As we were finished reading the school regulations, we were left with the fear of what had happened. Monokuma, mechas, murder stuff, it's just...too much.

In our worrying, I now examined the pad for more information. To my surprise, a few extra features were installed onto it...There was the rules, a few student information files, and...a map! Perhaps we can figure our way around this place.

My figure now selected the map, and a layout of the first floor appeared. Only a few things were actually labeled. A kitchen and dining area, The gym, A pair of bathrooms, and...Dorms...All our dormitories were on this floor...that's a bit convenient.

"Should we try...going to our assigned rooms? I feel like there's more to this place, but...I need to take a rest after what just happened...it's giving me quite a headache," I suggested as I rubbed my aching head.

Jackson now spoke up, but a little more quiet than usual. This was getting to him as well.

"He's right...we're in no condition to do anything....let's all rest and focus on this tomorrow....whenever that is...."

The students nodded in response to Jackson. We all began to leave the gym. All the other students left, but when I was at the door, something tapped my shoulder. Behind me was Kaiya, who still had tears on her face, but more glad than sad. Oh, that rhymes, heh...

"U-Um...Jason?"

"Yeah?"

After a few seconds, she covered her face to avoid letting me see the tears.

"...T-Thank you for standing up for me."

Aww...she's just so precious! I smiled back at her as she smiled at me.

"Sure thing. I just don't ever tolerate bullies. Believe me, I had a bad experience with them once."

"W-Well...I'm thankful for what you did to me. Comforting me..."

She blushes in embarrassment. Did she...have some sort of crush on me? No, I'm probably just assuming things...

"Yes, well...gotta go to my dorm. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure...see you around, Jason..."

Starting to become unsure of this situation, I now quickly left into the halls, heading towards where the dorm should be....man...I'm not the best when it comes to talking to girls....Especially since I saw those shows where in a misunderstanding situation, the girl constantly beats up the guy, thinking that he was some pervert. Fortunately, I took notes on how not to get in a situation like that, so...I should be OK...maybe...

I now arrived at a long hallway lined with 8 doors on each side, each one baring the face of it's owner. I walked down the hall until I finally reached my door, marked with the identifying nameplate. Well, at least I'll be able to tell which room I'll be in. I turned the knob to my room, took a peek inside, and saw that the room was movie-themed. It was like an award show, with the red wallpapers, some Oscar awards (not real ones, of course), gold stars, tiny lights, etc. It was kind of cool, I gotta admit.

Additionally, a bed draped with some sort of red carpet inspired sheets, more bolted windows, and a door in the back corner could be seen as the highlights of the room. And it even has a Flatscreen HD TV with a built-in DVD player, and with a DVD collection of movies and shows I've starred in.*

"Wow..."

If this were a legit hotel, I'd give the place 5 stars. It was just so jaw-dropping. I can only imagine the looks of the other students with their own dorms. I got closer to my bed, and sat on it. Ah...it's relaxing, and it felt like the real red carpet material used for the Oscars.

"Yeah...so far, this room is a plus from this prison of a school."

I got under the covers, got cozy, closed my eyes for a couple seconds, feeling like I'm about to sleep...until-

*DING DONG!*

My doorbell rang just as I was going into a sleep state.

"Ah! C-Coming."

I got out of the covers, opened the door, and saw Ryan at the door.

"Ryan?"

"Hey...Sorry for the interruption...."

"Hey, it's fine. I was just checking out the place. Pretty neat, if I say so myself. What's up, dude?"

He now rubbed the back of his neck before continuing. He wanted something...I could just tell...

"So Jason...I have a little problem...and I was wondering if you could help me out......"

Oh, great...

"Um...alright. What's the problem, man?"

"I might have caused a basketball goal to fall onto of my bed....and it's too heavy to lift by myself..."

How the hell did that happen? Let me guess, he was shooting some hoops like a pro, but something accidentally caused him to make the goal fall on his bed?

"Well, sure. I could give you a hand. I mean, I'm not that strong, but I've been doing some of my own stunts for movies, so I think I can give it a try, heh."

