"Rantaro Amami?" I asked, frowning at the nameplate. I read it over a few more times, unsure if I was even pronouncing the name correctly.

"Yes?" a voice asked from behind me. 

Startled, I jumped and spun around, putting my hands up in case I needed to defend myself. To my surprise, it was none other than the student who had arrived late to the lodge. 

"Nothing, nothing," I quickly breathed, lowering my hands. I must have looked incredibly foolish. "I just... I didn't know your name before."

"It's no problem," he assured me, holding his hand out. His nails were painted black, though the paint was slightly chipped. "I didn't really have time to introduce myself earlier. Rantaro Amami, the ultimate adventurer."

His handshake was softer than I thought it would be. Especially for someone considered the ultimate adventurer. I was taken off guard by it so much that I hardly noticed when he let go and walked around me to get into his room. He was gone before I could even ask any questions.

"Um, Suki Kiyama," I muttered to the closed door that now separated us. "Ultimate daydreamer. It's nice to meet you..."

There was no answer. Not that I expected there to be one.

I wondered why he had arrived late earlier. I mean, Yuuki and Tora had rounded up everyone, right? Did they just miss him somehow? Maybe he was tucked away in some hard-to-reach spot. Or perhaps he was off on his own little adventure, exploring the grounds. After all, being the ultimate adventurer, he was probably built for places like this.

I shook my head, pushing the thoughts away. I had plenty of time to wonder about him later. What I needed was to get back to my cabin. So with that, I turned and walked up to what would soon become my new home. 

The door was locked, but I could see Tora getting situated through the window. There were two beds, one on the right and one on the left. She chose the one on the left. Darn, I would have preferred to have that one. It was no big deal, though. Nothing worth starting an argument over. Hopefully, we wouldn't have to stay here long anyway. We were sixteen ultimates. We surely could find a peaceful way out of this. 

I turned on my monopad and held it up to the small scanner on the door. There was a short clicking noise and the door flew open, making Tora jump. The whole system reminded me of those hotels that used key cards, only fancier. 

"Sorry for scaring you," I told Tora as I closed the door behind me and sat down on the bed across from hers. 

"No, no, don't be," she breathed, grasping one of her braids and carefully stroking it. "I guess I'm just a little jumpy... I chose a bed if you don't mind. We can switch if you want."

"No, no, I prefer the right side anyway," I lied with a smile and a small wave. Back home my bed was always on the left side of my room, next to the wall, so the fact that I was sleeping on the opposite side made me feel just that much more out of place, but it was really no big deal. I didn't want to be the kind of girl who cared that much about such small details. 

"Okay," Tora breathed, smoothing out her skirt. She was avoiding my gaze. "So... what are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" 

"Us? This situation. What are we going to do?" she asked again.

I hummed in thought and looked out the window. There was a sliding mechanism and the glass didn't seem all that thick. Even with the locks on the door, the cabin would probably be easy to break into. 

Not that anyone would. But just in case...

"We should probably get some stuff and make our little room more secure," I breathed, turning my gaze back to the ultimate golfer. "Just to be safe. I mean, I don't think anyone out there would do anything bad, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?"

She nodded in agreement and pulled out her monopad.

"The map says there's a small training center available to use loaded with weapons and supplies. I don't really want to go there... but we can probably find some stuff to help secure the windows better. Just so we can sleep at night without worrying about someone coming in and... you know..."

I nodded in agreement. I wasn't a fan of suspecting my fellow students, but sometimes we need to be realistic. The idea of murder had likely crossed at least one of their minds. Probably Maikeru's. Maybe Ahmya's too. 

What about Tora, though?

If Tora wanted to kill me, she probably could. We were roommates. Even if we secured the cabin from the outside, there was nothing we could do to stop ourselves from attacking one another on the inside.

I could tell by the way she was looking at me that she was thinking the very same thing about me. We were both suspicious of each other.

I needed to fix that.

"Hey," I said, moving over to her and taking her hand. "I promise, I will never hurt or kill anyone. We'll both get out of here together. You have my word."

