(Kuno Sawa's pov)

Mondo, Kyoko, Sayaka, Sakura, Junko, Makoto, Taka, Hifumi and I were now in front of the gym's entrance. I looked back at everyone and sighed.

"You guys okay?", I asked.

"God, I had no idea this Hope's Peak Academy place was gonna be such a pain in my balls. It really ain't that much different from the time I spent in juvie. Hell, this place is even worse!", Mondo complained.

"And why isn't there anyone here? Walking through the halls, I didn't see a single person...", Sayaka mumbled, lost in thought.

"I can't hear anyone from the gymnasium, so the rest of the faculty must be somewhere else in the school. Maybe behind those gates near the stairs.", I concluded.

"Isn't that like, seriously not good?", Junko asked.

"Th-They're just trying to spook us! They'll take those metal plates down later, I'm sure of it...", Taka assured.

"All we can do now is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.", Sakura said with a determined look.

"Well hell, it ain't like I'm scared or nothin'. Let's just get this over with! Hey! Where's whoever called us here!?", Mondo ran through the gymnasium doors.

"Mondo, stop! No running!", Taka briskly walked after Mondo.

"I too shall go.", Sakura declared as she entered the gym.

"H-Hey, wait! Don't leave me here all alone!", Hifumi squealed in fear as he ran after Sakura.

"You're not alone, Hifumi...", I sighed to no one. I looked back at Makoto, who looked nervous. I gave him a pat on the back, which startled him for a second but looked back at me in confusion.

"Now, I'm not good with reassurance, but let's keep our heads up, yeah?", I encouraged.

"Y-Yeah... Thanks, Kuno.", Makoto smiled a bit as he relaxed his muscles. I looked at Kyoko, who seemed very calm and composed, despite the odd circumstances. Sayaka and Junko both looked a bit uneasy but were slowly calming themselves down. I decided to leave them be as I walked over to the gymnasium doors. I pushed them open with force and walked in to see the others. Not the faculty and whatnot, just the Ultimates that I met up until now. They were all staring at a podium on the stage, waiting for something to happen. I noticed that the others came to join me and that everyone was here. There were chairs and some sort of red carpet in the center of the gym.

"I guess that this looks like an entrance ceremony...", I mumbled.

"Yeah, it does.", Makoto backed up my claim.

"See? Told ya! It's totally normal entrance ceremony stuff.", Hiro nodded.

"Hiro, not to sound rude, but our views of "normal" are quite different here.", I laughed nervously. Then... Just then, all hell broke loss. A voice, overly cheerful and sadistic-sounding echoed through the room. I was sure it was none of us because I kept searching everyone's faces and no mouths were moving at all.

"Hey there, howdy, hello! Is everyone here? Good! Then let's get things rolling!", the voice cheered. Out of nowhere... Something appeared and plopped itself on the podium onstage. I didn't even know what to call it. A bear? No. Robot? Can't be. Human? Not a chance. A stuffed animal? Probably, but how the hell was it talking, I had no clue. This... *thing* was a bear that its whole face and body were divided by the center into two parts. It resembled the Yin-Yang symbol, of which there was a balance between two opposites in a way similar to a "flow". Its right side was white and had the classic expression of a teddy bear; While its left side showed a more sinister appearance. It was black, had a red horizontal stripe for an eye and an evil smile.
Although it was completely divided into two opposite sides, the only parts of the bear that were not affected by the division in its area are the snout and the belly, since both remain white. It also had a large, obvious belly button on the underside of its belly. Its protruding navel had an "X" shaped mark on it. Truly a symbol of "What the actual f*ck?"

"Huh? A... teddy bear?", Chihiro mumbled out.

"Nah, that's El Diablo right there, what the hell!?", I took a step back, ready to make a run for it to God-knows-where.

"I'm not a teddy bear! I... am... Monokuma! And I am this school's headmaster! Nice to meet you all!", Monokuma introduced in a carefree manner that was outright creepy.

"Wh--? Waaaaaah! That teddy bear can talk!", Hifumi screamed.

"Now you point out the obvious?!", I frantically yelled as I tried to piece together what was going on.

"Calm down! I'm sure there's just a speaker inside it.", Taka assured.

"I told you already, I'm not a teddy bear... I'm Monokuma! And I'm your headmaster!", Monokuma then got up and stood on its legs as it growled at us.

"Waaaaah! It moved!", Hifumi got behind one of the chairs in a frenzy. I ran up to one of the chairs, grabbed it, and held it up in front of me.

"El Diablo, begone!", I yelled as I waved the chair around. I could have pulled out my knife, but in the heat of the moment, I didn't know what to do.

"Seriously man, calm down! It's prolly just a remote control toy or somethin'.", Mondo said through gritted teeth.

"How dare you compare me to a child's plaything! You've cut me deep. Deeper than the Marina Trench... My remote control system is so complex, even the folks at NASA can't recreate or even comprehend it! Ah, but don't make me say stuff that might destroy NASA's dreams. I just couldn't BEAR that!", Monokuma was now making references, gloating, and USING PUNS!

"I... Someone tell me this is some sort of joke, please...", I mumbled.

" "Bear" that? Really? You are... unfortunate.", Celeste sighed.

"Now then, moving on! We really must hurry and get started...", Monokuma offered.

"Giving up already? No other stupid bear puns?", Junko asked.

"Don't encourage the thing!", I whisper-shouted.

"Quiet down, quiet down. Ah, okay, so...!", Monokuma began to gather its thoughts.

"He has abandoned the gag...", Sakura mumbled as I thanked every God in existence that the gag stopped.

"Everyone, stand at attention and bow! And... good morning!", Monokuma greeted.

"Good morning!!!", Taka bowed with enthusiasm that was both encouraging and creepy.

