When I had awoken that morning to the daily morning announcement, Monokuma had been gone from my dorm without a trace of him even visiting me. It was as expected, for I knew that he could not stay in my company for too long. Though I had expected to awaken to an empty spot beside me, I still couldn't help but exhale deeply from disappointment. Just like every morning, I took a quick trip to the bathroom to freshen up, then left the comfortability of my dorm to join the others in the dining hall.

There were very few of us left now after the trial that took place just the day before. In my company were only four other of the other ultimate students of Hope's Peak: Kyoko, Sakura, Hina, and Hiro. As expected, Byakuya and Toko were elsewhere.

I took a plate of breakfast, although I hardly held an appetite, and took a seat alongside Hina and Sakura. Kyoko loomed just beside the table, refusing to take a seat yet still desiring to be amongst the others. Hiro had pulled a chair out from the table and sat with it positioned backwards. He had his legs spread out on either side of the backrest with his arms rested atop of it. It was such a casual way of sitting, but you could tell by his tensed jaw that he was anything but relaxed at the moment.

"Now there's only five of us here in the dining hall..." Hina stared down at her plate that was primarily filled with donuts sorrowfully, a tear threatening to spill down her cheek. I simply poked the pancakes present on my plate with my fork.

Kyoko kept her hardy composure as she commented, "loneliness has become commonplace."

"That's true," Sakura turned her attention away from Kyoko to me, "(Y/n), how are you recovering?"

I looked up at Sakura, a small smile spreading across my lips almost too quickly. "I'm recovering quite well actually; my head hasn't hurt since yesterday. I think the restful sleep I had last night really helped." I could just sense the hardened stare Kyoko focused on me as I spoke. Sakura accepted my answer nicely, smiling widely as a wordless response.

Hina suddenly straightened her posture, sniffling and wiping her tears away with the red exercise jacket she always sported. "C'mon everyone, let's eat! Everyone seems so gloomy right now, so let's eat away until we can't stand up!" With that, Hina began to shovel donuts in her mouth as though this was her last meal of the century.

"Do donuts even count as a breakfast food?" I questioned. I couldn't help but grin despite stifling a giggle.

"Of course they do!! They give me energy to start the day, so of course they're a breakfast food!"

I rolled my eyes in a playful manner. "If you say so." I stood up, grabbing my tray and heading over to the trash. I had hardly eaten a bite, but I couldn't stir up an appetite this morning. "I'm not really feeling breakfast right now, I'm going to head straight to the new floor that should've unlocked by now."

"Oh, that's right. A new floor opened up since the trial ended. Sweet!" shouted Hiro with a gleeful smile.

"You're right. I'll go explore it as well," said Kyoko, already beginning to rush out of the dining hall. Before she could, I rushed over to her and grabbed her wrist.

"Kyoko, do you wanna explore it together?"

Kyoko shook her head, shaking free from my grasp on her wrist. "No thank you, (Y/n). I would like to check on something elsewhere before going. Please go on without me."

"If you say so..."

Kyoko nodded briefly to everyone in the room before leaving the dining hall in pursuit of her destination. I also exited the dining hall, waving to the three left in the area before leaving. I walked through the halls as quickly as I could manage just to get to the stairs leading up to the second floor. As soon as I reached the second floor, I rushed to the stairs leading to the third. Once I reached the third floor, I searched for the staircase that would lead to the fourth floor, an area newly unlocked to us by now. I found this one just as quickly as I found the others.

I didn't take a moment to observe this staircase further, as it had resembled the other staircases to an almost identical degree, before I rushed up the stairs. Upon reaching the fourth floor, I noticed how the hallways were just as off-putting as the other floors. The hallway was coloured a mustard yellow which had combatted with the vibrant green of the two bathroom doors located just to my left.

I walked past the bathrooms and deeper into the new area. When I ventured deeper into the unknown hallway, I noticed another hallway to my right. Down that hallway was a room labeled, "DATA LAB." I'm not allowed to access that room, not yet at least.

