Danganronpa Midnight: Lantern Lament (Fanganronpa)

Chapter 3 - A Feeling of Closing Entrapment - Movie Night

With a stretch, I stepped inside the twenty-four-hour theatre, seeing a bunch of people hard at work with the preparations for tonight.

Finn was carrying bowls for the popcorn that he would set at each table. Meanwhile, Akihiro was at the bar, practising his mixology yet again with a bunch of different juices and ice.

At least now it had a proper use. Last time, all the drinks he made just went in the garbage.

Kokoro was helping Finn by setting napkins and decorations at every table that I assumed she made.

She did a pretty good job if Kokoro did make them. The paper decorations are really cute.

The step-siblings were by the door, fiddling with the projector with a lot of struggling. Satoshi held the stack of films while Hidemi tried to work the machine.

"Why is this...so difficult?" She sighed, slouching a bit to catch her breath and wiping her sweat.

Satoshi leaned a bit to the left and saw me standing at the entrance nodding towards me. "Maybe you can ask Chiyo for help or something."

"H-Huh?!?" She exclaimed, whipping herself around. "Chiyo!"
Hidemi jumped off the small step ladder and marched over to me. "I thought I told you to relax and let us handle all the work."

"Yes. You did say that..." I nodded.

"Then why on earth are you here so early?" She asked.

"I guess even though you told me to take it easy, I still want to help out. I'm not just gonna sit around while you guys do all this work." I explained.

"...Are you sure you want to help?" Hidemi wondered. "I wanted you to sit back and unwind."

"Yeah, I'm sure," I smirked. "I wouldn't be here right now if I wasn't going to help you guys."

"Then I suppose I can't stop you." She sighed but then smiled back at me.

"So, what's the problem?" I questioned, walking up to Satoshi and the projector.

"Yuna was supposed to help us out with the equipment." Satoshi summarised for me. "But...she's still pissed at Akihiro. So she never turned up. Now we have to set up the stage and lights ourselves."

"Akihiro did tell us how to get the projector to work. I just can't figure it out yet though." Hidemi admitted.

"I see." I nodded, stepping up the ladder and observing the machine. After managing to press a few buttons, the side of the projector slipped out.

"So that's where we put the disc!" Hidemi's realised. "That makes so much more sense. Thank you so much, Chiyo!"

"That was easy...I knew we were missing something." Satoshi then sighed.

"Look at that. You were supposed to be relaxing and now you're practically doing our job." The attorney then chuckled.

"It's nothing." I shrugged. "Why didn't you just ask Akihiro to explain it to you guys again? He's a jackass, sure, but he's also a nice guy.... sometimes. I'm sure he would have helped."

"Hidemi insisted we couldn't ask him again. He's already done so much..." the forensic expert replied.

"What do you mean?"

"It's better if I just show you," Hidemi said, taking my hand and leading me to the front of the stage while Satoshi followed.

There was a camera standing on a tripod facing the stage. It hadn't been set to record yet but was already on.

"Not only did Akihiro start preparing drinks, but he almost organised this amazing camera system!" Hidemi explained.

"Damn. He's got a lot on his plate." I said