DanganRonpa – Confined

An intense light shined through the cracks of white blinds into a dark room. A figure lied face down in a bed, head buried deep into the pillow it lay upon. A leg hung haphazardly over the sheets clad in loose green pajamas, the figure's body rose and lowered at a steady pace to their breathing. And then...

Beep Beep Beep

8:30 A.M. shine in green digital numbers from a silver rectangular clock. A hand reached forward to it and attempted to turn the clock off with a sleepy fist, failing miserably. The noise continued to ring forth until finally, after three missed attempts, the teenager sleeping in the bed rose groggily and pressed the button with their hand, silencing the noise maker. A yawn came forth, followed by a stretch as they stood up.

Makoto Naegi rubbed the sleep from his eyes, not too successful in the action and walked over to his door, slumber straying his every step. Opening the door, he walked out of his room and headed for the bathroom on his right. He did his business before washing his body and then looked himself over in the mirror. Without a smile, he exited the bathroom and headed down the stairs and into a small living quarter with a kitchen not too far from him. Sitting down on the two cushioned white sofa, he propped his feet over one another on top of a glass coffee table and grabbed a magazine from the messy pile stacked on a small table next to him and flipped it open to a random page, not caring where it landed.

"Oh boy... space launches again..." He threw the magazine to the side and leaned his head back, folding his arms behind his head and just looked up to the dark upstairs. "When will they give us something new to read..."

My name is Naegi Makoto, first name Makoto... I'm just your average run off the mill high school student. I once attended an amazing school called Hope's Peak Academy, that is until a terrible incident befell inside the school. The world's most tragic, most awful, despair inducing event... They call it the Tragedy. Well, during that time, an organization broke into the school and kidnapped many students without any kind of warning... I was one of them.

Makoto turned towards the door. His eyes closed half-way before a noise sounded from upstairs. Makoto looked up to see a girl in a blue school skirt and a white school shirt with a pocket on her left breast come down with a red tie under the matching blue collar come down the stairs. Makoto simply picked up another magazine and repeated his earlier action, without the toss though.

"Oh, big brother, you're already awake? Normally I have to wake you up."

Makoto looked up at her and smiled. "Is that so?"

"You already know the answer."

This is my younger sister, Naegi Komaru. She's only a year younger than me, but she would've been in high school by now... We're both practically the same, except... She's more active than I am.

Komaru took in a deep breath before glaring at the door intensely. In a second, she sprinted off at the door and proceed to bang upon it, crying out. "Let us out, let-us-out! Hey, come on!" Makoto watched as she slammed her fist against the door multiple times before grappling the immovable door knob. She proceeded in beating her shoulder against it, hammering it, even kicking the door, but it would not budge. The "wooden" door just sat there as the girl panted and gave up.

Yep. We've been imprisoned here. Every morning, this was her routine. My younger sister would wake up, get herself all prettied up and everything as if life was normal, and then she'd beat against the only door we have never seen past since we woke up in this strange place. This was our life. Simple and nothing but routine. We've been confined here for a year and a half now, and the only people we have seen is each other. I guess we should call ourselves lucky that we even have that though. We've never seen or spoken to our captors, the only contact we've ever had with them was...

Komaru let herself fall into the empty cushion next to her brother, reaching over him and grabbing a random magazine before flipping it to the first page. Makoto could see her fighting her slumber, it was awfully boring here, one could go insane like this. Then, a knock came to the door, taking the teens' attention from their magazine and next to the front "door", a small horizontal flap opened up and a large tray filled with breakfast foods came forth; an egg, a slice of toast, a bottle of milk, two waffles, and some jelly. Komaru turned to her kin. Makoto merely smiled and motioned for her to go grab the tray, at which she gladly accepted. The brother got up only a second later and placed the two magazines down on the table before following her.

Komaru took her tray and not a second later, another tray filed its way down and Makoto grabbed his. They set their food down in front of them, took their seats at opposite ends of the table, and said a small prayer before slowly eating their food.

After breakfast, the two of them sat in the family room, lying down on the couch. Komaru had one of her legs resting over her brother's thigh as he had his left leg buried under her side and his other dangling over the edge over his sister's other leg. They both sat back reading the same material they had read over and over the past month. Makoto let out a bored yawn and looked over himself at his sister, seeing her "entertainment" block her face. He looked up to see the tip of her ahoge barely over the magazine. His eyes looked up to his own before he returned his attention to the magazine he had in his hold.

