I have (and still am) been working on this for a while.
I do not own Danganronpa, though I do own all the characters, except Monokuma obviously. And I don't own the setting or concept.
Enjoy!
My name is Ryoko Tachibana.
This is when you'd expect me to say something like, "I'm a normal kid. I liked all the popular things, and I wasn't really different from anyone else." But I won't be saying something like that. Mostly because it's not true.
I'm probably an odd protagonist. Considering I didn't get into the best school in Japan, Hope's Peak Academy, by luck. I'm not ordinary.
I'm here because they thought my talent was worthy of a complete scholarship to their school. They're probably the first ones to think that I'm worth anything at all. Especially something as important as a full scholarship to the best school in Japan.
Today I'm entering Hope's Peak Academy as the Super High-School Level Hacker. I'm a member of the 46th class of Hope's Peak Academy. And I'm very far from normal.
But you can learn more about me later I'm sure. This story is about my life at Hope's Peak Academy after all.
I remove my glasses and rub the lenses on my shirt. My hands are shaking slightly as I put them back on my face and take a deep breath.
I take a step forward, crossing the gate into the school.
Suddenly, everything feels fuzzy. I stumble through the front door, leaning on one of the massive pillars once I enter the front hall. I glance around, absorbing the lobby of the school. Another wave of dizziness comes over me and I close my eyes, leaning my head against the pillar.
I'm probably just nervous. Probably just nervous. Of course I'm nervous. School has never been a pleasant experience for me. Even here, I don't know how this will turn out.
Suddenly everything goes fuzzy again. As if my glasses have been taken and I can't see right. Then there's a weird grogginess. Then I fall off the pillar into unconsciousness.
I wake up in the last place I'd expect to wake up. You'd expect a school infirmary, or a hospital, or even your own cramped with computers room after passing out like that. But I'm not in any of those places. I wake up with my head laying on a desk, my glasses placed nicely on the desk in front of my head, probably so they wouldn't get cracked. I grab them off the desk and quickly fit them back onto my face. Once I can see again, I look around the classroom. The first major thing I notice is a large surveillance camera. It makes sense I guess, they probably want to make sure the students are okay and that no one is sneaking in through a window or something. The next thing I notice is the monitor on the wall next to the camera. That isn't too abnormal either. That's most likely how they deliver announcements. The third thing I notice is the lack of windows.
More accurately, the windows that seem to be covered with large metal plates that don't even let a peek of sunlight through. I stand somewhat shakily and make my way over to one of the metal panels. I run my fingers along the rise between the plate and the wall. It seems like the plates are bolted right into the wall, but I'm not an expert on this kind of thing. I pull on the metal plate, trying to see if there's any give at all. Which there isn't. But I'm not particularly strong either, so I might not be the best person to try.
I glance up near the security camera again. That's when I notice the clock right next to it. I was supposed to be in the main hall at 8:00... it's 7:57 right now... I should probably get going over there. I walk to the door, I cautiously turn the handle, half expecting the door to be locked. It's not, luckily, and I step out of the classroom into the weirdly dimly lit hallway. The lights are an odd shade of purple as I make my way past an unusual dark red door and a yellow door with a VHS tape on it to find what I can only assume is the door I'm looking for.
I step inside.
"Hey hey! Look Hiro! New classmate! At least, she looks our age... Maybe she's a young-looking teacher!" A male voice calls out as soon as I enter the room. I quickly catch glance of him among the 15 others who stood before me after I entered the room. He has dark brown hair and light blue eyes. His hair is short and spiked and he has a weirdly happy expression for the predicament we appear to be in.
"Hi hi! My name's Ko Fukuhara! And this is my brother Hiro! Nice to meet ya! What's your name?" He asks, waving at me and gesturing to the slightly taller guy standing next to him. I can definitely see the resemblance between them. They look almost exactly the same except for the lengths of their hair and their heights. The one who spoke up is wearing a t-shirt with a pattern resembling ink-blots and paint-splatters. He's also wearing jeans with an odd chain accessory going from his front belt-loop to his back pocket and his hair is weirdly spiked up in the front. His brother's hair is almost the exact opposite. His hair is long and falls just passed his shoulders and seems almost messy. He's wearing a white t-shirt under a gray jacket with similar blue jeans to his brother.
