Private/Closed Cold Steel

[_obsequious]

Instinctively tensing up as Monokuma entered, the girl found herself moving slightly, protectively stepping in front of Jason as the cords shot from the floor; only to slowly back off as they merely fixed the table.
She shot Ralph a deadly look as he called her a coward, meeting his steely glare with one of her own.
“No. Words are the weapons of those who think rationally. You’re just a sadist who thinks violence is the answer to everything. And if you have to have a gang leader tell you that, then you’re doing really fucking badly.” She replied simply, her voice cold.

She watched on as the situation unraveled itself, admittedly a little surprised to see Ralph drive an arrow into Loverboy’s shoulder, her brow creasing in worry. This was.. concerning, to say the least.
Part of her wanted to convince Jason to cool Ralph down, considering his probable experience with people of his attitude (although not nearly as extreme, she imagined), but she wasn’t willing to take the risk of setting her only ally up with a power-hungry control freak with a weapon.

She watched as Paeon, now with a fresh wound to the hip, stood on wobbling feet, his grip on the arrow implanted in his leg.
“Paeon, don’t take the arrow out, it’s stopping the-“
She watched as he feebly crumpled to the ground, wincing as he fell.
“..bleeding.”

She found herself crossing over to the fallen boy, “accidentally” shouldering Ralph as she passed, cutting him off as he went off about everything having a consequence and reaction.
“Alright Newton, you can shut up now,” she growled, glancing at Paeon and kneeling down beside him. She looked up at Jane, who was luckily present and addressing the problem. She studied the girl for a moment before sheepishly returning her gaze to the ground. “Look, I have no idea what I’m doing, especially not compared to you.” She began briefly, running a hand through her hair. It seemed she was about to try and put pressure on his shoulder to help, but she figured it was best if she didn’t get in the way; so instead she scooted back a little.

“But- I’m here if you need anything. Not gonna admit it ever again but I wouldn’t really like watching this scrappy dork die.”

It seemed that, in the face of mortality, Ophelia was less spiteful; more thoughtful and almost even polite- as it seemed she wasn’t too fond of the idea of death, not that her selfishness couldn’t break through that at times, though.

She groaned audibly as Ralph brought up being an orphan, rolling her eyes and looking back at him. “Oh my God, we get it, you have a traumatic backstory, now can you please shut up? You’ve already done enough physical damage to the kid but listening to you talk is actually killing my brain cells.”

Sure, it wasn’t nearly as philosophical as Hoshi’s warning comment, but it was the first thing that came to her kind.

 

[Crimson Sun]

Jane mentally rolled her eyes, but her physical body quickly made it's way towards the passed out patient. "Of course everyone ignores me," Jane mutters to herself. "Be a nurse, they said. It'll be easy, they said." Jane quickly put away her anesthetics, seeing as he wouldn't need them anymore as the latter is passed out already from too much blood loss. he shouldn't be able to feel anything from the stitching.

She was grateful that someone came to help, the lovely Ophelia,w ho clearly sided with Paeon. Jane, however, wasn't sided with anyone in particular. She is remaining neutral, doing what's best for the whole group, through what she knows best: health. "Thank you," Jane said, directed towards Ophelia. "If you can, apply pressure to the wound, that would be great. Just slow down the blood loss before it can get any worse. Jane carefully pulled the thread through the needle and tied a know at the end. "If anyone can give me Type O blood, that owuld be great!" Jane called out to no one in general. Paeon was in definite need of extra blood.

Nathan, on the other hand, watched everything play out on it's own. He didn't want any involvement with these people, if it could end him up like Paeon, or perhaps even worse. It goes to show you can't trust anyone in the room. People thought the archer wouldn't harm anyone, but there Paeon is, with an arrow recently shot at his shoulder. Nathan gave a shudder, feeling whatever pain Paeon could be feeling, even if he didn't show it. Nathaniel turned away, back to his room, not wanting to see the scene unfold, keeping to himself.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Upon being groaned at by the gang leader, Ralph pointed to himself and cocked an eyebrow. It seemed he personally had no idea that bringing up he was an orphan was automatically asking for pity. He was out of tune with emotions and social graces, so it was never his strong suit to pick up these social ques.

“Me? I am just stating facts. Traumatic? I actually had a very good childhood, all things considered. I think you are assuming.”

He looked to Jane, who was addressing the wounds he inflicted on Paeon. She was defiantly skilled as she went right to work on her patient. He looked over her shoulder, watching the procedure.

“Is that neccisary? They aren’t fatal wounds. Will he not recover naturally?”

 

[Riverrunner]

Ryuu frantically nodded to Jane, eagerly scampering off to the clinic, far away from the situation. His heartbeat thundered in his ears as he pushed open the clinic door, eyes immediately darting to the closet.

He perused the clinic closet's contents before finally reaching the cabinet containing several bags of blood. She had said type O, correct? Or… maybe it had been some other letter. He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember much of anything that had happened in the past five minutes. Punches had been thrown. Arrows had been shot. Insults had been delivered. Tables had been flipped. Monokuma had arrived. Everything seemed to get progressively worse by the moment.

Thankfully, Jane's voice carried down the hall, snapping Ryuu out of his trance. He grabbed one of the O bags, silently sprinting back and offering the blood-filled bag out to Jane with nary a word.

————
"Well that was anticlimactic! Just when I thought I'd be able to stop turnin' up the heat! Then again, I guess a murder with so many witnesses would take the enjoyment outta the trial. Everyone here'd know that nicknames over here got his ass fatally beat by Katniss. Where would the fun be in that?" Monokuma turned back to Jason, anger still dripping in his tone despite his nonchalant address of the fight that had just broken out before him. "Well? What'd you fling my furnishings for? I'm waiting!"

————
Honoka arrived back at the common room with an empty laundry basket in her hands. "Yeah, apparently no one has bothered to-" she stopped for a second, surveying the newfangled scene around her. Crimson droplets on the tile, the broken splinters of a bow and several bloodied arrows, Paeon being treated by the medic, gang leader, and Ryuu, Monokuma standing frustrated in the middle of the room, scowling at the white-haired therapist.

"…How the hell did I manage to miss all of this?"

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason had been silent for a bit, completely ignoring the Archer’s actions, and very surprised by the Gang Leader’s attempt at stepping in front of him when he seemed at threat. Maybe she wasn’t as bad as he thought...
The Therapist remained calm through all that had happened, addressing the angered Mono-bear coolly and calmly.
“... Interview. One question. Feel free to say no comment, but then again... where’s the fun in that?”
A grin formed on Jason’s face as he appealed to their ‘Headmasters’ basic instincts.
He picked up the piece of paper he had left on the couch, one single question written on it, and held it up for Monokuma to see.

