Chapter Text
MEIKO slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around. Where am I…? She shook her head, trying to make sense of the situation. She clearly remembered what happened earlier that day. She had been in her cafe… It had been quite busy. In the evening she’d gone home and then- nothing. All she remembered was opening the door and then she was suddenly here… MEIKO decided to just get up and investigate, maybe there was a way out of here. Perhaps it was just a dream, even. She looked around the room and opened one of the doors, which led to a small bathroom. It had a shower, a mirror, a few cabinets and a sink with a faucet. She closed the door again and, after checking out the small balcony, left the room, walking into the hallway. She looked around and saw a lot of doors. Is this a hotel or something? One of the doors opened, and a girl with white hair in two long braids. Her blue eyes were sparkling with curiosity. She and MEIKO made eye contact, and she ran towards MEIKO. “Oh! Hi!” “Hey…” MEIKO answered, looking around. “Do you have any idea where we are?” “Nope!” The girl said. “But… you look worried…” Her smile faded for a second, but then came back again. “Anyways… Maybe it’s good if we introduce ourselves! I’m Akari Kizuna, also known as The Ultimate Astronomer!” “Oh- Nice to meet you, Akari! I’m MEIKO, The Ultimate Barista…” MEIKO said, smiling slightly at Akari. A silence fell for a few seconds, and then Akari asked: “And now…?” MEIKO looked around at the other doors. “We should investigate. There is only one staircase, and that one leads downwards, so we have to be on the highest possible floor. How about we investigate the building and just make our way down while investigating, does that sound good?” “Okay!” Akari ran towards one of the doors, but it swung open before she could reach it. A girl with long white-pink hair stood in the doorway. The majority of her hair was hanging loose, but in the front, a few of the strands were tied together in two braids, one on each side. Her purple-ish blue eyes narrowed. “Who are you and what am I doing here? Why did you lock me up in here!?” MEIKO looked at the girl for a few seconds. “We didn’t lock you up here…” She stammered. “We are just as confused as you are!” Akari exclaimed. The girl rolled her eyes. A short silence fell, and then another door opened, and someone with short very light purple hair with a dark purple, almost black strand came out of the room. They looked a bit confused, and the silence in the hallway continued. Akari was the one to break the silence. “Ehhh- Hello?” “H-hey” The person with the light purple hair said. “I’m Flower! I- ehh- I have the title of the Ultimate Lucky Student!” MEIKO smiled at them. “I’m MEIKO, the Ultimate Barista” “I’m Akari Kizuna!” Akari said, happily. “I’m the Ultimate Astronomer!” Everyone’s gaze went towards the white haired girl, and they all waited for her to introduce herself. “IA.” She eventually said, boldly. “Ultimate Guitarist.” She sighed and walked away, immediately after her introduction. MEIKO followed IA with her gaze until she disappeared out of sight. Akari smiled. “Let’s go explore!” She ran down the stairs, and MEIKO and Flower followed her closely. As they arrived on the floor below them, IA had already vanished from there. There were already a few people standing there. A man with blue hair and a scarf was talking to two kids: A boy with bright red hair, an abnormally injured looking face and a hat and a girl with blonde hair and a big white bow in her hair.
