Dangan Ronpa Minecraft

Chapter 14: Paper

Tyler shuffled tiredly down the hallways of Herobrine's Mansion that next morning, reminding himself with sour humor to not trip over people's bodies or get whacked in the head with a crowbar by a melon serial killer.
He felt honest sympathy for Jerome-everyone did. Mitch and Jerome had become good friends, and based on Herobrine's last 'motivation,' they seemed to have been friends before this, too-whatever 'this' really was.
Tyler walked into the Dining Hall, to find that he was one of the first houseguests there. Only Matt, Brice and Jerome were there, sitting at one of the tables and chatting.
"'Morning," Tyler greeted.
"'Morning!" Brice replied brightly.
To Tyler's surprise, Jerome seemed to be in a good mood as well.
"You think we're gonna get a new floor in the Mansion?" Matt asked. Jerome nodded. "I guess so. He did that the last two times, right?"
"That's just what I wanted to talk to you all about today!" Herobrine exclaimed from where he sat next to Brice.
"AH!" Brice exclaimed, leaping out of his seat. "W-was he sitting there a second ago...?"
Herobrine chuckled. "You see, the fourth floor's your motivation."
Tyler frowned. "What do you mean?"
Herobrine grinned. "I can explain more once everyone's here! I'm too lazy to explain it all twice."
Tyler glanced over at the kitchen door, to look away from Herobrine out of hatred and to wonder when would be an appropriate time to grab some breakfast. He glanced back, and Herobrine was gone.
"Jerome, I'm sorry to bring up this topic, but...you seem fine today, considering what happened yesterday," Brice acknowledged.
Jerome blinked. "What do you mean?"
Matt frowned. "Well, your best friend died, and Ryan and I had to hold you back so you wouldn't rip Herobrine to shreds and get yourself killed too."
Jerome gave a small grin. "Oh, well, of course I'm upset about that, but I was more angry to be honest...I'm trying to stay positive, you know? I don't wanna bring everyone down. Also, sometimes people get kinda scared of me when I'm angry..."
Tyler nodded understandingly, the image of Jerome with insane, furious eyes and sharp teeth bared in a snarl, his brown fur rising aggressively flashing in his mind.
"You're...you're okay now, then?" Matt asked Jerome.
"Ah...sure, I guess," Jerome simply replied. "I'm gonna go grab some food." He got out of his chair and walked into the kitchen.
"Someone's taking the situation lightly," Tyler muttered.
"Some of it's probably shock," Brice said.
"He does have a point. If he were down, everyone would be down..." Matt pointed out.
Tyler went to grab something to eat too, and soon everyone was in the Dining Hall.
"Okay! Everyone's here, so let's get to it!" Herobrine exclaimed from the stage of the dining hall.
"The fourth floor to the mansion...is secret."
"What do you mean, secret?" Ryan asked.
Herobrine grinned. "I mean, there's no easy staircase for you to waltz up, you know? I must say, some of you seem to have a brain here. Two of you have already found the fourth floor."
Everyone looked around with wide eyes. "Who found the fourth floor, and how?" Jason demanded.
Herobrine chuckled. "I can't tell you, obviously! But, I guess I can give you a hint. One of the two who've discovered the fourth floor is dead."
Tyler frowned. "You mean...one of the people is in this room right now, and the other has already died?"
Herobrine nodded. "Now you're getting it!"
"So, how does this information have to do with our motivation?" Ty asked.
Herobrine whipped out a folded piece of paper. "This paper has all you need to know to get to the floor."
"Wait..." Bash spoke up. "If two people have found it, even if one's dead, why wouldn't they tell us about it?"
Herobrine gave an ominous laugh. "Well, Bash...why do you think they'd be keeping it a secret?"
Everyone went silent in thought.
Hm, what would someone want to keep secret that they found? Tyler thought. If I found the floor, what there could drive me to keep it a secret?
And then it hit him.
Weapons, he thought ominously.
Herobrine chuckled. "By the looks of your faces, I can tell you're all thinking the same thing! There are indeed possible murder items on the fourth floor of my mansion of despair!"
Everyone gasped.
"So...one of us has access to it?!" Matt asked, glancing around.
"That's right!" Herobrine exclaimed. "You want weapons too? To protect yourself? To kill? Just wanna peek out of curiosity? The paper's right here!" He set the paper down on the center of the stage. "Good luck!" He exclaimed and disappeared.
