The loudest creak emitted from the steel cover that had previously guarded the stairs to the next floor. I clenched- no, crumpled the slip of paper from earlier. A lot is going on right now. First priority though, is the brand new floor available to us all. Each one of us remaining ultimates carefully made our way up the stairs, half expecting some deadly trap to be awaiting us at the end. What awaited us was.... A darkly colored hallway. The walls were a deep shade of purple, and the now carpet under my feet was pitch black. It was extremely wide for a simple hallway, and paintings dotted the walls.
" Well, I suppose this is the new floor..." I muttered, stating the obvious. " Knowing Shokukuma so far, I think we should all be careful and take it sl- Hey!" Mid sentence, I noticed many students already leaving our group to explore. Thanks for the appreciation.
Yjaro placed a hand onto my shoulder, making my body flinch. " Listen, Arato, I think we can all go our own ways for now. If you'd like, I can stay with you." The psychic gave me a small smile. As I opened my mouth to speak, I paused.
" ... Fine, fine, alright? Just, don't hit me with that psychic crap."
" I promise you, I'll just keep that all to myself." He spoke quietly. And with that, he pushed me from behind to urge me to begin moving. As the two of us paced down the hall, I began to take in my surroundings. This floor seemed a lot more peaceful then the first floor. The first floor with always haunt me with the memories of Byari and Dokari; two completely innocent students here just taken over by this game and sentenced to death. I ended up shuddering without realizing it. But I was reminded we had to focus on exploration when I heard loud yells emitting from an doorless room on our left.
" FIGHT ME, BROSKI!!"
" Broski? What in the name of god does that mean."
" IT'S A CHALLENGE, DUDE!! Me verses you! Watari vs Kokoma!" Ah. Now that I heard the two names, I knew who was there. Me and Yjaro stepped into the room, and dozens of arcade machines and games caught our attention quick. A neon sign on the wall said:
"ARCADE GAME ROOM"
Well this is the arcade. Looking at the back wall, we could see the Ultimate Author and Soccer Player in set places at a... Dance Dance Revolution machine. They both stood sternly on their own dance pad. So thats what Watari meant by fight. I was worried for a second there. " Hey, what are you girls doing exactly?" I stepped forward, hand on my tie.
" What are we doing? WHAT ARE WE DOING?! It's none other than an ULTRA CHALLENGE!!" Watari threw up her arms into the air with a confident grin on her face. " Me and Koko are gonna do a good ol' DDR challenge, Arato!" As she spoke, Kokoma nodded in agreement.
" Yes. She believes she can beat me, and I think otherwise. You both can bet on who wins, because Takinoko and Fennel already are." Kokoma nudged her head towards the side. And sure enough, both Fennel and Takinoko sat there with excited smiles on their face. Janmi sat behind Takinoko. " Fennel votes for me. Takinoko votes for Watari. Janmi just wanted to watch."
" Then... I vote on Watari. " I folded my arms, glancing up at Yjaro. Yes, up. He's tall.
" I guess it's only right for me to vote for Kokoma. She could surprise you." Yjaro blew some of his hair out of his eyes, showing off his murky gray eye color. It somehow looked good on him.
" GAME ON, KOKO!!" Watari fist bumped into the air, slamming her fist down onto the start button. The difficulty was set to hard. Me and Yjaro took a seat with the other three observers, watching in awe. Kokoma did surprise us. Her moves were so quick and smooth, and she didn't even seem phased with most of it. Watari was racking up points well, but so was Kokoma. They seriously aced this game. After a good few minutes, the girls dropped to the floor. They had tied.
" Aww, that sucks! Watari, why didn't you do better?!" Takinoko complained from our little group. " I guess it's better then just losing buuuut... Still!" The prince crossed his arms. Janmi hugged Takinoko from behind to try and calm him down. Fennel let out a loud yell in victory.
" Huh... Well, I'd say that really wasn't a waste." Yjaro spoke up from being quiet for so long. " Our moods have been down for a while. This helped light up some of us." That's true. Everyone was... Happy. Even Kokoma was smiling. Barely. " If only Eiko were here." Then I froze. Eiko. I almost forgot about how Eiko was feeling. After the trial... She just looked drained from all emotion. Without another word, I pushed myself up from the floor.
I needed to find Eiko.
Storming out of the arcade and out to the hall, I didn't bother to look back into the arcade. I went into a large open room; the dining room. A large table was set in the center of the room, on top of a fancy looking carpet. A large golden chandelier hung above the table and chairs scattered the sides of the table. And seated at the end of the table was Eiko. Her head was laid down on the table, hands covering her face. Huumi sat next to her.
" Eiko... Listen's to me! Her death was not your fault! Please, do not's feel's guilty!" Huumi had his hands clasped together, using his best cheery voice to try and convince Eiko. But Eiko gave no response. " Ah... You must listen's to me's, it really is not's your fault. Dokari did that to save's you, you hold no guilt!" Still no response. I let out a gentle sigh and made my way over to Eiko. I was honestly glad she hadn't done anything reckless.
" ... Eiko. Do you really think that Dokari would want this? Want you to feel guilty? I don't think so. She may be dead, but she's still watching you. And she wants the absolute best for you, I know it. So, keep your head up, for not only Dokari but for all of us." I... Never thought I'd be able to change anyone. But the way that Eiko suddenly sat up and looked at me with shining eyes made me think I actually did. She opened her mouth to speak. But just nodded in response. "Good. Now get on up, and maybe get a little bit of food in your system. Bring your energy back." I gave Eiko a small smile before turning right around and rushing to the last room I had not explored yet. I had saved the best one for last.
" MUSIC ROOM "
Pushing open the door, I immediately noticed a crowd of others in the room. Harau, Ferimi, Kaiho, and Myaja. They all sat around Jyushi, up on the large stage in the center of the room, electric guitar in handand playing the shit outta it. And jesus christ, could he play that thing well. Everyone was cheering, and I ended up joining in with them. I never thought I could seriously like this sort of upbeat and loud music but something about Jyushi just made it... Better. Jyushi ended his little show with a loud chord that echoed throughout the room.
" And that was the Gyato show for you all, you're welcome, you're welcome!" Jyushi complimented himself with a proud smirk. " I'm surprised, even Grape Soda over there enjoyed it!" He pointed a finger at me. W a it- Grape Soda?!
" Ah-Uh-Er... Yeah I guess. It was okay..." I had to grasp a subpar word to describe that performance. Even thought it was better than just okay. " I didn't know you knew how to play that thing."
" Whaaaat? Any long time fan of mine knows I rock electric guitar!" Jyushi placed the guitar onto a stand for it and hopped down off of the stage to approach me. " You're lagging behind, Grape Soda."
" W-Well... You're just going too fast for me-" I eyed Jyushi up and down quickly. " ... Rainbow Pop." God damnit Arato. Don't do things on the spot. Now you look like an idiot. All four of the students left snickered at me, even Harau. Great.
" Hmm... I like that nickname. But only you can use it." Jyushi jabbed me lightly in the chest which caused me to stumble back. " Thanks for your feedback on it, Grape Soda."
" ... Y-Yeah. No problem at all."
YOU ARE READING
DanganRonpa: REBOOT
Mystère / Thriller" To whom this may concern, You have been personally invited to stay at the Teriko Resort! Your talent and worthy abilities have been recognized by the public and we want you to have a vacation of a lifetime! Plane tickets are inside the envelope, b...