After a while, everyone had gathered downstairs on the lowest floor. “So…” The blue haired man said. “How about we all introduce ourselves, since we’re gonna be stuck here for a bit. I checked the front door and it’s locked so… yeah…” He cleared his throat. “I’m KAITO, also known as the Ultimate Confectioner.” He looked around. “Who’s next.” MEIKO opened her mouth to start talking, but two kids interrupted her. One was the blonde girl from earlier, and the other was someone who could only be her twin brother. “I’m Rin!” The girl yelled. “The Ultimate Duo Singer!” “And I’m Len!” Her twin added. “The other half of the Ultimate Singing Duo!” MEIKO smiled softly at the two. “I’m MEIKO,” She said. “I’m The Ultimate Barista.” KAITO looked and smiled at her, with a relieved I’m-happy-I’m-not-stuck-with-only-kids look in his eyes. A silence fell. A pink haired lady came forward from behind a tall, purple haired man. Her pink hair was long, reaching her hips, and her blue eyes sparkled as she stepped forwards. “I’m Luka! Luka Megurine! The Ultimate Model!” She said, in a kind and friendly voice. MEIKO smiled at her, and she smiled back. “I’m Iroha!” A smaller girl said, looking happy. “I’m the Ultimate Cat Caregiver! I love cats!” She said, happily. After a small silence fell, a girl with long, light blue pigtails stepped forward. “I’m the famous Miku Hatsune! The Ultimate Diva!” She bowed dramatically. IA sighed. “Yes. We know. Now shut up.” Miku looked a bit sad, but she didn’t give up on showing off. All eyes were now on IA, and she sighed. "IA, Ultimate Guitarist." She said, boldly. A silence fell once again, and it got broken by a blonde girl with really long hair. "I'm MAYU," she said. "And I'm the Ultimate Plushie Maker." She fidgeted a bit with the bow around her neck, and looked around if there was any reaction. "Greetings…" the tall man with purple hair said. "I am Gakupo, the Ultimate Samurai." After that introduction, the person with light purple hair from earlier stepped forward. "H-hey!" They said. "I'm Flower! I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student…" Rin looked confused. "Ultimate Lucky Student? What's that supposed to mean!?" "I- I don't know either…" Flower said. "I just woke up here and knew that was my title…" "Okay, okay… My turn!" A purple haired girl said. "I'm Yukari, the Ultimate Astrologist!" Akari looked at Yukari. “Hm… I feel like I heard that name before… Well, anyways, who’s next?” “ME! ME!” A green haired girl yelled, bouncing up and down in excitement, flapping her hands. “I’M GUMI! THE ULTIMATE VOICE ACTOR!” “Stop yelling.” IA snapped, and GUMI looked sad. “B-but-” “No buts, just shut up.” IA said. MEIKO sighed and looked around. “Who here hasn’t introduced themselves yet?” She looked at the boy with the red hair and the hat, but it was actually a girl with dark pink hair that was in short drill shaped pigtails on the sides of her head. “I am Teto Kasane,” She said, looking a bit bored. “I’m the Ultimate Drum Major” She let a small smile break through on her face, and then she turned her head towards the boy with the red hair, who smiled, no, grinned at her. “I am Fukase, the Ultimate Arsonist!” He said, proudly. A silence fell. “U-ultimate Arsonist?” Flower stammered, their eyes wide. “Yeah!” Fukase said, still sounding very proud of himself. “Shut up, Fuckass.” This time the insult was thrown by Len. He looked at Fukase with annoyance. “We know you’re proud, now shut up.” “Wait, guys!” KAITO said. “Let’s not yell at each other! We must figure out why we're stuck here!" "I can tell you that…" a voice sounded. Something that looked like a small version of Miku, but with a really big head and a half black half white body jumped out from the doorway to the cafeteria. Everyone stared at it in shock. Miku screamed: "AH!? Copycat!" "Awhhh! It's so cute!" GUMI exclaimed. MEIKO stared at the thing. "W-who are you?" KAITO stammered. The thing giggled. "I am AiMono! It's a pleasure to meet you!" GUMI stared at it with sparkling eyes. "Awhhh… you're cute…" "What!? No!" AiMono exclaimed. "I'm scary! I'm not cute!" "Okay… okay… Can you tell us where we are, please?" Luka said, softly smiling still. "And why are we here?" KAITO added. "Well…" AiMono started. "This here is a hotel. And you're stuck here." A confused silence fell. "Yeah, but why?" Luka asked. "Why are we stuck here?" "Well… I can not tell you that…" AiMono said with a sad face. Then its facial expression turns into a happy one again. "But I can tell how to get out!" Fukase lifted his head from the chair armrest he'd been resting it on. He looked at AiMono. "How do I get out?" AiMono giggled. "Well… you have to kill someone! Kill one of the others without getting caught and you're free to leave!" Luka stared at AiMono in fear. Her face was pale "Y-you can't be serious right now… No one here is gonna kill someone! This is nonsense!" She looked around at the others. “R-right guys…” She looked at the others, pleading. MEIKO nodded. “Of course. No one here would even think of doing that. We have no reason to, and our friends and family will eventually save us from here, no bloodshed will be needed.” “Yeah!” KAITO said, confidently. AiMono shrugged. “Whatever you say… It’ll have to happen eventually…” And it left.
MEIKO was sitting in her room, thinking about what happened earlier, and trying to get all the names of the others into her head.
