Chapter One: To Survive Daily Life

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on an unfamiliar bed in an entirely unfamiliar room. I sat up and wrapped my arms around my gut as a dull pain shot through me. I lifted my shirt and found a prominent bruise had formed.

But that meant that what had happened was real.

Trapped in a school with a bunch of strangers, and our only shot at escaping was to kill each other? There was no way I could pull that off. I hadn't even in in any form of fight before dealing with Santa (if getting knocked on my ass could even count as a fight). Killing was out of the question.

I got up and went over to the far door only to find that it was locked tight. I tried the door closer to the bed, but it seemed to be locked too. "Well. . . time to find a way out."

I started around the bed. At the edge, hanging by the post, was a lint roller. I couldn't think of any reason why I would need a lint roller in a place like this (unless Zero III shed a lot. . . Could that thing even shed?), so I left it alone. On the shelves behind the bed was a single notebook and pen. The notebook was blank; no secrets or explanations there. I checked the drawers below and found a tool kit sealed with a plastic film. I couldn't imagine what I would need the tools for, so I left it alone as well. Just past the foot of the bed was a small table. On top of the table was a key with a key chain that had a tag that read "Sigma Klim," and a piece fo paper. I stashed the key in my pocket and read over the note.

Welcome to your dorm room! A few things you should know: the doors are proven to be pick-proof, so as long as you remember to lock up at night, you'll be safe. The keys themselves are very hard to replace and don't have any duplicates, so try not to lose yours. Every dorm has a shower room (only the ones in the girls' rooms lock), but water won't run after the cafeteria has been locked. Lavatories are located at the end of the dorm halls for your other business.

Also, as a little bonus gift, tool kits have been provided in every boy's room and sewing kits in the girls'. Included with each are instructions that will tell you where vital points are on the human body.

I HOP you enjoy your stay!

The bonus note was disturbing, but not what really bothered me. I had figured out that this had to be my dorm room, but then one of the locked doors didn't make any sense.

I went back to the door by the bed to confirm that it was, in fact, locked.

But I'm not a girl!

"Hello, Siggy!" I practically jumped out of my skin when Zero III popped up behind me. "Aww, did you miss your cute little headmaster?" it teased.

"You!" I barely kept myself from grabbing the bunny, recalling the explosion from before. "What gives? Your note said that only the girls' bathrooms were locked!"

The evil little bunny just grinned and the urge to pick it up and shake it grew stronger.

"I am a GUY!" I clarified. "All man! No question! I am a man and I like women! Do you understand me?"

"So bestiality is off the table then?"

Maybe I could break the rule just this once.

"Whoa whoa, easy Siggy! I just thought you'd like to know what's wrong with your shower room door," it said in a quick attempt to diffuse my anger. "I promise I'm not questioning your gender. It's just a little maintenance issue I overlooked." It paused briefly to smirk. "Some luck you have, huh?" I glared at it, so it continued. "You see, the door doesn't quite sit right in its frame, so in order to open it, you have to turn the knob and lift up. Go ahead and try it!"

"How the hell did you even know to come here?" I wondered, still reeling over its earlier comment.

Zero stared at me like I was stupid, then pointed up. I followed its paw and noticed the surveillance camera in the room for the first time. "Now quit wasting my time and hop to it!"

I did as it had instructed and managed to get the door open.

"See? No need to get so touchy." It played with its ear and looked at me with a smug expression. "Course if you're into that sort of thing—"

I turned to grab the chair to crush the damned thing, but when I looked back it was gone. I let out a deep sigh as I put the chair back in its place.

I needed to get out of there while I still had a shred of sanity left. So I went to the other door, unlocked it, yanked it open, and almost got punched in the face by someone who was about to knock.

"Gah!"

"Eek!" Akane jumped back, just as startled as I was, and held her opened hands out in front of her. "I'm sorry! I was just coming to check on you!" She put one hand down and moved a piece of hair behind her ear with the other. "Um, actually, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah. Shoot me." I was so caught off guard by everything that I didn't respond quite right. "With the question . . . Shoot."

She didn't seem thrown off at all as she squinted a bit and brought her face dangerously close to mine. I held my breath and tried to avert my eyes from her soft lips before she could notice that I was staring at them. Finally, she asked, "Did you go to community college with me?"

I took a step back, coughed awkwardly, and told her, "Y—yes. I think we were in a lot of the same classes too."

Her face lit up and she clapped her hands together like she had just solved a great mystery. "Sigma! You're Sigma Klim! Ha! I knew it was you!" Akane seemed to be quite proud of herself for remembering me. Admittedly, it was nice to be remembered by a babe like her. "It's so nice to have another familiar face here." She heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. "I'm so lucky to have you, Jumpy, and. . ." She cut herself off for some reason and looked away. "Although, maybe I'm just being selfish. This is a killing game, after all."

The image of the bloody armor came to mind and I shuddered. She was right to feel sad over the fact that she knew more people here than anyone else; it made it more likely she'd lose people she knew. I didn't even know the armored man's name, but he was a loss all the same and a rather frightening reminder of the very real danger that we were all in. "Don't worry about us," I assured her. "We're tough guys! It should be our job to worry about you, okay?"

"You're right. And I can be tough too!" She flexed a bicep in a way that was painfully cute. "Besides, I think Luna has the muscle category covered."

I really had to think about that one. "Luna? The mediator? Red hair, purple dress?"

Akane nodded. "Yep. She's the one who carried you back to your room, actually. We were worried because the rules said we weren't allowed to sleep anywhere but the dorms. Santa offered, but she wouldn't hear it after he was the one who knocked you out."

"Luna. Wow." It was going to take a while to wrap my head around that one. "Though I guess Santa doesn't seem like much of a stock market genius either."

"Just out of curiosity, what talent landed you in Hope's Peak, Sigma?" she asked.

I scratched my head. "I'm the Ultimate Lucky student, actually. So, uh, nothing that I actually did landed me here. And being here at all makes me seem more like the Ultimate Unlucky student anyways." That seemed like an understatement. "How about you, Akane?"