She looked down at our joined hands, then up at me. Her eyes grew glassy, and for a moment I feared that I had said something wrong.

Then, she threw her arms around me and started sobbing. I could feel her shoulders tremble as she held onto me tightly.

"I'm so scared, Suki," she whimpered. "I don't want to die. Not yet. Not like this. I... what did we do to deserve this?!"

"Shh," I hushed, gently cradling the back of her head. "I know... I'm scared too."

I didn't really have much else to say. I wanted to keep assuring her that we'd be okay, but I myself wasn't even completely positive we would be. 

No, Tora would most definitely be okay. She was the ultimate golfer. Being the ultimate of anything sports-related immediately meant being someone famous and important. If someone was looking for someone to kill, they wouldn't seek out Tora. 

They'd seek out someone with a far more useless talent.

Someone like the ultimate unlucky student.

Someone like the ultimate daydreamer.

. . .

That night I didn't sleep well. My mind was flooded with horrifying scenario after scenario. 

For a few moments, I even found myself longing for a short and fast death. It seemed preferable to the anxiety that came with waiting for someone to kill me. If anyone out there decided to kill, I hoped they would be merciful and make it as painless as possible. And, if anyone does kill, I hope I'm the one they choose to off. I can't stand the idea of watching any of these other people be killed. 

Tora slept until there was a loud Ding Dong Bing Bong, followed by an announcement from Monokuma stating that it was morning and that there was breakfast in the lodge. Tora and I didn't feel like eating, however. Honestly, I was half-certain that all the food was poisoned. Instead, we took the opportunity to go down to what was labeled on the map as the training center.

"So, how exactly did you become the ultimate daydreamer," Tora asked me as we walked down the trail to the center. She still seemed uneasy, but a lot less terrified than she had the day before.

"Oh, it's nothing special," I assured her. "I'd just constantly doze off and daydream. My head is always in the clouds. Most people get kinda annoyed with it, actually."

"I think it's really cool," she said with a small smile, though her gaze was forward instead of at me. 

"Not as cool as the ultimate golfer," I giggled, nudging her arm gently with my elbow. "How did that happen?"

"I've been playing golf with my cousins ever since I was a baby," she answered, smiling fondly at the memories. "I've won two world series by now. I won my first nationals when I was eleven. Golf is just... kinda how I calm down. It helps me de-stress. I was never the best at making friends, but golf always made me feel a connection to the world around me. It makes me feel close to my cousins again, even though they're all gone. Plus, when people cheer for me... it reminds me that I'm not completely alone in the world. It reminds me that even people who don't know me are rooting for me."

"What happened to your cousins?" I asked, not meaning to come off as rude or demanding. Luckily, she didn't appear offended by the personal question.

"Someone broke into my aunt's house a few years back. They all got killed except for one, who lost his mind after losing everything," she answered. "I can't really see him anymore."

"Oh... I'm so sorry. That sounds terrible."

"It is," she breathed, giving a meek shrug. "But I've given up enough of my time crying over it. The best thing I can do now is keep playing. For them, you know?"

I nodded. I would have never guessed she had such a deep backstory when it came to the sport. 

I expected the training center to be completely empty by the time we got there on account of breakfast being served, but it looked like a few other students had the same ideas as us. By the time we arrived, Kichiro, Daiki, Nori, Brittany, Saikoro, and Rantaro were already there. 

Tora's breath hitched upon seeing them all. 

She shook her head, then tapped my shoulder. "I'm going to go look for some useful supplies in the shed over there," she muttered before swiftly darting off.

I shrugged, then walked forward toward the practice shooting ranges. Brittany was trying to play with the bows and arrows while Nori messed around with some of the shotguns. The ultimate DJ clearly didn't have the best aim; whenever she shot, she'd completely miss the target. It was a good thing she was practicing because she clearly needed it.

Wait, it was NOT a good thing she was practicing. What were people even practicing using weapons for?!

