3rd Person POV
"We're finally out. But... where are we now?" Komaru asks as the three exit the hospital. She looked around the area but couldn't really tell.
"Wh-What!? You don't know? Don't you live in this city?" Toko asks her.
"Well... we were actually just imprisoned. We didn't even know where we were until Mr Byakuya helped us escape." Kei explains to her while Komaru nods her head.
"Imprisoned, huh? Th-That's an interesting backstory..." Toko mutters.
"Wait... how did you even know we were living in this town?" Komaru asks her.
"...Huh?"
"And while I'm at it, this has been on my mind for a while. You said something when we first met... You said, "You must be Komaru Naegi." And, you knew Kei's name too. Toko... How did you know about us?" Komaru continues to press Toko for information, which just annoys the girl
"D-Don't get all detective mode on me out of nowhere! You've caught me off guard!" Toko angrily points at her.
"Well, I think we deserve to know... at least a little." Komaru mutters.
"Yeah! If you don't tell us, I'll…" Kei pauses as she thinks of a threat. "I'll take pictures of you naked and threaten to show everyone at your school the photos to make sure you don't disobey me again!"
"What the hell kind of threat is that!?" Toko scowls. "Y-You're giving me bad memories…"
"Did that happen to you before?" Kei questions her with a concerned expression.
"No! At least, they weren't photos of me naked…" Toko sighs.
"E-Either way…" Komaru mutters not wanting to get into that. "Isn't a threat like that a bit intense?" She asks Kei.
"Is that… not a common threat? I heard it a lot." Kei claimed.
"No, not even close…" Komaru sighs.
"...tch." Kei looks off to the side as her expression darkens. "So he was a creep…" She whispers to herself.
"Huh? What was that?" Komaru tilts her head.
"Nothing! Now come on and explain yourself, Toko!" Kei loops the conversation back to Toko.
"I-It's not some big secret or anything. On the helicopter ride over, Master Byakuya mentioned you two and..." Toko begins
"Helicopter? You mean Future Foundation's? You're a member of Future Foundation?!" Komaru asks, cutting her off.
"W-Well, I'm more like an… intern. That's why I don't have my own uniform yet..." Toko admits.
"Ahh, that's why you aren't in a suit... and you're wearing a school uniform." Komaru realizes
"S-Such a cheap-ass organization, they could've at least given me a uniform!" Tomo scoffs. "Ugh, when will I finally get to change out of this old ratty thing?"
"You only have that one uniform, huh?" Komaru asks
"At least it looks nice." Kei adds
"Yeah, this is the only thing I have, but... I'll endure it for a little bit longer… because I made a promise with Master. He said... if I can prove I can control her, I get to be an official member. Shin already calls me an honorary member, and I know Byakuya has to feel the same way... hehehe..." Toko giggles hysterically as her imagination starts running wild. She even makes oinking noises every once in a while.
Komaru and Kei stare at her with disgusted expressions. The both of them take a couple steps away from her as she finally snaps out of her daze.
"Huh? Wh-What's with that l-look on your face? Did I really look that w-weird?" Toko looked down as she waited for their answer.
"N-No, not at all! You didn't look disgustingly gross at all!" Komaru quickly tells her.
"Y-Yeah... You totally didn't make me throw up in my mouth a little or anything like that. Tooooootally not..." Kei adds while forming an "x" with her arms.
"I didn't ask you if it was gross or if it made you throw up! I just said "weird"! You two didn't have to make it so obvious that you were disgusted." Toko scolds them.
"I-I'm sorry…" Kei quickly apologizes as she bows her head.
"Yeah... sorry?" Komaru seemed a little more reluctant to apologize.
"Um… If it makes you feel any better... you would make a pretty cute pig." Kei tells her
"Jeez, even these immature schoolgirls treat me like an intern! Grr, and even that annoying hall monitor freak and the swimming idiot bimbo are official members!" Toko exclaims
"...Wow, you sure give your friends nice nicknames..." Kei sighs.
"They're not my friends! My whole life I've never had a friend! ...And now you go making me remember stuff like that! Stop prodding my mental wounds, girl!" Toko yells at her.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to!" Kei apologizes profusely.
"Hmph, anyway, who cares about having friends. I have my Master! And as long as I have them, I don't need anything, or anyone else..." Toko claims. "E-Even if Shin said he thinks I should make more friends, I don't need them!" She whispers.
"To actually care about someone that much... That's a pretty amazing feeling." Komaru says
"But I got separated from my precious Master thanks to these damn riots! Now I'm all alone... Of course, I did sneak onto the helicopter without Master Byakuya or anyone else knowing..." Toko admits.
"Wait, so ever since then, you've been alone? Then who told you Byakuya was captured?" Kei asks
"..Huh? O-Oh, well, a lot of things happened..." Toko mutters
"A-And more importantly! What are you two going to do from here on?" Toko shamelessly changes the subject.