 

[Fire Mana]

"Those morons..."

Parker stumbled out of his bed after hearing commotion around the common room. He had been trying to take a quick nap, but seeing as that clearly wasn't possible with the fools he was stuck with...

"Alright, what do we have he- Woahoho!"

Parker face changed from annoyance to intrigue as he emerged to find that Ralph and Paeon had clearly gotten into a little argument, and he could only assume Ralph took it too far as he always did. His assumption appeared to be correct, or at least it did judging by the bloody arrow on the floor.

"I leave for 15 minutes and you guys start fighting? Without me? Sheesh, and I thought I was bad..."

 

[Crimson Sun]

“Try losing as much blood as he did and let it heal naturally,” Jane said towards Ralph while still prepping for sewing the tissues back together. “If you’re still alive then, come talk to me.” Jane said sarcastically. Couple soldiers from her militia we’re too stubborn to get treatment by the field medics. But look where they are now, probably still in the hospital in a comatose state or perhaps even worse. She wasn’t going to allow Paeon to go to the same destination as all those soldiers did too. Especially, they are stuck in this killing game, there no other medical treatment they can go to.

Thankfully, Ryuu came in with the bag with blood type O. Using a needle, she attached it to the blood bag and injected it to the vein in Paeon’s right arm. “If you can Ophelia, hold this up vertically in the air.” Jane instructed the gang member. Generally they would have a stand to hold the bag and fluids up, but they’ll have to make do with whatever they can. Jane held up the thread and needle, ready for sewing. It shouldn’t be a hard process, it’s not a surgery he’s going through.

 

[_obsequious]

Ophelia did as she was told, gently pushing against the wound in his shoulder. Admittedly she’d expected the girl to snap at her to back off, that she wasn’t qualified to help, but Jane seemed incredibly thankful for Ophelia’s mediocre assistance.
The girl looked up to hear Monokuma yelling at Jason, insisting he tell him what the hell he wanted. Still with her hands placed firmly at Paeon’s bloody shoulder, she twisted around to shout over her shoulder.
“Jason I swear to God if you get yourself killed I will not forgive you,” she called, turning around and blinking at Jane as she was given new instructions.
Although she was glad to help, it was honestly embarrassing to be listening for orders like some eager apprentice. She was a leader, of a gang at that. She wasn’t supposed to take orders, but.. there was no point in letting this dumbass die, especially not to a prick like Ralph.
She held the bag up as Jane suggested, holding it still and vertical.

It seemed at this point Parker entered, honestly the first time Ophelia had seen him since she’d driven her elbow into his stomach. A little smirk tugged at her lip.
“Oh, trust me, next time I’ll personally remember to invite you.”

 

[Retro Master]

For a second there, Joseph actually thought Ralph was about to kill Paeon. Sure the actor would’ve liked to step up in the editor’s defense, but he didn’t want to make enemies with ‘Robin Hood’. It was cowardice, but he was not planning to be the first victim, even if this all was one big act. Paeon would be fine anyways, even if he didn’t care about living.

The main thing Joseph took away from this was that Ralph would most likely be the first person to attempt murder. The man didn’t even care if he did it in broad daylight. The man even woke ‘Mr. Whiskey’ up from his surprisingly short nap. Joseph didn’t even know why he went to take a nap in the first place. However, if anyone could stand up against ‘Robin Hood’, it would probably be Parker and maybe the gang leader. Monokuma also showed up, angered but probably a little bit pleased by the violence it was seeing. Ralph had nearly given the bear exactly what it wanted! Another interesting factor that Joseph had only now noticed was Jason attempting to speak with Monokuna. ‘What the hell is he doing?!’

His thoughts were interrupted when Honoka returned with a laundry basket, asking what just happened. “Oh, you didn’t miss much. Paeon actually stood up too ‘Robin Hood’ and pissed him off. ‘Robin Hood’ retaliated and you can see what he did. Monokuma is also here but I think ‘Mumbles’ is trying to question it about something.” Joseph responded, giving an extremely brief description on what had transpired. Looking at the basket once more, a realization began creeping into Joseph’s head. When was the last time any of them actually washed their clothes?! As an actor, who was used to wearing clean outfits on set, the thought of having the same clothes on for what seemed like an eternity disgusted him. Whoever was supplying their items were not doing a good job. Joseph made a mental note to get his clothes washed after this scene was over.

Looking back at the action, Joseph sighed before taking another sip of coffee, casually awaiting another round of free, high quality entertainment.

 

[RhythmThief]

"Hmph. Looks like I was scared over nothing....this time." Arata grumbled.
The rec room seemed to be exactly that - a room solely for recreational purposes. The objects were harmless, unless they were edited or changed in a way to make them suitable to cause harm. But, the same could be said for practically everything in the stronghold so far, so it seemed fine. Arata sighed in relief, stepping back from the cabinet. His moment of peace was soon interrupted by the sound of shouts coming from the common room. When he stepped out of the Rec Room, he saw 'Paeon' trudging out of the common room, drops of blood trailing behind him. If what Arata was hearing was correct, he was about to be followed by two, maybe three others.

Has it started already? Are they attacking in groups now? Then...they're about to finish the job!

Wasting no time, Arata dashed back into the Rec Room, accidentally slamming the door. He tried his best to not grab any attention, but it looked like that wasn't going very well for him, evidenced by the loud noise the closing of the door made. He grabbed one of the fold-up chairs from the cabinet, folded it up, and lay it in front of the door, preventing it from being opened from the outside. It looked quite flimsy, and wouldn't last for very long.
"Never mind 2 days. More like 2 hours..." He mumbled, now turning his attention toward the lonely-looking laptop on a desk in the corner of the room. He walked toward it, noticing a thin blanket of dust over it. Once he was finally in front of it, he took a deep breath, and attempted to open the lid and access it, desperate for something hopeful in his now otherwise despair-filled existence.

 

[Riverrunner]

Monokuma squinted at the piece of paper in the therapist's hand, reading off each word aloud. "Let's see here: Where is the Stronghold we are currently inside situated."

The bear slowly looked back up at Jason, face a mixture of anger and annoyance—at least it appeared that way, it was a bit difficult to tell considering Monokuma's limited range of facial expressions. With one swift motion, he tore the piece of paper out of the therapist's hands, shredding it to pieces with glinting titanium claws. "The location of the Stronghold? That's what you bothered me for! C'mon, I can't just give everything away! What's it matter where the place is, you're stuck in here for the rest of your collective lives as far as I'm concerned!"

