Outside my dorm, I was met with the figure of Mrs Enoshime playing with her... 'hair'. To which I immediately shut my eyes. I forgot that I had them open. Seeing Junko face-to-face caused such a revulsion in me that I nearly snapped her neck purely on instinct.
Though this time was not like before when she was just twirling a simple strand of it, but actually playing while making some strange faces. Strange, as in I could've sworn that it was as if she was silently mimicking the sounds of shooting.
Heh. How cute. I thought as my anger and disgust at the wig melted away as a warm smile came to my face. A bit odd that a fashionista would be doing such a thing, but I suppose that such a juxtaposition would only add to the cuteness. I believe such a thing is called gap moe.
…
…Ignoring my most recent intrusive thought and action, I closed the door behind me, and aside from the fierce sharpening of her eyes that made my heart rate accelerate for a moment, alongside the brief squeal when she saw it was me, there was no other incident as she greeted me.
"A-Ah, Voyager! It's you… geez, you won't become popular with girls if ya pull sneaky crap like that, y'know?" ...What? "Anyways, how did it go for ya? Did you find anything weird in your room?"
Ignoring the first part of what she said and omitting the fact that now I have six weapons with me 'Maybe seven if I count my curse along with them…', I told her the truth.
My version of it. Obviously.
"Weird is a way to put it," I admitted with a soft sigh. "There wasn't anything that dangerous but I have no doubt my room would make some of our classmates uncomfortable."
"Is that so? Well, my room had some fashionista-related stuff, like, you know… makeup and other similar junk, so I guess with you that's the bare minimum when our rooms are personalized and you're the Ultimate Assassin, right? That must explain why it's like you said," Hmm, she was taking this strangely well. "…Wait, wait, you said that dangerous, so does that mean there is dangerous stuff in your room?"
Again, she sounded surprised... but not actually scared.
…
"…Yeah, but it's not exclusive to my room." Not wanting to let her know of the red flags she raised in my mind, I gave her a swift answer. "I'm talking about a toolkit. Each male has one while girls receive sewing kits instead. You had one of those, correct?"
"Ah, that's right!" She exclaimed, with a look of recognition on her face now. "I found a note saying that same stuff. Besides a sewing kit, there was also some kind of map for the most vital areas in the body… geez, that bastard isn't taking any breaks with us, huh?" Enoshima commented with a sigh.
"No, he isn't," I nodded in unfortunate agreement. I highly doubt he had truly begun in the first place. "In any case, just to confirm, your room had a bathroom too, right?"
"Yeah, along with a lock for its door, the room had the basic hygiene stuff included. And you know what?" Her voice started to rise as she began to repeatedly stamp the floor as she continued on. "That sucks! I mean, that junk won't be enough to keep up with what I usually need to take care of my hair! Argh, I will have to make it work, I guess…"
Right, yeah, 'Hair'… Wait, and a lock? I didn't see one in my case on my bathroom door. That probably meant that…
"The lock must be exclusive for girls; my bathroom doesn't have one, ah, so it seems that the note was completely accurate. I suppose it was unfair of me to assume that the bear would lie about such an easily checkable fact." I nodded at myself, satisfied enough with the conclusion I reached. "If that's all, I think we are done here, correct?"
Mrs Enoshima's demeanour quickly changed as she gave me a frustrated look, clearly not amused by my attempts at "humour".
"Firstly, don't be giving praise to that shit for brain yeah? Secondly, yeah, I think we are, let's keep… wait," Enoshima raised a hand, meanwhile her face shifted into one of remembrance. "Actually, there's something I wanna testy, just wait a moment here, alright?"
Testy?
I quirked an eyebrow at that, although considering that I didn't have any reason to deny her request…
"Sure," I conceded with a soft shrug.
"Neat! I won't take more than a minute, okay?" I just nodded at that while she re-entered her room.
I wonder what she is up to now… It must be something that my arrival jump-started whatever dying brain cells in that head of hers to functioning.
Just like she promised, one minute and not a second later, Enoshima came back, only with her lips pursed in a wince while rubbing her throat.
"Dammit, maybe I should've stopped sooner," The Fashionista grunted with a little soreness in her voice. She turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "So, did ya hear anything while I was inside?"
"Heard something― No, I did not…" I trailed off with realization in my voice. "The rooms are soundproof, aren't they? Mind if I try it out myself?"
"Sure, just watch out for your throat, all that shouting made mine kind of sore."
Humming in agreement, I went back to my room.
I thought about what I wanted to scream to verify the theorem, it must be something so strange that you can't help but give away that you know of it. Something so mindboggling, so anti-me that simply thinking about it would cause one's mind to shut down.
...
...
...
Ah! I've got it!
A minute of screaming later, I left my room and returned to the gyaru.