"Us?" Kei asks with a confused expression.
"Well... I guess we have to escape, right? If we stay here, we'll be killed..." Komaru says with a somber expression
"...Yeah. I don't wanna be here anymore. I miss my home..." Kei mutters.
"But Toko... You want to look for Byakuya, right? I know that's what you want, but... I feel trapped. No matter what I do, I'll end up getting killed. I'm so scared." Komaru admits.
"Well, I guess I have Kei with me…" She adds.
"I know I promised to protect you, Big Sis. But… I-I'm scared." Kei admits as her knees tremble. "The smell of blood is horrible, and I don't wanna see anymore dead bodies… I wanna protect you, Komaru, but I also don't want to die!" Kei lets out a shaky breath as she tries to calm down
"..."
"I-I… I don't want to die either. That's why…" Komaru turns towards Toko with a pleading gaze.
"Listen, I know this is...an unfair request, but..."
"Fine." Toko quickly cuts her off.
"Huh?"
"You want me to tag along with you two, right? Fine. I'll go with you." Toko promises them.
"It's... okay?" Kei asks
"Th-There's no other choice! As a member of Future Foundation, it's my duty to protect you two." Toko explains. "Especially after you both whined about how much you don't want to die."
"C-C'mon, that's normal…" Kei mutters while Komaru almost tears up from how grateful she is.
She immediately pulls Toko into a bone crushing hug, gleefully thanking her over and over again while Kei stands and watches with a conflicted expression.
"Thank you so much, Toko!" Komaru exclaims
"H-Hey, what are you doing!?" Toko freaks out as Komaru embraces her.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! From the bottom of my heart, just... Thank God I met Toko!" Komaru says
"God? Just thank me directly." Toko grumbles.
"Toko... Are you sure about this? What about your search for Byakuya?" Kei asks as Komaru finally releases Toko.
"Th-There's no need for you to worry about that. I've been thinking up a plan." Toko tells her
"Oh, you're right. An amazing big sister like you would have a plan for sure. No point in us worrying." Kei mutters.
"Hmph..."
"But... I'm glad. Ever since I was imprisoned, I've been all alone. I couldn't depend on anyone else... So I'm glad to have you guys. Both of you." Komaru says as she hugs Toko one more time, pulling Kei in as well.
"Y-You don't have to repeat yourself, I heard you the first time!" Toko pulls the two girls off of her. "Now, do you know a way out? I don't know anything about this city, either. I don't know where we should go..." She admits.
"You're right. We have to figure out more about this town, first." Komaru mutters.
"Well, those futon foundation guys did mention that this city is on an island..." Kei mentions
"You mean "future" foundation." Toko corrects her.
"That's right!" Komaru clasps her hands together Hey, Toko! Do you remember seeing a bridge anywhere?" She asks
"A bridge? I think I remember seeing one over that way." Toko says as she turns and points in a direction.
"Perfect! If this town really is an island, we should be able to escape over the bridge!" Komaru exclaims
"Huh... I guess you're right. You're not as smart as my master, but good for you or whatever." Toko somewhat complimented her.
"You're a genius, Sis!" Kei cheers. The dichotomy between her and Toko is a bit too blatant.
"Let's go to the bridge! We have to at least try!" Komaru exclaims as the three of them set off towards the direction of the bridge.
***
After a couple of minutes of walking in the direction of the bridge, the girls come across a bump in the road, and by bump, I mean a giant sinkhole that was so bottomless, they couldn't even see how far down it goes. The only part of the street that isn't a sinkhole is blocked off by a very futuristic looking car.
"Why are there giant holes in the floor everywhere we go? Are those kids doing this on purpose?" Kei asks.
"Most likely. They probably use b-bombs or something like that just because they can." Toko assumes as they walk away from the giant whole.
"Well, how do we get around it?" Komaru looks around.
"That gaudy looking car... It's made by Towa." Toko points towards the yellow car. "Do you think you can move it with your hacking gun?"
"I'll try..." Komaru says as she aims at the car and fires. Thankfully, the hacking gun is effective and the vehicle drives instantly turns on. It speeds straight into a wall, clearing up a path for the girls.
"Y'know... now that I think about it, we could've just climbed over the car or something." Kei realizes.
"Either way, It worked. This gun really is amazing. Even after those dorks screwed them up." Kei says.
"What do you mean by "Screwed them up?" What happened to the hacking guns?" Toko asks
"Well, there were these two guys we met after we were caught in a helicopter crash a couple days ago. They made the hacking guns weaker. Those guys were really creepy too. There was one with fluffy white hair..." Komaru begins her explanation
"Fluffy white hair, huh?" Toko mutters as she looks down.
