The trial was held early enough that Monokuma opened up another island to us the same day, but no one felt like exploring. I stayed at the execution site for what seemed hours. Monokuma didn't once harass me about leaving, which surprised me. Maybe it was because it wasn't just me mourning them. Selene hasn't left my neck since she returned from putting a flower on Angelina's preserved body. Her baby Komodo dragons haven't moved from me much either.
I guess it has been awhile since Reokyu had to come get me. I'm surprised he's the one who came up here. It's still a shock to me that he is blind. It's honestly really hard to tell he even is blind. His only "giveaway" is him always looking to the ceiling or the floor. He put his hand on me, staring off into blank space. "I can feel a great amount of stress on you."
Selene didn't even attempt to attack. I think she now has a bit of trust within everyone left here. I kept staring at Angelina and Karkhov. "Neither of them deserved what happened to them. Monokuma knew what the virus would do to Angelina. He practically walked both of them into their deaths."
He sat down next to me. The baby dragons crawled on top of both of us. "We can't control what the evil in this world does. I agree that Angelina and Karkhov didn't deserve their fates. You know, Karkhov was hiding something from us all, including Angelina. I overheard him talking to Kyojuro one day about it."
Karkhov talked to Kyojuro? "What do you mean? Like a plan to murder someone or ...?"
Reokyu shook his head and smiled. "Karkhov loved Angelina more than anything. He was willing to do whatever it meant to protect her; including sacrificing his own life if that meant she would be safe. Back in the past, he had a love named Misha. Apparently, Angelina was almost a splitting image of her, just a different personality and way of life. Misha was killed during an outbreak in the Gulag he worked in and he sorta lost his will to go one. He became cold and bitter, pushing everyone from his life and not caring about anyone's life but his own, henceforth, why he didn't care if he killed someone early one when we got here. But then he went on to Kyojuro about how she saw past his dark self. He said that when Angelina first got onto him, he heard Misha's voice. It was like she returned to him. Angelina and Karkhov fell in love because they both saw something in each other that they held dear, and their love swore to protect each other. Even in their last moments together, neither of them gave up on each other. Angelina tried to live as long as she could to tell him she loved him, that way she could die knowing that he knew. Karkhov didn't want to leave her side, even in death, that's why they are like they are now. The way they are preserved shows you that Karkhov will love her even through death. Shane, even through all of this death and sorrow, love still overpowers the despair. You care and love so many people on this island, if not them all, and that's why you strive to release us from this evil. Monokuma is scared of that hope getting to everyone. Shane, as long as you continue to care for us, none of our friends have died in vein. They are still here with you and I truly believe that we will all leave here soon. Now come on back to the hotel, everyone is worried about you. Besides, we need to figure out what to do with Angelina's children."
And like that, I left the execution site. Back at the hotel, everyone was in the dining hall, an assortment of food lined on the table. Everyone's face was struck with remorse. The dragons jumped off my shoulders and onto the table, not leaving more than a few inches away from me. Bee looked at me. "Shane, are you ok?"
It was like being on trial. Everyone seemed to be waiting for an answer from me. "Just a little shaken up. I will be ok."
There was almost a slight sigh of relief from them. Teiko looked at Selene. "What are we going to do with them?"
Well, I can't just give them up...they kinda need me right now. They just watched the girl who raised them die before their eyes. "I'll take care of them. They seem to like me anyways. I'll just need to get a large jacket to hold them in."
"Are you sure, Shane? I'm sure one of us would take care of them if you wanted." Bee put her hand on my shoulder.
"I'm sure. I think they need a friend right now." I looked at Kueriji. She was sitting there at the table, but she hasn't moved or said a word since I've been here. "Kueriji, you ok?"
She got up and crawled under the table, lying down near my feet. Monokuma suddenly appeared on the table, kicking Bee's freshly baked rolls off the table. I've never seen her dive so quickly in my life. "Hello punks! Hope you are all having fun! I have a special surprise for you all! Pupupu! Follow me!"
He brought us all to the new island. There was a huge funhouse and some small cabins. Inside the funhouse, he brought us up to what he called the "Muscat tower" and sat us down in a movie theater type set up. A video started to play and I instantly recognized all of the people on the screen...
Including my sister, Shannon.
All of the other students, Gabby, Tekai, Shannon, and her boyfriend, everyone was there, but none of them looked happy. Sinister music was playing and Monokuma laughed, saying "You'll never know if this footage is real or not."
