Day 9
Today's breakfast meeting was... interesting
"Bahahaha! What are you talkin' about, bro?" Mondo laughed with his arm around Taka's shoulder
"Kahahaha! What are YOU talkin' about, bro!?" Taka laughed with his arm around Mondo's shoulder
"What...the...?" Makoto had just walked into the dining hall, very confused
"Hey, Makoto!" Mondo happily greeted him
Followed by Taka "Thank you so much for acting as our witness yesterday!"
Makoto looked to everyone else "Huh? Are they...friends now?"
"It's been like this all morning" Quill groaned with his head in his hands "so... goddamn... loud..."
"This almost feels like sexual harassment, somehow..." Hina added
"Forget her, bro. A girl like her just doesn't get our manly bond!" Taka told Mondo "Friendship between men is stronger than blood! A woman could never understand!"
"What you just said? Bro, that was cool as shit! I should get a tattoo of it!" Mondo beamed
"No, bro, you mustn't! Your body is a temple, given to you by your loving parents!"
"So, um...who won the contest?" Makoto asked, which pissed both of them off... for some reason
"Who gives a shit!?" Mondo yelled
Followed by Taka again "Yeah, don't ask stupid questions! What matters is that we both took part in it together!"
"That's...completely different from what you were saying last night." Makoto said
"Friendship between men seems very...simplistic." Sakura said "Nothing like what I'm used to with girls."
"Yeah, for real..." Hina added
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Quill and Chihiro and spent the day in his dorm, as Chihiro wanted. "...Hey Quill? Um... what did you mean the other day when you called this an 'experiment to study'?"
"I can use this as a new experiment to study to improve my skills as a canary and further the understanding of humanity, as well as just the knowledge itself... that's what this was supposed to be, at least..." he mumbled
"What do you mean?"
"... I don't know. Usually an experiment is set up, whether I find it or set it up myself, I can study it and get results, but... for some reason it's been... difficult"
"Well, with everyone in danger and being stuck here, wouldn't it be hard to study anything?"
"No, that's... that's not it" Why am I even telling her this? she's just... so easy to talk to... "Something's just wrong. And I don't mean being trapped here or the murders, everything is just... different now, and I don't get it..."
There was a long break of silence before Chihiro spoke again "When you said a person's life didn't have value, you didn't mean that, did you?" she asked, though she was rather confident she already knew the answer
"I-I...-" but before Quill could think of an answer
*Ding dong, bing bong*
Monokuma's announcment went off "Ahem! School announcement, school announcement. Nighttime is quickly approaching, but before it arrives... All students, please gather in the gym immediately. Emergency! Emergency!"
Chihiro looked to Quill "Wh-what do you think he wants?"
"Most likely another motive"
"A-another one?!"
"Yes. like I said, they'll just keep adding more"
"What should we do?"
"We have to go, we don't really have an option... just be careful, you don't know who this one will push over the edge"
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"Hmm... Asking us to gather together all of a sudden like this... What could he possibly want?" Taka asked, not really wanting the answer
"Indeed. What might await us this time?" Celeste seconded the question
"Hmhmhm. He keeps things interesting, that's for certain." Byakuya smirked
"How is that funny?" Hifumi asked Byakuya "Can't you smile like a normal person once in a while? Like how the housewife on a classic TV show smiles at the end of an episode?"
"There's something totally messed up with you if you can laugh at a time like this!" Hina shouted at him
"Which of us is actually 'messed up,' hmm?" Byakuya looked at her
"Wh-What's that supposed to mean...?"
"Nothing in particular. Just admiring, that's all. I don't want to kill anyone. But I also don't want to stay here, living in blind denial day after day. I was just admiring how you could live like that and still keep your sanity."
"I'm not in denial..."
"That reminds me." Byakuya continued, practically mocking her "Remember how you kept talking about how the police or whoever would come help us? How'd that turn out? It seems to me there's no sign whatsoever of possible rescue."
"Th-That's just..." Hina froze "...I wonder what actually happened."
"It's strange, that's true." Kyoko joined the conversation "There's no way the police wouldn't know about it. We're right in the middle of a major urban area."
"The police suck!" Hifumi shouted
"That they do" Quill agreed "...Bunch of pains in the ass..."
"On the contrary, the mastermind may be just that powerful, to take control even of the police..." Celeste suggested
"Oh! This might not be related, but-"
Hiro was cut off by Toko "Then don't say it."
