[A/N: HELLO, HELLO. Before we get into the chapter, I have a few things I wanna get through. Some good friends of mine are writing some SYOCs of their own and would like to get more popularity, so I'm going to just give a few mentions.
A Flight of Fancy Despair - Limeade Space Dorito
"Sixteen students. Two sadistic pilots. Forty thousand feet in the air. Despair looms imminent as the first international class of Hope's Peak Academy is forced into their new life - the Airborne Life of Mutual Killing. SYOC Closed, collab with SDproductions"
An SYOC that takes place in the middle of an airship. Plot twists every five seconds. Written by two insanely good authors. Check it out, make sure you leave some reviews-they're going for the number one spot in reviews for the Dangan Ronpa section. If y'all review as much as you can they can get there.
Safe Haven - CaptainQuackin
"In the midst of The Tragedy the symbol of Hope world wide has fallen. The Future Foundation's HQ has been over run with despair, soon shutting down and ceasing to function. A mastermind decided that it would be fun to use the Shattered Hope to forge more Despair... In this destroyed Safe Haven, will it bring the Downfall of the world? (SYOC CLOSED)"
Written by an old RP friend of mine. A safe haven turned not-so-safe, as in, the remnants of what was once the Future Foundation's main headquarters. I myself am still reading but it's rather interesting. Review this one too! As of right now it only has 33.
Dawn Rider - CrimsonSkyTamer
"My name is Nicol di Avantia, and I am one of the talents on board the Dawn Rider. Sixteen of us went in. But none of us may exit alive. Sucks to be us. [SYOC Closed- 16/16 filled]"
Written by an even older RP friend. This one's on a boat! It's only just starting, but it's clear this is a unique one. So yeah, go check it out. As always, leave her some reviews.
Thanks, please do check them out! I would really like to see these guys get the attention their fics deserve.]
Ding, dong, ding, dong.
"Rise and shine, everybody! It is now eight o'clock a.m. Breakfast will be served in the hotel's food court on the first floor. Let's make today the best it can be!"
Guh... I didn't sleep.
Nicholas was waiting for that announcement, having watched the clock tick by. In the last five or so hours since Nicholas returned from the hospital, he must've managed about twenty, maybe thirty minutes of sleep. As much as he wanted to sleep, he couldn't. Not after the encounter with that... freak. His eyes darted around the room all night, waiting for that figure to appear. Waiting for it to show up, and hold him by the throat. Thankfully, it never came.
If any of the mornings so far did sleeping in sound good, this was one of them. Alas, the cop couldn't stay in bed. He had to let everyone know about that figure as soon as possible. The students were in more danger than they thought.
After a rushed morning routine, Nicholas watched the weather forecast, despite knowing it's just going to rain anyway. Twelve degrees Celsius, with high winds and slight cloud cover. Light showers expected. Well, at least it makes sense this time. Nicholas got dressed in a dark pair of jeans, with a black t-shirt under a thin charcoal grey zip-up hoodie. After gathering his things, Nicholas leaves.
Unlike the day before, the sun wasn't quite as unforgiving on Nicholas' eyes that morning. At the very least, the cloud cover part of the forecast seemed to be true. The others were just waking up as well, with Nicholas catching a few leaving their rooms. A few waved hello. Nicholas returned the favor, before joining everyone as they made their way to the elevators.
"Morning, Nick." Seymour greets.
"Hey. Morning." Nicholas replies, offering a quick handshake.
"You look tired," Seymour comments, accepting that handshake.
"I ran into something crazy last night, Seymour." Nicholas says in a hushed tone. "I was attacked."
Seymour looks at Nicholas, surprised. He lightly grabs his arm and pushes him out of the crowd, alone. "Nick, what're you talkin' about? Who? Who attacked you?"
"No, it wasn't any of us..." Nicholas says, looking over his shoulder at the students behind him. "I don't think... no one fit the build."
"Tell me what happened. Beginning to the end." Seymour replies, quickly setting his camera to record. It would only catch the hallway in front of them, but the audio was more than enough.
"Well. It's one o'clock in the morning, I can't sleep." Nicholas starts. "I realize I didn't finish investigating, so I went to go do that... the last place on the list is the second floor to the hospital. It was pitch black before, remember?"