"And there was another guy... that Shin person you mentioned before was there too." Komaru adds as she shudders after recalling the events intently.
"He was? What the hell is that guy up to now…?" Toko mutters under her breath. "Ugh… this better not become my responsibility later."
"Is everything alright Toko?" Kei asks her
"....No, it's n-nothing. Forget it." Toko says. "Now tell me what they did to the hacking gun!"
"O-Oh, well they basically made it weaker. They said it was for game balancing purposes or whatever…" Komaru tells her.
"Ugh, he's always been such a pain in the ass for no reason." Toko scoffs to herself as they keep walking.
"You both have hacking guns, right? That should at least as up to one normally." She mentions.
"I-I guess…" Komaru mutters as Toko continues onwards. Komaru started following close behind her, but she stops when Kei grabs the end of her skirt to stop her
"Hey... big sis." Kei whispers to try and get komaru's attention
"What is it?" Komaru asks as she turns around.
"That guy you met before we had to deal with those kids... you said he looked like me... right? And Toko said his name was Shin, yeah?" Kei asks. "Did… did he say anything about me?"
"Yeah, only a little though. He said he doesn't want you to see him." Kei's expression falls when Komaru tells her this. "Something about not being able to show his face to you. He left before I could ask him about it though..." Komaru explains to her
"Actually... He was pretty quick to leave just when you started to wake up." She mentions
"Oh. I see. Thanks for telling me that..." Kei mutters as she walks ahead of Komaru to catch up with Toko.
"...." Komaru watches her walk away with a concerned expression on her face.
"Strange..." Komaru mutters as she quickly follows after the other two.
They walked through the streets for a few minutes, determined to make it to the bridge as soon as they can. However, they all stop when Kei crouched down and picks something off the ground.
She shows it to the other two, and it happens to be a book with some blood splatters on the cover. Some of the pages have blood on them and are hard to read, while others are in tatters. It's definitely seen better days.
"Kei, don't go picking up random garbage from the street! Or are you one of those people that have some stupid garbage obsession?" Toko questions the girl.
"S-Sorry, Toko. But I just wanted to see if this book is one you'd like." Kei assures her as she begins reading through it. Unfortunately though, it's about nothing but tacky garbage. Such a waste of time.
"...I'd never like something lame like this. The author of this book is clearly some anime nerd. No doubt about it." Toko concludes with an almost disgusted tone.
"Hm? What makes you say that?" Komaru asks her.
"80% of authors who write books with drugs, guns, and high school girls in them are anime nerds. It's a safe bet, like knowing your white shirt is gonna get splashed when you eat curry." Toko explains as she takes the book from Kei's hand and drops it on the floor. Kei reaches towards it, but Toko swats her hand and Kei yelps.
"Yeah, putting aside the curry thing... me and kei are high school girls, and we have these hacking guns... Is this some anime nerd fantasy?" Komaru asks
"Do not associate a gift my Master gave you with anime nerd imagination nonsense!" Toko yells at her. "Keep being condescending and I'll cut you with a kitchen utensil only master chefs have heard of!"
"I-It's even more terrifying not knowing what it could possibly be!" Komaru has a terrified look as she backed away from Toko.
"But, seriously... I don't know much about guns. I barely know how to work this thing." Kei says whilst waving the hacking gun in front of Toko's face.
"You really don't have a sharp memory, do you? Nothing like my master." Toko shook her head. "But whatever. If you must know, the gun sends program codes in the form of radio waves that hack the target machine."
"Yeah, I don't get that at all but... It sounds really cool. I think..." Kei says.
"Jeez, you didn't get my explanation at all, did you? Do you have any good points?" Toko asks her.
"S-Stop being so mean, Toko." Kei whines.
"But this doesn't work on every machine, right? I wonder why not..." Komaru mutters mostly to herself.
"Huh? Oh, well I'm just an intern, so I don't really know the details, but I know it's a research project. M-Maybe it's made so that it doesn't work on machines you don't need to use...?" Toko theorizes.
"Well that's... convenient. But, I have learned one thing!" Komaru says.
"Wh-What's that?" Toko asks her
"This gun works as well on humans as the ray guns do against Crystal Bowie!" Komaru exclaims.
"Wow, now that's an obscure reference... How old did you say you were?" Toko wonders
"Should I start calling you bigger sis Komaru?" Kei says quizzically.
"Let's just hurry up and go..." Komaru sighs.
"Yes ma'am." Kei says as they continue on their despairful journey through this town.
***
The group might have already made it to the bridge by now if not for all the hazards and giant objects in the road blocking their path. Eventually, they find a sign pointing towards a random door that makes Komaru nervous.
Regardless they follow the sign and go through the door, entering some kind of construction area. Their path is immediately blocked again by a giant metal box blocking their path.
