As I walked past the Movie Room, I noticed there was an interesting movie coming on soon called "The Happiest Ending". It was described as a drama where a girl deals with various social challenges growing up, and what she did to overcome them.
I pointed it out to Makoto, who I had seen in the Movie Room before, and asked if he wanted to see it with me.
"Yeah, sure!" Makoto responded, before looking over at Kaito. "Hey, Kaito, wanna watch a movie with us?"
Kaito looked over the display outside the Movie Room, describing the movie.
"Yeah, sure, why not?" Kaito finally said. "I ain't doing nothing tonight anyway."
Celeste, seeing the three of us standing next to the digital movie poster, glanced it over as well.
"Hmmm. Not my usual cup of tea, but it doesn't look too terribly boring. Perhaps I shall accompany the three of you," she commented, to my surprise.
Chihiro and Chiaki declined, stating they wanted to work on something together. I figured it might deal with Alter Ego, but I decided not to ask them.
"Sorry. Dramas aren't my preference," Mukuro flatly replied.
Kenchikka and Theo wanted to discuss something in private, and left towards the Dorms.
That left me, Kaito, Makoto, and Celeste to watch the movie together.
The four of us entered the Movie Room. While Kaito, Makoto, and I got ourselves some popcorn and soda, Celeste walked over to her seat, in the front row.
"I would rather not partake in such distasteful provisions," she snidely commented.
Shrugging her off, the rest of us grabbed some popcorn and soda, then we all sat in the first row together. Celeste sat on one edge, and I sat on the other, with Makoto and Kaito in the middle.
The lights go out, and the movie started with a little girl, whose parents thought she would be born a boy, and had a boy name picked out for her. Despite their initial disappointment, they grow to love their newborn daughter anyway.
The movie continues, picking up when the girl, named Shawna, is going to elementary school. The girls exclude her from any birthday parties, and the boys tell her she is ugly. One afternoon, she even shuts her bedroom door, curls up in front of it, and cries.
Despite this, the girl keeps her grades up, maintaining As and Bs throughout her school education. Her parents are content with this, so Shawna focuses on her studies, ignoring the jeers of the boys and girls at school as much as possible.
Eventually, high school comes, and with that, more challenges. Shawna is ridiculed by the girls for choosing "nerdy" classes, while the boys start to take some interest in her, now that she's older and filling out more.
One boy decides to ask her out on a date. Eager for affection, she agrees. However, after they go out to eat, the boy drives into a parking lot and tries to assault her. He forces Shawna to open her mouth, and she bites down on his member until he promises to take her home, immediately.
The next day, the boy breaks up with her in front of everyone, calling her a prude. Shawna turns and runs away, tears streaming down her face, as the boys laugh at her.
Prom comes, and a different boy asks her to prom. She agrees to go with him, and even purchases a nice dress with her own work money. However, on Prom Night, she finds another girl in the car with the boy when he goes to pick her up. Revealing her as his real date, he drives off, leaving the girl in tears in her driveway.
Finally, Graduation Day comes, and with it, freedom from the cruelty of school life.
Shawna is offered a promotion at her job, since she can work more hours now. However, her new boss says Shawna won't get a pay raise unless she sleeps with him at work. Insulted, Shawna quits her job instead of accepting the promotion or the pay raise.
With no job and no money, Shawna gets evicted from her apartment. Refusing to turn to drugs or selling herself, she returns to her parents house "until I can get back on my feet".
The movie ends the next morning, with Shawna's parents calling for her to come down for breakfast, and hearing no response, go into her room. To their horror, her feet are showing dangling in her room; the rest of her isn't shown on the screen.
The credits roll, and the lights come back on. A click is heard, indicating the door is now unlocked.
"Well, that was depressing," Kaito commented.
Makoto replied, "True, but the movie itself was still good."
"If by 'good', you mean 'watching a girl die because she couldn't adapt to her surroundings', then yes, it was very good." Celeste remarked.
I wasn't sure what to think. It felt... so personal. I could feel her despair in every scene, and it really hit home for me.
"Well, at least we all have something to live for, right?" Makoto offered. "I mean, I want to see my sister, Komaru, again."
"And I still need to walk amongst the stars," Kaito declared. "The Luminary of the Stars cannot be denied his destiny!"
"What about you, Bera? What do you seek to do, once you leave here? Anyone on the outside you want to see again?"
I thought long and hard to myself. Why did I want to leave here so badly? Who did I want to see?
My dad hated me. My mom loved me, but was always so busy with her job. I had no siblings, no real friends on the outside.
"I... I really don't know," I finally confessed.
"Truly? You have no one awaiting you? What a pity," Celeste responded, with a tinge of disappointment in her voice.
"Hey, don't worry about that right now. You're alive, right? You can find your own reason to live!" Kaito beamed back.
As Makoto and Kaito left, Celeste remained with me.
"Bera, if you speak true, there may be a loophole you can exploit to end this game."
I tilted my head, somewhat interested. "Really? What would that be?"
"Well, if the Blackened and the Victim were the same, Monorakun couldn't execute the Blackened. We could exploit this to our advantage, and force Monorakun to let us go."
Celeste devised a plan for me to carry out. I told her I would have to think about it.
I spent the rest of the day thinking about what Celeste had told me. If the Victim and the Blackened were the same person... Could Monorakun execute a dead person? How would that even work? Would Monorakun truly have no way to properly end the Trial?
Would everyone remaining truly go free? I decided to sleep on it.
I woke up at 7am to the usual Monorakun morning announcement. It was now Monday, November 7, and I had made my decision.
I took a shower, listening to "Talking to My Angel" by Melissa Etheridge. Afterwards, I got dressed, and headed to the Dining Hall for breakfast.
Theo had prepared a traditional Japanese breakfast of tamagoyaki (a rectangular rolled omelet), steamed rice, and grilled fish.
I ate in relative silence, only answering Kaito when he asked me if I was alright.
"Yeah, just lost in thought, that's all," I responded to him.
It wasn't a lie. Celeste was right. I was in a unique position to save us all, and I was ready to do what I had to do, so that everyone else could leave.
At the Gym, I found a jump rope in a small equipment closet. I stomped on the plastic handles to break them off, tied off one end, and then headed into the Boys Locker Room.
I tied one end of the jump rope to a locker handle, and tossed the other end over a beam.
As I stared at the knot dangling from the ceiling, I heard a gasp behind me
Turning around, my heart sunk in my chest.
Chihiro was standing in the doorway, eyes wide open, mouth agape, as he saw me standing next to a noose.