DANGANRONPA V2: ECLIPSE

Chapter 4: Part 2

For the next motive, we were all told to wait outside the lodge. From the way it looked, Monokuma was calling us in by groups. First, he called in Keiko and Saikoro. The two of them walked through the main doors side by side, and I hadn't seen them since. We could only wonder what was going on inside there. Maybe we were being transported into some kind of death maze, and we each were being given a partner. I didn't see how that could work, though, because we had an odd number of people.

Ruji was sitting on my left, trembling in fear. It had been a good few days since the last class trial. We were starting to hope that a motive would never come. I was really starting to get used to the peace. We hadn't seen much of Ahmya during those days, but everyone else seemed to have gotten much closer. I couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to lose any one of the people left. Yuuki was the glue holding everyone together with his positive energy. Saikoro was somehow always able to change the mood with his gameshow-like attitude and fairly bright personality. Keiko's bright smile always helped to make me feel better. 

Then, of course, there was Daiku, Kichiro, Ruji, and Rantaro. Strange as it may seem, it almost felt like we were a squad now. A group of people who could at least somewhat trust each other. (How I feel about Kichiro varies from moment to moment.) 

"Alrighty!" Monokuma beamed, appearing at the door before us. Keiko and Saikoro were nowhere to be seen. "May I have Daiki, Kichiro, and Ruji?"

Ruji made a quiet squeaking sound as Daiki grasped Kichiro's arm and practically dragged the unlucky student forward. After a moment of hesitation, the ghostbuster followed, and the three of them disappeared behind the large doors, leaving only myself, Ahmya, Yuuki, and Rantaro. 

"Where are Saikoro and Keiko?" I muttered. "I thought they'd be right out after Monokuma brought them in to tell them the motive."

"Don't you see? He's not telling them the motive," Rantaro breathed. "This IS the motive. Something's going on. Something that involves groups. Perhaps it's a system. First a group of two, then a group of three, then a group of four."

"If so, then I'm glad to be in the large group," Yuuki smiled. "Bigger groups are stronger when we all work together!"

"Right..." Ahmya muttered, keeping her gaze low. 

Something about the way she held herself made her look like a distinguished flame. I guess she was still really missing Bashira. Not that I blamed her. It was like she was a shell of who she used to be. I didn't know her all that well, but she had clearly changed. 

"Ahmya, Yuuki," Monokuma giggled. "You're next!"

Huh. I suppose we weren't going to be a group of four...

The ultimate hero quickly stood up and rushed over to Monokuma's side, only turning back to check on his partner after spending a good thirty seconds brushing himself off. Once he finally noticed her look of complete and total fear, he carefully approached her and grasped her hand. He gave her a warm smile, then whispered something I couldn't quite hear to her. She slowly nodded in response, then walked by his side, and the two disappeared behind the great, big doors. 

"Well, it's just us, I guess," I breathed, turning my attention to Rantaro. He nodded, though I wasn't quite sure if he actually heard me. He looked focused, but not on what I was saying. Not even on the lodge doors. His gaze was off toward the forest. The air was still quite damp and heavy, but it was no longer pouring. A gentle breeze sent chills throughout my slightly soaked skin as shimmering leaves rustled. 

I wanted to ask him if he learned anything about the tape in the past few days, but this was not the place. Monokuma would hear me for sure, and he was definitely the last person we needed to catch on to what we were doing.