"Um... M-my n-name's Ryoko... R-Ryoko T-T-Tachibana..." I introduce.
"Are you a student or a young-looking teacher?" He asks.
"I-I-I'm a s-s-student... T-t-t-today's supposed to b-be my first d-d-d-day..." I reply. "Are you m-m-my c-c-classmates?"
"If you're in the 46th class, then yeah!" Ko replies.
I just nod.
"Okay, then we should ALL introduce ourselves, now that everyone's here!" He says, half glaring at his brother and some of the others. "I'll go first! Again, I'm Ko Fukuhara! I'm the Super High-School Level Voice Actor!"
"I'm R-R-Ryoko T-T-Tachibana... I-I'm the S-S-Super High-School L-L-Level Hacker..."
"WHOA! THAT'S SUCH A COOL TALENT!" A new voice says and I look to my left to see a short girl with obviously dyed pink hair falling almost to her knees looking up at me with sweet and adorable blue eyes.
Is she really in High-School?
"Hi hi hi hi hi! I'm Harumi Imai!" She makes a peace-sign over her left eye. "I'm the Super High-School Level Singer!" She introduces herself. She's wearing what looks like an improved version of your typical high-school uniform, comprised of a white polo-shirt with with a black trim and a pink tie. She's also wearing a dark blue ruffled skirt along with white knee socks and black mary-janes.
Ko's brother sighs then turns his head to look at me.
"I'm Hiro Fukuhara. I'm the Super High-School Level Manga Author." He gives me a small wave. I respond with a small wave of my own.
The next one to speak up is a medium height girl with short red hair and pretty green eyes. She's wearing jean overalls over an orange shirt. Her shoes look worn-in and old. She has a small notepad hanging from a string around her neck and a camera bag hanging from the left strap of her overalls, and the front pocket of her overalls has at least 5 pens clipped in.
"Hey, I'm Sachiko Hoshino, but please call me Sachi. I'm the Super High-School Level Journalist."
That's an interesting talent.
"I'm Kichi Nakamura." The short black-haired boy dressed in the weirdest outfit I've ever seen introduces himself next. "I'm your class' Super High-School Level Lucky Student." Said weirdest outfit I've ever seen has a dark green t-shirt with a pink heart symbol over the chest, tan khakis (which don't match the shirt at all) and single-strap gray sandals over light gray socks.
Even I have better fashion sense than that.
Anyway, I have to spend a second thinking about what he means by 'your class' Super High-School Level Lucky Student' before I remember that each Hope's Peak class has a Super High-School Level Lucky Student. They hold a lottery every year to choose one.
"O-Oh... C-C-C-Congratulations..." I reply.
"Thanks."
"Us next!" A small black-haired boy (who has no other resemblance to the Lucky Student) speaks up. He looks even more exhausted than me and he's wearing a black tank-top with a book design and navy-blue sweatpants. He's also wearing single-strap sandals, but luckily he's not wearing socks with them. His arm is linked with the arm of an older-looking girl who has the same hair and eye-colors, except her hair reaches her shoulders and she looks far healthier and better rested than he does. She's slightly taller, though not by much and she's wearing a black track jacket and black sweatpants along with black sneakers (she must like black).
"I'm Bunko Shibuya!" The boy declares. "I'm the Super High-School Level Bookworm!" He points to the girl with his hand that isn't linked with hers. "And this is my big sister Shizuko! She's the Super High-School Level Logic!"
"Now my turn." I hate her already. She sounds so stuck up and awful. The strawberry blonde with gray eyes. Her hair's in a high ponytail and she's wearing this small red dress that barely goes to her knees with a black sweater over her shoulders. She's got matching black high-heels. She's also got black stub-chain earrings that fall about an inch and her nails are painted a red that perfectly matches her dress. Her face is also caked with makeup. "I'M Riko Takara. And I'M the Super High-School Level Blogger."
"So, you're a hacker? Does hacking work differently in Japan? Do computers function differently?" Suddenly the guy shows up on my left. He's got blonde hair and blue eyes, which are hidden behind thin-rimmed glasses. He's wearing a red hoodie over a white shirt with blue jeans. He's also got white Puma sneakers on. I can see a small book poking out of his pocket. Though the letters are in English.
I jump back a little and he seems confused for a second before he seems to realize that he probably scared me.
