A/N: Good day to all you readers! I'm ultimate unkn0wn and welcome to Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Ending. This fic is something that was sitting in the back of my head as a plotbunny for some time now... I'm sure I'm not the only one dissatisfied with the fact that everyone can't be saved, so I thought, why not write a fic about it? And after writing a bit of it, I decided I may as well post it online.
But you all should know now... This story will not start with everyone living. The first Arc will not be the happy ending. You'll understand once the story progresses why that is so. For now, try not to get upset that the story more or less follows the main storyline... In fact, you can even refer to this first Arc as a novelization of the game, with a few original twists.
Well then, I hope you enjoy this teaser of a prologue... Until next time.
Disclaimer: I do not currently and never will own the Danganronpa series. I own only this story. All characters and dialogue taken from the series belong to Spike Chunsoft. Some dialogue taken from the series has been paraphrased and edited to fit the flow of the story.
Any words in bold refer to words or names that are regarded as important.
Any dialogue in italics and 'single quotation marks' are a character's thoughts.
Any dialogue in "double quotation marks" are spoken by a character out loud.
There is one school known and admired by all. It is the school that puts other schools who dare to attempt achieving its success to shame. The very school in which only students who are the very best, the Ultimates, of their talent may attend. This school is known as Hope's Peak Academy.
The school itself is massive, towering over all the other buildings in its vicinity. In fact, some may even say that the school, itself, is the very center of the entire world.
And this school is where hope is raised, built up and matured. Truly, it lives up to its name as "Hope's Peak Academy"...
Indeed, hope grew within the walls of this academy, but as hope grew, so, too, did its eternal adversary, despair...
"I can't believe I'm actually standing here, in front of Hope's Peak Academy..."
One lone boy, an average-looking boy with plain, brown hair and normal-looking clothes stood before the gates of Hope's Peak Academy, gazing up at the majestic school in al its splendor. He had never dreamt he would actually stand here in front of those gates, but here he was, only minutes away from experiencing what would possibly be the best years of his life...
Not to mention he was more than a little out of place at this school. After all, it was the school that gathered the best of the best... A school where only Ultimate Students attended. The boy had done his research beforehand, and felt his confidence diminish as he thought about who else would be attending the school.
After all, he wasn't attending the school because of any real talent. He was just an ordinary high school boy. It was pure luck that he was invited to the school. Literally. There was a lottery to select one ordinary student to attend the academy, and he was the one chosen in that lottery.
"I feel so lost here... But, I can't just stand here in front of the gate forever..."
The brunette glanced down at the acceptance letter in his hand. The letter said that there was an orientation for the incoming students in the main hall at 8 AM and while there was still a bit of time until the orientation would begin, he supposed he may as well simply walk in.
"I should probably just head in. Yeah... Yeah, let's do this!"
And with that said, he took his first step towards the main hall. He glanced around, admiring the ceramic floor and the pillars, frowning slightly as he saw that no one else was around. He glanced at an elegant-appearing clock in the corner, noting that it read 7:10 AM.
"Oh jeez, no wonder no one else is here...! The meeting doesn't start until 8 o'clock, so there's still a full 50 minutes left... I was so wound up, I got here way too early..." he sighed, feeling somewhat foolish.
'I have plenty of time before the meeting. Just standing around waiting isn't exactly... I should take a look around the school. Maybe that'll help me calm down a little,' he thought to himself.
"I am a student here now, so there shouldn't be any problem with me having a look around, right?"
'It'll help me kill some time, if nothing else. Trying to play it cool, I took my first step into Hope's Peak Academy. It was also my first step toward starting a new life at a new school. At least, that's what I was hoping for.'
"What the-!?"
The brunette couldn't help but cry out. The instant he took his first step, his vision became twisted and warped, as if everything around him was spinning and spinning. It was like some kind of delusion, melting away and mixing together into something else. Spinning, mixing, melting away, then spinning again... And the next moment...
Everything went black.
That was how it all began... And how life as the boy knew it came to an end.
'At that point, I should have realized... The reason I was brought to Hope's Peak Academy wasn't because I had ultimate good luck...'
'It was so I could experience ultimate despair.'