"How was it?" I asked with a raised brow. Any sign of a shit eating grin being purged from my face as I looked at her inquisitively.
The Fashionista shook her head. "Nope, nothing at all."
"I see..." I lingered on my words for a brief moment, making sure to check for any tells that she was lying. And either she was really good at hiding her thoughts (which I doubt), or she really didn't hear me... Good. "That confirms every room is soundproof then," I mused aloud with a jovial smile. Any thought about the possibility of Enoshima lying to me being discarded just as quickly as the thought came about.
And besides, she couldn't gain anything out of it, given that just about anyone else could prove whether she was being honest or not.
"Seems like it…" Enoshima said, having a thoughtful look enveloping her face. Not like I was any different.
So, anything that happens inside our rooms is completely silenced? That reminds me of the 'Information Gathering' rooms I had back 'Home' when we needed to 'ask' our sources and guests for important pieces of information. Oh, by no means was anyone harmed or anything like that, there was absolutely no screaming or―
"Someone could be having their last cries of agony, begging for their life with horrible wailings, and all of us would've been sleeping like babies, huh?"
It was not I who said that.
I looked up at the fashionista with a blanker-than-usual look. I would have raised a brow at the comment but I didn't want to give the game away just yet.
Eventually, Enoshima saw the expression on my face, "E-Eh? What's wrong?" She asked me, her voice carrying a curious mix of concern and innocence.
You let yourself slip up there, didn't you, "Mrs Ju-un-ko"~.
"Hmm... Nothing, sorry, guess I was hearing things. Let's just go."
She had a confused look on her face for a few moments before she recovered enough to give me a nod.
…
…Heh, those brief moments of aloofness. Sometimes, she truly reminds me of…
Do you want to die?
Ah, She used to say that a lot, didn't she? My, how I've missed her.
...
This… is worrying.
======
After exploring our rooms, we focused on checking the rest of the area. While doing so, we discovered that besides the rooms, the dorm area had a rectangular shape, with one hallway on each side. The first one, what would be considered the bottom of the rectangle, was the one with mine, Enoshima's, and more than half of our classmates' rooms, with the second hallway, the right side of the rectangle, continuing the remaining ones.
The third one, the top of the rectangle, had restrooms, one for each gender, in addition to a trash room. For obvious reasons, I only checked the boy's restroom. Said room was relatively normal, save for one thing, and that was that it confirmed one theory I had.
It seems that 'Intimate' places around the school don't have any cameras, it may be useful to know for the future…
As for the trash room, the incinerator was blocked by a gate, and although there was a switch to lift it, it seemed that it required some kind of key to turn it on. Inside that same room, there was a hatch on the floor with a lock that blocked us from trying to open it, along with the usual stuff like the camera and the monitor. Not like that was of importance, seeing that all of the important details were blocked with no way around it.
So, we just left it at that.
The fourth hall, the left side of the rectangle, allowed us to return to the entrance of the dorm area. Close to the end of it, there was another entrance full of yellow tape with no signs that could give us a clue about what could be inside. Not wanting to have another encounter with the bear, we decided to leave it alone.
Further from the entrance, there was a set of stairs no different from the ones close to the trophy room. And oh, would you look at that, that included a gate blocking us from using them.
With that last destination, we covered the entire area of this "Despair Hotel".
"So, apart from the school and the 'hotel' area, there are no more locations available on the first floor." I summarised.
"I seem like it. We could return to confirm it, y'know, in case we missed somethin', but… seriously! Those stupid rules and the freak of a bear said that 'we are free to explore the school'!" She said doing a... surprisingly good job at mimicking the Bear's voice. "But surprise, surprise, there are a bunch of stupid gates that block us from doing that! What the heck's his deal!?"
Despite how petulant her rant might sound, I admit I was with her on that one.
Minimal restrictions, he said…
"I guess there's nothing we can do about this," I concluded with a sigh. "Unless you wanna see if the bear shows up again at the yellow tape?" I tried to joke, only to get sent a death glare instead.
Spicy.
"Ahem," looking away from the angry fake blonde, I continued, "So, about returning… I think it would be best to investigate the school area. We came here directly without paying much attention to it, perhaps we will have better luck there."
"Hmpf, I don't mind doing that… after all, as long as we follow your grand plan, we've got everything covered, don't we?" The fashionista said with a cheeky smile.
…
"…She's really not going to let go of that one, huh?"
"Nope! So, let's get going, alrigh'?" Mrs Enoshima said with what was becoming her trademark peace sign and grin.
Well, I guess I… Wait!
Did I say that out loud?
I let my guard down, again.
Dammit.
"…Yeah, let's go." I need to steel myself; I can't allow what I'm experiencing right now to interfere with what's really important.
With a storm of conflicting thoughts brewing in my mind, we left the current hall and went on our way to the school's section of the building.
