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Happy Holi-Gays From Hope's Peak Academy! A Danganronpa: Blood and Water Fanfic

"RISE AND SHIIIINE, KIDDOS! Meet me in the cafeteria as soon as possible! Or EEELSE! Ho-ho-hope to see you soon! Upupu!"

Click. The recording stopped. A frustrated blue-haired detective rolled his eyes and sat up in bed.

He couldn't believe it had been several months since they'd all been trapped inside this school, and, whoever was behind this BS was still unable to make any of them commit murder. I mean, come on, why had none of them cracked by now?

The thing that puzzled him was what the bear wanted. Well…

Probably to show more motives again. As if those would work.

Kubo tugged at his glove in frustration. He wanted to just keep to himself, not get involved. But, well, if a murder happened, he'd be needed.

Fine. I guess I'm going.

He headed into the cafeteria, and heard something strange. The faint… jingling of… bells?

"Ughhhh, what's this all about? The bear sure woke us up early," Idris muttered.

"Maybe we get to set things on fire?" Saeko proposed hopefully.

Multiple people in the room physically shuddered.

"Please, never say that again," Lucian stated, shaking his head, a disturbed look upon his face.

…

Ah. Yes. Lucian was here. That was good at least. He was one of the few sane people in this madhouse.

"Ohoho? But whyyyy nooot, Lucian?~ It gets so boring in here! A fire could be so exciting!" The purple-haired girl gasped dramatically.

"...I– well… I…"

Kubo's eyes narrowed into slits. Speaking of people that don't belong in a madhouse, she is NOT on my list.

"A fire? Could marry provideith a bit of a thrill."

Kubo groaned. This was gonna be a long day.

Akari looked as roughed out as usual. "...can… we not do that? Let's just… find out what the bear wants."

Setsuna shivered. "Imagine! Maybe he's going to reveal that paper IS really made out of human body parts!"

Sawyer gasped. "Is that true?!"

Someone end me now, please.

Monokuma, at long last, appeared. They all were stunned into silence. He was wearing a goofy red [The Legend of Zelda COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT-] ahem, Santa hat, and a horrifying fake white beard that looked like it was made of real hair.

"UPUPU, HOHOHO, greetings, students!"

"...what the actual hell," Miyako sputtered, speaking for the first time.

Lucian looked rather perplexed.

Mika was scribbling something in his notebook, but then hurriedly stuffed it behind his back and went red in the face when Kubo looked at him.

...what's he planning? Kubo wondered with a frown. Mika was up to no good for sure!

Horatia was glitching in and out of existence.

"Ahem, more of a reaction, kiddoooos?"

...

Dead silence.

The Bear put his hideous robotic paws on his ho-ho-ho-hips. "Humph! Well, fine, be that way! Buncha Grinches! Lacking the holi-gay spirit, I see!"

"Holi..." Lucian squinted.

"Gay...?" Darcy stared in blinking puzzlement.

Mei looked intrigued. "Ooooh, huh. Interesting!! Whatcha up to, Monokuma? Spill iiiit!"

Sutaraitsu appeared out of nowhere. "S-Sorry I'm late, I was having trouble putting my so- WHAT IS WITH THAT OUTFIT?!"

"Is it..." Sawyer gasped. "What I think it is?!"

Monokuma sighed. "Y'see, you kiddins have all somehow managed to live until a certain very special time of year. Unfortunately. Seriously, how have you not killed each other yet?! So! Like the amazing, extraordinarily handsome, brilliant, kindhearted, compassionate Headmaster I am--"

"He is none of those things," Idris immediately muttered. Saeko silenced him with a shove in the side. "OW! Wh-what the hell?! I'm just being honest!"

"--I have decided it is time for a very special event! Christmas is coming up, and you all need to prepare for a very cozy, and possibly murrrrrderous season!"

Kaoru stiffened. "...murderous?"

Kubo groaned, and raised a hand, turning to leave. "You know what, nope! I may have signed up for a damn murder game, but I am not going to play jolly with a bunch of--"

He felt Lucian at his side, slightly tugging at his arm. A crazed, twitchy look began tracing its way onto Kaoru's face.

"...hey... Kubo, wait! You don't have to go. This... Could be fun, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fun? Yeah ri-"

...

But he saw the pleading look in Lucian's eyes, and he felt compelled to stay.

Kaoru inhaled sharply. "Or, you know!! We could always just... Do it without you here, Kubo. Don't join in if you don't want to!" She gave a smile that Kubo immediately knew was fake.

"No, it's alright. I think I'll st-"

"OH! By the way, students! Attendance to the festivities is mandatory! If I find out that you didn't participaaaaate, you'll be on the Naughty Liiiiist!"

Kubo grimaced. Damn. Never mind then.

Mei gasped, pounding a fist to her hand, eyes sparkling. "AWESOME! We might get to see some dead bodies, huh? Heheh! Hope none of you idiots get yourselves killed, that'd be a shame, heyy?"

