Tall, Dark, and Creepy

Shirou had managed to drag himself into the trial room, being made ambulatory and nominally conscious mostly by virtue of caffeine. It was readily apparent to anyone looking at him that he hadn’t been sleeping well or at all. What could have possibly gotten to him…? He certainly wasn’t saying.

He was used to long nights and getting little to no sleep, but not under these conditions. And so his contributions consisted mostly of blinking blearily whenever evidence was presented and shaking his head during lulls in the conversation to try and keep himself awake and alert, or at least something close to it.

So when the yelling started, he had exactly zero ideas as to what was going on. He groaned and rested his head in his hands, making very sure he didn’t close his eyes because he might not open them again if he did.

"Oh, for fu—"

'Language, Shirou!' He could hear his father scolding him already. If only he were actually here. Then maybe things would be different.

"…pity’s sake."

Better. He let out a sigh, blowing a few stray strands of hair out of his face. What to do…? Things had started out quietly enough and then complete pandemonium had broken out. The culprit apparently had an accomplice, there was an abnormally tall person said he did it and then the red-haired guy who spoke English said he did it and then they were arguing about murderers and it was all too much for his poor sleep-deprived brain to process.

After a few moments of trying to piece together what was going on between the arguing and shouting, he finally managed to come to a conclusion. Okay. They had a coin flip’s chance of getting the right culprit, it seemed, unless something new came up very soon. He didn’t like those odds. Not that he liked anything about this situation, but still. Unfortunately with how little he had investigated, he had next to nothing to contribute. What would happen should they be wrong…? Nothing good, surely. Perhaps he should ask Monobear about that…then again, there was something else at the forefront of his mind. He sat up as straight as he could manage, looking the two potential culprits straight in the eye. For a few seconds. He couldn’t manage that for long. It’s okay Shirou, you tried.

"…Perhaps one of you would care to explain something for me. The note. What was the purpose of that?  Why did you…desecrate her body that way? It’s…senseless.”

Oh no.

[Someone’s done it again.]

Oh no oh no oh no oh no.

[This has happened again. Someone gave in to their fear again.]

Akemi stood, gaping at the body, her eyes wide and her tall form shaking within its poofy uniform. 

[How pitiful.]

Akemi shut her eyes tightly in a mix of not wanting to keep staring at the corpse and plain, bubbling anger.

She turned herself around from the body, fists clenched and face taking the form of determination.

"I won’t let this go unchecked! I will avenge you, Rie-chan, and bring your killer to absolute justice!"

This time, there will be no prisoners.

Really, someone would place an object over the life of a person? That was horrible. Unthinkable, even. And of course, the bear was making a joke out of this whole awful affair. Treasure hunt indeed. While he wouldn't put it past Monobear to drag them all the way across the building for a lot of nothing, he seemed far too excited for that.

(Then again, he had a pretty good idea of what might have been taken away from him, and that was-- no. Absolutely not, he wouldn't think any further on that. It wasn't worth a life.)

The elevator doors opened, and his fists clenched upon looking at the body. It was one thing to kill someone, that was bad enough. It was another to carry out such a desecration. His immediate instinct was to try and clean up the body and make it look like she'd died at least a little more peacefully, or at least get that note off her, but then he hesitated. Wasn't there something about how you shouldn't tamper with a crime scene in all of those murder mysteries his sister read...? Damned if he knew, that certainly wasn't his line of business.

Or at least it wasn't before.

He let out a sigh and nudged up his glasses. Right now his primary concern should be investigating. What would happen at the end of the trial was anything but justice, but if they got it wrong...who knew what would happen with how cruel Monobear was?

He was contemplating where he should look first when he heard someone else speak up. She was certainly...zealous? No, enthusiastic, that was a better word. Really, he couldn't blame her. He worried more about the people who weren't reacting to this display.

(There was a nagging sensation that she looked terribly familiar and he should know who she was, but aside from a name, given she'd introduced herself in the previous trial, he was drawing blanks.)

"Ah...that's the spirit?"

...That wasn't supposed to be phrased as a question.

"Er...anyway...would you care to investigate with me? The more eyes we have, the more we can get done."

At the very least, Izumi found that he could take some mild comfort in knowing that the sky was still blue and the grass was still green. Those things at least, he noted as he made his way to the edge of the platform, were the same as ever. As it turned out, looking over the edge of the platform yielded nothing but a mild sense of vertigo as he stared out into the stretch of nothingness below him.