======
Before truly leaving the area, we found the standing figure of Taka next to the dining hall entrance, and if I had to put it in a way, he looked like a hawk watching its prey. When his eyes locked on us, he greeted us in his usual way.
"Ah, Miss Enoshima! Voyager!" Taka exclaimed with an excited grin. "I'm glad to have a chance to meet you before the meeting!"
I quirked an eyebrow, while it was Mrs Enoshima who made the question that was running through both of our heads known.
"Huh? What are ya talkin' about? Are we having a reunion or somethin'?"
"Ah, true, you two weren't there! I talked about it not much after the two of you left us on the endeavour of investigating the school! It makes sense that you don't know." He gave an apologetic smile as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Let me correct that oversight then!" The Moral Compass reassured.
"You see, it was decided with the remaining people inside the gym that at Seven O'clock we are to group up at the dining hall. Right now, I'm on the task of finding any of the stragglers to inform them of such a decision, so please make sure to be on time. Tardiness will not be tolerated in this educational environment! As in case of an infraction, I will report you to a respective member inside the institution!"
"…" Enoshime looked at me.
"…" I returned her gaze with my closed eyes.
"…Seven O'clock, sure, we will be there," I said with my usual polite smile.
"Excellent!" Taka beamed. "Then I will not take more of your time, you can continue with your assignment!"
We just nodded at him, and satisfied with that much, he left us be.
Not much after, Mrs Enoshima whispered to me. "Does he, like, get that 'respective member inside the institution' as of right now, is the bear?"
Does he get it?
…
"Who knows?" I gave a joyful shrug," It was not like understanding that would stop him from trying to treat this place as an 'educational' environment, regardless. As much as I hate it, let him live in his delusion a little longer. Not everyone can so easily come to terms with the reality in front of them, hopelessly clinging onto the false comfort of the status quo."
Still, in its own way, it was impressive that he apparently, lost any and all fear he had of me on short notice. That, or it's just a thing from whenever he's in his rule's zealot mode.
Could be useful in the future, I suppose.
======
Our modus operandi within the school area was no different from our previous bouts. We looked around, intending to scout the place and try to find… well, just about anything at this point. Anything to sate our boredom.
After searching for quite some time, the results were as expected, as in... none in the slightest! What joy!
It left both me and the Enoshima one last possible lead. That is... the big red double door near the entrance to the main hall!
As before, and seeing that it had no yellow tape to block it, I tried to open it again, but…
"Welp, it's still locked," I confirmed, earning a scoff of annoyance from Enoshima's part.
"Dammit! And it looks important, y'know, being this red, big and all, right?"
"Mhm, it's pretty ominous. Maybe it's a sealing door, maybe a demon or a ghost is locked behind it?" I said, putting on my best spooky voice and raising my hands in a grapping gesture.
"Eh?!" Enoshima jumped back a little, shaking slightly with tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't go saying things like that, it's not funny!" Enoshima exclaimed, rapidly stabbing my chest with her finger.
After a second to calm down and regain herself, she continued by saying, "Do you have any place you wanna check? It's getting closer to that reunion, Mr. Educator told us."
Mr. Educator?
"Hmm, I do suppose it's almost time," Shoving away any unnecessary thoughts, I addressed my companion. "About where else to go… I think I just want to take a quick look at the main hall and at least one classroom. There is something I want to test for the latter."
"Test something?" That last part seemed to pique Mrs Enoshima's interest. "What do you... wait," Her eyes widened as if she had just realised something. "D-Don't tell me you, like, actually have something that could get us out of here, really!?"
I fought the urge to narrow my eyes at that. It was not like what she said was weird in-and-of itself, it's just... something about the way she said that. I was sure anyone would have that kind of incredulous expression if they were in her shoes, but…
I don't know, it almost felt as if there was something more to the way she said that. And yet...
Being with her always has this… odd feeling. Maybe what I just felt now is something along those lines? It wouldn't be the first time I act out of the ordinary when it's just the two of us…And it's been less than a day, argh, what the world is wrong with me all of a sudden? Tch, I bet this is all Tezcatlipoca's doing. Maybe Aphrodite, though I doubt that. Self-absorbed and all that.
I mentally sighed, not for the first time, I felt like I had a lot to think about.
"I wouldn't get your hopes up if I were you." In the end, I opted to put my priorities straight and focus on that until later. "What I want to test is more to confirm something rather than being certain of a discovery that would help us."
"I see," Replacing the previous surprise enveloping her features, a small smile that, for some unknown reason, made my chest tighten formed on Enoshima's lips. With it, she spoke in a reassuring voice. "Well, if it's you, it will probably be something useful in some way."
…
…That was another thing nagging me.
Why does she appear to trust me that much?
I don't understand you, I shouldn't try to... And yet...
You Humans are always so confusing...
I hate that about you lot.