[u][b]Himura Chikako[/b][/u]

Himura was always the “run, don’t walk” sort, always speeding into whatever situation came at her and racing with herself to finish up homework or chores. Even in this crazy death game they were in, Himura could hardly find it in her to slow down her usual pace, zipping this way and that between cabins.

But as that blood-curdling scream hung in the air, she stayed firmly lying on the bed, letting the sound harmlessly wash over her, taking in a shaky breath. She could probably convince herself it was just one of the prissy bitches overreacting to a bug, if she wanted, but it was hard to call that shrill terror a sign of safety.

She was almost non-responsive at first, simply moving as Hibiki did to keep the cuffs from pulling. But as the announcement came on, informing of the murder and the ability to seperate, she did so, paying no mind to Hibiki as she continued onward.

She walked over to the cabin where others began to convene, a sense of nausea pulling her down. She probably couldn’t run even if she wanted to, her body as shaken as her mind. A person—a person she *knew*, trapped in the same circumstances as her, trying to find life under a confusing system—had been murdered.

It was a hard thought to confront, and though that overwhelming sense of nausea pushed her to ignore this situation, to just stay in bed and shut everything out, she knew that wasn’t an option. She looked at the body as she entered the cabin. Fukuda Naomi had been murdered, and that was simply a fact Himura had to deal with. The only question now is who among them would go down with her?

“You should stop staring, it’s rude,” Himura said, trying to cut the tension a little, but lacking any mirth, “Let’s just focus on solving the case, yeah?”

~~~
[u][b]Hisakawa Hiroki[/b][/u]

Hisakawa was not woken up by the morning announcement, but he was pretty surprised that he was able to get any sleep at all last night. Despite the absurdity of the circumstances, it seemed he was slowly starting to adjust to being locked up in a summer camp under the pretense of killing one another, and even being forcibly tied to another camper. In a lot of ways it was actually kind of nice to be away from home; he missed it, of course, but being away made him realize how monotonous his life was sometimes.

He entertained this thought for only a moment before he heard a scream, and his heartbeat started racing. His mind fiddled with the question over and over, ‘what could it be?’, though the answer seemed obvious. He glanced over at Usui. She had only just woken up, and despite the tension, he couldn't bring himself to bother her just yet. Nothing was certain; he was probably just overthinking it like he always did.

And then the body discovery announcement played.

Hisakawa suddenly felt dizzy. He was alight with fear, and he was desperate to confirm what Monokuma said was true. But his body was stuck, unable to move the way his mind wanted to; it wouldn’t be hard at all to jump up and search the other cabins, but... in here, everyone was alive, and nothing had to be confronted. But that was just him selfishly protecting himself, wasn’t it?

Regardless, he was practically shaking, trying to choose between contrary instincts. Eventually, he found himself turning to Usui, hundreds of thoughts running through his head, but all he could ask was the incredibly dumb question of, “Did you hear that?”