Prelude 0-3: Plans Set In Motion

Beta Read By: Allen Ux Ultor and ZiggyMia123

"This is going to be real simple, Kazuma. You just got to listen to what I say, alright? Well, I already know you can since you're one of Kotori's bitches." The crazy lady pulls out a fancy-looking red and gold seat from the darkness. It's never a good idea to follow the person wielding the gun yet you should always listen and obey.

"What do you want...Monokuma?" This only proves my previous theory that this is a Killing Game. Only a dumbass would not notice its ties to Kotori Hiraoka. I'm pretty sure, however, that she would brag about it if one of her experiments dressed up as Monokuma and start shewing despair bullshit like herself. God, why is everybody so obsessed with hope and despair? People do realize that normal everyday people don't give a shit about that, right?

"So straight to the point. I like that in a man. Junko just rambles on and on about crazy shit. But enough of that..." Without a warning, this messed up woman grabs onto my chin and yanks me closer to her. Just do not piss off the obviously insane person. "You're going to tell me about the apartment, okay~? Oh wait, none of you know about that. Has that really happened? Or you really here? Or is it me who's part of your kinky imagination, roughing you up without anybody being able to save your sorry ass?"

Do not respond. They want a reaction. Leaving your face blank will make them leave you alone. Everybody smart knows that. It's a simple fact of life. Follow the people in charge, or be one of the outspoken few that only exist to get killed and made an example out of. Being a goddamn martyr will only destroy the world in the end. Makoto Naegi may still be alive yet he suffers day to day with his so-called heroism.

"Get on with it already."

"So impatient! But fine." Monokuma lets go of me after placing a strangely soft kiss on my nose. She goes back into the darkness. I turn to go but then I feel something hit me. Looking back, I see that I was lucky enough to be hit my the hilt of a knife and not the blade. Just two seconds into the Killing Game and I could've been dead. I should put my guard up more often. But nobody is stupid enough to try anything yet. No motives have even been announced. What kind of braindead idiot will attempt to kill with nothing but 'freedom' to gain?

"Going on and on about stupid meaningless shit in your brain. The only thing that matters is the Master, got it? She's going to be the change the world needs. All of you just need to die first." Monokuma picks a random candle on the ground and goes to light it up. The rest of the light from the room suddenly disappears. Step, step, the fire comes closer.

"I don't see how this helps me learn anything." The clearly insane woman sighs at my reply.

"If you think like this, nothing will be accomplished. God, you've got such a stick stuck up your perfect ass-"

"I do not think-"

"Anyway, none of that matters. You're going to pay very close attention to me. Out of all of these bastards, you're the only one with a sense of logic and cowardice." With a snap of her fingers, there's no more light in the room. What sucks the most is that I cannot deny these words. The only way people can survive the world I'm stuck in is becoming a coward. Heroes only get themselves killed. Why do people care so much about their morals that they will throw away literally everything for them? Maybe I'm a true bastard for thinking I would throw everything away for one more second alive. But most everybody with common sense would, they just do not realize and live in absolute denial about the truth of humanity.

"I see I got your full attention, Kazuma. What a relief. Kids these days get distracted way too easily." I dare not comment on how she looks way younger than me and everybody I met on this damn train. "You see, I know that me just hanging around here in the shadows would be hard. Somebody is bound to notice. Especially with you know who being unable to stop herself from sticking her nose everywhere." Once again, don't comment. I've no idea who she's talking about.

"What's the point you're getting to?"

"Monokuma isn't supposed to be a human and we kinda wasted our money on other Killing Games. We really need somebody to help manage our money better. But that's not the point! I can't let myself be known, you understand? And really, people would just kill me and get this game over with if they saw me walking around-"

"You're saying killing you is a way to stop this?" There's no light in here, even for this so-called Monokuma. This can work to my advantage. Kotori would be looking for me and find this place easily. If there's still a Killing Game going on, she would continue it just to see results. But, stopping this game before the rules have been put into effect could be the best way out. It would make Kotori both proud and angry. Maybe that wouldn't be the best result, but it is better than the chance of making it this far and dying for no reason.

Feel for anything. There would be no actual weapons. The best course of action, a piece of broken wood or one of the candles. Too bad I've no idea what this place is or what's inside. But, somehow, my luck helps me in my life and I got a candle. It's surprisingly heavy. Good, it can actually be used as a weapon.

