#the 'we' here is specifically presented in opposition to the canaries actions to be clear

[bi-hop]

this Labru shit goes crazy, get prepared to die behind it

[lore-a-lie]

Chapter 2: I Spit on Your Grave Expectations

Daily Life

Kaede wasn’t sure what to expect after that argument, but when she got to the dining hall the next day after washing the crust from her face and the redness from her eyes it was clear things had only gotten worse. Kaito was yelling at Angie about something and their group of friends was visibly split in two, the sets standing on opposite sides of the hall, but that wasn’t what concerned her the most. Kibo was.

He was pink now. Every bit of his previous gentle cyan lighting was gone, leaving only the nearly toxic looking magenta glow in its place. Even the glare he gave her was an intense pink rather than his previous desaturated blue, which shook her for reasons she couldn’t explain beyond feeling “wrong”.

And as around his neck, catching the light despite the shadows there, was Miu’s layered necklace he salvaged the night before, clean and repaired, she didn’t need to wonder why he did. That was a fair enough warning for what this was about.

Kaede wasn’t a good enough leader for them so Angie wanted to take over her responsibilities.

And had Miu not asked this of me I might have been fine with going along with that. But she did, as our friend, so I can’t give up quite yet. Right? Or did Miu just make another mistake putting her faith in me?

The way the room was divided the two new “groups” was pretty clear. Those in support of Angie’s new leadership were Kibo, Tenko, Tsumugi, Kirumi, and Gonta. Her friends that wanted to keep supporting Kaede’s own attempts to protect them were Kokichi, Kiyo, and Kaito’s trio of him, Ryoma, and Maki. (Little wonder this would happen the day I was the last to arrive huh? Not that I’d blame anyone here.)

“Kaito, please calm down! Let’s just try to talk about this okay? “This” is about how I’ve been leading everyone so far right? Just tell me what’s going on.”

“Atua doesn’t believe you’ve been doing a good job at keeping everyone safe. You are good at bringing us together, but only in ways that have better enabled us to turn on each other. He doesn’t feel only Monokuma’s motives are at fault for that, as you haven’t tried limiting the means for our betrayals. And so He told me Angie should be the one to lead us now, and to make rules to help protect everyone here! We can’t keep hoping for your dangerous dream of going back outside Kaede, we’ve lost enough of us.”

“And that’s why I’m calling bullshit! How long do you honestly think we could stay here?! Have you seen where our food’s been coming from? Any medical facilities, or even a goddamn nurse’s office?! We can’t trust anything here to keep us alive in the long term you idiot!” Kaito was still furious, for good reason.

He should know more about the dangers of being stuck somewhere without any means of protecting or repairing the resources everyone will be relying on than anyone else here, given his talent and experience. And yet Angie and her supporters kept completely ignoring his warnings and concerns.

“But Atua says it’s safe here, and it’s not like we have any better options. Without a safer alternative it’s plain to see this is the best course of action we can be taking, isn’t it?” (No it isn’t. I need to step in.)

“Tsumugi weren’t you the one to warn me to be wary of cults and con artists? Because it’s sounding like you should be taking your own advice right now you know, you can’t just pretend Kaito’s wrong here.”

“How could she? She and Angie were both Con Artists already aren’t they?” Kokichi mocked, looking for all to see like a cat playing with a canary as both girls glared at him for the pun. (But he’s not really okay with what’s happening here is he? This is too dangerous to allow things to keep going on for long, right?)

“Who are you calling a cult?! We are-” Tenko’s yelling was cut off by a familiar chorus of “Rise and Shine, Ursine”, minus the loudest and deepest voice in their tune. The set of three cubs and their father stood in the middle of the room.

“Hello~ my children! My, my, aren’t you all just chomping at the bit today? At least you’ve got a lot of energy for your exploring later, haven’t you?” The three little cubs kept looking between themselves as their father talked, as if communicating amongst each other while he was distracted talking to the class. “And boy do I have some presents for you~ A wonderful set of rewards for you all surviving so far, won’t that be fun? Come on kids, show them their fantabulous new prizes!”