"Y-You don't have to s-say it back...", Toko grumbled.

"Now then, let us commence with a most noteworthy and memorable entrance ceremony! First, let's talk a bit about what your school life here will be like. Now, ah, make no mistake-- you few students, so full of potential, represent the hope of the world. And to protect such splendid hope... you will all live a communal life together solely within the confines of this school. Everyone will live in harmony together, and adhere to the rules and regulations of the school. Ah, now then... regarding the end date for this communal life... There isn't one! In other words, you'll all be here until the day you die! such is the school life you've been assigned.", at Monokuma's words, my whole body went rigid.

"What the hell...?", I managed to choke out.

"Wh-What did he just say? Until the day we d-die...?", Toko stuttered.

"Oh, but fear not! We have quite an abundant budget, so you won't lack for all the common conveniences.", Monokuma assured with his sick happy-go-lucky voice.

"That's the least of our worries right now!", Sayaka retorted.

"Yeah, what she said! You expect us to just cut off the outside world just like that?!", I said with clenched fists.

"Yeah, what the hell? You're saying I have to live here forever? You're screwing with us, right?", Junko asked with a disgusted look.

"I am not screwing with you! I am no liar, of that you can be 100% sure. Ah, and just for your information... Just as the blacksmith said, you're completely cut off from the outside world. So you don't have to worry about the dirty dirty land beyond these walls ever again!", Monokuma cheered.

"Cut off...? So all those metal plates all over the school... They're there to keep us trapped in here?", Makoto questioned with fear in his eyes.

"That's exactly what they're there for. No matter how much you may yell and scream for help... help will not come. So with all of that in mind, feel free to live out your life here with reckless abandon!", Monokuma offered. I felt my knees start to give out, but I held up nonetheless.

"Come on, what the hell is this? I don't care if the school or whoever else is behind it all, this is just a really bad joke.", Leon laughed nervously.

"Yeah! Cut this sh*t out! It isn't funny anymore!", Mondo snarled.

"You keep saying this is a lie, or a joke. A bunch of skeptics, all of you. But I guess you can't help it, huh? You all grew up in an age where you're taught to doubt your neighbor... Well, you'll have plenty of time to find out whether or not what I say is true. And when that time comes, you'll see with your own eyeballs that I speak the undeniable truth.", Monokuma said with its paws near its mouth, mirroring someone who was snickering at someone else.

"Having to live here forever would be... quite the problem.", Celeste sighed. I was jealous of how calm she seemed. Not only her but Byakuya and Kyoko, too. It was as if they went through this whole ordeal every other day.

"Come, now. What's the matter with all of you? You decided of your own free will to attend Hope's Peak Academy, didn't you? And now, before the entrance ceremony is even finished, you've already decided you want to leave? Oh, but you know... I guess I did forget to mention one thing. There *is* one way for you to leave the school...", Monokuma dragged on.

"R-Really...?", Toko couldn't believe her ears, and neither could I. It seemed too good to be true.

"As headmaster, I've crafted a special clause for those of you who would like to leave! I call it... the Graduation Clause! Now, let me tell you about this fun little rule. As I mentioned, in order to maintain an environment of harmony here, we rely on a communal lifestyle. And if someone were to disrupt that harmony, they and they alone would be allowed to leave the school. That, my students, is the Graduation Clause!", Monokuma explained with a wide grin.

"What do you mean by "disrupt the harmony"?", Byakuya asked as his patience wavered a bit. Then, as the world around me went quiet and the only words I could hear were that bastard headmaster's words did I feel my whole body go numb, my sight blur, my head spin, my voice hitch, my ears ring, my mouth dry up, and my world crash right in front of my eyes. Just from that damn bear...

"Puhuhu... Well, you know... If one person were to murder another."

"M-Murder!?", Makoto sputtered out the word like venom on his mouth.

"Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn't matter. You must kill someone if you want to leave. It's as simple as that. The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible.", I couldn't even reply to Monokuma's words, I was just... done. Gone. Another world. I couldn't, I *wouldn't* believe it. I could feel everyone shiver at the monochrome bear's words.

"Puhuhu. I bet *that* got your brain juices flowing! Beats the heck out of a human catching a salmon, huh? Like I said before, you guys are the hope of the world. But you know... Taking that hope and seeing it get murdered creates a darkened shadow of despair. And I just find that so... darn... exciting!", Monokuma laughed.

"What the hell are you talking about!? To kill each other is... It's...!", Leon mumbled with a shaky grin.

"To kill each other is to kill each other. I'm sure there's a dictionary here somewhere if you need it.", Monokuma deadpanned.

"We know what it means, that's not the problem! Why do we have to kill each other!?", Hina yelled.

"Yeah! Stop blabbering on with all this nonsense! Just let us go home already!", Hifumi screamed. Just then, Monokuma's red eye glowed and bored holes into each and every one of us.

"... Blabbering? Blabbering, blabbering, what do you mean blabbering!? Stop blabbering on about blabbering on! You guys just don't get it, do you? "Let us go, let us go!" You keep on saying the same thing over and over and over and over...! Listen. From this moment on, this school is your home, your life, your world. Got it? And you can kill as much as you wanna kill! So go ahead, go on a kill-kill-killing spree!", Monokuma cheered.

"Alright, come on... How long you gonna keep this up?", Hiro asked with a smile.

"Eh?", Monokuma tilted its head at Hiro's comment.

"You got us, okay? You scared the hell out of us. So you can go ahead and reveal the trick now.", Hiro laughed, but I couldn't even bring myself to smile just a bit.

"Reveal the trick...?", Monokuma looked confused.