"Looks like we can climb this if the three of us work together." Komaru says as she stares at the box.
"W-Work together? With you!?" Toko complains a bit before letting out a heavy sigh. "Gah, guess we don't have a choice... Do you wash your hands?"
"O-Of course I wash my hands!" Komaru exclaims.
"Do you wash your hands, Toko?" Kei wonders.
"Why are you asking me that?!" Toko grumbles.
"Well if you don't, I can always lick your hand clean for you. Like a cute little cat!" Kei curls her hands as she offers this.
"That's disgusting! Don't you dare lick any part of me!" Toko yells at her, and Kei jumps and backs away. "O-Only my master can…"
"Okay! Let's climb the box you guys!" Komaru stops this conversation before it gets too weird.
"Right. Let's work together." Kei says.
Komaru jumps up and grabs onto the top of the box, and Kei hops onto her back, wrapping her arms around Komaru's neck so she could carry her.
Toko sighs as she bends down and gets beneath the two. Komaru lifts her legs up so Toko can lift the two up on her shoulders. After that, Komaru uses all her strength to lift herself and Kei up on top of the box. After that, Kei lets go of Komaru and turns around. She grabs Toko's hands and lifts her up. When she got halfway, Toko grumbles something before wrapping her arms around the girl's neck so Kei can lift her up completely.
"Wow, Toko. You're very light." Kei comments as they all jump off the box on the other side to continue forwards.
"Is that a problem?"
"No, I was just saying. And it felt nice when you wrapped your arms around me, I thought you were trying to hug me at first." Kei taps her fingers together with a bashful expression.
"You're even weirder than me…" Toko scoffs.
"Sorry. That was kinda weird to say, huh?" Kei mutters.
"Now that I think about it, Toko is kinda light, but you're way lighter than I thought, Kei." Komaru mentions as they walk through the construction site.
"People always say I should eat more, but that's way harder than they think it is." Kei grumbles. "Plus, I think as long as my boobs grow bigger I should weigh perfectly fine."
"That's not how it works, Kei." Komaru sighs.
"Well, a bigger chest can't hurt. And if it's you, I wouldn't mind if–" The conversation is cut short as the girls notice a metal ball rolling towards them from seemingly nowhere.
"What the–?" Kei mutters before the ball beeps twice and erupts into a small explosion
Lucky, Komaru grabbed Kei and pulled her away just before the explosion went off. They didn't get their faces melted off at least, but the size was still enough to knock all three of them to the ground.
"Ugh! Why do these things have bombs now?" Kei screeches as she watches Komaru grab hold of her hacking guns handle and blasts one of the Monokuma's that was holding the bombs.
And upon being hit by the hacking wave, the Monokuma completely explodes, and destroys nearby Monokuma in the collateral.
"G-Good job, sis…" Kei mutters as she holds her hand over her head, which had blood coming from it.
Komaru didn't even have time to ask her what happened because more Monokuma's appeared to attack them. They tried destroying the ones holding the bombs first, but they kept on hiding away after tossing their grenades, so Komaru had no choice but to attack the normal Monokuma's to at least get them out of the way.
Kei was having a hard time avoiding the bombs because of her massive headache, so not wanting to waste anymore time, she caught one of the bombs that was flying through the air and tossed it up towards a steel beam above all the bomber Monokuma's. The explosion destroyed part of the beam and it fell from the building, landing on the remaining Monokuma and destroying it.
Toko covered her head as the beam fell, thinking that would protect her somehow even though she was hardly in any danger regardless.
"Ugh! Don't just do that without warning anyone!" Toko yelled at Kei, who didn't hear her as she fell to the ground, the ringing in her ears making it hard to think.
"Was that… all of them?" Kei asks as she sits up.
"Yeah, I think so." Komaru looks around and doesn't see any other Monokuma's. "But that was so cool, Kei! You did it!" She cheers for the girl as Toko walks over.
"Y-Yay…" Kei mutters as blood drips from her forehead.
"W-What happened to you? Why are you bleeding like that…" Toko averted her eyes from Kei.
"Um… when that first bomb went off and blew us all back... I think I landed on my head and... reopened the wound there." Kei was taking heavy breaths between every couple of words.
"That's not good, who knows what'll happen if you get any more brain damage than you already have." Toko chuckles at her own joke while Komaru gives her an unimpressed look.
"That's… not good, huh?" Kei mutters.
"I-I'm sorry, Kei." Komaru apologizes. "If I had gotten you away fast enough, then that wouldn't have happened."
"It's okay… big sis. You saved me from getting any more hurt at least." Kei stands up and starts walking with her legs still trembling. "But be careful next time. You could've just gotten yourself hurt too."
