The Youkai in the High Castle

[Conqueror]

(known briefly as The Youkai Who Came in from the Cold)

Well, I blame Dormio for this. So I've also written up my own Dangan Ronpa x Touhou crossover (a.k.a. Touhou characters thrown into a DR-like situation) ...with a bit of Machine of Death mixed in as well as a bunch of other stuff that I never ended up using for other stories. I consider this project mostly an attempt to start actually writing instead of twiddling my thumbs, so it's very rough and all.  But I figure it's better off here so I don't have to keep copy pasting bits into IRC or using pastebins or whatever. I'm posting the first bit now because of a psuedo-bet I made, and there's no way I can be allowed to lose that! :V

Apologies for the title. Frankly all I could come up with were bad puns like "The Youkai in the High Castle," or "The Curious Incident of the Murders in the Night-Time," so this will have to do as a placeholder for now.

Anyway, here's the first part of character introductions.

*****

Chapter 0: The Machine of Death

Excerpts from the Gensokyo Chronicle, Volume XIV

It was in the immediate aftermath of the Human Village Incident that Yukari Yakumo invited a number of humans and youkai to visit her house on the boundary of Gensokyo. I found the letter on my bedside table, opening it to reveal Yukari?s flowing script informing me of the Super High School Level Tea Party at Yakumo Manor, and that if I would be so kind as to show up I would be able to reach the venue by gripping the contents of the accompanying small package with both my hands.

Unwrapping the package revealed an old boot and a name tag reading ?Hieda no Akyu: Super High School Level Chronicler.? At the time, I assumed that the bizarre phrasing was just another example of Yukari?s strange humor. But it was so much more than that, and if I had known from the start what she had meant, then I never would have attended what I thought was just another social function. The memories from this ?Party? imprinted themselves on my mind forever, and although I was able to witness heretofore unseen sides of the denizens of Gensokyo, I also saw the terrible, dark nature that lurks beneath many of us, a nature found not only in youkai, but also within us humans.

But as it was, I pinned the name tag to my vest and tightly gripped the boot, which instantly whisked me off of my feet into some sort of strange dark space, filling me with utmost fear for the few seconds before it dumped me unceremoniously into a grand foyer lined with softly flickering chandeliers.

As I lay sprawled on the floor, groaning and cursing at Yukari, an arm entwined in a scarlet shawl reached down and pulled me to my feet. I found myself facing a rather demurely dressed youkai ? none other than Iku Nagae, ?Super High School Level Courier.? Mysterious and reserved, she was best known for being an exceptional ?Runner? to and from some of Gensokyo?s more hazardous enclaves. She had a knack not only for delivering things quickly, but also for avoiding dangerous situations, an increasingly useful skill given the ever-multiplying threats in Gensokyo. If all else failed, apparently lightning was super effective against marauding airship pirates.

?Hieda no Akyu,? nodded Iku through dark black sunglasses. ?The others are already waiting in the sitting room.?

?Thank you, Iku.? I brushed off my skirt and headed towards the noise emanating from what I assumed was the sitting room.

I had barely walked into the room before I was accosted by an energetic mass of green hair. Sanae Kochiya, ?Super High School Level Priestess.? A boisterous and enthusiastic girl, she was known as one of the most ruthlessly efficient enforcers for the Moriya Cartel. Her seductive charisma along with her relentless pursuit of criminal scum was a large factor in why so many of the remaining human residents of Gensokyo had gathered at Youkai Mountain, dwarfing the population of the dwindling Human Village.

Right now Sanae was all bubbly chumminess; she?d clearly been drinking something stronger than tea as she stumbled into me.

?Ah, sorry there ? oh hey, Akyun!? smiled Sanae, brushing back her hair. ?Long time no see. How?s the Village??

?Akyu. And I just saw you at the trial a few days ago. How?s Keine??

?Oh great, just great. No problems with the newly installed inhibitor so far ? Nitori and her crew did a great job. We should have that old cow locked up nice and good. Would you believe she was still rambling about disappeared people after all that? Disgraceful. Well, nice to see you here, Akyun.? She shook my hand energetically before tripping over herself and collapsing into a giggling heap.

