Chapter Text
Well, this sucks.
What was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend the most prestigious school in all of Japan had somehow been twisted into a game with life or death stakes. We’d been imprisoned inside the building and one thing was made very clear to us: the only way out is to kill someone.
Or at least, that’s what Monokuma told us.
In reality, aside from the fact we’d been trapped inside Hope’s Peak Academy, things had been going rather smoothly. Once the shock of potentially never seeing the light of day again wore off, we just went on with our new routines. Every morning Monokuma would make his presence as headmaster known and encourage us to kill to get out, which I doubted anyone took seriously. Kiyotaka requested that we all gather at a morning meeting to report on our progress in finding an escape. Unfortunately that well dried up, but we silently kept up the tradition mostly as a way to keep ourselves sane amid the revelation. I used it as an excuse to get acquainted with my new classmates. I reconnected with Sayaka, discussed manga with Hifumi, played cards with Celeste and Asahina, got my tarot read by Hiro, had an unexpectedly philosophical debate with Kyoko, and was roped into a talk about economics by Byakuya.
All in all? Things were going about as well as being trapped inside a building for the rest of your life can be, much to the chagrin of Monokuma, who didn’t exactly hide his disappointment in us.
Look; I’m never going to kill another human being, and I doubt anyone else is going to either unless they’re forced to. I really wish Monokuma would just give up.
I was rudely awakened from my beautiful slumber by an irate Monokuma. Looking dishevelled despite being a stuffed bear, he wasted no time ordering us to the gym as soon as possible. What’s got him so worked up now? I’d noticed he’d get less and less enthused the longer we went without a murder, but even this was excessive.
I begrudgingly made my way over to the gym as Monokuma instructed. Looks like I was the last to arrive. Soon after, Monokuma makes his appearance known on the podium and begins addressing the assembled students.
“I’m not going to mince my words here: you are all simply unbelievable! ” Monokuma exclaimed, “We have gone FIVE. ENTIRE. DAYS. Without a single murder! What’s the damn hold up?! Why haven’t you been dropping each other like flies, you hormonal teenagers?!”
“Why would I dirty my hands to begin with? I prefer to keep them free from commoner blood,” Byakuya dryly remarked.
“And why would we even do something that drastic?” Asahina began countering, “Sure we can’t leave but we’ve got food, water, shelter, entertainment, and each other to keep company! I don’t think any of us would be desperate enough to kill to see the outside world?”
She was met by approving hums from some of the other Ultimates, further strengthening her counter to Monokuma’s insanity. Asahina made the two-toned bastard pause for a moment, probably feeling immense gratification from this small triumph against him. But that feeling of triumph didn’t last long.
“Huh… so the prospect of being trapped in here for the rest of your miserable lives isn’t enough of an incentive to kill, am I correct? Well boy do I have a simply beautiful solution for you! That’s right, you miscreants! I’m giving you even more of an incentive to kill! I call it The Bodyswap Motive!”
Bodyswap? What the hell does that mean? Can he even do something like that? I doubted I was alone in thinking this was absurd.
As if on cue, Byakuya exclaimed, “What nonsense are you insinuating?”
“Simple. In a few short moments, I will be swapping your bodies around, and keeping you that way!” Monokuma elaborated, “That is, of course, until there is a murder, the murder I ever-so crave~!”
“So you think you have the ability to so brazenly violate the laws of psychology and biology, and you use it simply to entice us to kill? How wasteful,” Byakuya mused.
Not… really what I was thinking, but sure.
“What kind of alien tech do you have that can even do something like that!” Hiro exclaimed. I had to agree, this was straight out of science fiction. Fictional science even. While this is a school of Ultimates, something this insane would be a breakthrough, if it’s even possible, which it isn’t… hopefully.
“Even if you did, we could just sound off who we were and kill your motive in its tracks!” Asahina pointed out. I honestly hadn’t taken her as someone who would believe this was possible, but she raised a good point.
“And give any potential killers an advantage over you? Something they can use against you? Sounds like a bad time to me!” God damn it, Monokuma. I think it’s getting bad when I expect him to say something like that. I shot a glance at Asahina, who had a defeated expression on her face.
“Enough dilly-dallying, it’s time for the moment you’ve all been dreading and despairing, Presto-chango!”
Monokuma waved his arms in the air which produced a burning bright flash of light, accompanied by an ear-piercing sound. I quickly shut my eyes and covered my ears to protect myself, but this didn’t help as I could feel my senses become overloaded by intense feelings of disorientation and physical pain. After what felt like ten minutes, the sensory overload subsided and I could process my surroundings again.
I expected the disorientation to fade, but it only shot through the roof once I started gaining my bearings. Everything my senses were telling me were… different. My shoulders felt closer together, my clothes didn’t fit like how I remember, and I was standing on an angle? I quickly became acutely aware of the missing feeling between my thighs, as well as the breeze brushing against my seemingly exposed legs. Honestly, it felt… right. Like this was how it was always supposed to be.
Shaking that bizarre thought out of my head, I finally opened my eyes. I quickly realised that Monokuma wasn’t joking about this “Bodyswap Motive”.
There was lavender hair peeking out of my peripheral vision, as well as a braid and black hair tie on the right side. In the place of my usual outfit was a purple jacket, white undershirt, a beige tie, a deep purple skirt and knee-high boots. I stood up straight and felt a small weight shift in my chest. Were these breasts? I couldn’t allocate time thinking about that when I looked down at my hands, which were wearing purple studded gloves. I noticed that the fabric felt different against my hand, comparing it to the times I wore gloves during winter to keep my hands warm. I caressed my face and noted just how different it felt compared to what I remember. It was much smoother, with no annoying facial hair, and far less blocky. With all this in mind, there was no mistaking it:
I was now in the body of Kyoko Kirigiri.
I had a glance around the gym, fighting the new sense of disorientation from suddenly being on the opposite side of the gym. I didn’t ‘explore’ my new body brazenly, both out of genuine lack of desire and respect for Kyoko, but some of the others weren’t so lucky. While everyone was observing their new bodies, ‘Asahina’, ‘Taka’, ‘Leon’, ‘Mondo’, ‘Sakura’, and ‘Chihiro’ wasted no time checking out their new bodies out in the open, which left a feeling of disgust in my mind. Do these people genuinely have no shame or dignity? I couldn’t imagine doing something that shameful at all, let alone out in the open (and especially not to Kyoko). I eyed ‘Makoto’, who had a cheshire grin on his (my?) face as he examined his new body, a completely alien look compared to the normally neutral expression on his (my?) face.
