Chapter Text
I slowly sat up, the power was off but I knew that I lay on the grounds of where my “ execution” had been. I slowly looked down at myself. I had no external wounds but there laying beside me was a suspicious piece of paper. I hesitantly reached out and grabbed the paper that lay beside my supposedly “dead body.”
As soon as I read the paper all the unwanted memories of my terrifying execution hit me like a truck. Just the thought was enough for me to puke but more so shocked me. I was alive. I was sitting alone in the trial room, the lingering smell of blood still thick in the air. The shock soon then was overpowered by fear. I was alive, yet I certainly wasn’t meant to be. Despite the fact that I had somehow by some miracle survived my execution and escaped my untimely demise. It wouldn’t be long before MonoTV realised this and tried to kill me all over again.
This alone was enough to give me another heart attack, but I knew I had to be strong. I was so sick of everyone believing I was a cowardly good for nothing asshole. While I knew from the bottom of my heart they were right I was determined to survive. But even more I wanted to change. Mainly for myself but also so I could wipe that disgustingly smug look of David's face. People can’t change? Bullshit, and I'll prove it.
I slowly stood up, my head dizzy and my body numb. It’s safe to assume I've been out for several hours. My throat was dry. I came to the sudden conclusion that if I didn’t escape now, the only time I would be able to leave was when the next class trial ended. Knowing this wouldn’t be for several days I realised I needed to escape desperately otherwise I really would end up dead.
The power was out so I couldn’t see anything. I put my hands out in an attempt to navigate the room only to see my hands. More so the lack of gloves and instead staring at me was the abundance of scars I wish I could forget about. The thought of it caused me to drop to my knees and clutch my throat. As soon as I escaped this death stenching room I was finding those damn gloves. The atmosphere was cold and uninviting, and every second I spent lingering in this room it seemed like it was trying to suffocate me.
Ignoring the fact that this room was just lingering with a suppressive air, I brought myself to my feet and began to search for the elevator. It took several minutes but finally I laid my fingers on the cold steel doors of the elevator. Despite my efforts I was sure the doors wouldn’t open. Still I pressed the button and to my suprise the elevator chimed and the doors opened. Did MonoTV leave the elevator power on? Despite my confusion I hurriedly entered the elevator, as the doors closed behind me I began to think of what I would do once I returned to the school grounds.
As much as I wanted to rub it into everyone's faces that I had survived, it was probably best if they still thought my corpse was rotting away in the trial room. I mean after all there’s a high likelihood I would simply wind up dead at the hands of one of my classmates. Afterall I was a murderer. God it was still tough to swallow that fact. No matter how much I regretted killing her it was simply impossible for me to change the fact that she was dead. Worst of all, she died by my hand.
The looks my “classmates” gave me as MonoTV revealed I was, in fact Arei’s killer, were faces mixed with hatred and pity were something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. The elevator door chimed, and as quietly as possible I stepped out, luckily due to unfortunate circumstances I was very good at sneaking around. Still that didn’t stop my heart from beating out of my chest. If I got caught it was all over. I quickly navigated the halls trying to safely make it to my room, the only issue was him. Nico was talking in the halls with Hu about god knows what. More importantly they were in the way. Furthermore they would certainly tell the others of his presence. It was no secret how they felt about me. I gripped my neck, reminded of the scar permanently barred onto it.
I needed to create a distraction. But just as I was preparing someone beat me to it. When she slumped out of her room. My eyes locked with hers. Shit, I was fully prepared for her to call me out but instead she ignored my gaze completely and began to chew Nico and Hu for talking so loud and to go to sleep, before slumping back into her room. Shortly followed by Nico and Hu who went their separate ways.
I had no idea why she of all people wouldn’t want to be the first to call me out. After all, she had been my original target for murder. Whatever the reason an opportunity had arisen I made a quick movement to my room before quietly shutting the door behind me. I had no idea why MonoTV had not found me yet. There were cameras lurking everywhere within the facilities. Maybe, when I had punched the stupid thing, it bugged out enough that it was temporarily unable to see the cameras? Whatever the reason, I was grateful.
