The world faded in from the darkness as he began to regain his consciousness. Groggily, he sat up in his chair, realizing he was in a high school classroom. The world was still spinning at a nauseating rate; the boy closed his eyes and waited out the feeling of vertigo that had gripped him the moment he woke up. He tried to remember what was happening, why was he here? The world felt like it had been thrown off balance, and he himself was a stationary object. His thoughts were jumbled, uncooperative, as he struggled to picture what had happened moments before he had passed out. All he could remember was entering the school building of Hope's Peak Academy, then the world flipping upside down, blackness, and now he was here. What's my name? he thought to himself.
Nanashi… Sakakibara Nanashi… He felt relieved as he grasped onto his name. Nanashi opened his eyes, the vertigo finally passing with the wave of relief having washed it away, and looked around the room. To his surprise, where windows were meant to be there were iron plates with large iron rivets holding them in place. A large security camera stuck out from the ceiling near the "windows", it looked straight at him. He tried to call out, but he stopped himself before any sound came out. What if… I've been kidnapped? Nanashi stood from his seat slowly, avoiding to move his chair too much out of fear of making unnecessary noise, I need to find out what's going on… He moved over to the door, passing by the empty blackboard and placing himself against the wall next to the door. Opening the door, Nanashi peeked through the space to see nobody on the other side.
He opened the door the rest of the way and poked his head out into the hallway. There was no one still. Venturing out into the hallway, he saw to his left a door with a sign sign saying INN and to his right, the hallway continued with a turn on the right and a large red door at the very end. He followed the hallway and turned to his right to see the hallway continuing into a more open square. To his left before the square was another door marked A/V Room. Skipping the A/V Room, he continued into the large square.
"Hello there!" a female voice called out. Nanashi snapped his neck in the direction of the caller. Fear took over, his first instinct was to run. But before he could, "Don't be afraid," she said, "you just woke up right?" A moment passed, he was unsure how to respond.
"Y-yeah…" he finally said, "what about you?"
"I woke up a few hours ago. There's thirteen others, we were told there are supposed to be fifteen students."
"Thirteen others? Fifteen students? In total?" Nanashi's confusion was becoming more apparent with every question.
"Yeah!" the girl responded cheerfully, "I was sent out to look for the last person. Lo and behold I found you!" She pointed at him in triumph before making a face borderlining fake suspicion, "You weren't hiding were you?"
"N-no!" Nanashi said defensively, "I just woke up! Wait… is this normal? Did all of you wake up here?" To that, the girl's face turned serious.
"Yes, well no. It's not normal for people to just wake up in a strange place, but that's what we all did."
"So I'm not the only one?"
"No, you're not," a moment of silence once again passed between the two.
"What's your name?" Nanashi finally asked.
"Oh, how rude of me. My name is Kuwata Rin! Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you as well, my name is Sakakibara Nanashi," the girl named Kuwata looked at him strangely, like she was trying to read something inside of him.
"Nanashi… that's an odd name," she finally said.
"So who told you there were supposed to be fifteen students?" he asked, changing the subject. He felt no need to explain his name once more to somebody. He didn't even know who she really was. Wait… I've explained my name before? When? Nanashi once again tried to search his mind for his memories, but perhaps he was still in shock from whatever was happening to him.
"Well, you see…" Kuwata began, "you'd believe it if you saw it… so why don't you come to the gymnasium with me?"
"Uh, sure," reluctantly, Nanashi followed his newfound acquaintance through the halls of what he assumed was still the academy until they reached the double doors of the gym. They were in a room that actually sat between the gym and the rest of the main halls, which had a glass pane full of artifacts and achievements for the academy. Kuwata turned to him once more and said:
"Now, try not to freak out okay?"
"Just… let's do this okay?" Kuwata gave him a look of I warned you and then opened the doors. What Nanashi saw next he could not believe with his own eyes. There stood the thirteen other students, all inside the gym. But on the elevated platform, which Nanashi could only guess as to what it would be used for, stood what appeared to be…
A teddy bear.
