In Japan, there's an academy dedicated to the talent of youth and the ability to research that talent. That academy is called Hope's Peak, and that academy was the start of this entire mess.
You see, I attend Hope's Peak America, a school that's derived from the Academy, but easier to access if you live in the states. Only a few get scouted, and I only got in because I got lucky and was picked from a lottery. It's the first class for the American School, which should make me the luckiest girl ever, right?
Well, that's a long story. However, I feel like I should introduce myself. My name is Luna Thates, the Ultimate Lucky Student. The people who I attended class with were… well, all very interesting people. But we'll get to them eventually.
Let me start from the very beginning, when I first walked to the college. It was just like I saw online, a rather large, brownish building around 4 stories high. Shorter than the image I saw, but still fairly impressive. The only problem is, I don't remember anything after that. I know stuff did happen there, but I can't remember any of it. It's like the memories of the school were poured out of my head.
When I finally came too, I was in some sort of chem lab, with 15 other students that I assume I were supposed to be my classmates. Sitting next to me was a slightly younger girl, who was dressed in a Red Shirt, a Blue Skirt, and several other clothing items that were Red, White, and Blue. Her hair was a bit redder than most, and even her skin looked like it was sunburned thoroughly.
"Maaaaan, what the hell is happening here?" She yelled to the rest of the classroom.
Acknowledging the yell, a man dressed in a complete police uniform managed to get right to the desk of where the teacher was supposed to be, but was surprisingly absent. The policeman gave a cough, and everyone turned to look in his direction.
"It seems like you're all awake, finally. I've already checked for exits, and it seems like there is no way out." The policeman stated loudly, as if trying to give a formal address, "So while we're here, we might as well introduce ourselves. Since I'm already here, I'll introduce myself first. My name is Dakota Stantz, and I came to Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Officer. I hope that we all stay safe."
Everyone looked puzzled as to why there was a police officer at a college, but it seemed as if he was just as old as we were. Silence grown a bit longer after Dakota was done talking, until finally a man in a clergy uniform stood up.
"My Children," The character started, acting as calm as he could in this situation, "I am Enoch Breston, the Ultimate Pastor. I hope we can all see the light of god through these troubled times."
"Light of God? Don't try to rub you religious bullshit into my life, I don't need to grow any more oppressed than I already am!" Some girl yelled from the very back of the room.
Sadly, this girl didn't really look like anyone normal. She wore what looked like literal rags, had long black hair, and wore glasses that barely covered half her face. There was absolutely no way I could even tell what her talent was supposed to be.
"I'm sorry, my lamb, I do not mean to intrude on your religious stylings. I am merely trying to hand out hope." Enoch responded, still super calmly.
"Well, since I'm already standing, My name is Violet Parat, and I came here to become the Ultimate Social Justice Warrior." She claimed boldly, and that's when it clicked into place.
She was a complete and total moron. I was going to say just that and introduce myself, when someone said the exact same thing I was thinking, although the voice wasn't just singular.
"Hmph, such bold words coming from such a complete moron." Another girl with long, black hair and a very preppy look snooted.
This girl kind of looked like someone you'd see at a pep assembly, throwing several other people straight into a trash can. However, it seems like she wasn't alone. The girl sitting next to her looked almost exactly the same.
"My name is Valentina Venzor, the Ultimate Psychologist. This is my twin sister Valerie, who happens to be the Ultimate Impersonator." She snooted, again.
"Sis, I wanted to introduce myself by doing impressions of everyone in this room!" The girl I can only assume was Valerie complained.
"Now, now, Valerie, you'll get to do so at a later time."
After that, the classroom fell silent again. I decided to take a quick look around. From what I noticed, there were a lot of interesting characters. One of the guys was dressed in a full on tuxedo and top hat, messing around with a deck of cards. Another guy was throwing a football into the air and catching it as it fell down, but the person who caught my eye was a girl, who was scribbling a bunch of stuff down on a piece of paper. I watched her scribble all that stuff down, like she was taking notes of the introductions as our classmates said them. After watching her for awhile, someone dressed like a medieval knight stood up and swung his sword at the ceiling.
"Valiant Heroes!" he called, still focusing on his sword, "Oh, actually, before I say anything, I should take off this helmet."
He sheathed his sword and placed it upon the table, before lifting up his helmet to reveal short, blonde hair and a very feminine voice. I realized that this person wasn't actually a guy at all, but rather a super famous cosplayer that I didn't realize was attending Hope's Peak America.
"Sorry about that. I am Avalon Leroux, the Ultimate LARPer." She valiantly stated.
