Not long after Monokuma and his cubs left did a sudden alarm go off around the gym. Everyone pulled out some sort of pad except for you. Did I not get one? Wait, why am I asking—of course I didn't, or else I'd be able to pull it out. You sighed, agitated with yourself. Furrowing your brows slightly you looked around the gym, hoping that someone could notice your gaze and allow you to see what was going on on the screen.

"Hiya!" someone popped up next to you. You visibly shook a bit, being caught off guard like that. You let out a small breath.

"What do you want?" you asked, putting a dead weight in your tone. You turned to see who it was who snuck up on you.

"Nishishi! I just saw you looking around at everyone once the alarm set off without pulling anything out, so it's easy to assume that you don't have a Monopad, and that you were hoping that someone could share temporarily!" Kokichi said with an innocent smile on his face. You swayed your eyes to the side a bit. "Am I riiiiight?"

"Maybe."

"Nishishi~! You could've just said yes, but it's also fun when people aren't so direct, either!" He looked straight into your eyes. "I guess that's what makes you so interesting." You grimaced a bit, not expecting the boy to say that. Before you could say anything about it, though, he pulled his Monopad out and put it in the middle of you. "Alrighty then! Let's check this thing out!" A message was displayed on the screen.

Regulations:
Students must live at the Ultimate Academy for the remainder of their foreseeable future.
Once a murder takes place, all surviving students must participate in a class trial.
If the blackened is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.
If the blackened is not exposed, all remaining students will be executed.
If the blackened survives the class trial, they will graduate an reenter the outside world.
The killing game and class trials will continue until only two surviving students remain.
"Nighttime" is from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.. The dining hall and gymnasium are off-limits at night.
Violence towards Monokuma, the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy, is strictly prohibited.
Monokuma will never directly commit a murder.
Your Monopads are very important items. Please do not damage them.
The body discovery announcement will play when there are three or more students discover a body.
With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore the campus at your discretion.
Students who violate these rules will be immediately exterminated by the Exisals.

The headmaster may add new regulations to this list at any time.

You glanced up at Kokichi; his face displayed worry. You couldn't help but to feel bad for him. After a second he noticed your gaze and put on a smile. "Well, I guess we're really in this then, huh?" You nodded stiffly, still thinking about the sudden emotion change. He has to be faking it, you thought. I of all people should be experienced with this...

"Also...~" the purple-haired male piped up, "I lied."

"Huh?" you asked, head tilted.

"I didn't just cleverly infer that your Monopad was missing—I took it!" Kokichi smiled brightly and innocently, now holding his pad over his chest with arms crossed.

"I don't believe it; when. When did you take it?"

"Oh, whenever we fell on each other. Or, more like I went down on you, but you know what I mean~! You were such a blushing mess that you didn't even realize me picking it up from the ground where it landed," he explained. I don't even remember having one of those things, you thought concerned to yourself. "Here you go!" Seemingly out of nowhere he pulled out another Monopad and shoved it in your arms.

"..Ah...!" you yelped. For being such a small person Kokichi was surprisingly strong. You shakily cleared your throat. "Thanks... I guess."

"Nishishi~! Anything for you," he replied with a playful smile. He hung around for a second, suddenly seeming to have remembered something. "By the way, I meant to ask about your eyes."

"My what?" you asked, forcing your voice to stay flat. Kokichi pointed up to his own eyes. "Oh." You tried to think of an excuse or... basically anything to get out of answering that question. "It's nothing. I bet that your eyes were playing tricks on you, or.. something."

The purple-haired boy only pouted like a small child. "Oh come onnnnnn!" You shook your head and looked away, hoping that he would just drop the subject.

As if your wish came true, you heard Kaede speak up. "E-Everyone," she started with a stutter, "we must remember who the true enemy is. Here: I propose that we try to look around for an exit again."

"But... we looked all over that wall and couldn't find a single opening or hole anywhere," Tsumugi said downwardly.

"While that may be true, then that raises the question: how did we get in these walls in the first place?" Kiibo pointed out. The Ultimate Cosplayer's eyes widened as she thought about it considerably, and she had a finger placed up to her chin.

