"Oh, yeah! One time Tae decided she wanted to try being a Dungeon Master, so she roped all of us into playing Dungeons and Dragons with her." Sayaka giggled a little self-consciously and lowered her voice. "Turns out, it was actually a lot of fun."

"What was that like?" Makoto asked. "I've heard of Dungeons and Dragons, but I don't actually know much about it." Having finished their Saturday breakfast, he and Sayaka sat idly in the dining hall, discussing how they had spent their free time before coming to Hope's Peak Academy - well, mainly how Sayaka and her idol group had spent theirs. Makoto's pastimes of choice had been... less than inspiring.

"You've never played?" Sayaka asked, her eyes widening with surprise. Makoto shook his head no. "I'm surprised, Makoto! It seems like your sort of thing."

Makoto shrugged. "I guess I wouldn't know. Maybe you could tell me a little about it?"

Sayaka leaned forward a bit, an eager gleam lighting up her eyes. "It's a high fantasy roleplaying game! Each member of the party creates a unique character with their own story and different stats and abilities, and they band together to go on an adventure, narrated by the Dungeon Master! Oh, and the result of pretty much any important situation is determined by making a check based on your character's stats."

"Woah, Sayaka, slow down a bit," Makoto interrupted, trying to take in the rush of information. "What are checks?"

"Skill checks and ability checks!" Sayaka explained, a wide smile on her face. "Like if you're trying to push a boulder aside, you make a strength check. The result determines if you succeed or not. To make a check, you just roll a twenty-sided die-"

"Like this one." Makoto and Sayaka both jumped; neither of them had heard Celeste enter the room. She was holding up a small red polyhedron with tiny numbers engraved on its triangular faces. Before either of them managed to get over their surprise, she tossed it onto the table. It bounced, then rolled a few centimeters before coming to a halt, the side marked 20 facing up.

"Woohoo, nat twenty!" Sayaka cheered. "Nice one, Celeste!"

"Excuse me?" The puzzlement in Celeste's voice matched the perplexed expressions both she and Makoto wore.

"Oh, sorry," Sayaka backpedaled. "In D&D, when you roll a natural twenty like that for a check, you automatically succeed, and if you roll it for an attack, you get a critical hit." Her expression turned serious. "On the flip side, if you roll a natural one, you automatically fail. Drastically."

Makoto paled. "Why do I get the sense I would roll a lot of those?"

"D&D?" Celeste inquired, reminding the others that she hadn't been there for the start of the conversation. Sayaka quickly brought her up to speed.

"This game seems intriguing," Celeste commented with a playful smile, lacing her fingers together beneath her chin. "I will play with you." She spoke as though it had already been decided.

The idea seemed to excite Sayaka. "Great! Hmm, we'll need a DM, and maybe a couple more players…" She put a finger to her chin, pondering.

"Wait, are we actually starting our own game?" Makoto exclaimed, taken aback.

"Of course." Celeste raised an eyebrow at him. "You do intend to join us, yes?"

"I, um -" Makoto stumbled to find words. "Well, I mean, I wasn't… that is… yeah, sure!"

Celeste giggled lightly, appeased by his answer. "Excellent. Now, in regards to the matter of other players, I believe we should invite Byakuya."

Makoto frowned. "Are you sure about that? I mean, he's kind of…"

"We are inviting him." Her tone, though calm, carried an underlying force that left no room for disagreement.

"What about Sakura?" Sayaka suggested.

"If you believe she would enjoy this sort of event," Celeste assented dubiously.

"Do you think Kyoko would make a good DM?" Makoto mused, resigned to his fate.

"Solving a mystery is much like unravelling a story, is it not?" Celeste pointed out, one hand resting thoughtfully on her chin.

"Yeah, great idea, Makoto!" Sayaka agreed. "So, how about we all split up to find the others and meet back here in half an hour? Celeste, you get Byakuya. Makoto, you should find Kyoko. She likes you better than most of our classmates." Celeste and Makoto nodded in unison, and the three set off on their separate quests.

Makoto hesitated outside the door to Kyoko's dorm, trying to gather the nerve to talk to his intimidatingly beautiful classmate. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on her door, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he waited for her to answer.

The door opened after a few seconds, Kyoko gazing at him impassively. "Good morning, Makoto," she greeted. "Do you need something?"

"Hi, Kyoko," he replied, craning his head back to look her in the eyes. "So, I was talking with Sayaka and Celeste, and we thought it might be fun to start a Dungeons and Dragons group." He paused, then realized he hadn't actually asked his question and she was still watching him expectantly. "So… would you be interested in being our Dungeon Master?"

Kyoko thought about it for a bit, placing a hand under her chin. "That would be the person who tells the story, yes? Why me?"

"Well, I mean, solving mysteries and unraveling stories are pretty similar, right?" Makoto explained, paraphrasing Celeste's words.