"Makoto? If you had to, what would you write a paper about?"

"Hmm?" Makoto let his magazine fall to his chest and looked over at her. She was putting her own up and proceeded to cross her legs on top of his own. "What'd you say?"

"I asked if you had to write a paper, what would it be about? And don't say "how to get out of here"... Say something interesting."

Makoto's eyes looked up, a thoughtful expression on him as he tried to think up something. It was obvious Komaru wanted something, to do anything to take her mind off of the same crap they've done and read over and over again. "Well, if I had to say... It'd be... viruses."

Komaru's eyes lit up with curiosity. "Viruses?"

"Yeah, viruses." Makoto pushed himself up slightly, making Komaru slide more into the sofa, she didn't complain though. "You know how they would teach us in school that they weren't living things? That to be a living creature, that creature must follow five things, I don't remember what those were, but I know the one they said a virus can't do is reproduce. I find it utterly ridiculous. Viruses do reproduce..."

Komaru just sat and listened to me as I droned on about something absolutely pointless. Nothing I was saying was going to help us get out of here... Truth be told, when we lived at home together, Komaru and I... we were never this close... Whenever we ate together, sat down together or watched TV together, we'd end up fighting and arguing over silly things, things that were important to us, but silly things... We'd argue about invading each others personal space, we'd keep each other from going into our rooms, hell, we once got into a physical argument just because one ratted the other out on something we did wrong... Of course, since I was the bigger brother, I was punished...

But now... All we have is each other. When this all began...

;-;-;

Hazel eyes snapped open.

"Ruahh!"

Makoto sat up sharply, finding himself sitting in a bed in what seemed to be a bedroom. But it isn't mine. Where am I? Cautiously, Makoto slowly climbed out of the bed, finding himself still dressed in the same clothes he had on in Hope's Peak Academy, a black hoodie, his dark green t-shirt, black pants, but his shoes were gone. Makoto crept towards the door, being oh-so-careful not to make a sound in case his captors were listening in on him. What's going on, what do these people want with me?

A scene replayed in the boy's head, seeing men in dark brown suits blow down the door in the entrance hall and swipe up many of other students. One man in particular, a man with blonde hair and a flat style rushed for him, pistol pointed at him.

Makoto shook the memory from his head and softly placed his right ear against the door. He listened closely for any sort of noise, but strangely... there wasn't any. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. The Super Duper High School Luckster focused hard on anything, but nothing came forth. No kind of voices, no conversation about ransoms or money, just dead silence. His eyes shrunk slightly, it was almost scarier that no one was behind the door.

"I guess I should consider myself lucky, I won't have to worry about them right now..." Makoto walked to the middle of the room, looking around before his eyes locked themselves onto a window over a computer desk, without the computer. Sunlight shined through the blinds. "You can't be serious." Despite his doubt, he rushed for the window, full of hope that his captors were insanely stupid to leave a window right in his room. He reached the window before his hope shattered to pieces. Beyond the window was nothing but a large circular, blinding light.

He winced and covered his eyes, reeling back by the vile surprise before falling over on his back. Makoto let out a sigh before rolling over on his side and pushing himself off the floor and to his feet. He took another look around the room, seeing the bed, a closed shutter leading to the closet, the desk he was on and finally a shelf with three plain books on it, a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a random manga. Makoto couldn't help but feel misplaced in this room. "I need to get out of here." He walked to the door and stood before it. An unknown anxiety welled up within him. What was going to be outside this door. Was it a trap, maybe some man was standing there waiting for him to wake up, or maybe it was something else.

He took a deep swallow before reaching for the door knob, his hand shaking. "Okay, Makoto, take it easy, you have to get out of here..." He inhaled deeply before letting it out in a sigh, and grabbed the knob, twisting it slowly.

!

It would barely move.

"No." He twisted it stronger. "No!" The door was locked. Makoto grabbed it with both hands, twisting and turning in whatever ways he could. It didn't take long before he started slamming his shoulder against the door and kicking it. No matter how hard he tried, nothing was working. Makoto fell down, panting, exhausted from his actions earlier before he turned to the shelf. Getting up, he looked all over the empty space, looking for anything he could use to maybe slip between the cracks of the door and unlock it. It was all for nigh.