"Ah, je regrette." I don't know what that means. "Right, I should probably talk Japanese. My name was Isaac Johnston. I originate from America and I was the Super High-School Level Linguist." His Japanese is off. "I apologize if my Japanese isn't perfect yet. I was still learning."
Oh, that makes sense.
"I guess I can go now." She has light green highlights in her medium-length brown hair with similarly colored eyes. She's tall and somewhat wide and she has long legs and arms. She's wearing a light green sleeveless shirt with dark purple suspenders (or what looks like them) going around her shoulder and attaching to the front and back of her jean shorts. She's got green socks with white stars on them and sneakers with strips of both purple and green (I wonder what her favorite colors are). "I'm Naoki Chinatsu. I'm the Super High-School Level Backpacker. You can call me Nao though." She pauses. "I hope we get to go outside soon. I'll probably go crazy if we're stuck in here too much longer."
"I'm Yuichiro Maita." The tallest guy (and person) in the room speaks up. His hair is short and sloppily cut and his bangs are weirdly uneven. His hair and eyes are either dark brown or black. They're so close that I can't tell the difference. He's wearing all gray. A gray sweatshirt, gray sweatpants, and gray sneakers. "I prefer to be called Yu. I am the Super High-School Level Tutor."
"Um... Excuse me..." The medium height guy with kinda long, light brown hair and eyes, thick-rimmed dark green glasses, a giant safari vest over a dark green shirt, khakis and massive dark green boots says. His voice is barely above a whisper and he sounds really nervous. "Um... I'm Satoru Otani... I'm... I'm the Super High-School Level Collector... Please don't try to cut my hair... I like it long... and I'm scared of scissors..."
Next a loud annoyed sigh comes from the tall girl with long black hair and faded blue eyes wearing a lab coat over blue hospital clothes (I think they're called scrubs... but I'm not sure). She also has a pair of bulky blue goggles hanging from her neck. "I'm Kasumi Sakata. I'm the Super High-School Level Chemist." She emphasizes her talent in a way that makes her sound so full of herself. "Too bad you wasted your time developing a useless talent like hacking. You could have had a useful talent like mine." She continues, glaring daggers at me.
"H-Hello." Her blonde hair is so pale it almost looks white. And her eyes are a weirdly dark blue. She's taller than almost everyone in the room. Her hair is in a pony-tail. She has dark blue-rimmed glasses that match her eyes. She's wearing a white shirt, jeans, and white shoes and socks. "I'm Hitomi H-Hiraoka. I'm the S-Super High-School L-Level Mathematician." And I think she's the last one.
"I guess I'm last." The gruff, aggressive sounding voice says. I look around for the source before eventually finding him in the back corner of the room. He has long, shaggy black hair and dark brown eyes. The rest of his appearance seems to scream 'I'M ANTI-SOCIAL!' And he's wearing very baggy pajama-looking clothes that seem like they'll fall off him any second now. He looks more like a Middle School 2nd-year than a High-Schooler. "I'm Futura Hase. I'm here as the Super High-School Level Slacker."
Is that even a talent?
"Okay! Now that we know everyone, what's going on?!" Ko speaks up again. "Like, why are the windows all covered up and everything? And why is the door a giant vault door? Where did the front door go?" He says everything with an odd dramatic flair, as if he's putting on a performance. "Like... Did anyone else wake up in a weird room after passing out? Like... we woke up in some weird store-looking room... it's right across the hall from here actually. There was a vending machine and a weird coin machine thing. Ya know those machines where you put a coin in and a prize drops out? One of those." He explains.
"Yeah! We woke up in what looked like a nurse's office!" Bunko replies, pulling his sister's arm slightly. She looks mildly annoyed, but no more than mildly. "It's just across the hall to the left!" He gives directions.
"So, everyone woke up the same way in different rooms?" Shizuko finally speaks up, putting her right hand to her chin, the arm that isn't hooked through her brother's arm.
Everyone, including me, replies in the affirmative.
"But we couldn't have been out for more than an hour! Hiro and I got here at like... 7 to 7:15. And it was about 7:50 when I woke up. And I woke up first!" Ko explains.
"O-O-Okay... S-S-S-So... W-W-W-What's the point?" I ask.