While we were processing what the fuck just happened, Monokuma began elaborating.
“A- hem , may the audience please turn their brand new heads to face their headmaster?” Monokuma requested, though he didn’t bother waiting and just continued regardless, “I am fully aware that this is a rather large adjustment for all of you to make, and some of you may never adjust at all. It’s almost as if this is supposed to entice you to kill!
“Well, let me spell out the terms for this new arrangement for you imbeciles. Firstly: no one is changing back until a murder occurs . So if you want to change back, kill someone! Secondly: if you are the blackened and just so happen to like your new body, I will give you the option to keep it! Should you escape the investigative eyes of your peers, that is~. So if you like your new arrangement: kill to keep it!
“And if you’ve been biding your time for the perfect opportunity to kill, well thank jolly ol’ Monokuma, that chance is NOW! So go forth, my murderous pupils! Drop each other like the flies you are!”
Everyone looked on with varied looks of confusion and horror, some still processing that this was even happening. I was concerned about the implications of what Monokuma said. No one is changing back until a murder occurs. I could easily imagine someone hating their new body, but hate it enough to murder another living person? I shuddered at the idea.
But I wanted to have faith in my new classmates. Surely with the Ultimate Lucky Student in attendance, the swaps would work out so that no one would hate their body enough to kill… right?
“Wait!” ‘Taka’ called out, gaining everyone's attention. “If we all sound off who we are, we can hold each other accountable and kill the motive in its tracks!”
“Did you seriously forget what Monokuma said earlier?” ‘Hifumi’ began countering, with an impossible amount of poise and composure from the actual Hifumi. “I’d rather not give any prospective killers any advantage over me, so it’s in my best interest to keep quiet about my identity.”
“Besides, you missed the entire point of the motive! Even if everyone sounded off who they were, you didn’t account for the possibility that someone would hate or love their new body so much that they’d kill for it! What then, ‘Taka’?” Monokuma picked up from ‘Hifumi’. Can we just have nice things for once? Is it even possible to have nice things with Monokuma in charge? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
As ‘Hifumi’ and Monokuma predicted, everyone else stayed silent, myself included. As much as I hated to admit it, ‘Hifumi’ had a point. This was my life on the line after all, I think anyone would act selfishly to protect it.
“Well, I better not keep you waiting any longer! Go on and give me exactly what I want, it’s not like you have a choice in the matter~.” Monokuma finished, before vanishing behind the podium.
Everyone just stood around for several minutes trying to process what in the flying fuck just happened. Monokuma had somehow switched our bodies around and was keeping us this way until someone was murdered. A few were continuing to observe their new bodies with looks ranging from curiosity to abject horror. Eventually the shock of it all began to slowly fade, and people began to leave to continue with their day in their new body. I spied ‘Makoto’ looking much too happy for it to still be me in my body leaving. I felt someone bump into me from behind. Turning, I only saw 'Celeste' walking towards the gym doors. Just my imagination? ‘Sayaka’ had a look of surprise on her face when she spotted me, before making her exit as well. At this point I was starting to get hungry from not eating breakfast, so I decided to make my leave as well, heading towards the dining hall for some much needed food.
Walking through the halls of the almost desolate Hope’s Peak Academy had always been eerie, the bolted windows a constant reminder of our imprisonment and enticement to kill. Despite that the actual academy itself had all the furnishings we needed to survive, not to mention the 15 other Ultimates who were much better company than expected. Since they were at the top of their game, I had guessed they’d all be stuck up about their talents and abilities. However, with the exception of one notable person (looking at you , Byakuya), everyone was either pleasant to talk to or elected not to engage in conversation.
Walking through the halls as Kyoko…? I’d thought it would amp up the eeriness, what with being in an entirely foreign body, but in all honesty all it felt was… different. Not wrong, just different than what I’m used to. I felt my now very long lavender hair brush against my back and butt as I walked. I hadn’t had time to examine my new outfit from the shock of the body swap actually being real, but looking at it now? While I wasn’t one to pay attention to fashion, I definitely felt stylish in the jacket and gloves. I felt my skirt swish pleasantly as I took each step, as well as being very aware of my missing… member.
Honestly I didn’t mind that it was gone. I never liked its presence and how it always got in the way. I liked the feeling of the breeze against my exposed thighs. Whenever I turned a corner, I could feel my thighs rub against each other which wasn’t exactly an unpleasant feeling to my surprise. Though I had practice from the times Komaru made me walk around in heels as part of her dressing me up, it would seem that I still needed to get used to walking with Kyoko’s heeled boots. Even with the practice, I still ended up almost falling a couple times.
And on the topic of heels, it was clear that I was now a bit taller than I remember. I didn’t mind that I was a bit shorter than average compared to the other guys, but I could certainly get used to the now higher vantage point I had. All things considered, I… really liked being Kyoko for the moment.
I meandered my way over to the kitchen to put something in my stomach. Entering the dining hall I saw ‘Asahina’ with her head on the table, staring dejectedly at a donut. She was conversing with ‘Sayaka’, who was sitting across from her. I decided that I would try to join their conversation after I had gotten something to eat. I just wanted to talk to someone, anyone , about what the fuck just happened.
“Hello ‘Kyoko’! What brings you here?” ‘Sayaka’ noticed me entering and waved as well.
“Oh-” I tried replying, but quickly stopped in surprise as I put a hand to my throat. The expected disgusting and gravelly voice I had begrudgingly grown accustomed to had been replaced by Kyoko’s firm, yet gentle tone. I never liked my voice after it deepened with puberty, so this was a nice plus,
“...hey ‘Sayaka’. I’m just getting something to eat.” I answered.
There was an awkward pause as ‘Sayaka’ seemingly ran out of words, so I decided to try to lighten the mood a bit.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this…” I dryly remarked. While I did enjoy this for now, getting used to it in the long run was another question entirely.
‘Sayaka’ giggled and nodded in apparent camaraderie. Mission success. “I must agree, I don’t think anyone can adjust to this so soon. I'm having trouble believing this is all even real,” ‘Sayaka’ replied, confirming my suspicion with a more meek tone than I'd ever heard from the real Sayaka, “But I think some people are struggling more than others. May God have mercy on whoever ended up in Toko’s body,” She said, almost to herself as much to me. I had to stifle a snicker at the latter comment.
There was a lull in the conversation, neither of us knowing what to say until ‘Asahina’ broke the silence.