?Disgraceful indeed,? clucked an ornately donned youkai seated at a large table. Of course this was Eiki Shiki, ?Super High School Level Judge.? It wasn?t until recently that Eiki had become really well-known, with the influx of new Gensokyan residents and the corresponding new murder victims and dead souls. Her elaborate and dramatic trials, broadcast live on KappaTV, had become standard entertainment for the bored and unemployed set. It was said that she could determine the appropriate outcome of a trial in an instant, and her magic mirror could supposedly read all the deeds of one?s past, forcing people to count up their sins. Most people watched Judge Eiki for her ironic and extravagant punishments; the Butcher of Muenzuka was recently sentenced to fifteen consecutive centuries of manning the Gensokyo suicide hotline, one century for each victim.

Eiki?s scowl turned into a smile as I entered the room, gingerly stepping around Sanae?s crawling form. ?Would you care for some tea, Akyu? Yukari doesn?t seem to be around.?

?Oh, she?s probably around, just taking a nap somewhere in this mess of a house. Typical of her, really.? Sakuya Izayoi, ?Super High School Level Bounty Hunter,? entered the room behind me. When Remilia Scarlet had pulled the entire Scarlet Devil Mansion into the Misty Lake in a fit of madness, Sakuya had been shopping for groceries in the Village, and was thus the only resident of the house to survive. Sakuya had taken to using her skills for bounty hunting; it is said that the Moriyas employed her for dealing with rival factions. In any case, no one was sure where she lived now.

?I took the liberty of exploring the premises a little,? continued Sakuya. ?It?s a strange house. It seems to increase in size the further you enter, and I get the feeling the rooms aren?t entirely stationary. Reminds me of?? Sakuya paused. ?This is probably the only house like this in Gensokyo. If Yukari spends all her time messing with this house, it would explain a lot??

?Oh, this house has always been like this,? piped up a pink-haired youkai sipping tea in the corner. Yuyuko Saigyouji, ?Super High School Level Princess,? the lady of Hakugyokurou. Under Yuyuko?s watchful eye, Hakugyokurou was currently one of the safest locations in Gensokyo. People whispered tales of Yuyuko slaughtering entire armies of bandits in the blink of an eye while daintily sipping breakfast tea. Outwardly, she was incredibly human-friendly and always cheerful, but a few first-hand accounts from people who had met her in person described inexplicitly feeling an incredible sense of despair, like all in the world had died and nothing would ever be happy again. I felt no such aura emanating from Yuyuko at the moment though.

?This place was already here when Yukari simply moved in. It has a mind of its own, so try not to make it angry, hmm?? Yuyuko set her tea on the table and closed her eyes. ?Anyway, I know that Yukari is somewhere in the house.?

?Then perhaps she is merely preparing for the party,? said Eiki. ?I assume that more are to be arriving??

Indeed, this was merely the early crowd. A commotion arose from the main entrance hall, and I looked over to see Yuka Kazami, ?Super High School Level Florist,? sitting on top of Utsuho Reiuji, ?Super High School Level Engineer,? presumably a result of Yukari?s dubious teleportation technology.

With a groan, Utsuho unceremoniously pushed Yuka off to the side and rose up to her full height, towering above everyone else. Utsuho had lost both of her right limbs in an accident at the Moriya Reactor, but revolutionary advances in Kappa-led technology meant that she had soon been fitted with an experimental cybernetic arm and leg. Her arm in particular had seen numerous upgrades; at first it was simply a bulky construct reminiscent of a nuclear control rod, but over time it came to include retractable fixtures like a diamond sawblade and a flamethrower. I imagined that Utsuho?s arm also included a variety of other enhancements or fixtures that she used in her job as Chief Engineer at MEPCO, but the arm in front of me looked like a fairly nondescript metal prosthetic, albeit one inscribed with ?Ultima Ratio Regum? in blocky lettering.

Utsuho bent over and picked up some sort of headset with orange framed goggles. ?Unyu?good thing it?s not broken,? she muttered as she pulled them over her eyes, and then started checking over her cybernetic limbs.