Soon enough Izumi pulled back and lifted a hand to rub at his neck, whistling softly under his breath. This place itself didn’t look so bad. If he’d come here under different circumstances, perhaps he could have even called it ‘relaxing’. Or maybe even ‘beautiful’. But times being what they were, he doubted that he would ever come to associate it with anything besides death.

(Once again, he was struck by the sheer weight of the word. Death. How many years did Naomi and Maemi have left in their natural lifespans? A normal person would have had about 80, give or take. There was still so much time.)

The unexpected noise of someone clearing their throat caught Izumi’s attention, and he turned his head to see a rather tall boy standing not far away from him. If he remembered correctly, this person’s talent was…

"Ah, sorry, I hope I’m not interrupting here. I just came out for some fresh air."

After a brief pause, Izumi shook his head.

"Are you…alright? After all that’s happened…"

Silence. Nod nod.

"… … … … … …"

For some reason or another, Izumi seemed to be observing Shirou very closely, and after a moment, he knelt down to retrieve his notebook and pen from his bag. After a few precise, clipped movements, he flipped the book around to reveal a smattering of words on an otherwise white page.

< you’re a funeral director ? >

< please tell me >

He was writing instead of speaking? Well, that was different. Part of Shirou wanted to ask why, but that was certainly rude. Surely the other boy had his reasons, and if he wanted to tell Shirou then that was his choice. If not, it was none of Shirou's business.

Either way, it seemed to take Shirou some time to comprehend what was being asked of him. Perhaps one could interpret the silence before he finally spoke as being deep in contemplation, but he seemed to be squinting at the paper a little bit too hard for that.

Well, these questions were always an experience to answer. There were quite a few angles one could take. There was always the spiritual aspect to look at, whether or not they were at peace, wherever they were. Then there was their affairs to sort out, and it seemed quite unlikely they'd left wills, given their age. Nobody ever assumes they'd die so young, and certainly not in the manner that'd happened to them. That, of course, was the material aspect. He'd prefer to focus on that-- it seemed from the wording the younger boy wasn't exactly looking for spiritual counseling. If he was, then why was he asking a funeral director? Sure, he wasn't unfamiliar with having to console his customers, but that was hardly the first thing one thought of when they heard of his talent.

Really, when you got right down to it, a funeral was more for the living, wasn't it? And they were, quite clearly, unless something very drastic had happened unnoticed to the both of them within the past few days, still alive. He smiled gently, hoping he looked at least somewhat unintimidating.

"I am, yes. As for that..."

He gave himself a small pause, trying to measure out his words carefully. He knew better than anyone else this was a delicate subject.

"I don't think there's any doubt they're deceased, I'm afraid. But that doesn't mean our duty to them has ended. I believe Edler-san has taken it upon himself to carry out Oshirou-san's final requests. And once we get out of here, we'll need to inform their relatives. It doesn't seem as if I'll have a chance to lay them to rest myself, but...I was still going to make a memorial for them."

If only to give himself something to focus on. At least it meant he'd feel useful.

"You wouldn't happen to know either of them well, would you...? I'd prefer to make them more personalized...either way, if you'd like to help at all, you're certainly welcome to."

He wouldn't be opposed to the company, either. He was used to it-- usually when he worked, at least one of his siblings happened to be around to help or at least talk with him. There were a lot of things Shirou was accustomed to that a person his age shouldn't have been, but total isolation wasn't one of them.

It’d been over the moment she refused to show her hands, really. The confession was a formality, but if anyone else had hesitated to vote, that was gone the moment she did.

And so they went onto the next part of the twisted game Monobear had set up. It was clear now. He was actually going to watch someone die again.

[“Hail Mary, full of grace…”]

It had been some time since he’d actually prayed, given he’d never been one for the more ritual aspects of religion. But he held the rosary in a white-knuckle grip, as though his own life depended on it.

[“…the Lord is with thee.”]

That aside, the words fell off his tongue in English as if he’d been using them every day of his life. Had he more presence of mind, he’d be shocked at how easily he recalled them all. When was the last time he’d spoken English?

