Danganronpa: Despair unbound

Prologue: Echoes of despair

Part 1

Hope's peak academy. Even if you didn't know the story of this school, the name alone should tell you about what kind of legacy this school happened. The government sanctioned school that accepted only the best of the best and gave them the perfect reference to take the best first step into the world of work that lay beyond the school. There was no doubt about it. Hope's peak academy was revered and known as possibly the greatest school in the country.

And with greatness, comes jealousy. Jealousy like the ripples in a pond after a particular white, smooth stone is dropped in. Long lasting ripples. Ripples strong enough they stirred the deepest and most abnormal of motives and plans.

With everything popular, there come the copycats. Those who wish to emulate the success and the popularity of the original, by trying to be just like them. One of these copycats was Faithwood academy. In an attempt to strike up the great name that Hope's peak had made for itself, Faithwood set out to do exactly what they had done and scouted for the best students in the country it could find. It was a shallow reflection of what Hope's peak had been, but it slowly gathered the resources and money it needed and pushed it's way into the public eye.

Faithwood boasted a more rustic appeal as opposed to Hope's peak's modern look. It was situated out in the countryside, nestled in the bosom of thickets of trees and bushes, with only a single winding road to lead back to society. From the outside, you'd be forgiven for mistaking it for some old European castle, plucked straight out of a fairytale, with it's tall red turret rooftops, it's grand columns and it's thick wall. The place was as close to the illustrations in children's books that you could get.

Now, it was visited by it's newest student, one of the new round brought in for the new year. It was the beginning of September, a slight chill whisking through the woods and circling its grand oaks and pines. A small red car pulled up to the gates of Faithwood academy, each seat taken up by an individual. The car pulled to a halt and the back left door opened, and out stepped the newest student.

His walnut brown fringe fluttered slightly in the chill of the month as he stepped out of the car and made for the boot. His turquoise blazer was neat and pressed the night before, protecting him from the cold which his plain white dress shirt would not. He opened up the back and took out his two suitcases, setting them on the ground and scanning the rest of the car boot with his crystal blue eyes to make sure he hadn't missed anything. A hand slipped into the fold's of his blazer, brushing across his white tie as he checked his pocket for his notebook. It was still there, thankfully.

"Have you got everything, dear?" His mother said, poking her head out of the window, a warm smile on her face. Her son turned back to her and returned the smile, nodding his head.

"Yes mom. I got everything." He assured her.

"Are you sure?" said his sister, also poking her head out of the window. "If you forget anything, you probably won't be seeing it for a while?" she teased. The son chuckled and smiled at her.

"I'm sure. Quit worrying." He assured them again, pointing to his case a few times to prove it. The family went back and forth with their conversation until the moment finally came, and the little red car sped back down the road.

"Bye Jinsei!" cried his sister from the window as she waved, the car shrinking into the distance. Jinsei returned her wave as a small sigh escaped his lips. There they went.

Jinsei Gushiken had never heard of Faithwood before a few weeks ago. The invitation had just shown up in through his door, inviting him for his prowess in the field of psychology, calling him the "Super high school level psychiatrist." Jinsei had never personally put much stock into the title. He didn't like to be boastful about his talents.

But it was undeniable he was something special. Having initially used his study of the subject to help his sister get over a bout of extreme depression, he had used his talent in his old school to talk other students through their problems. Word had gotten out about it, and some researcher had spotted him in the act and invited him to the academy.

Even now, Jinsei could remember talking the letter over with his family. How thrilled they'd been. The very thought that their son would be attending such a prestigious academy was a shock and a reason for celebration. A memorable morning indeed…

The slight crunch of gravel echoed around the forest as Jinsei advanced up the path, into the academy's front garden, the large walls looming behind him as he passed through the gate. He was soon approaching the front door, double wooden doors that were flung wide open for his arrival. Ahead of him, he could see the halls. Jinsei paused briefly before he stepped across the threshold.

This is it, he thought to himself. His first step into his new life of academics at this mysterious castle of an academy. One fateful step, that would change his life forever.

…those words would turn out to be more haunting then jinsei could have ever considered.