"I'm here because I'm the Ultimate Psychic!" she said with a wink.

Psychic? Wait, did that mean she could read minds? Was she reading my mind? Oh god, the things that she could know!

"Just kidding!" Crisis averted, though I wondered if I'd ever find out what she was the Ultimate of. . .

"Man, to think that all of these accomplished people would be gathered together for some sick battle royale," I muttered. "I'd be in awe if it wasn't for the fact that they're all far more qualified to survive this nonsense than I am."

"Oh, by the way, everybody decided to do little investigations of the place. The plan was to meet up at the cafeteria to report our findings. Want me to act as your personal secretary to keep you up to speed?"

Images of Akane in a sexy pencil skirt and a too tight blouse filled my head. It took me a second to regain my composure. "Uhhh, we don't have to put a label on it or anything, but sure. Thanks."

"Great! Then let's head for the cafeteria!"

We weren't the first ones there, but it wasn't long before everyone else poured into the cafeteria. Akane leaned in close (dangerously close) and whispered, "Luna, Quark, and Santa went as one group; Jumpy, Seven, Lotus, and Dio were another; and then Clover, Light, Hongou, and Alice were the last. I chose to check on you, so I was technically on my own."

"Alright, everybody!" It was no surprise that Junpei was the one who tried to take control of the room. "Let's all report! We found that there were gates keeping us from getting to the second floor dorms and the third floor altogether. There's also what looks like a sauna blocked off with tape just across the hall from here, which didn't seem like much of a deterrent, but whenever we got close, Zero III would show up and force us to leave."

"That evil little bunny won't even grant us the luxury of a hot bath," Seven complained.

Dio just smirked and reminded him, "Every dorm has a shower and the water doesn't shut off until late at night. There's no point in saving water, so why not just make it as hot as you want?"

It looked like the thought hadn't even crossed Seven's mind, which made Lotus roll her eyes.

"If nobody minds, I will make my formal report now," Luna said as she clapped her hands, getting our attention. "Santa and I tried every single window in the school as well as the large vault-like door in the room where we all conversed yesterday, but we had no luck in removing them. It would seem that brute strength alone will not help us escape."

Alice crossed her arms and tilted her head. "How does she count as brute strength?"

Santa punched her in the shoulder with a smile on his face."This chick's gotta lift weights or something! Her strength is unbelievable! Shit, I bet she could give me a run for my money."

Akane had said the same thing, but I still couldn't see it. Luna just smiled back at him and punched his shoulder back playfully, though, and he actually flinched and rubbed his arm!

"Hey, did you search for anything other than me?" I whispered in case she didn't want to spread the word, but she didn't seem to be ashamed of what she did.

"Oh!" Akane raised her hand and told everyone, "I stopped in the kitchen before checking on Sigma Zero III popped up at the refrigerator! I thought that he was going to eat me!" I stifled the dirty thoughts that came to mind and waited for her to continue. "He apparently just wanted to tell me that the fridge would be restocked daily and that there was enough food to last us decades without worries. That was at least a nice surprise."

"So we all go on a search and you just stuff your face and pick up the useless one?" Dio asked pointedly. "Some help you are."

"Shut up!" I was shocked when both Santa and Junpei echoed my words, but it was pretty obvious that they were more angry over his comment towards Akane and not his remark about me.

"Please do not fight!" Luna put herself between us and Dio and gave us an imploring look. "Haven't we learned that violence solves nothing?"

"Hey, this fucker's pushing his luck! Violence might not do much, but it'll certainly make me feel better!" Santa moved towards Dio while cracking his knuckles. "Now, out of my way. This is between me and that asshole."

"Keep your problems to yourself," Dio mumbled as he looked away. I may have been imagining it, but I could have sworn that he was blushing under that top hat of his. "She said stop, so let's stop."

Santa charged towards him, but Luna got in the way and put a hand on his shoulder, holding him in place. "I said, no violence."

Santa's eyes widened. He took a step back and put his hands up. "Okay. Sorry. You win. But that shithead had better watch his mouth." He walked away, rubbing his knuckles.

"You should try not to upset people," Luna said to Dio in a friendly voice.

The guy averted his eyes and mumbled, "Y—yeah, well, I'm not here to make friends."

"And I am not here to kill people. Are you?"

Dio kept his hat pulled over his eyes, unable to even answer her at that point. Though he was definitely one of the guys I knew I'd have to be careful around, he really didn't seem inclined to upset Luna, and something told me it wasn't just because she could take him in a fight.

Akane cleared her throat to regain everyone's attention and added, "I realize that I didn't do much, but you guys seemed to have everything else covered. The kitchen is pretty well stocked up, though. There are pots, pans, silverware, quite the set of cooking knives, and even a coffee maker."

The only word I heard was "knives." Of course a well-stocked kitchen would have knives. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that they would also be perfect murder weapons. I could only hope that no one else came to the same conclusion.

"Hey, none of us thought to check out the kitchen, so you did fine," Junpei assured her. "Now, what did you guys find?" He looked Clover's group.

Clover just ran her hand through her hot pink hair and told him, "We didn't find anything. In fact, we just sat around in the gym while you guys ran around like maniacs."

"What?" Dio didn't seem particularly happy with that statement.

Clover glared at him, obviously not intimidated in the slightest. "It's not like we were invited to work with any other group. And someone had to keep an eye on Light."

Light shrugged and mumbled, "I offered to check stuff out, but she didn't seem motivated."

Alice laughed openly. "Of course I wasn't going to get my hands dirty. That's what you guys are here for, right?"

Her words all but started an angry riot and Mister Hongou spoke up to quiet the crowd. "Hey, easy! While they were resting in the gym, I was still making observations," he told us. "For one thing, the armored guy's body is no longer there. The burned marks from the exploding Zero III are also gone. It's like someone or something is cleaning up after us."