"Yeah, cuz I mean... Y'know, this is all some kinda trick and all, right? So uh, like...", Hiro sounded less sure than before.

"Y-Your voice is c-cracking, Hiro.", I mumbled, but I was no better.

"Dude, shut the hell up and get outta my way.", with that, Mondo shoved Hiro aside and stood in front of Monokuma with his fists twitching.

"Listen up, a*shole! This sh*t's gone way too far! What the hell kinda joke IS this!?", Mondo barked.

"Joke? What, you mean like your hair?", Monokuma said with an innocent tone. This was what tipped the balance of Mondo's composure.

"FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU--!", Mondo roared as he launched at Monokuma with alarming speed. Mondo grabbed the bear by the face and lifted the thing up in the air. Monokuma flailed around in desperation.

"Gotcha, you little piece of sh*t! I dunno if you're a toy or a stuffed animal or whatever the hell! Either way, I'm gonna rip you to f*ckin' shreds!", Mondo yelled.

"Waah! Violence against the headmaster is in violation of school regulations!", Monokuma whined.

"Shut the f*ck up! Let me outta here, or I swear to Christ...", just then, beeping could be heard from the lifeless bear.

"What, no smarta*s comeback this time!?", Mondo taunted the still beeping bear. I felt dread take over my body. It couldn't be...

"Stop that goddamn beeping and SAY SOMETHING!", Mondo shouted. The beeping was getting louder and faster, and it could mean one thing...

"Mondo, look out!", I suddenly had the energy to sprint towards Mondo, grab the limb bear from his hands, and throw it in the air. Then, as I expected, Monokuma blew up. The distance was enough to save Mondo, but the shockwave was enough to push me back and slam me against the floor like a ragdoll. My ears rang and my head hurt like hell, but at least I wasn't dead.

"The hell!? Kuno!", Mondo's voice reached my ears as he ran up to me and inspected my weak frame. The others rushed up to me, calling out to me and helping me sit upright.

"I-I'm... fine.", I grunted as I got back up on my feet and made sure I didn't break any bones.

"The hell were you thinking!? You could've died, dammit!", Mondo yelled.

"I was thinking that someone else was gonna die if I didn't do something.", I said with conviction.

"But you could have died, Kuno!", Makoto scolded.

"Better than letting someone get hurt with 100% chance of death than helping and having an 80% chance of survival.", I muttered.

"But man, Th-That sure as sh*t wasn't a joke. It blew the hell up...", Mondo mumbled.

"But you know... This means that the teddy bear's been destroyed, right?", just as Chihiro uttered those words, someone's voice came shouting.

"I told you, I'm not a teddy bear! I'm Monokuma!", the bear was back, perfectly fine and not a pile of dust and smoke.

"Uwah! There's another one...?", Leon was just as taken aback as the rest of us.

"You son of a b*tch! You seriously tried to kill me and Kuno just now!", Mondo cussed.

"Well, yes. I was serious about trying to kill you. You did violate one of the school regulations, after all. I'll let you off with a warning this time, but you'd better be careful from now on. Any naughty boy or girl who violates my rules won't get off with just a little swat on the butt.", Monokuma threatened.

"Warnings aren't supposed to be bombs, you sh*t eating bear!", I yelled.

"How dare you! I eat only the finest of salmon!", Monokuma retorted.

"Does it look like I give a sh*t?!", I spat back.

"H-Hey... So does this mean there's mean like, a bunch more of you around somewhere?", Junko asked.

"Monokumas have been placed all throughout the school, yes. Plus, don't forget the surveillance cameras installed everywhere. And if you're caught breaking any rules, well... You all just saw what happened, right? Puhuhu... And I won't be so forgiving with my punishment next time. So don't let it happen again!", Monokuma snickered.

"Th-That's not even punishment. That's just... wrong...", Hina mumbled.

"Now then, lastly... To commemorate your joyous entry into our school, I have a little something for you... This is our official student handbook! Pretty cool, huh? As you can see, it's fully digital. So naturally, we call it... The e-Handbook!", Monokuma went down from the stage and passed the handbooks out to us.

"Ahem. Yes, well, moving on... This handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don't lose it! When you start it up, it will display your name. Always make sure you have the right one! Now, this is not your everyday notebook. It has so many more uses than that! Also, it's completely waterproof. Splash it, wash it, drown it, it'll keep ticking! And thanks to its space-age design, it can withstand an impact force of up to ten tons. Very resistant! It contains all of our school regulations, so make sure you review them thoroughly! You'll hear me say this alot, but any violation of school regulations will not be tolerated. Rules restrict, yes, but they also protect. Society, for example, would be utter chaos without laws. The same thing applies here! Which is why it's crucial we have strict punishments in place for violators. Okay, well... that brings our entrance ceremony to a close! Please enjoy your abundantly dreary school life! And... see ya!", with that, Monokuma disappeared, leaving us in a state of shock.

"So, guys... How would you define what we just experienced?", Taka asked in a cold sweat.

"How...? Why...? I don't understand any of this...", Leon mumbled.

"We have to l-live here forever...? Or... k-kill? Wh-What...? What just happened!?", Toko began to scream.

"Everyone, we need to just calm down. First, let's just take a second to summarize everything we just heard.", Kyoko instructed like there was no problem with what was going on.

"You want a summary? I'll give you one. We have two choices; number one, stay in this school for the rest of our lives. Number two; kill someone. So basically, it's kill or be killed if you want out of here, right?", I huffed bitterly. No one could blame me, I never asked for this and neither did anyone else.

"But... killing someone... That's...", Chihiro held back a sob of defeat.

"We were abducted out of nowhere and stuffed into this place meant to look like a school. And now we're supposed to start killing each other? This is... This is... this is just...! What IS this!?", Hifumi squealed in fear.