Idris rolled his eyes and muttered, "...that girl." Saeko smirked at him. "I know. She's really something, isn't she?"

The black-haired emo boy mysteriously went red in the face. "...SHUT UP!"

"Holidays, huh," Darcy murmured. "This could be cool!"

Sawyer beamed. "EXACTLYYY! Boy, I can't wait to see the ornaments!"

"Oh, the ornaments?" Monokuma tilted his head curiously. "About that. You'll be making those yourselves! The perrrfect opportunity to bond with your fellow classmates!"

Kubo raised an eyebrow. "...craft's class. Oh, joy, we're in kindergarten now? I- I mean-- um... Guess we won't have an easy way out with this one."

Kaoru grimaced like Kubo knew she would. "We… we shouldn't be doing that. That could be dangerous."

Mei rolled her eyes. "That's the point, Little Miss Goody-Goody Catholic!" she whined. "Jeeeez, where's the fun if we don't have a little danger?"

"...I'm with Kaoru on this one," Lucian replied. "We can't just make a bunch of explosives."

Kubo narrowed his eyes into slits. He hated for Kaoru to be right, but of course, explosives were a major hazard. Obviously.

Kaoru glared at Mei, her eyes twitching. "Well, I'm sorry that I believe in having COMMON SENSE."

Lucian looked alarmed. The whole thing looked like it might spiral into an argument.

Monokuma, of course, interrupted any such thoughts. "A GREEEEAT question, Mei Akamatsu!" the bear singsonged. "The answer is YES, explosives are fair game! Especially if you're killing each other with 'em! Upupu!"

Multiple people in the room grimaced at this.

"Any-GAY! Here are the entrails of what you'll all be doing…"

"Don't you mean… details?" Miyako asked with an annoyed expression.

Monokuma's claws showed and his face became a snarl. "DO NOT INTERRUPT YOUR EXTRAORDINARY HEADMASTER! Anyyyygayyy, you'll all be doing decorations, cooking various things, sending out cards, preparing gifts for each other and all that stuff! Maybe even some smoooooching action under the mistletoe if you hang anyyy!~"

Kubo, this time, grimaced. Idris also grimaced. Akari additionally, grimaced. You guessed it, Miyako grimaced. (And then ungrimaced because she was thinking of Shi) Mika looked particularly interested.

A spark seemed to have lit in Lucian's eyes. "...I– I have a question. Will we get to see outside?"

What kind of question was that?

"Hm? Of course not, since when would I let my dearrrrr little students escape without a little murderrrr?~ What a stupid question!"

Lucian sighed and lowered his head. "...I just… was wondering about snow."

Kubo raised his eyebrows. Snow? Does he like that? He'd have to ask Lucian about that, later. Of course it wasn't like they were friends or dating or anything he was just the Ultimate Detective and he had to be aware of everything at all times. Friends. Or dating. Preposterous.

"Well, you'll get plenty of snow if you commit murder and leaaaave the school, Lucian Arbred! Happy Holi-Gays, everyone! Bear well!"

Santakuma disappeared.

There were checklists upon the table, dictating the events that had to be completed. At the bottom of said lists, there was a notice.

"Failure to complete any item on this list may result in a slight termination of life." Great. Just great.

05:05Sawyer looked e c s t a t i c. "THE STAKES ARE SO HIIIIGH FOR US TO DO THIS, PEOPLE!" They clapped their hands together. "I wonder if we'll get to wear wacky outfits? I remember Mom always hated my Christmas sweaters!"

A pained expression occurred upon Darcy's face. "Please. Don't remind me of your sewing skills."

Sawyer's face curled into a pout. "Awww, why not?"

Darcy gripped the sides of his head. "It's a living nightmare."

Mika seemed to blush at the mention of wacky outfits.

Kubo, on the other hand, just groaned. "Can we please not make this more embarrassing than it already is?"

Saeko beamed. "I remember I set A LOT of fires with Christmas lights!"

...everyone stopped to stare at them.

"What?"

Mei broke the awkward silence. "Ohh, me too actually! Those things are so flammable! Crash, boom, bang, baby!" She snickered. "Boy. It's going to be fun to watch you all make fools of yourselves!"

Multiple people turned to glare at her. Saeko smirked at Idris again, who glared back at them.

Kubo looked at the last item on the list.

"Holi-Gay Christmas Ball."

And here I thought this fic couldn't get any more heavy on the ship implications. He visibly shuddered.

Sawyer gasped. "OHHH, I thought I was the only one!"

A moment of realization seemed to come to Setsuna. "U-Um... Setsuna, you're doing your MatPat face again," Sutaraitsu commented nervously.

"Well, I just realized," Setsuna said in a borderline hysterical voice, his eyes sparkling, "that maybe Christmas is an attempt by the aliens to appear as normal!"

All enthusiasm faded from Mei and was replaced with a groan and a rubbing of her hand against the surface of her face. "Ohh, here we go again," she uttered in a muffled voice.