"Killing, in general, is how you can escape. You should already know how the Killing Games work. The beauty is how simple yet complex it is. So simple of a task, but the complexities of your morality make it harder than it has to be. There's no need for overly complicated traps. Just catch somebody by themself and go stab, stab, stab!" Monokuma giggles. "Oh, there are so many easy ways to actually win. But high schoolers aren't good with murder, so hopefully, adults are better. Like, hm, for example, making your murder look like an accident. Oops, the victim didn't wear her hair correctly and chop, chop, chop, her lack of safety gets her cut into shreds. Don't mind me evilly laughing in the corner with my hands stained with blood." I stop listening to her meaningless monologue halfway through. The only use it serves is as a way to find out where she is. Kotori would go into 'despair' rants all the time and, to be honest, they're quite annoying.

"You're awfully quiet..." That's the moment I take to try to strike at her. I feel something grab onto the handle and push me to the side. Dammit. "If you're trying to kill me, you've got to try harder than that. That was a clear test of character you dumbass. You can't be trusted but, oh well, we can't exactly just erase your memory. I'm going to have somebody special always keep an eye on you." More snaps of the fingers. One of the lights is now lit, with Monokuma and another person being bathed in its glow.

More on Monokuma herself, since during the time we were in the dark she somehow changed her outfit, she's short and childish. Her deep voice is the biggest clue that she's not in middle school. Her body still has the paint that must be extremely harmful to her skin. I never understood why people would do that to themselves. Her hair is still long and black, though now styled in pigtails that use red hairbands. Though the appearance itself is mostly the same with too-complex makeup, the outfit is vastly different. Instead of being yet another Junko clone, this Monokuma wears red overalls. Underneath the overalls, there is a black button-down shirt with white buttons. There's a red bowtie as well with a suspicious black stain. Her hands are completely covered this time through the use of black gloves. And her shoes are mismatched, with one being white and the other black.

The other person is a man around my height with pale skin. He has long hair split in the middle of pink and white placed in almost identical pigtails as Monokuma. Attached to the see-through hairbands, there are pink bunny ears. He has on a pink shirt with long sleeves that are way too big on him. For his skirt, the man wears a white short one with a deeper shade of pink plaid that matches his own bowtie. The shoes he has on are light pink high heels. They look kind of wonky with his white thigh highs. Hell, most people would think he is a girl, though I can somehow tell that's not the case. Though, something else is bothering me, for my mind is screaming that he looks familiar somehow. But I would remember somebody like this. Not everyday you see somebody dressed up as a rabbit history tries to forget ever existed.

"U-u-uh, hello? I'm K-"

"No, no, no. That won't do! No names, remember? Your name is Monomi and you're my precious sister-"

"But I'm a dude-"

"Do I look like I give a shit?" Monokuma then kicks Monomi down without any hesitation. She continues to kick him. It's pathetic seeing this, but it's not like I can do anything about it. "Play with me or I won't hesitate to use my wonderful blackmail. I can't really blackmail Kazuma though. He's fine with everything being out of the open. So I'm just going to do this the old fashion way and be like, I'm just going to torture you into insanity and then kill you if you dare do anything. I know everything about Kotori and the experiments so I know every way possible to make a person break. The human mind is so easy to destroy! Especially with all of these notes!" She brings out a stack of paper from seemingly nowhere. And then she throws them in the fire.

"Oh, that's a fire hazard!" Monomi objects. "You've to think about the others on here! You just can't kill them all yourself with your senseless actions! And so many have suffered for those notes-"

"Don't worry, there are backups saved on a computer if you care about that shit. And there's no way this thing will set on fire. I made sure everything was safe for a nice killing environment!"

"There's so such thing as a safe killing environment. You've to treat your students kindly, or else they won't be able to grow!" Monomi rebuts. He gets kicked by Monokuma once again. Guess he needs to finally learn how to keep his mouth shut. Not even your thoughts are safe in this world anymore.

"Of course there's a safe killing environment. Our original plan was just to yeet them in Antarctica but that wouldn't do. We kind of wasted all of our budget on this weird-ass train though." Monokuma shrugs. The two of them are entirely focused on each other. Another thing I learned with Kotori, how to be super silent. Kazuhiko was actually surprisingly helpful in that regard. Says it would come in handy if we ever rise against her, but he of all people should know that's useless to think about. But, anyway, tip-toeing, I make sure to be silent as possible as I begin to reach the door. This room must be soundproof in some way for nobody else to hear what's happening.

