𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗔𝗡𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗣𝗔: 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗬 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗖

𝗜𝗧𝗦𝗙𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗛: 𝗬𝗛𝗦 𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

[𝗗𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗬 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘]

𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁?

[𝘆𝗲𝘀] 𝗇𝗈

𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜......

❝𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙𝘠𝘖𝘕𝘌 𝘏𝘈𝘚 𝘈 𝘍𝘓𝘈𝘞. 𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙𝘌 𝘐𝘚 𝘈𝘓𝘞𝘈𝘠𝘚 𝘚𝘖𝘔𝘌𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘗𝘌𝘖𝘗𝘓𝘌 𝘊𝘈𝘕𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘋𝘖, 𝘕𝘖 𝘔𝘈𝘛𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘏𝘖𝘞 𝘏𝘈𝘙𝘋 𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘠 𝘛𝘙𝘠. 𝘉𝘜𝘛... 𝘐 𝘋𝘖 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘕𝘒 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘚𝘏𝘖𝘜𝘓𝘋 𝘉𝘌 𝘈𝘚𝘏𝘈𝘔𝘌𝘋 𝘖𝘍 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛,❞

-𝙎𝘼𝙆𝙐𝙍𝘼 𝙊𝙊𝙂𝘼𝙈𝙄, 𝘿𝘼𝙉𝙂𝘼𝙉𝙍𝙊𝙉𝙋𝘼: 𝙏𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙂𝙀𝙍 𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙋𝙔 𝙃𝘼𝙑𝙊𝘾𝙐𝙏𝘿𝙋

🥺

When I wake up, my eyes remain closed. As reality around me settles and my mind awakens, I hear the morning announcement already coming to an end. I must have slept through most of it.

I open my eyes slowly, eyes heavy and vision blurry. I rub my eyes for so long I start to see red spots forming in the forced darkness of my hands.

It doesn't take me long to get up and get ready. Eventually, I find myself locking and leaving my room. When I step out into the hallway, no one is around.

Taking this as a sign that everyone else has already made it to role call or are still getting ready, I start heading towards the cafeteria for breakfast.

"Good morning, Funneh," Evelyn hums out, already sitting at the main table where everyone gathers.

"Morning," I say.

"Just in time. You're the last one," Kyran informs me as he sets his plate down onto the table.

"Hurry up next time, Ironing Board," Felicia orders as she inspects her nails. I tune out her words.

"Great! Everyone's here!" Valerie cheers, clapping her hands together. She seems better. That's good at least.

"Yeah, this time," Draco murmurs, although it's loud enough for some people around him to hear.

Upon hearing his words, Lunar crumples up a napkin into a ball and throws it at him. He screams and ducks his head down to dodge it. I laugh as I listen to Draco and Lunar argue like children, with one calling the other crazy and the latter yelling back.

I can't help but stare off into space as the two fight, everyone else talking or conversing, doing anything really just to keep ourselves busy while we eat. Well, most of us anyway. Some like Aly are still quiet and refrain from looking at anyone.

By the time I focus back on reality, everyone has already dispersed from the table and separated off throughout the areas of the school we're granted access to.

"You seem to be spacing out a lot," Evelyn hums as she folds her napkin, "is something on your mind?"

I shake my head and laugh nervously. "I've got an imagination. Something's always on my mind. Keeps me from being bored."

"And what're you thinking about?"

I shrug. "Just thinking about who to spend free time with. Or if I should just sleep the day away."

"It's your choice. Whatever you choose, have fun," she wishes, "now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." She gets up and takes her plate. "Bye, Funneh."

Before I can say goodbye back, she's already heading towards the kitchen to leave her plate. Left alone again, I consider what I can do for the rest of the day.

Eventually, I decide on something and determinedly stand up, ready to carry on with the day.

°°°

𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐟𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞

"Hey, Draco!" I call out, jogging up to him in the hallway, "wait up, dude!"

He stops walking and turns around to face me. "Huh? Oh, hi, Funneh. Did something happen?"

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍?

[𝘆𝗲𝘀] 𝗇𝗈

𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜......

He pauses for a moment before shrugging. "Sure, why not? Come on. I was just gonna chill in the cafeteria anyway."

I grin. "Sounds great."

°°°

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫!

𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍 𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭?

𝗒𝖾𝗌 𝙣𝙤

"I mean, camping is a good strategy. But it depends on the player," I say.

"Camping hardcore can get boring, though," he adds, "I mean, it's fun, yeah. But after waiting for a long time, it loses its point."