But at that moment he was more focused on the surreality of the situation in front of him. The word execution brought to mind lethal injections, electric chairs, firing squads, that nature of thing. Not…whatever this was. This was theatrical and, judging by the reactions of the glass artist, apparently specifically tailored to match her fears. How awful— she’d killed for the purpose of stopping them from being realized. Was this supposed to be justice?

Another lightning strike. It was impossible, considering they were watching from a distance, but he swore he could smell burnt flesh.

(A second round of the Hail Mary, even faster this time. It probably hardly mattered, but at least it gave him some level of comfort.)

It was strange, he’d never really considered storms as being particularly scary before. When you got to huddle indoors, safe from the elements, it’d never seemed particularly intimidating. If anything they’d been somewhat interesting to watch from afar. But when there was no shelter, and you were at the mercy of the elements…he had to wonder what was going through Maemi’s mind as—

He very deliberately put a stop to that train of thought. A memorial. Right. He was supposed to do a memorial of some kind…it was, after all, the least he could do. Besides, it was over. He didn’t want to look at the end result. From what Monobear was saying it seemed they were being shooed out, and he couldn’t leave fast enough.

There was work to be done, but right now he just needed to clear his head. He let out a long, drawn-out sigh as he walked, trying to figure out what to do. He didn’t want to go to his room, it was too cramped and too close to other people. Really, the whole building was starting to feel terribly claustrophobic.

So of course, that meant there was only one place to go— outdoors. They apparently had something approaching that available to him, and while he could hardly hope for an escape route, it was worth a try, and the environment would surely be more pleasant than anything inside.

It was with some hesitation he stepped across the threshold— they probablywouldn’t be punished for leaving the building, but his nerves were still on edge. Nevertheless, nothing of note happened, and with a breath of fresh air he already found his thoughts beginning to settle.

And that was when he noticed he wasn’t the only person who had the exact same idea. There was another boy there— small (though nearly everyone was small to Shirou, so that was hardly surprising,) and so quiet the funeral director had barely noticed him. He tensed slightly, then scolded himself— what could he possibly have to be afraid of? There was nothing to fear here.

(Had Naomi Sayer thought they had nothing to fear from Maemi Oshirou?)

He cleared his throat, hoping to catch the other boy’s attention. He was reasonably sure he remembered him from the trial, but he hadn’t spoken a word, only showed his hands to prove he hadn’t been injured. Then again, Shirou couldn’t blame him, the trials certainly were stressful situations. Maybe he could set him at ease a bit.

"Ah, sorry, I hope I’m not interrupting here. I just came out for some fresh air."

A pause. This was surely a stupid question, but…

"Are you…alright? After all that’s happened…"

Shirou settled into his seat in the meeting room uneasily. It wasn’t the number of people that made him nervous, it was the subject matter at hand. He was used to talking, and he was even used to talking about things most others would find thoroughly macabre. But trying to unravel the circumstances behind a murder? That was something new. He listened to Monobear’s explanation of how this was all supposed to go down, his expression unchanging.

Until the matter of exactly what ‘justice’ meant came to light.

"W-wait. They’re going to— but that isn’t—"

Fortunately for him, his voice didn’t carry very far, and he cut himself off the second he remembered what happened to the last person who’d crossed Monobear. He let out a sigh and slumped into his chair, letting the others speak in his stead. It seemed like introductions were in order, so he waited until there was a lull in the conversation.

"Introductions? My name is Shirou Sonozaki, and I…you see, I’m…"

He trails off into mumbling. Care to speak up a bit more there, champ? Finally, he took a deep breath and managed to raise his voice a few decibels.

"…funeral director. I’m the Super High School Level Funeral Director. Um, anyway, that’s not the point…

He took a quick look at Yuuma to see why she’d asked him to explain and— oh. Again. She seemed to do that a lot, she’d almost collapsed at the sight of Naomi’s corpse. He gave an appreciative nod to Orpheus as he gave the dozing oneirologist a pillow, then spoke up again with a much more authoratative tone this time around.

"As Chou-san and Edler-san said, we found bandages and disturbed clothing in Oshirou-san’s room. With that in mind, I would like to submit another piece of evidence to the court. First off, I was able to confirm with Monobear there was some kind of struggle between Sayer-san and the culprit. Secondly, when I asked Monobear privately whether or or not we were missing something, he said something to the effect of 'it's somewhere you probably wouldn't think to look— close to the culprit, perhaps.' As such, I believe that our missing piece of evidence may be something more abstract. As such, I agree with Rosenberg-san. I believe that the culprit is injured, and I’m afraid the evidence points to Oshirou-san as of now. Of course, we should give her a chance to explain now…”

"I don’t think there’s a reasonable explanation for anything here."

