A/N: For a side project I sure am focusing on it more than my main projects.

We started muttering, confusion, fear, and anger in our voices. Ottid snickered.

"I am so glad to have you guys here!" He started laughing. He began to pace around, the huge grin still plastered on his face. "I just know you're gonna have a fun time here and enjoy my little game that I have planned for you!"

Ottid continued to snicker as he talked. "Here's my game! You're gonna kill one another! After that, you gotta trick the others into thinking you didn't commit murder! If you fail, you're executed! Buh-bye!"

And suddenly he's out of the students' sight. Then Halcyon steps forward.

"Well, that was something. I say we get a leader," The Delibird announced.

"Good idea. I don't care who it is as long as it isn't Miss Assassin," Novella states.

The aforementioned Gabite growled. "Excuse me! I can hear you, damn it! And just because I'm an assassin doesn't mean that I'm going to kill any of you!" She huffed. "If you ask me, I vote for the bodyguard."

Philo blinked, showing a sign of shock. "I-I... Um. Me?"

"I think the assassin is a good leader," Eiko stated. "She could scare people in order to prevent them from committing murder."

While everyone was debating about who would make a better leader, I simply stood in confusion. I didn't understand what was going on, I couldn't comprehend it. I stared at the group of students arguing, shaking in fear.

"H-Hold on, shouldn't we be questioning why we're in this situation?!" I cried out, catching the others' attentions.

"That's a good question, surfer boy!" A familiar voice rang.

Ottid suddenly popped out behind me, causing me to shriek in response.

"You see, I decided that this would be a very interesting competition for you guys!" Ottid explain, smiling brightly. "You know, a game! And games are awesome! This game is going to be awesome! More details are in your handbook."

"Hold the fucking phone!" Ace snapped. "You're still making no sense here!"

"And that's why you should read your handbook!" Ottid retorted. And then he's gone once more, leaving more confusion.

"Alright," Nat started, "As previously stated, we seriously need a leader to help us get out and catch the bastard who put us into this situation."

"B-But, isn't it Ottid?" Halcyon questioned.

"That guy looked like a doll!" Eiko snapped. "There's no way he could orchestrate this! There has to be someone bigger behind this mess."

Lux nodded. "I agree. There is no possible way someone, no, something like him could concoct such a horrible plan!"

"Well, what about the murder problem?" Ace asks, eyes narrowing. "How are we going to stop that issue?"

Faustus tilts her head. "Do you really think anyone is crazy enough to murder?"

I notice Novella turns her attention to Natz, who is clearly annoyed with that.

"There will be no murders!" Philo announces. "I'll be sure of it."

Ace lets out a laugh. "Aha! That's the spirit mate! And I'll join ya on that! If anyone's gonna murder you gotta go through me!"

Willis cracks his neck. "Same here!"

Natz smirks. "Try to murder with me around, and I'll make you regret it."

"Excellent, we have our people to protect us!" Lux says, clapping our hands. "With Philo as our leader!"

The bodyguard blushes, and clears his throat. "Well, for now we should get our handbooks and I highly suggest you retreat to your room for some rest."

Everyone followed the order; except me and Hanna. She gives me one big comforting look before taking her handbook and trotting to her room. I, on the other hand, was still confused, but nevertheless, I grabbed my handbook and went to my room. Surprisingly, it looked harmless and my bags were in there for some inexplicable reason. Sighing, I took a seat on a chair and read the information in the handbook.

Welcome to Hope's Peak Academy! We have an important announcement: Hope's Peak has been changed and altered in order for students to have a better experience! We some very important rules for you to follow!

1. If a student wishes to graduate, they must kill another student and not let the others know of their murder.
2. The body must be found by three people and an announcement will be made. There will be time for investigation before a class trial takes place, where the students must figure out who committed the crime.
3. If the culprit is guessed incorrectly, the true culprit graduates and the others are executed.
4. If the true culprit is guessed correctly, then only the culprit is executed and the rest continue their lives.
5. You cannot use your moves to directly kill someone. However, you can use it as a way of assisting your murder.
6. Curfew is at 10:00 P.M. Once the bell rings to signal for lights out, all students are required to head to their room as soon as possible.
7.. Males cannot change in the female changing room, and vice versa.
8. The rooms are soundproof, but you are still restricted from doing whatever you wish. We do have cameras to do record whatever silly act you are committing.