Moving on, I came across another hallway to my left, one of which was coloured a deep indigo. But what had caught my attention wasn't the shades in which the walls were painted, but instead the room stationed just at the end of the hall. Right above the large brown doors of the room was a plain sign labeled, "MUSIC."

I made my way over to that door and threw open the doors. Upon stepping inside, my mouth dropped in awe. The room could hardly be labeled as a classroom, for it was the size of an entire concert hall. Multiple full-size keyboards accompanied by luxury seats were neatly dispersed in uniform. At the end of the room was a fully decorated stage with a grand piano placed perfectly under multiple beams of spotlight.

I sauntered my way over to the stage with my gaze never leaving the piano. I climbed the stairs up and over to the piano I went. As I sat down upon the piano bench and rested my fingers upon the keys, a rush of nostalgia coursed through me.

I could recall a time in my career in which I had to learn piano for a certain movie I was casted in. If I could remember correctly, it was when I was in middle school where I received this role. The fact that I had to learn an entirely new instrument just for a role wasn't something I was concerned about. I would do anything I had to do in order to fulfill my assigned role. However, the piano instructor I had was such a bitch.

It really made learning the piano hard for me when I had a crabby old woman looming over my shoulder at all times, nitpicking constantly on my posture or finger positions or whether or not I was properly playing the dynamics correctly even when I ensured everything was completely accurate. However, I will admit, her strict teaching and constant nagging did turn me into a decent enough piano player.

This specific movie I was casted in was actually a somewhat low-budget movie, but the story was absolutely phenomenal and tear-jerking. The story followed a young pianist with severe anxiety and her struggles with keeping up her reputation as a piano prodigy. I absolutely adored the role and, despite the treacherous lessons I had to partake in in order to learn piano, I adored playing all sorts of piano pieces in the film.

For the first time in years, I finally sit before a piano again. Despite how long it had been since the role, I could still play the original composition featured in the movie from memory. It was as though the way my hands glided across the keys were engraved into my memory. Straightening my back, placing my right foot on the damper pedal, and positioning my fingertips on the keys, I began to play the melody.

The acoustics of the room was absolutely marvelous, as expected of a government funded school. The lovely sound of the sorrowful melody playing throughout the room echoed beautifully off the walls as I played. My eyes stayed glued to the sight of my fingertips pressing into the keys as I drowned myself further into the music. I could practically still feel the presence of that nagging hag of a piano instructor looming over my shoulder, observing every little movement I made in hopes of pointing out some sort of flaw. The presence had gotten so strong to the point where it began to freak me out.

Still playing the composition, I turned my head quickly to the right to be met with Monokuma leaning over my shoulder. The rhythm was entirely ruined by my jolt of surprise that caused me to slam my fingers against multiple random keys. I groaned out of annoyance which sparked a large grin from Monokuma.

"You made me mess up," I said, to which Monokuma ignored and instead sat beside me on the bench. He was pressed up right against me, a silent request for me to scoot over to give him space. I moved a bit to the left to give him more space to sit.

"Do you know how to play piano?"

"Uh, yeah, of course I do! I'm a pro, watch this," Monokuma moved his left hand, his dominant hand, over to some of the keys. Extending his pointer finger, he began to press harshly into some keys incredibly slowly.

C, c, g, g, a, a, g, f, f, e, e, d, d, c.

Monokuma finished his song, turning to me as if expecting applause. I chuckled and clapped my hands together slowly. I commented, "wow, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, you really are a pro."

"Upupu~ I really am, aren't I?" Monokuma's grin somehow widened before he tilted his head. "What song were ya playing before I interrupted you?"

"I was playing a song from a movie I played in a few years ago."

"Can you play-"

"Before you even ask, no I cannot play Rush E. I'm not the Ultimate Pianist. I can only play the songs from the movie I was in. I don't even remember how to read sheet music."

"Aww man! How did you even know I was going to ask you to play that?"