Thanks. It took her long enough to wind that one up.

"Ah…detectives. That is what we are now…in that case, I would be happy to help as much as I am able, ah…Shirou-san."

She pauses and takes a step back, bowing politely at the waist before straightening up- and craning her neck once again.

"I am Yuuma Chou, SHSL Oneirologist- the study of dreams, it’s not entirely common- but that’s not really important at the moment…I suppose it would be if I were, say…a SHSL Detective."

With an airy laugh, she turns to shuffle out of the room, away from the unfortunate body of her classmate.

"I meant more in the sense it's a reasonable reaction-- er, you seemed a little faint. It's perfectly ordinary to be horrified by death, isn't it? I mean, on top of how senseless everything else here is..."

He trailed off, his eyes flicking to the ground. How could things have gone so wrong? He'd only accepted his invitation because it would have made his family proud. The whole situation they were in now scarcely seemed real. He was able to function but only by simply focusing on whatever immediate task at hand presented itself. If he stopped to think about anything else for too long...well, it all became terribly overwhelming.

"Ah, you see...my title isn't exactly relevant to this, either. But I suppose we'll have to make do. I'm sure we can work this out..."

His tone of voice betrayed a lack of confidence, however. After all, he was already demoralized by the fact someone had taken Monobear's bait. Not to mention they were only high school students working with a lack of proper investigation materials and under what was quite possibly a very limited time frame. What were they to do...?

"Well...perhaps? That does seem like a safer place to hide something than out in the open. Probably? I mean, I'm not a detective or investigator. But it seems like a good place to start, at least. Shall we get going then, Chou-san...?"

A nightmare is a result of stress. Mental wear and tear, as it were. Her dreams were usually more vivid than most people’s- an unfortunate result of narcolepsy. With her brain’s inability to regulate things came an inability to regulate her dreams as well. 

This was the most vivid nightmare she’d ever had, that was for sure. 

She shuffles into the room, dwarfed by the majority of the other students. It takes her a few moments to get around them, to see what they’re all looking at. Not that she wants to, once she sets her eyes on the body on the ground. Death was unfortunate. Too unfortunate. 

This person…was her classmate. People she dreamt up…they were the same as people she knew in real life. This person was real, undoubtably, in some way at least. There was certainly a dead girl on the floor, certainly blood. One of the people Yuuma was peering around was certainly a murderer…? 

"Oh…dear…"

A wash of emotions.

This person on the ground…who were they? She hadn’t met them. But someone around her…they had to be affected. And someone else around her…they had caused this. She was a scientist, and not even an investigative one at that. Murder wasn’t in her dictionary. All she did was…sleep.

She feels herself freezing slightly, her back straightening with an uncomfortably stiffness. Yes, sleep. She needed to sleep, right away. She shuts her eyes, still standing up, lets her body tip backwards. Already the calming solitude of her closed eyelids seems to help her posture loosen, her arms floating forward like she’s reaching for something as she falls…

And then she hears someone next to her. Not her concern…but they were concerned. About her? She opens her eyes, barely catching herself before she smacks into the ground. The only noise she makes is a small squeak as she grabs onto the other person’s arm for support- and goodness! She did seem to attract the tall ones. It takes her a moment to regain her bearings, and she yawns deeply before releasing the other boy’s arm and stepping back to look up at him.

"I apologize, I was…ah…concerned. No need to fret at all…especially not with that poor soul on the ground."

She smiles slightly, pointing at Naomi’s body. 

"No, that's perfectly reasonable. There's nothing to apologize for."

He returned the smile, hoping it'd be reassuring. But if he showed he was calm, surely others would be, right?

"Er, well...detectives are supposed to work in groups, right? Maybe if we team up we'll find more than we would if we were alone. And if it helps I don't really think any of us are equipped for this..."

Least of all him. Sure, he was pretty used to seeing dead people. But not like this. Never like this.

"Ah, sorry, where are my manners? My name is Shirou Sonozaki. I wish we could have met under better circumstances.

He gave a small bow.