"Just THINK ABOUT IT! THE ALIENS, ARE SANTA CLAUS! And no one questions it because everybody pretends to be Santa Claus!!"

Sawyer and Sutaraitsu let out horrified g a s p s .

"Y-You mean... SANTA CLAUS ISN'T REAL?!" they squawked out in horrified unison.

"...Sawyer, I told you that six times. You forgot LITERALLY EVERY TIME."

"Really?!"

"Welp, I'm out. I... Uh..." Idris turned to look at everybody. "I think I'll go scout out the eggnog."

"...I guess this might still be fun, even though I might not get to see the snow," Lucian murmured. "...I wonder if we'll get to cut paper snowflakes."

Oh, yeah... I'll have to ask him about that.

Mika was turning over every magazine in the room and flipping through them. Almost everyone suddenly seemed to be arguing about something or other. Kubo was wishing more and more that he could just forfeit the events and just DIE ALREADY.

Akari, plugging his ears in the corner, and rocking back and forth, seemed to be wishing for the same thing.

Solaro had run off to get some eggnog. Word was she probably would wind up stealing it all away from Idris. And Akora was trying to stop that from happening.

And Horatia kept coming back from different time periods in various strange garb, and everything was absolute chaos.

"Everyone... EVERYONE, SHUT UP!" They all turned to look at Kaoru who had spoken. Everyone immediately fell silent. Mei crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"Look, at this rate, we're never going to get this list done in time! What are we all even doing?" She fiddled with her cross necklace with her fingers, taking a deep breath.

"This thing, that the bear has forced us into. It's really stupid, but we all need to focus. And stick to it. And together, we can get it all done in time!"

Mei slow-clapped. "Wowww. Great speech and all, Princess, but I don't think every person in here cares. But, yeah, I guess we could give it a shot."

Sawyer frowned. "...for someone who calls people Joker, she sure ACTS a lot like the Joker."

Kaoru pursed her lips. "Please refrain from calling me that."

Kubo tried to suppress a laugh. He was agreeing with Mei, and he didn't like it. He could just tell although Kaoru was trying not to show it, that she was at her absolute limit.

"...hey, Kaoru's right, everyone! If we try our best, we can put together something really great."

...oh wow. Suddenly, the list didn't seem like such a bad-

Wait, why?

...

Well, that was a strange thought.
(Work-In-Progress)

A Perfect Dream 💭

He never thought he'd stumble upon such a wondrous place. He didn't ever want to leave. How could he? Everything was perfect here.

He would open the door to a world full of joy and magic, of childlike wonder. He arrived inside of a treehouse where he knew, as they always were, his friends would be.

They were all on their phones, as per usual. A certain long-haired person with rectangular glasses and a flannel jacket was smirking about something. The boy found himself rolling his eyes at this. Maybe it was another deez nuts joke that they were especially proud of. So typical of them.

There was a certain long-haired girl who seemed to be frowning intently at her screen, as if uncertain what to do next. The boy was quite curious now as to what they all might be doing. Should he join in?

Then there was yet another figure, she was looking grumpy as per usual. He wondered what that might be about.

One of them had a rather silly expression, seemingly constantly switching between some sort of options.

The boy looked and saw these friends of his, all seemingly playing a game together. But he could have sworn there were others who were also supposed to be here... where were they?

"AH, DANG IT!!" cried the grumpy one, throwing their arms into the air. "Daiko was the JESTER?! Why didn't I see that coming?" she pouted.

"Abra. That's your friend, Abra," a voice of recollection seemed to whisper in the boy's ear. "She's a rather gloomy person, always seemingly upset about something. They don't even like sweets. However, she is a very introspective person who is deeply kind and caring and always gives everything her all. You all cherish her deeply and can't imagine your lives without her."

The one the boy would assume to be Daiko stuck their tongue out and grinned at Abra, who had flung her phone into the air which landed with a crash. "Sounds like a skill issue to me! I thought I was pretty obvious about it!"

"You are just un-" Abra stood up with a gasp. "Oh, SHOOT, my phone!!" She hurried over and picked it up. "Oh, gosh, it's BUSTED! How will we play Mafia now?"

"Well, you should have thought of that before overreacting!" Daiko teased. "What were you going to say? Un? Is that even a word? Am I Uno?"

"Daiko. That's your friend, Daiko. They're always teasing somebody about something, and can come across as quite rude at times. But in reality, they care quite a lot, and they're just joking around. You all cherish them deeply and can't imagine your lives without them."

"I was going to say UNBEARABLE! Shut up already!"

The long-haired girl looked tense and frustrated. "Guys. There's no need to argue. We should focus on finding a replacement for Abra's phone. Then we can get back to playing!"

"That's your friend, Quinn, otherwise known as Tem. She's a very smart and chaotic person, who is extremely talented. She means a great deal to you. You all cherish her deeply and can't imagine your life without her."

"Hmph. That's easy for you to say as the other Jester!" The other person sniffed. "I didn't get to win!"