"Not so fast, sweetheart." Monokuma makes no sound when she catches up to me. Should have known it was useless. "I can't have you ruining the plot twist this early in the game. No, I want everybody to feel the despair of their good friend always lying to them! Oh, that would be simply wonderful!"

"How are you going to make sure he stays in line?" Monomi is silent as well. He looks over the shoulder of Monokuma, easily towering over her.

"You know how~" Monokuma pulls out a remote. Remotes are never good. Before I can even breath, she pushes down the singular red button on it. Not even any hesitation. Even Kotori takes a second to think through her actions.

Seconds later, there's a pain going through my system. Like it is being shocked, though my senses are too overwhelmed to figure out exactly what. Any normal man or woman would be downed by this torture. Good thing I've to deal with Kotori's bullshit.

Then it stops. The whole thing only wasted a couple of seconds, but I'm not a fool. I know it would do lasting damage to the others, especially those with weaker bodies. The Killing Game hasn't started yet which would mean that their deaths would mean nothing. More horrible things happening just to prove yet another point to me.

"You see, I had one of my helpers place chips into you after somebody fetched you all. Oh, what a wonderful girl, even though she's a massive drunk!" Monokuma begins to laugh just like that damn bear. Her every moment is like the teddy bear to the point that it is beyond disturbing. "Try to tell anybody about this and I'll make sure at least one person dies from this unspeakable torture!"

"I understand." No need to resist. Give them the power and control they so desperately crave. Give up your body and mind in a futile attempt to save your nonexistent soul.

"Good, now be a good boy and go with Monomi. Make sure to treat my sister like shit-"

"I'm a dude-"

"And make sure you don't die too early! Then the plot twist would mean nothing." Monokuma then disappears into the shadows. She must be watching our every move so there are hidden cameras all over the place. Nothing private should be shared on this train ever, got it.

Then something pushes Monomi and me out of the door. I can already feel the confusion the others are going to feel. They probably understand this situation better than I do.

The moment Heiwai sees us, he splits out all of his alcohol. "Holy shit, I need to stop drinking-"

"What you say, old man?" There are only three people in the bar. Hanami must have left for some reason and now is replaced with this...creepy child. No, more like a teenager who really needs to stop wearing bright colors if he wants people to take him seriously. He has a bright Chesire smile and...pulls a jar out of nowhere. I'm just not going to question the physics or logic of this. Its a waste of time. I've never been known as the smartest person anyway so really, should entrust that to somebody who actually knows what they're doing. "Put money in the swear jar and all can be forgiven. Sometimes people don't understand the true effect of swearing~"

"Do you keep that in your ass-"

"We should be happy together and friends! Which means you can do this simple thing!" The strange teenager still has that creepy smile. The jar itself is big and colorful, however without any actual money. On the side, the words swear jar is written largely and with even more colors. There are so many colors that my eyes are starting to hurt. I spend way too much time in dull rooms for this shit.

"Now Amaku, there is no reason to be so harsh with others. It is better to forgive and use your own experiences to help others than to extort them," Gennai lectures the young man. The boy, who I guess is named Amaku, doesn't listen, unmoving in his resolve.

"Why are all the students insane..." Monomi sighs. The weird rabbit man and Amaku together make the place look like something out of a cheesy storybook even six-year-olds find distasteful. How Ayano Kirigiri keeps finding different kinds of crazy is beyond me. There are not even that many people in the cities anymore, most try to make it in the villages mostly outside Committee rule or secretly part of Despair. Kotori estimates that as much as half the population is under the influence of despair and the Committee either doesn't give a shit or is too stupid to notice.

Amaku, or whatever his name is, is tall and, while not super muscular, more firm than I would suspect for somebody that dresses like him. He has peach-colored curly hair with yellow highlights pulled together by a pastel blue ribbon. Must spend some time outside because his pale skin has a lot of freckles, or maybe some of his family is from a part of the world where they're just naturally everywhere. His eyes are unusual since they look like they're pink and blue but that's not right. They must be purple or something, maybe the light is tricking my eyes. Adding to his childish creepiness, Amaku wears a pastel blue and purple sweater with a green bow tie. Who in their right mind wears a bow tie with a sweater like that? And then he wears bright orange pants. My least favorite color, great. Pretty sure he has shoes too but I can't them from this angle. Damn bar stools getting in the way.