He showed us the students crying. And even glimpses of what we think were murder scenes. The video ended quickly and I can't tell if Shannon was one of the murder victims. Is he torturing them? Are all of my friends and my sister going to die?
There are so few of us now...I don't know how everyone else is feeling. Everyone began to explore the towers, trying to get everything off their minds. I did notice something. Kueriji has been using a lot more of her wolf instincts. I remember what Komaeda said about keeping her from reverting. I walked over to her. "Kueriji, do you want to go for a walk?"
She nodded and stood up, walking out with me. We didn't unlock an island this time, just a tremendous funhouse. Each tower was a different color and fruit, which was rather odd. I looked at Kueriji as we walked into the Strawberry tower. "Kueriji, do you want to talk? I'm here for you. I know it must be hard..."
Kueriji looked up at me, with this look in her eyes. It is like she suddenly lost all of her instincts and was just like everyone else. "There is so much remorse in this world. You lose someone you are attached to and your entire bodily structure begins breaking down. Komaeda was the only other person I have ever loved. He was like an older brother...Shane, I was literally raised by wolves. My brothers and sisters were wolves. My mother, my protector was a wolf. Everyone looks at me like this psychotic girl but I don't want them to. I wish I was as I had been raised as. When my mother died, I had to fight for dominance, to keep the pack together. I had to kill one of my own brothers. That was the first time my human emotions hit me. I had never felt sorrow before then. Seeing the blood of someone I was raised with, played with, slept with, ate with...tore me apart. It scared me. About a year later, I was found by some hunters and they took me to a village. I was terrified, since I had never seen another human before then. I was given to an elderly woman, who raised me for the next few years of my life. She was everything to me. She taught me how to be human and told me never to be afraid of my instincts, since I am who I am. Komaeda told me the same thing a few weeks ago. Komaeda helped show me I could be myself and be human at the same time...I am rambling on. Forgive me..."
She looked back down and whimpered. Komaeda didn't want me to keep her from going back to her old self; he just wanted me to continue teaching her. "Kueriji, I can help you with anything you need. Komaeda talked to me a couple of times about how he was teaching you. If you want me to do the same thing that he did, I'll be glad to help."
There was this glow in her eyes when I said that to her. "Why do you care about what happens to me? Why did you defend me during the trial?"
I put my hand on her shoulder. "You're my friend. Everyone is my friend here. I knew you didn't kill Komaeda and he made sure, even in his death, to make sure I knew you were innocent. I care about you Kueriji and I'm sure everyone else does too. I don't want to lose you or anybody. We just all need to stick together."
All of a sudden, she pulls me into a kiss. Now, it was blatantly obvious that neither of us have kissed anyone before and I was honestly too shocked to do anything. She pulled away, very red. "I'm so sorry, please forgive me. I do not understand what just came over me. Please don't tell anyone that I did that. Just forget it ever happened."
She ran off and I just stood there. I heard a laugh behind me. "You made her extremely happy."
Reokyu was standing in the doorway, looking up at the ceiling. "Her aura glowed brightly when you said those things to her. She was overwhelmed with emotions."
I looked at him, cheeks still hot and red, and said, "Did you see all of that?"
He nodded. "You're embarrassed aren't you?"
I nodded back and he walked over to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Don't be. You made her feel better. She truly cared about Komaeda, more than I could possibly describe to you. It's usually hard for me to judge someone since I'm blind. Even with someone's aura it's really hard to tell who is truly evil or has evil intentions. But that may just be because I've never met someone truly evil. Even with all of our comrades that we've lost, they still had good auras, guilty ones, but still good ones. But one thing is for certain. You are truly a good person Shane. I don't even need to look at your aura to know."
He suddenly took my hands, after fumbling around for a second to really find them. "I've been meaning to tell you this, but I've honestly never known how to ask. We've hid it quite well and seeing how you were with Angelina and Karkhov, you're the only one that can really be trusted asking. Please, protect Coraline for me. Although it may not seem like it, Coraline and I have very strong feelings towards each other. The same way Angelina and Kueriji had for their counterparts. And the feelings you have towards Bee. I know you like her, but it isn't my place to get into. I'm sure you are tired of all these love problems, but I'm asking as my friend. She doesn't know that I'm telling you nor do I want her to know. She would do anything in her power to protect me, even giving her own life. Coraline, many times, has offered to take her life to save someone else's. If I ever heard she was gone, my sorrow would be like nothing you've seen. Shane, it is your choice and I will not judge you for your decision, but will you protect her for me?"