It seemed as if she was waiting applause from someone who knew who she was, but no one did. The only thing that she got was from the man in a tuxedo and top hat, which was just a question.
"Pick a card, and I'll assure that someone will know you." He questioned comfortably, as if he was very confident in his status. But it's not like nobody knew him. That was Harold Whodoni, the most popular teenage magician in Los Vegas. He had been scouted for Hope's Peak Academy, but turned it down in order to come here.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly in the mood for your tricks, Harold." Avalon replied, dismissing his trick by waving her hand back and forth.
"Well yippie-ki-yay motherfuckers! Do y'all got no respect for the best magician in our country?" The girl who sat next to me suddenly shouted, "Ah, y'all probably want me to introduce myself, I reckon. Y'all can call me Maggie Merc, the Ultimate Patriot!"
God, she was so loud I could barely stand it, especially with that texan accent. I might eventually get used to it, but as of now, I don't think I can. After Maggie yelled loudly, the entire class went silent again. I looked back, it seemed as if the girl was still writing down notes based on the introductions, which still puzzled me.
I watched her for a bit longer, until eventually she got hit in the head with a football.
"Damn! Sorry, dude, I didn't expect the pig skin to fly that far. I'm Jonathan Kraemer, the Ultimate Quarterback." The guy stated.
It seemed obvious he was supposed to be a quarterback, since he was super muscular and had a football jersey on. However, he did seem really apologetic for not catching the football as the girl clutched her head.
"No, it's fine. I am Lydia Baranovich, the Ultimate Translator. I wasn't paying attention, was my bad." The girl responded, still clutching her head.
Ultimate Translator? That would definitely explain all the writing she was doing, she must've been writing everything we've been saying down in other languages. It makes sense, since she's supposed to be the best in america.
That just left a rather tall girl wearing a lot of makeup, a petite girl with shorter hair and wearing boyish clothes, a guy dressed in a full-on excavator costume, and a guy with a fedora and a whip. Couldn't be a younger indiana jones, but if I had to guess, I'd think that guy is the Ultimate…
"Benjamin Right, Ultimate Archaeologist. Are… we done with introductions yet? It got a bit quiet again." He called, right before I was going to guess the same thing.
He was kind of cute in a sort of dirt-ish way, although now was not the time to be thinking about that.
"I… uhm… My name is Cole Laver. I've been called the Ultimate Miner." The guy in the excavator costume mentioned shyly, twirling his thumbs around.
"So that just leaves the Ultimate Drag Queen, the Ultimate Voice Actress, the Ultimate Zookeeper, and the Ultimate Lucky Student. Anyone care to volunteer?" Dakota asked the audience. The Venzor twins weren't even paying attention anymore, it seemed like they were just talking about something, but I decided to ignore them.
Wait, did he just say Ultimate Drag Queen?
"Greetings, lovers. My name is Morgan Trent, the Ultimate Drag Queen. I hope we get along very well…" The tall… feminine looking man said with a overbearing tone of voice.
I mean, I was shocked that he sounded so ambiguous, it was almost too difficult to understand what gender he was if Dakota never said 'Ultimate Drag Queen'. After his introduction, the only other girl aside from me that hadn't introduced herself yet stood up.
"H-hello… my name is Jasmine Benitz… I'm known a-as the Ultimate Voice Actress." The girl shyly spoke, quietly.
At that moment, I found the connection. Jasmine had voiced in several anime dubs, and almost all of them got insanely popular insanely quickly. Hard to believe she was in college. That just left the person who was feeding the snake in the back of the room next to the Ultimate Social Justice Warrior.
"Quinn!" Dakota yelled to the back of the class, as if the guy wasn't paying attention. Sure enough, he wasn't.
"OH, RIGHT, SORRY DAKOTA! My name is Quinn Levich, the Ultimate Zookeeper. Nice to meet ya!" He called from the back of the room, but then went right back to feeding the snake.
Everyone was so interesting with their talents, it's a shame I only got here because of a lottery ticket, but I had to stand up.
"Yeah, hey. My name is Luna. Luna Thates. I'm only here because of the lottery thing, I don't really have a talent." I spoke, somewhat stuttering my words.
"Whaaaat? No talent, Miss? I reckon that you may not last long here at all!" Maggie spoke to me in that loud texan accent of hers, trying to climb her hand around my back as if she was trying to friendship-bond with me.
"Maggie, stop. We have to figure out the more important things first, such as why we're locked in." Dakota first called out to Maggie, then the class itself.