"That means that there has to be an opening somewhere! We just have to find it!" Kaede chirped. "Whoever trapped us here wanted us to fight, so let's show them that we're not gonna let that happen!" She started looking around the room with her voice growing louder as her confidence started to rise. "We're not gonna fight each other! We're gonna work together!! Okay!?" Everyone went silent. "..W-What? Did I say something wrong..?"

"No," Kirumi answered. "In fact, that's quite the contrary. You've spoke your case with such determination that the rest of us have been left speechless." Some of the others nodded. Even though you didn't quite believe in this new plan you admired Kaede's courage. Someone offered for everyone to split up into groups to look for an exit.

"Oh, wait a second..!" You turned your head, surprised to see that it was Gonta talking. "Maybe it not matter much, but Gonta find manhole earlier. It in grass, behind school building." A look of hope flashed onto some of the other teens' faces. A manhole? "Gonta peek in. See big, underground passage, think maybe it exit... sorry. Is probably not so simple?"

You felt your mouth moving before you could stop it. "Why didn't you say so before, then, big guy?" you asked with your brow furrowed. "Come on, come on..! Let's get going! Unless we want to die in this hellhole, I recommend you lead us to this place and quickly." Gonta nodded his head and started to guide everyone out of the gym.

Feeling a bit accomplished, you were able to walk out along with everyone with your head up—just by the slightest little adjustment, but it was something to note from your usual behavior. Then again, all I did was force him into leading us somewhere... you considered. ...It's... for a majority's benefit. Yeah, let's use that excuse...

You noticed that Kaede, Shuichi, and Rantaro had stayed behind a bit. You didn't pay it much mind though, since you knew that they would catch up. After all, no one would attempt to kill in the situation you were in at that point... right? Surely none of those three would kill, or get themselves killed.

The walk didn't take long. You ended up somewhere that you hadn't explored yet. There seemed to be a few machines around the gigantic room, each filling the air with the sound of relatively soft mechanical whirs. Grass poked out of the grated floor. Other plants crawled about the walls, plenty of them also wrapping around the machines. You were surprised that seemingly none of them had entangled themselves in a moving part or something else like that. A normal solid ceiling was replaced with a glass dome, allowing a warm sunlight to float gently down into the area. ...Oh look, there's another monitor. Despite all of the abnormalities, you could only assume the place to be the boiler room.

"Now... where is this thing?" you asked shortly.

"Umm... over there," Gonta replied. You looked at where he was referring to, eyes landing on a giant, rusty cover. You hummed in curiosity. You walked over to the manhole and kneeled down to where you could see it better.

As you were inspecting it, you heard Angie say, "Awwwww, this manhole cover looks heavy. Can we even lift it?"

"I can try," Kiibo said with a confident smile. You looked up to see the robot standing in front of you; you ended up standing up yourself and backing away to give him space. You watched as he out his hands on the rusty cover and started to pull. A few seconds went by, the only noise being the sound of the Ultimate Robot struggling. . . "How embarrassing. It won't even budge. Sorry everyone."

"Whaaaat?? How is a robot not even able to pick it up?" Angie gasped dramatically.

"Don't worry! My strength is equivalent to that of a strong senior citizen," Kiibo said.

"Why that's... th-that's f*ckin pathetic..!" Miu exclaimed in disbelief.

"T-The inventor did not want a repeat of the tragedy that occurred during trial production."

"Oh, then allow Gonta," the gentle giant offered. "Gonta lift cover to peek inside. Should be able to pick up cover too." You watched as he placed his hands on the manhole cover. Then, all of a sudden, he picked it up easily with just two fingers. "Upsy-daisy... What should Gonta do with cover now?"

"Please, you can leave it somewhere else. Be careful not to hit anyone," Kirumi said.

"Um, actually... Gonta no can do that. It very rude to litter..."

"Just toss the f*ckin thing aside," you said quite aggravated, still keeping your voice low and flat, however. "No one cares if you litter with a damned cover. I'm pretty sure all of us just want to see what's down there... if it means possible freedom." Gonta begrudgingly threw the manhole cover away, following your order. It landed five yards away from the throw starting point.