"Right. Hoshiko said that." Seymour nods.
"Well, the lights were on, so I thought I'd go up... anyway, William finds me. Says he found me through the ElectroID, figured he'd come check things out with me." Nicholas continues, "Next thing we know, we're hearing those whispers."
"The whispers." Seymour raises a brow. "As in, the ones I was talking about."
Nicholas nods. "And I have one of those headaches, but this time I actually regained a memory. All I saw was blood. What happens when we go into a room? Fucking blood everywhere."
"You're kiddin' me..." Seymour sighs.
"I wish. Just blood everywhere, room's empty otherwise. And we start hearing... humming."
"Humming?" Rina asks.
"Yeah, humm- wait, what?"
Rina suddenly shows up, standing behind and in between Seymour and Nicholas. "Sorry. I've been listening." she chuckles sheepishly.
"Nick, keep going." Seymour says, gesturing for him to continue.
"Right." Nicholas nods, "Humming. We open the door, and I swear to god, this thing, must've been like seven feet is just staring us down. Half black, half white. It looked humanoid, but it didn't have a face, or anything. And it didn't look like a suit."
"What the hell...?" Seymour mutters.
"That's what I thought. I yell for William to run, and now this thing is choking me out. Picks me up and everything." Nicholas shakes his head. He quiets his voice more than it already was for this next part. "Look, the two of you better not say anything, but I have a gun for self-defense. I used it just last night to shoot the thing."
"Did he die?" Seymour asks, quickly.
"I don't know. Instead of bleeding, this black stuff came out. It disappeared and that was the end of that."
"Are you okay?" Rina asks, concerned.
"Yeah, it doesn't hurt anymore. That hospital is... I don't even know what to say, it was weird. Do me a favor and don't go." Nicholas frowns.
Seymour turns off his camera, staying quiet in thought.
The three make it to the elevators, and decide to wait up for the rest of the group. A few moments later, the other six arrive.
"Nick!" William runs up to the officer. "Are you okay? Look, I'm sorry for running off last night!"
"Don't be. I'm fine, I made it out." Nicholas reassures.
"Eh? The hell happened t'ya?" Tennoyama asks, confusedly.
"Long story."
"We almost died."
"Yeah, no big deal, really."
"What." Tennoyama blinks.
"I'll tell everyone when we get downstairs." Nicholas says.
"It was crazy. Straight out of a movie." William scratches his neck.
"That sounds awesome!" Hikaru exclaims, "How close were you to death? Did you see Death himself!?"
"Sort of?" William says, moving his hand in a 'so-so' motion.
"I mean, it depends..." Nicholas tilts his head in thought.
"Hey. Can you guys shut up for two seconds? The elevators are here." Daiki speaks up, sighing.
Sure enough, the elevators had indeed arrived. The nine awkwardly made it into one elevator, pushing elbows and bumping into one another. The elevator descended to the lobby, to which the students walked over to the food court.
...
Time passed. Everyone arrived to the food court, and Nicholas had finished explaining what happened the night before.
"...and then it shot laser eyes! We narrowly dodged the monster's attack, before I heroically-"
"That's not even close to what happened." Nicholas facepalms, cutting William off.
"Yes it is." William grins.
"No." Nicholas says bluntly. "Anyways. After I told William to run, it started choking me. I managed to fight back and escape its hold, before it disappeared." he finishes the story, deciding to leave out the bit with the gun.
"I'm glad you're okay," Annie says. "I didn't know you were going outside. I would've at least went with you."
"Nah, it's okay... did you sleep okay, at least?" Nicholas asks.
"Enough." she replies. "I doubt you did."
"All in all, I managed a good... hour of sleep, tops. I'm napping later, that's for sure."
"We don't have anything planned, then?" Daiki asks. "Cuz if Nicholas gets to nap then I'm staying in my room today."
"Wow, how boring is this guy?" Nori laughs.
"Shut up." Daiki rolls his eyes. "Some people aren't as social as others."
"Ohh. You're like brother Durion, then." Nori realizes, taking a sip of orange juice.
"Huh. Whatever happened to Durion?" Hoshiko asks.
"Eh. He'll be back eventually." Nori shrugs.
Daiki's right, though. There's really nothing else that we have to do. At least, not today...
