[IC] Danganronpa Alternate: Apologies to Hope (Reboot) [Deader than Disco]

[addamas]

---

This was a mess. All Snow did was ask Ayu a simple question and somehow, it went from that question to ‘Chikako is the murderer!’ in two seconds. five different theories crossed each other at once and none of them seemed to have any grip. Even in the anarchy they all seemed content with adding fuel to the fire and it was nauseating. As Snow's head continued to spin, people started providing vague ideas and answers and it was getting out of control. No actually, it had gone out of control before the trial even started, but after Aurel blatantly threw out the accusation she had enough. Snow let Ginshi finish but her mind was too overheated to consider his idea.

“Owh my god, I’ve had it with you all. I’m done, that’s it, limit reached; if anyone else starts talking in riddles without giving proof, facts, or something to hold on to, I will vote for Chikako right here, right now.” She roared as her hand floated above the vote button. “Now explain yourself Aurel, and nobody else injects any bootleg ideas, clues or theories, yeah!?”

[Savo]

Aurel Fuchs // Hisakawa Hiroki

---

Location:: Courtroom
Aurels Interactions:: Ginshi (@KenjuGuy), Snow (@addamas), Momoe, Ayu (@Ammokkx)
Hisakawas Interactions:: Aurel

---

Aurel patiently waited as his interjection sunk into them, the boy eyeing everyone, including Chikako, who he was certain had to be in shock at the accusation. He bit his lip and held his breath, hands clamping tightly onto the sides of the podium as Ginshi made his own deductions, with the thief remaining deadly silent. While Ginishi did make a decent assessment, he closed his eyes the moment he suggested Chikako attempted to frame Maiya.

While it was a possibility, Aurel didn't entertain that idea, instead, opening his eyes and flinching slightly when Snow screamed, looking almost ready to pull her hair out.

"A-alright, there's no reason to get worked up," he pulled his hands up, wide eyed and waving his hands at the girl for a bit, with a frown on his face. Clearing his throat, he clenched his fists and pressed them back down onto the podium. Time to get everything mentally sorted out.

"Ginshi, your assessment is sort of correct. While I highly doubt she was looking to frame Maiya, I do believe she went to her lab for another reason," he faced the Judo Master for a bit before glancing over at Momoe.

"Instead of snapping the CD, she instead went there to cut it in half with a pair of scissors. Take a look at the evidence present, it looks like a pretty clean cut there. So, after crafting her murder weapon she disposed of the rest in Maiya's trash because it was convenient, although," Aurel murmured for a second rubbing his lips as he stared off to the side. He was silent for a moment, as if he was still trying to piece together his thoughts.

The thief lightly hummed for a moment, catching sight of Hiroki as he squinted out the boy and frowned into his hand. "... Mm, sorry, just thinking of some things." He sighed, pressing his hands onto the podium once more as he stared at the crowd.

"Anyways, back to the murder weapon; where was it exactly found?" Aurel posed this question to the crowd, eyeing each and every one of them, never making eye contact as he patiently waited for an answer from one of them.

"Those shards... are you suggesting those shards Snow found in the shower are the murder weapon," Hiroki suddenly blurted out, pointing a finger in the thief's direction. That had to explain the pink fabric Snow found as well.

As soon as that answer came out, Aurel chuckled to himself with a barely traceable smile, "That's it; while Chikako was washing the blood off, she must of seen that she was running low on time while trying to wash the blood off of herself. As a result, she decided to destroy the CD in the shower before rushing back to Hibiki to re-link before the timer ran out." The boy looked down at the podium fidgeting a bit with his hands.

"That would also explain the pink fragment that was left there. It was torn when she was destroying the CD," Hiroki asserted leaning forward with a determined demeanor. Aurel merely nodded before staring off to the side.

But was that really it? Hiroki looked over at Flare before glancing over to Lilly, eyes focusing squarely on their attire. What separated them from being the murderer was the next thing on his mind.

[Ammokkx]

Time is relative. For Chikako, her time moved extremely slowly ever since Aurel dropped her name. Before she could even defend herself, Ginshi, the boy who had said nothing since the trial's start, suddenly came out with an entire theory on how she did it. It was wrong; she wanted to deny it, to speak up against the accusation, but Snow grabbed the momentum of the trial. If nobody came up with an answer, she'd just vote for the Rhythm player. Aurel was much too happy to oblige, him and Hiroki starting to work together to try and bring her down.

"W-wait, hang on... this is a joke, right? This isn't funny," she stammered out, her confused and fearful face slowly morphing into an angry scowl. "Why the hell is it my turn to get accused?! Can't you all make up your minds?!"

"Oh I'm sorry, did the thief strike a nerve with you, miss killer?" Momoe taunted Chikako. With a bemused smile and a snicker, she continued: "Just for the record: I think he's the first person to talk some sense in this trial!"

"What, is this some kind of game to you?! We're all fucked if we get this wrong, you included!" she yelled back at the cyclops. Momoe nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders in response, refusing to dignify Chikako's outburst with a proper reply. "Either way," the girl angrily continued to growl, "what the hell is up with that logic?! The CD came from my lab, therefor I did it? My clothes are pink, thus I'm the killer?! Last I checked, Lilly and Flare wore pink too! Why am I being singled out? And why would I just leave the CD case lying there?!"

[Savo]

Aurel Fuchs // Hisakawa Hiroki

---

Location:: Courtroom
Aurels Interactions:: Hiroki, Chikako (@Ammokkx), Flare (@addamas), Lilly (@Vocab)
Hisakawas Interactions:: Aurel, Chikako

---

"That's actually something I've been wondering myself," Hiroki interjected, looking to the side as he rubbed at his chin before pausing, "namely when it comes to the clothing." Looking up, he began tapping at his chin, frowning for a second as he peered at the thief and squinted, trying to get a read on the guy before reclining back.

"Flare and Lilly also wear pink, so wouldn't that make them suspects as well?" Despite everything, he tried to read where the thief would go next with his assertions, guessing he would probably rely on the injuries.

From what he saw, Aurel merely nodded and gave quite the flat reply, "While that is a considerable point, I have actually taken that into consideration when rationalizing this all out." Hiroki looked at the guy, raising an eyebrow as he crossed his arms when the thief stopped for a brief moment before looking up and glancing at specific people in the audience. Despite not really focusing on him, Hiroki still, nevertheless, bobbed his head forward as it to urge the thief on.

"Maybe it's as Hiroki said from earlier, that there's a possibility that one of you injured yourselves while cutting the CD." Bingo. Despite the somewhat vacant stare the thief had, Hiroki was mentally cheering and slightly smirked to himself as he nodded. Yup, check their hands and wrists, that definitely makes sense.

"And since that's a possibility, that's the first of two things I would like to be done to confirm my suspicions," wait, two things? If one of them has any scrapes or cuts, shouldn't that kind of cement who the killer is? Hiroki blinked, almost recoiling a bit and tilting his head to one side before leaning forward just a tad.

"Chikako, Flare, Lilly, could you please do this for me? Just, roll up your sleeves and show your arms and hands like this," without as much breaking a sweat, Aurel demonstrated this by rolling up his own sleeves and extending his arms out, with his hands wide open for everyone to see.

Just where was he going with this?

[Ammokkx]

Because of Aurel's suggestion the courtroom briefly was abuzz with chatters. All three of the relevant people questioned why they had to show off their arm, but eventually Flare was the first to relent. Chikako and Flare followed not long after. None of them showed traces of any wounds. "Happy now?" Chikako bit back.