Shirou stood through Monobear’s speech, as calm as ever. So they were being bribed to kill now. That didn’t surprise him in the slightest. It made sense in a way, didn’t it? No reasonable person would kill. And the people here, they all seemed reasonable. They’d have to be forced into it. But he had faith— nobody would take this. Fears…they were manageable, right? If he saw anyone who was particularly distressed, he’d just help them! They could talk to him. Everyone was already dispersing, but he could still announce his intentions. Taking some paper and a pen, he quickly scribbled down a note.

"If you have any problems with this current development, please come and speak with me. Don’t give into Monobear.

—Shirou Sonozaki”

Satisfied, he pinned up the note on the wall next to his own room. Perfect. Now he could rest easily.

And so he did! At least until he woke up to the sound of Monobear’s voice. He let out a small sigh— that couldn’t mean anything good, going by the past few times. Then, a stray thought crossed his mind— nobody could have taken that bait, right? But no— this was another punishment. The idea of having to watch someone be hurt again made him feel sick, but he’d helped out the last time, hadn’t he? Was that going to be his life from now on? Wake up, find one of his classmates being punished for a minor infraction, try to help them as much as he could, at least until he broke a rule through some inexplicable means? Was this what he had to look forward to?

Oh. No, this was much, much worse. It was far from Shirou’s first time looking at a corpse, for obvious reasons. And certainly not his first time looking at the body of someone his age. No, what was sickening was apparently someone who was in this very room had killed one of their classmates.

There was so much to do. He needed to give this poor child the proper rites so they could be put to rest, needed to investigate, needed to comfort his classmates who weren’t used to such gruesome sights—

Oh. Speaking of that, there was a small blue-haired girl who was already looking incredibly unsteady on her feet. Worse than that, her eyes were closed and she looked like she was about to fall over. His eyes widened and he rushed over to her side, praying to God she wouldn’t fall over because…well, okay she was pretty tiny, maybe he could catch her. But still, he didn’t want to take that chance. It looks like he had his first task at hand now.

It was incredible just how…giddy she felt. She thought that it was impossible to stop the laughter which poured out from between her lips. Maybe she was delirious? Or perhaps she was in such shock the pain became numbed- no…no that probably wasn’t it considering just how sore her arm was…and that was a generous term to use. Oh well, she had no idea why she was so happy or why she was laughing, but there was almost more joy than pain at this point, a strange thing to feel once you’ve almost died-

Ah, maybe that’s why she felt so excited. She almost met her fate.

Though as happy as she was, she didn’t care for the group of people suddenly circling her and kneeling down to her height. She was a big girl, she could handle herself just fine! Plus, if she somehow died from a broken arm she would be much more than content. Either way, she had to try and scare them off…so she let her red face look much more rough and enraged.

"Get away from me! The fuck are you doing?! I…I don’t need anyone’s help! I can get to the infirmary fine on my…o-own-"

It was once she spotted Takara that she realized…now probably wasn’t the best time to try and act like she was furious at them all. The poor kid was already terrified of her by the look of it. So, her face softened…but still she smiled.

"Okay…okay fuck…sorry…! I-I’m fine, Takakakaka- Augh…Takara. Ihihihiiii…Don’t you worry a hair on your hear ‘bout me! I’m peachy! I’m feeling amazing! Peach time! I can stand on my own…Might need help getting there, but I’m just fine! Ohohohohoooo…"

And so, she slowly stood up, still holding her arm against her chest in confusion. What was she supposed to do? That one boy she didn’t know said something about a splint, so whatever that was would probably fix up her arm or something…right? Was that how broken arms worked? All her life she’s had a lot of different injuries, but never a broken arm…

It wasn’t like this was the first time this had happened to her.  Skips usually got quite upset when she thwarted their plans.  But usually after they slung dirt at her, she would wipe it clean, smile, and watch as a bounty hunter or the local authorities came in and made them regret those words.  How many times had she been cursed by those people as she watched them be dragged away without an ounce of care.

… such was not the case here. 

For now, she merely had to go with the flow and continue what she had started.

~

The thin line diminished further into a frown.  Was she mad?  Didn’t she know that they were only trying to help?  Perhaps she hit her head and couldn’t distinguish the difference between allies and enemies!  Simply awful, the poor dear!  Remi rested a hand against her cheek, speaking rather quietly.

