Hikaru on page 4, Shiori on 7, Sakurai twins on 8, Raku on 9, Miyu on 10, Satoru on 11, Shu on 12, Rena and Nazuna on 13, Hiroyuki on 14, Reika on 16, Miharu on 17, Toru on 18, Usagi on 19

Outside

Upon opening the doors, we are immediately greeted by...









Blue sky.

Bright sunlight.

Gentle wind.

And---









Yui: a-A cage...? A wall?

Both words can be accurate. What stands before us is both cage and wall. Either way, it means we cannot get out.

It’s like a snow globe, isolated from the rest of the world...how else could I describe it? As well as the glass hemisphere covers the whole school, dark iron-barred fences rise to several dozen meters high, no matter where we look---ahead, behind, above, or all around... The cage surrounds the entire school.

Hikaru: What the hell is this...? We’re trapped?!

Yui: What’s going...on...?

For a moment we only stand in shock, looking up at the sky that is out of reach.

Monokubs: Rise and shine ursine-!

Again, a group of strange stuffed bears appear, and a red Monotaro starts talking to us.

Monotaro: Surprised about the cage, huh? I totally understand how you feel. The first time I saw it, my teeth and fingernails fell out.

Monophanie: That’s not a healthy way to react to a surprise!

Monokid: Byeow! But it’s so awsomely huge! I can see why it’s called the End Wall!

Yui: The End Wall...?

It’s such a grand name that I cannot help but ask. What does ‘the end’ mean?

Monosuke: Normally, walls are erected to separate two places, right? But that wall is different. It represents...the end of the world.

Yui: I don’t understand...What are you...talking about...?

Monosuke jokes around. And then, all the others start messing around.

Monosuke: ...Hm? What were we taking about?

Monotaro: Huh? Was someone talking? Was I talking?

Monokid: ...Bwee-heehee, hahahahahaha!

Hikaru: Hey, stop messin’ around and explain yourselves!!

Hikaru let out an angry voice. Monophanie blinks lazily.

Monophanie: There’s nothing to explain. This is simply how it is, so please don’t bother.

Then, she looks up at the wall.

Monophanie: You can’t get out of here. That wall has no entrances or exits, and it cannot be climbed or demolished.

Fear overcomes me all of a sudden. I cannot stop myself and I bolt---leaving the Monokubs and Hikaru behind. My loafers strike against the wide stone pavement which stretches out from the entrance of the academy. The sound of each step drifts farther and farther away, fading from my ears.

Yui: s-Someone, someone,

I take a shallow breath and shout at the wall as loud as I can.



Yui: Someone!!! Help us!!!



The voice rising high is so loud that I barely believe it’s my own. Is it reaching anyone? For my all shouting, no response comes back. Not a single figure is in sight. The pure, cloudless blue sky presses down on me like a weight.



Yui: Please!!! Help us!!! We’re trapped in this huge wall!!!



The glass wall thraws my shout back at me, echoing relentlessly. I strain my throat harder, harder, even louder to refuse to be drowned out.



Yui: Pleeeaaase!!! Help uuuuuusss!!!



This is wrong. A kidnapping is happening right here, right now. And besides, this is a massive building...there’s no way no one has noticed. However, the glass dome says nothing. It gives no answer.

Yui: Help us...!! ...Anybody...hahh...hahhh...

My head droops. My voice feels hollow and empty, and my throat hurts so hard.

Monophanie: Please stop! You’ll hurt your throat!

Monokid: Yeah! Scream all you like, no one can hear you anyway!

By then, the Monokubs have caught up and are tugging at me, as if to stop me. I still have a voice left. I don’t want to accept that no one is answering.

Hikaru calls out sharply.

Hikaru: No one...can hear us? What the hell makes you so sure about that?

The Monokubs freeze into silence.

Hikaru: What. You guys all busted? You sound sure of yourselves...so you must know something, right? Hey, say something.

Monotaro: ......Wow, Monodam is ignoring them excellently. Cuz he refuses to open his heart!

Monotaro suddenly switches the subject.

Monokid: My fearsome bullying makes that happen!

Monophanie: Now, now, let’s all get along.

Monosuke: Shut up! We’re the Monokubs! We need to be tough and whatnot!

Hikaru: ...What is this place? What’s all this...?

He looks down and mutters to the shadow at his feet. The Monokubs picks up on his words.

Monotaro: You bastards’ll hafta use your legs, hands and eyes to find that out of yourselves.

Monophanie: But please watch your step while you explore. The school is still under construction.

Yui: Under construction?

With such an enormous structure prepared? I raise my head to run my eyes through the outside again.

Yui: It’s...true.

From here, we can see for the first time that the upper floors of the school building are covered with sheets and steel beams.

Hikaru: Are they renovatin’ an abandoned school or in the middle of building some new facilities?

Monotaro: Either way, the construction will finish soon once we set the Exisals on autopilot.

Yui: Exisals?

It is an unfamiliar word.

Monokid: Once part of a biker gang, the Exisals now work construction to support their wives and kids!

Monophanie: ...Do robots really need that kinda backstory?

Monotaro: Their steering wheels are leopard print, and their dashboards are lined with arcade prizes!

Monosuke: Seriously, knock it off you guys! They sound like douchebags with backstories like those!

Monokubs: So long! Bear-well!

With no contexts, the Monokubs disappear.

Nothing makes sense. All the certainty and truth I know is not in this place. All beyond me. Instead, there are the ‘outside’ in parentheses and the nonsensical words left behind by one of the talking stuffed animals.

“You can’t get out of here. That wall has no entrances or exits, and it cannot be climbed or demolished.”

I shook my head to shake off these oppressive words. ---It’s too early. It’s too early to give up. Making myself to breathe evenly, I try to think.

Now I tried calling for help. The reason I didn’t hear a response might be because my voice wasn’t loud enough, or conversely, the response from the other side just didn’t reach me. Oh, how about trying out something else for a while? There are many things I can do besides calling for help. For example...

Yui: Hikaru, let’s go see if we can find a way out. We were brought here from the outside, so there has to be an exit, right...?

Hikaru: ...Right. And it’s not just two of us stuck here. There are sixteen in the same boat. If all of us team up, we’re definitely gonna find the way out! That’s what I believe.

His grin is wide and full of energy. Hope is little by little coming back, fragile but alive. Right, it’s too early to give up. If everyone joins hands, everything’s gonna be fine.