I gulped. "Well... This is going to be interesting."
Looking at time, I note that it's about noon. The others are probably eating now, and now that I think about it I am feeling a bit hungry. With that thought in mind, I left and headed to the cafeteria. As I made I way, I noticed a mini shop. It had two machines; one to trade in for special Ottid coins, another was a vending machine of some sorts, called Ottid Prizes. I decided to try it, getting a couple of items from the Ottid Prize Machine, then continued my way.

Just as I predicted, everyone was eating. I grabbed my food, but really didn't' feel like sitting near anyone just yet, so I sat alone. Once everyone was done, they left to do their own thing. Which begs the question... What am I going to do?! After a long thought, I decided to try to bond with some of the students.

I decided to hang out with Philo. After all, we did declare him as our leader. I tried to see if he was in his room first, and he was. He seemed very confused as to why I came over but once I offered him the idea of us talking and hanging out, he seemed pleased. He took me to a rather calm and relaxing room, filled with classic music, books, flowers, and stained glass art. He explained how this reminded him of the time he had to guard a rather dapper rich Sableye family and I found the story interesting. Feeling generous (and brave), I decided to give him one of Ottid Prizes; a dogtag with a knife imprinted on one side and a shield on the others. To my surprise, he really liked the gift.

After that, and I'm still surprised it went so well, I noticed I still had plenty of time to bond with the other students, and decided to chat with Hanna. She was still in the kitchen, looking over the various drinks and desserts available. She looked incredibly happy when I asked if we could spend some time together and dragged me to a table, placing some cookies on a plate. I felt awkward throughout the whole thing. She constantly asked me questions I often sputtered and tripped on my own words, but she didn't seem to mind. Like Philo, I decided to give her something; a mini book on healing techniques, and she happily accepted it. We parted ways, smiles on both of our faces.

The last person I decided to chat with as Ace. He seemed really pumped to help end whatever Ottid was doing, which melted away my fear of him. He was in the common room, inspecting the area (most likely trying to find a way out). He didn't seem to mind my suggestion and we chatted about tombs and treasure. He told me about how he got his anklet and if I had to be honest, the story really caught my attention and I asked more questions about his adventures which he was glad to tell. Before leaving, I gave him an old silver pocketwatch with Latin writing on the back and to say he was intrigued about it would be an understatement. He had a huge smirk on his face then patted me on the back. Looking at the time, we realized it was almost lights out and went our separate ways.

I collapsed on my bed. Although I still had enough time to talk with other students, I felt tired. Then again, it is almost dinner time. Exhaling, I went to the cafeteria to have dinner with the other students, sitting between Philo and Hanna, though I still felt nervous. As soon as I was finished eating, I went to my room with haste. I still was unsure of how to feel about this situation. Right before I fell asleep, I heard a bell, and simply prayed it was a horrible dream. The sleep was blissful, until a loud ringing filled the air, causing me to bolt awake. From the speakers came Ottid's voice, telling us to meet in the gym. Having no choice, I followed the order.

Everyone was standing in the center, tired looks in their eyes and annoyance in their voices. Swallowing my fear, I joined them. Apparently, Ottid was still able to appear and vanish out of thin air, as he suddenly popped out of nowhere in the middle of the crowd.

"Alright, suckers! It seems like you need a motive in order to start the killing spree! So... I'll give you one!" Ottid snickered, holding slips of papers in his hands. He handed one out to each of us.

Sweating, I unfolded mine and read the text. It took my a few seconds to realize that what I was reading was something that only I could know. Something rather... embarrassing.

"In case you haven't figured it out, if you don't murder, I will reveal your horrible secret!" Ottid cried in glee. "So you better start murdering if you know what's good for ya!"

Then, he was gone. immediately, everyone started talking with anger and fear before dispersing. I could only wonder what was going to happen next. Hoping that no one would murder, I decided to use some of my time to continue talking to the other students.