"I think we've done everything we can for now," Nicholas comments, finishing a piece of his pancakes, "So there's nothing on the agenda, today."
"Assuming Monokuma doesn't step in." Seymour retorts.
"Or seven foot black and white figures." William adds.
"Mm, maybe he'll *munch* leave us alone today," Tennoyama says, in between chewing, "It's *munch* only been a day since *munch* Hibiki and Kinzoku... y'know."
Silence falls.
They're... gone, aren't they? Nicholas thinks, solemnly. There's nothing we can do.
"This doesn't feel right." Seymour says, quietly.
"It was meant to be." Zéphyrine mutters.
"No... no, it wasn't." Seymour shakes his head, "I refuse to believe it. Why would God want them to die?"
"Maybe that's not what he wanted... maybe he didn't want for any of this to happen, but he always has a reason for doing what he does." Zéphyrine replies.
"Then what's the reason this time, Zéphyrine?" Seymour asks, turning his head to face her. "Why'd he take them away from us? Before we could even get to know them?"
"God works in mysterious ways." Zéphyrine says, simply. She looks down. "I'm sorry. I don't have a better explanation."
Seymour sighs. "Don't be."
The rest of breakfast is rather quiet.
The next few hours are, actually. Most of the students realized there was nothing of utter importance for the time being, and went back to catch up on missed sleep. Nicholas included. It's now eleven o'clock in the morning, and a few students were rising.
What to do now? Nicholas thinks, looking out his window. I guess I can see if anyone else is up...
The food court was bare, except for a small group of students at one of the tables. Shiori sat drinking some bubble tea and Gabriel was reading a book on one side of the table, with Bert and Hoshiko sitting on the opposite. There were still a few free spots, thus prompting Nicholas to approach the four.
"Oh! Hey Nick." Hoshiko greets, as he comes and sits beside her.
"Hey. What's up?" Nicholas asks.
"Boooooredom." Hoshiko replies, frowning. "There's nothing to do. I didn't find any good books or anything..."
"Did you get that violin from the mall?"
"No..." Hoshiko shakes her head.
"Oh. Why not?" Nicholas asks.
"...I don't know." she replies, with a hint of hesitation.
Huh...
"You should get it," Shiori smiles, "I started working on a song."
"Thanks Shiori," Hoshiko returns the smile, "I'd love to play it."
"So you guys are the musicians around here, huh?" Nicholas observes.
"I mean... I don't know," Hoshiko scratches her neck. "I'm not really the biggest fan of playing anymore, to tell you the truth."
"What do you mean?"
"It's not nearly as fun as it used to be nowadays." Hoshiko replies. "To be honest, I almost stopped playing... but, I couldn't do that. Definitely not after I got the letter from Hope's Peak."
"Ah... so getting in as the Ultimate Violinist made you keep playing?"
"I guess so, yeah." Hoshiko nods.
"Could you take a break maybe...?" Nicholas asks.
"Not exactly an option." Hoshiko sighs. "Before I started playing, um... I had a bullying problem."
"Wha-" Bert, having been invested in reading something-an autobiography?-swiftly turns his head over. "Bullying!? Who? Who bullied you, Hoshiko?"
"Oh, it's okay Bert!" Hoshiko says, laughing a bit. "Just when I was younger... People thought I was weird."
"How could they say that!?" Bert exclaims. "You are not weird in the slightest! You are, quite possibly, the least weirdest person on the planet!"
"Well that's kind of boring, isn't it?" Hoshiko counters.
"Then-you have very slight amounts of weirdness!"
"Right." Hoshiko giggles. "Anyways. The bullying ended when I started playing, so... I don't really want to risk it starting all over again, I guess."
"Don't you worry what they have to say, Hoshiko." Bert waves it off. "Just do you! I bet they're just jealous of you."
"Maybe." Hoshiko shrugs.
"Bert, you really seem to know what you're doing?" Nicholas comments.
"Ah, why I'd say it's a gift of mine." Bert grins. "I realized I had it in drama class. I had a knack for speaking! I took it to the next level in debate club. Then I took it to the next level when I learned Japanese and French. Then Hope's Peak contacted me."
"Huh. Japanese isn't your first language?" Nicholas asks. Judging by how he's been speaking Japanese thus far, Bert seems pretty well versed.