"But you're the only one here that's hurt. And when you threw that bomb, you jumped in front of me just in case." Komaru reminds her.
"I don't remember…" Kei claims.
"You keep letting yourself get hurt like this. Well, maybe it's my fault. You got hurt in the restaurant because I didn't kill that Monokuma fast enough. And in the helicopter crash, you used yourself as a shield for me and that's why you even have a wound on your head!" Komaru reminds her as she looks at the ground, disappointed in herself.
"...that's okay." Kei tells her with a smile, despite the blood going down her face. "To be honest, I'm only going so far because that's all I can do."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm… not smart. I know that more than anyone else, even all the people at home that called me stupid." Kei begins. "I'm not good at talking to people, or being interesting. I'm not cool and tall like Mister Byakuya. I'm not strong like Toko. So… going this far is all I can do to help you like a good little sister would."
"But–"
"You're dumber than you think." Toko cuts Komaru off and insults Kei.
"Huh?"
"Obviously you're not smart, and you'll never be as impressive as my Master! But compensating for it like this is stupid." Toko scoffs at Kei's confused expression. "Because if you die, what's the point of it all? You'll just become a pain in the ass."
"If you get more and more injured, you'll just become a burden. You're already slowing us down because you can barely walk, so you'll just be dead weight in no time!"
"S-Sorry, I–"
"Sorry isn't helping." Toko points out. "How about instead of always doing that, you stop giving yourself a reason to apologize?"
"..." Kei didn't respond as she looked at Toko with a guilty expression.
"I'm pretty sure the way Toko said it was… kinda mean. But she's right! Sort of…" Komaru chimes in.
"This is still your fault for being so useless!" Toko points at her. "Can you pay more attention? Ditzy girls aren't as cute as you think."
"You're right, sorry…" Komaru meekly stares at the ground. "You too, Kei. I'm sorry for letting you get hurt like this. I'm not really good at this whole big sister thing."
"It's alright, Komaru. When I think about you, I always feel alright. That's all a big sister needs to be, I think. So you're a pretty good big sis. Probably." Kei assures her.
"It's not as motivational when you sound so unsure." Komaru sulks.
"I can't believe I got stuck babysitting these two hopeless girls…" Toko mutters to herself as they all finally continue onwards. Komaru was holding Kei's hand to make sure she didn't fall over. While they were walking they noticed one of the Monokuma kids come out from around the corner with a towel.
"What's this kid want?" Komaru asks Toko.
"How should I know!?"
Without saying anything, the Monokuma kid tosses the towel on to Kei, who pulls it off her head just before the kid runs off.
"Did he just come to give us a towel?" Komaru mutters as Kei stares at it for a moment before using it to wipe the blood away.
"That was weirdly helpful." Kei mutters as she tosses the towel to the ground after using it.
"Hm…" Komaru has a curious look on her face.
"Earlier, you said that they might be carrying out someone else's order, right Toko?"
"Y-Yeah, that's possible." Toko answers.
"Who would be ordering them to be so helpful to us though? Aren't they the reason we're in this situation?" Komaru wonders.
"I don't know! Stop asking ME every stupid question you think of!" Toko yells at her.
"Okay, okay. You don't have to yell…" Komaru starts sulking again.
"Oof… can we keep going now? The bleeding stopped but my head is killing me. I wanna get out of here soon to sleep." Kei mutters.
"Stop whining!" Toko grumbles.
"Sorry… I'll be quieter." Kei mutters.
"Didn't I tell you that all the apologizing isn't helping at all? Why do you keep doing it?" Toko questions her.
"Because I don't want you to get mad and hit me." Kei admits.
"Why would I hit you?"
"I don't know. Don't people usually hit others when they're mad at them?" Kei wonders.
"That's… only true with some people." Komaru scratches her cheek as she mentions this. "But Toko doesn't seem like that type. Unless she uses the stun gun on herself maybe."
"I already told you, she only kills cute boys." Toko reminds them.
"Well whatever the case, I don't think Toko is going to hit you." Komaru assures Kei.
"You're probably right. Sorry for thinking you would, Toko." Kei says.
"This girl is never going to stop apologizing for everything…" Toko grumbles under her breath. "Do you think you're special enough to get away with everything?"
"...D-Don't call me that." Kei says as her expression darkens.
"W-What's with that look?" Toko backs away from Kei.
"Are you alright, Kei?" Komaru asks the girl.
"Y-Yeah, it's just… I don't get how I'm special." Kei mutters as she looks away. "It's so stupid, calling me special when I didn't do anything. It doesn't make sense…"
Toko and Komaru give her an odd look as she was talking to herself about something.
"How hard did you hit your head?" Toko questions her.
"Pretty hard, actually." Kei admits. "But not as hard as the time I fell out of a car. I probably would have a permanent scar if the car wasn't slowing down when it happened."