"Gennai, you're too lenient with the younger generation." Heiwai hiccups. "Besides, I don't have any money on me. That bitch that tried to steal my stash took it from me. I was making my way to a bar and then bam, I'm stuck on a train-"

"You're being too mean, Heiwai! There are children around here...somewhere! That's not a very good thing to teach 'the younger generation.' I'm going to have to teach you a precious lesson!" And now Amaku has a knife. I should be more surprised than I am. Monomi jumps into my arms and is holding me for dear life. Isn't he supposed to be the one protecting us, as our teacher or some stupid shit?

"Amaku, put that knife down." Gennai gets up from his seat and slowly approaches Amaku. Amaku is entirely too focused on Heiwai to notice Gennai is literally right behind him.

"You're not even holding it correctly. That's how you cook, not hurt people," Heiwai criticizes. The combat medic then looks at Amaku again and drops his drink. The glass goes onto the floor and shatters. "Oh wait, shit, you got a knife! Kid, put that down! You don't know what you're doing!" Heiwai jumps out of his chair and knocks himself on the bar.

"Stop swearing!" Amaku threatens. His eyes look like they are swirling but not like that of despair. They stay the same color after all. Still having that damn smile on his face. I get the feeling that I should stay very far away from the newcomer. Monomi doesn't move or protest when I start to take steps back. "Or else, I'm going to cut out your tongue so you won't corrupt the innocence of youth!"

"This kid is insane-"

"I'm twenty!" Amaku protests. The manchild somehow makes pouting look threatening and adorable. Truly, that's the scariest thing about him. The people who smile always have worse intentions than those who frown. I know myself, better to play along with a smile on your face for control they believe you don't have. Really, people shouldn't trust a hypnotist. But they do anyway. Idiots.

...Wait a minute, how the Hell is this strange person older than me? Sometimes I truly think age is just a number.

"This has to be interesting," I comment. Really only Monomi takes notice. He finally gets out of my arms. Really, Monomi is much heavier than I thought he would be. I head over to the bar and find the only non-alcoholic thing they have. Apple cider. Because of course. I finally took a seat at one of the stools watching as those idiots may as well be burning the place down. Gennai and Heiwai should be questioning me and Monomi not having a useless quarrel that'll get nothing done. What a strange waste of time.

"Kazuma, you should be helping your classmates," Monomi instructs. But it's not important to listen to the useless teacher. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he has no true power over anything.

"Excuse me...sirs? But may I please have help with this situation?" Gennai asks Monomi and I. I have been focusing on myself too often to realize that Heiwai and Amaku still haven't done anything.

"I can't be involved in anything that's violent!"

"Then go outside and get somebody!" Heiwai orders. Amaku doesn't give Monomi a passing thought as the wannabe rabbit escapes through the doors. What a coward. Humanity is filled with cowards that make despair and hope go unchecked. But that's not something I should complain about. As a fellow human, I too am cursed with cowardly blood. Those who forsake themselves entirely to despair or hope are the only ones who can escape our natural urge to run and hide. But those beasts can't be considered human anymore. "You do something too!"

"Now, all of us need to relax and not hurt each other. We all need to work together to find out how to get out of here and home safely. I'm sure my grandchild is wondering where I am." Gennai...is too good for this world. How does a frail old man have that mindset and live in this damned world? "Why I remember the first time Genma saw a knife. He screamed! Oh, it was such a fright, but we calmed down-"

"We don't need your stories, old man," I sigh.

"Hey, Kazuma! Why aren't you doing anything?" Heiwai questions me. Amaku still weirdly has not made a move with his smile only growing in size. Maybe I should've picked somewhere to sit very far away from him.

"It's not my problem-"

"He has a fucking knife!"

"That's it! Lesson time!" I hear the door open but don't see who's on the other side. Monomi must've actually gotten other people, so he's good for something. But no time for that, Amaku is finally going to stab a bitch. Blood is messy and death is cruel, but sometimes people need punishment to stop themselves from doing stupid shit. Heiwai should learn how to keep his mouth shut. It's not that hard to not swearing in front of a possible psychopath.