"The hell was that about? If they cut themselves anywhere, wouldn't it have been their hands?" Taka interjected. "If we had a clue like that, this trial would've been over already..."

"I told you to shut up," Momoe growled. She had her eye closed, but her eyelid was twitching. She let her right arm rest on her other one and clutched the side of her head with her hand. "Even if miss killer had a cut like that, it'd be damned small. And, if the scissors weren't used for murder... there's no way... it'd draw blood," she groaned out. Speaking seemed to be getting hard for her.

Chikako glared daggers at Momoe. "And what's that supposed to mean?! I still haven't heard why you're accusing me instead of the other two!"

[Savo]

Aurel // Hiroki // Hibiki

---

Location:: Courtroom
Aurels Interactions:: Momoe (@Ammokkx), Hiroki, Hibiki
Hisakawas Interactions:: Chikako, Aurel
Matsuos Interactions:: Aurel

---

"So you've realized it too, Momoe. While that could one-hundred percent be the case, we still have to verify it ourselves." Aurel shut his eyes and sighed, waiting patiently for his time to interject, wincing as they continued to loudly shout and screech. He frowned breathing in and out of his nose as he grimaced, Hiroki now entering the conversation as well.

"C-calm down Chikako, there's no need to get all worked up," Aurel opened an eye up, glimpsing at the boy as he rested his forehead in his hand, watching a sweat droplet drip off the Ultimates Head. He looked pretty tense and somewhat stiff, slightly frowning at Chikako's demands, slightly frowning; did he hate loud noises as well? "Lets just see where Aurel is going with this, you did mention there was another thing you wanted done, right?"

Upon being addressed, Aurel looked up, only to glance over at Hibiki's side, staring at the young mans fidgety hand as it rapped itself on his side. The thief didn't even notice the frustrated eye roll, coupled with a sigh as he looked up to the crowd of people, "Yes, there's one more thing I need done before I can verify if it is or isn't her." Aurel held his breath, biting his lower lip as he combed over the crowd, scanning over each and every one of them. This had to be the final piece of the puzzle.

"And that thing I need done can only be accomplished by Hibiki," Aurel pointed directly at the bespectacled young man who had remained silent throughout this entire trial. Whether they were thinking up theories, looking over each and everyone's words, the moment his name was brought up, he shot up to attention, lips pursed as he tilted his head and blinked. "Oh? What do you require of me, Aurel?"

Hibiki was matter-of-fact and quick to cooperate, good, "I need you to recount everything that happened, from the time you split up with Chikako, all the way back to when you linked up. I want every single detail." Aurel leaned forward; it was as if he could feel the truth coming closer than ever, with it being a bit out of reach.

"Wait, didn't Chikako already tell everyone their alibi?" Aurel peered over at Hiroki who suddenly interjected before nodding at them, "Yes, they have. However, I believe it is important to hear it directly from Hibiki, just in case Chikako misses any crucial details." Aurel swore he could feel the girls eyes boring in on him, but Hibiki re-entering this discussion, with a smile, distracted him from this.

"Shall I detail even the book I was reading as well?" Aurel noticed the young man chuckled as he pressed at the bridge of his glasses. "OK, maybe not all the details, but most of them," Aurel stated bluntly and as seriously as he could as he crossed his arms. The tutor merely smiled at the thief before giggling a little, "That was a joke Aurel, my apologies for that."

Oh... that was a joke...

"Regardless, lets begin," Hibiki lifted a fist to his mouth and began to clear it before looking up at the other students with a serene dimple. "I had taken to my lab to catch up on a bit of literature after Chikako had split up from me again. We tended to follow this same routine every day where we head to our labs and did our usually stint, her dancing and myself reading. She wasn't acting strange in the slightest and had her usual peppy attitude as we saw each other off. After that, the past twenty minutes I spent were quite peaceful, per usual, and was able to finally finish one of the chapters on human psychology."

Hibiki then paused and looked to the Ultimate side, pressing and tapping an index finger on his lip as he examined them for a moment, like they were some sort of anatomical model before returning to face the audience. "However, I don't think you came to hear me give a lecture on the human psyche, so let me just say that nothing really happened for those twenty minutes while I was in my lab. When time was nearly up, I put the book away and headed out to reconnect with Chikako who had really worked up a sweat. Nothing really seemed off with her at the time when we reconnect and went to the mess hall for some food, however..." However?

The tutor looked down, frowning at the podium he was stationed at. That face Hibiki made told Aurel everything he needed to know, especially when he locked eyes with the thief for a split second. "... Chikako mentioned that the wound from Monokuma opened up when she was in her lab, and that she visited Maiya's lab to perform first-aid on herself; mentioned she bled quite a bit and felt somewhat faint..."

Bingo. With that said, Aurel nodded at the youth, who looked back at Aurel with a wistful look in his eye as he dejectedly frowned before settling back into the podium. Whatever he was thinking of now, it had to be focused on Chikako.

"Thanks Hibiki." Aurel sighed, placing a fist over his chest before looking to the crowd; he felt his heart was going to jump out of his chest any time soon if he kept this up, but this was the end. There was no where left she could hide.

"That should be more than enough evidence at this point to prove that you're Naomi's killer, Chikako." The silence that followed was louder than anything else as the realization began to sink into some peoples skulls; some probably didn't get it, but that was fine. That was all fine; after all...

"Chikako... why did you do it?"

This case was over.

[Ammokkx]

"Why did I do it? Why did I do it?! I didn't do anything!" Chikako started shouting, her expression tense. "My wound has nothing to do with this," she tried to defend herself, "and both Flare and Chikako could-!"

A loud slam cut Chikako off mid-sentence. Momoe had crashed her fist onto the railing of her stand, alerting even Monokma. The bear yelled "Hey! Cut that out! Violence won't be tolerated in this class trial!"

"There's nothin' more disgustin' than a criminal who doesn't own up to her own crime..." she growled, her fist still shaking. Momoe turned her head at Chikako. "Did you forget? There was blood on those scissors. And I doubt you'd have cut yourself on the CD you hid under your soles," she growled. "Face it. The thief got you the moment he brought up your wound."

Chikako started to choke. "I... I didn't, that isn't..."

Momoe straightened her posture, ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath. "This is a farce. Oi, bear. Why don't we end this already?" the smuggler asked, cocking her head back.

"Hey! I won't let you get out of this that easily, missy!" Monokuma scolded her, still just as angry as before. However, even the local mascot wasn't immune to her deathly stares. The robot bear began to fidget and visibly sweat. "G-Geez, I was joking! Alright, alright, we'll go straight to the voting!"

"Wait," another voice interjected. Ayu's. "Chikako doesn't understand yet... I want to recap it for her. I understand everything now," she said in the same monotone as always. Whatever cool Ayu may have lost earlier clearly wasn't affecting her now, having returned to her usual state of mind. Nobody stopped her. Everyone was too exhausted, so they let her wrap it up for them.

"This case started yesterday. The killer and their partner had a habit of always using their twenty minutes in the same way: Both go to their respective labs and one reads while the other dances. This time was different. After detaching, the killer snuck out with one of the CDs in their lab. They headed straight for Maiya's lab, picked up a pair of scissors and cut the CD in half. The killer also sharpened the CD to form a blade. The strain of this opened the wound on their shoulder and splattered blood on the scissors. The killer used the nearby materials to apply some first aid, but the blood dried on the scissors. This took time and left the killer in a hurry, so they snuck the two halves underneath their soles and threw away the empty CD case in the bin. Maybe hoping the water washed off the blood, the killer hurried over to the docks and tried to toss the scissors into the lake. After meeting up again with their partner and explaining away the opened wound, the day passed.