I settled for Novella as she really interested me. She was in her room, sketching something. Luckily, she didn't mind having a chat with me. She showed me some of her drawings and I found them to be very impressive, and in return for the talk I decided to give her a calligraphy set I got from Ottid Prizes. To my relief, she loved the gift and said she wouldn't mind hanging out again.

Looking at the clock, I realized I had more time to chat with other people so I decided to talk with Moeru, who was in the kitchen whipping up some cookies. Judging by the tone of his voice, he was very passionate about his baking and even gave me some cupcakes he made earlier. I didn't know what to give him, so I stuck with a recipe book that he gladly accepted. As I exited the kitchen, I saw all students sitting down, talking and trying to calm down. Moeru entered the cafeteria, food in his hands. Apparently, Hana and Philo planned for a little dinner as a way for us to get along. To my surprise, everyone started to open up and chat.

"You know, if you guys want to, I can perform some tricks," Lux stated, smiling brightly.

"Ooh! I can tell you all about my tales in the crypt!" Ace cried, grinning. "I got a bunch to tell!"

Eiko looked as if he were about to disagree, but Anguis spoke up. "That sounds awesome!"

Petra scoffed. "Eh. Whatever."

The treasure hunter gave her a pat on the back. "You need to lighten up. I know this situation is horrible, but you still gotta cheer up, girl. Especially since we only have each other."

Halcyon nodded. "Yes, yes. We need to try to retain our sanity somehow and getting along is the best way."

"Hope is also a nice thing to keep in mind," Faustus muttered.

I smiled as I listened to the conversations we were having. It's nice to see us trying to bond as best as we can. Maybe this will just be enough to prevent us from killing, make us forget about that motive Ottid conspired. I hope so, because right now, what was currently happening; it was nice. Lux was performing some magic tricks sand as soon as she was done, Ace started talking about his adventures in treasure hunting. If I had to be honest, I found both to be very entertaining, and I'm sure the others agree.

After our little dinner party was done, everyone left with smiles on their faces, and I hope that our get-to-together was enough to prevent murders.

When I woke up, I had this dreadful feeling. Looking at the clock, it looks like I slept for quite sometime, a little past ten. I stretched my body before exiting my room to grab some food. And as soon as I entered the kitchen, I heard a ringing sound, followed by Ottid's voice.

"Attention students! It appears a body has been found! We will begin an investigation followed by a trial! Have fun!"

I froze. No. No... No, no, no, no! What... Why... I can't...

I started to run around, trying to find where the body was found, and I eventually found myself stuck in front of Ace's room. Hana, Philo, and Faustus were standing inside. Swallowing my fear, I joined them.

"So... Ace..." I started.

Faustus nodded. "First victim..."

Sweat began to form as I stared at his body.

His wing was wounded and there was a stab wound in his breast. His lifeless eyes had this shocked looked and his beak was slightly open. There appeared to be some faint marks around his neck and the feathers in that area appear to be flattened. Feathers and blood pooling around his body, a knife not too far. I shuddered at the sight.

"Hey fuckers, have this! It's a file containing all info you need!" Ottid snickered, popping out of nowhere and handing me a box. "Have fun investigating!"

As soon as he was gone, I let out a sigh of frustration. "This is going to be a blast."

Hana approached me. "We may as well start up the investigation."

I nodded. "R-Right. Let's start by checking out this file."

||Investigation Time||

I opened the box, and found a piece of paper. It must be the file. I looked over it, silently reading it to myself, before reading it aloud. "Ace Latro died at 9:00 AM. His left wing has sustained several cuts and he was stabbed in his breast. His cause of death was strangulation."

Philo blinked. "He was strangled?"

"Apparently," I tilted my head. I was confused by the cause of death. Then again, it would explain the markings. Well, it's time to get a better look at the scene.

A/N: *slam dunks myself into a trash can* I update my side project and not my main. Yay.
Anyway, I had a tough time deciding who I should kill off, so I decided on Ace, even though he was one of the first characters I created for this and I kinda grew on him.

But whatever. So, who do you think killed Ace?

Also, reviews and criticism are welcome. Flames and hate are not.