"A lie, is what it is. All these ridiculous things we've heard... This all has to be fake!", Taka sputtered.

"How can this be fake, Taka!? There was a BOMB used! I don't think potential bomb incidents can be considered a "Haha, got you!" moment!", I retorted.

"Right now it doesn't matter if it's real or fake. What matters is... Is there anyone here who's seriously considering all this...?", Byakuya asked everyone with narrowed eyes. To that, nobody had a response... I looked around at the students around me. Everyone saw staring at one another, trying to pry open each other's thoughts. I could almost feel the anxiety and hostility suffocating me. This was no prank, not by a long shot. This was the truth, the reality of the situation. "You must kill someone in order to escape.". Those words had planted vicious thoughts deep within each of us. We were all suspicious of each other. Everyone had to stay on their toes, thinking, "Is somebody going to betray us?".

And that was how my new school life began... This school, which had risen to the top for bringing hope so high... It's *not* a school of hope. It's... a school of despair. "You must kill someone in order to escape."... My mind froze and my breath caught in my throat as I thought about that... I could feel a paralyzing fear slowly making its way through my body, dominating every last nerve. The air hung heavy on me, pressing down like a weight around my neck. It took everything I had to just hold up my weight and not collapse to the ground in defeat... No, not yet. As if I'm going down without a fight. I'm not going to let that monochrome bear have its way with my mind. Not now, not ever.

## PROLOGUE: WELCOME TO DESPAIR ## ## THE END ## ## SURVIVING STUDENTS: 16 ##

# To Survive # # Daily Life #

But for as heavy as the air felt... all it took to pierce it was her sharp words.

"So? What are you going to do now? Just stand around glaring at each other?", it was Kyoko. Her words seemed to bring me and the others back to reality.

"R-Right... She's right! Sometimes, even if you're nervous or afraid, you just have to step forward! To forget such a simple fact... I can't forgive myself. I'm so ashamed! Please, someone hit me! I can't forgive myself! Somebody hit me! Punish me!", Taka pleaded with tears about to cascade from his eyes.

"Jesus. If you have time to yell about it, you have time to DO something about it.", Mondo grumbled.

"Perhaps, but... what is the mission, exactly?", Hifumi asked.

"Idiot! To look for a way out, duh!", Leon retorted.

"And we totally need to find whoever was controlling that stupid bear and beat the hell out of 'em.", Junko seethed.

"... B-But before we do all that, maybe we should take a look at the handbook... It's probably best to check the school regulations Monokuma mentioned before doing anything else.", Chihiro instructed shyly.

"True. If we stumble around with no clue what the rules are, something like that might happen again...", Celeste said with a small smile as she pointed at the dust left from the explosion.

"Sh*t...", Mondo mumbled. I gave him a sympathetic look for a second before turnng away and pulling out the student e-handbook to check the rules. I turned it on and saw my name flash onto the screen before a menu appeared. I selected the school regulations menu and looked up at everyone.

"You guys alright with me reading it aloud?", I asked.

"Go ahead.", Makoto said with a smile. I nodded and began reading.

"Number 1: Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time. Number 2: "Nighttime" is from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution. Number 3: Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly. Number 4: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion. Number 5: Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras. Number 6: Anyone... Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered. Number 7: Additional school regulations may be added as necessary.", I finished listing off the rules and looked back up at everyone.

"This is bullsh*t! What the hell kinda rules are these!? I'm not gonna let them control ME!", Mondo yelled.

"Well then, why don't you wander around the school without a care in the world and see what happens? Personally, I would love to see what happens when someone breaks one of the rules.", Celeste said with a giggle.

"Well, PERSONALLY, I would LOVE to see that people aren't batsh*t crazy! Are you out of your mind, Celeste? I don't think any of us will be breaking any rules anytime soon!", I retorted.

"Calm yourself, Kuno. You are a lady, you must act like one. Besides, it was just a suggestion.", Celeste calmed me down a bit.

"But if he got punished like what we saw before, I don't think there'd be a respawn waiting for him...", Hifumi mumbled.

"... I... Ever since I was a kid, I grew up with my older brother pounding this into my head... When a man makes a promise, he has to keep it, even if it kills him.", Mondo reminisced.

"...So what?", Junko yawned.

"I've made a ton of promises that I still have to keep, that's "so what"! So I can't afford to die in here!", Mondo retorted.

"None of that made much sense to me, but you are saying you will follow that regulations, is that it?", Celeste asked as she twirled her hair in her hands.

"Huh? Oh, well... yeah, I guess you're right.", Mondo sighed.

"Hey, um... I have a question. For regulation number six... what do you think it means exactly?", Sayaka asked about the whole "blackened" thing.

"You're talking about the second half, right? Where it says "unless they are discovered"? I was wondering about that myself.", Makoto mumbled.

"It's saying that if you want to graduate, you have to kill someone without anyone finding out it was you.", Byakuya explained.

"B-But why...? Why do we h-have to do that?", Toko stuttered.

"My guess is this: If the person who killed someone gets found out, then the "communal life" that Monokuma set up would be disturbed, hence why they need to be unknown. But I'm still concerned about what happens AFTER someone gets caught.", I summarized.

"I don't see any reason to worry about it. Just worry about following the rules as they've been explained to us. Frankly, I don't want to hear anything from someone who waits for others to decide what to do for them.", Byakuya taunted Toko. That made me ticked off.

"D-Don't jab at me...", Toko mumbled with a weird smile on her face.

"More like full-on stab...", Leon mumbled.

"Byakuya, I don't get it. Isn't what you described what you do in your daily life?", I asked innocently.

"What?", Byakuya narrowed his eyes at me.