"Kehehe..." Korekiyo sounded his abnormal laugh. "What wonderful strength. You could most likely crush a child's skull with ease." Everyone just gave the Ultimate Anthropologist a wary look.

"How ungentlemanly! Gonta never do that!"

"Gentleman or not, no one would do that!" Tenko interjected.

"But Gonta is sooo much more reliable than a bean-counting robot," you heard Kokichi pipe up, putting his hands behind his neck with a cheery smile. I... see. So he does take interest in that robot, you thought. It almost hurt that the one person who gave you the most attention so far has already turned away from you; but then again, it wouldn't be the first time.

"Are you... talking about me? Because I can count many things, not just beans," Kiibo said. I don't think that that's really helping your claim...

You stepped towards the manhole, looking inside. It was way too dark to see anything in there, however you could just feel cold air rising up from the place. You noticed that Tsumugi had followed your actions, and now had a nervous look on her face.

"Th-This place is kinda creepy... We're really going in here?" she asked. You nodded.

"It should be fine. I'm pretty sure that we won't die down there, to say the least," you spoke.

"It's awfully quiet..." you heard Rantaro say, "Where is Monokuma and the Monokubs?"

"I was certain that they would have shown up at some point and crush us like rotten gnats," Korekiyo said, giving a rather gory description.

"It may be a trap," you said quickly. You looked off in the distance, gaze landing somewhere on the grassy floor. You heard curious mumblings within the group of teens. "I said... it may be a trap. Think about it." Your eyes sharply flew back to the others, and you began to sweep your gaze across your audience to examine everyone's expression as you talked. "Monokuma and his cubs basically know everything that we're doing. It would be weird for them to be watching us somehow and not pop up... if this were not a trap of some sort." The other teens went silent for a second.

". . .Ah, I think... that we should go in anyway. We are in a killing game, so if we die then we can say we died together and without getting our hands dirty," Shuichi countered. Finally, he spoke up. You mentally sighed in your head. Publicly humiliated... I shouldn't have said anything... you thought shamefully.

"I..I guess," you let out, stammer quiet. You tilted your head to the side and looked down to the ground once more; your hand went up to your head as if to adjust your hair, when really you were attempting to cover your eyes. "Well then, let's go." You let the other teens climb down into the manhole before you. Through closed eyes you felt the presence of someone linger around you.

"I know someone's there," you said with a sigh. "Who is it? Come on, I know you must want something." You opened your eyes slowly, surprised at who was there.

"Ah, um..." Shuichi stammered at first. You tilted your head and raised a brow. "...Sorry," he said finally.

"..Sorry?" you repeated as a question. You weren't mocking the teen or anything, you were genuinely confused.

"It seems like... I may have hurt you, in... some way," Shuichi replied. "I-I didn't mean anything by speaking up—"

"How... would you know if you did do something like that?"

"Just your stance and overall demeanor. As the Ultimate D-Detective, looking for these things are quite simple for me."

As you looked away from the male you said, "Well, just to let you know, you're wrong."

"H-Huh..?"

"I'm fine. Do you really think I'm that weak as to be effected by such light and little words?" Eyes exploring the ground, you found a small puddle of water that seemed to be really misplaced. Looking at your reflection, you found your eyes changing to a mysterious violet. Sh*t... you thought to yourself.

"(Y-Y/N)..!" Shuichi exclaimed. "Y-Your eyes!"

"Don't look at them!" you snapped. "I-...I mean...what about them?"

"They were grey before, until you said... that 'you were fine.' That 'you weren't that weak' to be effected by my words," the detective answered. "(Y/N)... do your eyes change color when you lie..?" You took a sharp step back and swiftly turned your head away. "Am I correct?"

"Maybe," you mumbled ever so softly. You felt something happen.

"Wah..! Your eyes have changed again, they're now blue..! What is going on here?! I.. I w-want an explanation!" You pushed the male away, who, at that point, was starting to corner you.