Amaku goes in for the hit but something blocks out. Or rather a somebody, a beautiful woman with blue hair.

"Sorry, I should have been more careful. You would be surprised that I usually do a better job at this, but, whoever is behind this kidnapping must have put drugs in my system to help them." The woman does not seem to care that she was stabbed, albeit slightly, in the shoulder. Three other women run-in with Monomi as well I see, with two of them being Hanami and Beni. Beni must have changed her mind. That increases her odds of survival. The type of people in charge of these don't exactly care for the types that only lock themselves in their room. The other woman has green hair. A lot of people here seem to have cooler colors for their hair.

"Riko!" Hanami shouts out when the other mystery woman points her in that direction.

"Young man, you shall follow the law!" Without warning, Norika runs through the doors, nearly knocking over the woman with green hair, and goes straight to Amaku. The judge jumps up and pulls the man from his ear, knocking the knife out of his hands in the process. "For that disturbance, I shall announce all the rules that state that attacking people not in self-defense is a bad thing to do! Children these days should know better!"

"But-"

"My own child would never pull anything like this." Norika steals all the spotlight in the room as she passes everybody else with Amaku. That woman sure knows how to create a scene. I take a single sip of my apple cider.

"What the Hell?" Heiwai asks. All the other women, besides the injured one, and Monomi go after Norika and Amaku.

"Perhaps you should learn how to swear a little less, Heiwai. It is not good for you do not have control over your mouth," Gennai suggests.

"This isn't the time for lectures." Heiwai goes down to the injured woman and immediately starts working on her wound. He works with such talent that can only be expected from the Honorary Ultimate Combat Medic. "You shouldn't jump in front of the blade like that. That type of behavior is only going to get you killed. And you seem pretty young, still have your whole life ahead of you. So don't do anything stupid and throw it all away just to save an old man like me."

"I am the one that is supposed to be protecting you. Oh, how rude of me! I have not introduced myself. My name is Riko Igarashi. The talent Makoto Kirigiri gave me is Honorary Ultimate Bodyguard."

Riko Igarashi

Honorary Ultimate Bodyguard

"Makoto Kirigiri? So you're part of the Future Foundation?" I ask Riko. Another one of those fools. The Future Foundation stopped being useful the moment Kazuo Tengan decided to be an idiot and investigate the possible despair video by himself. That one foolish action by a senile old man doomed the rest of the world to eternal suffering. But, then again, the rest of the idiots in charge were no better. Even Ruruka Ando was idiotic, don't know why the Committee decided to follow her lead out of everybody. And yet somehow it worked. Present-day hasn't changed this string of bad luck considering Ayano Kirigiri betrayed her entire family. She is probably coming up with a plan to kill every single last one of them right now.

"Yes, I am," she responds.

Riko looks to be slightly younger than middle-aged. Not really sure what Heiwai is talking about with her being so young, for she looks about ten years younger than him. But most people do not realize the remnants of dyed grey hairs or wrinkles starting to show around her yellow-green eyes. Most would think Riko to be in her late twenties because they refuse to pay any sort of meaningful attention to anything that's not boobs or ass. Her short hair is tied back in an efficient high ponytail. Riko's outfit is plain but functional with her boring matching grey blazer and slacks. This awfully efficient woman wears black flats with black socks. The only thing of notice is that she is remarkably slim for a bodyguard. There is still clear muscle but she's not jacked or anything.

"I was also given my talent by Makoto Kirigiri. Such a nice young man." Gennai isn't anything overly important like bodyguard so he's probably not officially part of the Future Foundation. Or, if the train conductor of all things is, lower down than Riko is presumed to be. Maybe Gennai can use his talent to make sure that we don't all die a miserable death on this death machine. But I'm sure Monokuma has thought this through, and would not allow such an event to happen.

"The world's crueler than the Future Foundation likes to think that it is. I remember once when I was forced to leave their men behind or else have the rest of my assigned squad die. How their blood-colored the dirt red as the Despairs happily shoot into their frail, fragile bodies without a hint of remorse, smiles forever haunting their dreams. One of the poor fools screamed out a name, I still remember it. Erika! That only made the Despair watch as he slowly bleeds out and take his knife and start carving his flesh with the name of the one he loved very much-"

"Let's think happier thoughts!" Gennai smiles genuinely and not like a creep. Amaku needs to learn a lesson from him.