"During the night, the killer snuck out of the cabin and towards Naomi's. The killer broke the lock and entered. Snow must've been knocked out during the conflict as Naomi defended herself. After slicing open Naomi's throat with the CD, the killer left the bloodied fishhook at the scene as a potential murder weapon. The killer went straight for the showers to wash the blood off, but quickly began to run out of time. They hurriedly broke the CD into pieces they'd hope to flush down the drain, but this ripped their clothes. The mixture of shards and cloth clogged the drain, and with no time left, the killer had to cut their losses. They climbed out of the stall, leaving it locked, and hurried back. They forgot to turn off the shower, but the killer couldn't fix their mistake without breaking the rules. Back at the cabin they re-linked, switched clothes and pretended to sleep for the rest of the night. The only one who could've done all that was you, right Chikako?"

Ayu's recap took several minutes and, at the end of it, everyone was silent. Monokuma took this as a sign.

"Puhuhu! It seems the debate is over," he yelled with his obnoxious and boisterous voice. "That means it's voting time!"

As if on cue, a device popped out in front of everyone. On it were several buttons, each below the face of one of the students. Even Naomi's. Monokuma continued. "Use the panel in front of you to vote for who you think whoddunit! The suspense is killing me! Oh, but don't forget! If you don't vote, you'll face the same punishment!"

Everyone ignored Monokuma. They casted their votes. One, by one, by one... eventually, every student had voted. The bear spoke up yet again. "Oh my oh my! It seems the votes are in, folks! Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?! Let's see who was chosen as the blackened!"

Monitors descended from the sky, one aligned for each student. All of the ultimates looked up in unison, watching as a Monokuma on the screen placed 16 cards down on the table in front of it. Each had a simplified portrait of the student's face on it. Monokuma flipped the cards over and then they shuffled. A neon light rapidly flickered between the back of each card, making multiple loops as it gradually slowed down. It eventually settled on one, flipping over Chikako's face. As if to celebrate, all other cards flipped up to reveal Chikako's face as well, with flowers and confetti raining down. A triumphant tune played for every student present.

---

CLASS TRIAL - END

---

---

-Monokuma's closing statement-

"Bwahaha! That's right, everyone! Chikako was the killer of Naomi Fuduka! Boy, it must feel great to have figured that out, huh?"

The podiums retracted into the floor, leaving everyone to stand in a big open space. The atmosphere was tense, and Chikako looked to be holding back tears. She was muttering to herself. Things like "Why did it get this far...? Why did I do that...?" silently left her mouth, the girl hugging herself. She was scared, frail.

It seems like she was a lot more willing to co-operate now, though.

[Temporary]

"What a disappointing result," Izo muttered. He remained where he stood as the podiums retracted, arms folded in front of his chest, and gaze locked firmly to Chikako, staring into and through her. "Got anything else to say for yourself? Wanna grovel and prostrate yourself for our forgiveness? Bet it's so hard for you to understand right now how your 'grand master plan' got you caught, isn't it you fucking-"

"Shut your goddamn mouth, Izo. She's already going to be punished. Taunting her further is wrong-"

"Oh, it's wrong, is it? Know what else is wrong? - murder," he snapped, dropping his arms to his sides as he turned to face towards Shirou. In a moment, Izo's stance and attitude shifted; his standard, careless, standoffish posture tightened, his fists clenched and eyebrows furrowed, as though he was preparing for a fight. With his eyes still focused on Shirou, his left hand raised from his side, and his index finger extended, pointing towards the convicted killer. "'Equality must be found and sustained: so as to give is to accept, to inflict is to have inflicted.' Death is the least that she deserves, but she can go into the dark knowing that the last people she'll ever meet hoped for it to be as painful as possible. Now get on with the punishment, Monokuma. Nobody cares what scum like her has to say."

"No, she didn't do it!" in the midst of Izo's shouting, Lilly ran across the room, and wrapped her arms around Chikako. Her eyes held tears much the same, and her voice cracked, as she looked up at Chikako's face, her stature giving her a clear view. "Th-this is just Monokuma lying, right? There's, there's no proof that it was you, i-it could have been anyone and they're working with Monokuma to set you up! Y-you couldn't have done it, we're... supposed to make a girl gang, a-and be friends, even after we escape... right?"

[Ammokkx]

Taka, Momoe & Chikako

Chikako's fingers dug into her arms due to Izo's incessant badgering, the girl shrinking ever further into herself. She knew he was right, that she'd done something unforgivable. Chikako hadn't forgotten that for even a moment. She kept making excuses, running from her crime, desperately hoping to get out of this place. The ultimate tried desperately to not think about how she'd murdered another person, even as everyone got closer and closer to finding her out.

Then, Chikako was snapped out of it by the force of Lilly's tackle-like hug. Just like how Lilly looked up at her, Chikako looked down. She couldn't give her a reassuring and confident smile to ease her worries. All she could do was put her hands on Lilly's shoulder, gently pushing her away. Chikako shook her head. Now that she'd seen Lilly like that, the girl needed to put up a strong front. She straightened herself out, but cast her eyes off to the side. Lightly choking, she said: "I'm... I'm sorry, Lilly."

"This is messed up," Taka uttered, hugging his stomach with one arm and clutching his head with the other. "Even if you killed her, why would you leave the corpse like that?!"

Chikako's eyelids closed halfway. She began to explain. "That Naomi... I saw her grab the fishhook. She was always saying how she hated us, and how she wanted to get out... there wasn't any fucking time...!"

"Huh? What kind of bullshit is that?" Momoe growled, stomping on over. She made sure to put her face right in front of Chikako's, making the girl go stiff and take a step back. Momoe took a step forward in response. "You thought she was gonna kill one of us, so you killed her instead? Ain't that a convenient way to talk yourself out of what you did?"

Momoe pissed Chikako off. She never liked her attitude. It brought out the worst in people. This time, though, it just flared up Chikako's personality. "Back off, Momoe!" she yelled. The scruffy delinquent obliged and shuffled back, disgust still plastered on her face. "I wanted to get out, too! I wanted to fight Monokuma, but..." she trailed off again, her hand instinctively going to her wounded shoulder and clutching it.

[Savo]

Aurel // Hiroki // Hibiki

---

Location:: Courtroom
Aurels Interactions:: Snow (@addamas)
Hisakawas Interactions:: Chikako (@Ammokkx), Hibiki
Matsuos Interactions:: Izo (@Vocab), Momoe, Hiroki, Chikako

---

Aurel couldn't help but feel a knot welling up in his own stomach as he bit his own lip and clenched his trembling fist before looking to the side. While he knew he saved the other students, there was some guilt gnawed at the back of his mind as he glanced at each of the students around the Courtroom. His gaze lingered on their own expressions as he stared and looked to the side, frowning as his vision began to darken.

Her life for their lives. Aurel had never killed another person before, but it felt like he had been the one to pull the trigger to end it. It almost made him feel like he was a blackened as well, no matter how silly it may of felt. He didn't know how to feel at this moment, emotions being a melting pot of sadness, rage, relief, and so much more as comments flew around.

Somehow, Aurel managed to mentally turn it around on himself, thinking if he had just unhooked that night he could of stopped it. Maybe if he even chatted with Naomi and attempted to console her he could of stopped it. He never mad an attempt at even interacting with her and this just felt like his fault.