"Nope, gonna say it!" He exclaimed "It's about last night. I was near the main hall just staring off into space. When all of a sudden, I heard it."
"You heard what?" Chihiro asked
"A sound that... I don't really know what it was..."
"Wh-What kind of sound?" Taka stuttered a question
"Well like I said, I don't really know. But if I had to describe it... it was like...a construction site, I guess?"
"A construction site?" Makoto asked
"Then you d-definitely made it up. M-Must've just been the sound of the ocean in th-that head of yours..." Toko grumbled
"Say what!? Whatchoo talkin' about, Toko!?" Monokuma jumped up to the top of the podium on the stage like he did before
🎵 Mayor's Meeting
[Zelda Universe]
"He's arrived..." Kyoko said
"What Hiro heard wasn't the sound of construction...but it could have been an explosion! Or maybe a machine gun! Puhuhu... That can kinda sound like construction in a way!"
"What are you talking about...?" Makoto questioned the bear
"Ah-ah-ah! Beyond this point my mouth is zipped, my lips are sealed, I am fully puckered! It's a secret little secret!" So the outside is defended
Kyoko glared at him "Fine, then let's move on to what you can tell us. Why did you call us all here?"
"You don't beat around the ol' bush, do ya!? Ready for me to get to the point, huh? But before that, you mind if I vent a little?"
"Does it matter if we say no?" Quill got his answer as Monokuma just ignored him
"I'm low on energy these days. My stitching's even losing all its shine and luster... I'm thinking, it's probably because of this ho-hum, boring old everyday life. I'm looking for something with a little more stimulation, something rife with danger and intrigue! Listen, can I just be frank? The next blackened hasn't shown up yet, and I'm getting booooored! So, I've decided to come up with a new way to motivate you!"
"M-Motivate...!? Is it another set of videos or something...?" Makoto regrettably asked "Are you gonna show us some demented thing to try and drive us all to murder!?"
"Drive you to murder!? What a mean thing to say! Just awful!"
"I don't know what you've got planned, but we're not going to kill each other anymore!" Taka screamed at the bear "No matter what you do, I swear to God we won't!"
Monokuma covered his mouth to hide laughter "Hmm. That's very big talk. Do your best to back it up, okay? Now then, with your permission, let me begin! So this time it's... embarrassing memories and secrets! As long as you're alive, it's a given that there's things you don't want other people to know about you! So I did a little investigating of my own, and I dug up some of your darkest secrets!" Monokuma pulled out several envelopes, each one having someone's name on it "And those embarrassing memories and secrets are all contained in the envelopes I have right here... I'm going to hand them out now, so take a second to take a peek!" He threw the envelopes on the ground in front of everyone, as they all quickly grabbed and opened the one with their name on it.
A few people audibly reacted, first Makoto "What...!?"
Then Hina "H-How...?"
And Taka "How'd you find out about this!?"
"You have 24 hours! If someone doesn't become blackened by then...all your deepest, darkest, most embarrassingest secrets will be exposed to the world! Maybe I'll roll by a crowded intersection in a van strapped with loudspeakers and spill the beans!" Monokuma explained the new threat "Kyaaah! Wouldn't that be sooo embarrassing!?"
Makoto glared at him "...So that's what you meant by 'motivate'?"
"Yup, you got it! They're all pretty unpleasant, trust me. None of you want me to reveal that stuff, right?"
"It's definitely something I'd rather people not know, but... We'd never kill over something like that!"
"Wh-What'd you say!?"
"He's right! Your plan is doomed to fail! No one's gonna murder someone for this kind of thing!" Taka affirmed
Monokuma looked down, feigning sadness "O-Oh no... Is it because...for better or for worse, your memory is still a way to connect to the outside world? I have stuff I wouldn't want anyone to know no matter what, so I assumed you'd all be the same... Which is why I put so much effort into preparing this next motive! Maaan! You're saying you really won't kill each other over this stuff? That just sucks! ...Well, what can ya do? Okay, then in 24 hours, I'll expose all you secrets just to make myself feel a little better! So sad, so depressed! Farenotwell...!" and he was gone
There was a bit of silence before Hina Spoke up "I didn't know what to expect at first, but...maybe we dodged a bullet on this one. I mean yeah, having those secrets revealed is gonna be totally embarrassing. But that's seriously not enough to give someone a reason to kill, right?"