“I hope you didn’t injure anything else in your violent fall.”

She looked away from the girl on the ground, outright appearing downcast as her overwhelming concern for the girls mental health began to worry her as well.  Why Remi Shijou have to be so empathetic!  It was a curse, really!

But when the chance for Remi came to prove herself useful, she rose to the challenge, launching herself to her feet.

“I will not worry any hairs on any… hears?”

Didn’t the idiom talk about not worrying any hairs on one’s… head?  She was a strange one, that much was certain.  It didn’t surprise her that she misspoke the idiom.  Trivial, trivial.

“I know exactly how to get there!  We can all follow me!”

(Well, maybe it stung a little. He was just trying to help, and they weren't clients, they were supposed to be his fellow students. But still, it was nothing he was unaccustomed to and certainly not enough to openly react to. And she'd...probably...calm down a little once she wasn't in pain, right? Maybe?)

Either way, she seemed to settle a little once she addressed the blonde boy, so no harm and no foul. He wasn't entirely convinced she was doing all that well, though, given the odd turns of phrase and the fact her arm was clearly broken. True, she could walk to the infirmary on her own but she couldn't very well splint her own arm-- well, okay, she probably could if she was experienced enough, but that was an unlikely prospect. He certainly hoped she didn't know how to do that, at least, because that said some unfortunate things about the circumstances of her life.

...Still. She'd probably feel better if her friend (?) was there to help her instead of a total stranger, and giving the other (Takara, apparently? He was pretty sure that was the case because Takakakaka didn't sound like a proper name) something to focus on doing might reduce his nervousness. It always made Shirou feel better, at least. He turned to the bespectacled boy with a small smile.

"Do you think you'd be able to help me once we're in the infirmary? The more people we have helping out the quicker this will go by. Maybe you could get some of the things I need while I try to prepare..."

He paused-- the next part was probably something everyone would want to know, but especially Saki. She'd want to know what she was in for, after all.

"It depends on what's in there. I'm not sure if we'll have the materials for a proper cast. But we'll need something to make sure your arm is held straight so the bone can heal properly. You'll need to keep it as still as possible after that, but given some time it should set again and you'll be back to normal. But until we get there, hold your arm as still as you possibly can."

'Some time' meant anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, but...at least she'd survived. If that bear broke her arm just like that, who knew what else he'd be capable of?

"You're probably going to need painkillers too. You don't have any medicinal allergies you know of, do you?"

Anesthetics, of course, would be ideal, but he still didn't feel optimistic about their chances of finding anything too useful, not to mention he technically didn't have the necessary medical training to administer most of them.

...Nobody needed to know that.

He lifted his head as the uninjured girl spoke. She seemed...confident? That was a good word for it. Confident enough, at least. Maybe her talent involved having to deal with a lot of stressful situations too? Either way, it was nice to be around someone else who could stay calm in this situation. It would make it a little bit easier to handle the ones who (for perfectly understandable reasons) couldn't.

"By all means, um..."

...He didn't know her name either. Normally introductions would be the very first thing on his mind, it wouldn't do to be rude, after all, but given the circumstances it'd hardly mattered.

"Miss."

Close enough.

"Please lead the way."

Aside these thoughts, it looked like that yet another student recognized him. Despite being so popular, he felt still a bit surprised at how many people knew his name. Then again, it might be just a coincidence that the first two teenagers he talked to knew about him. Well, he’ll just have to see, right?

"You are correct, I’m the author of the Memoirs of a Soul series. I’m glad to hear that your older sister enjoys reading my books.”

It really made him happy to hear that. Whenever he got to know that someone was enjoying his books, he felt satisfied with himself. This was what he had worked for - making people smile and enjoy themselves when reading his books.

He grew quiet again and listened to his conversation partner. Now that he mentioned it, Orpheus could also recall to stand in front of Hope’s Peak, before blacking out.

"How peculiar, my last memories are the same as yours. I definitely recall taking my first step on Hope’s Peak ground before I was engulfed in darkness. I wonder if this will be the same for everyone…?"

If so, then this certainly begged a few questions - wouldn’t have anyone seen so many students pass out in front of such an esteemed academy? After all, this was anything but normal.

Rubbing his neck a bit while letting his mind wander a bit, he was once again in the role of a listener before raising his own voice:”Yes, there must be a reason to this. Maybe some sort of prank? Rather ellaborate, I must say, but I would prefer this scenario far more than any negative ones.”