"That is one way to look at it," Kyoko agreed. After a moment of further consideration, she nodded. "Very well. I will be your Dungeon Master."

"Thank you!" Makoto exclaimed, a wide grin splitting his face. "We're going to meet in the dining hall as a party in-" he hastily pulled out his phone to check the time, "-twelve minutes."

"I will be there," Kyoko promised, vanishing back into her dorm.

"Sakura!" Sayaka chirruped, bursting into the girls' locker room at the pool, where she knew she'd find the martial artist. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Of course." Sakura dropped down from the pull-up bar, landing neatly and taking a deep swig of the protein drink sitting nearby. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Celeste, Makoto and I are going to be playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons," Sayaka answered, a bright smile on her face. "I have a hunch you'd be the sort of person to enjoy it!"

"How did you know that?" Sakura exclaimed. "My family used to play every week, but I don't think I've mentioned that to anyone here."

Sayaka giggled, giving her a sly wink. "Weeeellll… I'm psychic!"

Sakura's surprise showed on her face only as a slight widening of her eyes, but it was plainly evident in her voice. "You are?"

At this, Sayaka's giggling turned to full laughing. "Not really. I just have really good intuition!"

Sakura chuckled. "You had me going for a moment there! As for joining your D&D campaign, I'd love to. When will we start?"

"We're not really sure, but we're having a meeting in the dining hall to figure it out right away."

"Sounds good to me." Sakura began to pack up her gear, and Sayaka turned and left the dressing room.

Celeste rapped long and hard on Byakuya's door. For the third time. When he still didn't answer, she let out a soft growl of impatience. "Byakuya!" she called. "If you are in there, answer the door!"

No response.

Celeste let out an exasperated huff and turned to leave, forced to accept the fact that she'd have to go looking for him. Recalling that he spent much of his time in the school library, she headed up to the second floor to begin her search there. She flung open the library door to make a dramatic entrance, only to find that it was empty.

A yelp. "Oh, hey, Celeste!" Not so empty, then. Chihiro sat in a corner on the floor, tapping away on his laptop.

"Have you seen Byakuya anywhere?" Celeste asked as soon as she got over her shock at his presence.

"Actually, you, um, just missed him," said Chihiro ruefully. "I think he said he was heading back to his room…"

"Figures," Celeste grumbled under her breath. She thanked Chihiro, giving him her falsest of smiles before trudging back the way she had come.

By the time Celeste reached Byakuya's dorm once more, she felt ready to scream. Restraining herself and assuming a mask of composure, she knocked once more, deciding that she really would scream if he still didn't answer.

After way too long to be even close to courteous, Byakuya finally opened the door. "What do you want?" he asked curtly, not bothering with any sort of pleasantries.

Following his lead, Celeste cut straight to the point. "For you to join the Dungeons and Dragons campaign that Makoto, Sayaka, and I are starting."

Byakuya scoffed. "I do not know why you think I would waste my time like that."

"Because you would enjoy it." Celeste kept her face impassive but let a hint of mischief creep into her voice.

"I do not wish to know how late you were up last night to come up with such ridiculous nonsense," Byakuya said scornfully, scowling and folding his arms.

"Late enough," Celeste replied evenly. "You will be joining our ridiculous nonsense, of course."

"Excuse me?" Byakuya retorted sharply. "I most certainly will not be."

"You most certainly will be." A hint of steel colored Celeste's tone.

Byakuya let out an irritated sigh. "Very well. If it will get you to stop bothering me, I shall join this… game."

"Excellent. We are meeting in the dining hall in precisely four minutes and thirty-seven seconds. You will be there, will you not?" Despite the phrasing, it was not a question.

"Good, everyone's here!" Sayaka beamed as Celeste entered the dining hall, a disgruntled Byakuya in tow. "Before we begin, any questions?"

"I have a question," Byakuya grumbled. "What am I doing here?"

Celeste smiled sweetly at him. "You are shutting up, I believe."

Byakuya opened his mouth to make a biting retort, but Kyoko cut him off. "I would like a more detailed explanation of how this will work, if you don't mind."

As Sayaka began to explain the basic rules in more depth, Byakuya pointedly turned his back at first, but soon began to take a grudging interest; noticing this, Celeste smiled deviously. Seemingly oblivious, the pop idol produced six character sheets. "So, these are your character sheets. I know most of you are first-timers, so don't hesitate to ask if you have questions!" She smiled brightly.

Makoto took one and began scanning it. "Um… I have no idea what most of this means."

"I shall assist you," Sakura rumbled, placing an intricately illustrated book entitled 'Player's Handbook' on the table. After an hour or so of working, studying, and arguing, the group finished recording the technical aspects of their characters.

"Now for the fun part," Sayaka giggled, barely able to contain her excitement. "Character backstories!"