"Well, my lambs, I suggest we bow on our knees and pray to the lord almighty. Join me in prayer to our wonderful lord that we escape this predicament…" Enoch said with a calm tone, as his voice usually was.
"Hmph, I told you, Pastor Asshat, I don't pray to religions that force it down my throat! What are you, sexist?" Violet responded in a very angry tone.
"This trick is definitely getting out of hand! But allow me to make all your worries disappear!" Harold called from where he was sitting.
"How about we all calm down!" Another voice, unknown to us called out from behind the door to the chem lab.
"Wait, I thought we all introduced ourselves already. Jasmine, are you tricking us?" Dakota yelled.
"W-what? W-why would it be me?!" Jasmine screamed, trying to defend herself.
"Don't play coy, you're the ultimate voice actress! You're the only one who can do it!"
"No, no, I can do it too! Why does everyone forget about Valerie?" Valerie cried, as if no one seemed to give a shit.
"No, no, it was all me!" The voice called again.
Suddenly, the doors slammed open, revealing a robotic bear colored black and white.
"It was only Lil' Ol' Monokuma!" The bear yelled.
The moment he entered the room, Quinn came rushing to him from the back.
"Wow! A real bear! I've never seen one in the wild before, this is so rare!" Quinn claimed, too excited for his own good.
"I'm not a real bear, I'm a stuffed animal! Now then, are we all settled in? Getting to know each other?" Monokuma asked of all of us.
We were all stunned. A talking bear, using some kind of robotic device to talk, there is no way this can end well.
"Well now, I guess I should explain why you're here. You all lost your school memories! Isn't that fun? It's like a real mystery now! I feel like I've done this before…"
"Fiend! I shan't halt my fares until you give us back our school memories!" Avalon yelled at the top of her lungs, although she put the mask back on, so there wasn't really any way to tell her voice was feminine.
"Dude, that's not cool! I had a championship match coming up!" Jonathan complained, getting rather worked up.
"Well, if you do want to know what happened, there is a way to get your memories back…" Monokuma claimed, although I have no idea if any of us want to trust a bear that magically appeared in this school.
"Well now, I reckon you tell us how we get our mem'ries back, ya stinkin' bear!" Maggie called out.
"It's beeeeeeeeeary simple… you just have to kill each other!" Monokuma stated, excitedly.
Everyone in the room immediately froze. Kill each other? There's no way ANY of us would do that! I mean, we may have just met and all, but… holy shit, how the hell can any of us think murder is even REMOTELY okay? It's absolutely insane!
"This is absolutely insane!" I called out, "There's no fucking way any of us will kill each other!"
"Well, you don't have to kill each other… but if you don't, you won't get your school memories back! It's a pretty simple bargain, you all stay here until one of you kills someone else… and gets away with it!" Monokuma laughed.
"Gets away with it? What, are you implying that women can't commit murder, you sexist bear?" Violet angrily yelled.
"No, no. If you kill someone, you get time to investigate the murder, and then we go into the class trial! If you're found guilty, you'll face punishment, but if the blackened is not voted, everyone else will die except for the one who murdered!" Monokuma kept laughing, like a robotic whale on crack.
"As long as you all come to me, I can wash away your sins through the eyes of our lord, allowing anyone who dies to go see our savior in heaven…" Enoch immediately said to calm everyone down.
"Hey, Enoch, can you just like.. Piss off, already?" Jonathan refuted.
"Language like that can cause a lot of trouble in the eyes of the holy spirit, I assure you, young one."
"Now, now, you have time to pray later, since it's time to present the first motive!" Monokuma raised his voice to all of us.
"W-wait, a m-motive already?" Cole stuttered, obviously terrified about what was happening.
"I ain't going to town on no horse-ridin' shenanigans!" Maggie yelled.
It was actually getting harder and harder to understand her since her accent continued to strengthen the angrier she got. I more or less decided to ignore her.
"Alright, bear. Show us the motive, and I promise you no one is going to kill anyone else." I calmly stated, staring him down with every inch of my stimuli.
"Here's the motive!" Monokuma laughed, slamming a box down onto the table in front of us.
At first, it just looked like an ordinary box, but when we actually looked inside… it was all books. 16 different books, for 16 different people. There were the names of each of us written on the front on a sticky note. There were several different types. Romance novels, comedies, murder mysteries… I moved them all around until I found the one with my name on it.
I took the book out of the box and went back to my seat, and read the title. The book itself was titled 'The Easiest Way to Deal with Depression' by Monokuma… wait, did Monokuma write all these books himself? I looked up to ask the question, but he had already left, leaving a note on the board. The board gave directions to our dorm rooms, and the door to the chem lab was already open. I tried my hardest to calm down, but the pain was too much. Valerie and Valentina already left, along with Cole, Quinn, Morgan, Jasmine, and Avalon. I looked around the room to see who else was there.