“No.” The monotone syllable got everyone’s attention, all eyes on the half green bear and his siblings.

“... What? Sorry, must have some stuffing in my belly button, it sounded like you said-”

“Not happening pops. Why should we be listenin’ to ya anymore huh?”

“What do you think you’re playing at kiddo?” Monokuma wasn’t amused by his tiger-striped son’s reply.

“W-we talked about things after the last trial! W-we keep dying and no one cares at all but us! S-so… So we won’t do this anymore! We have the Exisals, so we’ll just do things our way from now on daddy!”

“Though this all bein’ said we prolly should hand out these little doohickies shouldn’t we? But let’s try ta change things up! No more o’ this givin’ you the things and then sit back while you bumbling bastards try to sort their puzzles out business! Each o’ us will keep the keys we got as youse guys figure out where to you’ll need to take us. Will we be helpful? Annoying? Try to lead you astray? Who fuckin’ gives a damn!”

“... This is fine. I mean it’s good you kids are taking some initiative right? This is a good thing for a father to witness, this isn’t a cute lil’ coup d'etat by my Ultimate Lil’ Monokubs or anything, nope not at all.”  

Despite saying that Monokuma was somewhat dazed as he mumbled something about going back home to his cubs who do still like him, sounding somewhat delusional given they’re all here. As he wandered off the pink cub- Monophanie, took out three items to pass out to her remaining brothers. She kept the literal pixelated key for herself, Monosuke was given the ninja scroll, leaving Monodam with the golden hammer. But after doing this the cubs looked at a loss over what they were meant to do next.

“So… Now, what Monosuke? Do we just split up?”

“Uhh… Yeah, sure why not? I don’t wanna to spend any more time with a certain murderer I could mention anyways.” Monosuke gave Monodam a pointed glare at that, but Monophanie’s flailing about trying to deny what he did was more of a response than Monodam’s own stoic stare.

“Then-Let’s-All-Get-Along-With-The-Bastards! Let’s-All-Be-Friends-Now, No-Need-For-Killing-Games!”

“WHAT?! Not a fuckin’ chance, the Killing Game’s the most fun we’ve had! Why should we give it up?”

“I don’t know, making friends could be nice, and no more gross gory bodies to deal with. Let’s give it a try at least, we can always change our minds later right?”

“Fuck that! You two can go play house, or class, or whateva the fuck this shit is but I’m out. If any of yous guys want to use my item I’ll be outside to see if ya can get me ta put it where it needs to go, capisce?” And with that, the bespectacled bear squeakily stormed out the door to the porch as the humans watching things unfold remained speechless. (I mean this is too stupid for words right now isn’t it???)

Angie was the first to break the silence as Monophanie and Monodam kept looking between themselves, their items, and everyone else. “Well we already made ourselves into two groups so this works out well, doesn’t it? Praise be to Atua and his foresight of your own changes of heart!”

“What’s an Atua?” (An excellent question, but not one you should ever ask bear. You’ll see.)

“A term stemming from Polynesian cultures that can mean “power” in a more supernatural sense, like “mana” which is quite different from the apparently common video game concept of the same name. However this typically refers to gods or spirits, in this case specifically for a presumably monotheistic entity that-”

“Atua is Atua silly! He’s all knowing and carefully watches over everyone, like a loving father!” Kiyo did not appreciate being cut off mid-lecture by Angie’s attempt to recruit another member to her cause, but he did at least capture Monodam’s attention.

“Apparently common”? Has he not played any games with it before? That’s weird. I wonder if this means Himiko told him about that before she… When they talked before the show. She knew a lot about that sort of thing, so it might have been what helped her and Angie bond too.

“Angie told Gonta Atua was like Grandma, Atua change?”

“Yup-yup! Atua changes to whatever He feels will help those He cares for best after all!”

“That-Sounds-Rather-Unreliable. And-Convenient-If-You-Are-Making-Him-Up, To-Claim-He-Is-Where Ever-You-Say-He-Is. How-”

“It’s is not the place of mortals to question Him or His divine grace you know?” (And so hails the return of Angie’s scary face, oh joy. If there is a God why do I need to be the one to put up with this right now?)