When Jinsei awoke, he felt stiff. His eyes fluttered open, breaking the crust of a long night's sleep. His head laid uncomfortably atop a wooden desk, hardly a welcome replacement for a pillow. His arms were folded in front of his head. His lips were dry and he felt an unsettling pain in his stomach. The air around him was silent and still. Deathly still.

He gradually sat up and stretched his arms above him. His eyes grew accustomed to the odd lighting in the room. It was lit, but it was still quite dank. His head slowly turned as he observed the room around him. The desk he sat at was a school desk, one sitting amongst the ranks of 15 others, arranged in rows of five. At the head of the room he saw a blackboard, freshly cleaned. A clock ticked away on the left wall and a single door was situated on the left of the blackboard. It was pretty easy to deduce that he was sitting in a classroom. How he'd gotten there and why he'd fallen asleep was a mystery.

Thinking quickly, he slipped his hand into his blazer and slipped out his notebook, flipping it open. The pages were blank. No help there, it seemed.

"Hello?" he called out to the room around him, wondering if there was anyone around. He got no reply. He was alone. His eyes then spotted something on the front desk. Jinsei slowly rose to his feet and plucked it from the wooden desk. It was an envelope, addressed to him too. Cocking an eyebrow, he opened it up and slipped out the contents, namely a small note addressed to him.

"Welcome ceremony starts at 8 in the gym. Don't be late." The note had no signature. Instinctively, Jinsei flicked his gaze over to the clock. The time was now 7:55. He flinched slightly. He couldn't be late on his first day! He quickly made for the door, choosing not to question things when his answers could be waiting in the gym. He flung the door open and stepped out into the corridor.

The corridor stretched out further on Jinsei's right than his left. He made for the right and spotted a door down the hall with a basketball symbol on the door. Figuring that was the closest thing to the gym, Jinsei flung open the door.

And the sight he was greeted with was the strangest he had seen in a long time. Gathered in the wood paneled hall, 13 other individuals were standing around and talking to one another. While it was a comforting thought to know he wasn't indeed alone in this place, his eyes overflowed with just how amazingly different these 13 individuals were. Most of them turned to look at him, male and female alike.

"Well hey, there's another one." A male student said, scanning over Jinsei's form.

"You're all at this school too then?" Jinsei inquired. Quickly deducing these others must be the super duper highschoolers he had heard about. It was true, only the best were scouted for this academy, but looking around through the 13 faces, Jinsei couldn't help but doubt how trustworthy that information was.

"Yep." Agreed a red headed girl. "Guess that makes 14 in total…"

"Ugh!" exclaimed a grey haired boy, adjusting the brown and white cap he bore on his head. "You got time to bore us with simple maths? Besides, there's supposed to be 15 of us." He stated matter of factly, crossing his arms in a huff.

"Well… my name's Jinsei. I didn't get here too late, did I?" he inquired further, wanting to get some sense out of the situation.

"Nothing's happened yet, so probably not!" piped up a girl with black hair, yellowed spikes poking out form behind her head like sunflower petals, a beaming smile on her face.

"Seeing as we're all waiting." Interrupted a brown haired boy "I say we all make ourselves known! A company of actors must know their roles after all." A general murmur of agreement went through the group. Jinsei also agreed with a slight nod. Better to know everyone now seeing as they'd all be working together.

"I'll go first." Announced a broad chested boy, pushing his way through to the front of the group so that he could address all of them. His brown hair was curled around his head in an old fashioned manner, his clothes even seemed of rich descent with it's gold buttons, powder blue waistcoat and pocket watch poking out of his top pocket. "You all may have the great pleasure of meeting with myself, the esteemed Taro Bariton, Super duper high school tenor." He boasted in a particularly loud voice, taking a moment to adjust the musical note pins on his collar and sleeves.

"Esteemed? I've never heard of you…" interrupted a blonde haired girl, clinging onto a rather large book, which she opened up and flicked through as she spoke. Taro turned on her and made a loud 'harumph' noise.