YOU HAVE SOME FREE TIME
MEIKO walked out of her room and onto the hallway. She already knew that she wanted to go talk to someone, but had no idea who yet. When she arrived on the second floor, she noticed the door of the art room was open, and she peeked in curiously. Luka was in the art room, peeking into the drawers and investigating the room. “Hey, Luka!” MEIKO said, and Luka jumped, startled. “AH- Oh… Hey MEIKO…” Luka said, turning around. “I was wondering if you wanted to talk? Like… getting to know each other a bit?” MEIKO asked. Luka thought for a second. “I’m investigating but I guess I have some time.” Luka looked more nervous than the others, seemingly, and her eyes were a bit red, like she’d cried. MEIKO, noticing this, immediately asked: “Hey, are you okay Luka?” “Oh- Yeah I’m fine…” Luka said. “I’m just a little scared… I… I’ve been kidnapped once before and… I don’t like this…” She stared at the ground, tears coming up in her eyes. “O-oh…” MEIKO stammered in shock. “D-do you know why? When was that?” Luka’s eyes went wide. “I- I don’t want to talk about it!” She was about to run away, but MEIKO grabbed her hand and then pulled her into a hug. “Shhh… It’s okay… We’ll get out of here in a few days… It’s gonna be fine…” Luka rested her head against MEIKO’s shoulder as tears streamed over her face. “T-thank you…” She stammered, and MEIKO softly smiled. After some time, MEIKO let go of Luka, who took a step back, wiping her tears. “I- Imma get going now… Thanks MEIKO, and I’ll see you soon…” She smiled at MEIKO and left the room. MEIKO was left behind on her own in the art room. She hadn’t expected Luka to break down like this the first moment they were with just the two of them… MEIKO made her way out of the room and decided to see if she could have a conversation with someone else. She found KAITO in the kitchen, where he was looking in the fridge, looking at the food in it. “Hey, KAITO!” She said, smiling. KAITO looked up. “Oh, hey MEIKO!” He closed the fridge and scratched the back of his head. “I was just… investigating…” He glanced at the fridge. MEIKO sighed, and decided to not ask KAITO what he was doing in the fridge. It wasn’t such a big deal, after all. “So, what have you found?” MEIKO asked instead. “Well, we seem to have a lot of food here, there’s a fridge here and a big storage with a freezer room. It was really cold there, and I advise keeping the door open when you’re in there.” “Okay…” MEIKO said. “Seems we at least won’t be starving…” “No…” KAITO smiled. “I’m sure we’ll get out of here… They can’t just do this, and no one here will be so stupid to try to kill someone!” “I hope so…” MEIKO said, sighing.
MEIKO arrived back in her room and saw something laying on her bed. She picked it up and noticed it was some sort of tablet. It had a sticky note on it with: ‘This is your MonoPad. You can see the rules and information on the other participants here.’ MEIKO turned it on and her name appeared on the screen. She went to the rules section and flipped through the rules. ‘Rule 1: Violence against AiMono is forbidden and will be punished. Rule 2: When a murder takes place, every surviving participant will take part in a trial. Rule 3: Nighttime is from 10 PM to 8 AM, and the cafeteria will be off limits during this period. Rule 4: If the blackened isn’t discovered during a class trial, they can leave the hotel and the rest of the participants will be punished. Rule 5: If the blackened is discovered, they will be executed. Rule 6: The body discovery announcement will play if 3 or more people find a body. Rule 7: More rules might be added in the future.’ MEIKO looked at the rules and sighed. This didn’t seem that hard… As long as no one killed anyone, which no one would ever even think of doing, they would all be fine! She decided to see if she could spend some time with a fellow participant and left her room again. She found Teto in the living room, where she was sitting, just staring ahead of herself. “Hey!” MEIKO greeted her, and Teto looked up. “Hey, MEIKO…” She said. “You seem a bit down…” MEIKO said, softly. “I know this must be hard for a young girl like you… and I’m alway-” “I’m 31 years old.” Teto interrupted MEIKO. MEIKO stared at Teto for a few seconds and then laughed. “Okay… you got me…” Teto looked a bit angry. “I’m not joking. I’m actually 31. I might look 15… and I’m 15 in chimera years, but my real age is 31, so you shouldn’t call me a little girl, because I’m not a little girl.” She said, seemingly wanting to make it very clear she wasn’t a little girl. MEIKO sighed. “Okay…” She said, not questioning it too much. “You’re the ultimate barista, right?” Teto asked, seeming interested now the talking subject wasn’t her age anymore. “How did you get that talent?” “Well…” MEIKO said. “I own a cafe! I run it all by myself and I almost only get good ratings. I think that’s what got me my talent…” “Oh… Hm… That’s cool…” Teto said, and smiled lightly. MEIKO yawned. “Well… It’s already getting a bit late… I haven’t slept well in a while and now I don’t have the cafe to worry about, I’m gonna skip dinner and I’m going straight to bed…” She turned around. “Bye, Teto!” She walked away, yawning.