“I know I said I’d have a donut but I’m having second thoughts now,” She said,
“Actually I’ve been meaning to ask, why do you want the donut in the first place?” ‘Sayaka’ questioned.
“Well, I’m in Asahina’s body now, which means I’ve got her taste buds as well. And you know how much the girl loves her donuts so I’m wondering if I’ve got the same fascination with ‘em now. But eating donuts at a time like this just seems… wrong.”
‘Asahina’ raised a good point. Now that I’ve got Kyoko’s body, does that mean I have the same interests and tastes? I jogged my memory to see if there was anything Kyoko liked to eat or drink. Whenever I saw her at the morning meetings, I could see with astonishing clarity that she would always have a cup of coffee. Huh, I wasn’t able to remember something this clearly before. Is this a side effect of having Kyoko’s brain?
That’s when an idea occurred to me.
“I’ve got an idea. I noticed that Kyoko drinks coffee at the morning meetings. Why don’t I make a cup, and we can test our new taste buds together?” I proposed.
“Y’know what? Sure, I can dig that,” ‘Asahina’ affirmed, “I am genuinely curious about Asahina’s obsession with donuts. Girl never stops talking about them.”
With that, I headed into the kitchen, prefixing coffee to my list of items to grab. I would say I don’t like coffee, but I’ve never actually tried it before so this would be a new experience for me. All my knowledge came from my parents whenever they asked me to brew a pot for them when they were running out of time. Considering I didn’t need the caffeine, I decided to find decaffeinated coffee, which I swiftly located. I silently prayed to my patron for putting a french press in the Hope’s Peak Academy kitchen, coincidentally the only way I knew how to make coffee. As I made a pot, a realisation hit me: coffee is apparently extremely bitter. I do not like things that taste bitter. But I remembered that Mom had requested that I put creamer in her cup when I made her coffee, so I followed suit by adding a little milk in place of creamer after pouring myself a cup.
I made my way back to the dinning hall, grabbing a bagel on the way out for more solid sustenance. I sat down next to ‘Asahina’ as she continued to stare intently at the donut waiting upon the table. I noticed that I had to brush out my skirt when I sat down.
“So, ‘Sayaka’, why don’t you count us down?” I asked.
‘Sayaka’ gave an affirmative nod as ‘Asahina’ picked up the donut in her hands while I carefully held the piping hot cup in my gloved hands.
“Alright, on three. One, two, three!” ‘Sayaka’ counted down.
On three, ‘Asahina’ took a bite of her donut while I took a sip of my coffee. I let the brown liquid sit on my tongue before quickly but carefully swallowing to not burn my mouth.
“Hmm… definitely bitter, but the added milk helped sweeten it enough to become palatable. Not exactly my preferred taste, but I can see why someone like Kyoko would drink this if the caffeine really helps her stay awake.” I stated, voicing my honest thoughts.
‘Asahina’ on the other hand? Her face lit up after taking the first bite, which became a second bite, then a third, and then the donut was gone. She had a look of confusion on her face as she processed the fact that her donut was in fact gone.
“Wha… where did… the donut go?” ‘Asahina’ questioned, now bereft of her beloved donut.
“You… ate it. All of it,” ‘Sayaka’ answered with a look of pure wonder on her face.
“It seems you kept her fascination with donuts,” I quipped while laughing a bit, though it came out more as a girlish giggle instead which took me by surprise. I had never heard Kyoko laugh before, so hearing it now? It sounded… lovely. Definitely better than my own laugh. It was also a little funny seeing the varied expressions on ‘Asahina’s’ face as the realisation dawned on her that yes, she did in fact eat the donut.
“How was the coffee, ‘Kyoko’? I never got to ask because… well…” ‘Sayaka’ asked, the latter part to ‘Asahina’s’ chagrin.
“Definitely not something I would drink willingly, but if the caffeine really does keep you awake I can see why people tolerate it,” I repeated. Well, I can at least check ‘Drinking coffee’ off my bucket list.
“That’s quite understandable. I know more than most how coffee can be an acquired taste, even with some sweetness.” ‘Sayaka’ responded.
The conversation meandered from there, mostly talking about our new routine and the predicament we found ourselves in. ‘Sayaka’ had apparently been adjusting better than most (God help whoever was in Toko’s or Hifumi’s body) so there was some camaraderie in that department. ‘Asahina’ meanwhile?
“I dunno, man. I just have this feeling of… wrong in me. Like no offence to Asahina but her body just feels really wrong to be in. I can’t really explain the mystic energies I’m getting right now. I guess what I’m saying is that I’d much rather be back in my own body than be stuck like this.” ‘Asahina’ confided. Ignoring the Grade-A fuck up that just happened, something else struck me as odd.
He… doesn’t like it? I thought most guys would like being a girl, or at the very least be fine with it. Though I can understand the sentiment given the current circumstances. He is essentially stealing her body and almost everything about her for the time being.
“I can understand where you’re coming from, ‘Asahina’. Unfortunately, that feeling of discomfort doesn’t exactly go away after a while, and in our situation, the only way for it to go is…” ‘Sayaka‘ didn’t have to finish the sentence for us to know exactly what she was referring to. Though I became curious as to how ‘Sayaka’ knows this apparent feeling of discomfort, I decided not to press her for now.
“I just hope the others can adapt well enough to avoid a murder,” I prayed with sincerity.
“The energies aren’t suffocating… yet. I’m just praying I can last. Maybe until someone snaps?” ‘Asahina’ mused morbidly.
We continued to talk while I ate my bagel, thankfully switching to lighter topics to fill the gap. ‘Asahina’ (who at this point I knew was Yasuhiro) opted to leave after a while, which left me and ‘Sayaka’ remaining in the dining hall.
“I think anyone with half a brain can guess who ‘Asahina’ is,” I dryly quipped.
“It really doesn’t help that he isn’t exactly… subtle about it,” ‘Sayaka’ mused. Even with the bodyswap motive, Yasuhiro never changes.
“You know… I’ve noticed something while being in Kyoko’s body,” I said.
“What is it?” ‘Sayaka’ inquired.
“Her mind is incredibly sharp and analytical. When I was remembering what she would drink at the morning meeting, my memory had so much clarity that it was a little freaky how detailed it was. And I’ve been noticing so many things that I never would’ve noticed before. People’s speech patterns, body language, facial expressions, and so on. In fact, I think I’ve ascertained some people’s identity based on that alone. It’s… really weird seeing so much information about everything all at once,” I answered.