"Good news, everyone! I have a brilliant idea!" Taka informed everyone "Why don't we all just confess the secrets in those envelopes right here and now!? If we do that, any and all motive for murder will vanish! That's pretty smart, right!? Okay, so my embarrassing thing is-" He was cut off by the sound of the gym door closing. the noise caught everyone's attention, as they looked around they noticed Quill's sudden absence
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Quill was standing in front of his whiteboard, gripping the marker so tightly it started bending. He grit his teeth "...UGH! WHAT THE HELL?!" He threw the marker, leaving a dent in the whiteboard
"Puhuhuhuhu, Temper, temper. It's not like you to get all temper tantrum angry"
He glared daggers at Monokuma "YOU. EXPLAIN."
"What is there to explain? It's your secret, isn't it? I don't see the problem"
"You know damn well what the problem is."
Monokuma leaned forward, glaring back "And you already know damn well what the answer is, don't you?" Quill looked away and clutched at his arm "Puhuhuhuhuhu, well if you don't want them to know or worry about that answer, ya better get to some killin'"
...Goddamn bear...
🎵X
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Day 10
"...morn...ing. ...good...d... Goo..d...morning... Good morning!" Monokuma yelled, standing over Quill
Quill glared at him still upset from last night, and now from being woken up "... What do you want?"
"Grr... barely even a reaction... always such a buzzkill..."
"What do you want?" Quill repeated
"I wanted to spice things up! So instead of a school announcement, I decided to wake you up in person!"
"...Why?..."
"Because it's fun. And as long as I'm here, I figured I'd let you hear it right from the bear's mouth."
Quill was suddenly much more attentive "Hear what?"
"Are you sure you should be acting this laid back? I mean, even though something happened to one of your buddy-buddy classmates? especially considering who it is"
"The hell are you talking about?"
"Puhuhu! That's for me to know, and you to find out! Good luuuck!" and he was gone
Quill rushed to the dining hall, composing himself before he opened the door. He immediately scanned the room to see who was there. Hiro, Hina, Sakura, Byakuya "...Well that doesn't narrow down the list much"
Hiro was the first and only to react "... So Quill's still here."
Makoto quickly rushed into the dining hall soon after.
"Ah, Makoto!" Hina said
"Are you okay?" Hiro asked
"Did Monokuma talk to you, too?" Sakura added another question
instead of answering them Makoto looked around the room "Hiro, Quill, Hina, Sakura, and..." his eyes stopped on "Byakuya... You're the only ones here? Where's everyone else?"
"Either they're already off trying to verify what Monokuma said..." Byakuya answered "...or they've fallen victim to the 'something' that Monokuma mentioned."
"The...something?"
"Someone is dead. Obviously" Quill stated bluntly
"It can't be... Has it happened again? Murder...?" Sakura was finding it hard to believe
"S-So if something really did happen... Does that mean someone did it cuz of what happened yesterday?" Hiro asked
"It can't be! That stuff was just a bunch of old memories!" Hina shouted
Quill sighed "You all really don't listen do you? Everyone one has something that could be used as a motive to push them over the edge, seemingly someone's here was their secrets" He started to go out the door "Anyway the search begins and my study continues"
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Quill intended to search for whoever was now dead, but subconsciously his goal had changed as he stood outside a dorm room ringing the bell. after a bit of waiting Nothing... not here
His search continued, though it was mainly mindless wandering, getting increasingly worried, until
*Ding dong, bing bong* "For this investigation, I have unlocked the doors. Please look around to your heart's content!" ...What doors were locked? and only a minute later *Ding dong, dong ding* "A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time, which you may use however you like, the class trial will begin!"
Quill's worry skyrocketed Where is she? ...Why do I even care, I should be- now isn't the time to question it, where the fuck is she?
A few more minutes until "QUILL!" Taka shouted from the staircase "THE BODY HAS BEEN FOUND! I'M GATHERING EVERYONE TO MEET AT THE LOCKER ROOMS, SO HEAD THERE!"
If... if everyone is gathering there then she'd be there... right?
He was the last one to the locker rooms, having to maneuver through some people to actually see the scene, which he instantly heavily regretted as his heart dropped
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The Canary's Birdcage
Vanilla Valentine - Vanilla Vanguard
7/29/2023