“No-I-Did-Not. But-Father-Claimed-He-Was-Our-God-Too-And-Look-At-Him-Now. We-Don’t-Need-Yours, Right-Monophanie?”

“Hmm, but Daddy was lying about that wasn’t he? Maybe this “God” is different. Why not give it a try?”

“I-Do-Not-Want-To. It-Doesn’t-Seem-To-Be-Helping-Others-To-Get-Along, Just-Making-Them-Fight.”

“Religion has been known to do both, faith can be quite the terrifying thing when taken to extremes. Particularly those that leave no room for compromise or allow themselves to mix with their neighbors. Among many pantheons, it’s common to find deities that in fact originated somewhere else and became incorporated over time to help pacify and better unite with other cultures.” (Nice trivia Kiyo, but no one cares.)

“Why not you come with us then Monodam, while Monophanie can go with Angie’s? Are you going to tell us where your item belongs? I don’t think I’ve seen anything for it before.”

“I-Don’t-Think-”

“I like that plan! Let’s go!”

Monophanie was quick to leave with Angie’s cult, which upset the remaining bear. If his goal was staying as a group he was proving pretty bad at it with how eager his siblings were to avoid him, given his involvement with Monokid’s death and their own personalities. But seeing Kaede’s expectant face he lit back up again, seeing them as other people he could try to “get along with” instead of his siblings.

“That’s-Because-You-Haven’t-Yet! It-Is-Up-Stairs-With-The-New-Labs, I-Will-Show-You!”

Alas, he forgot the stairs he was thinking of were still locked behind the supposed mural of the pixelated door that required Monophanie’s key to open, so Kaede had to hurry after Angie to see about that first.

After some negotiations between the two it was agreed that since the Magic Key had the most obvious use and Monodam’s item would be used in the area it unlocked Angie’s group would be headed outside to solve Monosuke’s Ninja Scroll puzzle instead.

Monophanie was rather relieved this would mean she wouldn’t need to go to the fourth floor yet and instead would get her more time alone with Monosuke, which in hindsight should have been a warning.

Following Monodam soon proved to be a mistake. Not an avoidable one, and not one that was his fault in particular, but it felt like a mistake nonetheless. The fourth floor lived up to the creepier associations with a number a bit too well in Kaede’s opinion. And that’s only speaking from the top of the stairs, they hadn’t even been to any rooms yet. (AND I DON’T WANT TO. AT ALL. WHY IS IT SO SPOOKY?! ... Kiyo’s lab is here isn’t it? It’s gotta be here with this atmosphere and everything, it suits him way too well. Welp.)

Kiyo apparently assumed the same thing as he gravitated to a set of traditional shoji style doors, unlike all the others in the school. Kokichi quickly followed after him while Kaito stayed where he was, sweating and trying not to look at anything around him.

Ryoma was rather amused by this as he tried leading his friend down the halls but given the scream that could not have been from Maki and Kaito dashing back and practically flying back down the stairs that was clearly a lost cause. It didn’t stop an annoyed Maki from following after him to literally drag him back by the arm though, as if in payback for all the times he practically did the same thing for her.

“C’mon Maki Roll, we don’t need this many people here right?! I can go see about the Ninja Scroll or something-” Kaito tried to argue, but she was still having none of his excuses.

“Not a chance. I thought a “manly” guy like you is supposed to be brave, aren’t you?”

“W-well… I mean… T-that’s why it’s good for you and Ryoma to do this alone! It’s-”

“Better for you to face your cowardice here then. You are the only one with a problem, idiot.” Maki challenged with an air of finality that seemed to shut Kaito up for the most part. Minus some nervous keening noises Kaede could hear as he was being pulled away.

Kaede chose not to draw attention to herself and how she proved he really wasn’t the "only one with a problem" and instead made her way with Monodam down the hall to a set of three doors.

She opened the first to see what was in it, only to let out a shriek of her own and slam it shut again upon seeing what she would swear was a familiar looking bear-shaped ghost floating inside. As Monodam grabbed her hand and made a dash back to the anthropology lab she wasn't the only one.