?Hey!? said Yuka, as she got up to her feet. She pointed her parasol down at Utsuho?s feet. ?I think you dropped something??

Confused, Utsuho looked down, only for Yuka to whip her parasol up and whack Utsuho on the chin. ?Whoops, guess it was nothing,? smirked Yuka, as Utsuho shot her a glare and wordlessly walked off towards the sitting room.

I knew very little about Yuka beyond that she was extremely dangerous and not to be crossed. These days, she rarely came out of the Forest of Sunflowers, and the rogues who were unfortunate enough to wander into her realm rarely came out. One ragged traveler told me of a secret garden within the forest teeming with exotic flowers that bloomed year-round, with Yuka as a willing nature guide and amiable host, but given my previous writings on this subject I suspect the account was merely a fiction. At the moment, I was trembling with fear of the sinisterly smiling youkai in front of me. She seemed to emit a strange sort of aura such that it was difficult to even look at her directly. ?Truly intimidating,? I thought, ?Is this the appearance of raw power??

?Well, look who decided to show up on time for once.? Sakuya joined us in the foyer, and I felt my blood pressure go down a notch in relief. Hopefully there would be more humans arriving soon; I wasn?t sure if I could handle being in the company of such an overwhelming number of powerful youkai.

?Hmmm?? said Yuka. ?Oh, I thought I was going to be late, but I guess I?m early? Well, I guess I hustled a little today. Is that tea?? Yuka sauntered over to the sitting room.

?Are you okay, Akyu?? Sakuya looked over at me. ?You seem a bit pale.?

?I?m fine,? I said. ?I just need to rest a little over here.? Away from the rest of them.

?Well, don?t overdo it,? said Sakuya. She tilted her head at Iku. ?I?m sure you can wait for her in the sitting room; tea?s been ready.? Iku nodded silently, and the two of them walked away so I was left standing alone in the foyer.

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

PLAGIARISM! THEFT! WHERE IS THE SWORDGIRLS WRITEUP?

I'm posting the first bit now because of a psuedo-bet I made, and there's no way I can be allowed to lose that! :V

Screw youuuuuu.

[Conqueror]

As I stood there catching my breath, I took the opportunity to re-examine the foyer. I thought of it as a foyer because that?s where I?d teleported in, but there didn?t seem to be any sort of doorway to the outside. Instead, there was a large metal plate embedded into the wall where I expected to find a door. The plate looked freshly installed, as the metal was polished well enough that I could see my reflection in it, in contrast to the rather grimy atmosphere in the rest of the foyer. The walls were discolored by what I assumed was smoke from the wall chandeliers, and there were visible flecks of dirt and debris scattered around the floor. It seems Yukari hadn?t been maintaining her house very well.

Standing with my back to the metal plate, the door to the sitting room was on my right. There was another doorway in the left wall, and in front of me a narrow corridor extended forwards into dancing shadows lit by more chandeliers.

?Click,? I muttered, bookmarking the snapshot in my memory. This would probably be useful for later.

I heard a slight rustle behind me and turned to see Youmu Konpaku, ?Super High School Level Butler,? getting up on one knee. Yuyuko rarely left her mansion, so the vast majority of my interactions with Hakugyokurou were through Youmu?s frequent shopping trips in the Human Village, during which Youmu never failed to remind me that she was the fastest swordswoman in all of Gensokyo. As Yuyuko?s loyal retainer and foremost follower, she was presumably responsible for most of the menial tasks around the mansion, including gardening, cooking, and crowd control.

?Hey, Akyu! Looks like we?re the first ones here!? Youmu grinned at me, pleased with her own punctuality.

I cleared my throat a little. ?We?re not really the first. There are some already here.? I jerked my thumb in the direction of the sitting room.

?Oh??A look of disappointment flashed across Youmu?s face but was quickly replaced by a solemn expression.  She bit her lip and hurried to the right without another word.

Before I could follow her in, two more people suddenly materialized next to me: Reimu Hakurei, ?Super High School Level Heiress,? and Alice Margatroid, ?Super High School Level Puppeteer.?