I am beginning to think everyone takes me as a couple's therapist. Reokyu has been there for me, so it's only right that I'm there for him. "Of course, Reokyu. You have my word."
Reokyu bowed his head. "Thank you Shane." He walked off and I was left standing there in the hall, again, utterly shocked. I stood there for another few minutes, wondering if anyone else would suddenly appear, but no one did and I walked off. Nothing really major happened for the rest of today, or for the next few days I should say. Three days later, Monokuma called us to the Muscat tower again. There is so few of us left...
"Good morning punks! I have some merry news!" He suddenly had a Christmas hat on and it began snowing on him. "Since it is so close to the holidays, I've decided to be a good bear and give you Christmas! Pupupu! You will each have a Christmas tree and decorations on your huts! I will announce when it is actually Christmas eve and day! Happy Holidays!"
The snow disappeared with him. Teiko said, "that was...different. Why is he being nice all of a sudden?"
We all looked at each other. Seh suddenly brought up, "It has to be a trap."
Milono looked at him, "How so?"
He put his head down. "When would he ever just do something nice? Our "Christmas" presents may be something horrifying."
We all sighed. He has a point. I noticed something about Seh though. Lately, he's been in his tribal state, in fully skeleton makeup and everything. He usually dresses fancy but occasionally he would be his voodoo self, usually on Saturdays. I walked up to him. "Is something special going on lately? You've been dressing rather tribal lately."
He looked at me and ushered me out of the tower. He didn't speak to me and for some reason, I followed along. It wasn't until we got on the main island that he said, "I didn't want to say anything while everyone was around. My beliefs and practices are very strange to most. Lately, I've had these strange dreams, of the other students. It's like I can see what's happening to them. I need you to come to my place, and I will show you what I mean."
Again, I followed him silently to his living space and I walked inside with him. This is the first time I've ever been here. There were symbols and markings all over the furniture and walls. There were books, leatherback and old, lying all over the floor. His mattress was taken off the bed frame and was in the middle of the floor. Viles of who knows what were on the windowsills and on the bed frame. But the one thing that caught my attention was a doll that was laying on his dresser...a doll with an oddly familiar face.
Shannon.
Except, her right arm was burnt off and she had a slash at her side. Her stomach was sticking out a little, but maybe that's how it was stuffed. "What is this Seh?"
He sighed. "I told you. I've been having weird visions lately. I make these dolls based on what I've seen. I've been dressing in my native clothing because I believe I can see something no one else can. Maybe I can start predicting the future if I can grasp these visions. Listen Shane, no one else can know about this. No one. I can already tell it frightens you a bit, but you're the only one who could understand this. Milono has the knowledge but with all of this turmoil happening, it is better to keep her out of it. Promise me Shane."
Damn, this is really strange. Why does everyone trust me? "I promise Seh. But can you please explain to me what happened to my sister?" I was pointing at the mutilated doll of hers.
Seh looked at me. "That is your sister...Shane she is..."
He was cut off by a sudden knock on the door. We both answered it and it was Reokyu. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but I need to speak to Shane. Someone said he was here."
He looked rather worried, maybe even a little angry, but it is always hard to tell with his eyes, since he never looks directly at anyone. "We were just finished with our talk. I'll see you later Shane."
Seh closed the door quickly on me and I started walking with Reokyu. "You really should be careful around him. Something isn't right with him."
I didn't understand why he thinks something is up. "Reokyu, can you explain?"
"Shane, I told you, I'm blind but there was an aura in there with you that was not good. Something evil was in that room and I almost guarantee it is Seh. He was the only one in there with you. I wouldn't be surprised if he murdered next."
I was taken surprise by that statement, considering Seh has been one of our key elements during trials since both him and Milono are the closest to detectives here. But in order to keep Reokyu from worrying, I said, "Ok, I will watch out. I promise."
He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled. If there is anyone who will get off this island, it will be you."
Reokyu walked off and I stood there, like I always do after I become confused. I honestly didn't do anything for the rest of the day and went to bed when the announcement for Night Time came on.
When I woke up the next morning, there were Christmas decorations everywhere. Tinsel was hung up on anything that was four inches off the floor. The bed that I made for the baby lizards was now green and red with fake snow on the rim. Selene was already striking a very creepy stuffed Santa in the corner of the room. I mean, she was striking it in the face over and over, hissing and tensing up whenever it made its "ho ho ho" noise.