I shook my head. "Because I know you, of course you would ask for me to play one of the hardest piano songs you could think of." I stood from the bench and turned to tread carefully down the stairs. Monokuma didn't take the same path, instead he hopped off the bench in a way that moved it out of place, then jumping off the stage like some sort of daring child.

"Hey, where are you going?"

I turned to face Monokuma, who stared at me with the familiar toothy grin I knew and loved. "I have to continue exploring the fourth floor. Or is it even worth exploring? You know what? Monokuma, what rooms are on this floor again?"

"Puhuhu!~ You forgot?" Monokuma walked a bit closer to me as he spoke. "Wellllll, there's the music room, obviously; the data lab, which I doubt you could forget; then the faculty office, which I decorated all nicely with flowers; the chem lab, with all sorts of medicines and poisons; then, of course, my headmaster's office!!"

"Thank you," I smiled, eyes scanning him up and down before continuing, "how are you feeling?"

"Great, of course. When am I never great? I'm-"

"Monokuma."

Monokuma paused and pursed his lips. It was as though he was contemplating what to say next as if my question was in an entirely different language that he couldn't comprehend. "I'm...okay."

"Okay," I said. I extended my dominant hand out to trace my thumb over a small gash on his cheek. I could feel the hardened texture of the scabbed over wound contrast against the soft skin of his face. I drew my hand away quickly with a sharp inhale. "Okay, I should get going now. I plan to check out the chem lab."

"Aww, don't leave me without a kiss, dear," Monokuma pouted his lips in an exaggerated manner, tugging on the tie I adorned as a way to pull me closer. I thought a quick one couldn't hurt, but when I went to lean in a horrendous beeping sound erupted from Monokuma's watch. Monokuma hissed out in obvious annoyance and popped open the damned thing, reading whatever message was conveyed to him on it.

"Ah crap! I gotta go. See ya later (Y/n)!" Monokuma pressed a messy kiss against my forehead before rushing out the room like a madman. I shook my head and followed in his trail, however, my destination was the chem lab and I was in no rush to get there.

I strolled my way out of the music room and down the hall, turning left back into the mustard yellow hall. I then passed the headmaster's office as well as the faculty office, the hallway transitioning into a blood red upon me doing so. Just before me was now the chem lab. I slid open the door to be immediately hit with the overwhelming stench of medicines. I scrunched my nose up, but continued further in the room.

There before me admiring the large shelves filled to the brim with different sorts of bottles was Hina and Sakura. Hina pointed out a particular bottle that had sparked her interest, earning an equally surprised gasp from Sakura.

"Hina, Sakura? Already done with breakfast?" I questioned, approaching the pair.

"Huh? Oh, (Y/n)! Yeah, we did. I think I must've set a world record for fastest person to eat a plate of donuts!" Hina giggled. She then turned to point at the shelves of bottles. "Check it out. There's a ton of good stuff here. Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, creatine, and even Proteinzyme-X!! I can't believe they have this!"

"What is...Proteinzyme-X?"

Sakura was the one to explain it to me. "It's an extremely high-level protein drink! It's a connoisseur level protein drink!!"

"This is so amazing!!! I can't wait to tell the others about this! (Y/n), once you're done checking out everything here on this floor, go to the dining hall. We all agreed to meet up there once we were done exploring," Hina said.

"Okay, got it. I'll see you guys then! I think I'll check out one more room on this floor before heading down."

"Okay, see you later!"

I waved to both Hina and Sakura before exiting the chem lab and shutting the door behind me. I wanted to take a quick look at the faculty office, just out of curiosity. It was a short walk from the chem lab to the faculty room. When I opened the door, I was greeted with the sight of Kyoko already investigating the room.

"Hey Kyoko, did you find anything here?" I questioned. I wouldn't exactly say my question startled her, but I did notice the lavender-haired female jump just a bit when I suddenly spoke.