Reimu, of course, was the heiress to the powers and property of the waning Hakurei clan. Although the popularity of the Moriyas and other new sects had reduced Hakurei influence in Gensokyo, Reimu still insisted on personally solving any incident she was aware of, and you?d be hard-pressed to find someone in Gensokyo who hadn?t had to deal with her at some point. Naturally, this often put her into conflict with a number of other self-styled problem solvers, but Reimu?s natural ability meant that she could get the upper hand in most direct confrontations.

Reimu was primly dressed in her usual Kourindou designer outfit, the unmistakable symbol of the Hakurei Shrine, with nary a wrinkle or smudge in sight. But I?d heard rumours that her finances were in such disrepair that she had been forced to look to the Moriyas for subsistence assistance. Personally, I was always surprised whenever I visited her dilapidated shrine and realized that she was still living in that drafty death trap.

Alice, on the other hand, was almost unrecognizable. She?d dyed her hair black and grown it past her shoulders, and she had dressed herself in a ridiculously frilly black and white dress. Even her complexion was eerily white, like porcelain. The resulting package felt rather morbid to me, down to the black fingernails and the black book.

?Alice,? I frowned. ?Why?d you lose all your colors??

Alice raised an eyebrow at me. ?Don?t you remember ?Dark Magician Alice??? She twirled around in a small circle. ?Prepare to be Enchanted!?

I quickly racked my brains and pulled up an old memory. Of course I remembered. Back when Marisa and Alice?s dual act had first fallen apart, they?d both gone solo and started competing against each other. Alice styled herself as the ?Dark Magician,? while Marisa was the ?Witch of Dreams.? But that was ages ago, and when Marisa quit performing, Alice had retreated into the Forest of Magic with her puppets. No one had seen her for months.

?You haven?t performed recently,? I said. ?I assumed you were holed up with your dolls.?

?It?s an interesting style,? said Alice. ?I decided to keep it a little longer since I wasn?t leaving the house anyway. Speaking of dolls, you?ll never guess~?

?Did you finally create an automaton?? Alice had always mentioned that her dream was to make a completely autonomous doll, but even with her extraordinary skill in puppeteering, she?d always had to include a measure of user control. But maybe this time??

?We can talk about that later,? interrupted Reimu abruptly. ?Let?s head over; it looks like we?ve got something to eat.?

We went into the sitting room, where Sakuya was pouring tea into several teacups. She had just placed a metal tray of biscuits and cookies on the large table.

?There?s a fully stocked pantry and kitchen,? explained Sakuya. ?So I brought over some snacks while we wait.?

?Quite rude of Yukari to leave her guests waiting like this,? Eiki protested. ?If it weren?t for Sakuya we wouldn?t even have drinks while we waited. I wouldn?t be surprised if Yukari was off on another of her wild romps and forgot about her little event here.?

?Like I said before, I?m sure she?s around somewhere,? said Yuyuko. ?She?ll be along momentarily. Oh, thank you very much, Youmu. This tea has gone rather cold.? Yuyuko handed her teacup to Youmu, accepting a cup of hot tea in return.

?Unyu?what do you think this all about anyway?? mumbled Utsuho through a mouthful of biscuits. ?This is the first time I?ve been here.?

?Watch it,? someone whispered. Something wrapped around my arm and pulled me to the side with such force that I almost fell. I looked down at the scarf on my arm. Iku??

There was a crash as Youmu tripped and sent lukewarm tea flying where I had been standing only moments before. Face flushed, Youmu picked herself up and tensely approached Yuka, who was holding her sides in barely silent laughter.

Youmu moved her hand down and gripped the hilt of her longer sword. ?You??

Yuka threw her hands up in mock outrage. ?I?m completely innocent. What?s with you??

 ?Hey, hey, hold on there. Relax.? A tall and imposing figure walked through the doorway and gently pushed Youmu back with the blunt end of a large scythe ? Komachi Onozuka, ?Super High School Level Marshal.? She was responsible for ferrying the dead across the Sanzu River, providing security for Eiki?s courtroom, and forcefully retiring reluctant souls or the rare dangerous criminal. Komachi stayed mostly in her domain to avoid giving inadvertent heart attacks to the living, but with the influx of outsiders she?d been forced to engage in more wetwork.

