Danganronpa: Island Life

Chapter 25: ENTHUSIASM

The closer Nagito came to the control room's building, the more the island's breeze turned into a constant wind. It was the same with the air, the atmosphere growing more intense with each step of his feet, the direction of the wind changing from just the worst to all directions. It was making him excitable, to feel changes outside that could mark reinforcements of his sudden intuition to come to this place.

As he reached for the main doors, the sounds of distant voices reached him along with noises of an engine pulling tires and louder sounds made by clanging metal. Nagito stopped and whipped his head around in both directions before quickly ducking inside, lest he be spotted. The doors now behind him, he shuddered, the still air inside much colder than the whipping wind outside. Focusing, he took a step, listening for any noticeable changes in the room as he did. After a quick moment of standing still, he broke into a slow pace, surveying the room around him. The reason for his sudden spurt of intuition wasn't making itself obvious, so he came to his own assumption in place of missing knowledge.

Nagito: "Is someone there?" His voice floated out lightly, carrying little weight and probably reaching nobody in the process. He wasn't responded to, but he still thought that this must be it... someone in the room was now awake. He didn't speak again, but continued moving, choosing now to walk towards one of the nearest pods.

Once he came to the capsule, he leaner over it and was met with a sleeping visage of Nekomaru Nidai. He said nothing and moved on to the next one. Teruteru was still, Gundham was as well. And so was the nameless imposter. He quickened his pace to see the others, Ibuki, Hiyoko, and Mikan. He stopped in place after passing over the musician and traditional dancer, thinking he finally narrowed things down.

Nagito: "Mikan?" He called out, looking across to her capsule a few feet away. Taking a slow step forward, he wheezed out a heavy shuddering breath which conveyed his eagerness to confirm his hunch. The air crackled with static anticipation as he moved towards her with bated breath, expecting to hear some signs of life coming from her way. The closer he came to her, the more he was weighed down by the heavy silence, his strong belief in his luck beginning to waver.

Until he saw her face. Beneath Nagito, Mikan was fidgeting around as she lied there with her eyes slightly opened, her warm breath fogging up the transparent screen between them. He let his index finger tap on the barrier, asking for her attention as he spoke her name in time with his taps.

She didn't even appear to be aware of his presence, her empty gaze looking right through him. All she seemed to be doing was shifting in place, as a sleeping person would do if you were to gently shake them by the shoulders, and then her eyes shut again as her body slowly settled back into rest.

Nagito: "Hm?" He was taken aback by her return to stillness, a strong look of confusion now ironed onto his face. At first, he called it a fake out, his face hovering above her so that he could stare her down through the heavy breaths that continued flowing from her lungs and fogging the screen between them. "I don't get it, I must be missing something..."

===========Meanwhile===========

Kazuichi: "Three... two... one... NOW!!!" At the final count, Fuyuhiko let his foot away from the gas pedal, the truck now backing into the breaking waves of the shoreline. As the trailer hit the water with the barge atop it, Hajime and Akane were on standby at both sides, awaiting to help push the barge further into the water. As strenuous as their efforts had to be, this was the only possible way to get the barge in the water, the marina lacked any sort of machinery to lower the vessel into the water. Kazuichi had just proposed they simply push the barge off the dock and be done, but still, there would be no way to remove it from the trailer first.

Luckily for everyone, the barge was wider horizontally than vertically, letting it slide off the flatbed once it was submerged enough. As steel met the water, Hajime and Akane went into action, the two of them slowly striding over to each side, and nudged the vessel forwards. As they did, the sound of an engine kicked up, joined by very loud convulsions as Kazuichi manned the helm, fighting his motion sickness while he rocked gently on the waves.