Kyoko, who had been looking up information about Dungeons and Dragons on her phone for most of the time, spoke up. "Before we begin, I would like to put forth some background on the world in which you will be adventuring. In this realm, there are two major kingdoms called Ammedora and Ilyith. The rulers of Ammedora are old, stubborn, and inefficient, leaving their kingdom vulnerable. Because of this vulnerability, a dark order called the Claws of the Underdark seeks to overthrow it and use their gains to take down Ilyith."

As soon as Kyoko finished, Celeste sidled up next to her, lowering her voice so only the Dungeon Master could hear her. "Kyoko, I wish to speak with you about Tyche's backstory."

"What is it?" Kyoko inquired.

Celeste glanced at the others. "I have an idea, but I do not think it prudent for the other players to know just yet."

"Go on."

Celeste raised her voice back to a normal level. "If the rest of you would go elsewhere for a few minutes, I would like to confer privately with the Dungeon Master." Her eyes darted from one person to the next, daring anyone to argue.

No one did, filing out of the room, though Byakuya issued Celeste an icy glare. As soon as the door closed behind them, she turned back to Kyoko. "I would like Tyche to be a former member of the Claws of the Underdark."

"I see no issue with that," Kyoko agreed. "May I ask why you wished to keep this private?"

Celeste planted her palms on the table, leaning forward onto them to give Kyoko an intense stare. "Tyche would not want to reveal herself to the other members of the party. Would it not be more realistic if even the players were unaware?"

"That's true," Kyoko conceded, but before she could continue, the dining hall doors parted to reveal the last person either of them wanted to see.

"What's this all about, losers?" demanded Junko Enoshima.

"That is none of your business," Celeste responded curtly. "So, if you would kindly move along…"

Junko let out a long hmmm. "Nope, I don't think I will! That good-for-nothing cretin who calls herself my sister was getting boring anyway." She plopped herself down, reclining back in a chair. "Soooo, what's going on?"

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with," said Kyoko coldly.

"Ooh, so it's something interesting!" Her grin may as well have been the devil's. "You guys neeeever invite me to fun stuff, so I'm just so, so happy you guys are letting me play this lame game with you!"

Celeste began to protest, but Kyoko held up a hand to silence her. "I see you won't be dissuaded. Very well, you may join. However, if you cause any trouble, I will be forced to resort to not-so-pleasant measures."

Junko scoffed. "As if anything you could do would affect me!"

Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then I suppose you wouldn't mind the whole school knowing your real surname?"

"Her real surname?" Celeste tilted her head to one side. "Is it not Enoshima?"

Junko panicked as Kyoko opened her mouth, her insufferable grin vanishing. "Of course it's Enoshima, you wannabe vampire!" She leveled a glare at Kyoko. "Fine, but don't think it's because I'm actually scared of your stupid threat."

"I'm sure you aren't." At this, Kyoko wore the barest hint of a smug smirk. At this point, the others returned, all of them except for Byakuya casting Junko nervous looks.

"What's she doing here?" Makoto burst out.

"Ooh, look, it's the talentless nobody!" Junko sneered.

Kyoko grimaced. "I would like to introduce our newest party member." She gave Junko a very pointed look and added, "She has promised not to stir up trouble."

"Something about Enoshima not being her real surname," Celeste added, still giving Junko a very curious look.

"Stop your quacking, emo girl!" Junko snapped. "Enoshima is my surname, and that's that!"

Byakuya quirked an eyebrow. "Is that so? I suppose we'll find out, depending on whether this snivelling sack of snail slime can behave itself."

"Of course I can, you over-baked baguette!" Junko sneered. "I'll have you know I can be better behaved than Sir Screams-A-Lot!"

Sakura spoke up, softly but forcefully. "Then prove it."

"Hmph." Junko stuck her nose in the air. "I'm going to be a dragonborn sorcerer. Green scales, of course. And his name will be Patrin!"

Kyoko frowned, recognizing the significance of the scale color. "If you were planning on making your character evil-aligned, you can forget it."

Makoto cut in before Junko could snipe back. "His name?"

"Duuuh!" Junko rolled her eyes. "If I had to pick, I'd rather be grouped with the fried shrimp than the tone-deaf mule, the Dracula ripoff and the oversized mute."

"Might I ask why I was excluded from that unflattering list?" Byakuya inquired a little smugly.

Junko scoffed. "Of course you were, fried shrimp!"

Byakuya scowled. "Then what, pray tell, is Makoto?"

"You don't have to include me," Makoto assured her hastily.

"Oh yeah, he exists!" Junko exclaimed, her eyes widening with exaggerated shock. "I hadn't even noticed!"

"But you acknowledged him when he first entered, did you not?" Celeste pointed out.

"Acknowledged who?"