Everyone was silent.
"Nobody is taking that paper," Quentin growled.
"Someone already knows about it!" Jason exclaimed, glancing around.
"What an interesting motivation...I wonder, is anybody that curious?" Ty thought out loud.
"We should have shifts of people watch it," Adam said.
Matt nodded. "Yeah, two people at a time so one can't steal it. That way, nobody will get the paper, right?"
Everyone glanced around and nodded agreeably.
Soon, the shifts had all been set out. They would last thirty minutes each, none during meals, since everyone would already be there. The shifts were strategic, like placing suspicious people like Ty, who had manipulated Bash to almost kill Tyler, and Bash, who could turn into Suiko at any moment, with strong people like Ryan, who usually seemed pretty calm and mature, and definitely had the batman thing going for him, and Matt, who was a robot, after all.
Ryan and Bash took the first shift after breakfast as everyone left the Dining Hall. Tyler hoped that everything would turn out okay, even though he knew they wouldn't...someone already knew about the fourth floor.
Later, everyone came back in for lunch, and no one needed to take a shift. Everyone seemed to be in a pretty good mood; Adam even sprung up a conversation with Jerome about his raw fish diet.
"Is that seriously all you eat?" Adam asked Jerome with a laugh. Jerome had just sat down with a plate full of raw fish.
Jerome shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. It's a Bacc's diet."
Adam chuckled. "You don't eat any, like, steak or anything?"
Jerome shook his head with a face of disgust. "Bleh, are you kidding? Cooking it takes out it's flavor."
Tyler laughed. "You guys are seriously arguing over food?"
"We're not arguing!" Jerome and Adam replied simultaneously.
"Alright, let's make a deal," Jerome said with a grin. "I'll eat your steak if you eat my fish."
Adam laughed. "You're on!"
Everyone gathered around to watch amusedly as Adam ate a raw fish and Jerome ate a cooked steak.
"Ugh!" They exclaimed simultaneously, and everyone started laughing.
"Ugh, how do you eat this stuff?" Jerome asked.
"How do you eat this stuff?!" Adam replied.
Jerome snorted. "Truce?"
"Uh, yeah!" Adam laughed.
Adam and Jerome's 'challenge' had definitely brightened everyone's mood, and later after lunch Tyler, Ryan, Quentin and Brice still hung around.
"You know what I've been thinking?" Quentin asked.
"Why does Jerome eat raw fish?" Ryan asked. Brice snorted.
Quentin nodded. "Yes, and that we should have a little...party, I guess you could call it? Get-together? I dunno, but we should all hang out in the lounge. The place really does seem nice."
Tyler nodded. "You're right; that does sound fun!"
"Yeah, we can do it tomorrow, and invite everyone today!" Brice added.
"And, if everyone's there, we can, you know, keep an eye on them," Ryan added.
"Let's go invite everyone now, then," Brice declared, standing up. "They should all be in their rooms anyway."
One by one, the four knocked on everyone's doors. Everyone seemed pretty enthusiastic about it, except for Ty.
"What do you mean, 'no?'" Ryan asked.
Ty gave his signature calm smile. "You must not want me there, because I'm so suspicious and all."
Tyler narrowed his eyes. "Uh, Ty, everyone's gonna be there. You shouldn't make yourself that suspicious."
Ty's eyes flashed with understanding. "Oh, I see! You want me there to keep an eye on me. Haha, I see. I will be there, then." He smiled and closed his door.
"Well, guess that's everyone, then," Quentin said.
Tyler's eyes widened. "Crap, I forgot I'm supposed to be on shift with Jerome now! See you later!" He called, dashing down the halls.
When he got to the Dining Hall, he saw it was empty except for Jerome leaning against the base of the stage.
"Oh god," Tyler breathed, relieved the paper hadn't been left unattended. "Sorry I'm late Jerome."
Jerome didn't reply, just glared at Tyler with his arms crossed, something unusual for Jerome.
"...Jerome?" Tyler asked cautiously.
"Where is it?" Jerome growled.
"What? What do you mean?" Tyler asked, already knowing clearly what Jerome meant, just not wanting to believe it.
Jerome threw Tyler a sideways glance. "The paper."
Tyler ran up to the stage.
Sure enough, the paper was gone.