"Izo, Momoe, that's enough," Aurels head turned towards the flat faced young man, who pressed his glasses up, a glint reflecting off of them as smiled. The thief could barely notice he was biting his lip, and as composed as he was making himself out to be in this situation, he noticed the Tutor's right arm was trembling a little while his other arm moved in and grabbed it.

"S-she could of just told us, y'know," a shaky voice blurted out from the small crowd, the thief turning to his side to witness Hiroki staring down at the ground with a toothy frown and a fist clenched by his face. "Honestly, if y-you just told Hibiki, we could of gotten this whole situation resolved and we could of done some sorta' interv-"

"Enough."

The sternness in his voice made Aurel flinch a bit as he saw the bespectacled man turned to the other Ultimate Student and frowned, sighing as he shook his head before turning back to face Chikako. "While I don't condone her actions for obvious reasons, take into consideration her own thoughts and feelings on this all, her own perspective." He made a sidelong glance at Izo and Momoe as he approached the athletic girl he had been chained up to.

Aurel honestly didn't know what to say or think at the moment before looking directly at Snow. What were her own thoughts and feelings on this all as well? She was nearing death as well and only got lucky that Chikako and Naomi went head to head against each other, based on Ayu's deductions. Aurel chose to shift over to Snow and gave her a light tap on the shoulder, ruffling the back of his hair as he looked up at the girl.

"Hey, uh Snow," Aurel murmured, ruffling the back of his hair as he looked up at the girl with a forced smiled on his face, "how are you... what do you..." This was actually kind of hard, as he looked over to Hibiki who was still talking and consoling Chikako. He didn't completely understand it since she had just murdered another one of them, but a certain set of words stood out to him as he finally found the right words to ask the white-haired lady.

"How are you feeling? A-are you OK?"

---

Hiroki couldn't comprehend what the Tutor was doing, trying to put the Rhythm Player at ease after throwing them into such a messy gauntlet. Nothing he said would change the fact that she murdered the Linguist! While Izo's words were a bit overbearing, she did have other options, but selected the wrong one, deciding that murder was the best option instead of anything else. His fist trembled in what looked like nervousness was more like anger as his nails dug into his flesh.

"She felt just as powerless as us, afraid of what Monokuma would do to us if we tried to push against him," unlike the Thief, he couldn't follow this guys line of thinking as he glanced over to the side, noticing the Thief trying to chat up the Hair Dresser. What was he even up to at this time anyways?

"While she resorted to murder, don't forget that she's still a person. A person who was scared and afraid of this situation, a person who felt lost and also felt like she didn't have a choice. She had aspirations to create a girl gang, loved to talk about busting her older high score when with me, and even had a fondness of grapes whenever we would eat." What was he even getting at? Hiroki huffed as he turned to look at Ayu, who was motionless and weary. He could only ponder what she was feeling in this situation right now as well as she just stood there silently. Girl gang, right, probably a way to make it easier to kill someone as well due to trust.

Hiroki shifted himself close to Ayu, maintaining a solemn, doleful visage as he swapped between keeping an eye on the girl and looking at the back of Hibiki's head. "You even told me how you were going to have the best girls only party at the lab... even encouraged me to get the guys together and said you would rent it out to us as well, heh."

Hiroki couldn't see it, but Hibiki was still smiling, holding a hand out and placed a hand over the hand that was on his shoulder, tilting his head. "I'm... sorry I never took you up on your offer to play a game of DDR with you..."

"... Chikako, do you mind taking some deep breaths with me?" Hiroki could never see from the same lens that the Tutor was looking from, could never see what was in front of the young man, only behind him. He would never even see the small tears forming in the tutors eyes, never realizing the Tutors cheerful smile was a pained, remorseful one.

---

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Chikako."

[addamas]

Aurel(@Savo)
Chikako & Monokuma (@Ammokkx)

---

Snow stood across the room from Chikako. There wasn’t that much distance between them, but it felt like Snow was on a different planet. As if standing on the moon looking down at earth, she looked at the dancer unable to grasp her own feelings.

“When you look at her, knowing what she’s done, what do you see? You should hate and despise her, she’s a monster who murdered in cold blood.” As she spoke, her eyes never looked at anything but Chikako, who was pushing Lilly away at this point. “I look at her, and I see a mistake; a pitiful girl with no control over her pathetic human impulses… They always end up like that.”

She then turned to Aurel, though her eyes were noticeably devoid of light. Stroking a strand of hair behind her ear, she looked at him.

“Yes I’m okay, and I don’t need your sympathy, it’s only a matter of time before you end up like Naomi… or Chikako.”

Ryuma, who was across the room from Snow heard those words, and they didn’t sit right with him. He clenched his fists and firmly walked towards Snow with the full intent of rejecting her stance, until he was blocked midway by the arm of Flare. “Flare, the fuck are you doing!? Didn’t you hear Snow? she-”

“Stop. You’re gonna make things worse.” Flare interrupted Ryuma before she lowered her arm.

“Come on, she is obviously not okay, if we leave her like that, she’s gonna shut herself in.”

“You can’t help her right now, she’s already shut herself in. Let her process what happened before you force your ideals on her.”

“...Fuck-sake, I hate this.”

“Think about yourself first. You can't tell me you don't care about Chikako."

Ryuma's shoulders drooped as he was forced to think about what was about to happen.“Naomi didn't deserve this. I can't forgive Chikako, but christ, that doesn't mean she needs to die for it.” His face tensed up as he looked at Chikako.

“Whoever controls that bear is the one I can't forgive. Chikako would never have needed to turn to murder if it wasn't for them... In fact-" Flare walked up towards Chikako and the bear, her brows intensely furrowed. "Bear! You think you have us eating out of your hand like little piggies hoarded into pens, but you're wrong. You killed Naomi, and for that, you will pay." ending her sentence, Flare released a big sigh before turning to Chikako.

"Himura Chikako, I forgive you."

[Ammokkx]

Monokuma

Flare's declaration rang loud and clear through the courtroom, stunning everyone present into silence. Not even the culprit, Chikako, had anything to say. An ominous laugh echoed in the massive hall, disturbing the silence. "Puhuhu... Puhuhu!" the bear cackled from his throne, holding his belly as he bellowed. Once Monokuma settled down, he casually put his elbow on the railing of his seat. He placed his head comfortably inside the palm of his paw. "Honestly, you kids are the best!" he said. "I can't believe you're still so full of hope and kindness after all that..."

The bear flashed its teeth with a sinister smile.

"Isn't it funny? No matter how you look at it, I didn't lift a finger this entire time! The blood of that girl... the crime of murder... that thrill was alllll Chikako!"

"Flare and Hibiki are right!" Taka shouted at Monokuma. "It's not her goddamn fault! If you hadn't locked us all up here, none of this would've happened! You did this!"

"GYAHAHA!" Monokuma cackled, throwing himself onto his back, legs flailing wildly in the air. "Who cares what I've done? I'm guilty of a lot of things, but not murder!" he retorted. The mascot regained his composure as quickly as he'd lost it, straightening his posture and tapping the edge of his seat. "You know... I really hate murderers," he said. His voice, despite being as shrill as it was, seeped with malice. "Murderers and liars. They just won't accept what they've done... one's the reason someone's dead, and the other's the reason someone's hurt!" the bear explained. His one red eye flashed a brief glow. "There's only one fitting punishment for those kind of rotten people!"