"The strange bear might say what it wants, but I don’t believe that this place is impossible to escape from. I’m sure that it was just said to scare us, but I do not see any reason to yield to it. There has to be a way and as you said, I have also responsibilities to take care of."

Alright, one of his responsibilities could be also done here for a certain amount of time, but he still prefered to be at HPA or at home. If he didn’t accepted the offer, he might have been spared from this weird situation.

Oh well, nothing to be done about now.

"It certainly seems like there's a pattern at work here.That's a bit unsettling. I'm even a Hope's Peak student myself...or I was supposed to be, considering we're definitely not at the school."

His expression lightened once the subject turned back to talents, however.

"She speaks very highly of your writing. I'm afraid I have little time for reading myself, though..."

His work left little to no time for hobbies, after all!

"Well, it can't be impossible to escape from, can it? If there's a way in there must be a way out. It's just a matter of finding it. That's just sensible, isn't it?"

Not to mention if there truly was no way out that brought up a host of other unpleasant possibilities, like the fact their food supply might be heavily limited. Still, he didn't want to cause any undue panic by bringing that up.

"Let's just hope this is some particularly complex hazing ritual. The school's certainly supposed to have enough resources to put to such a thing...though I hope they'd spend their money a bit more wisely than that."

He winced once the author asked of Shirou's own talent. Well, he'd been afraid of this. He supposed it made a simple enough icebreaker question, but he still dreaded having to answer it. He wondered if there'd be some way to evade it, or pitch his job as something less morbid. But maybe he'd be better off being completely honest-- after all, things were supposed to be different here, right? They'd promised as much.

"Ah...funeral director. I'm...a funeral director. I, er, don't really handle dead bodies, if that's what you're worried about...it's more the executive functions involved in putting together a funeral. I'm not actually a certified mortician yet."

He let out a small, nervous chuckle.

The scouting expedition with Naomi had given him a good overview of the first floor. Being acquainted with it now, he ventured to the second floor after parting ways with the film critic. He had enjoyed their company overall, but it was time to be on his own for a bit. The blonde didn’t mind talking with other people, but after a certain amount of time, he had to retreat to a quiet place and recharge his batteries.

It seemed like as if he could do so soon, because the second floor didn’t consist of many interesting rooms. Of course, he had explored the infirmary first and although he got the sudden urge to clean up there, he refrained from doing so. Maybe he could do so later, but first came the exploration of his current location.

Monokuma’s office was off limits, so he didn’t even bother to knock on it or try to pry the door open. He didn’t want to deal with that unpleasant bear, so he went on his little journey.

The bathrooms and the closet were really not different from the ones in the first floor which made his stay in these rooms all the shorter. Thus, only the dorms remained, though he didn’t see any need to go through all of them. Looking at the pamphlet in his hand yet again, he made sure of his own room assignment, before tucking said item into his coat pockets.

2-C, along with four other students. Through his conversation with Naomi, he figured out that they were all most definitely attending Hope’s Peak. Admittedly, he was curious about the others talents - he already knew of the film critic and didn’t someone in their group looked like a popular magical girl…? Anyway, he would get to know them all eventually, so there was no need to rush into any introductions.

Orpheus was standing outside of the dorms, 2-C to be more precise, before someone called out for him - at least, he didn’t see anyone else around, so he assumed that it was meant for him. As the fantasy novelist turned around, he saw a tall, bespectacled man jogging towards him.

"Yes?"

He waited until the stranger reached him and started to ask him questions. Huh, this was the second person to inquire about these matters. He briefly wondered if he looked like a person who might know a thing or two about their current predicament, but then focused on the person before him.

When he introduced himself, Orpheus blinked for a moment, his name sounding familiar… Didn’t he read a similar name on the brochure? Wasn’t he also assigned to a room of dorm 2-C?

"According to the pamphlet, we seem to share the same dorm, Sonozaki-san. May we get along well for the time being and it’s also a pleasure to make your acquaintance. As for my own person, I’m Orpheus Edler, a fantasy novelist. Sadly, I’m none the wiser as you are about this whole ordeal. Just like you, I can’t remember ever signing up for such a program, nevermind recalling how I got on the train."

Gosh, he talked a lot today, though it was only to be expected in such an environment. Getting to know the others was important, after all.