"Nope. That would be English." Bert spoke, in perfect English.
"Same with me. I actually wasn't born in Japan, which I guess should make sense." Nicholas shrugs.
"Ah. I'm from America. You too, then?"
"Yup. Moved here almost three years ago." Nicholas nods, "You speak French too?"
"Mais bien sûr."
"...I don't know what that means."
"'But of course', Nicky. You need to brush up on your français."
"I guess so..."
"Hmm. What about you, Gabriel?" Bert then asks-switching back to the Japanese they've been speaking all this time. "Where are you from?"
"H-Huh?" Gabriel looks up from his book, surprised. "I-I'm from Japan."
"Ahh. Born in Tokyo?"
"Not quite..." Gabriel scratches his neck. "I grew up in a forest..."
"Woah. What's the story behind that?"
Gabriel paused. "I-It's a... a long one."
"Huh. You don't want to say?" Bert asks.
"I mean- well, I could, but-" Gabriel suddenly shakes his head. "N-No I can't."
Can't?
"...Is it me? I'm not gonna arrest you." Nicholas chuckles.
"Y-You probably would..." Gabriel looks down. "I-I mean, well, I can tell you that we ran an... an inn, though..."
Huh. What kinda crap did he go through?
"I-It was for anyone crossing through the forest. B-But less people needed to go through... s-so business was kind of slow." Gabriel continues.
"That sucks." Nicholas frowns.
"Ah. Shiori, you haven't shared yet?" Bert then prompts.
"Um, there's not much to say..." Shiori says, "I've been writing classical music since I was really young."
"Wasn't your music in a movie, or something?" Nicholas asks, "My brother bought this movie once and I swore it said, 'music from the Ultimate Composer of Hope's Peak Academy' or something on the cover."
"Yeah... in a lot of movies," Shiori nods enthusiastically, "Video games too."
"That's great!" Bert compliments.
"Thanks," Shiori accepts sheepishly, "I don't know how much longer my music is going to last, though..."
"Aw, why not? Your music is awesome!" Hoshiko exclaims. "Oh, yeah. I've heard it before, haha."
"People don't really listen to classical music nowadays. It's going to be replaced by modern music." Shiori frowns.
"No it won't!" Hoshiko protests. "I'll keep buying your music! No matter what happens!"
"I'll do that too." Nicholas agrees.
"So shall I!" Bert pumps a fist in the air.
"Um. I'll listen too...?" Gabriel says, blinking.
"Aw... thanks, guys." Shiori smiles.
"Wait. Nicholas, you only talked about your Ultimate." Hoshiko realizes. "It's your turn! What's your life story?"
"Huh? Well... there's not much to say," Nicholas scratches his head, "I was raised in New York. Ended up moving all the way over here to Japan for uh... family, I think? Job opportunities? I don't know."
"Well that sounds boring." Hoshiko says, chuckling.
"Shush I'm not done yet." Nicholas rolls his eyes. "I went to school for a few years, met this guy named Kagome. Told me he was going for the title Ultimate Private Eye, which he ended up getting. Me, him, my brother, and a few others we went to school with got involved in this massive case..."
"Woah. A massive case? Now this is getting interesting." Hoshiko replies.
"It was a murder case. Between two Yakuza families." he continues. "Police couldn't solve it. Practically no evidence. Then, out of nowhere, Kagome pins it on this kid-our age-Arata Inoue. We've been on the hunt for him since the last year or so, the guy's a ghost."
"Wow." Hoshiko blinks.
"I remember that case."
Cutting into the conversation was Seymour. He walked in, hands in pockets. "I had a crack at it too," he says, "couldn't find anything to save my life."
"Makes sense. You're the Journalist, no?" Nicholas asks.
"Of course." Seymour nods, "My last big case was somethin' like that..."
"What is it with you people and murder cases?" Bert asks, sighing. He shakes his head in dismay.
"It was a bit more than a murder case. Seventeen victims." Seymour says.
"...seventeen." Nicholas parrots, blinking.
"Seventeen." Seymour confirms.
"Oh my gosh. You found who did it?" Hoshiko asks.
Seymour pauses. He nods.
"Wow. How'd you do it?" Nicholas asks.
"Hannah Dowd." Seymour recalls. "Leader of the newspaper club. Y'see, practically everyone at school was intimidated by me. She wasn't. She was fearless."