"That's your friend Willow. They're a very hot-headed and passionate person with a tendency to joke around. They can be a bit oblivious at times, but they are a dear and loyal friend to you all. You all cherish them deeply and can't imagine your life without them."

Abra scowled. "Yeah, that's fair, but who cares about the game right now? My phone is broken!" they whimpered.

Daiko sighed and shrugged their shoulders. "Ugh, fine. But I still say you had a skill issue."

Abra looked about to explode once again, but then held their tongue, a phrase which here means "noticed something Tem had noticed, and that Daiko and Willow soon also noticed".

"Dorky!" Tem exclaimed, running towards the boy to give him a big hug. She beamed brightly as she did so. "We just finished a game of Mafia! And I was one of the winners!"

Willow let out at a groan at this. "I played a good game, too!"

"So did I!" Abra called out.

Daiko snickered. "Still sounds like a skill issue."

The boy hugged Tem back with a small smile upon his face. It was a wonderful feeling to have her arms around him. It had a cozy and familiar feeling to it.

Dorky sighed, as he slowly pulled away from Tem's embrace. Of course, his friends were fighting, as per usual. He decided to pursue Tem's line of thought. "Hey, everyone!! It's so wonderful to see you all!" He gave a wide smile. "I think we should probably go get Abra's phone fixed. I'm so sorry that happened."

Abra suddenly gave a rare smile. "Thank you, Dorky. For once SOMEONE actually shows consideration for my problems." She still seemed to be half-glaring at Daiko, half-frowning at the remains of her phone.

Daiko shrugged. "Ehh, I suppose we should try to replace it. Mafia is no fun if I can't make fun of Abra."

"You two fight like an old married couple! Pfft!" Willow teased.

Daiko gave Abra a nudge with a smirk on their face, and the latter's face flushed. "Ewww! No, we don't!" She pushed Daiko away.

"Ohh, right, because you're obsessed with emo boy, right?" Daiko jeered.

Tem laughed, covering her mouth as she did so, at this.

"why YOU--"

"Guys, guys!" Dorky said, waving his hands around. "Sh-shouldn't we be trying to fix Abra's phone... and... then we should go to see Serend and Celery?"

Tem perked up. "Oh, yeah! We were going to do that!"

Daiko, at the mention of Serend, immediately smiled. "You're right, I guess. We should go see them."

"And then we can get back to playing Mafia!" Willow exclaimed. "Maybe I'll be on the winning team next time..."

"And I can use my phone again. Maybe Celery and Serend will want to join in!"

"Exactly! Let's go!" Dorky cheered, giving a wide and bright smile to everyone. They all seemed excited at the notion.

"Well, lead the way, Dorky! You always know what to do." Tem tilted her head to the side with a grin that stirred something up inside the boy's heart.

And so, the boy headed up the stairs, his friends trailing closely behind. A dog gave Dorky his allowance... 60 toys. He thanked the canine friend, who had seemed ever so familiar.

Off they went, climbing up the stairs, which led down a ladder from the treehouse. Daiko would occasionally pull Abra's hair, earning an irritated scowl. Willow climbed down the ladder rather goofily, grinning at the various butterflies that fluttered by. And Tem decided to try to stop the three from becoming too chaotic and going into a full-on argument by talking about one of her newest hobbies.

"I've taken up programming recently!" she explained. "It's quite difficult but rather entertaining. I'm thinking I might make a great video game out of it someday."

"Wow, that sounds really cool!" Dorky replied. "Maybe you could teach me how to do that someday."

"Imagine programming, I could never. I'm too much of a dumbass for that," Daiko remarked snidely.

Dragons chirped in the background, within the trees. Squirrels chattered and chattered, and Dorky could just breathe the stardust. The whole place was alight with life, and the air tasted like cotton candy and puffy dreams.

"You sure are!" Abra proclaimed, never missing a chance to insult Daiko. "You say that like you aren't, too!"

Willow sniffed. "I'm an idiot, as well. Runs in the family I guess! Because you all are my family!"

"Tell us more about programming, Tem!" Dorky urged, wondering if another argument was on the brink.

"It has all these different values to it. Different numbers and letters and functions for different things. It's quite hard to get the hang of, I've had to do a lot of research."

Dorky laughed. "Sounds a lot like typology." The boy was referring to a set of psychology systems he was rather fond of. Programming did sound rather interesting, if not a little boring. "You ever wonder what riding a dragon is like?"

Willow yawned. "Not really."

Tem nodded. "Yeah, sometimes! You know, Dorky, maybe I could show you how to do programming sometime. It could be a lot of fun."

"Yeah, maybe!"

"Well, we need to fix my phone first!" Abra urgently budged in. "Are we there yet? This place feels like it goes on forever..."

Soon enough, they reached the mini-castle. It had only one room, but it was fashioned to look like one. Maybe Serend would be in there!

Dorky opened the door, and headed inside, his friends coming in after him.