He took a second to breathe (could robot bears breathe?), looking back at the table that had been effortlessly turned on its side moments before. "Alright, fine. I'll give you the info if you stop deliberately wrecking my furniture. But don't expect to have everything plopped right down into your lap! I'm not giving you guys coordinates or anything, otherwise one 'a you ruffians'll probably find some far-fetched way to break for glory!" Monokuma cleared his throat, crossing his hands behind his back. "Y'know how I mentioned that this place was pretty secluded? Well, I had to find some place to get that plan to work out, so I plopped this cozy joint smack-dab in the middle of a desert! No one around for thousands of miles! You're all alone, kiddos; so don't be relyin' on the Japanese law enforcement to bust you out!"

Monokuma wadded up the shredded remains into a ball, tossing it nonchalantly onto the now-righted tabletop. "There, are you happy now? I'm not makin' any rules against destroying this stuff—murders can get messy, after all—but can you hooligans have a sense of decency? Contact me through the Monopad next time like a normal person, don't just up and attack my furnishings like a bunch of rabid tigers, sheesh!"

————
Arata's exploration of the computer yielded… something. Hope? Perhaps not.

The laptop itself was ancient. A thick layer of dust coated its keys, mouse and the top and back of its screen, a clear indication of how little use it had gotten over the past few days.

Turning on the device didn't appear to yield many other results. It appeared that it's basic functions were all that remained, having been completely stripped of any sort of internet access, GPS and most software. Hell, a quick check through the devices files detailed that even any means of installing anything was completely gone; whoever disabled this thing had certainly been thorough.
What remained of the device's former glory was mostly confined to a few icons situated on the black and white desktop. One of such opened an archive of all the titles located in the library (which was, unfortunately, just as disorganised as the library itself). Most of the others appeared to be PC versions of a few classic video games.

Unfortunately, that appeared to be the only form of entertainment the laptop had to offer. At least there was the opportunity to play Pokémon Red, if Arata were to take the opportunity to avoid whatever was going on outside.

————
"So a fight finally broke out with Ralph as one of the contenders. I'm not surprised, quite frankly. That was bound to happen eventually. Someone really needs to kick that guy down a peg," Honoka frowned, shifting her weight to her other foot. "That doesn't explain Monokuma's appearance, however. I can't really tell what he's saying from over here, but he sure seems pissed."

She shook her head, giving herself a gentle reminder of what she had come out into the common room to do. "Anyway, do you need anything washed? It's been a hectic couple of days, yes, but apparently no one's even bothered to crack open the door to that place. I hate to say it, but at this rate Monokuma might have been onto something when he referred to us as animals."

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason remained blank throughout Monokuma’s entire spiel, simply nodding once he was done.
“Very well. That was all I needed to ask. I won’t do anything like that again. ... Unless it’s necessary of course.”
He walked over to the table that, now returned to it’s rightful place, had the crumpled up ball of ruined paper on it. He took it into his hands and simply left the common room, completely ignoring everything else that had happened, blankly heading into his own room and locking the door.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Hmph fair enough.”

He didn’t want to push or question Jane, as she was In Her element and it would be foolish to try to impose himself in her ultimate talent. Hiding his crossbow, he picked up his original bow, examining the damage. Paeon has snapped the thing clean in Two, something he hadn’t expected. But at least now he’d learn his lesson. Holstering his broken bow, he did not wish to ease any more time then he already did.

He headed straight for the kitchen, arrow in hand. Upon entry, he made a beeline straight for the stove. He moved it out of the wall, revealing the backside of the machine, a gas tank spotted. Jackpot. Using an arrow, he had begun to unscrew the tank from it’s position on the stove. With a loud clank, it had detached, the sloshing of gasoline heard audibly. That was one component down...now where were the others?


......


Percy had been walking nervously down the hall, fingers tapping on his drawing pad. No one had seemed to care for him, and quite a few characters seemed deadly. Combine that with the killing game and a motive painted a very big target on his back. Isolated from the group, he put himself in a corner around the dorms, hunkering in and just drawing to himself.

 

[Riverrunner]

Warning: This post contains quite a bit of violence. If you're uncomfortable with such, I'd recommend you skip to the bottom.
————
The next couple of days had been absolutely horrendous.

Monokuma had, rather unfortunately, stayed true to his word. The entire Stronghold was filled with hot air in what seemed like no time at all. The thermostat climbed higher and higher, ever closer to certain death.

The cold drinks had gone fast, as had all of Monokuma's chipper speeches that used to come ever so frequently. In fact, no one had seen the bear in days. If the cameras were any indication, he was certainly watching.
Waiting.

The heat had become almost unbearable for the group, so most everyone had decided to hunker down in one of the few remaining cool rooms; the dorms. Granted, they weren't too much better—a tiny electric fan couldn't do too much in the sweltering heat—but it was certainly better than nothing.

Today, however today was… different.

Instead of waking up to buckets of sweat and the ominous red glow of the temperature displaying screens, the atmosphere seemed… chillier. Quite literally.

A mechanical hum sounded throughout the facility, a reinvigorating cold breeze blowing throughout its halls. The number on the monitors now displayed a far more comfortable temperature:
THERMOSTAT RESET: 60°F

Of course, not all was right with the world. Monokuma had withdrawn his threat, which could only mean one thing…

"Wow… he actually gave up!"

Ryuu jumped out of bed after noticing the difference, smiling for the first time in what felt like years. He got ready in what was practically record speed, only slowing to double-check his closet for a different white shirt (there was one, thankfully). He dashed out into the steel-plated hallway, hair dripping water across the metal panelling. "Guys! I… well, the thermostat's gone down!" He speed from door to door, knocking vigorously on them all indiscriminately without waiting for an answer.

Granted, there were a couple of things he'd wanted to check on—his shoes, namely. The orange canvas had become fairly stained after the whole… bomb incident, so he'd resolved to leave them in the laundry room to remember to clean them later.

Ryuu pushed open the blue door, checking his Monopad to make sure he was in the right place. The detergent left on the washer appeared to be fairly empty, so it couldn't hurt to grab another. Carelessly, he jostled the handle on the laundry room closet, slamming the door wide open to…

"H-holy fuck!"

The laundry room closet was a mess, to put it lightly.

It seemed as if a tornado had hit the tiny room. The lowermost wire shelves had been knocked off their bolts, leaving containers of bleach and detergent strewn out across on the floor. Patches of the striped wallpaper had been completely shredded, individual strips hanging haphazardly off the wall.

Such damage dulled in comparison to the scene that lay out on the tiles below.

The floor was swathed in shades of carmine, liquid scarlet dancing in droplets and smears across the tile. At the centre of the carnage was… that was definitely a person, lying motionless in a pool of blood, ashen fingers grasping at the dismantled shelving in a slack grip.

Unwillingly, Ryuu glanced at the victim's face. He quickly turned away after catching sight of the knife embedded in the corpse's neck, but he'd seen just enough to know who it was.

Out of the corner of his eye, he'd glimpsed a shock of tightly braided, cherry red hair.