MEIKO opened her eyes the next morning. She had slept surprisingly well and didn’t feel like getting out of bed yet. She snuggled into her blankets a bit more, and fell asleep again, only to be woken up again a few minutes later by loud knocking on the door, and someone shouting her name. “Hm…? Who is that…!?” She said, sitting up tiredly. “Oh thank goodness..” Luka’s voice sounded from the other side. “You weren’t answering… I got scared…” “Yeah, sorry… I fell asleep again…” MEIKO said. “It’s fine…” Luka said. “Let’s just go to the cafeteria…”
When the two arrived at the cafeteria, most of the others were already there. MEIKO greeted the others and went to the kitchen. She noticed KAITO was already there. “Hey, MEIKO!” He said, smiling at her. “Hey, KAITO…” MEIKO said, walking towards the kitchen counter. “The coffee machine is over there, if you’re looking for that” KAITO said, half joking. MEIKO smiled and walked towards the coffee machine, bowing down slightly to examine it. “What do you think?” KAITO said, looking at MEIKO as she examined the coffee machine. “Cheap.” MEIKO admitted. “Isn’t everything cheap compared to what you use?” KAITO said, slightly tilting his head. “You are the Ultimate Barista after all.” MEIKO chuckled softly. “The supplies I use aren’t actually that expensive… I think it’s the way in which I make the coffee rather than the quality of the supplies. If anyone could make coffee like mine by just using expensive supplies, would I really deserve the Ultimate Barista title?” KAITO paused for a second. “Yeah… You’re right…” “Oh, look!” MEIKO grabbed a little notebook and a pen that had been laying on the counter. “I could use this…” KAITO looked at her, a bit confused. “For what reason could you use that?” MEIKO smiled. “Taking orders.” KAITO chuckled. “We can make our own bread, don’t worry about that.” MEIKO sighed and her smile faded a bit. “But isn’t that my purpose? I’ve worked at a cafe for years and I’d probably be the best pick for helping with breakfast.” KAITO’s eyes widened when he saw he might’ve upset MEIKO. “Oh- I’m sorry, if you want to do that, go ahead!” MEIKO smiled softly again, and went to the cafeteria again to take everyone’s orders.
When everyone had their food and drinks, MEIKO went to sit at one of the tables. She noticed she’d sat down next to Luka, who’d been talking to Miku. MEIKO stayed quiet for the first couple of minutes, as Miku rambled on about herself. After a few minutes of just Miku talking, Luka cleared her throat and said: “Oh, hey MEIKO!” She threw MEIKO an expression that said: ‘You’re gonna regret sitting here with Miku’ and then she smiled. “So, MEIKO, have you slept well?” “Yeah… I slept well…” MEIKO said, glancing at Miku every five seconds. Miku’s face was full of surprise that Luka dared to take the attention off of her. “Did you make this coffee?” Luka asked, sipping her drink. “It tastes really good!” MEIKO smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I made that…” “Well, now I see how you got your title.” Luka said with an excited expression on her face. “I’m really looking forward to getting to know you better, MEIKO! You seem really sweet!” MEIKO blushed slightly at the compliment. “Thanks… You too…” Miku cleared her throat. “So… wanna hear about a concert I recently had? It was quite cool and-” “So, MEIKO, do you have anything to do today?” Luka said, cutting off Miku’s sentence. “Not really…” MEIKO said, a little awkward. “I’m just gonna investigate…” Luka sighed. “Yeah… Same for me… We must get out of here…” Miku sighed in annoyance and stood up. She grabbed her plate and walked away.