"One of my co-workers just had a baby named Karen if that makes you feel better," Riko adds to the conversation. She is still relaxed and composed. Heiwai seems to be working on stitches. Riko has her blazer taken off to reveal a lighter grey dress shirt underneath.

"You don't get to change the conversation! Riko, you got to be more careful of yourself and make sure you get no other wounds. Make sure to take care of this one since we don't want it to get infected. I don't have that many supplies with me so be careful!"

"It's time for my lecture then," Riko awkwardly laughs. The three of them continue with easy conversation as I drink the rest of my apple cider in one gulp. Something then catches my eye. Nobody has noticed the knife that Amaku dropped. With two having combat-based talents, I would think them to be more observant. But the knife is pretty hidden to most not actively searching it out. Also, they are currently turned away from the object of notice. It got stuck somehow in the cushions of one of the love seats. I still wonder why the Hell this train has such a room. If they wanted to keep the budget, they could have completely gotten rid of the dance floor nobody will ever use.

The three of them take no notice of me, too busy with their meaningless conversation. I could very much take a knife to their throat with any of them noticing. What failures they are. My footsteps are light as I head over to the love seat. There in my hands is the knife. That will not do so I hide the weapon in my coat pocket. Perhaps I should leave before I do anything remotely suspicious. So I walk over calmly to the doors. I can't help the smile on my face. Finally some goddamn power in this place. This knife should make it so I will at least not die first.

I look back when I leave to see Riko staring at me.

Going through the bathing car, I find myself back in the seating car. Luckily there's no Yugi to be found. Inside, there's the girl that was with Hanami before, a new boy, and...Amaku. Somebody in the other group must trust those two enough to keep them in charge. But maybe we should keep a much better eye on Amaku considering he's the type to randomly attack people. Well, not random I guess, but swearing is hardly a reason to try to hurt somebody with a knife.

"I remember you!" Amaku notices me and jumps from the seat he was sitting on the top of. The other people are actually sitting normally, with the woman crossing her legs and the man relaxed. "We haven't introduced ourselves. Oh, you seem so much nicer than Heiwai! My name is Amaku Dokusei." Please stop smiling, it looks off-putting, especially on you Amaku. Even a person that cannot read emotions well can tell that there is something wrong.

"Let me guess, you too have a talent." Only Ultimates can be this weird. Most 'normal' people I meet in the world are not this colorful. Guess genius sometimes makes people insane. It's what makes them so much harder to control than the ordinary masses. The ordinary you just need to say the right thing and they're putty in your hands. One small video can change their outlook on everything without them even questioning it.

"You're so smart! I'm the Honorary Ultimate Baker!"

Amaku Dokusei

Honorary Ultimate Baker

"Don't let that smile fool you," the new man warns...while easily smiling himself. So many people here smile too much. "I'm pretty sure he can kill us all still with the same smile."

"No, I wouldn't. That's rude."

"You should not be trying to push Amaku's buttons even more," the girl warns. She stops crossing her legs. "We should all try to get along. Even beyond this...mishap, we can find a way to make each other useful. I highly doubt Amaku would even try to kill us all." I don't need to know her that well to tell that she has something to do with politics. The way she holds herself is way too haughty for my liking. This girl has more power and control than most people realize. Probably doesn't even realize herself, with most people in government these days being utter bastards.

"Not if we all swore," the man now smirks. He let out a soft chuckle afterward. Letting out a sigh, the man gets out of the seat he was in and comes to face me. "We haven't met as well. "The name's Jin Saeki. Honorary Ultimate Card Player."

Jin Saeki

Honorary Ultimate Card Player

"Boys will be boys. Who are you then?" The girl is entirely focused on me. She has not left her chair yet. At least she's right about boys being more untrustworthy. We were left alone in a room for five minutes and were already stabbing each other. But then again, women can't be trusted either. They always seem to have an ulterior motive.

"Kazuma Kaneshiro. Honorary Ultimate Hypnotist."

"Hypnotist? That's surely an unusual talent. Can you brainwash me, good sir?" Jin bats his eyelashes. The card player returns back to his seat, leaving me with Amaku and the woman.