"How do you even fall out of a car!?" Komaru exclaims.
"Uh…" Kei looks away as she recalls the story. "It's hard to explain."
"...Maybe you do have legitimate brain damage." Toko mutters under her breath.
"Whatever! Let's just hurry up, okay?" Kei exclaims and pulls the two of them along.
"And just a reminder… please don't call me special, okay?" She tells Toko, who gives her a confused look as they look for a way to the bridge.
The three tried to make it to the bridge as fast as they could, but the city was starting to feel like an inescapable prison with how difficult it is to navigate through it.
"Jeez…! There are roadblocks all over the place. Getting around this city is such a nuisance." Toko complains after a couple minutes of walking around. By this point, the city is starting to feel like a maze to her too.
"Based on where we are, the bridge should be on the opposite side of this hotel... Should we go inside?" Komaru suggests as she points to the entrance of a hotel that seems a little worse for wear.
"A-Are you telling me we have to walk through this busted-up hotel? Oh, this is the worst." Toko whines.
"Let's just... Get this over with." Kei chimes in as she holds her hand to her head.
Seeing no way to argue against the two, Toko reluctantly trudges her way into the hotel along with Komaru and Kei
"This place looks like it's seen better days..." Komaru mentions as she looks around the hotels interior, which is just as run down looking as the exterior
"Hmph, I figured as much. But you were the one who suggested we check this place out, so why are you complaining?" Toko questions the girl.
"It's the fastest way to get to the bridge. How else are we going to leave the town?" Komaru reminds her and Toko just scoffs.
The lobby of the hotel has most of the possible directions they can go in blocked off by rubble, even the staircase that led upstairs was broken.
Fortunately, the girls used the power of teamwork to climb up the staircase and make it to the second floor, where they walked around for a few minutes to find an exit.
"Hey guys... I think I found something that could help." Komaru calls out to the other two
Kei and Toko turn their heads to where Komaru is standing. Next to her is a telephone that she was pointing towards.
"Wh-What is it?" Toko asks her.
"Look, if we use this telephone to call the police, won't they come save us?" Komaru tells the two there.
"The police? That collective of psychos that think all humans are criminals until proven innocent!?" Toko exclaims
"That's... quite the extreme bias..." Komaru comments.
"It sounds like your feelings against them are really personal." Kei mentions.
"It's a shitty idea regardless of how I feel! There's no way it'd go through. Telephones, internet, nothing!" Toko informs them.
"Huh!? Nothing works?" Komaru's ahoge deflates after hearing this.
"I-If they did, this whole problem would have been solved by now! Jeez, use your brain!" Toko tells her.
"This sucks…" Kei whines.
"You're seriously useless... More useless than... than a salmon that has already laid its eggs!" Toko insults Komaru.
"You don't have to be so mean about it..." Komaru mutters.
"Let's just move on..." Kei advises, and Toko happily agrees. Anything to get out of this hotel as fast as possible.
"...Hey Toko..." Komaru whispers to the girl after Kei walks ahead of the two and is no longer in earshot.
"What is it?" Toko questions her
"Don't you think Kei is being a little weird?" Komaru admits her concerns to Toko as she stares at the girl.
"Weird? What do you mean?" Toko asks.
"Well, it's just... a little while ago when I mentioned that I met her brother earlier, she started acting weird..." Komaru elaborates. "And she looked pretty upset when you called her special before. I don't really know what's bothering her…"
"Oh... Well, I think I have an idea about it. But I can't say for sure if it's true, I'm kinda guessing based of things I heard." Toko tells her.
"Can you tell me what you know...? I'm... kinda worried about her." Komaru pleads
"W-Well, don't tell Kei just yet, but... Shin had told me a few things about his parents. He said that his parents were pretty rich, but they didn't think that he was fit to take over their enterprise. I bet they're probably regretting that decision by now, since he's probably smarter than them anyways." Toko mentions. "Even if he is weird, Master is still pretty impressive in the end."
"Master? I thought we were talking about Kei's brother." Komaru mentions.
"H-Huh? I didn't say anything! Be quiet!" Toko suddenly snaps at her.
"But–!"
"No! I didn't call Shin Master! I just think he's impressive despite how weird he is! It's his fault for making me feel strange around him anyways…" Toko grumbles.
"Ooookay…" Komaru doesn't want to know anymore. "Anyways... Can you move on with the story?" She requests
"You're the one that interrupted me in the first place." Toko grumbles under her breath before continuing.
"Anyways... Since Shin's parents didn't think him and his older sister were cut out to be their heirs for some reason, they were sent off to their grandparents to be taken care of whilst Kei was left on her own. Shin told me that his father probably tried to get Kei to hate him and his sister so she wouldn't bring them back into the family after she took over their so-called empire. Either way, that was years ago, so Kei really doesn't remember either of them I'd imagine. Maybe she wants to know if what her parents said about her own siblings were true or not." Toko explains.