Had she not been so frazzled by everything Kaede probably would have found the confused looks on Kokichi and Kiyo’s faces hilarious, at least before Kokichi started to laugh at her own expression instead.

“... Might I inquire to what exactly that was about? If you’ll pardon my use of the phrase, you look like you’ve seen a gho-” Kiyo tried to ask, choosing to have marginally more tact than the local liar. If only his choice of words had been better.

“Don’t. Say it. Something was in one of those side rooms, honest!” Kaede tried to explain as convincingly as she could, but with everything going on and only the furiously nodding Monodam in her defense that wasn't saying much.

“Indeed, It-Was-Monotaro! But-Different-Than-He-Used-To-Be!”

“ Please tell me- you’re trying to say- you think you say some ghost- of a robotic teddy bear , Kaede. Because this is fucking priceless, you should see your face right now!” Kokichi was barely able to pause his laughter enough to speak, despite the scolding side look Kiyo was giving him for his teasing. (Don’t you fucking pretend I don’t see you smirking under that mask Kiyo! You’re enjoying this too aren’t you?!)

“S-shut up! You can go look for yourself then if you don’t believe me.”

“And leave you and Kiyo in his spooooky lab alone together? Ooookie-dokie! You two have fun~” (... Well fuck. Why couldn’t it be a normal museum? I can handle those! Everything here feels wrong. How many stories does this lab even have?!... Is this just for a visual pun?)

“I hardly see what you’re talking about, the setup they have here is magnificent. I haven’t the foggiest idea where on earth they could have found some of these works, I never expected I’d be able to so much as see them much less be in their presence during my lifetime.” (THAT PROVES IT’S CREEPY DAMNIT!)

As Kokichi stepped out to investigate Kaede’s “ghost bear” it was almost funny to see Kiyo flit about the room like he was a kid in a candy store. Almost. Though hearing him ramble about how there was a book with “spells” written by the sole survivor of a village, fueled by the fury behind the girl’s pen as she wrote, the incredibly heavy dog statue and cage meant for a séance from it, and a genuine katana did nothing to ease Kaede’s nerves at all. Not that he noticed in his sheer delight at everything around him.

Kokichi really should have expected to find her curled up into a ball like this, sitting on one of the seats near the bookshelves with her head on her knees, when he got back.

“Uhh, Kiyo I think you broke her. Great, now who’s gonna save us from Angie’s crazy cultists?! They even have Kirumi, we can’t compete with that! All we have is an idiot and scary people! WE’RE DOOOOMED!” Kokichi faux-sobbed with his crocodile tears again as Kiyo sighed.

“Technically we do also have one of the less incompetent and supposedly benevolent of Monokuma’s progeny, but you make a fair assessment. They also have Gonta and Tenko among them, which is also concerning as both are as strong as they are gullible I fear. Unless Kaede is back with us now of course?”

“Darn you all to heck, you horrible, horrible people” Came Kaede’s deadpanned reply, muffled by her body.

“Nope! Still broken, she can’t even curse now.”

“... Hmm, I see. Very well then, speaking of curses-” Kiyo’s words certainly got Kaede back on her feet.

“NO! NO MORE CURSES. I HEARD ENOUGH TODAY.” Too bad Kaede’s pointer finger in his face didn’t have its intended effect, as he was still more amused than anything else. She chalked it up to the height thing.

“There, that appears to have done the trick. My apologies for not seeing sooner how distressed you were becoming, I got rather overzealous you could say.” (Or you could say you were a dick, you jerk!)

“That-Is-Good-” Monodam caught the enraged glare Kaede gave him and backpedaled. “I-Mean-Not-Being-Insensitive-To-Your-Friends, That-Is-Bad. But-That-Enjoying-Your-Lab-Is-Good! Each-Was-Tailor-Made-For-You-Bastards-After-All.”

“Is that more or less creepy to hear than everything else here?” (LESS . INFINITELY LESS. Er-waitaminute.)

That did explain the selection of music in her own lab, any songs she saw that Kaede didn’t immediately recognize she still had a vague knowledge of. Like she heard of it and just hadn’t listened to them yet.