"D-... do your worst! I'm not scared of you! Not anymore!" Chikako yelled back, the desperation crystal clear in her voice.

Monokuma ignored the girl. A button popped up in front of him. He still had more to say, beginning with: "For the crime of killing Naomi Fuduka..."

"...! Everyone, get back!" Ayu suddenly yelled, despite having been quiet this entire time.

"IIIIIT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!"

Monokuma brought down a mallet on the button.

---

Fever Time!

~Himura Chikako's execution~

One part of the courtroom's walls slid into the floor. A collar shot out from the newly-opened passageway, snapping around Chikako's neck before she had any time to react. The girl, stunned for a moment, reached out to it. The collar had a wire, one which pulled and began to drag her away, quickly ramping up speed as she vanished down the corridor. Nobody had time to chase Chikako as the wall aggressively slammed back into place the moment she'd vanished into it. Several monitors lit up all over the room. The same image was transmitted on all of them; live footage from a dance game, on which a Monokuma unit was having the time of its life. The robot made a couple missteps, throwing off the game and failing the stage. 'GAME OVER' flashed across the screen. The four-directional input beneath the Monokuma fell open like a trapdoor, throwing the bear into the abyss below.

The next time everyone saw Chikako, she was lowered onto that selfsame machine. She had chains attached to crucial joints on her body. Her neck, shoulders, wrists, knees... it's as if she were a marionette. Those chains forced her movements to set the game to a nightmare difficulty, starting the stage. Chikako had a few moments to brace herself as the screen counted down to the start of the game. The chains attached to her drooped down, having been lengthened so she regained limited freedom.

When the nightmare started, Chikako desperately danced to save herself, not missing a single step even as the chains lightly tugged at her. Vivid colors flashed across the monitors for the combos Chikako managed to rake in. Her score grew larger, the timer counted down. Chikako's sweat built up, her breathing was ragged. Everyone was powerless to help out, forced to watch for what felt like a nail-biting eternity. Then, she cleared it. A temporary wave of relief washed over both Chikako and her audience, the game displaying the "YOU WIN!" message with appropriate bells and whistles. After a results screen, another message popped up.

"NIGHTMARE CLEAR! HAVE A NICE DEATH."

All of the chains pulled at once, tearing and mangling Chikako's body in six different ways. Blood splashed on the cameras, tinting the displays red. The monitors flickered, resting on one last image: The former ultimate's body parts dangling from the ceiling.

---

Monokuma

Monokuma was the first to speak up after the execution. "Oh, how wonderful!" he said merrily. "The look of despair on her face when all that effort was for nothing... I get all antsy just thinking about it!" Accompanying Monokuma was the sound of the elevator doors opening. "The day's still young, campers! Enjoy it, for what it's worth! Gyahaha!"

And with that, in a puff of smoke, Monokuma vanished.

[Temporary]

While Shirou and Izo stared on, facing the death had on, for one feeling or another, Lilly found herself to Flare, and buried her bleary eyes into the girl's clothes. Watching death, especially that of a friend, was beyond her - beyond the capacities that lay within her. In her memories, death had never been close. The eerie proximity that many, even at her age, felt, coming for their family, their friends. Around corners and standing subtly out of view, until it passed by like a cloud, overcasting a life to an endless, sunless void. A city girl who had a fascination with computers, who was she to face down death?

"This never happens again," Shirou's voice was cracked, and the words he spoke filtered from a throat seized in the pain of tears. Lilly glanced out from beneath Flare's stature and clothes, keeping the gruesome sight of Chikako's desecrated body out of her periphery, in the direction of the hero - and through her own tears saw his, built around the edges of his bloodshot eyes. His gaze remained fixed on the screens, brow furrowed and jaw clenched in an expressive mix, of anger and sadness and fear, and the crushing failure of his inaction. "This never happens again - Chikako died because she didn't trust us to help her. She thought she could fix everything on her own, and every single one of us has to pay for it. If any of you, any of us, fears something like Chikako did, please, please, you have to trust me, us, to help you. Don't throw away yours and somebody else's lives out of, out of fear, or anger, because that's how Monokuma and the Mastermind of this game control us. Nobody else is going to die, this can't happen again. Is that understood?"

[Savo]

Aurel // Hiroki // Hibiki

---

Location:: Courtroom (All)
Aurels Interactions:: Snow, Ryuma (@addamas)
Hisakawas Interactions:: Shirou (@Vocab), Ayu (@Ammokkx), Hibiki
Matsuos Interactions:: Chikako, Lilly, Hiroki

---

Hibiki's Perspective

The bespectacled lad peered behind him as Ayu, who had remained quiet up until now, suddenly shouted out. As much as he wanted to comfort Chikako now, their time together was up. "Don't give him the satisfaction; come on Lilly, we need to go," those were Hibiki's final words towards the lass as he placed an arm on Lilly's shoulder and tugged at her, urging her that they needed to move as the bear hit brought down a mallet onto a large red button.

Click.

Hibiki waited for whatever last words the girl had before ushering her away as he watched that strange, pixelated animation of Monokuma dragging away what looked to be Chikako on the bottom of the buttons stand. Before he knew it his eyes ended up being drawn to one of the walls opening up, with a collar flying out and snapping around Chikako's neck. Hibiki's yelped as he witnessed it happen in front of him, flinching and falling flat onto his behind as the scene played out.

Seconds later, the girl he had spent so much time with had vanished down the corridor before the wall slammed shut. Hibiki had little time to react as he adjusted his glasses and scrambled up to his feet as multitudes of monitors lit up around the room, all displaying Monokuma dancing, failing, and plummeting into the abyss. Would be humorous if not for the context at this situation as Chikako was dropped onto the stage and now had to dance for her life.

Based on what he observed, despite what he knew about what Monokuma's rules stated, he held onto a glimmer of hope that, if Chikako succeeded, maybe she wouldn't have to perish. He gripped his hands rightly into a fist as he watched the event play out, seeing her succeed, he smiled for a moment.

However, that relief was fleeting as, like that glimmer of hope, was yanked away just as Chikako was, ripped and torn in six different directions. Hibiki's mouth dropped in shock, his heart sunk, eyes dilating as he covered his mouth upon witnessing that gruesome scene. Despite how much he could stand his ground, a part of him was extremely angry as tears welled up in his eyes as they slowly began to stream down his face.

It was a struggle not to just throw up as his stomach churned; Hibiki forced a gulp as he stumbled back, croaking one simple phrase.

"Chikako."

---

Aurel's Perspective

Death was not unfamiliar to Aurel. While seldom an 'accident' needed to occur to ensure the heist was successful, it was still something horrible that weighed on the thief's mind. But this? Aurels pupils dilated as he stumbled a couple of steps back, appearing particularly overwrought with anxiety as he snapped a trembling limb into his hair. This wasn't a punishment, this was a brutalization of a person. The pretense people might have about him looking aloof would probably vanish as quickly as his composure.

These emotions were nothing more than a melting pot that was being stirred as he thought to himself about this whole event. It was difficult to process, but yet, there was one thing he could determine for himself - "This bear... this fucking bear is a hypocrite." Aurel grit his teeth as he whipped his head around to glare angrily at the chattering Monokuma as he reveled in their pain.

Pointing a finger at the bear, Aurel wanted to just scream at it, but nothing game out. His throat was dry, his heart was ready to pound out of his chest. Yet, he couldn't tell that bastard off before he did his little jig, hopped off, and vanished. His arm fell weakly to the side, flopping a bit for a couple of seconds as he dug his other hand into his skull.