It was black in white, one side white and one side black, divided in the middle. On the white side was a black dot for an eye, but on the black side was what looked like a carving or some sort of gash for an eye that was red. He couldn't see it very well, but Nanashi could have sworn he spotted a camera in there. He stood in the doorway stunned by the sight. Did she really think he'd believe this was for real? Did that teddy bear order her to find me? That's a load of crap!
He turned to Kuwata with a look of disbelief and annoyance.
"Oh boy!" a high pitched and playful voice called out from the podium, "Don't get mad at her for your lateness!" Nanashi slowly turned back over to the podium to see the teddy bear laughing and pointing at him, "The look on your face is priceless! Oh my God, you should see it, bub! Upupupupu!" He cackled the last statement, which had only really been some sort of sound he was making. Nanashi's face betrayed surprise, something he rarely did. Usually, he found himself quite capable of hiding his emotions and thoughts, but today was not his day.
"What the hell is going on here?" Nanashi said out loud.
"That's a good freakin' question, bub!" yelled out the teddy bear, "I'll be answering that and more once you're all situated! Now, c'mere and join the rest 'a the group!" Deciding that it would be best not to defy the demonic teddy bear, Nanashi and Kuwata followed his instructions and joined the rest of the student body. Nanashi looked around at the faces of the other kids, all of them looking to around the ages of sixteen or seventeen, like him. He wondered what was happening, and why were there only fifteen students within the academy.
Nanashi looked up at the teddy bear as if to confirm they were ready, but in reality he was extremely curious, and also afraid of what was about to happen.
"Well then!" The playful teddy bear spoke once more, "I'd like to welcome you all to Hope's Peak Academy! My name is Monokuma! I'll be your headmaster from this day 'till the end of days! Yay! Rejoice!" Only nervous glances from the students, not the reaction Monokuma the teddy bear had wanted, "Wow, you guys are boring. Anyway, I supposed you have a ton of questions, and I'll answer a few of them right now! But be warned, I only answer through the following information. I don't really feel like doing a Q and A with you right now.
"First of all, yes, there's only fifteen of you students who are in this academy. No more, and no less! Secondly, yes, I'm a black and white teddy bear of fluffy happiness! WOO! As your headmaster, I make the rules, and as the students, ya follow 'em! Got it? 'Kay. Next, I suppose you've noticed the blast shield shutters and so on the windows and exits of the building. That's because all of you are meant to stay in here, indefinitely!"
"Wait, what?!" one student called out from the crowd.
"What did I say about questions, bub?" Monokuma looked at the boy who'd spoken out of turn, "Now shut up and listen! Anyway, yeah, you're all stuck in this academy for the rest of your miserable lives! Isn't that great?" Silence, nobody wanted to test whether it was a rhetorical question or not, "See, you're learning! Never cross a demonic teddy bear! But you are allowed to interact, you know?" With that…
"You can't be serious!" Another student called out. He looked to be rather muscular, he must work out a lot or something, "You can't keep us locked in here!"
"Oh, I can!" Monokuma retorted, "And I freakin' will! Upupupupu!"
"Why are you doing this?" Kuwata asked.
"I said no questions! If I wanted to answer that I would've already! Anyway, I suppose I should continue the explanation of your situation."
"Uhm… mister Monokuma, sir..." said another female voice further up. Nanashi couldn't see who she was, but he noted that her voice was rather mousy.
"Yeah, girly?" Monokuma responded, leaning forward, "Yer gonna have ta speak up, my ears ain't what they used ta be."
"Uhm," the mousy girl said, "I'm sorry, but, is there really now way out?"
"Holy crap girly!" Monokuma chortled, "I was just about to answer that question! So how about ya listen up folks! There are a couple rules for this academy, and they're all written down for you to read. I'll be distributing things called ElectroiDs, which're digital handbooks and ID's for ya pleasure, but for now, I'll tell you this. There IS a way for you to escape!" The entire student body stayed silent, intently listening to what Monokuma had to say, "Ya gotta kill somebody!" Gasps filled the room. Nanashi grit his teeth and clenched his fists. What the hell is he talking about?
"Oh yeah!" Monokuma continued, "I mean it too! Kill somebody, and you're out!
"You've gotta be kidding me!" yelled out another male voice. Nanashi saw it was somebody more his size, tall but thinner than that muscular boy earlier.