"Thaaaaat's right, Face!" Zero III appeared from god knows where, as usual, more cheerful than any of us.

"W-what did you call me?" Mister Hongou said in a hushed tone. Zero III had used so many nicknames that I'd just gotten used to it. It wasn't really something to get upset over, but it really seemed to bother the old man.

Zero III just stared at him blankly and explained, "You're the Ace businessman. . . You can't see faces. . . How are you not getting this?"

'Can't see faces'? What the heck was that bunny talking about now?

"Anywho, you're right! I'm making sure that unwanted messes aren't left behind to linger. I mean, could you imagine just how gross this place would get if I left all of the dead bodies lying around? Yuck! So, you guys worry about killing and finding the killers, I'll worry about cleaning. Of course, I won't clean any-bunny up that one of you kill until after the investigation is carried out. So, don't worry! You'll get to poke around the dead bodies more than enough! Fu-fu-fu." The bunny disappeared again and we were all left with that awful image.

Of course, it wouldn't matter. None of us were going to kill each other. We'd find another way out.

"Hongou, just what did Zero III mean when he said you couldn't see faces?" Phi asked. I'd almost forgotten that she was around until she spoke up.

Mister Hongou sighed and explained, "I suffer from prosopagnosia, otherwise known as—"

"Face blindness," she finished for him. Glad she knew what that meant.

Hongou nodded slowly. "It just means that I can't distinguish faces at all. Everything else about my brain functions just fine. In fact, I actually tell you apart by other features. In most of your cases, I've been using hair color. It's nothing to worry about. I just don't like telling people about it. I'm a little shocked that the rabbit knew about it."

"No worries!" Seven said loudly. "So what if you can't see faces? It's not a big deal."

Lotus scoffed. "Just be glad you don't have to see this guy's ugly mug." Seven immediately retorted and they were off in their own little world again.

Now seemed like as good a time as any to discuss things with Phi. "So, Phi, who did you investigate with?"

She looked away from me. "I did my own investigation. At the far corner of the dorm halls, there's a trash room with an incinerator that's blocked off by a large gate. It would seem that each week, one person gets assigned with trash duty. The chart showed that this week it's Seven's job to take care of the trash. Next week it's Clover's."

"Huh?" Seven must have recognized his name being said because he stopped arguing with Lotus to confirm. "Yeah, actually, that bunny showed up at my room this morning and gave me the key to the trash room gate. So just let me know if you've got trash to get rid of."

Great. So together, everyone had figured out that we were trapped on the first two floors of the school building, we couldn't go into the sauna, Zero III could be anywhere at any time, dead bodies and other messes would be handled (somehow) by Zero III, the fridge would always be stocked, and Seven was in charge of trash. None of that seemed even remotely helpful if we were looking for a way out.

"Well, if we're done here, I'd much rather be alone than deal with all of you." Clover made her way out before anyone could stop her. Light was left behind and he just sighed.

"Don't you need her to get around?" Quark wondered.

Light chuckled. "Not really. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. You see, when you've been blind for as long as I have, you get used to moving around without sight." As if to prove his point, he took a step forwards and slammed his foot into the stand for the cafeteria table. "SONOFA—!"

Quark laughed at the ridiculous display and I tried my best not to chuckle. Light's coordination was admirable, but he was still a blind man in an unfamiliar place. "Hey, if you need any help getting around, I'm here for you," Quark eventually offered, obviously feeling a little sorry for laughing at him before.

He gave a wry smile. "Thanks, but more than anything now I'd like something to eat."

"I can make breakfast," Lotus offered. "What would you like to eat?"

She was the last person we expected to cook, and the beat of silence after her offer only confirmed that.

"Root beer floats!" Quark said happily.

"That's not really something you have for breakfast," Light pointed out. "How about an omelet or something?"

Lotus smiled and made her way into the kitchen, not confirming what she planned to make.

"Well then, why don't we make this morning meeting a constant thing?" Junpei brought up before everyone else could go off on their own. "There are clocks in every dorm, right? And there's a clock in here, so we can at least judge time from them. Why don't we try meeting up every morning at 7 o'clock sharp?"

Everyone gave him a non-committal reply and dispersed. Akane and I stuck around in the cafeteria with Quark and Light after everyone else left, and we took the time to catch up with each other.

"Seriously? A politician's wife? You're so brave!" Akane exclaimed.

"More like stupid," Light said with a chuckle. "And her husband caught you red handed, huh?"

I rubbed my neck. "I, uh, may have a hit out on me for that one. . . Though I guess it doesn't matter as long as I'm stuck here." Hard to tell if that was a depressing thought or a comforting one. "What about you, Light? Any romance?"

His enigmatic smile gave me chills, but Quark just laughed. How we got onto such a mature topic with a kid around (of course, minus a few intimate details that you just don't tell a woman that you're attracted to or the child who seems to understand more than he lets on). "Sorry I asked," I muttered, curious as to what he found more scandalous than a politician's wife. Truth be told, it wasn't really his love life that I was concerned about. "So what's the deal with you and that Junpei guy?" I finally asked Akane.

"I've been wondering about that myself," Light mumbled. "I mean, Clover and I are related, so I guess it's weird that we have a connection, but you have both Sigma and Junpei. That's more connections than any of us, as far as I can tell."

Akane smiled at the mention of Junpei and I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. "Jumpy and I knew each other when we were really little." In my experience, I've found it very difficult to compete with childhood friends, especially those who have nicknames that have endured over the years. "He was my only friend, really. We were pretty close before I went away. . ." She seemed to trail off at the end of that statement, and her face looked really distant.

"Where did you go?" Quark asked. It must have been a sore subject for her because her smile faded. "When you left Junpei, that is. Did you move away or something?"

"I. . . I'm not sure." She started to shake, all of the sudden, and she pressed her fingers to her temples. "I. . . I can't remember. In fact, I don't remember much between when I met Jumpy and when I went to school with you." She looked at me, but her face looked infinitely more exhausted now.