Then, he glanced over at Snow, who seemed to be just as shaken, if not more than him, or that's how it appeared to him. Those words that she tried pushing him away with pounded at the back of his skull, looking up to the blood splattered monitors before glancing over to the somewhat shaken Shirou and studied him briefly as he did his speech.

What followed was Aurel returning his own gaze back to Snow as soon as Shirou finished his speech. Aurel sniffled a bit before the hand on his head shot out and clasped onto her wrist. Squeezing it tightly, he forced a smile as he looked upon her, "I... I-I-I-I'm not g-going anywhere, Snow... and, and, neither is Ryuma. We... we won't leave you, or anyone else, I-I swear." Aurel's voice was shaking.

He didn't know what to truly do right now. He wanted to, but, god damnit, what was he supposed to do? Was he doing the right thing? Did this help? What does he need to do?

These thoughts of doubt crossed his mind before being cut down an interrupted by a cold, harsh statement from one of the other students, "Shut up Shirou."

---

Hiroki's Perspective

Hiroki was on his knees, trembling as he rose. Despite Ayu questioning if he was fine, Hiroki was anything but as he glanced to her briefly, murmuring "Yeah, I... I'm fine," despite his dour demeanor and obviously force smile. No, he wasn't angry at her, he couldn't be. The "Hero" on the other hand...

Well, he just glared daggers at the boy as he wiped some of the bile from the side of his cheek as he flicked it to the vomit on the side of him. Coughing, he retched for a bit as he covered his mouth with his fist, still focused on the "Hero" as he stamped a couple of feet forward, stabbing a finger in his direction.

"What do you fucking know? How, how can you just, just... what makes you think you can fix this all," Hiroki spat, shaking his head as he lurched forward, staring at the "Hero" as if he was some sort of zoo animal. Seriously, they just witnessed Rhythm Game Player bite it in the most horrible way possible, how could he be so quick to say things like that?!

"Sure, we, might cooperate because we don't want that happening to us," he huffed out as his breathing began to pick up the pace, inching ever so closer to the "Hero." "Or we could not, because lets be honest here, Shirou."

Hiroki bit his lip as he approached the "Hero," getting straight up in his face, his eyes meeting with equally bleary, bloodshot eyes as his breathing continued to pick up. How naive could he be? No one is going to die again? Please. If Monokuma did it once, he can certainly do it again.

"What makes you think we are all going to get along, all buddy buddy? Don't you even remember what happened in the Mess Hall or did you forget that already?" His stomach was churning again, though he couldn't tell if he was going to vomit or if this rage was making him sick.

"Moreso, read the room; you think som-"

"Hiroki, please, deep breaths." Hiroki twisted his neck to glare at the Tutor, who had seemingly composed himself as he wiped his clouded glasses with his shirt before putting them back on and readjusting them. "Getting angry isn't going to help right n-

"And what, you think a stupid 'heroic' speech is going to help? Right after what we witnessed?!"

---

Aurel's Perspective

Aurel was getting fidgety as he whipped his head around, analyzing the scene. He wanted to speak up, but couldn't as Hiroki rampaged on with his cynical remarks while Hibiki attempted to tranquilize the former, with little to no success.

The thief did open his mouth as he witnessed the scene, only to pull back and stare at the ground. What could he do, what could he do, what could he do? His breathing abated as he scrounged around for a person he could look to, anyone. The first person who glanced over to was Ryuma.

"Ryuma, please," he croaked out, pleading to the man as he struggled to speak, "please, do something."

[Ammokkx]

Momoe, Ayu, Taka

Chikako's brutal execution lead to an uproar in the courtroom. Most of them didn't get along before this point, but the reality of the situation had made the tensions between every student a lot worse. Momoe was surprisingly silent during all of it, simply staring up at the monitor with her one eye narrowed in disgust. The pockets of her coat bulged slightly as she kept her hands hidden in them.

Before Chikako's demise, Ayu had walked over next to Hiroki. After it, she'd asked a brief "Are you okay?" of him when the boy emptied out his gut all over the floor. While Ayu still didn't have much of any notable expression on her face, she also couldn't look anyone straight in the eye after what everyone witnessed. She didn't speak up when Hiroki was lashing out, either. The girl just trailed behind him like a lost puppy. At one point it looked like she wanted to reach a hand out to the boy in reassurance, but hesitated and withdrew. Before long, the both of them were standing right in front of Shirou. "...It's okay," she softly said to Hiroki. "You don't have to listen. Let's return to our rooms and rest."

On the other end of the room, Taka stood frozen and speechless through all of what had been transpiring. He'd looked from Hibiki to Shirou and then Hiroki, powerless to stop the petty squabbling. He turned his head to the right. Momoe was still motionless. "What about you, huh?" he asked her, "Don't you usually have some smartass thing to say here?" The girl turned around, lazily glanced Taka's way and then walked past him, back to the elevator. "Wha- hey, you can't just ignore me!" he shouted back, though Momoe hardly cared. Taka clenched both his fists and his teeth, boiling inside. Nobody else was paying attention to him, either. _{"Damnit...! Why can't I do anything?!"} he muttered to himself, fuming, as he also made his way to the elevator.

[addamas]

Snow | Flare | Ryuma

---

with the screen still displaying the dismembered pieces of the deceased, Flare sheepishly looked at the flickering pixels, seemingly unaware of her surroundings. Snow would say something to her, but with Lilly hiding behind Flare, she couldn't find the motivation to do it, all that came from her was a shallow breath. In fact, breathing at all was getting difficult as she felt her heart tighten in response to the grotesque murder.

Everyone was in conflict, arguing about things that don't matter anymore. With each pounding of her chest, the noise became louder and louder. it was too much to hear. One murder wasn’t enough for today, so there had to be a second to make sure that any mental stability or good thought would be utterly crushed; that’s how Snow viewed it.

“Liar…” Snow didn’t even have to look at Aurel to know his words lacked conviction. he was scared and desperate to latch onto anything. Even going so far as to directly ask Ryuma to bail him out. Peering towards Ryuma to wait for a response, she noticed the futility in it.

Ryuma stood in silence and his body was eerily stiff, only outplayed by the sheer white tint of his skin. If Snow didn’t know any better, she’d think he was a statue, until he responded to Aurel.

“What should I do?” He suddenly looked at Aurel with an expression as scared as it was haunting. “I’m gonna lose everyone... You’re all gonna die again and there’s nothing I can do. Nothing at all. I think I’m gonna go to uhh, my room.” He spoke as he started shuffling towards the elevator.

“Why are you so pushy Aurel?” Snow spoke up as she approached; a hint of aggression behind her voice. “You’re always asking and bothering other people, me most of all. That optimistic stuff gets on my ner-”

“Stop.” A stern voice echoed through the hall. As Flare fluffed up Lilly’s hair with a small smile, she gestured towards her to head towards the elevator. “Hibiki is a good guy, he’ll keep you company.” She said before returning her attention to Snow who looked very agitated at this point.

“Everyone is extremely on edge right now, you don’t want to do this here.” As Snow opened her mouth to speak, her head drooped down. All of the fire that sparked was put out in a flash leaving only an ashen-haired girl in anguish. Refusing to look back up, she stumbled towards the elevator in thought.

“Aurel, we shouldn’t stay here. whatever you want to say, do it outside, that goes for the rest of you too.” She spoke up. “And Shirou, momoe, when you have time, I want to discuss something with you. it’s important.”