"Surely you just! My perfect singing voice has been heard worldwide!" he shouted pompously as the girl shrank back. Jinsei didn't care much for the guy's attitude, but being a world renowned singer wasn't something to sneeze at after all.

"S-sorry…" the blonde girl murmured as she wrote the name down in her book, writing at a shockingly fast pace.

"Be calm now, citizen. We are all virtuous beings here!" proclaimed a particularly odd fellow as he stepped forth. He was dressed from head to toe in a blue spandex costume, complete with grey and white boots, gauntlets and a helmet obscuring his face with a black visor and a silver mouth plate. His helmet was adorned with a black ringed planet symbol to boot. Jinsei couldn't help but feel somewhat embarrassed to be in the same room as this odd figure. "For I am, Cosmic Man! Super duper high school level hero! Veritable warrior of good and truth!" he boasted, shouting out even louder than Taro had.

Jinsei thought a moment. He HAD heard a rumor back at his old school about a costumed vigilante going around and stopping crime, but at the time it had made no sense at all to him. But, apparently, it was true. That fact worried him slightly. But if this 'Cosmic man' had truly saved lives, he couldn't be too bad, right?

"Wow... t-t-that's so cool…" said a girl near the back, bundled up in a heavy orange snow coat, ski goggles perched above her eyes as she seemed to be shaking somewhat. Jinsei wondered if she was just nervous.

"Real heroes don't go around in dumb outfits." The red head girl cut in, seemingly unimpressed by Cosmic Man's entrance. "Name's Akari Himura, Super duper high school firefighter. One of the real heroes." She stated that more matter of factly than as a boast, patting down her navy blue jacket somewhat, covering her black tank top covered chest as her skirt fluttered slightly. She was surprisingly well built, nothing on the terms of extremely muscular, but there was some clear strength hiding there, Jinsei commented in his head.

"I know you! You saved that family from that house fire!" cried the sunflower haired girl, staring in awe at the firefighter, who just shrugged and chuckled slightly.

"I only did what was right." She added, as both Taro and Cosmic Man remained unimpressed, even as she captured the attention of the black and blonde haired girl. "Now, how about you go next?" Akari added, pointing to the girl.

"Uhhh well, ok!" she struck something of a cute pose and smiled. "Call me Hanako Tsubaki, Super duper high school level botanist!" She said with a flourish, even doing a little spin as her green skirt bounced slightly, the sunflower patterns over her dress oddly bright. "I hope we can all be good friends and share flowers!" she giggled slightly. It was hard not to find her cute, Jinsei noted.

"Botanist? Really?" muttered the grey haired boy in the cap. "They let people into this school just for flower arranging? God I'm surrounded by zeroes!" he complained audibly, earning him a glare or two from the group as Hanako looked down embarrassed.

"W-well it's not just flowers… it's gardening in general really…" she added nervously. What a frail creature she was, Jinsei noted. He also took heed that she was the shortest person in the group.

"Well, I guess I'll go next." Said another boy in a white jacket, long enough that it reached his hips. His hair had an odd style of being raven black with white horizontal stripes running through it. "Im Haruo Mori, I guess. Suppose I'm a super duper high school level Alchemist." He admitted as his left hand scratched the back of his head, giving an awkward smile. "Nice to meet you all."

"Alchemy eh? That's not a normal talent you see every day." Noted another boy, tipping his Stetson slightly. His accent made it clear to Jinsei that he was not born Japanese. Haruo turned to him and smiled, almost nervously. He even seemed to blush slightly.

"Well, thank you."he said, chuckling through his teeth, scratching the back of his head again.

"My name is Gina, Gina Muto." Said another female student, stepping forward into the group . Her stance was strong, her navy robes consisting of a kendoki and hakama, a sheath at her belt with acurious looking handle poking out of it. Her hair was brown, died black as it stretched further down her back, reaching her mid back. "Super duper high school level kendoka." She added.

"A swordsman?" Akari asked, looking a little closer at Gina. "I wouldn't have taken you for a warrior…" she noted, looking over Gina as she returned her look, adjusting the cloth around her head slightly.