"Yeah, this's gotta be a joke or something!" Said the muscular student once again.
"Nope!" Monokuma laughed, "Kill each other, and you're out! You gotta kill one student, and you're free to go! That's graduation!"
"What the hell is wrong with you!" yelled another student.
"Stabbing!" said the teddy bear, "Beating! Choking! Gassing! Shooting! Impaling! Ripping! Injecting! Trapping! Bludgeoning! And any other way you can think to kill somebody! Any way you put it, if you kill a person, you can graduate!" Nervous whispers and angry shouts came from the crowd. Nanashi looked over at Kuwata, her fear showing clearly in her face. Her eyes darting back and forth as if to suspect anybody might jump her at any moment.
This is becoming more insane with every second that goes on! Nanashi thought.
"Shut up already!" Monokuma yelled, "Ya don't have to kill somebody! Just don't murder, and you all get to live here for the rest of yer days!"
"You're crazy!" another student called out
"We can't live here!" the muscular student said.
"Oh you can!" replied Monokuma, "And you will, unless one of you fancies ta kill somebody!" Everybody went silent once again, the idea of committing murder to escape, or rather the idea that somebody might take what Monokuma said seriously and commit murder to escape, setting everybody on a silent edge. After a few moments passed, Monokuma spoke again, "Well then! I'll be off! You each have yer own room, so don't worry! They're sound proof too! Oh yeah, and only the girls bathrooms have locks on 'em! Why? You don't get to know! Bye!" With that, Monokuma the demonic teddy bear jumped off and behind the podium and disappeared.
Having left them with that disturbing information, the students looked at each other once again. The seeds of distrust had been sewn by their "headmaster", Monokuma. Nanashi looked at Kuwata, who was trying to compose herself after the killer speech. She looked at him and gave him a weak smile, a smile that said I'm so scared right now. Nanashi only nodded as if to say I know, me too. He turned to his right to see other students trying to relax as well. There was so much tension in the air, Nanashi felt like he could just reach out and touch it.
"Well then," said a male student. He was shorter than Nanashi, who was five foot eleven, and had short brown hair. His eyes were brown and he wore white collared shirt with khaki pants and some loafers. He looks like he's applying for a job thought Nanashi, "How about we all calm down for just a second, eh?" His hands moved as he spoke, bringing them up then down as he said "calm", as if to bring the anxiety level down with them.
"Yeah," said the muscular student. He himself looked to be about six foot three. His hair looked to be highlighted red, it was also slicked back like a greaser from the fifties. He wore a black leather jacket, black bell bottom jeans, Interesting… , and black cowboy boots. His cuffs were studded with stainless steel spikes; he was the perfect representation of what Nanashi thought a tough biker look like, "this Monokuma guy is trying to creep us out. How about we just chill?"
"Easy for you to say…" said one of the other boys. He was the skinnier boy who was his height. He wore a brown hoodie with the hood on his head, though his pale face was still visible. He had brown hair, but instead of having the traditional brown eyes like what Nanashi assumed most would, like him, he had hazel eyes. He also wore jeans and some sneakers, the typical teenager of the day, "Not everybody's easy to trust everybody after what they'd just heard…"
"You serious right now?" said the muscular student, "You're really gonna do this right now?"
"Yeah," said the hooded boy, "it's not like this is some kind of joke. There's way too much effort put into this!"
"Hey!" Nanashi yelled at them.
"What do you want?" said the muscles.
"How about instead of arguing, we actually try to relax, and maybe introduce ourselves?" Nanashi suggested. We're gonna get nowhere if we start fighting right now…
"That sounds good," Nanashi heard Kuwata say behind him. The two boys who had been arguing looked at each other and reluctantly sighed in unison.
"Welp," said the muscular boy, "guess I'll go first. Let's give our names, ages, what we're here for, and something that we like to do, how about that?"
"Sounds good," Nanashi agreed.
"My name is Kakuzo Nishi, I'm seventeen, I was dubbed the 'Super Duper High School Lifter', and I like to lift… but I guess my title gives that away, huh?"