“That’s… bizarre. Actually, I think I’ve been experiencing something similar while being in Sayaka’s body,” ‘Sayaka’ began recounting. “I sometimes get these… visions. Pieces of information and knowledge that should be impossible for me to know. It’s… weird. Just knowing certain things with no explanation of how you know them.”
I initially wanted to just blurt out that Sayaka had told me she was psychic, but I caught my tongue before I could. I still didn’t want people knowing I was actually just a guy in a girl’s body. And that I’m actually Makoto, that was also important.
“Is she… psychic?” I asked instead with a look of curiosity on my face.
“Maybe? It’s entirely possible. I overheard her saying she had psychic powers and I thought it was a joke, but…” ‘Sayaka’ trailed off. Things are getting really weird now. I suddenly had supreme analytical prowess and ‘Sayaka’ can just know things she shouldn’t. Does she know that I’m just a guy?
“You said you had a read on some people's identity so I’m curious now, who do you think is who?” ‘Sayaka’ inquired.
“Well, I’m still not used to this so take what I say with a grain of salt,” I began, “We already know who Yasuhiro is so I’ll skip him. I think ‘Taka’ is actually Asahina, what with his energetic and passionate response to Monokuma as well as his facial expressions and body language matching. ‘Hifumi’s’ cold and calculated retort suggests that he’s either Celeste or Byakuya. I think ‘Leon’, ‘Mondo’, ‘Sakura’, and ‘Chihiro’ crossed the gender barrier as well.”
“I mean, even I saw how they were feeling themselves up after the swap happened. Guys can be such pigs sometimes,” ‘Sayaka’ mused with a hint of disgust. It felt weird to not be included in that statement, but it did feel… nice. To be seen as one of the girls.
“I mean, girls aren’t any better. You saw how ‘Taka’ and ‘Leon’ wasted no time either, right?” I retorted, hopefully to maintain my image as one of the girls.
“I guess you have a point. People are weird.”
“Well, this whole situation is weird, so I can’t really fault them.”
“That is true…”
There was a lull in the conversation after that. I wanted to ask ‘Sayaka’ about her visions, but didn’t want to press my luck and risk her finding out who I really am.
“You know, I never realised just how pretty your smile is,” She suddenly pointed out.
…huh? I’ve been smiling? Since when? I almost never smile, even when good things happen to me, so how am I smiling now? Why am I smiling? Is it because…?
“Y-you think so?” I stammered, feeling heat rise in my cheeks as I was taken aback by the sudden compliment.
“Kyoko is always so stoic and serious so I’ve never seen her smile before, but looking now? I think it’s a shame she doesn’t,” ‘Sayaka’ continued.
I quickly became flustered at the sudden stream of affection, and unfortunately, ‘Sayaka’ picked up on it.
“You’re even cuter when you get flustered like that!” She continued to tease. I held my hands against my face to shield myself from the onslaught of affection, but it merely provided more ammunition for ‘Sayaka’ to use. She continued to tease how cute I was when flustered for a little while until eventually she just got bored.
“You are… the worst,” I said back at her, one last round of banter so I’d come out on top in the end.
“I know, I know. I just can’t resist an opportunity to tease a cute girl.” ‘Sayaka’ shot back. God FUCKING dammit. Even when I thought I’d won, she somehow one upped me. I’m starting to think that this is actually Sayaka with how on point her teasing game is.
Except, that’s not what my mind was focusing on.
She called me a girl… Why does that feel… nice? I got a warm, fuzzy feeling after ‘Sayaka’ called me a girl. It was different than when she was teasing me over my smile and me getting flustered. It felt much deeper than before. It struck me to my very core. Why was I feeling this way? I am in the body of a girl, but that doesn’t matter. I’m a guy. I was born male. I’ll never be a girl even if I wanted to. So why did it feel so… nice? When she called me a girl?
“‘Kyoko’? Are you there?” ‘Sayaka’ said, with a look of concern on her face. Was I spacing out?
“Y-yes, I am. What’s going on?” I quickly replied to confirm my presence.
“It looked like you were spacing out after what I said, so I got a little worried that I said something wrong,” She elaborated.
“No no, you didn’t say anything wrong,” I assured, leaving out the part where it just felt right.
‘Sayaka’ looked like she wanted to ask more, but decided to drop it there. It was then that we saw more people entering the dining hall. ‘Byakuya’ and ‘Celeste’ specifically. The former was holding a pack of playing cards in his hand while the latter held a box of some kind.
“Oh hey ‘Byakuya’, ‘Celeste’!” ‘Sayaka‘ called out while waving them down. I saw ‘Byakuya’ visibly cringe at his name being called. Definitely not Byakuya, I thought to myself. He probably sleeps to the sound of his own voice. I also saw ‘Celeste’ look at me with an unreadable expression on her face. Definitely kept Celeste’s poker face, I noticed.
“We were just talking, did you want to join us?” She added.
“I have a pack of playing cards and ‘Celeste’ has poker chips. I wouldn’t be averse to some amateur gambling to pass the time,” ‘Byakuya’ offered. I’ll be honest, it was a little surreal seeing the Byakuya Togami offer to engage in recreation. But if whoever ended up in his body wasn’t a complete prick, I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“I think I’d like to play as well,” I invited myself. I was curious to see if my new analytical prowess translated to destroying people in card games like Celeste always did, and if the person in Celeste’s body kept her talent for gambling.
‘Celeste’ laid the box down on the table and went over to the kitchen, presumably to grab something to eat while ‘Byakuya’ sat at our table and began shuffling the cards to prepare for play. ‘Sayaka’s’ interest had been piqued by this point and she offered to join as well, which ‘Byakuya’ accepted simply for the fact that it was another player to the table.
Once ‘Celeste’ returned with food for the table, ‘Byakuya’ distributed the chips among the table of players, giving us $10,000 each as collateral. With that, we began playing.
After a few rounds, I was really starting to get a handle on my new mental faculties. Being able to read the other three participants and keeping Kyoko’s resting poker face proved a huge boon in hiding how good my hand is. Playing it close to the chest, I was actually able to win several hands that I never thought possible. ‘Celeste’ was nigh impossible to get a grip on, keeping her poker face rock solid the whole afternoon. But on the off chance I read her correctly? It was a surreal feeling to reach over and claim chips from the Ultimate Gambler of all people. ‘Sayaka’ could be read like an open book, which felt pretty bad after I won a few hands against her. ‘Byakuya’ made an effort to conceal himself, but being hyper aware of his body language and facial expressions was enough to overcome it, and I secured victory against him a few times. Although… I did notice something else from ‘Byakuya’.