"It's nothing," you said sharply, and perhaps even a bit intimidating. "Come on, who knows what the others are up to down there." You swiftly climbed down the ladder and into the manhole. Finally making it down there, you found a wide empty space. Huh..?

You looked around and spotted Monokuma dragging the last body out. "Uh... Did you kill the others, Monokuma..?" you asked slowly, dumbfounded.

"Puhuhu, nope! Didn't you read the regulations? I will never ever commit murder... directly," he replied. "Come on, don't you twust me?"

"No," you said sternly.

"Oh well. It's probably better off that you don't. Aaaanyway! The kids are just unconscious at the moment, but give em a few seconds or minutes, and I'm sure they'll be awake by then! And once they're all up, they can explain everything to the two of you," Monokuma rambled on. "And then... you two can join the 'fun' too," he said mysteriously with a wink. One of which you swore never to trust. The teddy bear then left.

"Ah... what do you think that was about?" Shuichi asked nervously, trying to stay calm after your all's encounter. The color in your eyes had turned back by then.

You quickly sighed. "I can see you're intimidated... Please don't be, it... only makes me feel worse as a person." A look of pure sadness flickered on your face for the slightest second before it disappeared just as fast as it came. "And this is why I never speak to people," you hummed a self-humiliating joke, attempting to lighten the mood. By the look on Shuichi's face your comment just made him all the more at unease, but at least he wasn't necessarily scared like he was before.

A few minutes passed by and the two of you had fun together while waiting for the others to wake up. All of a sudden both of you heard yawning.

"Ahh... where am I?" a voice spoke. "...Oh yeah..!! Yeah. . . So that happened." You and Shuichi turned your heads to see who the speaker was. "Oh~?" they spoke mysteriously to themselves. "Who do we have here?" You glanced back at the blue-haired detective; for the one second that you weren't looking, the person ran up to you and almost toppled over you.

"Nishishishi~! So it looks like you two have finally decided to come down!" Kokichi said. "What were you all talking about?" he then asked slowly, expression going blank.

"Nothing important," Shuichi answered. He answered for you, and you knew why: as to keep your eyes from changing color judging by your answer. The purple-haired male squinted his eyes for a second before returning to his normal demeanor.

"O-kay!" He then suddenly turned to you. "I really missed you, y'know."

"Huh?" you asked. "Me?"

"Uh, yeah! Who else would I be talking to?" Kokichi asked, putting his hands behind his neck again. Shuichi stayed silent, but it was almost like a playful silent, if that was even possible. "Wahhhhh!!" he suddenly started crying. You knew they were fake tears, judging by how suddenly they came and how fast they were coming; yet, you still couldn't help but to be slightly disturbed and shocked by the sudden action. "Kaede's a meanie!!! She keeps forcing us to go through that tunnel," he pointed over to a place, "and we can never make it..!! I can't tell you how many times I missed one footing, or that someone knocked into me!"

As the boy started pouting you awkwardly started patting the top of his head lightly. "Uh... well, at least you aren't hurt, right?"

Kokichi hummed. "True!"

"H-Hey, Kokichi... what even is on the other side of that tunnel? Do you know?" Shuichi asked.

"Geez, can't you all read the sign over there??"

..Ah, there it is. There was a sign pointing to the tunnel, and in big red letters it read 'EXIT'. It seemed awfully suspicious to you. "How do you all know that isn't some sort of trick? It seems... too out of place, I guess you could say."

"Eh," Kokichi started with a shrug. "I don't know, but it is a trick in its own way. Man, there are so many traps in there!"

"Were... we really up there talking for so long?" you asked out loud, although it was more directed towards Shuichi. The detective shrugged.

"Ah, for crying out loud!" you suddenly heard a strong female voice call out. "You all are so f*ckin loud that you woke me up!" Miu was now awake.

"Nyeehhhh... I never asked for you to be my alarm clock," Himiko said, tired. So apparently Miu's shouting was able to wake some others up. "What a pain..."

The people who were awake, including you and Shuichi, started talking about life and the killing game. The teens who woke up along the way would join in the conversation, and the people after them would follow pursuit. In the end, you waited until all of the others were up to take further action.

Word Count: 3360