I cautiously stretched my arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. It wasn't meant to be a romantic gesture, just a way to comfort her, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying the closeness . . . or at least I was until I noticed Quark winking from across the table. I shot him a threatening glare, but I'd have sooner hit the stupid bunny than him. "Don't worry about it. The guy in armor didn't seem to have any recollection of his past. Maybe he wasn't the only one with holes in his memories," I tried to reassure her.

She flinched at my statement and, in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have likened her to the dead guy.

"If it upsets you, just think of the good times that you do remember. I mean, you've got to be the luckiest girl here! With both me and Junpei on your side, we'd never let somebody hurt you."

She nodded and mumbled something that I could barely make out. "And San . . ."

"What was that?" Light asked.

"Sandwiches! My favorite comfort food!" she said quickly, obviously trying to cover something up. But she stood up quickly and pulled me into the kitchen. "I saw the supplies to make peanut butter and jelly! Let's make some!

We never got back to the topic of pasts as we all spent the rest of the day messing around in the kitchen with Lotus, seeing what recipes we could remember and joking around like classmates should.

When the clock in the cafeteria showed that it was 8, we figured that it was a good time to depart (after all, the doors to the cafeteria were supposed to lock at 9 and, while being stuck in there with Akane did sound appealing, sleeping in places aside from the dorms was strictly prohibited and I didn't want to find out what form of punishment we would face for it). Water was supposed to shut off in an hour too, and Akane wanted to take a shower. I'd have liked to talk to her longer, but I'd just have to satisfy myself with the thought of her in the shower.

We retired to our dorms for the night—which were conveniently just across the hall from each other—and settled in.

Right at 9 o'clock, the monitor in my room switched on with the image of Zero III holding a martini glass. "IT IS NOW 9 PM! THE WATER HAS BEEN SHUT OFF FOR THE NIGHT AND THE CAFETERIA DOORS ARE NOW LOCKED. AT 6 AM, THE WATER WILL BE BACK ON AND THE DOORS WILL UNLOCK. SLEEP TIGHT EVERY-BUNNY!"

Somehow, the cheerful announcement did nothing for my nerves.

Without the distraction of my lovely secretary, I felt pretty restless. Sleep continued to escape me, so I chose to step out and walk around a bit. As soon as I stepped out of my room, I noticed a shadow in the large hall near the cafeteria.

Like any good victim in a cliche horror movie, I followed the suspicious shadow in hopes of getting some answers. Maybe I would catch Zero III doing work while we were all supposed to be asleep or something. Instead, I found Phi creeping around the second floor by the gym. "What are you doing up here?"

She tensed up and looked at me quickly, but instead of yelling or anything like that, she put a finger up to her mouth and motioned for me to follow her. We both stepped into the gym. Apparently the lights were on a motion sensor, because they cut through the pitch blackness right after we stepped inside.

"What are we doing?" I asked in a whisper. She just ignored me and walked into the middle of the court. She kept her head down and walked slowly until she came upon one specific spot, where she got down on her hands and knees (and I got a nice angle up her mini-skirt). "Erm. What are you looking for?"

She rolled her eyes and waved me over. I joined her on the floor and she said, "There isn't even a trace of him."

That's when I finally realized that we were at the exact spot where the man in armor had been killed. I couldn't help but shudder at the thought. There had been a pool of blood right where I was crouching! And yet the girl was just as calm and collected as always. How could she be so cold? Did she feel anything at all? A life had been taken right where she was crawling around!

"I saw those spears." She ran her fingers along the wooden panels of the floor and added, "They came up out of the floor and staked through him. There's got to be a mechanism below the floor, and slots where they emerged from, or else Zero III had to replace part of the court, and that would have taken more than a few hours to fix up." She sat back on her knees and kept her eyes trained on the floor.

I could sort of see what she meant, but not what her point was. "So what? That doesn't make us any less trapped here. We're at Zero III's mercy. Knowing how he punishes us isn't going to save us."

She finally looked at me with her light blue eyes and explained, "We're clearly being monitored. I thought that someone was just watching us for their sick pleasure, but I think that it's how they know when to send out Zero III or deal out punishment."

"They?"

"Whoever's controlling Zero III, of course. You didn't think that weird little rodent was behind everything, did you?" My blank stare apparently said it all, because her eyes widened and she covered her mouth as she turned away. "You're not that bright, are you?"

She was stifling a laugh! I hadn't really looked at her much before, but the action was undeniably cute. "Hey, it's been a weird couple of days for me," I said defensively. "Forgive me for not being overly level headed like you are. . . What are you, Sherlock? Is that what landed you here?"

She rolled her head over to her shoulder so that she was looking at me again. "I'm not Sherlock, nor Scooby, nor Conan, nor any sort of detective. I'm not Batman, nor Spiderman, nor Superman, nor any other super hero. I guess you could say that I am no man."

That was the most elaborate yet unhelpful answer I think that anyone could have given, so I didn't bother to press the matter further. "We should probably head back," I told her. "Don't want people getting the wrong idea about us."

Her eyes widened again and I realized just how weird that sounded.

"I meant we don't want people to think we're sneaking around, plotting murder or something! Geez! Get your mind out of the gutter!" It felt ironic telling someone else that, but I tried to act serious. Phi agreed and we both crept back to our dorms for the night.

It must have been late because I don't even remember falling asleep before waking up to the sound of yet another announcement.

"GOOOOOOOOD MORNING, STUDENTS! IT IS NOW 6 O'CLOCK AND TIME TO GREET ANOTHER BEEEEEEAAAAUUUUUUUTIFUL DAY!"

No one should have to suffer through that bunny's shrill voice first thing in the morning.

I got out of bed and took a quick shower to wake myself up. Feeling as refreshed as I could under the circumstances, I made my way to the cafeteria for Junpei's morning meeting.

". . . Morning" Junpei grumbled as soon as I walked into the room. I didn't feel like I'd had enough sleep to put up with our little rivalry. "You're here right on time," he added as he stared at the door. "I wonder what's holding the others up."