Some sweat dropped from my forehead in embarrassment and I couldn't help but to shrug. I walked with Ryan to his room, and enter in amazement...

The room looked exactly like a small basketball court, complete with polished wooden floors. A few racks held equipment to play the game, and a few tapes labelled with basketball games lined a bookcase. Next to that was a small television with a DVR. It would have been perfect...if it wasn't for the overturned basketball net lying atop the referee modeled bed...

"Wow...this room looks so cool...like mine...but how did you even get it like this? I mean...with the net and everything..."

"Well...you ever try to get a slam dunk...?"

"W-Well, I'm not much of a sports person, but I...kind of understand that."

"Let's just say...I might have used my bed to get a hold of the hoop...and then gravity happened...."

"W-Well, that was a bit too much, wasn't it?"

Another drop of sweat fell in embarrassment.

"Come on Jason, Could...you just help me....Please....? I've been trying for an hour, and I really don't want to sleep on the floor...."

As he gets sympathetic with me, I couldn't help but sigh at him.

"Uhhh...Alright...I'll help out."

Using our combined strength, we tried to lift the net back to its original position. It was a bit difficult to lift at first, but when we gave it our all and were able to lift it off of his bed.

"Phew...there you go, Ryan. Your bed. Ugh, my back..."

I rub my aching back in pain. Damn, that net was so heavy...Ryan now gave me a thanking smile.

"Hey...you're a lifesaver, man...Thanks for this...I mean it....You can now go back to bed if you want..."

"About that. It's pretty amazing how our rooms looked, right? My room looked like a movie award show, while yours is a basketball court. And my room even has a TV, with a collection of movies and shows that star me."

"Hey! That's awesome....All I got was some old tapes....only about one third of them are good though...."

"Hey, that's also great. So...you a big fan of my work, huh? Maybe if we both have some free-time, we could watch one of my movies?"

A big grin now found its way on Ryan's face...

"Sounds like a plan...."

And with that I returned to my room...finally I could get some rest....

[Ding, Dong, Bing, Bong]

My television now lit up revealing a very unsettling image. Monokuma stared at the camera, sitting in a sort of under-renovation office with a fine glass of wine. It was just so...bizarre.

"Attention all students! It is now 10 pm and officially 'Night Time'. At this point, the water will be shut off and the doors to the dining hall are now locked. I hope you all have a good rest...goodnight...sleep tight...don't let the bedbugs bite....."

The screen now switched off...That was odd....at least I know what time it is.....Regardless, I ignored the message, took off my cap, placed it on a nearby table, and returned to bed. Tomorrow would be an eventful day...

******************************************************

[Monokuma Theater]

"Redoing anything has always been looked down in modern society. Movies, Books, and even television shows, having any kind of reboot immediately make old fans crazy. Nostalgia drives people onward to break apart the new telling of an age old tale...But of course there is always those projects that always outshine the glory of the original. So let's work really hard to bring this new killing game more glory than it has ever had!"

************************************************

[Ding, Dong, Bing, Bong]

Ugh...morning time already? My eyes felt heavy, and also slightly had bags under them. My TV started flickering, and showed Monokuma in the same setting, with his wine glass, the office, everything.

"Ahem. This is an official morning announcement to all students. Good morning, everyone! Hope you've all had your beauty sleep. It's time to have another beeeeeeautiful day!"

Great...Hope he isn't going to do this every morning....he is, isn't he? Goddamn it...I got up from my bed, stretched out my arms and legs, and let out a huge yawn.

"Well...I should maybe get some food from the dining hall. So starving..."

Right on cue, my stomach begins growling. As if answering it, I now walked out into the dusty hall and walked towards were the map highlighted the dining hall...On the way, I bumped into Daniel, as he's still enraged about yesterday.

"Watch where you're going, asshole...!"

"Ah...sorry about that."

He sighed with a bit of anger.

"Whatever...Just stay out of my way...I don't care how many films you've been in, I don't want to look at you..."