"You're fine," said the collared shirt student, "My name is Tsutomu Toma, I'm sixteen, I'm called the 'Super Duper High School Investor', and I like to go snorkeling," Nanashi, relieved at the sound of some students giggling over the snorkeling hobby. To think, somebody dubbed an investor would be into something that had nothing to do with it. Wait… where did this "Super Duper High School" stuff come from? Nanashi began to remember that students all over had been invited to Hope's Peak Academy, each of them specializing in some sort of skill. Maybe that's it? But Nanashi couldn't remember what was his specialty.
"Hello," Kuwata said, "my name is Kuwata Rin. I'm seventeen, I'm the 'Super Duper High School Fencer', and I like to play with cats!"
"Good one," Nanashi sighed. The students began to relax a little bit. It probably helped that Kuwata was a girl about a head shorter than him. She wore a red skirt and yellow shirt with a pink blouse on top. She was the epitome of non-threatening high schooler.
"I'll go next," came the mousy girl. She was short and had short black hair and brown eyes. Her clothes were also befitting of a high schooler. A skirt that reached to above her knees, high socks, a blue sweater, and round glasses, "My name is Mineko Oba, I'm fifteen, I'm known as the 'Super Duper High School Ballerina', and I like to… um… read. N-nice to meet you all?" Your heart just has to melt when you see these kinds of girls… Nanashi thought to himself.
"Welp," stepped up another male, "I'm Noriyuki Hada, I'm also fifteen, I'm known as the 'Super Duper High School Gamer', and I obviously like to play video games!" Such proclamation, as if he wanted people to be surprised. However, he looked like the gamer type. He was very skinny with long brown hair that reached his shoulders. He had large round glasses with no anti-reflectant like most would have these days. He wore a green hoodie with a triforce on it, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. Completely nonthreatening… but at least he had some kind of confidence, Or maybe a front?
"Ooh, ooh, me next!" Said a particularly perky girl. She had long pink hair put up in a pony tail. She wore was looked like purple leggings with knee high boots and a pink tank top. The girl had multiple necklaces, each of different kind. One was made of small seashells, another of turquoise rocks, and yet another of rasta colored beads. Quite an odd one isn't she? "My name is Tamami Kimoto, my age is seventeen, I'm the 'Super Duper High School Raver', and I love to go dancing!" Figures.
"I guess I'll go," sighed another female. She had long silver hair that went own to the small of her back. Her eyes were red, and her skin was extremely pale. An albino? She wore a white dress as well, though it had to be a different shade of white, else it'd look like her body might actually be a part of it, "My name is Reina Ishikawa, I'm sixteen, I'm the 'Super Duper High School Tutor', and I like to eat, like a lot," from what Nanashi knew of albinos, they tended to be quite frail because of the odd pigmentation of their skin and eyes. But at least Reina's personality showed some uplifting spirit. Or perhaps it was her being sarcastic to keep the mood light.
"Okay then," said another girl, this time a rather tall one. About the same height as Kakuzo, she had a pixie cut with very dirty blonde hair. Her eyes were green, and her physique was more masculine than feminine. Is this what we call butch? She wore a wife beater with brown cargo pants, combat boots, and fingerless biker gloves. Yeah… this is definitely what we call butch, "My name is Fumiki Fujikawa, I'm sixteen, I'm known as the 'Super Duper High School Boxer', and I also like to lift!" That's what we call an obvious bit of information, just look at you woman!
"Let's see what I can bring to the table here," said a male voice. He was about five foot three, very short boy. He had curly red hair with green eyes. The student wore a blue sweater and brown khaki pants, and also a pair of loafers, "My name is Yoshitoshi Arita, I'm fifteen years old, I'm the 'Super Duper High School Linguist', and I like to read books. Specifically in other languages that I don't know very well."
"Hello!" came out a cheerful girl. She was short as well, but taller than Yoshitoshi. She had long, straight brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a low cut, long sleeved red shirt with blue jeans and sandals. She also had a kitty barrette in her hair. Quite the sociable one, isn't she? "My name is Risu Nagata, I'm sixteen years old, I'm the 'Super Duper High School Baller', and one of my favorite things to do is to jump on a trampoline!" Ten bucks says it's basketball.