Sure enough, there she was. His younger sister, just as he had remembered her. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail, and she was joyfully laughing away to Celery, seemingly telling them something. The room was a snug little place, it had a kitchen, for cooking food, and a round circle mat with pillows for everyone to sit upon. There were many bookcases attached to the walls, filled with many interesting books.

Papers littered the floor, the bookcases, the counters. Many a thought was scribbled upon them, stories both finished and unfinished. There was a backpack, of course, which always held morsels of food treasures.

"Oh! Dorky! Did you know that the sky changes colors if you look at it really closely?"

"Really?" He hadn't known about that before. Of course it could be possible, anything could be possible.

Serend gave a triumphant smirk and nudged her strangely older brother. "Of course it doesn't! You always believe everything I say, don't you?"

Celery was rather quiet, as usual. They seemed to be drawing.

Dorky huffed. Of course, she was always messing with him. Why did he never learn? "But, I mean, they could, couldn't they? And you know, it might be an illusion, and rocks might talk, and 2+2 might be 5, and..."

She rolled her eyes. "Do more drugs."

Daiko gave a shy little wave to Serend, a blush tracing their cheeks.

"Oh, Daiko! I'm so glad to see you!" Serend immediately hugged them, squeezing them so tightly they probably couldn't breathe. "Did you hide the bodies?"

Daiko snorted. "Of course I did! Did YOU hide them?"

Serend laughed and ruffled their hair, kissing them on the cheek. Daiko's face curved into a slight pout. "I missed you! I've only had Celery here for company. They keep making Kingdom of Loathing references and telling me about Touhou attack patterns."

"Well, um, Serend, kdjdkjdkj, you should really get into it. I could even give you tutorials on the whole thing..." they somehow keysmashed out loud. Don't ask.

"Serend!! I broke my phone and it's all Daiko's fault!" Abra protested. "I don't know how we're going to fix it!"

Serend raised her eyebrows. "Oh, you two are at it again? What do I expect, really... well, I think that there are some engineers inside of the Vast Forest, somewhere. You could try checking there!"

Daiko crossed their arms. "Well, I could try and have a look at it? And, jeez, Abra, it was your fault, you should have known I was gonna win."

"And in Daiko's defense, you're ten."

"For the last time!" Abra sputtered. "I'm twelve, just like Daiko and Celery! And you're eight, Willow!"

Daiko rolled their eyes. "Riiight."

"Does it really matter what age we are? We should be trying to fix Abra's phone. Hey, Serend, want to try this video game I programmed?" Celery asked.

Tem perked up. "Maybe I could give you some tips on it!"

Serend shrugged. "Sure thing!"

"That reminds me!" Dorky realized. "Willow, Daiko, Abra, and Tem were playing Mafia together earlier. I was going to join in next round, and I was wondering if you and Celery would like to join us?"

Serend beamed. "Oh, sure! But I gotta warn you though, I'll win."

"Why not?" Celery responded with a nod.

Abra was getting impatient now. "Yayy! That's, um... great and all, but we need to fix my phone so we can play."

Celery paused thoughtfully. "Did you say fixing your phone? I think that I might have some spare parts at my house. We could go get them there."

Daiko looked eager. "Maybe I could even practice putting stuff together with them!"

Dorky nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. Are you coming, Serend?"

Serend paused. "I would, but... I was reading these novels recently." She gestured to them. "And I was also working on some new roleplays, writing some replies, and I have to work at the Last Resort tomorrow! But we could always play Mafia when you all stop by. Also... I thought I should mention this..."

She unzipped a backpack, and pulled some cookies and cupcakes out of it with a smile. "I made some food! Would you all like some?"

Abra groaned. "I hate sweet food!"

Daiko nudged Abra into silence. They gave a sigh. "That's a shame you can't come with us, Serend. I'll miss you."

"You can always come and visit me here! Would you guys like to have some food before you head out on your journey? I also have some writing for you all to read!"

Tem shrugged. "Guess we could do that before we go. What do you think, Dorky?"

"I think that would be the greatest plaaaaan!!" Dorky proclaimed, giving Tem a fist-bump. "Let's do it!"

The friends spent some time chatting together, playing video games, reading, and eating the food Serend had prepared. Dorky remembered she was always such a great cook, but she always left the most disastrous messes.

He thought he saw something dark and malicious in the corner of his vision, which he attempted to shake out of his mind. Probably merely his overactive imagination.

"Stop by again soon!" Serend exclaimed. "And remember, if you all ever want to talk about anything, I'll always be here."

Everyone hugged Serend before they headed off, on what they were sure would be a short journey. After all, they were only going to fix Abra's phone. What could possibly go wrong? Serend gave Daiko's hand a reassuring squeeze, and a smile, informing them they would see each other again very soon.

"You sure have a lot of drawings, Celery," Abra remarked. They seemed to be pasted all across the trees.

"O-Oh! Yeah... I, um... guess I do. In fact, I even have some of you guys."

Willow beamed. "Can you show us the drawings you have of each of us? I'm so curious!"