?If y?all are gonna give me extra work to do after the party, I ain?t gonna be happy,? Komachi drawled. ?So pipe it down a little.? She turned her head and nodded. ?Hey Eiki, I?ve been looking for ya all day. Where ya been??

?I- I took the day off.? Eiki?s face was noticeably pink.

 Komachi broke into a wide grin. ?Ah, that?s the spirit. Welcome to the club.? She grabbed a cookie and washed it down with a gulp from her hip flask. ?Anyway, what?s the deal? Where?s Yukari??
The conversation turned to Yukari again before branching off into a dozen tangents. I grabbed some more snacks and looked around for Iku, intending to ask her about what had happened earlier, but she was engaged in an inaudible conversation with Sakuya. I scooted my chair over to where Sanae was gesticulating wildly about something.

?And our newest model is huge!? Sanae spread her arms wide open. ?It?s like, bigger than the?the Hakurei Shrine!? She giggled, while Reimu looked at her tea with what looked like a measure of annoyance.

?Have you created any autonomous models yet?? asked Alice.

 ?Nitori is working on it, but I don?t think the AI is up to scratch. And besides, why not just put someone in there? Fewer chances of something going terribly wrong.?

?Actually, the AI is workable. We built a prototype a few weeks ago for someone. But it has a tendency to go off on its own,? Utsuho chimed in.

?What if you infused it with magic instead of relying on that newfangled technology stuff? Wouldn?t that give you more control?? said Alice.

Sanae furrowed her brows. ?Uh well, I dunno. We haven?t really been exploring that aspect. I don?t think it?s doable anyway.? Her face lit up again. ?Plus isn?t it just so much cooler when you have someone inside it controlling the thing?

I looked to Alice for her response, but she sat there quietly sipping her tea with a smug look on her face while Sanae went on about the recent selection of bums she had brought into the Moriya family.

By now, a few troublemakers had arrived. Fujiwara no Mokou, ?Super High School Level Pyromaniac,? had taken up a spot far away from the conversation, and was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and a bored look on her face. The infamous Immortal Phoenix, she had moved in with Keine in the Human Village following the not-so-mysterious burning down of the entire Bamboo Forest during the second Lunar Invasion. I wondered what would happen now that she was living there alone. She didn?t interact much with the other villagers, at least not constructively.

Marisa Kirisame, ?Super High School Level Adventurer,? had accosted the entire tray of snacks and was now playfully flying in circles near the ceiling, holding out the tray with one outstretched hand while Youmu chased her around the room. Marisa was known for her twitchy trigger finger and complete disregard of private property. She regularly broke into unoccupied (and the occasional occupied) houses to collect everything that wasn?t nailed down or too heavy, stuffing it all into her enchanted bottomless bag.  Whenever she was caught, she invariably protested that ?I might really need these for later? or ?if I wasn?t supposed to take them then why were they there for the taking??

The clap of thunder alerted me to the presence of Tenshi Hinanawi, ?Super High School Level Weather Forecaster,? before I even saw her. She?d done that stupid thing with her sword again. No doubt she would soon tell me that the probability of rainfall was 100%, moments before drenching me with a few gallons of localized water. She was mostly just a walking nuisance with her weather shenanigans, but occasionally she?d tear up a few hundred acres of land in a fight. Her fashion sense had gotten even gaudier since the last time I?d seen her. She was wearing two enormous hoop earrings, five bracelets of various colors on her arms, and two metal rings on the middle and ring finger of her right hand. Her long blue hair even had white streaks running through it, like a bad reverse imitation of that book-reading bird. I wondered what kind of party Yukari was hosting if she was inviting blatant attention seekers like her. I probably shouldn?t have come, with guests like these.

?It?s not nice to call other people names like that, you know??

I jumped at the voice coming from my right. Koishi Komeiji, ?Super High School Level Psychoanalyst,? was sitting in the chair next to me, even though I hadn?t noticed her at all.

?What are you talking about? Also, hi.?