"Indeed. I am a samurai of our modern day." She assured, nodding solemnly. Cosmic Man seemed to take some offense to that as he turned away at the sound of it. The girl in the orange snowsuit was next to introduce herself as she continued to shake and shudder.

"I-I-I'm the S-super d-duper high sc-school level sk-sk-skier, Furost-st-stomi Yuk-k-kimura." She managed to get out at last through all her shaking.

"Uh Furostomi… are you nervous?" Jinsei inquired, which was easy to say when she was shaking so much. The girl raised her mitten covered hands and shook them, grinning as if she were embarrassed.

"N-no! N-not at all! I'm j-j-just really c-cold…" she assured them, rubbing her arms slightly. Jinsei did notice her skin was quite pale. But it certainly didn't feel terribly cold to him, so how could she be so cold?

"So, what about you?" Akari turned toward the Stetson wearing boy. "You're not born Japanese are you? So what did you get in for?" The student smiled and tilted his hat slightly, a thin smile forming under his cunning brown eyes.

"Through implication, you say foreigners shouldn't be allowed into schools in this country? How rude." He chuckled slightly as if he'd cracked a joke. "For the sake of my handle, it's Kasper Jones, Super duper high school hunter." Jinsei's eyebrows shot up. Hunter? What exactly would this school do with bringing a HUNTER in? Surely that couldn't be the safest thing amongst high schoolers.

"I meant no such thing!" Akari insisted with a glare. The hunter waved his hand slightly.

"Of course you didn't. But it came out anyway. I say we move on" The hunter quickly moved the conversation onward.

"Perhaps, I can interject an introduction next?" Another female student standing near the back of the group beside some blue haired student stepped forward next. Jinsei's eyes once again had to check twice to make sure what he was seeing was indeed, real. Her face was simple enough and her hair was sweet and black, but her outfit was that of a traditional maid's, the black dress and skirt, the white apron and bows and lace and everything. Her stockings were striped black and white too. The rest of the group turned to look upon her, sharing Jinsei's reaction.

"So… would you happen to be a…" began Taro, scratching his chin slightly as he seemed a bit embarrassed to say it.

"Yes sir. Super duper high school level maid, Yayoi Rokujou sir." She kept a pleasant smile on her face and her voice never wavered from it's polite tone. It was somewhat eerie to Jinsei.

"Maid? Freaking maid? Are you kidding me?! Who's picked up on this nonsensical crap?!" exclaimed the cap wearing student, curling his lip as he stared down the maid. "Are the faculty's brains fractioned for fuck's sake?!"

"Well, what exactly are you here for then?" Gina interrupted, folding her arms and looking impatiently at the cap wearing student, who turned to her with a smirk.

"I just so happen to be a super duper high school level mathematician, capable of reciting pi backwards and spitting equations like bullets, missy." He boasted, a slight irritating hiss in his voice. "Daisuke Mikami, don't go forgetting it." The rest of the group were somewhat underwhelmed despite Daisuke's little performance.

"Right… well, friends, I say these introductions are going well, and now it is time for mine!" Declared the brown haired boy from earlier, his coat swishing somewhat as he stepped forward. Jinsei noticed the inside of the coat was red, his trousers were oddly striped green and brown going diagonally up, above a grey shirt with some form of black logo hidden beneath his coat. "I doth present, Yakusha Kuronin, Super duper high school level actor!" he declared with a flourish and a slight spin, as he suddenly produced something large, white and rounded from behind his back, which he rested on his hand. "And this, my comrades, is Yorick."

"Holy shit he's a killer!" cried out Daisuke, leaping back from Yakusha as the white object looked like a human skull. The rest of the group seemed taken aback as Yakusha looked to his item, then chuckling.

"No no, relax my friends! Yorick is mere plastic, see?" he knocked on the skull a few times, a hollow thud ringing out, proving it was indeed true.

"Yeesh… morbid." Kasper noted, biting his thumbnail as he looked upon the actor's prop. Jinsei turned back to the blonde girl who was still scribbling in her book. She'd been pretty quiet, but had been diligently writing something all this time. It made him curious.

"What about you?" He asked her as her head peered up from the pages slightly.

