Chapter Text
Slowly - slowly - Yoshiko felt herself wake up, as though from a long slumber. But through her sleepy eyes, she felt as though something wasn’t quite right. Perhaps it was that the bed she lay on, though soft and light, wasn’t quite as sturdy as her own. Or the lights being not as bright or as numerous as she recalled. Or the fact that the walls - normally a soft greyish colour - were now made of cold hewn stone. Even the furnishings around her were a different style.
The angel considered all of these things, then realised; she had never used a dresser as a nightstand in her room. Nor did she have a tablet, not even like the one that was sitting on said dresser.
This made her realise - she wasn’t home at all. She was somewhere else entirely! And if her memory served her right, then… she was in Hope’s Peak Academy!
Jumping up to her feet, Yoshiko grabbed the tablet and tried to recall how she ended up in this room. She caught the train with Zuramaru to the city, met up with Ruby - if she remembered the name right - shared some breakfast with them, and arrived at the Academy. Then she must’ve tripped over her feet or something stupid, because the next thing she knew she was here.
Sigh. At least she was safe in this room, for the moment. But then that left another question.
“Zuramaru? Ruby?” She called out, to nowhere or no one in particular. Where had they gotten to? They probably would’ve taken her here to rest, but now where are they?
The lack of a reply quickly made her worry even more. Deciding that staying here wouldn’t help her find them, she investigated the room further to see if there was a way out. Thankfully, the keys on a nearby table - labelled with her name - helped point the way out, and she quickly unlocked and left the strange room.
And found herself faced with even more closed doors.
In fact, each way she looked, Yoshiko could only see doors. There were nameplates on the ones nearest to her - including the one she came out of - but the large velvet doors to her right… she desperately wanted to see what was on the other side of them. Something surely warranted their appearance. But her friends were far more important than some big red doors, and instead the angel decided to investigate the more mundane doors around her.
But those velvet doors were interesting… perhaps the doors to her right would lead to her friends?
Her instincts - or perhaps her own luck - were right. The first door next to hers had a H.Kunikida inscribed on its nameplate. And as she went to open it…
“Z-Zura?!” Startled hazel eyes gazed right back at Yoshiko as the door swung open. “Yoshiko! You’re okay, zura!”
“O-of course I’m okay, Zuramaru!” She answered. “Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine, zura! It was just… I was coming over to help you up, after you tripped. Then I must’ve passed out or something, because then I was in this room, zura…” As Zuramaru explained, the angel’s strange feeling that things weren’t right since she woke up continued to bubble up. There was almost zero chance that two people, or possibly even three people - if the same thing happened to Ruby as well - would all faint together at roughly the same time. “Say, have you seen Ruby anywhere?”
“No, I-I thought she was with you…” Panic started to bubble inside Yoshiko, who immediately wanted to set off and find her. “Maybe she’s in one of these roo-”
“Pigiii!!” As soon as she had the thought, a distressed redhead burst out of another door, to her left. “H-Hello? Sis? Anyone?!”
“Ruby! Over here!” Zuramaru called out to Ruby, who immediately ran over to them. “Are you okay, zura?”
“M-Maru! Yoshiko! I-I’m fine.” She replied. There was no disguising the fear in her voice, with the way she was shaking. “I-I must have passed out… H-have you seen my Sis anywhere?”
“No… sorry. We just came out of these rooms as well.” Yoshiko replied. “But we could go and look for her? We might be able to find out someone who knows what’s going on as well.” She could just tell whatever happened to Zuramaru and herself, whatever caused them to faint, must have happened to her as well. Answers are the one thing they all need right now.
“That sounds like an idea, zura. But… where do we start?” A deep, piercing quiet met this question. Where would they go? At most, they knew they were in Hope’s Peak Academy. But where exactly were they in this place?
The dormitories? That was the best guess the angel could make - after all, the three of them found each other in adjacent rooms. But most of them would be locked, like how they were for Yoshiko and (presumably) Zuramaru and Ruby.
Those big red doors? Yoshiko was tempted to test them ever since she saw them - perhaps what they were looking for was in there? And yet… it would’ve been almost too obvious to check them, so it was probably a no-go.
Finally, she turned around and - through pale glass doors - could see a more open space. If this was the way to find Ruby’s sister, and perhaps someone who knows exactly what is going on around here. And out of all the other options, aside from wandering around aimlessly and possibly stumbling on something, this clearly seemed like the best option.
With at least some sort of plan in place, Yoshiko felt a surge of confidence. Though the fears of what had happened - and may still happen - were still there, it was enough confidence to re-embrace her true self.
“Kehehe…” Yohane cackled. "Be not afraid, my little demons. Though our enemies may yet lurk in the shadows, our path forward shines before us. This way!" Grabbing Zuramaru's arm, she leapt forwards and sprinted towards the glass doors, towards the open space, with Ruby following behind. Whatever questions they had about this situation, there was hope for answers ahead.
"Ehehe, there's the Yoshiko we know, zuraa~!"
"I've told you a hundred times, Zuramaru! It's YOHANE!" All three of them knew they would be safe, together.