"So... Does Kei want to see her brother to finally meet him?" Komaru asks her
"M-Maybe. I'm not really sure. If you want to know so badly, just ask Kei herself." Toko suggests
"Well, thank you for telling me that." Komaru says with a smile
"W-Whatever..." Toko sighs as she looks away.
"Hey, you two. Take a look at this thing!" Kei calls out to Komaru and Toko from afar, catching their attention.
"What is it?" Komaru asks as she walks beside her
"I found another book. This one is better though, since it doesn't have any blood on it." Kei says as she shows Komaru the book's cover.
"W-Woah! This is...!" Komaru exclaims after reading the title of the book.
"Wh-What!?" Toko asks her with an annoyed expression after Komaru's random outburst of excitement.
"The Bomb Inside Her! This manga... Oh it's been ages since I read this! I love it!" Komaru tells toko as she shows her the book.
"It's just a manga... Why'd they draw her eyes so big? Jeez, at least I still look remotely human." Toko sighs
"The size of the eye is a sign of beauty! A sophisticated process and form! A manga with small eyes is like ramen with no bamboo shoots!" Komaru tells her
"That... sounds like some pretty good ramen honestly." Toko says.
"I don't really like bamboo shoots either…" Kei admits.
"Oh, have you guys even read it!? The Bomb Inside Her is like, required reading for high school girls!" Komaru says.
"There's no way I'd read even a single page of that manga dreck!" Toko responds with an expression that seems to be angry at the fact that Komaru would even say that.
"I was never allowed to read things like that when I was little." Kei adds. "So I had to go through a lot to get my hands on it. I haven't read that many, sorry."
"And what do you mean, "high school girls"? Were you even in high school?" Toko asks
"Well age-wise, I am..." Komaru says with a downcast expression
"To be honest... It's the same with me..." Kei admits.
"Age-wise? You two have been... imprisoned since middle school? Are those your middle school uniforms?" Toko asks in reference to both of their outfits.
"No, this is a high school uniform. While I was imprisoned, it was delivered to me one day along with the food. Until then I had been wearing my middle school uniform... The culprit probably felt sorry for me." Komaru concludes
"One day, I woke up wearing this. I don't even know how I got it on me. It was really creepy..." Kei says with a slight shudder.
"Well, for criminals, that was a pretty nice gesture towards you both. Two grown women in middle school uniforms... would definitely get people to call the cops." Toko tells them
"Well you're one to talk, wearing a high school uniform after you've graduated..." Kei says to her.
"Wha-!? I have nothing else to wear, so it's not like I have much of a choice!" Toko tells her
"But... I'm really glad they gave me one. This is the St. Koa Girls Academy uniform. It's a famous rich-girl school!" Komaru cheers
"Koa? I've never heard of it." Toko says.
"Koa Academy has a 300-year history of culture, activities, and sports. The club uniforms are also super cute. There are tons of girls who want a chance to wear one. The school cafeteria is buffet style, and you hear about it on television all the time..." Komaru explains with excitement in her eyes, but after a few seconds, her expression falls into a more depressed look
"...Ugh." She quietly groans
"Wh-What!?" Toko questions her sudden shift in behavior
"I'm feeling.... It's just silly of me to fantasize about all those details now, isn't it?" Komaru asks
"Well it sounded too good to be true, but you're telling me you made up the whole thing!?"
"I wanted a high school life like that!" Komaru exclaims
"Even if you weren't imprisoned, I don't think that school life was in your future." Toko tells her.
"Y-You don't have to be so blunt about it!" Komaru shouts
"Well... If it makes you feel better, I wasn't going to any super prestigious high school because of behavior issues or whatever. This uniform is just an ordinary school outfit. So maybe we would've gone to the same boring, useless highschool for boring and useless people." Kei attempts to reassure her.
"That sounds more like an insult than anything..." Komaru tells her as she gets even more depressed.
"It's okay big sis, even if you're boring and useless, I still love you." Kei pulls Komaru into a hug
"T-That's... sweet. But I'm not thag boring and useless!" Komaru insists.
"Neeheehee~" Kei giggles
"Let's just go already…" Komaru was going to leave with the book in her hands, but Toko took it and tossed it away.
"If you bring that with you, I'm leaving you on your own!" Tomo yells at her.
"Alright, jeez…" Komaru sighs as they start walking around the hotel some more.
....
"Hey, Toko... Take a look at this." Komaru calls out to the girl as she bends down and picks up a note of some kind off of the floor. She could see elevators just a few feet away, but she still stopped to pick it up.
"This is..." Toko exclaims as she sees who is in the photo.