I looked around and was amazed by how few people were already there. When I'd last checked the clock in my room, it was about 2 minutes to 7, and yet, it was just Junpei, Akane, Luna, and Quark in the whole room. "Where the heck is everybody?"

"I'm sure they're all just a little late," Akane said optimistically. She was obviously trying to cheer up Junpei, who was a little disappointed that his morning meeting fell through.

In time everyone slowly trickled in.

Junpei, Akane, Luna, and Quark were the good people who followed schedules and rules without problems.

Mister Hongou, Seven, and Lotus came a bit later, so they were the types who would show up for things fashionably late, but not late enough to really upset people.

The next couple people—Santa and Phi—showed up over the next ten minutes. They didn't seem like they were trying to be rude, so I figured that they were the types who just easily lost track of time.

Lastly, Alice, Clover, Light, and Dio finally joined us a good thirty minutes past 7. Aside from Light, who was likely at the mercy of his sister's schedule, they didn't care about our ideas of them. They felt that we should cater to their schedules instead of them following ours. I couldn't see myself getting along with them well.

"Well, now that we're all finally here, is there anything that anybody wants to talk about?" Junpei was right to business, not that I minded at that point. We'd been waiting around so long that most of us had already eaten breakfast.

"I heard a nosy little couple sneaking around last night after dark," Alice stated. Phi and I both flinched. "And it made me pretty nervous, so why don't we propose a little rule of our own? How about we all have to be in our dorms by 9 o'clock?"

It was a little frustrating that the people who showed up the latest were getting the first words in, but Junpei didn't seem to be concerned about it, and I couldn't let him show me up in front of Akane, so I kept my mouth shut.

Dio scoffed at her. "Our dorms are soundproof, remember? So how could you hear anybody sneaking around without already being outside yourself?"

Alice crossed her arms and retorted, "The bathrooms are out in the hall. I was doing something normal. The people I heard were heading to the second floor, and there aren't any bathrooms up there. I'd feel much safer if I knew that we weren't going to wander the halls at night."

"Zero III promised that the locks to our rooms are un-pickable, so as long as you lock up at night you'll be safe," Dio pointed out. "Besides, why should any of us follow a rule that doesn't have any punishment? That's just stupid."

Alice looked ready to get violent until Luna got between them and put her hands out to keep them separate. "I would feel safer as well if we all agreed as a group to keep the night wandering to a minimum."

Dio turned away, but didn't bother to talk back to her. "Okay then, why don't we make it an unofficial rule then?" Junpei decided, as if he had any real input on things. "9 o'clock is curfew. Anything else anyone would like to bring up?"

"Yeah! This place is so boring!" Quark complained. "Anybody else notice that?"

A debate over how to stay entertained came up and I zoned out. I was busy thinking about the night before with Phi. I still knew next to nothing about her. The mystery kept pulling at my attention. Was she keeping something from us? Why? Could she be behind any of this? But then why was she investigating it so diligently? And what was her obsession with super heroes?

"Ahem."

I shook my head and looked at the source of the sound. Mister Hongou was settling into the bench right beside me and he looked at me with the sort of gentle smile that only an older man could pull off. "What's on your mind, kid?"

He was definitely old enough to call me a kid, but it didn't make it any less weird. "Uh. Just spacing out, I guess." My non-answer wasn't supposed to be rude; I just felt kind of uneasy around Hongou, probably because he was such a successful man.

He laughed quietly, as if I'd just told him an old joke, and said in a hushed voice, "It's really nice to be involved in a group with you young kids. You're all so lively. I almost feel young again."

Mister Hongou really was an anomaly within the group. If I had to guess, I'd say that most of us were in our mid-twenties or thirties (really hard to tell when so many people have white hair or gray hair), with the only exceptions being him and Quark. It was easy to see how he could feel out of place. "What made you choose to go back to college?" I asked out of pure curiosity. If I was as successful as he was, I wouldn't even bother to look into furthering my education. Hell, I'm pretty sure I'd just buy a swimming pool and enjoy a daily swim through my riches. Who the heck would want to go to school when they've got enough wealth to do that?

"Honestly? When you've already reached the peak of success, nothing's exciting anymore," he said with a bitter smile. "You've got nothing to look forward to. So when I got a letter of acceptance from a university that claims to have only made its students more successful than when they arrived, I couldn't help but be curious." He chuckled and looked down at his hands. "It's funny though. This certainly turned out to be exciting."

I couldn't decide if he was upset by our predicament or amused by it. His gentle face and warm personality made me want to trust him, though.

"BOOOOOOOOOORING!"

Everybody jumped when Zero III yelled. None of us noticed when it joined the group, but there it was, right in the heart of the mess.

Santa was the first person to talk to it. "Sorry if we're not entertaining you." His sarcastic tone made the bunny's ear twitch. "Here's a little idea. Why don't you open the fucking exit before I show you how entertaining it is to make robo-rabbit stew?"

"I don't get it! How is it that there's someone as crude and violent as Sandy-Claws here, but none of you have tried to kill each other?" The bunny complained. "I've given you the perfect opportunity! What's missing?"

"We're not some mindless animals that you can control!" I snapped. "We're human beings! Just telling us to kill each other isn't going to make us forget that!"

"Hmmmmm. You're right!" I groaned; I wasn't trying to give the damned thing an epiphany. "What you guys are lacking is a motive. Good thing I've got just the stuff to fix that little problem! If you will all proceed to the video room on the second floor, I've got a little present for you homesick little babies!"

It hopped away like it expected us to follow. But who in their right mind would walk into such an obvious trap?

"I think that we should follow him," Luna said timidly.

"I do too." Funny how my heart so easily betrays my head. "It mentioned homesick. What if it's going to show us something from the outside? If we're all strong, it won't matter what motivation it makes up so long as we overcome it, right?"

Luna nodded emphatically and smiled at me. It was such a pretty, innocent smile. How could anything she said be wrong?