"We don't brainwash with hypnotism. It's impossible. Under hypnosis, you can only do what you're comfortable with outside it," I inform. Too many people in this train confuse brainwashing and hypnotism. If I truly had that power, the world wouldn't know any Kotori Hiraokas. Everybody will be in peace as there would be no more needless suffering. Nobody has to deal with the Killing Games anymore. Of delusions given to them by those who preach for cults of despair and hope.

"I'm keeping my eye on you," Jin points to his yellow eye not covered by his eyepatch.

Jin himself is attractive for a man. People here must really love their ponytails since Jin's long brown thin hair is also in one. His aforementioned eyepatch, on his left eye, is white with a black ace symbol on it. None of these Honorary Ultimates are subtle with anything. Looking closely, I notice that there's a tattoo of a silver wing on the back of his right hand. He wears a dark blue casual dress shirt underneath a nice brown leather jacket. I really want that jacket. His jeans are tan and faded. And he also has brown loafer shoes. It seems like a lot of people on here like dressing a little bit formal of me. It makes me stand out like a sore thumb. But then again, Kotori always says I look like a fashionable 'hobo.'

"Stop needlessly getting yourself in potential trouble, Jin. I am not going to bust you out of another situation that you put yourself in."

"Machi, I can take care of myself," Jin responds. Machi, I believe, huffs.

"No, you can't. We all need to power of friendship to pull through!" Amaku responds. Oh no, don't be another person to preach about such dumb things. Friendship only hurts people in the end. Friends are what are used to blackmail and manipulate, not help and support many delude themselves into thinking that they are. Such delusional people in why the Committee is still in power. Since they believe that they can overthrow the government by giving speeches about worthless matters.

"Oh, I need to introduce myself as well. A pleasure to meet you, Kazuma, I am Machi Sakamoto. The talent I was given was Honorary Ultimate Bureaucrat."

Machi Sakamoto

Honorary Ultimate Bureaucrat

Machi herself is a beautiful woman. She has green hair that is put in a bun on the top of her head. Silver bobby pins can be seen keeping it all in place. Her eyes and eyebrows are a darker green, with her eyes being deep-set and framed by dark eyelashes. There is a beauty mark on the side of Machi's neck about the size of a quarter. Adding to the overly professional atmosphere of this group of people, Machi wears a black business suit. Only one silver button is buttoned in the middle of her jacket, revealing her sliver shirt. There is a watch hanging out of Machi's left jacket pocket that is silver and has an engraving of a rose on it.

"But I need you to answer a question, Kazuma. Who was that person following you?" Machi questions me. Finally, somebody notices that there is something wrong with that.

"A crazy person." Monomi still can't be trusted. Something is happening with him, and I would rather throw him off the train than have him live life with us. There are already not enough beds for all of us. Either the people in charge of this made a miscalculation, or somebody is here when they aren't supposed to be.

"You shouldn't talk about your teacher like that!" All of us jump when Monomi appears from nowhere. "I need to keep an eye on you, Kazuma! I can't believe I let my eyes off you for a single second! I suck at everything I do!"

"Hey, I'm the one who makes the keep 'my eye on you' comments." The card player's laughter, however, betrays his words. Jin's way too laid-back for a situation like this. Even though nobody else knows about the Killing Game yet, we're still kidnapped put onto a train somewhere nobody here knows. The snow outside becomes heavier with every passing minute. Maybe there's going to be a blizzard that starts soon.

"What is your name?" Machi now shifts her focus on Monomi.

"I'm Monomi! Your teacher-"

"I didn't drop out of school just to get back in again!" Jin complains.

"The more important topic at hand is where Amaku went," Monomi points out. Machi, Jin, and I just realized the disappearance of the little brat. Amaku must be really good at sneaking off if he didn't alert any of us. Although I just meet Machi and Jin, I get the feeling that both of them must be hard to fool. Card players and bureaucrats are both those who understand humanity and can't be trusted with it.

"Goddammit, we were distracted by weird bunny dudes. Come on, Machi, we got a job to do."

"He must've gone that way or Monomi would've said something." Without saying another word, Machi and Jin leave towards the way of the bathing car. And now I'm once again left with the most untrustworthy person on this damn train. Monokuma at least is honest about her despair. But, the more time I spend with Monomi, the more uneasy I am with him.