"Selene, come here darling. It won't hurt you."
She looked at me and slithered over, climbing up my arm and around my neck, bumping her nose against me like she does when she shows affection. The babies woke up and crawled towards me. They like to burrow into my clothes so I've started wearing very large jackets, so if they were to go with me, they can come. I have to be honest; I've fallen in love with these creatures as much as Angelina had. It gives me joy that I don't have on this island. I will admit, I hate feeding them the liver that she normally fed them. The smell was absolutely appalling, but they have to eat. I decided to bring them with me today, since it seems a little chilly in here. Monokuma seems to take this Christmas thing really seriously.
I walked out my hut, happy that I have a jacket on. It was literally snowing out. I thought the islands were tropical, but I feel like Monokuma can do just about anything now. I caught Milono coming from her house and instantly go back inside. It is the first time I've heard her swear; I don't think she likes the cold at all. Kueriji was already playing in a pile of snow. I did forget that she lived in Russia for the longest time before moving to Japan.
The next few days were filled with "Christmas" cheer. And by Christmas cheer, I mean Monokuma "singing" terrible Christmas songs. It was worst than torture. I'm surprised no one committed any murders listening to the bear bust a nut. So apparently tonight is Christmas Eve and we are all required to go to the Strawberry tower for a Christmas Party. I left the baby dragons at home, but Selene came along with me. We had to bring a secret Santa gift, which was basically something in the Supermarket that isn't food that we could exchange to our secret someone. I put a squishy frog toy in mine. I have to give it to Kueriji as her secret Santa.
I was surprisingly the first one there. There was a table of snacks, a damn ice sculpture of Monokuma dressed as Santa, punch, Christmas decorations, and creepy Santa in the middle of the room, that Selene is hissing loudly at. About ten minutes later, Milono showed up, in this big winter coat with a small silver wrapped present. Seh followed later in his tribal outfit, but some of his body makeup looked like tribal snowflakes. Kueriji walked in on all fours with a stuffed bunny with a bow on in her mouth. Teiko and Bee came in together, holding there presents and talking. Bee waved at me and blush came to my cheeks, not because she waved, but because I am a jealous little bitch and wish I was where Teiko was, but I am too nervous to ask Bee out. The last two to arrive were Coraline and Reokyu, with larger presents in their hands, but the two of them were smiling. It is rare to see Coraline really smile. Once everyone was settles, Monokuma and Kyojuro popped out of nowhere. Monokuma was wearing a Santa hat and so excited. "Welcome punks to this fabulous Christmas Party. As much as I love filling you punks up with despair and pain, Christmas is the one time of year that I actually forget about all the despair!"
Kyojuro as Monomi was stuck in this very girly Santa dress, with a little holly bow where her regular bow was. Kyojuro was pissed though, but it didn't matter since Monokuma actually wasn't doing anything too bad. Which was hard for me to swallow; the fact that Monokuma was actually doing something nice for us. "Well punks, enjoy this party!" He disappeared but Kyojuro stayed, keeping an eye on the place. It actually was a lot of fun. We weren't allowed to exchange the gifts though until Monokuma came back. Selene tried some of the cookie I was eating and liked it, so I let her have more. Seh came up to me. "I had another vision Shane. And it was about tonight...listen, watch your back...you'll never know..."
Suddenly, all of the lights went out and we were left in the dark. We couldn't see anything at all. There was mumbling and someone, I think Milono, said "Nobody move!"
I stayed where I was and I know Seh was in front of me because I accidentally brushed my arm against him. A minute later I heard a grunt and something warm sprayed my face. A few minutes later, there was a slight "beep beep" noise and the lights came on and Seh was on the floor in front of me, dead.
There was blood on my face and clothes. Selene even looked confused. I was frozen there, Bee's screams silent in my ears. That wasn't the only thing that was wrong. Coraline was missing from the room.
"Ding Dong, Ding Dong! A body has been discovered, and on Christmas Eve too! After a set period of time, we will hold a Class Trial."
Seh...he tried to warn me. I looked at his body; his neck was slit, his blood staining the white paint on his body. He was clenching something in his fist. Reokyu suddenly yelled for Coraline. Monokuma suddenly appeared. "Someone just had to kill on Christmas Eve, Pupupu! That is what I call despair!"