"Oh, you know... You wait for your maids and butlers to decided what to do for you all the time! Clothes, food, events, everything. So I don't see how you should be the one to taunt others about that.", I smirked.

"What did you just say?", Byakuya seethed, but Hina cut him off.

"Well for now, let's forget all that silly junk about murderers or taunts or whatever. Now that we know the rules, let's start exploring the school!"

"True. We need to find out where exactly we are. Is there any way out? What about food and supplies? There are tons of questions we need to answer!", Taka confirmed.

"Damn straight! Okay, then let's all start looking around!", Leon pumped his fists in the air with determination.

"... I'll be going alone.", Byakuya stated.

"What!? Why? That's a pretty stupid idea, don't you think?", Junko said with sass.

"Someone here might already have started thinking about murdering one of us. Are you saying we should stand around with them in our midst and make it that much easier for them?", Byakuya asked.

"W-Wait, hold on a second. That would never--!", Sayaka was cut off by Byakuya's chilling comment.

"Don't bother saying it couldn't happen. You can't deny the possibility. That's why you all seized up with fear when that graduation rule was made clear to you. Am I wrong?", Byakuya smirked.

"Byakuya, I get that you don't trust anyone here, but if you keep saying things like that... You're just making everyone anxious! It's not helping the situation.", I stated.

"I'm simply acting in accordance with what I think is best for me.", Byakuya defended casually.

"Hold on! Like hell I'm gonna let you run off and do whatever you want!", Mondo snarled.

"Out of my way, plankton.", Byakuya looked at Mondo with disgust. Even though Mondo was a lot taller than Byakuya, the latter made it seem like he was looking down on him.

"Wh--!? The f*ck's that supposed to mean!?", Mondo spat.

"One tiny bit of plankton, drifting across the sea. So minuscule, so insignificant, they couldn't possibly have any kind of influence on the boundless ocean.", Byakuya mused.

"I'm gonna kick your a*s!", Mondo marched up to Byakuya with force, and that's when Makoto stepped in.

"S-Stop it! We shouldn't fight!", Makoto interjected as he ran in between the two.

"The f*ck you just say? You some kinda goody-goody little b*tch? Who do you think you are, talkin' to me like that? You think you're my f*ckin' dad or something!?", Mondo seethed as he clenched his fists.

"N-No, I wasn't--!", but Mondo wasn't hearing any of it.

"F*ck you!", and that's when Mondo punched Makoto square in the face, letting the small boy soar through the air before crashing down in a heap.

"MAKOTO!!", I called after the boy as I sprinted towards him in a panic. Makoto passed out in seconds. I cradled Makoto's head in my hands as some of the students ran to my side to check. Mondo wasn't one of them. I looked back at the guy and snapped.

"What the hell were you thinking?! No, you weren't thinking! Why the hell did you hurt him!? He was trying to help you think rationally and all you did was punch him in the face as a thank you?!", I yelled.

"I-It wasn't--!"

"It wasn't your fault?! Then who's was it, Mondo?", I asked in a fit of rage. I didn't wait for an answer as I carried Makoto on my back. I wasn't that strong, but at least I could carry someone. I walked towards the doors of the gym, but I looked back at everyone before sighing.

"I'm taking him back to the dorms. There must be some room for him to rest. Later.", and with that, I left. I looked around for a bit until I finally found Makoto's room, which had a small pixel drawing of him on the door with his name on it. I found the keys that were strategically placed near the door, probably by Monokuma. I unlocked the door and entered. The room looked nice enough. It had a bed, a table, a desk, and a small bathroom in the corner. I put Makoto gently on the bed before tucking him in and leaving. I put the keys on the table and closed the door silently. I sighed before deciding to look around for a bit. The areas that were open were the dorms, the main hall, the dining hall, the kitchen, the storage room, and a bunch of other closed areas that looked off limits. I kept searching until 7 p.m. rolled around. I remembered that the rest of the students wanted to meet up at the dining hall around this time, so I went over. I found everyone sitting there, including Makoto. I guessed he woke up during my investigation. I sat down quietly on one of the chairs and pulled out my small custom-made pocket knife. I twirled it around my finger absentmindedly, waiting for the meeting commence.

"Okay! It looks like everyone's here. Time to start the meeting! Let's all go around and share what we found out during our respective investigations! The sooner we find out what's going on, the sooner we get out of here!", Taka instructed.

"Wait, hold on a sec!", Junko interupted.

"What's wrong!?", Taka asked.

"What about, uh... what's her name? You know, the silver-haired girl.", Junko elaborated.

"You mean Kyoko? Yeah, where is she?", I asked.

"What!?", Taka and the rest scanned the dining hall, but no signs of Kyoko.

"I wonder where she went. Has anyone seen her?", Hina asked, but everyone shook their heads no.

"Wait, so *nobody's* seen her...?", Chihiro mumbled. At that moment, I remembered what Monokuma said earlier.

"Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn't matter. You must kill someone if you want to leave. It's as simple as that. The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible."

I pushed the thought out of my head. No, she seemed too composed to do something so reckless. She must be tired or something.

"Darn it, Kyoko! You're really going to be late like this on the first day of school!? Not only is she late, she didn't tell anyone she would be late! A most unbecoming personality trait...", Taka grumbled.

"You're being a real jacka*s right now, you know that?", Junko mused.

"Well what do you want me to do!? Punctuality is everything! Now then, I declare that the first session of the Hope's Peak Academy briefing meetings had begun!", Taka announced. Makoto and Sayaka seemed to have paired up with one another, which was good for them. Teamwork was essential in moments like these. I decided to speak to Sayaka first.

"Hey Sayaka, can you help me for a second? I went off on my own investigation, but I want to know what happened with the rest of the students. Can you brief me on everything?", I asked.