His startled yell carried its way through the hallways, hands clapping over his mouth shortly after the words had sprung to life.

Taking several shuddering breaths, he huddled down into the laundry room's far corner. What the hell had he just witnessed? He didn't want to know. He didn't want to look. He didn't want to believe it was there. No, it had to be a simple trick of the mind. That and the rest of this place. None of it could be real. None of it.

Ryuu hugged his knees tightly against his chest, desperately wishing he could go back to sleep—or wake up, better yet.

————
In the common room, the thirteenth name on the roster flickered. The vibrant red text dulled to a somber shade of grey, a line of pixels striking through the letters as an indication of the student's fate.

With a tiny ding, a pop-up appeared on the screens of the students' Monopads:

Honoka Kurosawa is dead.

Added: Monokuma File 1

INVESTIGATION: START

 

[Fire Mana]

Parker had actually managed to fall asleep for a couple hours, despite the fact that temperature had continued to rise. Normally heat wasn't a problem for him, but even he had begun to get uncomfortable and even took off his jacket - something he rarely did. His sleep was interrupted though, interrupted by a knocking on his door. He heard a voice, but couldn't quite recognize who it was.

"The hell is that..."

The gambler sat up groggily, grabbing his glasses when suddenly a ding rang out from his monopad.

"Honoka Kurosawa is dead."

Parker rolled out of bed, almost immediately noticing that the temperature had indeed cooled down. He quickly grabbed his jacket, throwing it back on while he rushed out of his room.

"Hey! You assholes seeing this!"

The common room was completely empty and unchanged, bar for the fact that Honoka's name had been crossed out with a gray line.

 

[RhythmThief]

After hearing a succession of quick nods on his door, Arata groggily opened his tired, sunken eyes, and sat up.
Who was that? He thought, noticing that Monokuma's morning announcement was missing.
"Just a second.." He spoke, in such an exhausted and sleepy fashion that whoever was at the door probably heard nothing at all. He rose up from his bed and trudged over to his bathroom. After having taken a shower and brushed his teeth, he stood before his wardrobe, and pondered on what to wear.
This one looks quite nice...but I'd probably be much too hot in that, besides- He thought, cutting himself off, now realizing that the stronghold was no longer blisteringly hot. A huge grin found it's way onto his face, and Arata wanted to jump for complete joy.

It was then that the realization finally sunk in. There was only one condition in which he would have dropped the temperature, and Arata knew. Over and over and over he denied it and tried to banish the thought, but he knew that there wasn't a shred of mercy hidden within that monochromatic menace. Now in a haste, he threw on a white long-sleeved sweater, with black joggers and ordinary white sneakers before bursting out of the dorm room and pacing through the hallway.

"No. No. No. No. That can't be the reason why!! I refuse to accept it!!" He cried to himself. In the distance, he heard a scream coming from the direction of the laundry room. Very soon, his frantic walk broke into an all-out sprint as he raced toward the laundry room.

When he arrived, he saw a familiar black-haired boy curled up into a ball in the corner. He looked around to see the creaking closet door. He slowly walked up to it, and opened it.

...

It took Arata a while to fully understand what his eyes were currently telling him. For almost 10 seconds, he stood there, eyes widened and in horror, before taking small steps back, and promptly stumbling onto the ground, his head sunken in shame.


I...I was too late.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralph had seemingly tediously worked on and off throughout the night, in the kitchen he wiped his brow, the heat was getting to him. He was putting the finishing touches on his bomb, which ryu, him, and Jane had painstakingly put together outside of camera range underneath the kitchen’s covered table. He needed to finish the device, before everyone boiled alive in their own blood.

After a few more minutes, the temperature began to cool down. This intrigued the archer, but not enough to check out. That is, until the announcement was clicked on overhead


Honoka Kurosawa is dead.

Added: Monokuma File 1

INVESTIGATION: START



He frowned. Not of Honoka’s death, he could care less of her. He frowned because that meant someone amongst them was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A traitor. Something he depised the most. He got up, stashing his bomb and made it toward the death site...


....


Percy, having heard the announcement, inched toward the sight. He dragged his heels, almost as if he didn’t want to go. He took a gulp, rounding the corner with a shaking hand. He made it to the common room, his eyes darting left and right for the body.

“W-where is she...?”

 

[Fire Mana]

Parked turned as Percy entered the common room behind him. He seemed overly anxious, but maybe that was just because Parker was used to death.

"Eh? The body ain't in here, clearly. I did hear a scream somewhere around the laundry room though."

Parker shoved his hands into his pockets nonchalantly and began to make his way to the site of death.

"You can follow me there if you want, but judging by the way you're acting now... you might not like what you see."

 

[_obsequious]

Always one to be a deep sleeper, Ophelia hadn't even budged at the vibration of the alert appearing on her Monopad, and she only groaned quietly and rolled over at the sound of excited knocking on her door. The only thing that managed to wake her, actually, was the (rather girlish) scream coming from the.. well, coming from somewhere. She was too tired to try and pinpoint the sound.

“What the- fuckkk..” she grumbled, kicking off her blanket (even despite the sweltering heat, Ophi proved to be incapable of sleeping without a blanket) and promptly glaring towards her door, trying to determine whether the sound had been real or just from a dream, as her dreams had been getting progressively worse lately.

She’d just decided it was nothing when the continuous heavy thuds of doorsteps sounded outside her room; everyone seemed to be running in one direction.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t her dream.

Groggily, she slapped around the little table by her bed, blindly reaching for her Monopad. It occurred to her that she could hear the faint whirring of an air conditioner, and considering Monokuma’s recent silence, it wasn’t hard to tell the message was important.

Struggling to read the displayed words in the midst of her awakening, her eyes briefly widened as she analyzed the information- that is, until the realization hit her like a bus and she sprang out of bed.

Ophi didn’t bother changing out of the clothes she slept in, which was unfortunate- the minimal clothing she did wear was rather revealing; stricken by the heat and too stubborn to wear actual sweatpants to bed, instead she was in a light, breezy tank top and a pair of matching shorts, both a light lavender. She did, luckily, remember to snatch her jacket on the way out, roughly pulling on the black leather over her bare arms, her unbrushed ginger hair a mess at her shoulders. Bare feet barely making a sound, she ran into the common room, and it wasn’t hard to tell where the murder has taken place. Everyone was crowded around the laundry room, with the exception of a kid in a corner and Whiskey.
She quickly followed, peering in to take a look at the scene. She scrunched up her nose in distaste and did nothing more; she didn’t care for the smell of blood too much.

“Ohoho. Yikes.” She muttered simply, grinning in surprise at the situation, tightening her jacket around herself. “That’s unfortunate.”