Before I made myself comfortable I made sure to drink some water, and eat something I suppose. I was going to have to suppress the urges to starve myself. As soon as I escape this hellhole I'm going to quit being a horse jockey, move somewhere nice and start over. Deep down I knew I had to repent for the sins I committed, but how could I? The fact that I survived surely meant something. This was God's way of giving me a second chance to fix the mistakes I made. But it’s impossible. How could I ever fix the mistakes I’ve made? Sure I was peer pressured into committing a murder out of fear, yet ultimately I was the one who made the decision to commit murder.
There is no way to fix that mistake, I will admit that. There is nothing in the world that will fix it. There is something I can do though, something Arei would have done. Out of respect for Arei’s newfound friendship, I will protect Eden, it is the least I can do for taking someone so important away from her. Except how am I supposed to do that?
Before my thoughts could consume me any further the thing that I was feared, besides death, appeared. MonoTV in the flesh, fully restored to its original form before I had punched it. shitshitshit I was fucked now.
“Well this could serve for great entertainment” were not the words I expected to come from the cat, dog things mouth. to say I was shocked was an understatement, me being alive was entertaining to it? I knew it was sick in the head but seriously?
I fumbled on my words before finally speaking “now that you know i’m alive what do you plan to do, kill me?” The final words came out weak, as fear began to elapse inside me.
“haha, no way. Do you know how many views I'm going to get from this?” what the hell. I was allowed to live? there had to be some sort of catch to this surely?
“Of course you can’t be allowed to live as Ace Markey, well for now at least.” Huh to say it was confusing was an understatement was he letting me live or not?
“You see you’ll take the form as a new person, a 17th student if you will, almost as if you’ve been reborn, As Renato Shukufuku the ultimate Repentance” Honestly I was almost happy to take on this new identity it would be the perfect way to reflect on my actions and fight against my Paranoia and grow to trust others. Except it meant I was still stuck in this god awful killing game.
“Except-“ Oh here comes the catch I had been waiting for this whole time. “Except for one condition. You are also a traitor.” a traitor? What did he mean??
“By that I mean of course, you will give me any information on the contestants should I ever ask for it”
“Couldn’t you just watch the cameras?” I huffed slightly arrogantly, which luckily MonoTV didn’t seem to notice.
“Of course I can but It’s impossible for me to monitor everyone at once, and it seems I miss important information! Oh and don’t worry, in return I will provide you with further information on the motives and plans going forward for the killing game.” It answered which annoyingly was a plausible reason for needing a traitor within the mix.
“About the killing game, you said you planned on continuing it until everyone is dead?” I tried to stay strong as I spoke.
“Well yes, that is my intention, however if you do manage to live through the killing game Mr Shukufuku, I have no intention of killing you. As something like this hasn’t been programmed properly into me.”
This changes nothing as it was never MonoTV killing me I feared… “What about the others?” I said
“I am afraid I am unable to tell you at this point in time, at the moment we will focus on your new appearance.” Oh of course MonoTV had said he wouldn’t be himself so of course I would have a new appearance.
It took several hours but finally he had his new look, and he looked completely different from before, whether that be for good or bad. His hair was now brown with turquoise highlights, he wore a bandage over the scar on his face. A grey scarf now covered his neck. His eyes were now blue. The only fact resembling him that stayed were his gloves, though now they were white with tips of turquoise on the edges.
“Hey MonoTV I don’t quite understand my ultimate talent. Can you explain it?” I asked politely despite his sick reasons behind it. He had let me live so I did have some gratitude towards him. Plus if I kept acting the way I did before they would certainly realise it was me, or worse of all they would kill me.
“Certainly, I mean it is sort of self explanatory, your talent is basically to help others fix things they regret or to repent their sins, as well as encouraging others to be more open with their feelings” So basically the opposite of me… This would be extremely difficult. I mean I basically have to create a fake persona and completely wash away my old personality.
“Right, about that, how am I meant to get people to believe I can help them, I can barely help myself??” I said, which was true no one was going to believe I was the ultimate Repentance
“I can tell, As a robot I can analyse a person’s feelings and emotions and I have calculated that this talent is the most optimal one for you” Oh right it's a robot it can see things we people can’t. But were its calculations really correct ? Could I actually do this. Actually it didn’t matter. I had to, for Arei. God I wish this was just a simulation so this horror fest could just end.