"Then you can just kite someone," I say with a shrug, "that way they'll be lured into your base and you can attack them while you run."

"Yeah, that could work," he admits. He goes silent for a moment before resting his head in the palms of his hands on the table, "Man, I'm so tired."

"Not me. I'm used to getting up now," I reply.

"Before all this happened, I used to stay up all night playing games. But now that I've got no choice but to just sleep when it's night, I've been so tired lately." He laughs exhaustedly.

"You're probably just adapting to getting more sleep than usual," I explain.

"Yeah, well, I don't like it," he groans, rubbing his eyes, "I used to stay up all the time playing those games with my online friends."

"Online friends?" I inquire.

🥺

"Yeah. I mean, I had real life friends, but some of my closest friends were online friends. I met most of them through winning video game championships. We spent hours playing together for practice all the time," he sighs. He turns his head to stare at the windows along the wall of the cafeteria, all of them still blocked and covered up by bulky metal barricades. "I wonder what they're doing now?"

"Maybe playing games again," I joke.

He either chooses to ignore my comment or didn't hear it. "I wonder if they're questioning where I am, why I've disappeared suddenly?"

It's my turn to stare at the blocked off windows. "They probably are. I think a lot of people are worried about us."

"Hopefully," he says.

"I'm sure they are. And that's a good thing," I encourage, "because if people miss us, that means they're looking for us. That means they're bound to find us, to save us. After all, they know we're Ultimates. The authorities can easily pin us to our relations with Yandere High School."

"...Maybe." A reluctant tone accompanies his voice.

More silence falls for a bit, both of us just staring at the barricaded windows. Only momentarily, at least, for eventually Draco speaks again.

"Hey, Funneh?" he murmurs, "I miss home."

"...I do, too, Draco. I do, too."

"You know, if people had warned me what it was like to be talented, I would have just spent my whole life outside instead of playing games when I was young," he laughs ruefully, "if I were average, I wouldn't be here."

"But... if you were born 'average', you wouldn't have ever met most of your internet friends," I point out, "and take it from me, without your closest friends, life is boring."

He laughs a bit at my words. "Yeah... I guess you're right, huh?"

"I'm always right," I joke, laughing.

"You are not always right," he retaliates, chuckling.

"Of course, I am! Just watch! Soon, we'll be rescued from here and I'll get to gloat about being right the whole time," I defend with chortles, "just you wait and see."

The two of us laugh in unison. It's a couple of moments before our laughter dies down. While his laughter may have dissolved away, a small smile remains on his face as he looks back at the windows.

More silence. This pause in conversation feels longer than the past ones, but it's probably not. Eventually, he speaks again.

"You really think that our friends and family are looking for us?" he questions.

"Yeah, I do," I affirm.

"I hope so, too," he agrees, "hey, instead of being lazy bums, wanna try checking out the windows and seeing if there's any way to open them?"

I grin, happy to see that my words have sparked at least some bit of motivation in him, especially since he's been so doubtful recently. "Sure."

"Then, let's go."

°°°

"Jeez, these bolts are massive," Draco points out, "seriously, whoever screwed these in was really determined to keep us inside."

"I wonder how long it took them to do all this?" I ponder aloud, "surely someone would have noticed someone doing this to the school beforehand. And when I stepped onto campus, I didn't see anything wrong with the windows. But when I woke up, I was in the gym and we were all trapped."

"They're so reinforced," he adds, rapping his knuckles against the metal barriers, "I get they wanted us to stay in here, but this is a little excessive, don't you think?"

"Now that you mention it, you're right," I admit, inspecting it thoroughly, "but I can't think of any other reason why'd they reinforce this so heavily other than to keep us contained."

"Speaking of which, who exactly is 'they'?" Draco questions, "obviously the mastermind behind all this, but who? And why?"

I flatly place my hand on the metal. "I don't know. Whoever's controlling Monokuma, I assume."

He groans. "Why can't life be like a video game where everything is programmed to drop hints to what's going on?" he whines.

"Because if life were that predictable, it'd be boring," I laugh out, "life is much more fun going with the flow and enjoying it."

"Okay, slow down, fortune cookie," he taunts.

"Hey! I do not sound like a fortune cookie!" I defend.

"What, would you rather be called a greeting card?" he jokes.

I elbow him. "Oh, hush! Now, come on. We came here to see if we could undo one of the windows somehow so that's exactly what we're going to do."

"Alright, alright," he gives in.