"Uh...duly noted."

He walked further away from me to the dining hall. Well...the dining hall better have some good food. Like fries, burgers, hot dogs, etc. Yeah, the good stuff...All the thoughts of food only made me more hungry...!

Waiting a moment to make sure Daniel had already gone in, I stepped inside. To my surprise, several others sat within, circling a table lined with food. I immanently heard Rebecca as she questioned the cuisine

"Who in this realm even made all these fine treats? Was it some sort of magic? Whatever it is...my mouth is watering...even the roasted meat seems delectable."

Oh, for all I can see the food looks great! Her questioning about the food got my spirits up slightly enough to eat. Just then Jackson placed his arm in front of me, blocking my path.

"I wouldn't touch anything. Who knows who cooked all this....It could be poison!"

"Well then...I guess I'll test it."

Everyone noticed me outside of the group as I offered to eat. Rebecca's eyes lit up when she saw me.

"Oh! Good morning, Sir Bear!"

God, she's still calling me that...I didn't have time to say my hellos though, because our Ultimate student president pulled me aside.

"B-But Jason, didn't you hear what I said? Poison. You could literally die. You wouldn't want to be the first and only person to die from something so obviously a trap..."

Just then Ernest poked his head up from behind him.

"E-Especially since you're my favorite actor!"

Okay then...I quickly collected my mind for a response.

"I know, but we won't know unless I try one of them, right? Besides, I'm REALLY hungry!"

I got inside the group, and took a good look at the food. It was lined with several dishes ranging from sandwiches, cooked meats, and...British Fish and Chips! Hmm...foreign food. Interesting!

"Whoa...now I can see why Becky was interested in the food...amazing..."

Quickly, I grabbed a serving and began to dig in. Everyone watched in both fear and anxiousness. After a few moments, nothing happened...a collective sigh of relief came from the students around me. I just couldn't help but express my love for the food...

"W-Whoa! This food is...fucking amazing!"

My mouth was practically watering from the deliciousness of the chips, that's coated in salt and ketchup, and the tastiness of the breaded fish. This food is...awesome!

Takuma stared deeply at the table ", It is? Damn...I'm relieved now..."

He said this as his hands blindly used a portable console. Gaming as usual, I see? Following my example, several people collected some food and began to eat. Jackson was the last to join in. It was a few moments after everyone had some food in their systems that he now spoke up.

"So, now that we all have some food, there is something I'd like to address, but first...we're missing some people."

Jackson was right. Everyone else seemed to notice that we were missing a few people. There's 13, Lora, and Jane. Where could they have gone? Daniel now stood up.

"Well...if you must know....I happened to be wandering the school grounds and might have noticed a few of them browsing the campus...I don't think they'll be bothering us though...Who cares? Just tell us what you want to fucking say, moron..."

Jackson seemed to ignore the insult, but did take note of the wandering students.

"I see. I'll have to go check on them later than. For now, I'd like to discuss our prison in a little more detail. I know everyone has seen the maps in order to find their rooms, but I was wondering if anyone else has investigated the other rooms that weren't labeled..."

Ryan seemed confused ",Rooms that weren't labeled? Like what?"

Will now stood up quickly and took a pose, getting ready to speak...

"Well, fair sir, if you must know, I did take a moment yesterday to look around the facility. Most prominently, I tried to find the point I enter into this horrid place. To my fortune, I had found the entrance hall, but to my woe, it is much more different than before! A large rusted metal hatch now blocks us from the world outside, and two large guns hang from above, forever watching..."

I gulped as he mentioned large guns.

"G-Guns...?"

He nodded towards me to answer my concern

"Indeed. It seems our host does not want us near the metallic lock to our cage..."

Holy shit...I do NOT want to get busted full of bullet holes...! I sweat dropped in fear.

"Got it..."

To add on to what William said, Dakota now rose up as well...

"Well, I did happen to find some sort of store! It even had a huge gashapon machine called the Mono-Mono Machine. Didn't seem to take any regular money though...just made-up coins for some reason."