“Mr Shukufuku, it is about time you go to sleep, tomorrow I will enlist the details of your re-entry to the killing game.” I wondered if he had already programmed my fake name over my real one.
Whatever the reason, I had no time to think about it as my eyes drooped desperate for sleep, although fear still lingered in the back of my mind, it was very quickly overtaken by the desire for sleep.
As I awoke that morning, having had the best sleep i’ve had the entirety of this killing game, I certainly didn’t expect to see MonoTV at my feet, I screeched as I attempted to not step on its tail. “What are you doing here so early!?” I asked
“Huh, oh i’ve been waiting forever it's like 2pm you know?” Had I really slept that long?
“Oh, okay then, you said you would give me the details regarding my reintroduction to the killing game” I said a bit weakly as fear lingered on the tip of my tongue
“Ah well, I can’t particularly just pull you from nowhere and say “here’s a new student” so i’ll simply put you on one of the new floors, tied up somewhere or something”
Am I Nagito or something, whatever I suppose it would have to work. MonoTV had made a fair point about me not just randomly re-entering as it would cause thorough suspicion.
“Speaking of the third floor, allow me to tell you about the new rooms we have. We have a library, an observatory, an art studio and a science lab. I’ll be tying you up in the library, when the students ask you what you’re doing here simply say you have no reconciliation of why and how you got here. Also don’t say too much, especially about the dead.”
And just like that my arms were tied behind my back and I was basically a sitting duck just waiting to be found, it was particularly annoying as one of my gloves was falling off which made being tied up even more awkward. After about 20 minutes of sitting, I began to drift off into a sleep. That was until…
Ding, Dong, Bing, Bong A body has been discovered! huh, has someone really died? “oh my god I think he’s dead!?” a voice echoed, wait are they talking about- “He shows no signs of external wounds” another voice, “just who is this person anyway?” hold up they were talking about me!?
I rubbed my eyes. “Sorry, not dead, just fell asleep.” I held my breath praying they wouldn’t recognise my voice, although MonoTV had reassured me if I didn’t yell I wouldn’t have any issues with that.
“Just who are you?” Ah it was Charles
I inhaled “Before I do anything, do you think you could untie me?” I tried speaking more softly to dervite suspicions
“No, not until you tell us exactly who you are and where you came from.” never the trusting type were we Teruko?
“Oh right, my name is Renato Shukufuku and I'm the ultimate Repentance, as for why I'm here, I'm sorry but I have no idea. I just woke up here earlier today and I have no memories of anything before that..” Obviously all of that was a lie but there's no need for them to know that, thank god we don’t have some ultimate lie detector
“I think we should untie him, he seems friendly enough” Definitely a Whit thing to say in the scenario, if I had been in their position i’d be about as trusting as Teruko over there.
“I suppose it doesn’t help if we just leave them here” Charles said, so be a bit arrogantly but knowing him, he probably just listened because of his blondie beside him.
“Do whatever I’m leaving.” Classic Teruko for you. All things considered her reaction was appropriate to seeing a random stranger tied up in the library.
I felt the knot loosen around my hands and feet, I readjusted my glove before finally standing up. As we walked to the cafeteria and Whit asked me like 500 questions I felt as though we were being followed but I simply brushed it off upon entering. I saw the stares everyone was giving me whether those be suspicion or confusion, it was to be expected.
“Hey everyone, how did your investigation go along?” Whit said cheerfully. Seriously, this guy needs to learn how to read the room.
Charles sighed “Whit please explain the newfound presence of our guest here”
Whit was beaming with energy as he spoke “Okay! introduce yourself!”
I sighed knowingly “Hello everyone my name is Renato Shukufuku the ultimate Repentance, But you can just call me Rei” (Ray) I could hear the countless whispers throughout the room. I decided to speak up to attempt to clear up any questions “Also I have no idea why or how I got here, my memory is still very limited”
a voice perked up, “So you have no idea about the killing game?” Hu said. Right of course I had just told them I had no memory of anything.
I tried my best to act surprised “huh?, a killing game, what even is that…” The next fifteen minutes were spent with them discussing the details of the killing game and me pretending I had no idea what they were talking about.