Makoto backed over to the bed he found himself sleeping in earlier and planted his rear into it. The mattress was comfortable to say the least, but that didn't make up for the situation the boy found himself in. "I've been kidnapped..." He let his head down and grabbed the sides softly, resting his elbows on his knees and he just stared down at the purple floor. He sat like this for several minutes before looking up at the door. He was getting lonely, but it was expected he'd be alone after being kidnapped. He sighed, before something caught his attention.

A light shone above his door, like a horizontal traffic light. Makoto stood up and walked closer to it. He could see an unlit green light to the right of the red one.

"What on earth?" Makoto took a step back. "What is this?" Is that door going to open soon? Are they preparing something or am I waiting for someone? Makoto decided he'd wait it out and try his luck, after all, he was the Super Duper High School Luckster, he could at least hope nothing bad was going to happen when that light shone green.

And after what seemed to be hours just coming around, a small beep was heard. Makoto's eyes shot to the light to see it was now shining green. He slowly sat up and stared at it. He questioned himself whether he should go outside or not. What was waiting for him? He took in a gulp and slowly walked to the door and grabbed the knob. Slowly, he twisted his hand and found that the door was actually unlocked. His eyes widened slightly and even more careful than before, he fully twisted the knob and opened the door. He peered out and saw a clean brown wooden floor before him, and a railing only three feet from him.

To his left was more hallway and a dead end, another door five or six feet so from him and to his left two more doors and something that suggested stairs leading down. So I'm on the second floor, but... what is with this? Makoto treaded out of the room with utmost caution, taking careful looks around. He hoped Ultimate Despair hadn't have gotten a hold of him, but if they did, what was the point in keeping him alive? Tip-toeing, Makoto walked over to the stairs and looked over, seeing nothing but a coffee table, a small white sofa, two lamp tables on the sides of the sofa, and a kitchen floor over to his left.

Makoto quietly walked down the stairs and took a look around. A kitchen was to his left and another door was to his right. The place looked exactly like an apartment. And that was the strangest part. He half-expected a sort of warehouse or some dark and tangy shed and chains or rope, not something so... hospitalized. It almost felt like a home, except he had no idea where he was and who put him here. Makoto turned to the door and noticed a paper pinned there. Makoto took a careful step to it and read it.

DO NOT REMOVE

Return to your room in five hours. There is food in the refrigerator, help yourself. Feel free to do anything you want, do not damage any equipment, clean after yourself, and do not vandalize the cameras.

Makoto's eyes widened. Cameras? Makoto looked up, surely there was, to his right, inside a corner, a nice black ball sitting on the roof. A camera, one he speculated was of high grade and sturdy, after all, some small things could be insanely hard to break. Five hours? He looked behind him to the kitchen and to the couch. A magazine rested on the coffee table, it looked like it had been opened, he figured whoever placed it there must have checked it to see if there was any obscene material inside. He walked to it and picked it up. The face of Junko Enoshima was on the cover, one of his classmates. I hope she's okay...

He couldn't imagine what these people could have been doing to his other female classmates, he knew girls were often abused in situations like this, hell, even boys like himself were fair targets for some guys in his predicament. The thought sent a chill up his spine. He shook his head and walked over to the refrigerator and opened it up to find a plate of chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, and three sticks of celery wrapped up in clear plastic. Makoto grabbed it and shut the door. He looked around and found a microwave. Walking to it, he placed the plate inside, removed the wrapping, and set the timer for one minute and fifteen seconds. START, and then the kitchen filled with the humming of the microwave cooking his lunch, or dinner, whatever it was.

Makoto turned his head up to the ceiling to find it very plain, and then to the wall. A black semi-sphere caught his eye. Another camera. Makoto walked up to it, finding it under a cabinet in the corner. His face drew very close to it, but he could see nothing past the pitch black surface. A sigh. He retreated from the counter and stood at the microwave for his food, he was very hungry. Taking note of that, he figured he must have been out cold for quite a while, so how long ago was it he was kidnapped? The microwave beeped, signaling it was finished heating up his food. He sat down and gratefully ate it.

In the meanwhile, Makoto spent all of his free time looking everywhere he could for an escape; he searched under the couch, in all the cabinets, looked in the closet in what he called the family room, and after he got tired of searching in the same areas over and over, he started fighting the door. Seeing no lights or signals, he was sure this door wasn't going to open itself up on its own any time soon. He screamed, kicked, hollered, but nothing answered his call. It didn't take long for a horrible revelation to befall him. He was all alone.