"Ah, that's the case then? It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

The funeral director paused-- there was something quite familiar about the other boy's name. Once he word 'novelist' was brought up, Shirou's eyes lit up with recognition.

"Oh...! I thought your name sounded familiar. Er, Memoirs of a Soul, right? My older sister is a fan."

His smile turned a little brighter, at least until Orpheus mentioned his experiences.

"...So you don't know how you ended up there either?"

He tapped his finger to his lips.

"The last thing I remember was walking across the threshold of the school. Then...nothing."

He closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to retrieve any small shreds of memory that might have slipped through his mind in its confused state once the bear showed up. But nothing came forth.

"This is certainly unsettling. But I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for it all. We should probably work on making sure that everyone went through the same thing we did...with any luck we'll find someone who remembers something we didn't. Regardless of whether or not that works out, we should probably try to find some way out of here. I've got quite a few responsibilities to attend to, so I'd rather prefer to not be stuck here indefinitely. I'm sure that holds true for the rest of us."

Sure, he'd agreed to take a break from his job for his own health, but that didn't mean he was going to stay from it indefinitely! Their funeral home had been in his father's family for generations after all. It was practically in his blood.

He’d held up pretty well throughout the whole affair, as bizarre as it was. At first, when he’d found himself on the train car, he’d reasoned it out as some sort of particularly odd dream— perhaps he was simply anxious about his acceptance to the school and was having some kind of peculiar nightmare about it. So he looked at his surroundings with mild interest, pleased his subconscious had such unique taste in decoration. All the greenery was quite striking.

When it lurched to a stop, the funeral director stumbled forward, a look of terror in his eyes as he struggled to keep his balance. He braced himself against a seat, then breathed a sigh of relief. What had there been to worry about, really? It was just a dream.

Though, he had to wonder why his dreaming-mind would conjure up a foul-mouthed mascot to greet him. Still, no reason to question dream logic. He went along with the bear’s orders, snatching a set of pamphlets that had started raining from the sky for inexplicable reasons before moving on, reading as he went.

When the bear mentioned ‘work-study program,’ he looked up briefly, his mouth twisting downwards in distaste. Really? He certainly didn’t remember signing up for such a thing, and even if he had his family would’ve protested. They’d agreed to let him go to school in part so he could get away from his job, why would he go right back to work again? And in some sterile corporate office nonetheless! There had to be some mistake—

Wait. This was just a dream, wasn’t it? He’d like to wake up now. Or at least go back to the train part, that was nice. So he pinched his arm.

And he was still standing there with the bear telling them to stop crying. Who was crying? Not him, and hopefully nobod— oh. Well, alright, there was at least one person crying. He took in a small breath to clear his thoughts. Maybe this wasn’t a dream, but that was no reason to lose his head. Nothing good would come of that. He wasn’t the only person here after all— apparently there were others (were they also supposed to be from the school?) More people panicking would just feed into more panic and things would devolve from there.

He had to keep things calm. Right. He was good at this! Dealing with grieving clients was part of his job, after all. Then again, grief and fear were two different things…oh well. He could work things out, right? The conference room was rather crowded and people were already beginning to pair off, plus things weren’t dissolving into absolute pandemonioum yet despite his current lack of assistance. Thus, he opted to slip out the door and head elsewhere.

Apparently there were dorms (that was bizarre, who ever heard of dorms at an office?) Well, if this was all true then they were going to be stuck here for a while. He might as well get used to his surroundings. Rubbing the back of his head, he wandered off in that general direction.

And as he rounded the corner he realized he wasn’t the only one who’d apparently had that idea. There was another boy there, one who seemed about as overdressed as he was. With any luck, he’d have a better idea as to what was going on. though from what Shirou had observed everyone else was just as confused as he was. Still, it was worth a try.

"Ah, pardon me…!"

He half-ran, half-jogged up to the other teen.

"You wouldn’t happen to have any idea what this is all about, would you? I certainly don’t remember signing up for this. Or…coming here, for that matter."

He tensed, realizing he’d forgotten something— of course, given the bizarre situation they were in, you could well argue that the normal rules of conversation were suspended but being impolite was absolutely contrary to the funeral director’s nature.

"Sorry, where are my manners? I’m Shirou Sonozaki."

He gave a stiff bow and a small smile.