"Very well, then! This is a leopard, it reminds me of you, Willow, because you're always so quick to jump in and defend your friends when they need it. And... um... you're also very loyal. And a furry."

Willow grinned. "Cool! I guess that does kinda fit. It's a nice drawing, Celery!"

"Th-thank you. This next one is a chameleon. I guess I'd say it reminds me of Dorky. He always tries his best to adapt to his situation, no matter what it is. And he's also very... colorful?"

"So what you're trying to say is, the chemicals in the water turned him gay," Daiko remarked.
Celery coughed. "Well, no... He's a very bright and optimistic person, always seeing the good side to everything and everyone. And he's very imaginative."

The boy's face reddened. "Thank you, Celery!" He tried to ignore Daiko's comment. But that was Daiko for you, always making a joke out of everything.

They all continued walking along.

"This is a wolf. It reminds me of Abra, because she's a very deep, dark, mysterious, and fascinating person. They always say what they think no matter what, and can be very strong-willed."

"So what you're trying to say is, Abra is very stubborn!"

"Heyyy! No, I'm not!"

It continued on like this. Celery had drawn a stalk of celery.

"Um... Celery, that's a plant, not an animal. Is there a reason for that?" Tem queried.

"Well... yes. This plant reminds me of myself. It's... um, rather quiet, a little plain, and not really intrusive. But it's always a valuable item at parties."

"Just like you're important to us!" Willow chirped.

"AH... y-yeah. Just like that. But the celery is a low-calorie vegetable, frequently underestimated, with many different fibers. I guess you could say that it tends to be not-- oh, never mind. Let's move along."

For Tem, there was a triceratops with glasses. Celery had said they drew that because she was a very brilliant person who despite her horns, strived to be someone dependable rather than violent. She was also rather chaotic and unpredictable.

Daiko's was a ferret. A strong, feisty, and silly creature, which was said to have a sort of a dark side, but to mask such a thing through humor...

"And this is an entire zoo of animals. It reminds me of Serend, because I can't pin down her exact vibe. She's a very interesting person who is very complicated... she is everything, all at once. Loyal and disloyal, kind and jeering, responsible and irresponsible, needing of approval, and independent. She's the glue that holds us all together. So she's an entire zoo, or in her case, an entire library."

"She is very special," Daiko murmured, twisting a lock of hair around their finger with a dreamy look in their eyes.

"Yes!" Tem exclaimed. "Serend is just the best!"

Dorky nodded and cheered his agreement, and even Abra reluctantly agreed. So did Willow.

"Well, we better get going to my house!! We're almost there!"

Everyone followed Celery along, they seemed to be diligently sketching something new within their sketchbook. Everyone walked in an occasionally broken silence.

"Well, there we go! It's finally finished!"

"What's finally finished?" Abra perked up.

"Yeah, let me see!" Daiko exclaimed.

Immediately, Tem, Willow, and even Dorky rushed over too. Celery began to look rather flustered.

"H-Hey! Um... it's... a drawing. I made it of all of you. You're all my very best friends, and so is Serend, but she's not here so... I didn't have a reference for that. You want to see?"

"I want to see!" "Me too!" "Come on, Celery, show us!!"

"Do I really look like that?"

"Aw, man, let me see it again! yes! This captures my good angle!"

"Abra, you don't have a good angle."

"Neither do YOU, Daiko!"

"Ah- ah- easy guys, easy! Don't grip at the pages so hard!" Celery sputtered, swaying from side to side. Dorky had been fighting to get a look at the drawing too, but now he stopped.

"Wait, Celery's right, guys, don't--"

RIIIIP! RIIIIP!

"Oh, NO! My drawings!" Celery cried. The pages scattered onto the ground.

Dorky gasped. "Guys!! We need to help Celery put these back together!"

"It was Daiko's fault! They kept shoving me!"

"No it wasn't!"

"We all really wanted to see it, Abra..."

"Hff. Well, we should all help Celery put it back together. Hopefully the drawings are okay."

"I-It's okay. Really. Come on, let's go into the house to fix it! And maybe we can fix Abra's phone, too!"

"Yayy! Finally!" Abra exclaimed.

They all poured into Celery's house, helping them put the sketchbook back together, piece by piece. They all flipped through it together, excited to see Celery's amazing art pieces.

"This is awesome art, Celery!" Daiko exclaimed.

"Agreed! I love your style, the way you put everything together is just the best!" Dorky added.

"I like the colors!" Tem proclaimed.

Celery blushed. "U-Um... th-thank you guys! I don't think it's all that great, but... thank you."

"Hey! We should fix Abra's phone!" Willow reminded them.

"AH, that's right. I think I left the parts over here. Think you could handle it, Daiko?"

"Hmm, maybe. Let's see. This goes here, and maybe it needs a little of this... a bit of an adjustment of the wire there, this fits here, hmm..."

Daiko murmured intently as they configured everything. "Hey, Abra, it's done!"

"Oh, yay!" She ran over and picked up the phone. Strangely, it immediately opened to the Photos app. "Huh? Wait... what is this? Daiko, did you take this picture?"