"Of course! Okay, so since you're in the dark about all this, let me lay out what's been going on. Everyone split up to investigate different parts of the building, but... (Byakuya) and (Taka) each went off on their own, and so did Kyoko.", Sayaka explained. I looked at Byakuya with a face that said: "Lay it out".

"I wanted to try and find some clue as to who's responsible for imprisoning us here... But unfortunately, I made no such discoveries. That's all from me...", Byakuya stated.

"Really? That's it?", Taka pressed.

"If I'd uncovered anything, naturally I would have more to say. But I didn't. So I don't.", Byakuya turned away from us without another word.

"Okay then. What about you, Taka? Find anything?", I asked.

"I spent some time looking around the dormitory, and... There I made the discovery of the century! I found that there was exactly one room for each person!", Taka exclaimed. I deadpanned for a second but decided not to crush the poor guy's dreams, but Hina did it anyways.

"Well yeah, I figured that out before anything else..."

"Each door already has a nameplate on it, so I guess all the rooms have been assigned already.", Junko guessed.

"And each room key was attached to a keychain with the owner's name precision-etched onto it.", Sakura showed us her room key with her name on it.

"And Chihiro and I found out that all the rooms are totally soundproof.", Junko exclaimed.

"Your next-door neighbor could scream their lungs out, and you wouldn't hear a thing...", Chihiro mumbled. I wanted to ask if she actually tested it, but I kept quiet to avoid embarrassment.

"Well, each room also had a private bathroom, which could also lock.", Celeste said with a smile.

"But it looked like there were only locks on the bathrooms in the girls' dorms.", Junko continued on.

"Okay, so they got a bunch of rooms ready for us. They're assuming we're gonna be here a while...", Mondo huffed.

"Well, better to have than have not! At least we don't have to worry about surviving like wild animals.", Taka encouraged.

"Th-That can't be all you have to r-report, can it Mr. Honor S-Student?", Toko taunted.

"... That's all for my report! Let's move on to whoever's next!", Taka declared. I looked back at Sayaka for guidance.

"It looks like (Leon, Hiro, Junko and Chihiro) all grouped together.", Sayaka pointed out.

"We went all up and down the school, double-checking the windows in all the hallways and classes. We wanted to see if we could get any of those metal plates to come off. And what happened was...", Junko trailed off.

"Nothing. Not a damn thing. We couldn't get a single one to budge even a little bit.", Leon sighed.

"There wasn't any hope of escape anywhere... The school really has been totally cut off.", Chihiro was about to burst into tears, but I patted her on the back to calm them down.

"This sucks... It *really* sucks! It sucks sucks sucks sucks SUCKS! What the hell are we gonna do!?", Junko complained.

"Goddamn, calm down! You're starting to make me nervous!", Leon calmed Junko down on the side.

"Anything else, Sayaka?", I asked.

"The same goes for (Hina, Sakura, and Mondo). (Celeste, Toko, and Hifumi) were left over, so they joined up.", Sayaka explained.

"Hina, Sakura, and Mondo... What did you guys find?", I asked.

"We thought maybe we could find some way to communicate with the outside, so we went looking all over! But... we didn't find a thing. Sorry...", Hina apologized. I smiled back at her and gave her a nod that it was fine.

"I went back to the main hall, thinking maybe we could do something about that giant hunk of metal. But even with Sakura and me both, it wouldn't budge. We hit it with desks and chairs, and nothin'... It was hard as, like... metal.", Mondo tried to find the right word, but couldn't.

"Well yes, it *is* metal...", Celeste pointed out the obvious. I guess Mondo learned his lesson because he didn't go throw a fit about it.

"Anyway, if we're gonna get outta here, it's not gonna be through there.", Mondo explained.

"I feel like I could just cry... But no, I have to hold it in! I have to manage my hydration...!", Hina sighed.

"I shall tell you what happened next... It has nothing to do with communicating with the outside world, but it's still worth worrying about. In both the school and dorm area, there was a set of stairs leading up to another floor.", Sakura stated.

"But there were gates there, and we couldn't find any way to open them, so we couldn't check it out.", Hina grumbled.

"In other words, at this point we are only able to search the 1st floor. We can further assume that there is potentially something above the 2nd floor, as well. And if that's the case, there is at least a chance it may lead to a way out.", Sakura declared.

"Got it. Better than no chances, I guess. What about you guys, Celeste, Toko, Hifumi?", I turned to the last of the group.

"If I am being honest, I can't quite say we acted as one. Rather, we did *nothing* as one. We spent the entire time in the gym. Honestly, we are not exactly the types to go running around a school like a gaggle of junior detectives.", Celeste confessed.

"You COULD have helped a little by checking the backstage of the gym's podium! That's where Monokuma disappeared off to and it could have led to something.", I sighed.

"W-Well it's not like any of you i-invited me along! Nobody said hey, c-come with us! I blame y-you for leaving me out! I-It's your fault!", Toko excused.

"Toko, listen. Nobody invited me either, but at least I actually did something! Besides, why would you need an invite to check for a way out and SURVIVE!? That is just terrible logic on your part, Toko.", I sighed with my fingers pinching the bridge of my nose.

"N-No one asked for your o-opinion!", Toko retorted.

"Ya know, if you wanted to go with someone, you should've just said something!", Junko seethed at the lack of cooperation.

"Hmph. F-Forget it. Like I'd w-want to go anywhere with a dirty s-slut like you...", Toko grumbled.

"Slut...?", Junko looked taken aback by that comment.

"Your mind is as th-thin as your body. You m-make me sick to my s-stomach...", Toko gagged.

"I... I don't even know how to react. How can you say something so awful to someone you just met!", Junko was about to throw down, but I held her back and just told her it wasn't worth it.

