Everything in Hotel OJ was just fine... well, as fine as it could be with no more parties, and insufferable cliques. However, Fan must've gotten bored, because he decided to kidnap 16 lucky people, and recreate one of his favorite games- Danganronpa...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I woke up for the third time today to the sound of someone knocking on my door. Nobody ever bothers to come and check on me unprompted except one person, so naturally I opened the door.
"Hey Bomb. What's up?"
"...I..." He already didn't seem to know where to begin. He genuinely was fumbling his words, making a bunch of random sounds instead of actually talking to me. I wanted to say something, but I know he wants to say something of value. I just gotta give him a second. "P-P-P- fuck! Why can't I just say it already?!" He said something! Kinda. He looked at me, clearly embarrassed. "Sorry. I hate it when-"
"Hey, you're fine. Don't apologize for that. Just focus on what you gotta tell me." Ah shit- I interrupted him. He didn't seem angry about it this time, thank god, and he just cleared his throat.
"Thanks. Pepper- and I think Soap- are planning to make us all lunch for today. Paper and Oj wanted to mmmake some grand announcement. You wanna skip and hang out, or... a-a-actually go?" Oh goodie. Every time Paper and Oj have an announcement to make, Bomb and I would just not go, and hide out in my room to play Xbox, but there's no Xbox to play. And if I'm going to possibly die, maybe socializing a little bit wouldn't be such a bad idea. Especially if Knife is down there- he's the coolest person in the hotel by far.
"If you wouldn't hate it- I'd totally wanna go today. It might actually be fucking important this time." Bomb giggled, rolling his eyes at me in a playful way.
"Well you gotta get the cussing out of y-your system now. Paper's g-gonna ki-k-k-kill you if you don't." I nodded, but didn't really give a shit at the same time. Paper tries his best to be a little Angel, but we all know he's just as bad as the rest of us. There's no reason for him to disagree with me over something to trivial publicly. I took a step forward, and Bomb let me out of the doorway, so I could walk beside him to the cafeteria downstairs.
It didn't take very long of course- this hotel is the size of one of Bomb's ant farms. But the cafeteria was unusually full, full for a lurker like me who only eats when it's dark outside. I saw Knife sitting at a table by himself, and pointed at it to show Bomb. He took one look at Knife, then one at me, before he went to sit at another empty table. And just like that- I had to choose between him and Knife.
It wasn't a hard decision.
"Hey Knife, what's been going on since my amazing nap?" As soon as I sat down, Knife looked at me with a degree of surprise, but played it off.
"Not a whole lot just yet. Everybody's been waiting for this announcement, and I think Oj and Paper waited for you to come down, so everyone would hear it. I guess it actually matters today." It fucking better... but just as I thought that, Soap set down a plate of sandwiches in between us. Peanut butter and strawberry jelly, of course. We both looked at each other, and I reached for one first.
"Thank you So..." She was gone before I finished, and I groaned quietly. Knife couldn't help but laugh at me, and I felt my face grow hot with embarrassment. I glanced towards Bomb's table and saw him already eating with Balloon and Pepper, oddly enough. "...has Bomb always had friends?"
"Pickle- that's a weird ass question. I mean, he and Pepper were friends before you two actually hung out. I mean, when you two talk, nobody really comes up to you two, but he still can hang out with Pepper, Soap, and Balloon."
"Why Pepper and Balloon?" Soap I get- they've been forced to live together for years, so they probably get along a little bit at this point, but those two always kinda struck me as odd.
"Pepper hates Oj too- stole her best friend away. They used to vandalize Oj's bedroom for payback. Balloon and Bomb could also kinda relate to being outcasts after the first season, just like how you two bonded over not abandoning your weird alliance." Knife rested his head on one of his hands as he stared at the food. "I know you're not super observant- but like- Bomb... has friends. And he's allowed to have them."
"I know he's allowed to have friends," I spat back. "I just didn't know, that's all! And I mean- can you blame me for not knowing? I live under a rock."
"I know you do. And that's your own fault. If you really care that much about what all Bomb does, then I'd tell you to wake up at a normal time, y'know? I get you're in a slump- but you can't be like this forever and expect everything to fall into place."
I looked at him for a while, my face blank as my mind raced with so many responses. Eventually, I just sighed. "You're right."
"Can I have everybody's attention?" Oj's voice was the perfect conclusion to our borderline argument, as we both had this sense of 'god damn it, not him.' Paper was standing by Oj's side, attentively looking up at Oj while he stood on one of the tables in the middle of the cafeteria. He paused for a while- most likely waiting for everyone to pay attention- before he began the announcement I had come down for. "So, this situation is very confusing, and unfortunately, I don't have any answers as to what is going on. But I can assure everyone that Paper, Soap and I are doing everything we can to make this... as normal as we possibly can. Now, this can't be done by ourselves, so we'd all greatly appreciate it if you guys also tried to cooperate with us, and ignore Fan. Paper, do you have anything enlightening to add?"
The announcement was normal, until that last part. Oj's voice turned from PR manager, to resentful and sarcastic. He glared at Paper, who only gave a nervous smile back at him.
"G-Guys- he's right! I think that it would be good for us, at least for now, to go on with our usual daily lives. This is a big deal, but panicking right away won't do us any good! Right Oj?" He glanced to his boyfriend, but Oj didn't even give him a second of eye contact.
"That's what I said, but ok. Everyone can leave now if they want- that's all I had to say. Thank you guys for being so thoughtful, and listening to us today!" He got off the table immediately afterward, and people already began to scatter, taking the food with them. Knife and I sat across from each other for a while though, with Knife looking at me thoughtfully. Finally, I broke up the silence before it could completely take over my mind.
"Do you want to go do something?"
"...I don't know man." He could hear himself dramatically sigh, and shook his head. "What the hell are we gonna do? We can't get out- I've tried multiple windows and doors already. And- I don't want to be stuck here forever! I like having a life- doing things!" I couldn't share that sentiment, but I definitely could understand and somewhat pity Knife's struggle here. I wished things were normal, too. Then I wouldn't feel pressured to explain a stupid video game to a bunch of "normal" people. I just felt... this crushing weight of guilt. Was this on me? Did I have to help everyone else?
By the time I'd looked up from the table, Knife had already left, and I was in the cafeteria by myself. I got up as well, unsure of what to do next. Maybe talking to someone else could help me feel better.