"No, I... it almost... it looks so familiar. N-No, it couldn't be!"

Everyone crowded around, murmuring in confusion.

"Serend... she's--"

Dorky saw a flicker of darkness, and then there was nothing. Maybe he imagined it.

He was back inside his peaceful room of white. It was a lovely little place. His loyal dog, Snuggles, was here, sleeping peacefully on the floor. He had a laptop, a phone, and various assorted objects to play with in here. Cozy pillows, blankets... and a soft peaceful tune hummed in the background.

But the door to the treehouse was gone, now. How strange. Had it ever been there in the first place? Suddenly, Dorky saw it.

There was a razor blade upon the floor. Just the type you would use to shave with. He felt the urge to examine it. Slowly, he picked it up.

The blade was so shiny, so very shiny. So unlike the light bulb that shone overhead, only seeming to make the room a little darker.

He brushed it with his fingers. It was sharper than he expected. They were now etched in cuts. Blood seeped out from where his fingers and the blade had touched. He was fascinated with it, the scent, and the taste.

What was it like to die, the boy could not help but wonder. And so he felt urged to bring the blade to his neck. He heaved in and out, in and out, wondering if he was supposed to do this. His dog still slept so softly, giving a little snort occasionally.

With a quick slicing motion, it was done. Cut over and over his neck was, and the blood dripped, seeped, and pooled out. A waterfall became a puddle upon the floor. The crimson poured out a billion stars of purple and pink, an endless sky of conundrum. The strumming of a guitar and a piano in unison.

A long-forgotten memory. The boy slumped over, as he felt his energy fading by the moment. He smiled, he felt at peace. Now he would know... what death would entail.

It all went dark, so unlike his home of pristine, plain white.

Or... so he thought. Will awoke inside his bed with a start, lifting his face from his pillow. It was the middle of the night, or so the lighting was telling him. He felt at his neck, only to find it perfectly intact.

So his vivid dreams, that haunted him every night, or, er... blessed him every night. They were indeed in fact dreams. He liked being there, though. In that world where...

...

He was hungry. But that was certainly nothing to be alarmed about, right? Maybe he should find a snack all the same. Slowly, he made his way up the basement steps.

There was something particularly eerie about the night. He had always had what he called "part-time nyctophobia", which would come to haunt him from time to time. He swore he saw something in the shadows, swore he heard whispers.

He mustn't awaken his parents, or his... his... brother. Right. Brother.

Heaving in and out, he grabbed a glass of water, and quietly, ever quietly, made himself some toast. He didn't really have the energy for much else these days.

He'd been eating less and less lately, ever since...

The toast was done. He pulled out a spoon and knife, adding jam and peanut butter and butter, his favorites. Briefly he thought, maybe he should tell Camryn about something he saw in a show recently.

Where was she again? Oh, yes. Probably working late or something. Yes... that was probably it. It never seemed like she had time for him anymore, he couldn't recall the last time they had spoken... had it been... years ago?

A queasy feeling set in as he descended the stairs after eating the toast. Will hyperventilated, telling himself over and over, "I'm fine. I'm fine. Everything is fine."

Still, the thought lingered. He could almost see a human face, twisted beyond all repair... but whose face it was he could not recall... what he heard or saw he could not recall... had it been a human? He could not recall... was it at all real? Was his mind playing tricks on him again? Was it--

Thinking was only giving him a headache. He must get back to sleep. And then everything would be alright. He would reset in the morning, just like he always did.

And still his knees shook. Still he felt like vomiting. But it was all in his head. Yes, he knew it was all in his head. Nothing was wrong, he was going to go see his friends once again.

They would play together forever and ever, and everything would be okay. Back to bed he went. Back to that world of dreams.

Welcome to White Space. You have been living here for as long as you can remember.

A memory faintly flickered in his mind. He heard Daiko and Willow, they were saying something. Willow was hugging Will, and crying. Daiko was forcing a smile, saying that they'd figure it out somehow.

No one would have to know.

Dorky awoke once again, within his perfect little room. The razor blade was still in his hand, his fingers had no cuts, no blood, neither did his throat. A door beckoned to him from the distance.

The door to the treehouse! He would go to see his friends again. But he found something on the floor...

A feather-pen that was unusually sharp. Maybe it would come in handy.

He also found a map. A map to Headspace. He stuffed it into his shorts, which thankfully had deep pockets.

After rubbing Snuggles behind the ears, and giving him a smile, and receiving a bit of thanks from him, he headed through the door to the treehouse.

Only Tem and Abra awaited him there, with anxious looks upon their faces. What was wrong?

"Dorky! Thank goodness you're here!" Abra cried.

Tem nodded, fidgeting nervously. "Yes, we're afraid something horrible might have happened. We woke up here in the treehouse, after going to Celery's house... and we've searched and searched, but Willow and Daiko are nowhere to be found."

