Let's All Be Friends

Codenames

The person on screen was extremely still, except for playing with the bear where it was turned around eying all of them in one sweeping motion as if to indicate that they too were doing the same thing since the mask covering their whole face bars anyone from looking at the windows of the soul and especially small cues such as the sweeping eye motion.

The survivors could only tense at what was to come but they didn't even know the situation they were in nor what to do. Everyone else tried to bring them up to speed but there wasn't enough time, and this development was enough to make them question everything. What to believe and what not to.

No one could catch a break here.

The silence continued for a while except for the survivors' struggling who could look between the Monokuma masked girl on the screen and the rest of their friends, who chose to wear the same Monokuma masks... and keep them restrained.

Sometimes they couldn't help think in this situation whether they truly are friends or not. The trio caught each other's eyes but were at a loss on what to do. Their friends had remained still, not even uttering a word as the masks simply directed themselves to the screen, as if awaiting... something. Before the silence felt completely unbearable for everyone, the girl on the screen sighed.

"You recruits are as boring as usual," she sighed, her eerie Monokuma mask eyes once again sweeping through all of them before lingering longer on the survivors and continued speaking, "You are always just in your own little world until instructions are given. How despairful, to be so same old, same old. Fine... your instructions are to hold down the-"

"What the fuck is going on?" Maki growled, looking up defiantly at the girl, deciding she would be silent no more and get to the bottom of the situation when she had no idea what was going to happen next.

"Ah, and the survivors put up a fuss as usual," the girl sighed, "Its so predictable that I can't even despair from the boredom of this predictability. I'm sure by now we implanted the policy to gag the survivors so they won't put up a fuss like this. Don't waste my time."

Almost robotically, Kirumi, because even when they wear the same mask, their outfits were more than enough to differentiate everyone, went up with a roll of bandage that would gag them.

The survivors struggled but then Kirumi was the one to whisper as she was about to rob them temporarily of their voices:

"I won't make this uncomfortable. Please hold on a little longer."

Hold on a little longer for what?

And do they even dare to stay still in these circumstances? Do nothing? The survivors wanted to trust the others, but... at least for Shuichi and Maki, it almost felt like a mockery. What use was the pain that they went through with everyone else's deaths when it turned out to such a joke? What was the meaning of final farewells? Could they even trust what they had seen before their eyes?

It was skeptical, bitter and cynical for both of them, while Himiko chose to turn a blind eye, an ever useful coping mechanism that originated from the killing game and came full force despite the growth that she had gained from Angie and Tenko's deaths, although they didn't really die and were here now.

Like it negated everything.

And wasn't that something, when it should be rejoicing that everyone was alive (maybe, or maybe not because can they really believe this? So on the fence that it was)? After all, wasn't this something that they have all wanted at the very beginning, even before Monokuma announced that accursed killing game? A long time ago, the answer would be yes.

Now, it was just painful, and when Maki and Shuichi looked at each other, they wanted no part of it (or else they go insane, or else they succumb and believe and it gets crushed, or else), eyes flicking throughout the place despite being held by the others, and now gagged of their voices. They wanted to escape, they wanted somewhere to think better of it, they wanted... respite, away from something as confusing and outraging as this.