"They're right," Junpei admitted. "We should prove that we're better than this by overcoming whatever that thing throws at us."

Much as I hated to agree with him, I couldn't have put it better myself (maybe that's what it means to be the Ultimate Leader?). We all ended up following up to the room on the second floor, marked by a picture of an old video cassette.

Inside were plenty of desks, each equipped with their own sets of headphones and screens. On top of each desk were cassette tapes with our names on them. "If you'll kindly find your seats, I'm sure you'll like what I've prepared." Zero III exclaimed as it sat comfortably at the front of the room. What else could we do? I found my tape at a desk in the back corner. I found the old VHS player in the desk and put the tape in before putting on the headphones. The screen lit up with the image of my empty apartment room.

[Remember the good old days when it was just you taking care of yourself? When the most trouble you had was telling a girl that she couldn't stay the night?]

As if to prove that the image was film and not just a photograph, the very woman I'd recently mentioned to the others adjusted the camera like it was attached to a computer or something and started to talk.

"Hey there, Siggy-poo. Remember me? I'm so proud that you made it into Hope's Peak." She was wearing just a lace bra from what I could tell. I almost shielded the screen to keep everyone else from seeing, but a quick glance around the room showed that they were all glued to their own screens, so I calmed down a bit. "I'll be waiting for you to give me a call so that we can celebrate the achievement together." She winked at the camera and I swallowed hard. The fact that she was in my apartment meant that she still had the spare key that I was certain her husband had run through a car compactor. I couldn't help my excitement, but I also had a sense of guilt, possibly driven by the fact that Akane was nearby.

Then the screen went black.

[Well, those days are over.]

The image came back and my apartment was in shambles. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the middle of the room! Black ash was scattered everywhere and everything was burned. But, to top all that off, she wasn't making a sexy video anymore, she was just lying on the floor. Everything was still, so I could no longer tell if it was a video or a picture or if it was doctored or what. But, lying next to her was a syringe. I squinted to see what the label said, but all I could make out was a "6."

[Find out what happened after. . . . GRADUATION!]

And with that the film ended.

"What the hell?" The video raised so many questions. If the second part wasn't doctored, what had happened at my apartment to make it look like World War III had hit? Was she still alive (it would have been hard enough to explain to her husband what happened this time)? What was that "6" drug?

"KYAAAAAAAAH!"

I stood up quickly, knocking my chair back and looked at Akane. She was at the front of the room and her scream got everyone's attention. "NO! NONONO!" Her whole body was shaking as she backed away from the desk. "I can't take it! I have to get out of here!" She made a beeline for the door and nothing else mattered at that moment but her. I chased after her and followed her into a classroom where she just cowered in the corner crying. "It can't be. . . It just can't. . ."

Seeing her like this was scary. What did her video show her that could make her react like this? "Akane. . ."

She flinched, as if startled by my presence, then she looked right up at me and threw herself into my arms. "Sigma! I'm so scared!" She cried against my chest and a defensive instinct grew inside of me.

I held her close and assured her, "It's going to be okay. I'll get you out of here. I promise. I'll find a way."

She looked up at me through teary eyes. "Do you really mean that?"

I nodded. "No matter what it takes, I will get you out of here. So don't worry."

There was a moment of silence as she calmed down, and all would have been well, except that I felt something between my legs and awkwardly tried to hide it as I held her. Now wasn't really the time for that sort of thing.

"Siggy! O gosh! It's standing up! Siggy's flagpole is standing up!"

I don't know when Zero III showed up, but what he said was NOT helping the moment. I pushed away from Akane and moved to kick the bunny, but she caught my arm and said, "No! Don't break the rule!" I looked back at her, but she could no longer meet my gaze. She was blushing pretty hard. Whatever could have come from that moment was long gone now.

"Who knew that such a hot and sweaty romance would bloom in this school!" Zero III continued to tease as it danced around my feet, tempting me to kick it. "You're making me all bothered just thinking about it. I bet Jumpy's jealous!"

"Get out of here, you creepy little rodent!" I snapped. It just giggled and hopped away. "God, I hate that thing."

"Kanny!" Junpei rushed into the room and hurried over to Akane. "What happened? Are you alright?" His eyes went right to my pants and I felt my stomach flip. Without thinking, I rushed behind Akane and tried hard to cover myself.

Santa walked in after him and shoved him out of the way. "What was on the tape?" he asked in an even tone. The difference in their reactions was astounding (but I don't think Santa saw what Junpei did . . . thank god).

Still blushing, Akane slapped her cheeks and rubbed her eyes before telling him, "It was nothing. Sigma promised to help me, so I feel a lot better now."

Both of the guys glared at me and I couldn't help but smile. Score one for Sigma! I'd have basked in my victory a little more if I wasn't so obviously trying to hide something.

"I just need some time to calm myself down. I'm going to go back to my room." She planted a kiss on my cheek, and left, leaving me blushing and exposed.

It would have been the perfect moment if Santa hadn't kneed me in the groin as soon as she was gone. "Ulp! Why?"

"Quit hitting on her so openly, jackass." Guess he did notice.

As much agony as I was in, I still felt the need to defend my dignity. "Maybe you should try to be more open," I spat as I tried to think past the pain.

Apparently that was the wrong choice of words. "I'm not hitting on her, you fucking—" He pulled back for another punch and I winced, but the impact never came. I glanced back at him to see that he was rubbing his temples. "Just. . . Keep it in your pants or I'll shove it down your fucking throat. Got it?"

I nodded slightly. "Message received." He left me doubled over and Junpei just glared down at me, shaking his head, before following him out and lecturing him about violence; as if that was going to change anything.

I took my time recovering—really don't want to rush these things—and thought back to my video. Zero III had called it "motivation," but I didn't feel all that motivated to do anything other than get answers. Sure, he made it seem like escaping was the only way to do that, but I still wasn't going to kill over it. As long as everyone's videos were similar to mine, there was a good chance that they wouldn't change anything.