"She sounds interesting." Nicholas comments.
"Oh, she was. Enough I ended up catchin' feelin's for her." Seymour continues. "Took me a damn while, but I asked her out eventually."
"Oooooh." Hoshiko teases.
"Ohohoh!" Bert joins in on the teasing too. "When's the wedding?"
"Guys..." Seymour sighs, trailing off. "She ain't around no more."
"Aw." Hoshiko frowns. "Sorry. She break up with you, or?"
Seymour bites his lip. "No. Not quite. I didn't break up with her either."
"What happened then?" Hoshiko asks, tilting her head.
"She was the seventeenth victim." Seymour says bluntly.
Silence fell.
"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to drop the mood like that." Seymour says, "Basically, she was checking out this old house for a story in the newspaper. Disappeared. I checked it out, it... it was bad."
"Shit, man. I'm sorry." Nicholas apologizes.
"I'm so sorry!" Hoshiko does the same.
Bert nods in respect.
Gabriel and Shiori give a simple "I'm sorry".
"Don't worry about it." Seymour shakes his head, waving it off.
Beep beep
A notification suddenly comes from Seymour's pocket. He reaches into it, pulling out his ElectroID.
"What's that?" Nicholas asks.
"Meh, just a text." Seymour says, opening it up. "Rina."
"Ah. What's up with you guys, anyway?" Nicholas leans back in his chair, "Sure have been hanging out a lot."
Seymour shrugs. "What can I say? She's a good friend."
"That's all?"
"Nick..." Seymour sighs. "I'm not looking for that here. Last thing I need is a repeat of Hannah."
"Crap, true. Sorry." Nicholas nods.
"Mark my words. It's gonna happen again. We're gonna lose someone else." Seymour says, quietly. "If it's Rina, and we were together... I don't know if I could make it through the rest of the game."
"You really think someone else is gonna kill? Even after the pizzeria?" Nicholas asks, frowning.
"Our morale's up right now. No doubt about that. That doesn't mean sometime down the road Monokuma won't put out another motive and someone else breaks."
"I was kinda hoping someone would come get us out of this damn place before then." Nicholas crosses his arms.
"Well, no matter what happens, we can't fall to despair." Bert adds his two cents. "No matter what happens, we need to keep our spirits as high as we can!"
"What he said," Seymour agrees, "The day we lose is the day we give up."
"I-I don't know..." Shiori starts, "If we start losing more people, h-how are we going to stay happy?"
"I won't be." Gabriel frowns.
"I mean... I haven't gotten over Hibiki and Kinzoku..." Shiori continues. Her eyes were already beginning to water. "H-Have you?"
"Hell no!" Nicholas denies. "But we just... need to look after ourselves, too."
"Monokuma wants us to feel despair. He said it in the trial, remember?" Seymour adds, "God knows what'll happen if we give him the satisfaction of seeing us in despair."
"They were supposed to be our classmates... now they're gone. Forever. I don't know if I can just deal with that." Shiori says, sniffling.
Nicholas, Seymour, and Bert all collectively share glances.
"She's got a point." Hoshiko says.
"...We can do this." Nicholas replies, simply.
But can we really?
"Man, I knew it was hot in Brazil, but this is crazy."
"You are wearing a full suit, Hitaka."
"I didn't know we were going to Brazil!"
"You could've at least taken off your jacket when you did know..."
"I wanted to look professional."
"A shirt and tie's still professional."
"You wanna fight about it, Kagome?"
"I don't care if you're the Ultimate Fighter, I could still kick your ass."
"You two sound like an old married couple, man... get ready, I just got report he's coming out."
Hitaka and Kagome's bickering was cut off by a fellow Faith officer. It's closing in on midnight, and their airship had landed hours ago. Kagome's friend was finally about to come out. The plane landed in a private airfield surrounded by Brazil's mountains, with the Atlantic Ocean only minutes away. Said plane was currently behind the ninety other Faith soldiers, whom had several humvees around them, bright blue headlights illuminating a hangar-the meeting spot.
They've been waiting for a rather long time now. Alas, it was finally go-time.