"He means they couldn't have taken us far, whoever did this... and that's hardly enough time to cover a whole floor's worth of windows in metal plates, and install this vault door." Shizuko explains.
"Maybe the big school guys are trying to surprise us to make us smile wide!" Harumi declares.
"What kind of logical sense does that make?" Shizuko asks.
"Not everything is about logic big sis! Harumi is probably right. They're probably just trying to surprise us! I'll bet they already had the window plates there when we came in and just put the big vault door in when we were all unconscious! I'll bet you could do it with enough people, and Hope's Peak has loads!" Bunko tries to rationalize.
"Yeah, but why go to all the trouble of installing the metal plates and large door just to have to uninstall them later?" Shizuko asks.
"Maybe they're trying to test our problem-solving ability?" Kichi suggests. "That makes more sense than they just did it for the hell of it. They'd probably want us to either find an exit or find a way to pull the metal plates off the windows, or even to open the door."
"That is more logical." Shizuko agrees.
DING DONG BING BONG
The loud ring resonates through the room. Causing quite a few of us to jump with surprise. There's a faint buzzing sound, which sounds like a TV playing on static.
"Hello? Heeeeelllllllooooooo? Ya reading me? This thingie's on right? You guys can hear me right? Whatever. If all new students can hear me, we're going to begin this year's entrance ceremony, so please make your way to the gymnasium as soon as possible!" The voice seems so odd and out of place and simultaneously extremely familiar.
There's a few minutes of silence after both the voice and the static cut out. The voice was coming from the monitor in the corner of the room, identical to the one I saw in the classroom I woke up in.
"So... are we supposed to go... or like... what?" Riko asks.
"I think we're supposed to go to the gym." Hiro replies.
"Yeah! Hiro's right!" Ko backs his brother up. "Maybe that was a teacher or something! In fact, I'd say that's the most likely possibility! So we should probably do what the monitor voice says!"
Most everyone seems to agree and we all follow the twins as they explain that they took a look around before going to the main hall and lead the rest of us to the gym. We have to walk through a small trophy room before going through another double door into the large gymnasium. The floor is littered with basketballs except for the two rows of eight chairs atop a seemingly out-of-place red carpet.
"Looks pretty normal." I think his name is Futura states.
"Yeah. It looks like it's just a normal entrance ceremony." Hiro follows up.
Then, that somewhat comforting feeling of apparent normalcy is shattered when the static and odd voice return to the speakers I can only assume are in the monitors.
"Oi! Everyone's here right?" The voice pauses before I hear it whispering a faint "13, 14, 15, 16!" It speaks up again. "Great! Everyone's here! Then let's get started!"
The monitor begins blasting 'dramatic' music and our attention is drawn to the stage in the front of the gym, where an odd looking bear jumps out from behind the podium. The right half of its body is white while the left half is black. The right half of its mouth is a normal-looking bear mouth while the right half is a sinister-looking toothy grin. Its right eye is a normal-looking black dot while its left eye is an odd red symbol. A curved rectangle with three small points coming off the bottom.
It looks so simultaneously out of place and totally fitting.
"LOOK GUYS!" Harumi declares, "A CUTE TEDDY BEAR!"
I wouldn't call it cute.
"HEY! I'm not a DAMN TEDDY BEAR!" The bear shouts. Its voice matches the voice from the monitor perfectly. "I'm MONOKUMA! And I'm your headmaster!"
"AAHH! The t-t-t-t-toy just t-t-t-talked!" Satoru declares, backing way up near the back wall.
"Calm down. It most likely just has a speaker." Shizuko replies.
"Didn't ya hear me! I'm not a DAMN TOY!" The bear shouts at Satoru, whose already trembling in fear before the bear adopts a more terrifying look with bared teeth. "I'm Monokuma, your headmaster!"
"AHH! It's m-m-moving!" Satoru presses his back into the back wall.
"Ugh, just calm down you little idiot. It's just remote controlled." Riko almost seems to be mocking Satoru.
"Don't talk about me like I'm some kind of remote-controlled children's toy... you'll fill me with despair..."
That's an odd way to say it'll make you sad.
"But, ya know the control system inside me would even make the suckers at NASA jealous! So I can't bear to let you say such mean things about your headmaster!"
What a stupid pun.
