Honoka awoke the next morning to the horrible, grating sound of Monokuma announcing wake up. She dragged herself out of bed and realized with a start that Kotori wasn't in the room.

"Kotori-chan?" Honoka called, suddenly awake.

"Yes, Honoka-chan?" She heard Kotori's voice reply. She looked around and noticed Kotori coming out of a door that she hadn't noticed the previous night.

"What's through there?" Honoka asked, yawning. Kotori shrugged.

"Just a bathroom." She answered. "Now, come on, we have to go down for breakfast! I'm sure the others will be there." Kotori trotted down towards the door, and Honoka, rubbing her bleary eyes, followed her, somewhat confused at Kotori's sudden change of personality. Just last night she had been terrified. Why was she so happy now?

"Say, Honoka-chan," Kotori's voice startled Honoka out of her thoughts. "I thought about this place this morning while you were asleep, and I came to a conclusion," She paused slightly. "Our parents have to be wondering where we went, right? There has got to be people looking for us. So, I think that they'll come rescue us soon!" Honoka smiled brightly. She had to be right.

"Yeah! They're surely looking for us! We'll be out of here in no time!" Her spirits renewed, Honoka skipped down the hallway, ready to get breakfast.

As they reached the cafeteria, Honoka flung open the door.

"Good morning! She announced. 5 sets of eyes stared at her, with expressions varying from bewilderment to slight annoyance. Honoka paid them no mind and bounced over to sit beside Umi.

"Good morning again, Umi-chan!" she cheered. Umi ignored her and turned to Kotori, who had followed her in quietly.

"I hope you're feeling better," She said softly, a hint of a smile on her face. "I was quite worried about you." Kotori flashed a bright smile.

"Yup! Thanks to Honoka-chan, anyway." Umi smiled back at her. Though she smiled, Honoka could see the dark bags under her friend's eyes and her weary expression. She probably had stayed up all night worrying. Umi worried way too much, in her opinion. They'd be out of there in no time. Right? Right.

"Why the change in personality?" Eli's voice came from behind them, and the three second years turned to face her. Kotori just smiled.

"Well, I figured that they're all looking for us, and so they'll rescue us soon, right? They've got to notice that we're gone."

"Yeah!" Honoka agreed emphatically, "We'll be out of here in no time!" Eli just smiled grimly.

"I wish I had your optimism." She said dryly. As they were talking, Nozomi had wandered in from another room that was probably a kitchen. She quietly sat next to Eli, leaning into the blonde's side. Eli wrapped an arm around her.

"Not eating anything?" Eli asked her worriedly. Nozomi shook her head.

"Not hungry." She mumbled, closing her eyes. She looked awful. Her hair was messy and her eyes seemed to have lost their luster. Eli and Umi exchanged a look.

As the other girls filtered in, Honoka noticed that the mood was gloomy and sad. She and Kotori seemed to be the only optimistic ones in the group! Even Nico and Rin didn't seem very upbeat. Nico had walked in 10 minutes late with her hair down and her eyes red and puffy, and Rin was unusually quiet. Honoka tried multiple times to lighten the mood, only to be shot down every time, usually by Umi, Eli, or Maki. Eventually she fell quiet, annoyance bubbling up within her. Why couldn't everyone just be positive for once?! After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Umi got up from her seat.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my room." She said curtly, turning on her heel to leave.

"Umi-chan!" Honoka called out, following her into the hallway. Umi ignored her. "Umi-chan," Honoka tried again. Umi didn't reply, only quickened her pace. "Umi-chan! Why don't we play some games or something!" Honoka called out. "It may not be what you wanna do, but it's better than sitting around and doing nothing!" Umi whirled around, looking incredibly annoyed. Honoka took a step back. Umi had never made that kind of face at her before.

"Honoka." Umi's voice was deadly. "Leave me alone. I have no time to be sitting around and playing stupid games like a sitting duck. I am not going to just wait around to either be rescued or die. Play your games all you want. I will have no part in them." With that, Umi turned again and stalked off, leaving a very surprised Honoka in the hallway.

"U-Umi." She whispered, feeling her knees give out. She crumpled to the floor. That wasn't Umi. Umi was her friend, who was strict, although she meant well. Umi wasn't rude to her. What was this forsaken school doing to her friends?! To her?! Honoka buried her face in her knees and cried.

That night, she heard another knock on the door. Honoka opened it to see Kotori standing in front of her.

"C-could I sleep with you just for one more night?" She asked. "I'm still kinda scared…" Honoka forced a smile.

"Of course, Kotori-chan!" Honoka opened the door wider. "You can sleep here every night if you need to."

"Thank you, Honoka-chan!" Kotori stepped into the room and hopped onto Honoka's bed, curling up in a similar way to the night before. Honoka locked the door and climbed into bed with Kotori, closing her eyes.

"H-Honoka-chan." Kotori whimpered. Honoka opened her eyes and looked worriedly at the taupe-haired girl, who's eyes were full of tears.

"What's wrong?!" Honoka asked. "Are you ok?!" Kotori didn't answer.

"D-did you and Umi-chan have a fight…?" She asked softly. Honoka almost didn't hear her. "I heard her yelling."

"O-oh, I just bothered Umi-chan a bit too much so she yelled at me. You know how everyone's a bit on edge lately." Honoka put on a smile, lying through her teeth. If Kotori saw through her lie, she didn't show it, as she just smiled, looking relieved.

"Oh, good!" Kotori yawned, settling down again. Honoka grabbed Kotori's hand and squeezed it tightly as she drifted off to sleep.

Honoka was jolted awake the next morning by Kotori screaming. She scrambled out of bed, tumbling onto the floor.

"What?! What's going on?!" Untangling herself from the covers, she dashed over to the door, where Kotori was standing. Honoka took a deep breath. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good. Kotori turned, burying her face in Honoka's chest, her body wracked with sobs. With Kotori out of the way, Honoka could clearly see what had made Kotori scream, and she let out a scream of her own. There, lying unmoving in a pool of dried blood, was Tsubasa._

Dun dun dun! The first murder has occurred. Ok, I'm sorry for being MIA. I've been super busy with school and life in general, and I just really didn't have any motivation. I tried to take the constructive criticism I got on the last chapter into account when writing this. I'm going to attempt to write and upload more often. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it's not my best writing. Bye~!