"Alright guys, everybody just calm down, okay? All this stress is bad for your skin, y'know?", Hiro mentioned matter-of-factly.

"Yeah! It sounds like you two are so close now you're fighting like sisters!", Sayaka defended innocently enough.

"Well, the only people that are left are Sayaka and Makoto. What did you guys find?", I asked.

"Well, I actually woke up when the investigation ended, so I'm sorry to say that I haven't found anything. Sorry I couldn't be of much use.", Makoto apologized.

"No need to be sorry, Makoto. It's not your fault you were unconscious.", I smiled.

"H-Hey, Kuno... I heard you were the one who took me back to my room, so thank you. I appreciate you helping me!", Makoto said with probably the most innocent smile I have ever seen. I could have melted into mush at that second.

"N-No, it's quite alright! I just did what I thought was right is all! U-Um, anyways! Sayaka, what did you find?", I asked the girl, who was watching us with a happy smile.

"I went and had a look around the dining hall... I found a fridge in the back of the kitchen, and it was overflowing with all kinds of stuff. I guess we don't have to worry about food, at least."

"Sure, for now. But even with all that, there are sixteen of us. How long can the food last...?", Hifumi questioned.

"Y-You can just eat sesame s-seeds or something...", Toko suggested.

"Toko, we're not birds. The human body can't survive off seeds.", I explained.

"I don't think we have to worry about it. All the food gets restocked automatically each day. At least, that's what Monokuma said...", Sayaka mused.

"You saw that thing!?", I backed up and felt goosebumps coat my entire body.

"Yeah, he came out of nowhere while I was checking the fridge, told me that, then disappeared again. He was so fast, I can't believe someone could have been moving him around with a remote control...", Sayaka mumbled.

"A weaponized toy that can just appear from nowhere... I can't tell if we're supposed to be afraid or not.", Chihiro visibly shuddered.

"But was everything okay? He didn't try to like, eat you or anything?", Hina asked.

"E-Eat her...? Um, what do you mean by that? I mean, when you say "eat," what kind of eating are we talking about?", Hifumi dreamed. The others were about to comment on his odd behaviour, but I beat them to it. I walked up to him and grabbed him by the ear. I pulled hard and made him listen.

"If I ever see or hear you even mention anything perverted or sexual in any way in front of me, whether it was about me or someone else, I will grab the nearest sharp object and stab you with it and watch your insides bleed out on the floor. Do I make myself clear, Hifumi Yamada?", I seethed.

"Y-Yes, Miss Sawa!", Hifumi trembled. I let go of him and turned back to everyone with a small smile.

"Now, back to business?", just as I was gonna continue, a voice cut me off. A voice I haven't heard in a while.

"You're all spending an awful lot of time yelling and carrying on. Do you really think you can afford to do so? Have none of you accepted the reality of the situation?", it was Kyoko, as calm as ever and dissing us very professionally.

"Kyoko! Where the heck have you been!? We already started the meeting without you!", Taka yelled. Kyoko didn't say a word as she dropped a piece of paper on the table.

"Huh? What's this...?", Makoto asked as he picked it up and everyone gathered around him.

"It appears to be a map of Hope's Peak Academy.", Kyoko stated.

"A map...?", Makoto put it down on the table and, as Kyoko mentioned, revealed it was indeed a map.

"Wh-What the...? Where did you find this?", Taka asked.

"It doesn't matter where I found it.", Kyoko brushed off.

"It DOES matter! You're really freaking us out right now!", Taka retorted.

"Never mind that. What's it mean?", Junko asked.

"Just look at it. The building we're in right now is laid out in precisely the same way as Hope's Peak Academy.", Kyoko explained.

"So what you're saying is... this really is Hope's Peak Academy?", Makoto guessed.

"Well, in terms of its construction, yes. But it looks like it's had a number of strange... renovations done to it.", Kyoko said as she looked back at the map.

"Renovations...?", Makoto questioned himself.

"I don't know all the details yet. All I found was details about the 1st floor.", Kyoko sighed.

"My guess is the renovations were made for this sick game Monokuma made.", I mused.

"But then... this really is Hope's Peak. We didn't get kidnapped and taken to some other place...", Chihiro realized.

"So stupid it's not even possible. *This* is where the country's future elite are supposed to come and learn?", Mondo grumbled.

"But if this really is Hope's Peak, where are all the other students?", Hina asked.

"Hey, come on, guys. Let's just stop talking about all this... you know, negative stuff...", Hiro sighed.

"But aren't you worried? Things don't look good...", Makoto mentioned.

"Worried? What's there to be worried about? I mean, this was all planned out, right? The people in charge of Hope's Peak put this all together, right? Man, if I got stressed every time something like this happened, I'd have ectoplasm shooting out my mouth! Good things come to those who wait, right? So we just gotta chill and everything'll work itself out!", Hiro explained with a hearty laugh, completely forgetting the fact that we could die at any second. Not that I could blame him.

"Hahaha!", Celeste's laughter cut Hiro's encouragement off.

"Wh-Why are you laughing? What's so funny!?", Toko questioned.

"I am just happy, that is all. It seems splitting up to investigate was a good idea, after all.", Celeste explained.

"Haven't you b-been listening!? Looking around was a t-total waste of t-time! We d-didn't find a way out, didn't f-find who's behind this. We still have no idea what's g-going on!", Toko retorted.

"Huh? Is it not crystal clear to you what is going on? It is perfectly obvious that we have been imprisoned in some secret location, with no way out.", Celeste replied flatly. No one had a response to her comment. We didn't want to believe it, but it was staring us right in the face.