"These people are more organized than the usual participants. Hopefully, that means my students will all survive this time around! I want everybody to be free to go to the outside world without having to fear despair!" Monomi starts to preach. "The Killing Game ruins so many lives. But working together to overcome it will make you immortals! Not in the real sense, but you'll be remembered forever. And that's what a teacher truly hopes for in their students. Because, even if I'm forgotten, the lessons I taught will never be."

I decide to stay silent. Learning more about Monomi with his rants is a clever course of action. People like him have a bad habit of saying too much and getting everybody in trouble.

"The Killing Game is going to be tragic with the possible deaths of my students again, but it's something I can manage. Because, no matter what, I've you by my side." Monomi then directly looks in my eyes with his eyes swirling. "You betray me again, right?"

There's no way I can respond.

Committee Saga is off hiatus! And MoDE! HOORAY! Now to finally get out of Intro Hell. And join my Discord because we've got a lot of updates about what's happening with the series. And I swear to God we're cool. Just know my life has been Hell and I just haven't got as much time as I used to have. Thanks, Trigon.

Once again, this is my first time writing a lot of these characters and I'm still getting used to them. If I mess anything up, just tell it to me and I'll fix it.

God, my writing has improved so much from the last chapter.

QOTC: What questions should I ask for these? I'm running out of ideas. XD

Req's Rec: Nothing Valued is Here by XionKuriyama (GIVE LIZ ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT DAMMIT)

Reviews~ (God, I missed replying to reviews, thanks you guys for all the reviews)

ZiggyMia123-Yes, you have. Asahi is a mess and I love him. Beni is going to suffer because this is CS and we always torture the cinnamon rolls. You'll see how the roommate situation works out~ It's made to be purposefully easy for people to murder.

Lupus Overkill-Yeah, now its officially off hiatus with a planned five chapters of intros (if you guys were curious). Kazuma is very interesting and debatably disturbed even before the events of the story. It's all Kotori's fault. Beni is going to be tortured and it's going to be wonderful. She's going to have more time, don't you worry. :3 Ivan is...Ivan, and Sasha the Second clearly is the best character here. Yugi is Yugi and he's going to cause so much chaos. Well, Kazuma now has a knife so that's fun. Amaku why. Asahi's true evil is causing me to have more typos. Put Asahi and Yugi in the same room together and everything's on fire. Norika is...Norika. I feel like I can say that about a lot of these characters. Here's a little bit more of Norika. Now here's a lot more of the old men because I love them. If that isn't weird enough, here's Monomi as well! MORE CHARACTERS HOORAY!

tobi-is-an-artist-too-Norika is best girl. Gramps in best boy.

TheRoseShadow21-Here's finally another update! Turns out the reason Asahi wasn't in this chapter is that Norika gave him a time out. Monokuma is a twist I'm proud of so I'm not saying anything else. Thanks so much, Rose! :D

RioA-You're better than me with my nonexistent reviews. Thanks so much, these children are already trying to kill each other. Help them. Kazuma's arc is going to cause a lot of screaming and I'm going to love writing it. Beni was referenced in FoD, yes. Sasha the Second is a tracker because anime logic. Yugi will gladly set the train on fire. Asahi is surely going to make people feel...emotions with what I've planned with him. Norika blows up the world because JUSTICE! Gennai is precious and Heiwai is already drunk.

AnonChan1-Kazuma has some meta knowledge, but, knowing what happened to Akita, that doesn't help much in this series. Kotori can make Hilter sympathetic with how much a piece of shit she is (okay not literally but you know). Fuck Kotori. Considering they're already trying to kill each other, it's going to be fun. Everything is wrong with Kotori. Ivan is adorable but his social skills need a lot of work. The dogs are stuck in the Afterlife Theatre. Somebody save Kazuma and rewrite the timeline dammit. Give Yugi all the hugs and hope they become less crazy. Yugi also has meta knowledge. Now they're going to do exactly that. The FoD kids will always be the ones that have to suffer the most. ASAHI WILL NEVER GO AWAY. He's Asahi. Norika and Asahi have such a fun dynamic and I've too much fun writing them in the same room together. Heiwai and Hotaru get in a drinking game together and the whole world ends. Monokuma is going to be...interesting. HEIWAI YES.

ThePLOThand-Kazuma will never remove that stick from his ass. He likes that very much (heh). Yugi copies Kokichi and oh God we gave them too much power.