Koishi merely smiled at me like she hadn?t heard anything I?d said. ?You shouldn?t be so angry at people.? She cupped her hands around her eyes in a circle and leaned forward, whispering in a low voice. ?If you look a little closer, you might find something in your heart.? She poked a single finger into my chest, and then she was gone again. I was too confused by her nonsense to see where she?d gone. I wasn?t even mad at anyone? At most I was slightly irritated at Tenshi showing up.

There was a noise like hundred thousand people inhaling at the same time, and the space above the large table started warping and twisting until a dark black portal opened up in the air. A metal contraption the size of a small safe fell through the portal and crashed onto the table with an audible CRACK. A few seconds later, Yukari Yakumo herself landed deftly on the table, sealing the hole behind her.

?Hmm, looks like I?ll have to fix that later.? She climbed down from the table and started tinkering with the machine, ignoring the crowd of staring guests.

?Yukari,? Eiki began.

?Ah yes, right, right.? Yukari straightened up and spun around trying to face as many people as possible. ?So you?re probably wondering why I gathered you all here today, right??

She flashed a brilliant smile.

?Welcome to Despair Academy. I'll be the Super High School Level Instructor for your class!?

?Today's lesson is, you kill each other off until there's only one left.?

[Conqueror]

Editor's note: I added a few lines to the end of the previous post.



I really should have stayed home.

I'd been forced into one of Yukari's games before. That was when she divided Gensokyo into factions and territories and declared that the team which defeated all the others would be granted any wish they desired. It was a distinctly unpleasant experience where I had to help defend the Human Village from a continuing stream of marauders, our location being strategically important in the overall conflict. It ended up being a hopeless cause, and I had promised myself not to get mixed up with anything similar in the future.

And yet here I'd walked straight into this like some outsider picking flowers in the Garden of the Sun. I sighed and dragged my hand down my face with a groan. I hate stupid games. ?Fun times,? I muttered.

A bunch of people started talking almost simultaneously.

?Ooh, does that mean we get to wear school uniforms?? Yuyuko waved a hand. ?I haven't worn one in centuries!?

?Hey, I remember this vidya game!? slurred Sanae.

?Yukari, explain the meaning of this at once!? protested Eiki.

?Doesn't Yuyuko win instantly?? asked Alice.

?So is this why you gave us these stupid titles?? said Sakuya.

?Aw, don't be quite like that.? Yukari had a pained look on her face. ?Those took me quite some time to think up, you know? And everything else will be explained in due time, so just wait!?

?So let's get on with it,? interjected Reimu. ?What are the rules for this game??

?I'm glad you asked,? beamed Yukari. ?Now, I've given you all a copy of the rulebook in your rooms (I'm getting to that!) but I'll repeat them all here for your benefit.? Yukari waved her hand, and a holographic text projection materialized above the table.

?Isn't technology great? But back on topic; you're all going to be living here for a while. A communal lifestyle, doesn't that sound nice? I've set up individual rooms for each of you to sleep in to that effect, so you won't have to worry about snoring roommates!

?But I'm sure some of you don't want to live here forever! And here at Despair Academy, we  want to encourage all our best students to eventually graduate from the school. It's no good if you stay in high school forever, right? Graduating from Despair Academy isn't so easy though. To graduate, you must kill one of your fellow students. That's right: kill, murder, eliminate, put to sleep, terminate with extreme prejudice!

?That's not all though! After every murder, there will be a school trial, where all students will convene together to decide who the culprit is. If the murderer is successfully identified, they will be executed. What, you didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you? But what happens if the students fail to correctly identify the murderer? Well, the murderer graduates and is allowed to leave the school. And in that case, all other students will be executed!?

A confused murmur enveloped the room as a set of rules appeared on the text projection.

• Students will live a communal lifestyle inside the school walls.
• Investigation of the school is encouraged. There are no special restrictions on your activities.
• Vandalism of school facilities is forbidden.
• No violence is permitted against the school's headmaster.
• In the event of a murder among the students, a school trial shall be held. Participation in the trial is mandatory for all students.
• During the school trial, students will attempt to identify the murderer. If the culprit is successfully identified, they shall be executed for their crime.
• Failure to correctly identify the culprit will result in the execution of all students except the culprit.
• A murderer who successfully hides their guilt shall be permitted to graduated and leave the school, free of culpability.
• A ?body discovery announcement? shall be broadcast when a dead body is first discovered by three or more people.
• A student may not murder more than two other students. That would make it too easy.
• Additional rules may be added at any time.