And it did indicate they were all in this place for a specific reason, to be singled out like this. But not why or what the reasoning behind this could be for. (I mean even if it looks like a prison school only maybe a handful of us seem like we’d actually belong in one, and if Kirumi’s the prime minister in all but title she shouldn’t fit. Unless she was used as a scapegoat for something? Would she remember that?)

“If such efforts were made to study and accommodate us why were we made to kill each other then? This is rather extreme for a mere social experiment, wouldn’t you say?” Kiyo asked, looking over some of his displays as he did.

“I-Can’t-Tell-You-That. Sorry. I-Could-Tell-You-Other-Things-But-Only-For-The-Killing-Game-Itself, Not Where-You-Bastards-Are. And-As-The-Killings-Should-End-Now-That-Doesn’t-Matter-Anymore.”

“I dunno~ If you have a motive for us later it could make you Monokuma wannabes at least a little useful. Might make us like you a little bit. So spill it, any other “special rules” we didn’t know about?” Kokichi said, putting the bear in something between a hold and a hug.

“Umm… There-Is-The-Tiebreaker-Rule? If-Multiple-People-Tie-For-Having-The-Most-Votes-And-The- Blackened-Is-One-Of-Them-Then-It-Counts-And-The-Spotless-Would-Be-Safe-From-Execution. It-Even- Works-With-Everyone-Only-Having-One-Vote, So-If-You-All-Agreed-To-Vote-For-Yourselves-You’d-Win!”

“I hardly believe the blackened would ever allow things to turn out in such a way. They’d simply need to lie and vote for anyone else to ensure their own survival would be guaranteed, yes?”

Monodam began bashfully poking his paws together at Kiyo's point, almost like he thought his way would have really worked. He also got a bit nervous when Kokichi brought up another motive appearing, so even without their father’s “game” apparently his cubs have something in store for them all later anyway.

When Kaede was feeling marginally better she made another attempt at looking for where Monodam’s hammer was meant to be used. Kokichi confirmed the three side doors were empty, denying seeing any ghosts or ghouls with a snicker, as he and Kiyo chose to keep her company. (To see me cry again?! Jerks.)

Monodam was trying to not so subtly lead them back towards the three doors, but instead the group went to see about Kaito’s group in the last room. Well, Kiyo and Kokichi did, as Kaede turned around and ran right back to Monodam upon seeing the blood-red hallway, much to Kokichi’s annoyance.

“Seriously Kaede?! Come on you scaredy cat get back here, we have work to do!” Kokichi called after her.

“We hardly need her for this. As Monodam is indicating this isn’t where his item needs to go why don’t we leave that to her for now? I strongly doubt this will be getting any easier on her mind quite yet.”

“It’s the principle of it! Why should we go somewhere when our “leader” won’t?! Kaede come baaack~”

Kiyo ignored Kokichi’s attempt to drag Kaede back and briefly continued along the hallway that supposedly Kaito was capable of going through, before walking back looking like he found something particularly amusing in the hallway ahead. Kaede didn’t have too long to wonder what sort of horrible thing this was foreshadowing as Kokichi pushed her onwards like she was stubborn packhorse stuck by a river.

The series of Jizo statues, decapitated and otherwise, certainly explained what Kiyo thought was so damn funny, but Kokichi and Kaede were less appreciative of the “joke” as the push shifted into more of a cling. As she tried going back again, Kokichi spun on his heel with the force behind her, but shifted their momentum to shoving her forwards instead. While the two made their mad sprint past the 8 figures Kiyo calmy trailed behind them, pausing to examine the statues and the Torii sitting across the way.

Kaede nearly ran into Kaito in her run to get anywhere but the eerie rotting red hallways around her, who she could not be more grateful to see. Since she was still soon followed by Kokichi Kaito wouldn’t be able to say the same, but since he finally got the hug he asked for before he was certainly not complaining.

“Hey there, you okay?” (NO. I have never been good at test of courage type stuff! I never want to come here again. EVER. At least the hallway here looks normal again? Is that another lab? Are we done yet?!)

