Chapter Text
I sat on one of the display tables in the supermarket, the lack of chatter among the group replaced with the sound of handheld air pumps and blowing things up, the low hum of the aisle for refrigerated drinks and frozen foods, the whir of the air conditioning; white noise that would not ordinarily be noticeable, yet prevented the lack of chatter from becoming oppressive. The air conditioning offered a pleasant respite, pulling away my radiating body heat as I worked the pump to ensure that my raft was blown up. Others, more athletic than I, who had chosen to use paddle boards had offered to evacuate my sheet music from my cabin before the door to the supermarket was overtaken by water, the paper now sitting in a stack beside me; they now waited until everyone had inflated their rafts to open the door, for the supermarket would be flooded to my knees if they opened it now. The piano, unfortunately, could not be rescued; I mourned this fact, and hoped that it would not be too damaged by the water. My normal clothes sat warm and heavy in my backpack, stubbornly clinging to my body heat even though I had long since changed into clothes more suitable for water. Wet cotton is a nightmare.
I finished inflating the raft, the valve popping softly under my finger as it was shut with a satisfying snap, a snap that was not quite a sound but a feeling that you could hear.
"Is everyone ready?" Kirumi asked, her paddle in one hand and gesturing with the other. A general murmur of assent sounded from the thirteen others.
"So I assume that Teruteru shall not be joining us?" Celeste questioned. "He is likely trapped now, even if he wished to exit at this point in time."
"Unfortunately, he shall not." Peko clarified. "Regardless of our best efforts to extract him, he has refused, and has chosen to gamble upon Monokuma becoming bored with this.
"Pretty stupid idea, if you ask me; if he gets bored, what's stopping him from just forcing one of us to kill someone anyway?" Mondo griped. "Hell, what's stopping him from just killing all of us?!"
"Don't give him any ideas!" Kaito protested. "Don't think like that, someone might actually kill someone if you keep talking like that!"
"And once it starts, there's no stopping it until there stands but three..." Gundham portended. "It shall continue with a great momentum, indeed..."
"Don't talk like that!" Makoto exclaimed. "There's no way anybody's gonna kill someone!"
"But we already have." Celeste countered, leaning in darkly. "Is that not what Monokuma said? Is that not why we are here?"
"And you believed him? He's totally lying, dude." Leon said. "You can't honestly believe anything that he says, right? It's totally ridiculous."
"But we also couldn't believe that he could really do this, correct? With such mysterious, superhuman capabilities, does it not follow that what he is saying is true, and he has simply erased our memories of our crime?" she questioned. "Disbelief of our situation will only prevent you from adapting to it. And those who cannot adapt...Will not survive."
"Stop it! Are you trying to get someone killed?!" Mondo snarled.
"What she is saying, even if it is unpleasant to think about, only emphasizes the importance of collaboration to overcome our predicament; as noted by Gundham, if even one of us were to crack and kill someone, it would likely set off a chain reaction that could not be stopped until there are so few of us that Monokuma's Class Trial would no longer be possible." Sakura attested. "If we must adapt to the Killing Game, it will already be too late; thus, we as a group must adapt to whatever he throws at us in an attempt to start it, be it suspicion or fear."
"I suppose that is simply your way of adapting." Celeste conceded. "But, it cannot be certain what others will do."
"The Prisoner's Dilemma..." Chiaki pondered. "Where, in a zero-sum game, it would be in a group's best interest to work together, but the reward for betraying the group is greater than that of cooperation, and the reward for betraying the group comes at such great expense to everyone else that people themselves betray the group out of fear of being themselves betrayed, and everyone is worse-off because of it than if they'd just cooperated...Meaning, the best thing to do would be to be cautious, but cooperate...I think." She needs a more confident catch-phrase...
"That's exactly what that is." Celeste concurred. "But the risk is still there, regardless...Especially because we all have killed before, and the motivations behind our crimes, of which we do not remember, may not have been equal...After all, if they were, there would be no reason to erase our memories of our past crimes, especially given that he has told us that we were in other killing games previously. And, given the unlikelihood of there having been fifteen different killing games before this, if we had our memories of these games, not only would some of us likely know each other, those who lasted longer would have the upper hand against others from their game, knowing exactly what they are capable of. Given the seemingly earnest character of some of those here, and that the earnest among us would have likely taken quite a long time to crack," she glanced at Gonta, "I have no doubt that at least one person would tell the others, and the game would fall apart."
"Kukuku..." Korekiyo chuckled. "If I may add...Even in a group less earnest, people would know who lasted longer, and would hold appropriate levels of suspicion. The outcome would become entirely predictable, not only as to the identities of the culprits, but of potential victims as well. And given that our ‘gamemaster,'" he put up air quotes, "seems to be in it for the hell of it, this person would like for us to be as suspicious of each other as possible, for knowing only that there is danger, without knowing how much there is or even what it is, is a recipe for chaos that makes logic difficult and plans nigh impossible; for an audience, watching people work out chaos is more interesting than watching people who know exactly what to do."
"...Thanks for making my point for me, I guess." Chiaki shrugged.
"No problem." the dark-haired boy replied.
"Theorizing is cool and all, but can we get out of here yet?" Leon groaned, walking towards the door. "I'm tired of listening to you guys talk."
"Is everyone ready?" I put on my backpack and looked around the room. It seemed like everyone had their rafts out. Warm, orange-yellow light flooded the supermarket, flowing through the windows in powerful beams that were concentrated by the horizon line, the trees on the beach nearly black. The glass of the window and door was like a magnifying glass, intensifying the warmth of the light as it flowed over my skin. A near-blinding rippling glimmer at the door made looking in its direction almost impossible, even if you squinted. Sunset.
"Then, let us leave for the Old Hotel Building." Peko directed. "It is elevated, so it should be a good place to sleep for the night, until we can make our escape."
Gonta and Sakura walked over to either side of the double doors and placed their hands on either side of the door, one hand with fingers in the gap and the other grasping the other side for strength, and I inhaled deeply in anticipation of the cold water.