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Percy seemed offended, seemingly like he was going to say something back against it. But he stopped himself, checking over his previous actions thus far. Parker was right. He was weak willed. He closed his fist, looking up to Parker.

“W-while that might be the case. I...want to honor her memory by coming to the scene. I...can at least do that much.”

Gulping down his pride, he looked over to Parker, who offered his invitation.

“Thank you....”

 

[Fire Mana]

"Sure. Just don't throw up, based on experience that's a lot of people's reaction to their first murder."

Parker pushed his way into the laundry room, ignoring the others so that he could get a clear look at the body. He had to admit, the corpse was worse than what he had been used to. He had become accustomed to gunshots and smaller stab wounds, but a kitchen knife to the neck was certainly something.

He knelt down to take a closer look at the body. The pool of blood around her had ready started to coagulate, which meant it has probably been a good number of hours already. He sighed and returned to the entrance of the laundry room to find Ophelia in a much more revealing outfit than he would have expected from her.

"Hey shorty, come here often?"

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason Vellance slammed open the door to his room, the one marked "5" on the Monopads with a loud thud, leaning on the door as he made his way out of his room. His jacket now gone, only wearing his purple sleeveless t-shirt, using his left hand to wipe small beads of sweat from his brow as he let out a deep breath. To say the Ultimate Therapist was more of a person for cold weather would be the understatement of the century. Even his hair was messed up, as he made his way to the common room, the usually calm, collected and organized boy a complete mess, carrying a rolled up ball of paper in his hands. "F-finally..." It had scarcely occurred to him yet what their freedom from the heat meant, but as he saw the crowd it quickly settled in. His face took on a more serious, grave expression, even more than usual, as he approached the Laundry room, preparing to take a peek inside. Before he could, his nose twitched as he took in a smell... one he had already had enough to for a lifetime.

F L A S H B A C K
Jason approached the metallic gates, stopping at the stone tower built into the middle of it, looking to the tired looking security guard behind the glass. He stopped before it, the guard merely continuing doing a crossword on his desk, Jason making a coughing sound to attract his attention. The man's eyes lazily wandered to him, a glance that said 'The fuck you want?'. The Therapist spoke up, clearing his voice. "Uhh, this is the Phineas Penn Institute?" He knew that for sure, the imposing structure ahead spoke for itself, yet he said it anyway. The guard didn't respond, so he stuttered a little, simply continuing. "I'm here to work with the... Special cases." The guard stared at him, eyes widening, as if if he was drinking a coffee right now he would have spat it out. He spoke in a gruff voice. "You sure kid? That sh- stuffs intense. You might be a little too young to be dealing with that crap." Jason stared into his eyes, a cold gaze. "I'm aware. I'm ready." The guard looked out from the back window, gazing upon the institute. "So... why'd you choose here of all places?" Jason looked down, clenching his fist as he stared at it. "... Personal reasons."
F L A S H B A C K E N D

Jason absorbed the contents of the washroom in one quick glance, stepping back and taking one gulp... somehow more calm than he was when he had left his room. "Okay..." He spoke to the thin air, contemplating. The victim was the taxidermist, which was sad. She was serious enough to have been on the more useful side of the group- he stopped his train of thought there, mentally cursing himself for going THERE first of all places, and not being more considerate. A person was dead, no backsies.

 

[Crimson Sun]

Jane woke up, earlier than usual today. She felt a bit cooler today, more so than normal, but she didn't care for it as her mind was still groggy and not functioning well. She was just sitting in bed, rereading over the handout Monokuma gave out to the players of the killing game. She couldn't went out to the common room to grab a book, but the nurse didn't feel like doing so. She was stuck up in her own little hole until she heard the shuffling of feet. Someone's up. Jane thought to herself as she stayed holed up in her room. She didn't come out of her room until a pitched screech was heard. The Monopad in her hand vibrated and let out a ding. Opening the notification, Jane reads that Honoka's name was crossed out and a 'is dead' followed after the slash.

The nurses heart stopped before quickly coming out of her room, to where the source of the noise came from. A crowd was clearly formed around the laundry room door. Jane peered through the door and it was quite the scene. There laid the victim, Honoka, with a kitchen knife sticking out of her neck. Crimson painted the floor and some sprayed among the walls. Everything gin there was thrown about, meaning there was some sort of resistance and fight going on in there. Everyone thought no one was going to murder, but they guessed wrong. They had a back stabber among the students. Or in this case, a neck stabber. Sorry too soon?

Nathan awoke to the manly scream in the morning. Being the coward he is, he jumped from the screech. A scuffling of feet and his Monopad brought his attention. Quickly scanning the Monopad, Nathaniel dropped on his bed and rushed out of his room, like the majority did. Arriving at the laundry room, all Nathan could see was red. His throat tightened and he began sweating bullets. Ironic, because he didn't even break a sweat during the heat, but he began to sweat when the temperature was normal. His clammy hands covered his mouth as he let out a loud gasp. His eyes scanned over the dead body, not being able to take his eyes off of Honoka's corpse.

"I-is... she dead," Nathan asked no one in general. But he subconsciously poked the nurse beside him, making Jane acknowledge his presence. Jane simply rolled her eyes at him. "It doesn't take a nurse to find out that having a knife through your neck can kill you." Jane said calmly. She's been through dead bodies before, but each time, it made her heart ache for the victim that fell.

 

[Retro Master]

The barrage of knocks on Joseph’s door had barely managed too wake him up. The actor has surprisingly slept pretty well last night considering the circumstances and was looking to enjoy it for as long as he could. Unfortunately, whoever knocked on the door had other plans for him. Half asleep, Joseph lifted the blanket off of him and sat up on the side of the bed, further exposing himself to the cool air. ‘What the-‘ Before he could even continue his thoughts, a notification appeared on the Monopad, revealing the reason. “No wonder it’s so cold. Damn.”

After spending a few minutes preparing for the day, Joseph slowly made his way out the room, clearly a bit tired after being woken up so abruptly. Today he wore a basic sapphire T-shirt along with gray cargo pants. Usually he would wear some shorts but it was too cold for that. By the time Joseph had gotten to the laundry room, most of the others were already there. Some people looked out of it while others weren’t as dazed. “Clearly this is all an act...” Joseph mumbled before taking in the nauseating smell. “What is that?” The actor felt sick as he covered his nose and backed up. Whoever was setting this up was trying to make it as realistic as possible apparently.

‘It’s all an act Joseph. It’s all an act.’ The actor kept telling himself that as he walked back in the room. He saw Arata had fallen in shock near the closet, which lured him forwards. The laundry room was messy but not as much as what he saw in the closet. For a moment he stood still behind the two and just looked at Honoka’s bloodied body, unsure of what to think. It had to be fake. Perhaps his sunglasses were messing with his vision. Joseph slowly reached for his sunglasses before gently lifting them off. He rubbed his eyes three times to make sure he was seeing clearly. Still, the bloody image remained the same.