Sitting down on the couch, he figured he may have spent around four hours out of his room, the time limit was almost up... He decided to give up for the day and headed back upstairs and looked at the two doors to his left. He walked to the middle one and carefully turned it, finding the door open. He pushed the door open to find a bathroom. With a sigh, he stepped in. He was at least grateful he could bathe and use the toilet instead of having to hold it in. Despite being a hostage, he almost felt comfortable, but that uneasy feeling he had since he arrived never vanished...

After taking his shower, Makoto did his business and then stepped outside, turning to the other closed door. He took steps to it and reached for the door knob before a loud industrial signal sounded up. Makoto winced from the sudden burst of sound and looked around. Is that the signal my time is up? Makoto looked around to find the lights in the "house" suddenly shutting off one by one. He didn't want to be stuck out here in the dark and proceeded to retreat into his room, closing the door behind him.

Makoto sat on his bed and watched as the hall light switched off. He buried his head into his hands and just sat, thinking silently to himself before falling over and going to sleep.

…

A gasp.

Makoto woke up to a dimly lit shine into his room. It seemed the lights in the windows were meant to imitate the sun to their best ability. Makoto looked around. When did I fall asleep? He looked to his bed desk to see it empty like yesterday. He sat up, wishing that the situation he found himself in yesterday was nothing but a dream, but as he took in his surroundings again, he found he wasn't dreaming after all. He sighed and looked to the door to find the light on the green, signaling he could once again roam outside of the room.

Pushing himself up, he walked out and into the hallway. Makoto took another look around and proceeded downstairs, finding nothing had changed since he was last out. Wait! Something had changed! Makoto peered over at the door to find that the notice that once hung onto was now gone. He walked to the door and grabbed the knob, finding it still locked, and unbreakable. "Damn." Makoto turned towards the kitchen and rushed over to the refrigerator, he was starving. He opened it up and found nothing sitting inside except a new box of soft drink cans called "Coca Cola".

Makoto blinked, finding the box had already been opened and two cans were missing. Makoto grabbed one and walked to the couch and sat down. He slumped back and stared at the roof. "I wonder if I'll be able to get out of here today?" Makoto turned towards the door. He narrowed his eyes. "There's no use in giving up hope, I'll definitely be rescued!" He stood up and ran towards the door with all his might when suddenly-

knock knock

The boy skidded to a halt and slipped backwards, falling on his back. Makoto stared at the door with wide eyes. Is the kidnapper finally coming to see me? Makoto didn't know whether or not to run or sit there. Where could he run, where could he hide? It didn't matter, maybe he should try and fight his way out? He gulped and stood up. He stared at the door knob, just waiting for the sound of a key triggering the mechanisms inside to release their restraints. He balled his fists, a bead of sweat ran down his forehead. Makoto wouldn't admit it, but he was nervous and afraid. Afraid of what kind of person could be stepping in to do Lord knows what to him. Would he be able to fight him off, or even slip past him?

A gulp.

He focused on the knob, gritting his teeth, narrowing his shaking eyes. Then something he hadn't expected happened.

A flap to the right of the door, at the height of his hips, flipped open and a tray filled with a large waffle, some toast, and a bottle of milk came through cleanly and neatly organized on a black tray. Makoto just stared at it. Steam rose from the contents, a smell wafted through the room and into his senses. He swallowed. What if the food is poisoned? What if it makes me sick? What if... So many ifs could drive a person insane. Makoto looked to the side, then sighed. He was hungry, he had to eat something. Taking the honor to at least thank whoever it was for their hospitality, he took the tray and sat down at the table in the kitchen then began to eat.

Afterward, Makoto found himself repeating his antics yesterday. He was searching for the exit again, then, his mind settled on one thing. There's still a room upstairs I haven't been in yet. Makoto turned his head to the direction of the door, then he walked up the stairs. Stopping in front of the door, he reached for the knob and grabbed hold of it. He twisted and found it was locked. His eyes widened. "Locked?" Another locked door? How many are there? I can understand the front door being locked, but why this one? Makoto twisted the lock harder, and then backed up, getting ready to kick the door.