"Self-defense is my guess," Kichiro answered, strolling up behind me and practically scaring me out of my skin.

"W-what?!" I stuttered.

"You were wondering why some of us were here learning how to use weapons," Kichiro shrugged with a small grin. "Riiiiiight?"

I stayed still, neither confirming nor denying.

How did he do that? Could he read minds or something?!

I shook my head, then looked over at the crossbow range. Rantaro was reloading his crossbow, then shooting at the targets. Each shot he took landed perfectly in the center. He was also to reload with incredible speed. As the ultimate adventurer, he probably had a lot of practice with crossbows and such.

"That's not a smart move," Kichiro whispered, his tone light and cheery.

"Huh?" I asked, turning my attention away from Rantaro and back to the ultimate unlucky student.

The shorter boy nodded at Rantaro and quietly laughed. 

"Don't show off your talents. It puts a target on your back," he explained quietly so only I could hear. 

"Ah..." I nodded as I looked back at Saikoro. He was messing with the throwing knives. His attacks weren't as accurate as Rantaro's, but he was still able to hit his targets. Where did he learn how to do that kind of stuff? And why was he practicing this?!

"In fact, as long as people are here, I suggest you don't use anything," Kichiro continued, nodding back at Brittany, who couldn't even load her bow.

The training center was putting everyone's strengths and weaknesses on display.

"But... why are you here then?" I asked.

Kichiro grinned, then shrugged. "To observe," he answered.

He then laughed, then nodded to the back corner. I followed his gaze to see Daiki standing in the corner, silently observing as well.

"Look who's smart," Kichiro quietly chuckled. "Spy-boy hasn't touched a single weapon."

Smart indeed... and a little scary.

Daiki simply stood there, watching. He watched Brittany, he watched Nori, he watched Saikoro, he watched Rantaro. He watched me and Kichiro as we watched him. 

Kichiro smiled and waved when our eyes met the spy's as I quickly looked away, feeling chills run down my spine. 

"So are you waiting for everyone to leave before training?" I asked Kichiro, hoping to move the conversation along.

To this, he laughed louder.

"Me? Training? HA! You're a funny one, Suki."

I was about to ask what he meant when he picked up a crossbow, aimed it at me, and pulled the trigger.

I let out a cry and covered my head, bracing for impact.

But nothing came.

He kept laughing as if he just cracked the funniest joke in the world. I looked at him with utter confusion as he set the crossbow down with the front pointing down toward the targets. The second he set it down, the weapon fired, hitting one of the metal bolts holding the target in place. Somehow, the arrow bounced off the bolt and came flying back toward us. The tip was mere centimeters from slicing through Kichiro's throat when Daiki sprinted over and tackled the unlucky student to the ground, saving him at the last second. The arrow flew into one of the wooden pillars holding the shooting range up, and that was the end of it. 

Kichiro kept laughing while I watched in horror. Daiki seemed to roll his eyes as he got off the unlucky student and brushed himself off. He didn't quite look afraid, but there was more emotion in his eyes than usual. 

I supposed that answered why Kichiro wasn't using any of the weapons...

Daiki looked at me apologetically, as if he was saying sorry for Kichiro's actions, then kneeled down and grasped Kichiro's arm, pulling the short boy up to his feet. Kichiro simply kept laughing as Daiki briefly looked him over to make sure he was okay.

"Checking me out, spy-boy?" Kichiro teased between hysterical laughs. He put his arms up behind his head. "Like what you see?"

Daiki rolled his eyes, then let go and turned away, returning to his small observation corner.

I actually started to feel bad for Daiki. He was Kichiro's roommate, if I remember correctly. That must have been hard to deal with. On top of that, he was the ultimate spy. That title alone made him harder to trust. I know I felt pretty cautious of him from the moment I saw him. Everyone else probably felt the same.

I would probably still feel the same if I didn't see him sprint over and save Kichiro so quickly. Now, I wasn't really sure what to think. 

I'd have to learn more about him. 

Hopefully, I'd get the opportunity to.