"I got this one!" said a male voice. He was a pudgy boy with short blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a green t-shirt, blue jeans, a pair of loafers, and he had a necklace with a chef's hat on him. I think I know where this is going… "I'm Shigematsu Ito, I'm fifteen, I'm the 'Super Duper High School Chef', and I like to cook!" Yeah, we know...
"Oy vey…" said the hooded boy from earlier, "Do I have to?"
"I mean, I guess-" Nanashi was then cut off.
"Yeah!" Kakuzo yelled out, "We're all doing it!"
"Fine! Geez! My name is Rai Ohashi, I'm fifteen, and I'm the 'Super Duper High School Hacker'. There you happy?"
"What do you like?" Kakuzo continued, eyeing Rai.
"Ugh! I dunno, rice?"
"There," said Tsutomu, "That wasn't so hard was it?"
"My turn!" said another female voice. She had red hair put up into two pigtails. Her eyes were as green as could be as well. She wore a red tank top and a short purple skirt. However, her purple boots went up to her shins and her socks up to her thigh, "I'm Inaba Sakai, I'm sixteen, I'm the 'Super Duper High School Fashionista', and I love to watch anime!"
Nanashi was about to speak but it seemed like he was overruled when Kakuzo looked over at the last girl in the group. She was half a head shorter than Nanashi; she had long dark hair with a silver streak in it. Her eyes were dark brown to match the majority of her hair color. She wore a black sweater with a white shirt underneath. Her pants were also black, as were her shoes. Everything about her except for her rather fair complexion is black…
"What about him?" She said as she pointed at Nanashi, "He looked like he had something to say."
"Too late," Kakuzo replied, "I already called you out."
"Very well," she responded, " My name is Kasumi Himeko, I'm seventeen years old, I'm the 'Super Duper High School Theorist'. That is all."
"No no," said Tsutomu, "What do you like?"
Silence from the girl named Kasumi.
"Even I did it…" said Rai.
"Screw it," said Nanashi, "I'm Sakakibara Nanashi. I'm seventeen years old, and I'm sorry but I don't know what 'Super Duper High Schooler' I am. I just woke up and I think I'm still feeling the shock of whatever knocked me out."
"Really?" asked Tamami, "Are you okay?" Her face expressing genuine concern.
"Yeah," replied Nanashi, "I'll be fine. I remembered that we were all invited here for some talent… I just can't remember mine. I'll tell you what though, I like to watch anime too."
"Well then," Inaba said, "We'll get along great!" After the introductions had been finished, the students decided that it was time to rest, as the clock read 9:55 PM. They all headed back through the hallways of the academy, through the large main square, and through the large door that said INN. There they found that the inn was more of just a large hall with a high ceiling, but it also had fifteen rooms. Each with a nameplate of their last names. Nanashi walked up to his, reading Sakakibara, and having a small picture of him just above it. He looked behind him to see Kuwata looking at her room, then turning to see him. Nanashi waved goodnight, inside feeling that he might have just accidently creeped her out, then entered his room.
Inside was a bed, a desk with a tablet and key, a few hip high shelves, and a trash can. Nanashi looked over the key and tablet. The key read Sakakibara, The key to my room I suppose. The tablet was really more of an extremely thin PDA as it fit in the palm of his hand. Tapping it, the word ElectroiD came up and showed a picture of Nanashi, his age, his height, and his what he really was.
The Super Duper High School Gangster. What the hell? His memory flashed back to before all of the craziness with the academy began. Realizing what his talent was, Nanashi shivered for a moment, then sighed. I'll explain this to everybody tomorrow… He looked over to his bed and lay down in it. Suddenly…
DIIIING DOOOONG DIIIING DOOOONG!
The television that Nanashi hadn't realized was in his room suddenly turned on, and he heard a very familiar, grating voice speak.
"Eh… this is a school announcement. It is now 10:00 PM. 'Night Time' begins cafeteria's doors will be locked shortly. You are forbidden to enter it. Also, if you'll look around you'll see there is a camera in your room. You won't ever be able to be alone ever again! Pleasant dreams, and goodnight!" The television turned itself off. Sure enough, there was a camera in Nanashi's room. Rather than get upset, his energy was far too drained to even do so, Nanashi decided to take his clothes off down to his boxers, then go to bed.
Tomorrow I can get mad about this…