... that's bad...
"Huh? O-Of course I'll be there for you! No matter what, I'm always on your side. I mean... you are my assistant, after all."
"Thank you, Makoto. Hearing you say that, I feel like I can keep going. I can get through this...as long as you're here with me. Like you said, I'm your assistant."
"...It's standing up!" Then Monokuma's voice. That was all he was going to get from this. He started to quickly walk off, but was also stopped quickly as Chihiro spoke up
"Huh? What happened?"
"That's... not good"
Chihiro was getting increasingly worried "What's not good?..."
"... Not here." Quill started walking off again as Chihiro followed him
********************************
Entering Quill's dorm, he went straight to his whiteboard and unlocked the shutter. Chihiro came in, closing the door behind her and walked to the whiteboard
"Just don't read anything out loud," He glared at the surveillance camera. He started writing as she looked over the board. "Remember what I said the other day? When we heard them in the gym? Given what we heard there, the few possibilities of what was in her video, and how she was acting with Makoto earlier, there's a good chance she's going to try to pin a murder on him..."
"W-What?!" Chihiro was shocked. "Would someone really...?"
"Yes, you can't just believe nothing will happen. Like I said, everyone has something that could be used as the motive to drive them over the edge, doesn't matter what their personality is otherwise." His voice was monotone, as if there were no emotions, almost robotic
"Does... that include us?" She was scared to ask
Yeah. Granted, I don't know what mine would be, but logistically there's something. Sayaka had practically said what hers would be. And as she acted today; her eye's going dim, her screaming and running out of the A/V room, and the way she worded things, 'You're the only one I can trust.' and 'I need you on my side'. She's trying to trick Makoto, make him believe her blindly. Makoto seems very... Impressionable. Now it's just a matter of who, when, and if it can be stopped"
"... Do you think she can be stopped?"
"I don't have an answer to that, the other two questions need answered first and I don't have that either."
"Then... what do we do?"
"... Pick a god and pray. There's nothing we can do to guarantee our own safety, or anyone else's. We can only lower our chances of death, not eliminate the possibility."
She silently watched Quill as he continued writing until *Ding dong, bing bong* "Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then...sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite..."
Another few seconds of silence before Chihiro spoke "Well... good night"
"...Night" she walked towards the door, but he spoke again before she left "Just... be careful. Around Sayaka, but also generally...ok?" She nodded before leaving
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The Canary's Birdcage
Vanilla Valentine - Vanilla Vanguard
6/17/2023