The note is titled "Hit List" and has a picture of a man named Takaaki Ishimaru. It has writing giving some interesting details about him as well as his so called "hunting grounds", which Komaru assumes is where he is located."
"D-Did you remember something?" Komaru frantically questions Toko.
"Yeah, it's probably something the brats made. A list made so that they can efficiently hunt and kill targets like you two." Toko explains.
"B-But that's... Why would they do that!?" Komaru asks.
"Take a look at this part. It says "Hunting Grounds". And with this stupid title, Hit List... It's got to be those brats. They made this." Toko concludes
"A hit list...?! Then... this guy... Takaaki Ishimaru is it? Him and his huge eyebrows are being hunted down by those children!" Kei exclaims
"That means... there's other people who are being hunted by the children too!" Komaru concludes
"I'm not sure, but that does seem likely." Toko says
"But why would something like this...?" Kei asks as tears well up in her eyes.
"Well I doubt they're passing this list around to the adults, so some brat must have dropped it." Toko tells her as she starts walking towards the elevator.
"If that's the case, we have to hurry and tell this person! The children know where they are!" Komaru shouts as she runs over to her. Kei was going to follow, but noticed something strange poking out of a nearby plant pot.
When she reached inside it, she saw another hit list. But the person on it was different from the other guy. When her eyes laid on the photo, her gaze darkened.
Komaru tried to urge Toko to listen to her, but she wasn't having it.
"Your lives are more important than that right now. I understand how you feel, but we have to go on. If we run into them, we'll let them know then. That's how we have to handle this for now." Toko tells the girl as Kei walks over.
"I-Is that really okay...?" Kei asks Toko with her hands behind her back as she walks up.
"Don't think of it in terms of "good" or "bad"... It is what it is..." Toko says.
"I-I see... It is what it is..." Komaru mutters with a downcast expression
"T-Then... If that's the case... Let's just move on already...." Kei says to the both of them
And so, the three of them trudge through the hotel in an attempt to escape this place as soon as possible.
And other than a few Monokuma, nothing dangerous had occurred just yet. So the girls all made it fairly far in one piece.
After making their way through a hallway of stained glass, they find themselves in a large foyer-like area with another Monokuma kid and a laptop.
"It's another one of those creepy kids..." Kei mutters. "Maybe they know something about the hunting grounds."
The kid only giggles in response to the insult and hands the group a note.
"What is this? A letter...?" Komaru wonders aloud as she takes it from the kid's hand.
"Maybe it's a love letter! This might be the last one you ever receive, so open it!" Toko urges her.
"You don't have to make it sound so ominous!" Komaru exclaims
"Don't worry big sis, I'll make you hundreds of love letters to make up for the fact that you'll never get one from anybody else." Kei tells her.
"Ugh.... Why are you so sure that I won't get love letters in the future?" Komaru asks her with a saddened expression.
"Because I won't allow anybody but me to give you love letters..." Kei tells her
"I... wha...? Huh!?" Komaru struggles to figure out how to respond to that
"Anyways! Let's read this note already." Kei shifts the topic.
"Challenge! If you want to know the password, try asking the upside-down bird." Is what the note says
"Hm? Looks like they want us to solve the riddle here..." Toko mutters as she glances at the laptops screen
"Wh-What the heck...? This is no time to be playing games like this!" Komaru tells her
"I want to slap this brat in the face for this... But Monokumas would ambush us if I did... It's a pain in the ass... But we gotta do it." Toko sighs.
"Then leave it to me! Solving this kid's riddle will be... child's play!" Komaru chuckles at her own joke while Kei gives her a forced smile.
"Did... Did you just make a pun? Wow... That does not inspire confidence." Toko felt like they were doomed.
"She sounded so proud of herself, too." Kei points out as they inspect the computer screen to try and solve this puzzle.
On the computer screen is an image of several pieces of furniture set up in a way that spells... hell.
"What is this...?" Komaru wonders
"Maybe we should try flipping the words upside-down. Kinda like what Mr Upside-down Bird told us to do." Kei suggests
"Huh? That sounds familiar..." Toko comments
With that in mind, Komaru goes up to the hotel door and types in the flipped version of "hell", which is "7734".
And, it actually works and the door unlocks
"Boo hoo!" The Monokuma kid whines as she looks down in shame
"In your face, you little brat!" Kei gloats towards the kid
"That's right! Who's the boss now?" Komaru asks the child as she gets in her face before the kid runs off crying.
"D-Don't be gloating about beating a little kid..." Toko tells her.
"But it's fun to gloat. I don't get the chance to do that when it doesn't involve something lame like money..." Kei says.
"Well, whatever. Let's just get out of here." Toko tells her
And with that, the three girls are finally able to exit the hotel and go right back to the streets of Towa City.