Joseph listened as Nathan’s question was answered by the medic, seemingly pointing out the obvious. “You-you’re wrong. S-she can’t be d-dead.” Joseph spoke up in response to Jane, his voice cracking and stuttering as he remained in heavy denial. “This is all an act, I-I’m sure of it. Scripted. Fake. There’s no way...” Joseph’s voice grew quieter until he eventually fell to his knees in complete silence, looking as if he was in a state of complete shock.

 

[_obsequious]

Ophi crossed her arms, shooting an annoyed look in Parker’s direction, a prickling feeling shooting up her skin. She really didn’t like being looked at it. Still, a smug grin tugged at her lips.
“Please, you’re hardly a freshmen, kiddo! Maybe come back when you can legally drive,” she purred sarcastically. “Actually I’d remember this if I were you. With that little attitude of yours, this’ll probably be the only time that you get to see any skin on a girl.”

She’d been too tired to come up with a real reply, but it didn’t matter; the one she’d given made her chuckle.

She shifted her weight onto her other foot as she ran a hand through her hair, flipping her part to the left as she pulled out her Monopad, quickly opening the information labeled Monokuma File 1 and skimming through it, only to give a exasperate sigh at
the minimal information presented. Although, in retrospect, she couldn’t really
be surprise even if she wanted to. Why would Monokuma give them any information when he could just watch them try and piece it together themselves?

She looked up as Jason entered the room, giving him a tiny, curt wave, and pursed her lip as another guy entered the room, clearly in denial as he fell to his knees, stuttering mindlessly. She sighed.
“No, I uh..” she cleared her throat. “I’m pretttyyyy sure that she is 100% dead. Sorry to burst your bubble.”

 

[Fire Mana]

Parker chuckled at the redhead's comments as she took another look at her monopad. He had to admit, she certainly had a sharp tongue... but so did he.

"I might not legally have a license, but at least I can see over the wheel~ And if you really want me to remember, how about we head back to my room?"

Parker shifted his glasses from opaque to transparent as he gave Ophi a little wink with his deep brown eyes.

 

[Riverrunner]

Ryuu continued to tremble in shock as the laundry room began to fill up with his fellow classmates. Some displayed the same shock he had, others met the situation with nothing short of pure apathy. He, quite frankly, didn't know what to think. Any form rational thought had been completely pushed from his mind as he idily pulled out his Student Handbook, scrolling mindlessly through Monokuma's minimalistic information.

The victim is Honoka Kurosawa

No, that has to be a lie. She wouldn't have just… died. Not like that. I knew her… briefly. Very briefly.

The exact time of death is unknown, although estimated to have occurred whilst the majority of students were confined to their dorms.

Yet, with my own two eyes…

The cause of death was major blood loss.

The scene of the crime, that was real. It's all real. Monokuma was serious. No, something is still wrong. But… what? Why would this…

Multiple lacerations can be found on the corpse’s back, stomach, and neck respectively. A knife remains stuck in the wound on her neck. Additionally, the fingers on her left hand appear to be broken.

One of us is already gone. Another is a murderer. Pretty soon, we're all going to end up with a knife in our necks. Monokuma will get the last laugh. One death—no. One murder will lead to another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and...

It took almost all of his willpower to finally stand. He gently pushed through the crowd that had gathered (taking care to not glance at the crime scene that the laundry room's closet had become), walking out into the common room on shaky legs without speaking a word.

 

[The Kitsune]

Hoshi was already awake. Preferring to sleep with the abundant weight of covers on her, the raising temperatures had done a number on her sleeping habits the past two days. Forced to get by with only a thin sheet draped over minimally clothed body, the sudden change in temperature brought on violent shivers and she woke curled into a fetal position and instinctively reaching for the heavy covers. They weren't there, having been kicked to the floor the night before, and the only think her searching fingers found was the thin sheet. Fighting the heavy pull of sleep, Hoshi had forced herself to stand and found the cold metal floor no less jarring to her sleepy mind. By the time she crawled back into her quickly chilling bed, blankets clutched protectively against her chest, her consciousness had enough footing to ask the crucial question; ...why was it cold? Where was the heat Monokuna had promised if they didn't-

Hoshi's fingers convulsed around her fistful of covers, her eyes going wide at the sudden realization. Did that mean...someone was dead? Though she strained her ears, she couldn't hear anything beyond her room. Whether that was because of the thick walls or an actual absence of noise, she couldn't be sure and she didn't have the resolve to get up and investigate on her own. Paralyzed by fear, Hoshi lay tensely for another hour to come, falling back into an unease, unwilling sleep...before a passing rap on her down brought her back in a rush of adrenaline. "Guys! I… well, the Thermostat's gone down..." Ryuu's voice trailed away as he moved further away from her door.

Well, that was one LIVING companion accounted for... It was a terrible thought and one that left Hoshi closing her eyes against the possibilities awaiting beyond that door. In all likelihood, Hoshi would have remained in her room, postponing the living nightmares for unconscious ones...but her bladder had other plans. With a groan, she forced herself to get up and dress; dark jeans and her usual jacket (no one needed to know she didn't have a shirt on underneath for this quick trip). Running only a compulsory hand through her hair to rid it of bedhead tangles, she opened her door and stepped out. Hoshi trailed behind Ryuu as he made his way across the common room, intention to get to the restroom and back as quickly as she could. It wasn't until his scream reached her ears a few steps passed the laundry room that she turned back, terror evident on her face as she rounded the corner of the laundry room closet.

The sight of that much blood was enough to bring bile to her throat, much less the realization of who it belonged to. A shaky hand over her mouth, Hoshi was already stumbling back as the crowd began to congregate on the scene. Who was there, what meaningless words they uttered, none of it registered as she raced on shaky legs back into the hall and toward the bathroom again, motivated by different bodily response this time. She could feel it rising in her throat as she threw her weight into the Girl's room door, her hand on the handle-

But it didn't turn. The door was locked. She pushed again, tugged at the handle, hammered a fist on the exposed lock; all in vain. It didn't budge. "D-damn it!" Swallowing hard to fight the impulse to vomit right there in the hall, Hoshi leaned her head against the cool door, palms splayed uselessly on it's surface, and sunk to her knees. It was all too much for her to keep in. Unable to pee, unwilling to vomit and unable to find air enough to scream, the sheer volume of rage and despair inside demanded an outlet. Hot, thick tears rose to her eyes and Hoshi could do nothing to stop them as they fell.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon... wasn't sure what had happened. One moment you black out and the next... nothing.