[Savo]

Aurel // Hiroki // Hibiki

---

Location:: Courtroom (All)
Aurels Interactions:: Snow, Ryuma, Flare (@addamas)
Hisakawas Interactions:: Ayu (@Ammokkx), Shirou (@Vocab)
Matsuos Interactions:: Lilly, Flare

---

Aurel's Perspective

Aurel gulped and opened his mouth to try and say something, anything. Yet, he remained visibly silent. His throat was dry, his breathing, while normal, was a little hoarse as he reclined back, ruminating on what he could say to quell Snow right now. In truth, there was nothing he could say, nothing that could come to mind amidst the verbal clashing.

He bit his lip and gnawed on it; he felt so god damn useless right now.

It didn't help that Ryuma was still reeling from the events he had witnessed, appearing just as lost as Aurel. The thief visibly deflated upon witnessing this and Ryuma seemingly just giving up, his arms sinking as he murmured a raspy "Ryuma, that isn't... we won't..."

We won't what, disappear? Die? As much as he tried to hold on to his optimism, the reality was right in front of their eyes; Snow's accusations against him only made that reality more readily apparent, "H-huh? What are y-"

Aurel didn't even get in a word, edge-wise as she began laying into him. His visage darkened as he stared at the ground, not even trying to maintain eye contact with the girl as he felt his heart sink even further, his own breathing slowly abating as the words penetrated his mind.

His mind could only wander about and ponder on what he was doing wrong as he moved a hand up and began chewing at his fingers again, his hand trembling before stopping the moment Flare interjected. Aurel merely stopped an listened to her, being broken out of that downtrodden trance as he slightly lifted his head up.

Flare had managed to successfully pacify Snow, at least for the time being as the Hair-dresser gave up her relentless assault on him before staggering a bit as she made her way towards the elevator with the others. Aurel weakly glanced at Flare before letting out a relieved yet dejected sigh.

"I just wanted to... what am I supposed to do," he murmured the last line under his breath, too low for Flare to pick up on before nodding and pivoting around, left to ruminate on his thoughts. What was he supposed to do? What could he do?

---

Hiroki's Perspective

Hiroki wanted to continue letting into these two as he stood there, red-faced and fuming. What did they know anyways? Before he could continue his relentless assault against the duo, Ayu interjected in some attempt to reel him in. Jutting his head over to look at her, he opened his mouth slightly trying to think of something to stay, but instead they lay motionless as he chose to listen instead.

It wasn't okay to him, none of this was, but those few short words, just pacified him a little. Sure, Hiroki still had his grievances and he still looked like a snarling dog, but his fangs were no longer barred and the barking had stopped.

All that energy and fury was sapped out of him as a couple of tears welled up in his eyes, but before he could cry a bit, he snuffed the it out, wiping them away before they could even stream. "Yeah, lets go," he uttered to Ayu, ushering along as he noticed Hibiki giving her a sincere smile, wordlessly thanking her before he began trotting on over to Flare.

He wouldn't look back. He didn't have a reason to as he headed towards the elevator. There was a small stutter in his step at on point, but it didn't linger long as he continued to make his way towards the elevator with Ayu, "Thanks for that, by the way... and sorry I acted out like that, I just... need some time to just really process this all."

---

Hibiki's Perspective

They had managed to weather a part of the storm, but the worst was yet to come as Hibiki began to focus, grimacing a little before catching himself and pushing forth a smile as he approached Flare. Still, he would always glance back at times, seeing how Shirou and the others were doing. However, whenever he found himself eyeing the back of Hiroki's head, he was always drawn to Ayu next.

"How curious, so she's the anchor then," he mused to himself before looking down and addressing Lilly with a minute smile.

"We should get going then. If there's anything you would like to say, feel free to tell me," he spoke gently to the girl as he tilted his head to the side before gesturing to follow him. Whenever Lilly began to walk towards the elevator, Hibiki would remain behind for a few seconds as he went to place an arm on Flare's shoulder and whispered into her ear.

"I would recommend discussing things later due to how draining this day has been for all of us, as well as a couple of other things," the Tutor would murmur before lightly jerking the girl and pointing in the direction of Momoe. "She hasn't gotten any sleep and probably wants to rest... and Shirou..."

The bespectacled young man rotated the woman to point directly at Shirou next, "Shirou probably needs to collect his thoughts, especially after the harsh pushback from Hiroki, so maybe you should talk with them later." And with that said, he lifted his grip from the blonde woman before nodding his head, "I'll be going now as well, best you get some rest as well, Flare."

And with that said, he picked up the pace to catch up with Lilly (who I'm assuming just decided to move on), walking at her side and glancing down at the girl before continuing to offer her a warm smile.

---

Aurel's Perspective

Despite the distance everyone kept from one another, the elevator felt more suffocating than usual as Aurel stood on the wayside near one of the corners of the room. The group was outright debilitate from these chain of events from the looks of it as the horrific scene began to play again in the thief's mind.

He couldn't help but grit his teeth before looking up to see a dejected Snow standing amidst the crowd to herself. Aurel gulped. He shuffled over a little bit, reaching out a hand to her shoulder before stopping.

Slowly backing off, Aurel formed a gentle fist as he lightly rubbed his index finger and thumb together, grimacing as he glared at the ground. What should I do, what can I do were all questions running through his mind as he listlessly eyed the other inhabitants of the elevator. He blinked.

But how? The thief looked up again, yawning and not bothering to cover his mouth. He might not of had the answers, but one thing was for certain.

"I should still try."

[Ammokkx]

The elevator ride back up to the surface was silent and uncomfortable. The 14 survivors of the class trial, shaken by the events, could barely look one-another in the eye. Some avoided it out of spite, others stubbornness and yet more out of shame. Every single one of them had been powerless to stop the events that had been put in motion and the seeds of distrust sown among them bloomed ever further. While it seemed like the ride down never ended, the way back up felt an eternity longer.

When the students had finally reached the surface, the warm rays of the sun beamed down on them. It was a beautiful day. None among them seemed to appreciate the irony. All the ultimates quickly dispersed, with almost everyone going back to their cabins. Whether it was to get some rest, lock themselves up in grief or reflect on what happened didn't matter. Even if some among them wanted to stick together in these turbulent times, the group's morale was much too low. The day passed without further incident, but the damage was done.

---

Chapter 1: Once Again We Start the Game of Despair

FIN

Campers:
16
15
14

---

---

Chapter 2: The Masquerade of Future Lost

---

---

Ding Dong Bing Bong...

The monitors flicked to life. Morning had come, and with it, the bear's shrieking.

"Gooood morning campers! It's now 7 AM, which means nighttime is officially over!

Oh, but that's not all for today! Later today, I'll hold a surprise announcement... oh, I'm getting shivers just thinking about it!

It's not ready quite yet, but keep your ears peeled and your eyes open! I won't forgive any latecomers, puhuhu!"

*Zzzap...*

---

Momoe Mizuno

Momoe didn't bother to look at the monitor in her room. She'd been awake for a little while now, courtesy of having slept off her fatigue during the previous day. The smuggler was laying on her matress, arms crossed behind her back and her one eye blankly staring at the ceiling. Momoe's body might not feel like it wants to collapse at a moment's notice anymore, but her mind is far removed from doing any needless activity. Yesterday proved she lacked information; lots of it. Patrolling camp just wasn't enough anymore. Momoe had already gathered every possible clue she could gain from this tiny speck of an island. Tracking the other thirteen wouldn't be feasible, either. She looked down at her wrist, now lacking the motive. Everyone, including herself, got their freedom back. It made the gaggle of geese that much harder to track.