That's just weird...Jackson adjusted his tie and took over.

"Those are great examples, but I happened to find something a little more important. When I searched last night, I happened to find several rooms we couldn't enter. The stairways to a higher floor are blocked off, a nurse's office is caged shut, someone put caution tape over the locked AV room, and there are some red doors at the end of the hall that are locked shut. Seems there are some places that are unavailable to us here..."

Ryan seemed to have more concerns. "Hmm...was there a reason they're all blocked off?"

"Because of renovations, of course!"

Monokuma had appeared out of nowhere at the end of the table. It caught me completely off guard...

"Whoa! What the hell? Where'd you-"

"Silly child! I can appear anywhere at anytime! That is the will of Monokuma. Besides, that isn't important. Are you all enjoying my little gift to you all? I hope you have been enjoying it..."

Kaiya jumped up in excitement.

"Oh, you made the food for us? That's kind of you!"

Are you forgetting he's the one who put us in this place? I now asked a different question.

"But...why?"

The bear now chuckled once more. I was starting to hate that laugh.

"Well, you are supposed to live here forever, right? So I can't just let you starve. That wouldn't be interesting at all! So yes, I took time out of my busy day to make a lovely feast for you! I'll even be doing this for you every morning! No need to thank me for such godly generosity..."

Several people spoke to others about this until Jackson spoke up once more.

"Hold on! The food doesn't matter. Go back to these renovations...you keep talking about them, so why don't you clarify some things..."

"Sure thing...! Might as well...As I have said, the academy is currently getting some minor repairs done. Some rooms are a little trashed and a few have technical issues, so I have closed them off until they are in proper working condition.

That being said, there is still tons of things open to you. I am pleased to announce I actually finished the bath house today. No need to be all smelly now! Go enjoy the nice waters and let your worries flow away."

Ernest puts his hand up, while he has a huge grin on his face.

"Is the bath house unisex?"

Oh god, he did not just ask that...The bear seemed indifferent by the question though.

"Sadly...we don't have a large enough budget to separate the facility, so it will be up to you to organize times...But let it be known, I do not support any-"

Ryan put his hands up, interrupting Monokuma from finishing his sentence about the bath house.

"OK...too MUCH information."

It was then that almost all the girls present blushed. Kaiya was the worst of all, her makeup not hiding her embarrassment.

"U-U-Unisex...?"

An enraged Monobear took over the conversation.

"Enough, will you! Just plan among yourselves in order to prevent anything controversial. This is a learning environment after all. Jeez, kids and their raging hormones. Shame no one nowadays has an ounce of maturity."

Monokuma now left, being a bit frustrated...We were back to ourselves. Jackson now tried to recollect everyone after another interruption from that damned bear...

Jackson now tried to recollect the group.

"Back to the previous matter...anymore about the school? We can settle the bath house later..."

Once more, my basketball loving friend spoke up once more. Ryan stood and presented.

"Well...I did find a theater room too. I don't know why though..."

Let me guess...to see Monokuma on the big screen? Ryan looked towards me, and winked at me. Wait...he's thinking about me with movies, right...? This caught Ernest's interests...

"Oh! I bet Monokuma is a big fan of Jason and his movies too! I mean, he IS an Oscar winner after all..."

I mentally facepalmed as Ernest suggested that. If he was, he wouldn't send me here in this death trap. William, oddly, seemed a bit disappointed by this news...

"Shame it isn't a standard theater though...I would have loved to maybe organize a show..."

Ryan grinned towards William.

"Actually, it's both a movie theater AND a traditional theater. You can just roll up the screen, and boom! Instant stage."

The actor now perked up.

"Marvelous! I must see it when I finish! I have so much work I could do!"

Jackson, a bit stern about all the ongoing conversation, tried again to end his little meeting.

"Well then, I believe that is our set up...The bear expects someone to be killed somewhere in this large mess...Needless to say, I think we can work around this..."