?I know, I know,? continued Yukari. ?It's not fair right? I mean, different power levels and all that. So I've evened the playing field a little. I've activated one of those inhibitors (the strongest model yet!), courtesy of our kappa friends. Some of you probably found that out already.? Yukari smiled slyly.

?Unyu...wait,? said Utsuho. ?So are you really expecting us to kill each other??

?It seems so,? said Yuyuko cheerfully. ?How exciting!?

Tenshi spoke up. ?It sounds like one of those murder mystery games. We had a number of them back in ??

?Ah, I'm hurt, I really am,? said Yukari. ?But I expected this kind of reaction. That's why I brought something to break the ice for you today!? She motioned to the large metal contraption on the table.

?What, are we supposed to crack open the safe and fight for the treasure in it?? said Marisa.

?I got back from Kourindou just a little while ago,? said Yukari. ?This is a Machine of Death from the outside world. You put your finger in this little hole, and the machine takes a little blood sample from you. And then it tells you how you're going to die! I mean, isn't that great?? She paused and looked around the room. ?So, who wants to go first??

There was a momentary silence, then Mokou stepped forward and said gruffly, ?Oh, look, I'll do it.? She slid her finger into a slot on the side of the machine. There were a few clicks and whirrs, and then a small, rectangular slip of paper popped out from another slot. Mokou quickly glanced at the slip and then with a grin, held it out with outstretched arms, turning for everyone to see. It said, in large blocky letters, ?NATURAL CAUSES?.

?See?? said Mokou. ?It's obviously a joke. Nothing to it.? She shuffled back to the wall with a smug grin.

One by one, the rest of us were herded past the machine and given our slips of paper. There were no further interruptions or objections; people seemed either deathly serious or completely cavalier in the atmosphere of apprehension and anticipation. When I got my turn, I took a mental snapshot of my slip and then chewed up the paper, just in case. An interesting result to say the least.

I made a point to see what other results were being handed out,  but most weren't quite as forthcoming with their results as Mokou. When Youmu tripped on her way back from the machine, I saw ?SMOOTH? on her slip. I also caught a glimpse of Sanae's slip as she stumbled drunkenly back to her chair:  ?MOIST?.

I noticed that Alice had sat down rigidly in her chair after receiving her slip? fists clenched, lips pressed tightly together, and face pale even accounting for the makeup. ?Is something wrong, Alice??

Alice jerked her head and looked at me as if she'd seen a ghost. ?I-I'm fine.?

I pointed at her slip. ?Do you mind if I??

?NO!? yelled Alice hoarsely. ?I mean, yes. Yes, I mind. Just ? just leave me alone!? And with a screech, she ran out of the room.

Reimu picked up the crumpled sheet of paper under Alice's chair before I could. I looked on as Reimu unfolded the paper and smoothed it out. I would be able to see the writing from here.

?This is quite an unusual game, Yukari,? said Eiki. ?Are you going to see what result you get as well??

?Well, I don't see why not!? said Yukari. ?Always useful information to know, after all.? She poked her finger into the machine and picked up the little slip of paper.

?Oh my, it looks like I'm going to die to...? A look of puzzlement spread across Yukari's face, followed by what looked like...fear?

Reimu finished unfolding the piece of paper. ?HOMICIDE? in big, bold letters.

The lights suddenly flickered on and off. A scream.

Yukari collapsed onto the table full force, lifeless eyes rolling back into her head. Leftover refreshments scattered everywhere. Shouts of confusion. Breaking glass.

I turned just in time to see the slip of paper fluttering out of her hand. The prediction clearly visible for a fraction of a second. ?BETRAYAL?.

Another portal opened above the table. A grotesque specter in Yukari's image appeared, but dressed entirely in black and white. A life-size doll. Where did it come from?

The nightmare had begun.


PROLOGUE END
0 students dead, 16 to go.