As that isn’t best to admit Kaede tried salvaging what she could of this situation. “Y-yeah, it’s just a bit too… Spooky for me, you know? With… The gross wallpaper, and stuff on the ceiling, and the lighting-”

“And Kiyo with his sadistic horror fetish!” Kokichi’s voice chimed in behind her.

“And Kiyo with his- Hey wait no, you stay out of this! You made me go through there!”

“Right into Kaito’s waiting arms! You better not let Maki catch the two of you like this~”

“That could prove most troublesome, "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned". And who knows what a slighted assassin may do should her fickle feelings sour.” (Do you really have to say stuff like that here Kiyo?!... Of course you do, stupid question. Please don’t kill me Maki.)

“That’s not funny you two, knock it off!” Kaito scolded, giving both of the boys a firm look as if they all didn’t know that push come to shove either could leave him a terrified mess. “You’re here for Angie’s lab right? It’s open and everything so get move on with it. Though unlike the others this one does have locks, which might cause issues later. No idea where the keys for it are yet since we couldn’t find any inside.”

The high ceilings were weird to see be continued from the hallways around it, but the contrasting tone of the normal white fluorescent lighting was a welcome relief. At least Angie wouldn’t need to worry about art supplies or areas for her work to dry anymore, she could even probably hang stuff from the exposed beams if she had to free up floor space.

Having two different types of doors was another odd detail, considering both in Kiyo’s lab matched. But not all of the light fixtures matched either so maybe this was a preference of Angie’s, as she wasn’t here to give them any input beyond what could be seen. No Flashback Lights were in here at least, just Maki and Ryoma looking around the large workspace.

… Which meant it was likely for the best to leave and go see what Monodam was so intent on. Oh, joy.

Kaede managed to get through the disturbing trek faster this time, at a brisk walk while trying not to look around herself too much, but she had stubbed her foot on one of the Jizo heads lying on the floor in her hurry. (And now we know those things are heavy, even though they’re round it barely budged. OWWW!)

Kaito at least was with her this time, which made for much more pleasant company as he wasn’t faring much better than she was as far as nerves were concerned in these hopefully not-so-haunted hallways. She thought it for the best to not point out other rooms on this floor might not be able to have the title. It was getting easier to get used to this now at least, which was little comfort but a comfort nonetheless.

Monodam was sitting on the floor pulling at his feet with his paws until he saw them return, quick to get to his feet and pull them towards the painted glass at the end of the hallway. He nearly threw his hammer at them trying to “hint” to them how exactly they were meant to solve this “riddle”.

Pushy little brat isn’t he? Cuter than the yellow one at least, since he is trying to make himself useful. Sibling murder notwithstanding of course.

Kaito did what he wanted though, and through the shattered glass another hallway could be seen. Still a creepy hallway in its own way, but this one looked more high tech. Tubes and exposed stainless steel floors almost feeling like they’d be better suited to a spaceship than a school.

The door they found at the end had a light with the words “Computer Room” above it, and when they approached the unusual locks sprang to life to open for them. (Must be motion activated or something then, weird to see here.)

This room was massive, nearly if not as big as the labs on this floor were already, and had it not been called the “Computer Room” already Kaede wouldn’t have known what to make of the large cube in the center of the space, surrounded by monitors. (Right, technically computers are those tower things, not the screens aren’t they? But I’ve never seen one this big! I didn’t even know cables came in that size.)

Kaito let out a low whistle as he took everything in and Monodam explained this was for the latest incarnation of the “Neo-World Program”, a simulated world people could enter if they wanted to. (Miu probably would have had a field day with this thing if she were here… But then that could have just lead to her trying to kill someone anyway, couldn’t it? In a world where she’d know the rules better than us.)

But of more of their direct concern was the treasure chest to the left of it. One that looked just like the one with the previous Flashback Light the time before. Kaede made a beeline for it and took the precious clue to what was going on with her and her friends, putting it in her backpack for safe keeping.

She told Kaito to gather everyone on this floor and meet up later as she headed to find Angie’s group.

Best to have everyone regroup in the Dining Hall to see what we’ll be doing with this. It’s as good a time as any to see what they’ve found so far too.

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