A lingering sense of discomfort was emanating from him, like he didn’t like the body he was in. He would occasionally tug at his suit and dress pants in a manner that suggested he didn’t like his outfit, much like how I would tug at my own middle school uniform. Examining my memory I could sense a similar feeling of discomfort from Yasuhiro in Asahina's body. Does that mean he doesn't like his new body either? Does he want to go back to his own body? …am I in the minority? I shook those thoughts out of my head for now. I might bring it up with him later on. I had other things to focus on right now.
I returned my attention to the current hand. I had folded early due to a bad hand and ‘Sayaka’ tapped out soon after, so ‘Celeste’ and ‘Byakuya’ were going head to head. ‘Celeste’ matched ‘Byakuya’s’ raise, and both competitors revealed their hands. Two pairs from ‘Byakuya’... full house from ‘Celeste’. ‘Sayaka’ was in shock at the strength of ‘Celeste’s' hand and I was quite impressed she kept her cool throughout. ‘Byakuya’ had a look of admiration for his competitor as ‘Celeste’ reached over to claim her spoils in chips.
“Even with the loss, I must admire a well-played hand,” ‘Byakuya’ congratulated. I did a double take at Byakuya praising someone other than himself, but quickly reminded myself that this wasn’t actually Byakuya, and thankfully wasn’t a complete prick either.
“It helps that I kept Celeste’s poker face and cool head.” ‘Celeste’ admitted.
“Now that you mention that, you aren’t the only one who kept part of their body’s talent,” I began. I proceeded to recount my findings about Kyoko’s analytical mind, as well as ‘Sayaka’s apparent psychic powers, which she confirmed, “I think that part of the original talent and mind was preserved with the swap, like how ‘Sayaka’ still has psychic powers.”
“I can personally attest to Celeste’s knowledge of game theory and ability to calm the mind during stressful situations,” ‘Celeste’ confirmed.
“Now I’m starting to think you’re actually Kyoko!” ‘Sayaka’ jabbed at me. I wish I was that smart… I wish I was a-
“Very funny ‘Sayaka’…” I dryly responded, before my mind went down an unpleasant rabbit hole.
“The only thing I noticed is how much I despise being in Byakuya’s body,” ‘Byakuya’ suddenly remarked.
“Actually, I was going to ask you about that,” I began. Now was a good time to ask him since he brought it up himself. “Forgive me if I’m overstepping your boundaries, but you seemed uncomfortable all day.”
“Keen eye, ‘Kyoko’. You would be correct, I am absolutely uncomfortable in this wretched body,” ‘Byakuya’ confirmed, "Having this body is torturous enough, but knowing whose it is manages to make it so much worse."
I couldn't help but notice ‘Sayaka’s’ dejected look as he spoke. ‘Byakuya’ made it seem like he had everything under control, but I couldn’t help but notice just how uncomfortable he was throughout the afternoon. It’s clear now he was struggling to keep his composure and was trying to hide it. If I’m going to bring this up later, I should definitely do it in private and keep the conversation between us. I made a mental note to talk to ‘Byakuya’ later on about this.
“I brought it up because I noticed that ‘Asahina’ had similar discomfort as well,” I said. Well, Yasuhiro said it was ‘bad mystic energies’ or something, but I can leave that part out.
“To be fair, I think anyone would hate being in Byakuya’s body,” ‘Sayaka’ jokingly remarked. I stifled a snicker at her comment.
“Not necessarily,” ‘Byakuya’ countered, “Though I do hate this body with every fibre of my being, I don’t think I can say the same for the other girls. As much as I hate to admit it, Byakuya is conventionally attractive despite having a wet napkin for a personality, so I would imagine they would derive more enjoyment out of this than I currently am.”
“Personally I can’t see it.” ‘Celeste‘ remarked. “Every man that people say is attractive looks like nothing to me. I don’t understand how people fawn over attractive men.”
“Me neither,” ‘Sayaka’ added.
“The feeling is mutual,” I also added. I mean, it’s not entirely wrong? I’m not attracted to men as well, I’m obviously attracted to women, such as…?
Huh… with Kyoko’s sheer clarity in memory, I made a startling realisation: I don’t actually remember being ‘attracted’ to… anyone, really. Or even what attraction… is. At least, not in the same way other people describe. There’s no ‘burning desire’ or ‘unspeakable urges’ as people say, just… genuine appreciation for other people. Does that count as attraction? But that isn’t what people think when someone says ‘attraction’? Dammit, I’ll think about this later.
“‘Kyoko’?” ‘Celeste’ asked.
“Sorry, I was just thinking,” I quickly replied.
“About…?” ‘Celeste’ prodded.
“I don’t really know how to describe it. I guess… it’s weird being able to see your memories in such clarity,” I decided on. A bit of a white lie, but I’d rather not dump my existential crisis on someone going through their own existential crisis. It looked like ‘Celeste’ wanted to inquire further but she was interrupted by ‘Byakuya’.
“It’s getting late. The others should be arriving now to get dinner.” ‘Byakuya’ observed. I checked the clock on the wall. It was somehow five-fifteen. How did I lose track of time that badly? As if on cue, I suddenly felt pangs of hunger, reminding me that yes, I did in fact lose track of time.
I excused myself from the table to get dinner, and when I came back I saw that ‘Toko’, ‘Junko’, and ‘Mondo’ had joined the table. I sat back down to eat. Over the next hour, everyone else with the exception of ‘Hifumi’ and ‘Leon’ had arrived at the dining hall to eat. ‘Makoto’ decided to sit next to me and tried his best to have a conversation with the others at the table. I have to admit, it was weird conversing with myself (who was much happier than I ever could be), and it didn’t exactly help that he had a Freudian slip by calling me ‘Miss Kirigiri’, sealing him as Hifumi. Though it did feel nice to be called Miss… but why?
After two-ish hours, I had gotten my fill of both food and socialising, so I excused myself from the dining and made my way back to my- Kyoko’s room, but not before ‘Junko’ offered to join me in my journey back. We made small talk about our new situations before quickly arriving at the dorms, parting ways to check in for the night.