The doors to the hangar open. Joining the sound of the creaking doors and the birds chirping, dozens of clicks were heard as the Faith infantry cocked the rifles in their hands. Despite Kagome's insistence that he was a friend, the higher-ups called for the utmost of security. The humvees' xenon HID headlights lit up the hangar, revealing the man standing in front of it, clad in black.
Kagome starts walking towards him, men and women of Faith splitting up to let him go through. He stops a few meters in front of the hangar, staring the man down.
He wore a long, black coat over a charcoal grey pinstripe vest and pair of pants. A white dress shirt accompanied with a rose-red tie peeked out from his vest. Atop his head was a black trilby with a band of the tie's color around it, which mostly covered his eyes. However, enough of them could be seen to see the harsh glare in his dark brown pupils.
"Yoshida." Kagome greets, coming up in front of him, offering a hand. "It's nice to see you."
Yoshida didn't say a word. He nodded, shaking Kagome's hand.
"What're you doing all the way over here in Brazil? Figured you'd be somewhere out in Japan." Kagome says.
"Investigating." Yoshida replies, in a gravelly voice to rival Kagome's own.
"Well, I hope you can take a break from that for a bit." Kagome says, reaching into his pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes. Yoshida denied when he offered him one, prompting Kagome to shrug and light his own. "Gonna need your abilities."
"As expected." Yoshida says, quietly.
"Nicholas got into a mutual killing game." Kagome continues. "Each one of our enemies are involved, and we need to get these kids out. War's about to break out. Think you can help us out?"
"..." Yoshida doesn't respond.
"I think you know where I'm going with this." Kagome says, taking a drag of the cigarette in his mouth. "This wasn't supposed to happen. We need to fix this."
Yoshida looks to be deep in thought for a moment. "What do you want me to do?"
"Well... you're a Superior, no?" Kagome asks, "Of course, we all know what your Superiority is. We can use that to prevent this damned thing from ever happening."
Yoshida flinches.
Kagome found that odd. Yoshida doesn't flinch.
"Come, Kagome." Yoshida says, turning to the hangar. "We have a lot to discuss."
"So. They're in Brazil." Mihane announces.
Back at the motel, The Storyteller and Mihane were outside. Each of the students' families were currently underground, going through the process of succumbing to despair. The two above however, were simply discussing matters together. Mihane's laptop rested on an empty barrel.
"Brazil? Are they playing soccer or something?" The Storyteller asks.
"They've been at this airfield for the past few hours..." Mihane says, "Scans say someone else just showed up."
"Ooh. Who would that be?" The Storyteller then asks, going over to look at the laptop screen.
"Not sure. Faith is clearly planning something." Mihane replies.
"Maybe they're planning... mass destruction!"
"That's our job."
"Oh, yeah."
"It's pretty weird, though." Mihane frowns. "Did they find us or something?"
"The Future Foundation did." The Storyteller crosses his arms, pacing around the area. "Maybe they did too."
"Then why are they in Brazil?" Mihane asks.
"Counter-measures?" The Storyteller offers. "Perhaps they know about the Future Foundation too! And they're going to Brazil to create their secret weapon for the inevitable war-"
"Yeah, sure." Mihane deadpans.
"I could be right for all you know." The Storyteller retorts.
"Maybe, Mr. Storyteller. Maybe." Mihane replies.
"What's that ETA again?" The Storyteller asks.
"Twelve days."
"Right... call an announcement for me, will ya?"
Ding, dong, ding, dong.
"Hey, you bastards!" Monokuma's face was shown on a large screen above the food court's entrance. "Do me a favor. Come to Despair Square-I got somethin' for ya!"
"An announcement... eugh, crap. I thought we didn't have to do anything to do today." Seymour mutters.
"What the hell does he want now?" Nicholas asks, getting up from his seat. He quickly says to the others, 'come on, let's go'.
"Who knows. It's always something, huh?" Hoshiko says.
Minutes later, all fifteen students are present in a transport bus. The engine comes to life and the bus starts moving.
"There goes my nap..." Daiki sighs.
"Were you still asleep?" Ryoko asks him.
"Yup." Daiki nods, "Announcement was full blast and woke me up, of course."
"My apologies." Ryoko frowns. "This can't be that big of a deal, is it?"
"Dunno. Didn't like the way he said 'I got somethin' for ya'. Think it's another motive?" Tennoyama says, thoughtfully.