Beep

He froze. Why the alarm, it hasn't been five hours yet!? Makoto turned around and saw that a camera at the far end of the hallway must have been watching him. Makoto lowered his raised foot and looked at the door. He didn't see signs of the lights turning off. He scratched his chin and decided that the noise was meant to keep him from the destroying this door. He doubted he could break it down, but there must have been a special reason why his captors didn't want him disturbing the door. Maybe that's where his escape lied, or maybe he just wasn't allowed to go in yet. With a heavy sigh, he walked away from the door and sat down inside the sofa, picked up the lone magazine and started to read its contents.

Time flied and before he knew it, five hours was up and he was back in his room. He found that this then became his normal every day routine. He'd wake up, eat whatever was given to him from the outside, then try and find a way out, whether it be attempting to break down the front door or just look in the same places over and over again, but never was he allowed to disturb that one door in the hallway, every attempt was met with that alarm, and he figured it wouldn't be a good idea to drag someone else in here and teach him a thing or two, it was obvious the captor wanted him alive and healthy.

Days passed by and by, then days turned into weeks. On various occasions, Makoto would receive extra things among the food through that little slot. He'd get a new magazine, he once got a clock and a new manga, worn out of course, but it was something, and a fresh set of clothes. He even got a notice to place his old clothes onto the tray so they could be cleaned once every week and he got them back not long after. But Makoto wasn't going to give in, but he was starting to get desperate.

…

Makoto sat back, reading his second manga, sitting comfortably on the couch. Today was the day... Today's the day I see what happens while I'm sitting, sleeping inside that room. Makoto longed to see his family and friends again. How long had it been since he was captured now? About two months? He narrowed his eyes. I won't give up hope... No matter what you do to me. The alarm sounded, and Makoto rose up, knowing the drill. He walked up to his room and went inside. After entering, he proceeded in closing the door to his room, as it was half way closed, he ripped off the cover of the manga and shut the door, slipping the cover in the crack of the locking mechanism as it came shut simultaneously. The trigger came, and bolted the door shut and the green light shone red.

"Now it's just a matter of time."

…

Makoto sat in front of the door, watching for any signs of change. This was the first time he had ever sat and watched the door like this. He was amazed there was no camera in his room, after sighting the first three in the main dwelling, he looked all over and found no camera in his room. Apparently these people believed in some sort of privacy. So, Makoto just sat and watched the cracks of the door, looking for any change. It seemed like an hour had passed by now, and the light in his room was pitch black. Only his clock gave off a very dim green light, barely reaching out an inch, and bright numbers shined on its surface. 9:57 P.M.

Makoto kept staring though, he found himself starting to fall victim to his slumber, but he shook his head, listening closely for any sort of noises. Nothing was happening though, nothing ever happened.

Makoto leaned back. He stared at the door more and more.

A light turned on. His eyes widened. What the!? He listened for something, anything, but all was silent. Why are the lights on. He heard nothing on the other side of the door though. There wasn't a peep. It was so quiet, one could hear the buzz of a fly from across the room. Makoto focused so much on the door he forgot he was even staring at the floor. Then, a shadow crossed by. His eyes widened. "What is that?" Makoto stood up. He reached for the door with one hand and the cover with the other, then he snatched the cover out as quick as he could and pulled at the door, and in one swift move, it opened.

Makoto held it back, keeping it open by only an inch. The hall light filled his room. Slowly, he opened the door without making a sound and got on all fours. He cautiously peered out and looked into the bright hallway. The luckster retreated back into his room and looked up at his signal, seeing it still red. He nodded and crawled out of his room. Even if the monitors saw him now, it was too late to stop him. Makoto increased his speed towards the stairs, then stood up and ran down them as fast as he could. A swift turn to the right and to the door and into freedom-

He stopped, shocked to see the door still closed. "What? It's not open!?" He looked at it. "No... No! Let me out!" Makoto missed his chance, his one and only chance to escape. "No!" He cried. He slammed his shoulder against the door. "Let me out of here!"

A door opening upstairs caught his attention. Footsteps followed. His eyes widened as he turned his gaze up to see whoever was coming to get him, and his mind froze.

He was now staring at a girl wrapped in a towel with brown short hair and an ahoge sticking from the middle of her hair. She had hazel eyes, same as his and he looked at her with shock. The girl stared right back at him, equally startled. Makoto couldn't believe his eyes...

He just stared at the first human being he had seen in months, and he recognized her all too well.

"K-... Komaru?"

Chapter 1 - Confinement