"You mean me?" she was pretty averagely dressed, brown cardigan over a white shirt, skirt to match with a red tie. The one big difference was her book bag slung over her shoulder, big enough to carry that book she wrote in and made of red leather. "Well, I'm Cho Manaki, Super duper high school archivist… I think." She flipped back to her book's contents page and checked it. "…yeah, I'm the archivist."

"Do you have amnesia or something?" Asked Kasper, cocking an eyebrow at her. Cho clutched her book a little tighter.

"Uh yeah… sorry." She admitted embarrassedly, looking away from the group.

"A tragic affliction indeed!" butted in Cosmic Man, striking another over the top pose. "Do not fear! If you should forget something, I shall remind you!" Cho looked at the shouty hero for a moment before she dropped a bombshell.

"Who are you again?" and with that, Cosmic Man fell backwards, falling deathly ill. The group turned towards the last person who remained unidentified, a girl standing in the corner with light blue hair, dressed in denim overalls with some kind of leather sling over her back. She was swiping at the floor with a mop. Was she a member of staff, Jinsei wondered.

"What about you? Who're you?" Asked Taro, peering at her. The girl turned around and frowned slightly, eyeing them with an odd discontent.

"I'm just the cleaner. You've all been ignoring me, why stop now?" she said snippily, before returning to her work. Taro was taken aback as he stepped backward.

"Ugh! The nerve!" He scoffed as he decided to follow her advice and continue ignoring her. Jinsei stepped forward to remedy the situation.

"Please, we only asked your name." he said politely. The cleaner sighed and turned back to him.

"Fine. It's Kiyonari Mizu, super duper high school janitor." She stated flatly, turning her back to them once again. "Now please, let me work." And she went back to peacefully swiping her mop over the floor. The group decided to continue without her.

"Well." Began Akari, looking over the group's members. "I think that means we've heard from everyo-"

"Not late!" came a shout from in the hall as they heard the pounding of incoming feet. "Not late not late not late not late!" the boy continued to shout as he ran toward the door and skidded straight past it. Jinsei heard a loud crash as the boy had apparently collided with something down the hall. A few moments later, he ran back in, panting slightly.

"I'm here! And I'm not late!" he announced triumphantly, pumping his fist into the air.

"Actually, you kinda are." Pointed out Haruo, gesturing to his watch which read 8:13. The boy frowned.

"Damnit… well, what did I miss?" he asked, getting back up to standing level.

"Nothing, actually. No-one's shown up to greet us." Gina added.

"Indeed… most perculiar." Ruminated Yakusha, scratching his chin slightly.

"Well, since I'm here, might as well introduce myself!" the newcomer said quickly, grinning widely. "Name's Shou Saitou, super duper high school runner, fastest of the lot!" he boasted. His clothes were much lighter than the rest of the group, a red and red short sleeve gym shirt and some red and white shorts that seemed uncomfortably tight.

"So now we're 15, eh?" Kasper noted.

"Yeah, like I said earlier. You lot are more dense than a set of irrationals." Daisuke muttered, relaxing against the wall behind him. He received a few glares from the group.

"Coming back to what Shou said." Kasper continued, ignoring Daisuke entirely. "I wonder why we've not had our welcome yet."

"M-m-maybe t-t-they've b-b-been held-d-d up?" quivered Furostomi from behind him.

"What time were they supposed to be here by again?" Chimed in Cho after flipping through her book's pages.

"If they'd been held up, why would they hold the ceremony at this time?"interjected Taro, once again talking too loudly for his own good.

"It just doesn't make sense." Agreed Gina, shaking her head. "Surely, they must-"

She didn't get any further. A noise cut her off mid sentence. At first, it was just a crackle of static that echoed up and down the gym, drawing their attention to the speakers situated in the corners of the room. The crackle eventually stopped as a voice spoke through them. A voice that spoke through the PA system, a single noise that echoed throughout the gym. A noise that would strike fear into those that knew it's origin. A noise that would soon inspire fear in all of them too. A noise that foreshadowed a high school life of terror and anguish.

"Upupupupupupu~"