"Mr Headmaster, all due respect, but that pun is absolutely ridiculous! I've said lines exactly like that so many times for so many different anime! And Hiro's written way too many lines like that to take it seriously, right Hiro?" Ko replies and Hiro nods in support.
"Well, we should begin the entrance ceremony anyway, shouldn't we? Stand! Bow! Good morning ya little bastards!"
No one responds.
After a few more seconds of silence, Monokuma decides to start his entrance ceremony.
"Well then. I'd like to begin an opening ceremony you'll never forget for the rest of your lives," he emphasizes the last word in a way that makes me scared about what he may be implying. "To start, I have a short statement regarding you bastards' school life from now on." He pauses again. It's probably for dramatic effect, "Oi, you bastards are definitely a class of geniuses filled with OVERWHELMING talent, and that talent brings HOPE to the WORLD!"
Duh, it's called Hope's Peak Academy after all.
"In order to preserve that hope..." The bear's mouth turns sinister. "You will all be living a communal lifestyle inside this school's walls from now on. I hope all of you respect each other and keep order!"
"W-W-W-Wait, what?" I demand. Slightly confused by what the bear just proposed.
"And, in addition, regarding the length of your communal life..." a small 'upupupupu,' which I can only assume is a laugh, comes from the bear's mouth. "It's forever! You students are going to live here the entire rest of your lives!"
A gasp of shock spreads through the 16 of us like wildfire.
"WHAT! Indoors forever! I can't do that! I'll lose my mind!" Nao shouts.
"How the hell are we supposed to eat?! We'll run out of food with 16 of us eating everyday!" Kasumi demands.
"Ah, don't worry about provisions. We have plenty of budget! You little bastards won't lack anything you need!" Monokuma promises.
"I'll lack the outdoors you stupid bear!" Nao retorts.
He seems to ignore her.
"Sorry Mr Monokuma, but that's not the only reason we're worried..." Ko states, his voice filled with some mixture of confidence and nervousness. I wonder if that's an act or if he really feels confident.
"HAHAHA! The cute teddy bear, or sorry, the cute headmaster told a funny joke!" Harumi laughs, though the laugh is full of nerves and fear. Satoru may have fainted by now. I glance back to see that he's still awake, just sitting on the floor after having obviously slid down the wall.
"Of course it's not a joke! I'm no liar! I take great pride in that!" Monokuma yells, his face turning scary again. "Oh," his face goes back to normal, "I should also mention that you will be completely separated from the outside world and that is why your cell phones are MISSING! So you shouldn't worry about what's going on outside anymore! The world is a rotten place ya know!"
"S-S-S-So, is that w-w-what the m-metal plates are f-for? T-T-To k-k-keep us inside?" I speak up. I can feel my hands shaking and I ball my fists around my white sweatpants to keep it from being to noticeable.
"Thaaaat's right! It doesn't matter how much you shout! No one'll hear ya! So, you little bastards should just make the most out of your communal school life!"
"Th-This has to be a j-joke..." Hitomi finally says something.
"Yeah... I still have so many languages to learn..." Isaac follows up.
"You keep saying you think it's a trick... it's almost like you want to leave..."
"Of course we want to leave! We have friends and family outside!" Bunko shouts, pulling his sister closer to him.
"You're all so odd. You claim to want to leave, but all of you came to the school of your own volition, correct?" Nobody responds. "But don't worry your pretty little heads! There is ONE way to get out."
The emphasis he places on the word... it's going to be something horrible.
"There is?" Kichi asks. He seems surprised.
"As the school headmaster, I've made a special rule for those who wish to leave the school. I call it 'graduation!' I'm sure you'll want to hear ALL about it, so let me explain in detail! As students, you are supposed to live out your communal life in a peaceful and orderly manner. But if someone breaks that peace and order, they will be permitted to leave school grounds." He explains, though Monokuma still leaves his explanation full of vagaries.
"What the hell do you mean, 'breaking the order?'" Kasumi asks. She obviously has no desire to show the bear respect despite the situation we seem to be in.
"Upupupu.. that is..." that awful laugh comes again before another pause, "the act of killing another person."
"WHAT?" Harumi shouts.
"What the hell?" Ko demands.
Most of us take at least a few steps back and express surprise in some verbal form. Everyone stares at the bear. There's no way the bear is serious... right?