But before I could enter my room I heard a blood curdling shriek, and it came from ‘Junko’s’ direction! Quickly turning on a dime and bolting to her door, I found her on the floor presumably from falling back surrounded by everyone that heard the scream. Everyone looked shocked as they peered into the now open door to Junko’s room, and once I had a look I understood why:
Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Fashionista, was armed to the goddamn teeth. Ammo crates lined the walls of her room, overflowing with ammunition. Guns were strewn across the floor, many not encased and ready to be used to kill. There were no makeup supplies or overly complicated vanity, custom made dresses or fashion wear being designed or made. Just guns. Lots of guns.
Some people decided to enter the makeshift armoury to investigate. Most were just too dumbfounded to move. ‘Junko’ looked like she was about to pass out. I knelt down to her to make myself less imposing.
“Are you alright?” I asked. This was probably a lot for her to take in so I wanted to make sure she had someone to lean on.
‘Junko’ tried to form words but simply wasn’t able to say anything, still in shock from the revelation that Junko’s room could start a war. I offered my hand for her to hold which she accepted, holding and squeezing my gloved hand for comfort. I stayed silent, letting her take all the time she needed to calm down.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Someone exclaimed. I peeked my head up to see what was going on only to find ‘Hifumi’ scolding ‘Celeste’, who was holding and inspecting one of the unsecured guns. What, what? Why the hell was ‘Celeste’ holding a gun?
“The safety mechanism is enabled. The firearm cannot be discharged,” ‘Celeste’ responded simply. She offered the handgun for ‘Hifumi’ to investigate, but ‘Toko’ snatched the gun from her hand to inspect it herself.
“She’s right, the safety’s on,” She affirmed. “But that doesn’t mean the gun can’t misfire. Now stop pointing them at people and get them locked up.”
I did find it suspicious that anyone here would know their way around a gun, but I had no choice but to put it on the backburner for the time being. ‘Hifumi’ didn’t look convinced but relented anyway, likely because ‘Toko’ followed through and secured the gun in a case. Observing the room again, I noticed 2 mannequins, one of which had a wig identical to Junko’s hair, the other had nothing. I turned back to ‘Junko’, who thankfully had calmed enough to voice coherent thoughts. I helped her up to her feet before proceeding with what I had connected.
“‘Junko’, can I touch your hair?” I asked. I already made the connection but I wanted ‘Junko’s’ permission first before doing anything.
‘Junko’ nodded. I raised my hand to her head and began feeling her hair. It was much coarser and rougher than my own hair, though that could be because of my gloves interfering. What wasn’t because of that was a raised line I felt on her scalp. Fiddling around, I realised that I could take it off if I tugged it hard enough.
“I think your hair is actually a wig. Are you alright with me taking it off?” I asked. ‘Junko’ looked at me with a look of confusion, but nodded regardless. A firm tug later and ‘Junko’s’ hair came right off. Everyone who was looking near our direction was even more dumbfounded than before. Junko was obviously no stranger to wigs, but she had stated that this was her natural hair. Was she lying about that? ‘Junko’ noted that she was wearing a hair cap. Taking it off revealed short black hair in the style of bob cut, completely mismatched with Junko’s stylised outfit.
“What the hell…?” ‘Yasuhiro’ muttered.
“Is Junko… an impostor?” ‘Taka’ asked.
“I think it’s a possibility we can’t ignore. Impostor or not, Junko is not who we thought she was,” I answered. Everyone stood around trying to digest this information until ‘Chihiro’ spoke up.
“The fuck are we gonna do about the guns, then?” She pointed out. I did a double take at Chihiro swearing. She was much more vigorous and vulgar than the real Chihiro.
“I promise I will look after them and not do anything bad!” ‘Junko’ sincerely pleaded. Unfortunately, but also expectedly, no one was inclined to believe her. Trust was much harder to come by in a killing game. That was until ‘Toko’ made an amendment.
“I’ll look after them with you.” She offered.
“And use them for your own escape?” ‘Hifumi’ grimly interrogated.
“No, dumbass. I’m saying I’ll look after them with ‘Junko’” She clarified. Thinking it over, the idea was sound. ‘Toko’ seemingly had knowledge of the guns, and if one of them died we’d immediately know who killed them.
“What if one of you decides to use the guns to kill the other?” ‘Asahina’ questioned.
“Then we would know who killed them.” I answered. I swore I felt ‘Celeste’ give me a look of pride, but I brushed it off.
“What if they decide to team up and go on a killing spree?” ‘Asahina’ questioned again. This… I didn’t have an answer. Luckily, ‘Celeste’ answered for me.
“They don’t have an incentive to cooperate since only one of them will be able to leave.”
“So we just have to trust them?” ‘Byakuya’ mused.
“I know this isn’t the best, but for right now it’s the best we got. This way, we can easily hold a potential killer accountable almost immediately," I stated. It would be hard for the others to trust them, but like I said: it’s the best we’ve got. Everyone had a look of worry on their face while ‘Hifumi’ and ‘Byakuya’ looked thoroughly unimpressed.
“Look, I don’t like this body swap motive either but I’m not desperate enough to kill someone over it,” ‘Toko’ argued.
Everyone thought over the proposal, and ultimately agreed to let ‘Toko’ safeguard the guns with ‘Junko’. ‘Byakuya’ and I were the last to leave. As I left, I found ‘Sayaka’ waiting by the door, looking like she wanted to talk to someone.
“Is everything alright?” I started. ‘Sayaka’ now looked deep in thought so I let her think for a while.
“First the bodyswap motive, now the Ultimate Fashionista has enough weapons to start a war…” ‘Sayaka’ morbidly mused.
“All we can do is trust ‘Junko’ and ‘Toko’ to keep the guns locked down. Whoever she really is will still be out there, so it’s in our best interest to stay vigilant,” I assured.
“I hope I can sleep well tonight… though I don’t exactly have high hopes considering what just happened.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, I wish you sweet dreams tonight.”
‘Sayaka’ smiled, “You too, ‘Kyoko’.”
With that, we parted ways as our rooms were on opposite sides of the dorm area. I made my way over to Kyoko’s room, fished out the key from her jacket, unlocked the door, braced myself for entering a girls room (even though it was technically mine for now), and entered her room.
With how mysterious Kyoko is, I was surprised to find that her room was almost identical to my own. It had the same bolted windows as my old room, the same dresser on the far side of the room, and the same bedside table. The only immediate difference was the pink bed sheet instead of a cyan one, signifying that this was a girl’s room instead of a boy’s room. I did a double take at just how… plain her room is. Who would’ve thought the most mysterious person in all of Hope’s Peak had the blandest room imaginable? A closer look did reveal a journal on the end table. Should I even read it? Of course not. It’s not even mine, and poking around other people’s private life is extremely rude. But… I’m already doing that just by being in Kyoko’s body. No, that would be too far. I’ll at least respect her internal privacy.