He disappeared dragging Monomi along. I choked out, "We...need to investigate...now."
Bee came over with a rag, but I was too busy looking at Seh. I unclenched his hand and found a piece of white ribbon. It was rather small and it looked like it was difficult to rip off, since his fingernails were bent up a bit. Kueriji came to me. "There is something you should see..."
All the lighting was controlled in the room we were in by a locked panel in the back of the room. Monokuma kept it locked and the last time we were all here together it was locked. Kueriji pointed to the screen on the wall above the lights. It showed the temperature of the room and told us that the lights would be one till 1 A.M., since Monokuma was allowing us to stay past Night Hours. But I did see something. The lights were to go out at exactly 11:15 and would come back on at 11:21. The lock was also unlocked, but still attached to the box. The key hole to the lock was badly scratched and chipped. Strange...
I opened my Digital Notebook and looked at the file. "Seh was murdered at 11:19..."
This had to be planned. But nobody could see in the room with those lights off. Not unless they had Night Vision goggles...which are sold at the Supermarket. "Monokuma, can we open the presents for investigational purposes?"
Over the Intercom, he answered "Sure, but Seh's gift was to Kueriji, so only she can open that gift."
She ran over and opened it, revealing a squeaky dog toy. She stuck it in her pocket for later. One by one we opened the presents, my toy, socks, and before we opened Bee's gift, we noticed that her gift was previously opened. Inside...there was night vision goggles...
Everyone looked at her. "I got those for Seh...I didn't do this Shane..."
Nobody else could see without the goggles...the box was open and she had them near her. It can't be Bee though...
"Where was everyone standing when the lights went out?" Milono asked. I was near the punch, Milono by the ice sculpture, Reokyu by the front table, Bee and Teiko by the back wall, where the electric box was, Kueriji under the snack table, and Coraline was by the Santa. "You were closest to the box, Bee. You could have turned the lights off."
Milono was on Bee's ass. Teiko suddenly spoke up. "Everyone should know that box has been locked since Monokuma doesn't want us to open it."
Reokyu also spoke up, "But Bee could have easily unlocked it, I've seen her unlock rooms before around the island that didn't have the anti-lock finishes. The lock on the electrical box didn't have those finishes."
"We would have seen her unlock the box if she even did it!"
"She probably did it before the party began. The lights were scheduled to go out at 11:15. They would have to have been preset. She could have easily come here early to unlock and schedule the blackout." Kueriji said.
Everyone is jumping on Bee...I started looking around. I was trying to find the murder weapon, since one cannot be found. There was a slash in the ice sculpture, about the same width of the wound on Seh's neck, almost as if they missed the first time. The same went for a nearby table and tablecloth. But for the blood to have hit my face, the killing blow would have had to come from right in front of me. I couldn't feel anyone close enough to us to kill him like he was. Either they had to be sneaky, or the weapon needed to be long. I looked at Reokyu, but his katana wasn't on his back like it usually was. "Reokyu, where is your sword?"
He looked in my direction, "I didn't bring it with. I didn't think it would be festive enough."
Well, his sword could be long enough to reach, but it isn't here. There has to be more clues... I notice a chair was knocked over a few tables away from where Reokyu was. Milono was investigating as deep as I am...it just feels so strange without Seh...
Coraline is still missing. Bee and Kueriji went to look for her, followed by Reokyu, but Monokuma refuses for us to leave the towers, saying "She couldn't leave the towers anyways"
Outside the door to the room, I noticed that a nearby closet was open slightly. Inside, there was a broomstick, but instead of bristles, there was a combat knife tied to it. There was also a bloody rag on the floor, next to a watch, with an alarm at would go off at 11:21. I heard the beeps a few seconds before the lights came on. Someone had this whole thing timed and planned. Suddenly, the announcements came on, signaling it was time. It is too soon...I don't have enough evidence. I can't give up though. I will figure out this case, but it won't be easy. This will be the toughest case yet. All I have to go on is a small piece of ribbon and a watch...But one thing is for certain. I will not give up until I find out who committed this terrible act. One of my friends...killed Seh. I will be sending one of my friends to their death soon. I realized that I had started crying on my way to the elevator. Selene was nudging my neck. As I draw closer to the elevator, more tears begin to fall and I think of all of my friends. Reokyu, Bee, Teiko, Milono, Coraline, and Kueriji are all that is left...