Suddenly a voice echoed through the cafeteria “After further investigation, I believe your presence was not originally intended by the creator of this” Oh crap I forgot how smart Teruko was…
“Hmm, what makes you think that?” I said as calmly as I could manage.
“The number of rooms, and chairs in the trial roo-“
“Hey, you guys shouldn’t worry about that!” That was MonoTVs voice “I was prepared for this situation and I've already sorted out the room situation and the trial room! Mr Shukufuku please follow me to your sleeping chamber!”
Wait, I wasn’t supposed to know who MonoTV was… this stupid cat dog thing… “Um excuse me but who are you?”
MonoTV gave me a confused look “I’m MonoTV of course! I help run this killing game smoothly!
“Right… okay?” I said before walking off to my new room. Surprisingly it looked exactly the same as my old room except for the nameplate which now had my new look on it.
“You should probably go find out everyone's names .” MonoTV said. Ugh I had completely relearn all of them? Obviously I knew their names…
The first person I wanted to talk to was Eden, afterall it was her I had to protect. Honestly could I even protect her? I was somewhat athletic but I wasn’t really strong. I’d have to go to the gym. The same gym where I was almost murdered. The thought was enough to send a shiver down my spine. Although Eden was not the only person on my mind.
Despite my efforts to push them to the back of my mind, I was constantly stressing over Levi. It irritated me to no end. He had said it himself he couldn’t care less about me. Yet it hadn’t stopped me from worrying and even in my supposed “final moments” I was thinking about him. I need to distance myself from him, or I'll end up getting distracted. I needed to focus on my goal.
So off I went in search of Eden, to which I found her reading a book in the library. She would still be devastated at the loss of her friend so she likely wouldn’t be in much of a talkative mood.
“Um, Hello” I spoke softly
She smiled at me, how, how could she still smile after what happened. She was certainly stronger than I was.
“I was wondering If I could know your name and talent? MonoTV told me something about getting to know everyone..”
She continued to smile as she spoke “Sure, my name is Eden Tobisa and I'm the ultimate Watch Maker.” oh right that was her ultimate talent, seemed pretty useful for making money.
“Um excuse me, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but could you please explain your talent to me?” she asked politely
“Oh um sure, basically I help people with things they regret and repent sins, if that makes sense, I also help people open up and talk about um stuff” I tried to remember it to the best of my ability but still stuttered over some words.
Her eyes widened in excitement “Wow that's so awesome! So you get to help other people!” I felt guilty knowing I was lying about my talent only made me feel worse about the situation.
“Haha thank, also if you don’t mind could you please help me with learning the others' names and talents”
So we spent the next 15-20 minutes learning the names and talents of everyone around us. Well sort of considering I already knew.
You grew a little closer with Eden today
“Hey Rei, I’m going to bring some food to Levi. Would you like to come?”
Oh.
“Sorry!! I forgot to tell you, a couple days ago he got really badly hurt and he’s in the infirmary, so we’ve been taking turns bringing him food.
“That's okay, sure I'll come.” hold up. That was not what I meant to say at all. I meant to say Sorry maybe next time. Oh crap there was no bailing out if it now.
We approached the kitchen as Eden grabbed some lunch for Levi. As we walked to the infirmary I felt my heart pounding out of fear and nerves. I needed to keep it together.
As we entered the room, I felt dread come over me. He was all bandaged up and yet he still looked so helpless, and then I noticed it. My gloves. They didn’t fit him properly and yet Eden didn’t even seem to question it.
“Hello Levi, I brought you some food.” Eden spoke still as sweetly as ever.
“Ah, thank you Eden. Who is this with you?” Levi responded looking at me. I forced a smile.
“This is Renato Shukufuku the ultimate Repentance, we just suddenly found him tied up in the library, he doesn’t have any memory of anything but we’ve filled him in”
“…. I feel as though we’ve met before.” Oh well that’s not good. If Levi recognised him that wouldn’t end well.
“I’m sorry I've never seen you before in my life, and if I had I don’t remember you unfortunately.” I said
“I see… Thank you for the food Eden, i’d like to rest now if that's okay.”
“Of course! Come on Rei, let's get going!” She said as she dragged me out of the infirmary.
And just like that my “first day” of the killing game was over.