Once I had slowed down it became very apparent of how tired I was. It wasn’t even eight p.m but I felt like I could crash right then and there and get a good night’s sleep, which I debated on doing since it was what I normally would do. I never really cared about how presentable I was, just as long as something could be presented. It wasn’t out of laziness or anything nefarious, I simply didn’t care enough about my body to take proper care of it. But now? I wasn’t in my own body. I was in Kyoko’s body. And so far, I liked it. Enough so that I started to care about it. And also Kyoko would execute me in gorey fashion if she found her body unkempt once the swap motive was over. So brushing the exhaustion aside, I went about doing my long forgotten night time routine.
Before that, I decided to explore Kyoko’s room since it would be my new living quarters for the time being. My initial suspicions were confirmed, this room was quite literally identical to my own apart from the bed sheets being pink and the lint roller I had being absent. Oh, and the journal I was not going to read. I sat down on the bed to give my legs a rest.
First up, I decided to remove my gloves and-
What the fuck?
The sight I saw was nauseating: my hands were completely charred, with a disgusting leathery texture to them. Feeling my now burned hands against each other, I found that they had lost almost all sensation. This was why Kyoko always wears gloves? And rightfully so: the sight of hands this burned was completely unholy. I never expected someone like Kyoko to be hiding something like this, she must be extremely self-conscious about her hands and wears gloves to conceal them. I would do the same thing in her position.
My mind and eyes darted back to the journal on the table. I didn’t want to read it at first out of respect for her privacy. But now? That was all thrown out the window: I need to know how Kyoko burned her hands this badly, and why she hasn’t told anyone about it yet. And besides… I was already invading her privacy completely, what's one more to add to the table?
After putting my gloves back on, I walked over to the table and picked up the journal on it. Despite the self-justifying I may or may not have done, I still felt guilty anyway about this invasion of privacy. With curiosity and concern, I sat down on the bed and opened it to the first page to begin reading.
I don’t know why I expected to find a coherent story in this journal, but instead I found Kyoko’s notes on… criminal cases? There were notes on the different leads in each case, on what the evidence suggested, how they connected to other leads, and notes on potential suspects for each case. Sprinkled throughout were Kyoko’s personal theories regarding the cases, along with voiced (or I guess written) frustration at the police’s incompetence. Was Kyoko a detective? If so, why didn’t she introduce herself as the Ultimate Detective? Why is she hiding this from everyone else? Questions flooded my mind as I skimmed through the journal, but nothing could have prepared me for the answers I found.
A little under half-way through the journal, I stopped finding notes on criminal cases and started finding notes on… Kyoko’s personal information. Or rather, what she had discovered regarding herself.
Name: Kyoko Kirigiri
Age: between eighteen and twenty
Journal suggests detective work as my talent. Analytical mind likely required.
Prior relationship to other students unknown.
Mastermind likely saw me as a threat to the killing game and removed my memories to stifle my ability to solve any murders that may happen. Unknown if other students also lost memories.
My hands suffered extensive burns sometime in the past, likely penetrated the epidermis judging by the loss of sensation. Will have to wear gloves for concealment.
My mind went reeling at what I just read. Kyoko had lost all her memories? That’s why she didn’t introduce her talent? She didn’t even know? That’s why she didn’t mention her hands? She’s still trying to figure out who she was? I would’ve doubted the total memory loss, but after the bodyswap motive my sense of disbelief had gone on vacation. This… this was awful. I couldn’t imagine waking up without any memories and being left to put the pieces back together while in the middle of a killing game where you could die at any moment, unable to answer the question of who you were. As I read the notes again, something immediately caught my attention:
Age: between eighteen and twenty
How is Kyoko older than us? We’re all in the same year except Yasuhiro, who is three years older than us. How is Kyoko two to four years older? She can’t be lying, she doesn’t even know how old she is for sure. I don’t think she’s lying about the estimate either, I know better than most how analytical her mind is…
Wait a moment.
Unknown if other students also lost memories. That sentence caught my attention. If whoever orchestrated this killing game had the ability to remove Kyoko’s memories, then it stands to reason they could’ve done the same to any of us. But that doesn’t make sense? For me, I remember just walking into Hope’s Peak on my first day and…
And I…
I retraced my memories to try to establish an order of events. I walked past the gates of Hope’s Peak. I walked into the campus itself. I walked around for a bit and noted how the building was suspiciously empty. I suddenly became nauseous and blacked out… I woke up in a classroom in the bolted up school…
Oh…
Oh……
No wonder I felt slightly off when I woke up, I might be years older than I thought! This… this is completely insane! My thoughts began to race in my head as I grappled with this possibility. I became light-headed amidst this revelation and ended up dropping the journal on the floor to grip my head, now throbbing in pain. How much of my life have I forgotten? How many years are just gone? Were we all friends before the killing game? How much of our friendship is still… there…? I felt like I was going insane trying to think through every possibility at once. My mind was trying to calculate and process everything all at once to no avail as it worsened my already painful headache. My breathing was becoming quicker and quicker as I began to seep deeper into panic, and I felt myself starting to lose my grip on reality. I started to panic even more - it was getting harder and harder to breathe and I was losing consciousness. But despite the chaos, I managed to remember a technique I learned about how to ground yourself if you're having a panic attack, which I was pretty sure I was going through right now.
Quickly, I forced myself to take concentrated, deliberate deep breaths to ground myself, putting all my focus on my breathing and not on my thoughts to hopefully calm my mind. Slowly but surely, the light-headed feeling started to dissipate along with the pain, and I could feel my breathing become less desperate and more rhythmic. After an indeterminate amount of time fully concentrating on my breathing, I cautiously opened my eyes. I was still sitting on my bed, the journal was still on the floor, and I was still wearing Kyoko’s gloves. I reached into my jacket to pull out the e-Handbook to check the time. 8:37 P.M. That was good, I didn’t end up passing out from the realisation that- nope I am NOT going there again.
Quickly shaking that out of my head, I decided to take a shower to take my mind off things for a little while. I walked over to the dresser and picked out some pyjamas to wear to bed and placed them in the bathroom to change into afterwards. I undid the hair tie and the nice looking braid on the right side of my hair. I slid off my jacket and hung it up before removing my tie and placing it back in the dresser. I took off my boots and placed them near the door before sitting back on the bed to remove my knee-high socks. It definitely felt nice to let my skin breathe after who-knows-how-long wearing two skin-tight layers. Once removed, I ran my hands down my legs and noticed just how nice and smooth my skin felt without any annoying body hair to get in the way. Maybe I should try shaving my legs once the motive is over?