"Beating, stabbing, clubbing, beheading, burning, suffocating, strangling, slaughtering, voodoo cursing.. the method does NOT matter! Only a student who kills another student can leave! It's a very simple rule." His face spreads into the menacing grin again. "the most evil of actions can lead to the best of outcomes. I hope all of you will cooperate."
'Only a student who kills someone can leave...' And it's not a joke? The bear's serious?
No way.
No way.
I don't want to kill anyone.
I don't want to die either.
And I don't want to stay here.
I don't know what to do.
I'm scared.
"Upupupu," the awful laugh again, "This heart-pumping feeling of distress.. it's just as if salmon suddenly started assaulting bears! Like I said before, you little bastards are 'the world's hope.' Making such 'hope'-filed kids kill each other... such a 'despair'-filled scenario!" His face breaks into a laugh. "MY HEART IS POUNDING JUST THINKING ABOUT IT!"
"Wait... kill each other? Like... kill each other? Like... kill other human beings?" Futura asks. His rude bluntness seems to have dulled.
"Killing each other is killing each other. If ya need a dictionary definition, I've got one right here." Monokuma mocks. "Now, it's time all ya little bastards get it through your thick skulls. It's an all-you-can-kill, kill-or-be-killed, killing-killing-killing-all-around-world!"
I don't think Monokuma expected anyone to speak up. At least, I hope he didn't. I certainly didn't, and didn't want anyone to either.
"And, last things last, to commemorate your entrance ceremony, you all get a personalized electronic handbook! It's got an ID, a built in camera, and a notes app for all of you diary fanatics!" It's probably for Riko. She is the Super High-School Level Blogger. "The ID part of the E-Handbook is necessary for all daily activities. It is incredibly important, so don't you dare lose it!" He pauses. "When you turn it on, your full real name is displayed on the screen. But the E-Handbook has many features besides the ones I have listed! It is completely water-proof! Even if you dumped it in the ocean, it wouldn't be destroyed! If you tried to crush it, it can easily take over 10 tons of weight! And you will find a full list of school rules installed, so make sure you read those carefully and memorize them as soon as possible! Breaking the school rules is forbidden." His face goes back to its evil grin. "I'll say it one more time. Breaking the school rules is forbidden, and breaking them will be severely punished." He laughs his awful 'upupupupu' again. "Now then, that concludes our school's entrance ceremony! Please enjoy our quiet, gruesome school life! SEE YA LATER!"
Then Monokuma disappears from atop the podium. Yu steps forward to look behind the podium for the robot bear, but he reports that it's no where to be seen.
"Okay... Okay... can someone... can someone at least try to explain what the HELL is going on?" Futura demands. His eyes are wide and his fear is obvious.
"I... I have absolutely no clue..." Bunko replies. Looking to his sister.
"I... I... K... Kill s...someone?" I mutter. My disbelief swelling over me.
"Everyone, stay calm. We should look at this from a logical perspective. According to what the bear said, he gives us two options. We can either live the rest of our lives here peacefully, or we will descend into chaos and mistrust." Shizuko rationalizes.
"K-K-K... Killing? N-N-N-No w-w-way..." Satoru says from his place on the floor. "It... It has to b-b-be a l-l-lie..."
"It doesn't matter if it's a lie or not. What really matters is..." Kasumi pauses, as if considering whether or not she should finish that sentence. "...if anyone here takes the bear's claim seriously." She probably shouldn't have.
Everyone looks around. All eyes are distrusting and full of suspicion. Everyone seems hostile. Everyone questioning which side the real attack will come from.
Then I realize what Monokuma told us.
'Only a student who kills another can leave.'
He filled everyone with crushing paranoia and constant fear.
And everyone wonders who will be the one to betray us.
I'm sure you've realized, along with me, that I was wrong.
This story is not about my life at Hope's Peak Academy.
Well... in a way it is. But it is certainly not in the way that one would expect.
This story is about my life in whatever this place is.
At this point, I also do not know how this story will turn out.
And I'm afraid to find out if I'm completely honest.
I don't want to kill anyone.
I don't want to stay here.
And I definitely don't want to die.
I don't know what to do.
I don't know how to deal with this.
I'm scared.
Students Remaining: 16
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I worked really hard (and still am) on this story, and reviews and faves are part of what motivate me to keep trying. So, PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!