"Let's move on," Kyoko interrupted. Her expression was neutral, but her eyes contained the thinly veiled wrath of the gods.

"There is no point in hurling insults back and forth," Byakuya agreed, conveniently ignoring the fact that he had hurled more insults than anyone besides Junko. "I would like to speak to Kyoko alone as well."

Junko was the first to stand up this time. "Oh, good, some time away from this moldy cheese."

To their credit, the others ignored her, and Sayaka, Sakura, Makoto, and Celeste followed her wordlessly from the room, leaving Byakuya and Kyoko to confer.

"What is it, Byakuya?" Kyoko asked, secretly grateful for the brief break from Junko, even though she was now left alone with another cactus.

Byakuya drew himself up to his full height. "Theren is the Crown Prince of Ammedora and the last surviving member of its royal family." It was neither a question nor a request.

Thinking of what Celeste had said about Tyche, Kyoko got the feeling things were going to get interesting. "I am fine with this, but you are aware that that would make Theren easily recognizable to the Claws?"

Byakuya sniffed. "I have taken that into consideration and decided that with his final breath, the Royal Sorcerer cast a spell to disguise Theren's face."

Kyoko merely nodded assent. "You may come back in," she called in the direction of the dining hall doors. As the rest of the party returned, she spoke again to avoid the development of another argument. "Does anyone else have backstory elements to discuss in private?"

"Actually, Makoto and I do," Sayaka admitted.

Junko wrinkled her nose. "Ewww, are you two dating or something?"

"Of course not!" Makoto exclaimed.

Junko continued like she couldn't hear him. "I just don't understand why some pretty face claiming to be the Ultimate Pop Sensation would date an unraveling antique rug like him."

"So, Kyoko, backstory?" Sayaka prompted agitatedly, completely ignoring Junko.

"Ha! Back when I played this dumb game, no one was so ridiculously secretive about their backstories," Junko laughed, flipping her hair. "I am proud to announce that Patrin is a member of the Claws, sent to hunt down a traitor!"

Sayaka huffed angrily. "You can't just go around blurting things like that out, it'll ruin the story!"

"Would you just let us discuss this in peace?" Makoto pleaded.

"Annoying couples is my favorite pastime, so…" Junko mimicked Sayaka's typical pondering pose, a finger to her chin. "No!"

"Then you're out of luck," Makoto retorted. "We're not a couple."

Kyoko sighed. "If she refuses to leave, Sayaka, Makoto, if it isn't too important, you may as well just say it."

"And I refuse to leave!" Junko chirped in an obnoxious singsong voice.

Sayaka sighed and nodded. "Okay, so we decided that a bard - who was actually Aster's little sister Floris - got lost in the enchanted forest and ended up spending a night in the shelter of Santolina's tree, not realizing it housed a hamadryad. In the morning, Santolina offered to lead her out of the forest if she would teach her music in return."

Makoto took up the narrative. "Since it would take a lot longer to teach Santolina music than to guide Floris home, Santolina came to stay with Aster and Floris, who she became great friends with. This is a little change of subject, but Aster is a highly honored knight of the king of Ilyith. When the Claws started causing trouble in Ammedora, the king sent Aster to begin the fight to take them down, and Santolina insisted on joining him to guide him through the forest."

Junko scoffed. "Like I said, totally dating."

"I have a crush, and it's not Sayaka," Makoto grumbled under his breath.

"Really?" Sayaka exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with interest. "Who's the lucky person?"

Makoto's face flamed. "Um, let's not get into that right now."

Junko rolled her eyes. "Like she'd ever even notice you, let alone have feelings for you… whoever she is. Seriously, the only girl who'd ever like you would be a-"

Sensing where that was going, Kyoko cut her off. "If I recall correctly, D&D stands for Dungeons and Dragons, not Dating and Dorks."

Makoto stared at his shoes, not sure whether or not to be insulted. As though she was reading his mind, Sayaka leaned over to whisper, "I think Kyoko just complimented you, in her own special way!"

Makoto whipped his head around to stare at her, unnerved. "Are you sure? And how could you tell what I was thinking?"

Sayaka tapped her forehead and grinned. "Psychic!"

Sakura spoke up, reminding Makoto, Kyoko, Sayaka, and Junko that the rest of the party still existed. "Nothing about Jasmine's backstory needs to be hidden. She was a regular citizen who fled from Ammedora when the Claws attacked and ended up living in a refugee camp on the outskirts of the kingdom. After a while, a temple of Bahamut was destroyed, so its clerics came to the camp. Jasmine was interested in their teachings and ended up asking the head cleric if she could join and be trained in their ways."

Makoto glanced around the room. "That was everyone, right?"

Kyoko nodded. "I vote we have our first session next Saturday at ten. Does anyone object?"

Nobody did, so they went their separate ways to return to their school life and anticipate the coming Saturday.