Dorky's eyes widened. "That's awful! I'm sure they're okay, maybe we haven't looked hard enough... or maybe they're pulling a prank on us."

"Maybe!" Abra offered. "That does sound like them."

Tem smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Dorky. That does make me feel better. Maybe we should go ask Serend and Celery if they know where they went!" But she still sounded nervous.

"Hey. We can all fix this together!" Dorky exclaimed. "We'll find our friends for sure, and then we can all play Mafia together again!" He pumped his fist into the air with a grin.

"Yeah! I still haven't thanked Daiko for fixing my... wait a minute, it's all busted again?! I could have sworn... weird... augh, I guess we still have to fix it!"

"It's okay, Abra. We'll find a way to fix your phone. Let's look for our friends first," Tem offered.

"Okay. Lead the way, Dorky!" Abra urged.

Dorky headed off to Serend's one-room castle, where she seemed to be busy writing once again. It was a relief to see his sister. She looked so happy and alive, as she was writing, it was truly something that made her feel like she was living.

"Oh! Hey, wh*r*s!!" She put down her writing, and frowned upon noticing everyone's expressions. "What happened?"

Tem immediately looked worried again. "Daiko and Willow are missing, and Abra and I can't find them anywhere! Have you seen them?"

Dorky thought he might have an idea where they could have gone, but, no, that couldn't be it...

"Hmm... I'm afraid not. I'm sorry. I hope they turn up soon!"

"Can you help us look for them?" Abra pleaded. "We have no idea where they could have gone..."

"I'm afraid not, Abra. I have so much to do, but... maybe you could go back to Celery's house? Have you checked there? Maybe they could be there, and if not, you could ask Celery to come along with you!"

Abra sighed. "I guess we could do that. What do you think, Dorky?"

"I think we should find Celery, and ask them about it. If they don't know anything, we could ask them to come with us! And we could find a way to fix Abra's phone, AND look for Daiko and Willow at the same time," Dorky offered. "They could be anywhere, sure, but that also means that we might just not have looked in enough places!"

"You're right, Dorky! Good luck, I'm sure you'll be able to find them!" But Serend looked very deeply saddened... Dorky hated to see her this way. She must have missed them dearly already, especially Daiko.

They waved Serend goodbye, who smiled at Dorky, informing him she would always be there if he needed her. A familiar melody threatened to reach his ears, one he couldn't quite recall...

He left along with his two friends, to find Celery.

Abra lowered her head, sniffling. "Daiko was a real jerk, but I almost miss arguing with them... I really hope nothing bad happened to them..."

Tem let out a remorseful sigh. "I hope we even get to have another game of Mafia with them..."

Dorky did his best to comfort his friends, but no matter what he said, they still seemed so worried. He was worried, too, in all honesty. Where could their friends have gone?

But he had to keep his chin up. His friends might be right around the corner!!

On the way there, he couldn't help but give Tem and Abra a big hug.

"E-Ehh? Um... thanks, Dorky. I know you're trying to make us feel better but... I think we should go find Celery now."
Tem nodded, but gave Dorky a fist bump and a sad smile. "Let's find them, and then we can all group hug."

She was right, of course Tem was right. And Abra was too. Dorky nodded.

"Yeah! I bet we'll find them really soon."

They made their way to Celery's house, thankful to discover that they weren't missing too.

"CELERY!" all three of them exclaimed at the same time, hurrying to hug them. The rather shy person blinked in wide-eyed confusion, but smiled, clearly happy to see them although bashful about it. They were startled, but hugged the three of them back.

"O-Oh... hey. Have you guys seen Daiko and Willow? I swear they were here, but... um... they disappeared."

Abra's head drooped. "Oh, no... you don't know where they are either, Celery?"

"We were going to ask the same question..."

Dorky kept trying to smile, to tell himself it was alright. Because it was alright, it would be alright...

...something lurked in his vision, flickered, and disappeared.

He blinked, it was as though it was never there.

"But-- I could help you guys look, maybe!" Celery offered.

"That's great! We were just going to ask you that!" Dorky chirped.

Tem grinned. "Yeah! Maybe we should search the Vast Forest first."

"Good thinking! Then we can maybe fix my phone, and then... and then..." Abra sniffled. "Oh, Daiko... where could you have gone? And Willow, too! I miss them so much..."

Abra's friends hurried to comfort her, and the four of them shared a hug.

"We'll find them, okay? I promise, or I am not the biggest dork alive!" Dorky vowed.

"But I'm the biggest dork alive," Tem insisted.

Dorky shook his head and squeezed his friend's hand. "Alright, or we BOTH aren't the biggest dorks alive."

"Well, umm, we should get going so we can find them soon," Celery pointed out. "Let's head to the Vast Forest!"

And so, the four of them separated from their hugs, their high-fives, their fist bumps, and their friendly words and shy smiles. They were off to find their two missing friends, no matter what it took.

But something tugged at Dorky's heart. Something... he felt like he had forgotten. It seemed to linger in his vision, whenever he looked behind him. What was it?