However, a strange ding in his ear when... voices appeared in the background. And as the sound increased... Paeon awoke. His first reaction was how he felt... weak. He was stitched up and fixed up, but his mind seemed slow. However, even with his weakened state, Paeon exited the room. As he noticed others, he slowly made his way to the laundry room. "Uh, hey guys... what's... going on? What happened?"

However, his answer occurred when he turned his head towards the closet. "...Ice Queen? ...oh no..." As he was about to question, his head burned with pain. 'IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!' 'YOU ARE EXPENDABLE. SHE'S NOT!!' Paeon realized at that moment, he was late... he went days without medication. It... It... It was too much.

As Paeon reached for his pills, his mind bombarded him until his medication was taken. "Ugh...now..."

Paeon turned to the others. "...What do we do?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“She is very much dead.”

Ralph emerged from the shadows, revealing himself to everyone in the room. He didn’t seem to be the slightest affected by her death. His blanks monotone feel gave off the signs of no remorse. He looked at her body then back at everyone else.

“She died a gruesome fate. Tragic? Arguable. Horrendous? Absolutely. One person amongst us is a traitorous swine. A murderer. We mustn’t let Honoka’s death be in vain, as frustrating as she was to deal with in life. We must use this to snuff out the traitor and keep us alive. Make no mistake. The one who did this wants us dead. We mustn’t have restraint. Let’s analyze the sight. Jane! Can you determine a time of death?”

He had already jumped into survival mode. He called upon Jane’s aid, all the while Percy was still comprehending the situation, watching the girl before him dead. She was...someone who Percy couldn’t solve. She could have been a friend. Someone to rely on. She had a future. A family. Now she’s gone...her story was over. His brain did cheers backflips, tears in the corners of his eyes as he watched her body...no longer filled with the life she had yesterday and the days before

 

[Crimson Sun]

"Honestly," Jane said as she approached the corpse, never finishing her sentence and began to investigate the body. The medic ran dipped her index finger in the crimson paint among the floor. Dragging it a bit, Jane lifted her finger and examined the small limb tip. It had collected some blood, but for the most part, not as much as she though it would've. Meaning the murder couldn't have happened recently, as dry blood didn't cling onto her finger. However, there are many factors that this could possible have. First off, the blood could've still been here when she was dying. Technically the thermostat wouldn't have started cooling down until he victim is dead, hence the heat could've cool down the liquid prior to her death. Jane pressed her fingers against the latter's wrist, where the pulse would've been. Obviously, there would be no pulse, but she wasn't checking for that. Jane pressed her fingers down to see the body heat. Cold. What else did she expect really. Usually, corpses body gradually cool down when they are dying slowly, especially blood losses like Honoka's. But her body temperature was cold, meaning the the death wasn't recent, that all Jane could really tell.

Examining closer, Honoka's left fingers were disjointed. Broken and crippled. Jane looked at the placement of the knife, it struck a vein dead on. Honoka would've died anyways, fixing a vein requires immediate attention, but seeing as she's dead, Jane 'presumes' that Honaka didn't need her vein stitched. She noted the bruises that were on her chest and the gash on her stomach. Jane couldn't examine her back without moving the corpse, and she didn't want to do that in respect to the dead latter. Jane crouched closer to the body, when something caught her eye. The wall that was sprayed with blood. But that wasn't the thing that caught her eye, it was the characters beside it. It read the letters 'PA' and the next letter was drowned out to an incoherent line that led to where Honoka's unmoving fingers lay.

Jane stood up, beginning to get cramped from kneeling down that whole time. The medic picked up where she left off from the beginning. "Honestly, it's hard to tell the exact time of death. There's no clocks in the building. Even so, I wouldn't need clocks, I can tell by sunlight. But even so, there's no windows here. I can't pinpoint the time of her death. Heck i don't even know what time it is right now," Jane said, a bit frustrated because this killing game was making her job a lot more difficult than when she was back at militia camp. "All I can tell you is that the murder didn't happen recently, meaning it didn't happen like 2-3 hours ago. The body is cold and the change in heat is screwing up the temperature of anything really," Jane complained to the whole group. "There's not much I can find out."

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason’s eyes scanned the room. He noticed the Gang Leader was already bantering with that Parker kid agai- Just before he could finish that thought, his eyes caught onto Ralph and Jane checking the scene.
Along the wall, scrawled in blood, were the letters PA... mental note to self. Parker and Paeon. The lettering was not conclusive evidence, but... better safe than sorry. In other news, the killer had left the knife in her neck... that had to have been purposeful, because the body didn’t seem fresh. Perhaps a move of cruelty, or celebration, or... another possibility flashed through the Therapists mind, but he dismissed it for now, although it still lingered.
Instead, Jason moved off into the Laundry room on his own... heading over to the washing machines. One was turned on, and it seemed like Honoka had managed to somewhat get through her self-appointed work of cleaning everyone’s clothes. However... it wasn’t completely done. He instead moved over to the inactive washing machine, still completely calm and collected despite the body in the room, checking the pile of unwashed clothes and. Hoshi’s, Parker’s, Ryuu’s, Paeon’s, and Honoka’s herself. One stuck out instantly, as Paeon’s shirt was doused in blood, strewn on top of the others. Had it been used by the killer as a way to soak up blood and attempt to hide it? Or was it an accident? His eyes narrowed as he stared into the open, inactive machine.

 

[_obsequious]

Ophi opened her mouth to shoot back a harsh reply at his comment to her height, only to promptly shut it, unable to respond to his smug invitation.
She cleared her throat, turning away from him to study Honoka’s body, eyes falling on the PA written ominously on the wall. Paeon? Parker? Paleolithic era?
Ophi shuddered at the thought. Eighth grade was an awful time.
She hummed in thought, evidently to the tune of a song, although to determine which song it was, somebody would have to ask.

The things she made note of were the basics, the things everyone noticed; Paeon’s shirt, the people’s who’s clothes were currently being washed, the kitchen knife..

Considering that was the next closest thing to a hint she got, she turned and walked away, obviously to the kitchen. A knife was missing from the knife rack, and a wild guess led her to believe that it was the one in Honoka’s neck. The next thing she noticed, of course, was the little white pill laying innocently by a bottle of water.
She approached it curiously, picking it up and studying it. Her first thought was Clozapine, but in truth she really didn’t know what it looked like, so she couldn’t make any assumptions. So far, Paeon was sticking out the most to her; the PA, the bloody shirt, the pill.. plus his schizophrenia would be a reason to kill, if he hadn’t truly been himself.. but there were too many holes. The blood on his shirt was probably from Ralph’s little episode, plus with his injuries, did he really have the power to kill Honoka, who’d been completely uninjured and capable?

Plus, there was no way it would be this easy. There was always a twist, she knew that. Maybe he’d been framed. Who knew.