Harold had suddenly disappeared, and apparently no one saw him go out of the room, but he is a magician, so I didn't pay any attention to that. Enoch remained at his desk, intently focused on the book with his name attached to it. Violet was sitting at the very back, whispering silently to her book. Lydia was trying to write down everything she read, I assume in a different language. Ben and Jonathan were talking about what exactly just happened and why they can't continue on without being skeptical. Dakota just slammed his book on the table and let out a really loud scream.
Everyone in the room quickly turned around, and Violet suddenly ran out of the room immediately after the scream was heard. I mean, she's a complete asshole, so it's no surprise she did. Everyone else ran over to Dakota.
"Dakota, what's going on?" Ben asked him, in a quick manner.
"These books… they're… like… a personal weakness we can't overcome… how did that bear find out?" Dakota whimpered.
Seeing an officer of the law whimper like that, I never thought I would see it happen. To see Dakota immediately fall into despair like that… it must be something truly terrible.
Dakota immediately ran out of the room and escaped to his dormitory. Everyone was shocked by his sudden actions, except for Jonathan, like he was expecting something like that… or the fact that he wasn't moving at all.
"My son, are you troubled?" Enoch asked Jonathan, trying to be a good pastor.
"L….leave me alone, you clergy freak!" Jonathan yelled, also running out of the classroom.
Surprised at the actions. Enoch let out a long sigh and left the classroom. At that moment, it was just Ben, Lydia, and myself who remained in the chem lab. Lydia herself was super focused on translating the book until she came across a line that suddenly freaked her out. She ran out of the room, leaving the book behind. I stopped, and thought about taking a quick peek to see what was going on with everyone, but Ben was already looking into it.
"Dude, that's like an invasion of privacy." I told Ben bluntly.
"Well, she did leave the book here. I was only going to take it back, but I did wonder what it was about. You should honestly have a look at this." Ben replied in a very calm manner.
I took a quick peak into the book, and then it suddenly clicked why everyone was so freaked out. These weren't just any books. They were books about us, and our personal lives. I took one glance at the page that was open, and suddenly stepped into the desk behind me.
It was at that moment Lydia's father… shot her mom.
The rest of the pages in the book were blank. Everything leading up to that were just random words and phrases that don't really have any significance to me. But they might have significance to her.
"Her father… what kind of family did she have?" Ben stammered, at a lost for words.
"It might be time we head to the dorms. We should meet back up here in the morning." I stated, hoping that he'd agree.
"Sounds like a good enough plan. I'll read what's in my book, you can read what's in yours."
With that said, Ben grabbed Lydia's book and walked back to the dorms. I followed shortly after. While walking, I passed by a few other rooms, laundry, cafeteria, and a student store. It seemed pretty normal to what most colleges have.
After a few minutes, I made it back to my dorm room. It was a really plain room, with green wallpaper, iron plated windows like there were throughout the college, a desk, and a bed. I lunged myself over the bed and started crying into my pillow.
How did I let something like this go over my head? There's no way I would've let this happen. But I was stuck now, stuck in this killing game. After several minutes of enraged cries, I finally calmed down enough to read the book with my name on it. What was inside, not even I was able to predict.
All the random words and phrases weren't just random words and phrases. They were the names of friends, family, pets, and phrases of things I liked. They were all things that were supposed to make me feel pleasant, until it was mentioned.
My sister's suicide.
I threw the book as hard as I could at the wall above my desk, but all that did was land on top of the desk and caused a small, book-sized dent in the wall.
Just before I entered Hopes Peak, my sister was going through a really long and hard depression after her boyfriend of 5 years broke up with her. She hadn't slept in 5 days, when she suddenly went crazy and hung herself. The news story broke out, but only in our small town, no one else knew about it. My parents and I still mourn the news to this day. But for it to be in a book, like it was some kind of story to be sold, even if that story was complete nonsense, was insulting.
I let out a scream into my pillow. I couldn't stand to be reminded of that. It's a part of my past I would really like to forget. But, if it was used as a motive to this extreme, then there's no way I could avoid thinking about what Monokuma's truly planning.
However, tonight wasn't one of those nights that I could lie awake and think about whatever, I had to sleep all of this insanity off and get ready for my meeting with Ben to discuss what's happening. Once I calmed my mind, I fell quickly asleep.
End of Day 1