When I'd settled down and could walk properly again, I figured I'd try to ask about others' videos, just in case. I made my way back to the cafeteria without running into anyone, but there I found Lotus sulking at a table and Seven awkwardly trying to console her.

"What happened?" I asked as I approached.

Seven looked up at me and explained, "Those videos. I don't know what was on yours, but on mine, it was like my whole life had been destroyed." That wasn't a good sign.

"They had to be fake," Lotus mumbled. "Timestamps can be photoshopped in and it wouldn't be hard to make that sort of scene with a green screen and some technical knowledge."

I scratched my head, trying to appear sympathetic, and asked, "What was on your videos? I mean, I just saw my apartment and. . . a friend. . ." Leaving out the woman's identity was okay, right?

"I saw my house too," Seven replied. "It looked like a hurricane passed through it, though."

Lotus just shook her head and looked away. Seven had one aspect that was familiar from my video, so maybe there was a person in hers too. I supposed that if they were closer to her that would certainly shake her up. "Don't worry about it too much," I said. "Those have got to be fake videos, right? And it's not like we're going to kill over them anyways."

She smiled sadly and agreed. "Yeah. You're right. I can't let it get to me."

"That's right. How about I make you something to eat? We've got plenty of stuff in the kitchen for a good BLT sandwich," I offered.

"I'd like that."

Confidence renewed, I went into the kitchen right as Akane was leaving it. "Oh! I thought you were heading back to your room?"

She flinched and quickly said, "I just wanted to grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich first. Kitchen's all yours!" She awkwardly moved around me, never letting me see her back.

"Guess everybody's nervous," I mumbled.

I went to the fridge and pulled out the bacon, a fresh tomato, and a head of lettuce. I got a pan on the stove and heated it up while pulling out the cutting board. When I went for the knives, however, I noticed something weird. "I could have sworn there were five knives yesterday." A missing knife was no small deal when we were trapped in a psychotic murder game, but I couldn't let it get to me. After all, I was trying to cheer a pretty lady up!

Using one of the remaining knives, I sliced up the tomato and lettuce, then put some bacon on and found a fresh loaf of bread. I figured I'd be nice and make one for Seven too, so I made extra bacon thinking that a big guy like that could use the protein.

"You always seem to be in the kitchen."

I didn't even hear Phi enter the room and she scared me so badly that I burned myself while removing some bacon from the pan. "Ow! Geez, woman! Give a guy some warning!"

She ignored me and searched the fridge. "You're a really trusting guy, aren't you?"

I watched her while setting another couple slabs of bacon in the pan. "What? Just because the bunny tells us to kill people, I shouldn't make them sandwiches?"

"That's not what I meant." She took a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and sighed. "You should just be more careful. You can't know what others are thinking."

I scoffed at her. "Maybe you're just being too suspicious. That video wasn't very good motivation. I think we'll be just fine."

She didn't say anything for a while, so I finished up the bacon and started to put together the sandwiches.

"How do you know Miss Kurashiki?" she finally asked.

"She's just an old classmate from my community college days," I told her. I finished up the last sandwich and handed it to her. "Here. Small girl like you has got to eat something, right?"

She looked stunned before scowling at me. "Just how old do you think I am?"

I wasn't sure what she was getting at. "I'm not trying to be mean. You just didn't seem like you were finding anything good. You don't have to eat it if you don't want it."

"Don't call me small," she grumbled as she begrudgingly took the sandwich. It was always amazing how she could go from ice queen to cute at the drop of a hat. It made me want to tease her more.

"Sure thing, A-cup."

She blushed hotly and yelled, "I'll have you know I'm a C-cup!" She covered her mouth after saying that and I couldn't help but laugh.

"There is no way that you're a C-cup!" She looked like she was almost as flat chested as I was. "No need to be jealous. Not every girl can grow up to be like Lotus and Alice."

She groaned and I left her like that. I delivered the sandwiches to the duo still at the table and sat down with them to eat.

"Wow. A man who can cook? How are you still single?" Lotus teased as she took her first bite.

Seven somehow managed to inhale the whole thing before I even took a bite of my own, and he bellowed, "Marry me, Sigma? I could use a man like you in my life."

"What is wrong with you?" Lotus snapped as she elbowed the big man in the side. "You're such a pig!"

I just sat by quietly, eating my sandwich and watching the argument play out.

By that evening, I was mentally exhausted. The thought of sleep actually sounded welcoming. I missed out on a shower before the announcement from Zero III came, reminding us that the water was shut off, so I just flopped down on my bed and tried to process things.

Phi's warning was still on my mind. I still couldn't bring myself to believe that anyone would take action because of some video that, like Lotus said, could have been fake anyways. But everyone's videos could have been different. After all, Akane had such a strong reaction to hers, and Lotus seemed pretty down after seeing her own too.

But that didn't really matter. All that mattered was that I had to get Akane out of here safely. Well, maybe not just Akane. Sure, she was my strongest motivation, but no one here really deserved to die or get stuck in here. I was going to have to save all of us. No exceptions.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

I can honestly say I wasn't expecting any visitors. I sat up in my bed and checked the clock behind me. It was past our self-imposed curfew, so people weren't supposed to be wandering the halls. Guess that only served to prove Dio right; as long as there weren't consequences, what was stopping us?

I sighed and went over to open my door only to have Akane throw herself into my arms. "Sigma! It was so awful!"

While holding her close I asked, "What happened?"

She shook in my arms and explained, "Just a bit ago, someone was pounding on the door to my room! I was so scared, but all I could do was wait for it to stop! Sigma, what'll I do?"

It was unbelievable. After watching the videos that were supposed to give us motive for murder, someone actually had the nerve to harass Akane? That wasn't going to fly with me. "Akane. . . Why don't you stay in here for tonight?"

Akane stopped trembling and I could see her face light up as she buried it against my chest. "Um. . . What?"

My face lit up and I was afraid that I'd have a repeat of the situation earlier. "Um, well, that is. . ."