(...Let's see what Goldilocks had to say.)

Momoe pushed herself off the bed and wasted no time in throwing open her door. She didn't see anyone else moving about yet. Good sign as far as the smuggler was concerned. Momoe kicked the door behind her to slam it shut, then single-mindedly paced along the edges of the cabins until she found Flare's. Then, she waited. Momoe idly had her back to its wall, spinning something between her fingers in the deepest reaches of one of her pockets. Keep herself busy, stave off the boredom. When Flare's door flung open, Momoe lazily tilted her head to look at the other girl.

"Tell me what you wanted and make it quick."

---

Taya Tsuin

What happened yesterday was horrible. Taya still couldn't believe it, even long after the fact. Wile it was nice to have her freedom back, the price paid for it was steep. That price, of course, having been paid in blood. Why did friends have to treat each-other like this? Her earnest wish was to have everyone get along, but this... this was too horrible for words. Every single one of them was in the same situation, couldn't the two girls have understood that? No matter how well she did or didn't know them, the feeling of betrayal stung and cut deep. Would this happen again? Would she be the next one to put one of her classmates to the knife?

Those were haunting thoughts, and ones she didn't wish to be or come true.

Taya shook those thoughts off. She had to believe that everything would be over soon. Somehow... some way, everything was going to turn out alright in the end. She'd resolve to see it so. Taya left her cabin to head for the mess hall. She spotted Mizuno standing next to one of the cabins, but the girl's stern look scared Taya off from approaching her. Taya stuck to her original plan and made her way over the cafeteria. When she opened the door, she could see a brief hint of steam rising up at the far end of the room. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but that was far from Taya's mind as she looked to investigate. The source of it was... Hamazura boiling something? He seemed to have noticed Taya's entry, too, as the Judo master turned around to look at her.

"Ah- Taya! I didn't expect you so soon," he sheepishly laughed.

"Hamazura... are you making breakfast?" she asked in return.

"Oh," he briefly paused, looking back at his kettle of boiling water. "Well, in times of trials like these, it is important to raise one's spirits. One cannot lose sight of oneself. I was awake before the announcement and while I cannot cook, I thought some tea for everyone might help."

Those were comforting words to Taya. Hamazura was such a reliable person, even now. "I'll help you out, then! No buts!" she cheerily answered back, rummaging through the cabinets to find cups for everyone... even for those that might not show up to breakfast.

[Savo]

Aurel // Hiroki // Hibiki

---

Location:: Mess Hall (Aurel), Dock (Hiroki), Cabins (Hibiki)
Aurels Interactions:: Ginshi, Taya (@Ammokkx)
Hisakawas Interactions:: N/A
Matsuos Interactions:: Flare (@addamas), Momoe

---

Hibiki's Perspective

As much as Hibiki wanted to sleep like a baby, his dreams were plagued with that same gruesome scene with the aftermath set onto replay. Sure, he managed to handle it well in the courtroom, but when left to his lonesome, he couldn't stop seeing it all happen.

It lead him to waking up much earlier than anticipated, causing him to stare up at the roof of this cabin for god knows how long. The world was much more blurrier than usual, though the fact that he wasn't wearing glasses probably didn't help out with that too much as he decided to close his eyes and reflect on the events that had happened.

"What exactly did Flare want to talk about with those two anyways," that was something that remained on his mind as he just lied on his mattress, running through the scenarios, before opening his eyes as the monitor in the cabin flickered and fizzled to life. Hibiki didn't even bother staring at the monochromatic bear as he made his announcement.

Scooting off the bed, the young man stretched and stifled a yawn or a brief moment as he grabbed his glasses and began wiping them off with his shirt before getting dressed and ready for the day. As much as he didn't want to stick his nose where it didn't belong, he felt there was some necessity to it all due to some conflicting personalities.

Setting out, Hibiki wasted no time in seeking Flare out, only to notice that the Smuggler was waiting right by the blonde girls cabin door. He didn't bother making himself scarce as he rested himself against one of the cabins nearby, keeping a soft smile plastered on his face as he patiently waited for the opportunity to enter the conversation.

---

Hiroki's Perspective

Silence. The docks were eerily quiet this early in the morning as Hiroki sat near the waters edge, letting his feet rest in the cold depths. Sometimes he would swing his foot and let out a small splash of water, focusing intensely on the ripples that were made as a result. His head sunk and he groaned.

Despite his seemingly relaxed posture, there was a stringent worry that permanently enraptured him as he stared at the lake, glancing over at each and every other dock. "I wonder if there are other people like us across the lake," he pondered.

Suddenly he kicked up a huge wave of water, letting it all splash down in a torrent of rain, spreading myriads of ripples across the lake, each small wave coming into contact with one another before vanishing. Hiroki couldn't help but shake his head and recline before staring up into the pale blue sky. Maybe there were, maybe there weren't.

It didn't feel comforting to think that there were other people that this bear was quite possibly torturing as well. And if there were a collection of students like him, it made him think even further, if they had gone through that same class trial. The thought made him shiver for a brief moment as he glanced back at the cabins before sitting straight up, wondering if he should go to check on Ayu.

Then, his thoughts came back to how he acted at the end of it all, shouting at Shirou. The student bit his lip. She didn't need to deal with this right now, plus he did still hold some resentment towards the so called "Hero" for his actions. Who did he think he was?

Sitting back up, he just sat there by his lonesome, continuously thinking about the trials and tribulations they would all have to possibly endure as he drifted onto another lingering thought of someone he once knew. Hopefully they were doing better than the rest of this motley group.

And then, another kick.

---

Aurel's Perspective

"The cups are over there," a third voice interjected in-between the duo, possibly startling at least one of them as the thief suddenly appeared out of thin air, pointing directly at one of the unopened cabinets before returning to whatever task he was working on.

From the looks of it, he seemed to be have a carton of eggs resting in his arms as he brought it to his part of the counter, which seemed stacked with a couple of miscellaneous items ranging from frozen sausages to pancake mix. Gently placing them down, he grunted and crouched down, sifting through certain cabinets before retrieving a whisk, bowl, and other utensils before placing them on the side.

Despite the atmosphere of the situation, Aurel remained deadly silent as he went about preparing the meal, mixing eggs, milk, pancake mix, and other components in the bowl as he ponder on what might occur during the rest of their time trapped here. As he beat away and blended the materials together, his thoughts instantly went over to Snow and Ryuma as he paused for a brief moment, letting the whisk rest in the mix for a brief while.

The thief's shoulders drooped as he sighed, staring at the pancake batter as he began to ruminate on the duo's actions and words. Snow was lashing out at everything and rebuffing his statements, and Ryuma had just crumbled and caved in to the hopelessness of the situation. He was worried about them a lot as he began mindlessly stirring, blankly staring at the batter before perking up.

"Sorry if this breakfast is different than what you're used to," Aurel murmured to the two as he made sure the batter was well beaten with no thick lumps before pouring it into the measuring cup. Getting a light bit of butter, he sliced a thin portion of it and placed it into the pan and rolled it around.

Following that up, he began to pour some of the batter in and just let it cook. Aurel sighed, he missed his mom's pancakes. As his shoulders sunk, his mind drifted back to the other campers as he pondered on how they were all handling the situation. To him, it seemed like Taya and Ginshi had everything settled. What was going to happen going forward from here?