Identity V x Danganronpa

Chapter 5 -Is Death better or Life?-

Lucky Guy's P.O.V

     We finally made it together. 

     The world around me grew brighter until I was back, standing in the exact same room as everybody else. It was different from what I had imagine, when I saw everybody staring at me strangely. None of them looked so happy to see me, and again, I felt rejected.

     "Did I do something wrong?" I asked silently. 

     "You almost did," Tracy rolled her eyes at me, then slowly formed a smile, "But that was so cool you managed to escape while Leo Beck was right behind you!" 

     "Leo Beck?" I looked confused, then realized she was talking about the hunter. "How did you know his name?" And more importantly, why was everyone ahead of me? I felt dumb not to realize how I was beyond in confusion. 

     "Monokuma told us his name," Martha jumped in to answer. "While we're all spectating you four."

     So Monokuma did tell the truth. Or rather to scare me into thinking everyone else in the room would turn their back on me, that is. "Right," I said, a little too quickly, "So he did."

     "Well congratulations on your first game!" Fiona suddenly smiled, "You guys did great back there!" 

     As everyone congratulated us with their warm faces- I must say Freddy over there looked proud himself, it must have took a lot of courage for him to save me, so I decided to talk to him. "Hey, Freddy," I began, catching his attention, "I wanted to say thank you for saving me back there," adding, "And you were really brave."

    "I was, am I not?" Freddy said, "Anyways, no big deal. That's my job," he replied proudly, "Did you really think I would say those things to you?"

     "No, but you could also hurt me too, you know," I said, eyeing the gun Martha had with her. 

     Freddy laughed, "With that flare gun?" He teased, "Oh you seriously make me laugh, don't tell me you didn't know flare guns can only hurt the hunters, right?"

     They can? Wow, I didn't even knew about that. But darn, if I knew that from the start, I wouldn't have to sweat so badly! 

     "Attention everybody!" Monokuma called from the announcement. "Congratulations, you guys earned 1 point on your side! Let's give a round of applause to the first group!"

     "Oh yeah? Why don't you come down here and tell 'that' to us in the face, Monokuma?" William threatened, "Or are you that scared because we're ahead of the game?"

     I wish he wouldn't say such a thing. Not only does it look threatening, but also it's Monokuma we're talking about.
  
     Monokuma glanced at us from the screen with an icy glare, "Perhaps I should teach you a lesson if you don't shut up," he warned, then to our surprise, he instantly calm down, "But then again, it's alright to say that I'll cut you guys some slack, really."

     Cut us some slack? He's seriously going to give us a break? 

     "Anyways," Monokuma began, "We will begin the 2nd round momentarily, so please be patient about it, and wait." And that was all he had to say before the entire screen shut down. 

     Well, I guess we'll all have to wait the next round. As I glanced around me in hopes to find someone to talk to, I noticed someone from the back. It appears to be a young guy with a mask covering half of his face, like he was a doctor or something like that. Though, something was quite odd about him unlike the rest, and I assume it's got to be the way he's dressed fully in black and grey. Or perhaps how his hair was done in a short pony-tail? Whatever it was, he seemed kind of, well, mysterious.

     When was the last time I heard him spoke a single word before when we're all here together? Not that I could remember but . . . 

     "Is there ... something you need?" The guy I was once staring at asked me. Although his voice sounded quite soft, he seemed to talk kind of slow- 

     Oh my gosh, how long had I been staring at this poor guy? And now he probably thinks I'm the weirdo here, curses! "Uhh," was my response, then I slowly made my way over to him. "Hi there, uhm..."

     "Aesop," He answered softly again, still keeping his eyes at me. 

     "Right, Aesop," I began, unsure how to make this conversation very useful, "How are you doing?"

     He gave me a silent look before responding, "I'm fine."

     "Great," I said, then found myself wondering how awkward it was to talk to him. "So, I'm guessing your skills are . . . What are they again?"

     "Embalming," he replied back. 

     I nodded, playing along. "Right, embalming," I repeated. "Um, I guess you can call me Lucky?"

     "Why so ... unsure?" Aesop asked me out of curiosity. Did he seriously want to know that badly? What do I tell him anyway?

     "Uhh," I felt myself hesitating, "Doesn't anyone know?" 

     Aesop glanced at me carefully, "Tell me, Lucky," he turned the subject around, "Are you in pain right now? Do you ... need me to give you ... something that is better than life right now?"

     Uh Oh, did I upset him or what? And what does that mean- better than life? For some reason, I can't think of anything that is better than life right now. "Um, thanks but I'm not in pain right now," I told him. "And what exactly do you mean you can give me something that is better than life?"

     He breathlessly replied slowly, "Death is beautiful ... don't you agree?"

     I froze in fear. Was he . . . serious? Could death actually be better than life? And would that make it true to believe he might be the traitor? No, it can't be. Too obvious of course. But before I can decide whether or not to say anything-

     "Oh my, death is better than life?" Someone behind us said. "Get real, life is better than death, but of course."

     I spun around to find an elegant woman whom I've seen earlier before in the room. She was wearing a veil with a beautiful smell I've never smelled before. Her outfit was mostly purple, black, and somewhat light grayish-purple altogether. And her brown hair was tucked behind her veil nicely. I have to admit, she reminded me a lot like a fashion diva, or perhaps maybe a model as well. 

     "Vera?" I guessed her name. 

     "You sounded like I was a stranger to you," Vera proudly said. "No matter-" she cut me off with a wave of her other free-hand, just as when I was about to open up my mouth to speak, she continued on, "But like I said, 'Life is better than Death, there is no point in giving up if you're drowned in so many worries, we shouldn't give up just yet.'"

     Hearing this, I turned around to see if Aesop was going to take back what he just said . . . However, he didn't. The only thing I could see in his eyes was emotionless. That's when something hit me, he didn't even care at all. Didn't even show it either. Just gave a blank look on his face directly at the wall as if we're . . . nothing compared to him. His arms were crossed, was it from frustration? Anger? Even I can't read his mind and body clearly. 

     "Then I guess you admit defeat, Aesop," Vera smiled proudly of herself, then turned around to walk away, adding, "Guess you don't deserve to live if you keep thinking like that, you should already know better."

     As I watched her head over to join in another group, I glanced back at Aesop. Poor guy. But still, why hadn't he argued? Did he not want to though? "Hey," I began, but then he turned around and walked silently away from me. At first, I was shocked by his response. Although, then again, it really doesn't matter to me. 

      Because whatever he is going through right now, I'm sure he'll probably learn what's best for him, best for all of us as well. And I don't think the answer is death, whether it's painful or not, we all should never give up hope. Since, that is the reason why we're all still here- We're all fighting together as one!
     

(Thanks for reading Chapter 5! Was it interesting? Boring? Exciting? Please let me know what you guys think! I appreciate you guys into making this far, it'll be a long journey until the excitement will arise! Who do you think is the traitor? Too early to guess? No problem! And if you're new to Identity V, I did my best in describing each character as I go through them throughout this story, but of course~ You can always search it up online! Hope it'll stay entertaining!)