A new interruption occurred as the Philosopher now joined the room...

"Sometimes, one's eye can fail to see a bigger picture. I believe you didn't quite notice something while you all did your little...explorations..."

Jane, being Jane...like usual. Her philosophical garbage now made Daryll chuckle...

"Notice something, did you?"

The girl simply grinned in such a way you could tell she knew something we were clueless of...

"Our captors roam these halls...using those machines to manipulate the debris of a former memory....Have you all been so blind you didn't notice them moving about? What a shame..."

Machines? Could it be...?

"The Mono-ters? They're the ones fixing the school? Why?"

The president built off of my realization.

"When you have a powerful machine that can do the work easier, why not use it? At least this means they aren't going to be watching over us all the time..."

Jackson looked as if he was piecing together everything.

"Well...we still aren't entirely safe, but it seems the situation became much more clear. We now know all that is available to us. As long as we stay calm and speculative, we should all be fine. With that said, I'm going to go check on the others. I want to make sure they aren't trying to find weapons..."

He now rose from his seat and walked out of the dining room. Jane watched him as he walked by. Once Jackson had left, she then took his empty seat.

"I despise those who try to see what is best for others. How can one know the complexity of another's inner turmoil? Whatever he thinks he can do...it won't work well as long as others have different things in mind..."

The childish con artist ignored her philosophy and now asked something bugging him...

"Well...where are Lora and 13? Haven't seen them myself...have you, Daryll?"

"N-No...sorry..."

Daryll blushed as he spoke towards Ernest. Seriously...what is going on with them...? Before I could think anymore about those two, the playwright caught my attention. He arose from his seat and spoke up.

"Well...I think breakfast is all but done. I think right now I'll go investigate this little stage. Mister Ryan...could you perhaps lead me to it?"

"Of course. Got nothing better to do after....oh wait...basketball stuff....Anyway, sure."

I decided to leave as well. Perhaps I could use this time to get to know some people...like Kaiya! After our little talk yesterday, I'd love to find out more about her...

"Well then...Kaiya?"

I wondered if she could maybe help me look around the school, but to my dismay, she and a few other ultimates had already finished and left as the meeting concluded...

"Come on...anyone at all...? Don't leave me alone..."

It would seem I would have to find someone else to talk too...

[Free-Time Event]

I left the dining room, looking for someone to hang out with and to maybe search the school with. As I searched the hallways, I just so happened to run into Takuma.

"Ah, sorry about that..."

As usual, he's gaming on his handheld...he must be getting sore eyes at this point.

"Hmm? Oh, hey Jason."

"Say, Takuma...you got any time to spare?"

He didn't really look up from his game as he thought, but within moments, he had something of a response...It was like a little nod.

"I take it as a yes...?"

"...Yeah...."

Takuma and I now walked the halls together looking around...Though, it was more like I looked around while he finished up a level...

"So...where do you wanna visit and explore, Takuma?"

It took him a moment to register an answer.

"...Maybe we could check out the...main hall? I kinda want to see the hatch those guys talked about..."

"Hmm, maybe take a crack at a code to get us out of here?"

"...Didn't Will say there were guns watching it? I love puzzle games as much as the next bear, but...being shot doesn't sound like the best game over..."

"You're right...I don't want to get my ass shot...It'd be interesting for you to unleash your inner puzzle genius though."

"I guess...come on..."

He now lead me to the main hall and the most remarkable sight was revealed to us. A large rusted door now sat between two mounted machine guns. They seemed a bit old, but they still looked dangerous...

"Holy shit...those guys weren't kidding..."

Takuma began to examine the door.

"Something tells me a dungeon key wouldn't work here...and I don't see a keypad. How would one go about trying to open this?"

...A dungeon key. Fucking seriously?

"...Hack into the mainframe system? You know, like that one game where you get to play as a hacker and hack into anything possible? Forgot what it's called though..."

"You don't play many games...do you?"

He just called me out...