The two of us wrap our hands around the bottom two bolts, preparing to yank them. He takes the left and I take the right.

"On the count of three, we pull them," he instructs, "ready? One, two, three!"

We both push the bolts in one direction to no avail. My hands ache for a moment, but the pain quickly subdues.

"How about we both try the first bolt? I push, you pull," I suggest. He nods. We grab the left bolt.

"One, two, three!" I yell out.

On cue, I push the bolt sideways and he yanks it. We continue this for another few seconds before giving up.

My hands burn from the heavy pressure I applied on the corners of the bolts, but I shake my palms and try to ignore the pain.

"Ow, my hands," Draco complains, rubbing his hands together, "whoever screwed these so tightly had some sort of iron grip."

As Draco continues to whine about the aches in his hands, I start inspecting the bolts again.

Upon a closer look, it's easy to tell that these bolts were screwed on from the inside, not the outside (obviously). But if that's the case, that can only mean two things— one: the mastermind is hiding in this school with us, or two: there is some sort of hidden escape that the mastermind uses to get in and out of the school.

"Funneh, you don't have laser vision. You can't burn a hole through metal by staring intensely at it," Draco teases.

"Sorry, I was just checking something," I excuse. I decide not to tell him what I've concluded. He's just cheering up, and I don't want to worry him with the paranoia that the mastermind might be enclosed within the same building as us.

He shakes his hands again, his palms still red. He yawns and rubs his eyes.

"You should probably take a nap," I suggest, "your body isn't used to your new sleeping schedule."

"But—"

"Dude, if you're tired, go. Don't worry about me. It's getting late anyway, so you taking a nap wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Plus, I can always do something else," I assure.

"You sure?" he asks.

"Yeah, man. Go on. Go sleep," I encourage.

"Alright, if you insist," he gives in, "well, I guess see you later, Funneh. Oh, and thanks for cheering me up."

"Anytime. Thanks for hanging out with me," I thank.

"No problem. See ya," he says. And with those words, he walks down the corridor to the stairs.

𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐛𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝!

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝗘𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦

°°°

After Draco walked away out of my sight and down the stairs, I find myself standing alone in the hallway. I glance over at the clock.

𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐟𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞

I tap my foot against the floor. What should I do now? There's still the rest of the day left, and I'm not tired right now. If I were to try and sleep the day away like Draco, I'd probably just end up laying there for hours wide awake.

I think about it for a moment. There's not much else to do. The classrooms that have opened up are only accustomed to other people, not my own Ultimate. There is the computer lab, but I doubt there's any form of platform on there that could even remotely give us a chance at escape.

I decide to spend time with someone instead.

°°°

I jog into the cafeteria, glancing around for someone. There are a few of the others just around, sitting down and talking or staring off into space.

I walk past everyone and slip into the kitchen, glancing around for anyone. At first, I don't see anyone. But then I hear a clatter of metal which prompts me to enter further into the room. That's when I find Valerie crouched down with her head poked into one of the cabinets.

"Um, Valerie?" I call out.

"Huh? Oh, hi, Funneh!" she chirps, sitting up.

"What're you doing?" I inquire.

"I was looking to see if this kitchen had any baking pans, but it doesn't," she sighs, "I was planning on making a cake."

I cringe instantly and glance towards the entrance of the kitchen, half-expecting to see Rainbow burst through. I wait a moment but she doesn't.

"Funneh?" Valerie asks, "what are you doing?"

"Oh, haha. Uh, nothing," I brush off, "anyway, you couldn't find baking pans?"

"Nope. All there is are large pans that definitely aren't fit for cakes," she elaborates.

I snap my fingers in an a-ha moment. "That reminds me! I came here to tell you and ask you something."

"Hmmm? What is it?" she inquires, standing up.

"Another hallway opened up. It's above the second floor. In there is an F.C.S classroom," I explain, "and guess what? There's stuff for cooking and baking."

Her eyes light up and she gasps. "Really? That's great!" she exclaims.

She bows down before standing up straight and suddenly hugs me, "Thank you! You're the best, you know that?"

At least she's better than a few days ago.

"All I did was find the room. I didn't make it," I laugh out, "I'm not magic."

She pulls away and smiles widely. "Still!"

"Oh, but I wanted to ask you something else," I add.

"What is it?" she asks.

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈?

[𝘆𝗲𝘀] 𝗇𝗈

𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜......

"Of course, we can hang out!" she gladly accepts, "can you show me the F.C.S classroom? Pretty please?"

I laugh. "Sure, Valerie. Come on."