"You didn't h-have to go and s-say that. I w-was trying not to th-think about it... N-No way out... We're t-trapped here. What are w-we supposed to d-do...?", Toko scratched at her head in frustration.

"It's very simple. If you want to leave, you just have to kill--", I cut Byakuya off.

"Now is *not* the time for that, Byakuya!"

"Everyone just calm down, please! We need to stop and think about what to do from here.", Sayaka suggested.

"There's gotta be *something* we can do...", Leon muttered.

"All we can do is adapt. Adapt to living our lives here from now on.", Celeste smiled.

"Live here...? Are you saying we should just accept it?", Chihiro almost sobbed out.

"A lack of adaptability... is a lack of survivability. Survival is not based on who is the strongest or the smartest. It comes down to who can adapt. As someone who has come out on top more than once, I have a suggestion.", Celeste looked back at us with her prideful smile.

"Huh? What do you mean?", Mondo urged.

"We all understand that we are trapped here. Which means we will be spending the night. However... You all remember the rule regarding nighttime, right?", Celeste asked.

" "Nighttime" is from 10PM to 7AM. Some area are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution. Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.", I quoted.

"Yes, that is correct. So regarding the "nighttime," I think we need to add a rule of our own.", Celeste offered.

"What do you mean?", Makoto asked.

"Going out at nighttime should be prohibited altogether. The school regulations do not actually tell us not to go out at night. I would like to make it official.", Celeste declared.

"B-But why...?", Toko mumbled.

"The way things are now, every time night comes we will all start to get worried and anxious. We will all be afraid someone might try and come kill us.", Celeste said in an ominous tone.

"What!?", Sayaka looked startled at even the mention of murder.

"If we have to worry about that night after night for who knows how long, it will wear us down in no time.", Celeste explained.

"So you're suggesting we limit our activity at night as a kind of preventative measure.", Sakura said with a nod of agreement.

"I can actually go with this rule. It'll help us rest easy.", I agreed.

"However, unlike the other rules, nobody can be forced to comply. We all have to agree to follow it.", Celeste interjected.

"I see what you mean. But... I think I can agree to that. It's like the little goth lolita said. Without something like that, we're just gonna self-destruct.", Junko nodded slowly.

"On behalf of all men here, I agree to comply!", Taka declared.

"Hey, you can't just decide to speak for us!", Leon retorted.

"So everyone is in agreement? Good. Then if you will excuse me...", Celeste began to walk away.

"Huh? Wait, where are you going?", Chihiro asked.

"It is almost Night time. I want to take a shower before it arrives. So... goodbye.", with that, Celeste gracefully left the dining hall.

"S-So I guess it's pretty obvious where we go from here. We'll be spending the night, it looks like.", Hifumi sighed.

"Adaptability...", Sakura said to herself, probably remembering what Celeste said.

"So, Mr. Chairman... what next? One person already left.", Junko looked at Taka for any indication of what action to take next.

"U-Umm... Well then, what say we call an end to today's meeting!? Like she said, it's almost night time anyway. We can reconvene first thing tomorrow morning!", Taka suggested.

"Do we really have to stay the night here...?", Chihiro mumbled.

"It's all we can do right now. We can discuss the rest in the morning. Besides, the showers close after nighttime. We all need to freshen up a bit, I'm assuming?", I said with a smile.

"So we have to just give up...", Mondo sighed reluctantly.

"That's all f-fine and good for t-today, but what do we d-do tomorrow?", Toko asked.

"Our only option is to split up and look around again, and let everyone know if we find anything.", Sakura instructed.

"Yeah, okay. Let's do that...!", Hina agreed.

"Then we're done for today? Good, I'm exhausted...", Junko sighed as she walked away. Makoto, Sayaka, and I stayed behind but only for a moment.

"So, um... Try to get some rest you two, okay? We'll need all the help we can get.", I informed.

"Yeah, we will. See you in the morning, Kuno!", Sayaka waved. Makoto smiled and went after. The dining hall was now empty, only one soul, me, stood there. The whole situation was so surreal, I just accepted it. No pinching my shoulder to make sure I was dreaming, no yelling at the top of my lungs, nothing. It was like my mind just... went blank. I sighed and went back to my room. I locked the door and looked back at my room. This was my first time in my room, and it looked like it was made for me. Aside from the regular bed and walls, there was stuff laid out for a blacksmith like me. A small forge sat in the middle of the room, next to a huge anvil. On one of the desks sat an array of tools like hammers of different shapes and sizes, tongs new and old, a bunch of vices and clamps, chisels, axes, swages, drifts, and nails galore. It was like a blacksmith paradise. Even the air in the room seemed to bring me back to my workstation back home. As I admired all the tools, a bell sounded to shatter my trance to pieces. I looked up at the monitor to Monokuma on screen, holding a glass wine and surrounded by monitors.

"Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially night time. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then... sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite...", Monokuma said in a sing-song voice. I sighed and decided that I would shower in the morning. I changed into some PJs that were in the closet and got under the covers of my bed. I looked at the picture of my grandfather and sighed. I grabbed it and stared at it for a while. No talking, no wishing, just staring. Memorizing the old man's wrinkles and smile lines. Before I knew it, I passed out from the stress dropped on me.

--------------------------------
MONOKUMA THEATER!

--In any normal school, Mr. Monokuma would be a kind teacher. But when I think about what's coming up... I'm just so full of pride and joy. Our ceremony earlier today was absolutely splendid. Thank you all very much. Remember that you're all students of Hope's Peak Academy, an strive to refine your ideals. I swear to you, I will send you all off into a new tomorrow!

END OF MONOKUMA THEATER!

------------------------------

END OF CHAPTER 2!

💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎💧︎☟︎☜︎🕈︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎👎︎✋︎☜︎