"O-Of course I do! I know that my favorite game genre is 3D Platforming, and I REALLY hate Loot Boxes. I consider that gambling, you know..."

The panda was displeased by my obviously small knowledge of games...

"Jason, sometime you should come to my room and play a proper game...something with style to it....like an RPG or an action game..."

"Yeah...you're probably right. It'd be fun to play more games. Take my mind off the murder bear for a while...like...right now?"

"Sure...I don't see why not..."

We then spent a hour or two playing a old fashioned co-op shooter game...I think me and him grew a little closer today...After I left, I decided to try and look for someone else to talk to...

"Hmm..."

I stopped in the hallways, in front of Kaiya's door to her room. Well, this is it. Finally talking to and hanging out with a girl, ever since elementary school...don't be nervous, Jason! You can do this. I press her doorbell.

*DING DONG!*

"Huh? Oh, just a sec! I-I'm changing!"

Oh...OK...I waited for a few minutes for her to come out. She finally opens the door and comes out of her room. Was she showering or something? I could tell from how slightly wet and shiny her hair was.

"Haha...Hey there, Mr. Movie Star."

"Uh...hey, heh..."

I was blushing slightly when I was talking to her again. Her skin was a little wet, slightly showing off some of her natural dark skin under the white clown makeup.

"So...ahem! You, uh, have time to spare with me?"

"Well...I could always use a person to help me with my knife juggling.....but I think I'm fine with just talking...."

K-Knife juggling...? Definitely NOT doing that...

"By the way...your, uh...makeup is..."

I point to the bits where the makeup is gone, showing her dark skin. As soon as I pointed them out, she seemed a little embarrassed...

"Oh! One second then..."

Taking what looked like an odd pie shaped item, she quickly pushed it onto her face, returning it's white makeup. To finish up, she now grabbed her natural lipstick, spread it on her lips, added eyeliner, painting her eyelids black, and put on the last touches...She did all that work, but I kinda thought she looked pretty...even without the makeup.

"So...where do you wanna go?"

"How about we go check out the bath house?"

She said that playfully...I was caught completely off guard...she wasn't even blushing, despite previously worrying about it being unisex.

"Alright then. Bath house it is..."

With a bit of hesitation, I now walked with her to the bath house...As we walked in, a sort of locker area sort of welcomed us, while the doors to the baths sat on its left side. On the right side, labeled lockers stood, filled with possessions belonging to each student.

"Honestly...I was kinda blushing when Monokuma said that the bath house was unisex, but it seems they have something of a separation...At least the baths and changing room aren't the same room..."

Still means only one gender can use it at a time though...

"So...what do we do now, Kaiya?"

Immediately, she had went to check what exactly was in her locker...it was like she was ignoring my question...what was she looking for? Suddenly she pulled out a bag...

"Bingo!"

"A bag? What's inside there?"

She now pulled out something that looked like a rubber chicken...

"Props....and a few other things..."

"Oh, for your circus shows? That's pretty cool..."

"Thanks...you should really let me show you some tricks....like my juggling."

Hmm...if I'm gonna get close with her and deepen my friendship bond with her, maybe watching her tricks, magic, and jokes are way to do it.

"Well...alright then. Lay them on me, Kay."

I smile at her as she now began the first trick. We spent the rest of our time with her prop bag...It would seem we have grown a bit closer...

Back at my bedroom, I was exhausted from spending the day with a few new friends. It was then time for the night time announcement came on.

[Ding, dong, bing, bong]

What ended up playing was the exact same announcement from last night....he must have them recorded....putting that aside, I laid down and tried to rest...

*******************************

[Elsewhere]

"Puhuhuhuhu...Man, I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they see these...It's really going to have them one the edge of their seats..."

*SLIDE*

"I wonder what they'll feel? Uneasiness? Fear? Whatever it is...all road lead to despair eventually...."

*Something now waddles down the hallway...continuing it's work for the morning...*

[End of Secrets Shared Between Lost Souls Part 1]

#You have collected a new present! Old fashioned shooter game has been added to your inventory#