"No way. It can't be." William shakes his head, "That's just... way too enthusiastic to get us dead. Sending a monster thing to choke us out and a new motive? All in less than twelve hours?"
"Well, I wouldn't put it past Monokuma." Ryoko says.
"It isn't a motive." Zéphyrine says with confidence. "It just... doesn't seem right. At least not at the moment."
"I agree with Zéphyrine." Nicholas nods.
"Oh well. Only one way to find out, right?" Hikaru smiles. "And don't worry. If that bear tries anything I'll kick its ass."
"Oh, Hikaru!" Tennoyama swoons. "You're so brave..."
I... what? What am I hearing right now?
Sounds of ranging but mostly vague disgust resounded through the bus after that little line of Tennoyama's.
Soon enough, the bus came to a stop at the one and only Despair Square. After pouring out of the bus, the students found Monokuma standing directly in the center, as expected.
Nicholas took the lead, giving Monokuma an angry face in an attempt to be intimidating. "What the hell do you-" he starts.
"What do you want, you big stupid meanie!?" Hikaru exclaims, standing in front of Nicholas.
Oh. Okay then.
"Hey! That hurts my feelings, you know." Monokuma says, dejectedly. "And to think I only called you here to give you a gift!"
"What kind of-"
"We don't want your gifts!" Hikaru yells, cutting Nicholas off again.
"Fine! I won't give it to you then!" Monokuma yells back.
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Monokuma, can you just-"
"Fine!"
"Hikaru!" Nicholas facepalms.
"Oh. Were you trying to say something?" Hikaru asks.
"Yes, actually. I was." Nicholas mumbles through his hand.
"Oops! Go right ahead." Hikaru grins.
"Right. Monokuma." Nicholas says, sighing. "What do you want to give us?"
"At least he's interested." Monokuma frowns. That frown's turned right upside down as Monokuma puts out a paw, pointing to the giant screen on the building across from the bridge. "Everybody please pay attention to these screen!"
The screen, once black, came to life. A red set of numbers in an alarm clock-style font reading 12:00:00:00 was on a pure white background. Several 'huh?'s and 'what?'s came from the crowd.
"This here is a countdown! If you couldn't tell." Monokuma says. "Y'see, that says twelve days. That's a little shorter than usual. Your guys' stay in Las Despair City will have to be cut short... oh, how unbearable!"
"Wait." Nicholas says, eyes widening. "You're saying in twelve days we're going to be out of here?"
"...I'll put it to you like this. In twelve days, my rule over y'all will be no longer. As a certain event is gonna happen. Trust me, in these twelve days, you will still go through your despair! There will be more deaths!" Monokuma exclaims.
"No way!" Hikaru balls her hands into fists, pouting. "We can go through twelve days no problem! We won't kill again!"
"Yeah, what she said!" Tennoyama raises her voice, standing next to Hikaru.
Nearly everyone agreed with the two, as everyone began cheering.
"Upupupu..." Monokuma puts his paws over his mouth. "Y'all are so confident, aren't ya? Believe me, you don't know what's coming."
He said 'a certain event'... Nicholas thinks.
"What's that event you mentioned? In twelve days?" Nicholas asks.
"Well, I'm not gonna tell you! Don't you know what suspense is!?" Monokuma yells. "You'll get more despair once it all happens if you don't know what's coming!"
"You can't tell us anything...?" Ryoko asks, hesitantly.
"I can tell you this... while my rule over you will be gone, that doesn't mean you're going to be safe. That doesn't mean you're going to be free from this city. Honestly, you're probably going to be in more danger than you are now!" Monokuma says.
Shit...
"That's all for now, folks!" Monokuma continues. "Bye-bye!"
With that, Monokuma walks off, whistling a happy tune.
The countdown begins as the group assembles in a circle, all facing one another.
"Well. Now what?" Nicholas blinks.
12 DAYS LEFT
[A/N: A mysterious countdown appears! I wonder what that's for! Mysterious.
ShadedLyht: Awesome. That's exactly what I'm going for. Thanks!
Integras: I always try to be unusual. I look at what the norm is, and try to break it as much as I can. Monsters is pretty norm-breaking, eh? Thanks for the review.
Thanks for reading. As always, drop some more reviews man.]