Swiftly shaking off that weird thought, I took off my skirt. Feeling it in my hands, I couldn’t help but appreciate the simplicity of it. The purple fabric was a pleasant colour that I really liked. And then I finally realised why I put this off: I was going to have to see Kyoko’s naked body. This was completely unavoidable. I was going to have to shower if this motive lasted longer than today, and I still needed to take care of myself in the meantime. Oh, and Kyoko would execute me in gorey fashion, can’t forget that.
I slung my shirt off which left me in just a bra and panties. It was then I realised just how curvy my body is now. Running my hands down my curves, I noticed my waist was far slimmer, and my hips were wider. A wonderful absence of body hair as well. It felt… really nice to not hate my body. My… underwear also looked really cute. The black colour compliments Kyoko’s mysterious and commanding aura really well, and the little knot on the right of my panties was a nice touch.
I walked into the bathroom to start my shower, but stopped once I saw myself in the mirror. What was staring back wasn’t ‘me as a girl’ that I had hoped began to conceptualise, but Kyoko: a cute girl with long lavender hair and beautiful lavender eyes. While this was entirely not my body, it still mimicked my facial expressions and body language perfectly. It wasn’t me, but at the same time, it wasn’t entirely not me either? Like, I still moved exactly like me, but it wasn’t my body…
I just realised that I’ve been smiling like an idiot this entire time. How long have I been grinning? How long have I been… alright…? It was a foreign look on the normally stoic Kyoko, but ‘Sayaka’ was right: I looked cute. I looked… happy. How long has it been since I felt this happy? I really didn’t want to think about the implications of that thought, so I swiftly moved onto whatever I was doing.
But now, I’m at the point of no return. Here goes nothing. Apologising to Kyoko, I reached behind my back and fiddled with the bra strap to get it loose. Normally I’d be completely clueless as to how bras work, but I had learned before in my spare time anyways.
What? Any guy would want to know how bras work?
After twenty-ish seconds of fiddling, I managed to unhook the bra strap and shrugged my bra off. Looking down, I felt an intense, passionate, burning… indifference. My breasts were small, yet elegant in their own way that I could appreciate. They were much more sensitive to touch than I initially thought, which while arousing didn’t bring about any sexual desires or urges. This wasn’t some sexy girl that people claim to fawn over even though I never understood why. This was just… a normal body for a girl. This almost felt natural. But why? Why was I so comfortable in a body that wasn’t even mine? Fuck, I’m too tired for this shit. I’m just gonna shower and go to bed.
Taking off my panties, I started running the shower, feeling the water until stepping in when it felt hot enough for my liking. I had heard that girls had far too many different products for their own good so I was relieved to see that Kyoko only had a few. Massaging shampoo throughout my lavender hair, it was much heavier than I thought it would be when soaked with water and product. I remembered that the conditioner was for the tips of your hair, not the roots. Again, normal things for a guy like me to know. I tried not to think about it too hard but it was impossible to ignore the water running down my chest or the slit of my now flat crotch. Trying to concentrate on the task at hand, I used Kyoko’s body wash to scrub myself clean. It was a pleasant feeling rubbing soap on my now very smooth and silky skin.
Once I had gotten all the product out of my hair, I turned off the shower and stepped out to dry myself. It was then that I realised that drying my hair would be an entire ordeal on its own. My old hair was always cut short much to my chagrin, but I didn’t have to worry about drying it beyond just slapping it with a towel. Now? My hair was very long and very dense, and surprisingly not dyed. I initially wanted to just do the same thing, but quickly discarded that idea as I did not want to ruin Kyoko’s beautiful lavender hair. Instead, I tried my best to pat it dry. But after a while, I just admitted defeat and went to put on my pyjamas to finally go to bed. While looser than my jacket, they still hugged my new curves in a way that made me feel very cute. But I am really exhausted now. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have some coffee to see if it’ll boost my energy.
I stepped back into the main room. Before I crashed, I spotted Kyoko’s journal still on the floor. Is there anything else to it? I really didn’t want to experience the hell I went through when I realised that- nuh uh I am not going there. And even if I hypothetically did realise, I was too tired to do anything about it. Go exhaustion?
I picked up Kyoko’s journal and flipped back to where I left off. The next several pages were profiles on the other students. Stuff like the name, estimated age, talent, personality, notable mentions. The usual. She had already predicted that Junko was lying about who she was. Quite easy for a detective like her. Two things I noted were that Celeste’s name had a question mark next to it along with the notes reading that this was unlikely to be her actual name. I mean, she’s not wrong? I don’t think Celeste is fooling anybody that she’s some European noble despite all the pride she puts into her persona. What was really interesting was what I found on my own profile.
Name: Makoto? Naegi
Age: between eighteen and twenty
Talent: Ultimate Lucky Student
Naegi is quiet but displays considerable emotional intelligence. Avoids confrontation through amicable resolution. Fronts a consistent neutral expression.
Unnatural feeling when referring to Naegi as male or by their given name. Possibly related to missing memories.
Unnatural feeling when referring to me as male? And by my name? I mean, as much as my name has become second nature to me, I never really grew attached to it. I only went by it because everyone else knew me as Makoto and I hadn’t thought of a different name. And referring to me as male? I mean, my body is obviously masculine, and everyone knew me as male so I just went with it. I mean… I guess I was fine with it. I would be lying if I said I liked it, but I didn’t exactly dislike it either… I think.
I turned to the next page expecting another student profile, but I guess I wasn’t able to count to fifteen because I didn’t find that. I found something far more intriguing.
To whomever currently occupies my body, I will meet you in Kyoko’s room on the day after the swap. After the nighttime announcement plays, I will knock three times, pause, then knock four times.
Kyoko… wants to meet me? Why? And for what? It’s not that I expected to be murdered in cold blood; I trust Kyoko not to do that, especially if she’s trying to piece together her past. Almost to answer my question, I refocused down at the journal I was holding… and reading… yeah, I think I know what she wants to talk about now. Especially since I now suspect that some of my memories are gone.
At this point my eyelids were almost forcing themselves shut so I closed the journal and put it on the dresser. I walked up and turned off the lights before crashing directly into bed, falling asleep quickly to give a well deserved break from exhaustion and the weird thoughts I’ve been having lately.