She shook her head, setting the pill back down. She poked her head around the corner, back to the group crowded by the laundry room.
“Jason!” She hissed, trying to get his attention. “A word?”

 

[Generation Sect]

Jason leaned up from his hunched over position, inspecting the washing machine, blankly staring at Ophelia and blinking as she tried to get his attention, eventually catching on, the slightly worn down looking boy heading over to her, instantly letting out a deep panting breath as he stopped, like he had been holding that compulsive urge to speak back for a while.
“The clinic. We should go check it, right? I-it’s only around the corner from the crime scene.”
He gasped out his words, the Therapist a combination of still overheated, and full of energy, causing his strange way of speaking.

 

[Retro Master]

On his knees, Joseph had remained still for the past few moments, seemingly trying too process what he’d seen. ‘Robin Hood’ and the gang leader were two of the people who were completely sure Honoka was dead. However, it soon became apparent that everyone now believed that and it seemed he was the only one in denial. Even Paeon, who appeared to be in good condition now, had quickly come to terms with the murder after absorbing the pills. However, it was good too see the editor in action considering the last time anyone saw him active was when he stood up against ‘Robin Hood’.

While Joseph had remained motionless, some of the others already started the investigation. The actor let out a sigh before he slowly stood up, gently shaking his head too calm his mind. After he put his sunglasses, being the actor he was, Joseph did his best too push the emotions back. Joseph first went over to the closet, where Ralph and Jane were still examining the body. From what he heard, they believed that the murder happened hours ago. Jane was the medic, so her assumption was probably the best they were going to get. That wasn’t all the medic uncovered as when Joseph took a closer look, he also saw the two letters, ‘P’ and ‘A’. “I-Interesting.” Joseph murmured before quickly turning his attention to the washing machines. Just looking at the bloody scene was enough too further traumatize him.

Anyways, Joseph went over to the washing machines where Jason was previously examining. One of the washing machines were on while the other was off. Like Jason had done moments prior, Joseph looked into the machine that was already opened. A moment after his eyes connected too the bloody shirt, Joseph stumbled backwards in apparent disbelief before catching himself. “Th-there is no way... I-I refuse too believe this!” Joseph stated as he gave a worried glance in Paeon’s direction. The editor was perhaps the closest person he could call friend here and made it more difficult for Joseph too stomach what had happened.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon shuddered as he gained more information about this murder. Firstly, was his bloody shirt. Secondly was the 'PA' sketched onto the wall. Thirdly, was his lack of presence for the past... however long it was. Finally, after he had left the room to search, was the singular pills placed behind in different locations.

His mind was focused on one thought alone. '...I'm being framed. Everything could lead to me, but they fall short for specific reasons. But of course... I can't say it now.' As he returned to the laundry room, he noticed the actors worried glance and he signaled him to follow him into the hall.

Hopefully... he could explain the facts to his friend.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Ralphie nodded his head at Jane’s report, even if it lacked the specific detailed he had requested. He anyalized the wounds, scanning up and down. Outwardly, she seemed to have been stabbed to death. But to make sure...

“I see. Do you think you would uncover more out of an autopsy?”

Although a bit brutal to do so early, honoka’s body did nothing but show them where the crime scene could have happened, or perhaps propped up to happen. He needed to learn more in depth about what went down.

Upon hearing the word autopsy, Percy’s eyes rolled back and he lose consciousness. He fell to the floor, the pressure being too much for him, as Parker had theorized correctly. His pencils spilled onto the floor.

 

[Retro Master]

It seemed Paeon had also began too realize the growing suspicion after leaving the room for a moment. On return, the editor noticed Joseph especially and signaled him to come over. A part of Joseph felt as if going along could be a bad idea and may even be a fatal mistake. If Paeon was actually the killer, maybe he would attempt too silence him. Coerce Joseph into going along with his plan. However, the actor knew better than to think that. He simply shook his head at the thought and banished the idea before going over to the editor.

On his way, he did notice Percy suddenly fall unconscious. It was weird considering how long ‘Twitchy’ had managed to keep himself stable but perhaps the traumatic scene finally caught up with him. The thought of an autopsy did give the actor an uneasy feeling as well but he did his best to mask that.

“So... what’s up?” Joseph greeted Paeon awkwardly, unsure of how else too really start the conversation.

 

[Paeon Kanetsu]

Paeon sighed as he turned to his friend. "Well... you noticed what's up with me. Whatever's going on... they're trying to frame me. The letters... the shirt... my lack of appearance... heck, there are pills around. It seems... too obvious."

Paeon then turned to his friend with a mixture of confidence and worry. "I have proof on how it isn't me... but it's... not what you can say solid. Right now, I'm freaking out inside. But I gotta move past it. Otherwise... Ice Queen's... no... Honoka's death would be in vain."

After a small moment of silence, Paeon asked the question that bothered his mind. "You... don't think I did it... do you?"

 

[The Kitsune]

Unfortunately tears run their coarse faster than emotions sometimes and Hoshi's limited hydration the last couple days seemed to have reached it's limit. Forehead still pressed against the bathroom door, folded pitifully upon herself with her chest nearly touching her knees, she merely shuddered in her dry sobbing.

Honoka... she had hardly known her, could hardly call the few days shared a friendship, so why did hurt so bad?

She could hear the muffled voices of the others, those who had had the stomach to stay in the same room as the- Hoshi's stomach turned at the thought and she closed her eyes as a fresh bought of nausea threatened again. Pursed lips and sheer will kept it as bay as realization set in. That's right, Monokuna had said they'd be expected to investigate the murders. That's why they were still in there, that's what they were discussing so rationally. ...one murder meant one murderer.

Hoshi hadn't seen much in her own haunting glimpse into the laundry closet, and she certainly wasn't up to taking a second look. Not that she would have any expertise to offer even if she did.

She turned her head at the sound of footsteps as Paeon emerged from the laundry room. Her gaze lingered briefly on his back. He looked nearly as disraught as she felt. And yet he... or any of them...could have done this. Tearing her eyes away, Hoshi stood on shaky legs. Unwilling to walk back the way she'd come, she moved further down the hall and opened the door to the Rec room instead. At least it was quiet in here.

Hoshi hadn't taken the time to explore this room much over the past few days. Closing the door behind her, she meandered about, the lure of the computer drawing her slowly over. It could hardly be called an investigation as she wasn't in the mind set to pick up mynute details, but the solitary crumpled paper in the otherwise empty trash bin was enough to draw her eye. She picked it up and glanced at the wrinkled surface without much curiousity, until the familiarity of the short note slowed her fingers.

Just leave your stuff here in the basket. I’m washing everyone’s clothes later. Don’t bother trying to be nice and throwing it in yourself, that’ll just end up being a waste of soap. - Honoka​