"Only one thing. It was only a photograph. Monokuma snatched it away from me before I could tuck it away in my pocket," answered Kyoko. "He just left, actually. I'm not exactly how he left though, he just seemed to disappear like he always does."

"Oh, I see. What was the photograph of?"

"I'll tell you once we all meet in the dining hall soon, but before we do, I actually wanted to talk to you about something. Please, come inside and close the door."

Doing just as she asked, I walked into the room completely and was sure to shut the door behind me. I approached Kyoko, who only stared at me with her usual stoic expression. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"About the room I told you about before. The one in the boys' restroom. I went to visit it before heading here actually and everything was gone. I wanted to ask you about what happened when you visited there."

Sheesh, I didn't think the mastermind would find the room that soon.

"I honestly don't know what happened. When I visited the room, it was nighttime and I ensured no one saw me nor followed me, not even Monokuma. When I went in the room all I did was take a quick look around and then I left. Even when I left I made sure there was no one there before I went back to my dorm. I guess the mastermind saw me on the cameras and figured they should take action about it... I'm sorry Kyoko, there was important info in there."

Kyoko stayed silent for a moment, just staring at me. Then, she finally spoke, "it's okay, it wasn't your fault it seems. Plus, I had already saw what needed to be seen in there. It must have been too suspicious for two girls to go into the same boys' restroom, but to remove everything from the room like that... There must had been some sort of hidden clue in there that would have revealed the true mastermind behind this all... I'll investigate this further. If I find out anything, I'll let you know."

"Okay... Thank you Kyoko. I think I'm done exploring this floor now, so I'll see you in the dining hall then?"

"Yes, of course."

I nodded and turned to face the door, preparing to exit. As I slid open the door and took a step out, Kyoko suddenly spoke up.

"Was that you playing piano in the music room earlier?"

"Yes, it was."

"You play beautifully."

"Thank you, Kyoko. How did you hear? I didn't see you in the room while I was playing." I turned my head slightly just enough to look back at her.

"I went over to the door and could hear you playing from just outside. I didn't want to interrupt, so I simply listened from afar. Surprisingly enough, you could hear everything through that door."

I turned my head away from Kyoko. "What are you implying?"

"What are you hiding?"

Kyoko's hissed counter-response didn't stir a large reaction from me. I simply shook my head and walked out of the room completely. "Kyoko, I seriously don't know what you're implying. I'll see you in the dining hall." I shut the door to stop any further discussion. I walked away from the faculty room and immediately went for the stairs.

As compromised, I was heading towards the dining hall. As I walked, I pondered upon what exactly Kyoko was trying to do there. What are you hiding? Everyone hides things, don't they? What is she exactly trying to find out here? My relationship with Monokuma? If I'm some sort of traitor? If I'm some sort of spy or what?

What exactly did she hear from outside that door to even bring up the question? She obviously hadn't stuck around until the end of the conversation, or else she would have crossed paths with Monokuma upon his exit. So when exactly did she stop listening?

I finished walking down the final path of stairs, finally reaching the first floor. As I made my way over to the dining hall, I listened to the repeated sounds of my shoes clicking against the tile floor. It was like a background rhythm to my nonstop thoughts caused by the simple question.

What are you hiding?

I stood before the dining hall. I could already peer in and see Hina, Sakura, and Hiro waiting for the rest of us to arrive patiently. Before stepping any further, I shook my head free of any pestering thoughts caused by the conversation shared between Kyoko and I. I had no reason to worry about it. Everything could be explained by a simple fabricated story. Since when had I ever doubted my own acting skills?

Upon entering the dining hall, I was greeted with kind smiles from all three of the people present along with gestures from Hina to come join them at the table. Accepting the offer, I pulled up a chair alongside the Ultimate Swimming Pro and returned each of their smiles with my own. It didn't take Kyoko much longer to also join us at the table to share our information. Just like I had done with everyone else in the room, I flashed a smile towards the lavender-haired girl as though nothing had happened.

Because truthfully, I had everything to hide from a girl like her.