"You really wouldn't mind switching rooms with me?"

"Huh?"

"Oh thank you, Sigma!" She buried her face against my chest and it took considerable effort to keep my . . . flagpole . . . down. "I knew I could count on you. You're such a good person!"

It wasn't exactly my idea, but at least this way I wouldn't have to worry about fatal retaliation from Santa. "No problem. It's not like anyone will think to look for you here. You'll be able to sleep just fine." And I could always sleep though some door pounding. Zero III did say that our rooms couldn't be broken into. "We'll swap keys for the night and bring up the issue during the breakfast meeting in the morning, alright?"

With a nod, she took her keys from her pocket and, realizing that she had two (one for her room and one for the shower in her room), I recalled one last thing I should tell her. "Oh, just in case you want to take a shower in the morning, my shower room door is a little tricky."

"What? Really?"

I shrugged and led her over to show her what Zero III had taught me. "It doesn't fit right in the frame, so when you turn the knob you also have to lift up." I demonstrated, then closed the door. "Give it a shot."

Akane mimicked what I'd just shown her and, after a couple tries, got it open. I made sure that she did it a few more times before I was certain that she had it down.

"Thank you so much, Sigma. I wish there was some way that I could repay you," she said as I readied myself to head across the hall to her room.

"Don't worry about it. Any decent guy would do this much." Plus it felt good knowing that she had come to me instead of Junpei or Santa (and accepting any offers of reparation might lead to more retaliation from Santa). "If you need anything else tonight, you'll know where to find me."

I made sure she locked the door behind me, then I went right across the hall to the room with a picture of her face and her name on the door. I unlocked it and went in, then locked it and took a look around. The room was almost identical to mine, the only exception being that her bed sheets were pink instead of blue. I flopped down on her bed and inhaled deeply through the nose. The soft, sweet smells of a woman were soothing and I easily fell asleep with happy dreams waiting for me.

I woke up to the sound of Zero III's morning announcement and sighed. A pleasant night spent in a woman's room had passed and now it was time to face the day yet again. I decided to relish the opportunity and shower in Akane's room before heading to the cafeteria. The shampoo reminded me of her and put me in a good mood.

This time I didn't quite get to the cafeteria on time, but I still was far from being the last. Naturally Junpei was already there, and Luna, Quark, and Phi were all waiting with him. Lotus, Santa, and Seven all came in shortly after me. Then we found ourselves, yet again, waiting for Dio, Clover, Light, and Alice to join us.

When Hongou finally walked in sleepily, Junpei pointed out something odd. "Where's Akane?"

My heart stopped. Nothing else mattered in that moment. I was the only one who knew where Akane would be, and though she was supposed to be safe, she wasn't here yet. So many horrifying possibilities crossed through my mind as I left the cafeteria and ran straight for my dorm room. I knocked rapidly on the door.

No answer.

I tried the doorknob and was struck with fear when I found that it was unlocked. Why would she leave it unlocked?

Something was obviously wrong. I could hear footsteps behind me now, so I left the door open to let the others know where I was, and hurried into my room.

The whole place was in disarray. The table was knocked over, the bed sheets were ripped, and the walls even had deep gashes in them. I could feel my body going cold.

This wasn't right. My room was supposed to be her safe place. How could this happen?

There was no sign of Akane, but there was one place I had yet to check. I went to the shower room door and found that the doorknob had been broken and there were signs that the door had been forced open. Fear gripped at my chest as I pulled the door open and was greeted with the macabre scene.

Sitting against the wall in the shower was Akane.

A knife was sticking out of her chest and blood spatter surrounded her limp body.

The horrible scene was burned deep into my retinas as I let out a cry that hardly even sounded human.

I couldn't take it.

How could this happen?

Before I knew it, I blacked out.

Chapter One :: To Survive Daily Life/To Survive DEADLY Life

Current Survivors: 13/15

TO BE CONTINUED. . .

A/N ::

Shikola Krasno ::

I can't apologize enough for how long this took. Melody even sent me editing notes a while back. I just kept forgetting or getting distracted or was busy or whatever. Have I mentioned how much I hate school? Even my Spring Break wasn't a real break.

BUUUUUT that's unimportant to the story.

I present the LONG overdue second chapter! Not gonna lie, getting into Sigma's mindset is gross. And I apologize for any anger girls might feel towards his pigheadedness but, please remember, I'm a girl too and I loved every moment of writing it (minus maybe the "flagpole" scene, which I insisted on keeping from Dangan Ronpa because it was the most shocking moment of the game, I think. But Melody wanted me to go into it a little more. . .). Will he get better now that Akane's gone? Only slightly. I mean, Lotus and Alice have some serious, erm, curves (BOOBS! BOOBS THAT DEFY ALL LOGIC!), Clover's pretty close to that level too, and there will always be sexual tension with Phi (no spoilers for Virtue's Last Reward, but I feel a little safer writing that out here).

I don't think anything was left out that wasn't supposed to be yet. I hope it's not obvious who the killer is yet, and I'll try to work on the rest of this "case" faster so as not to piss people off with suspense for too long, but I make no promises (least summer's soon. . .ish). In the mean time, if you like my nonsense, can I recommend checking out our other current story: Luna Obscura? It's a cross between Sailor Moon and Fatal Frame (cuz why not, right?). That's what Melody's currently working on as she waits for me to actually make progress with this one.

Again, gomennasai! Hard to believe we wrote so much of Fatal Turnabout in the same amount of time it's taken me just to release another chapter. I mean. . . ouch. . .

Melody Canta ::

FLAGPOLE! :D And then Sigma's jingles get jangled.

Haha, I thought I was working slowly on Luna Obscura, but I seem like a very hardworking individual in comparison. But this is Shikola's first time establishing the rules of a story, and Dangan Ronpa is a complicated setup, so kudos to her. I love Sigma's mindset; I'm finding it hilarious.

And I am back to writing my own stuff! See you all next chapter!