DANGANRONPA: OFF THE RAILS

Prologue – All Aboard!

Part 1

Upon exiting the room, Shunso found himself in a train cart that seemed to be filled with sixteen other doors besides the door that Shunso had exited from. Looking back at his door, there seemed a sensor by the doorhandle that was blinking red. Seems like a lock system… testing a thought he had, he moved his strange watch to it as the light turned green and a click was heard. "Okay. So it unlocks with this thing?" Either way, he moved his eyes up to the sign on the door which seemed to be a pixelated version of himself in his wheelchair with his first name underneath it. "…That… how the hell? Did someone make this?" Whatever reason it was there, Shunso had more important things to pay attention to.

Looking around the train cart, he noticed that it seemed far different from a normal from any train he had seen. There were no windows and one door that seemed to move to the next cart. "So the caboose." Well that meant that Shunso was at the end of the train. Looking up, there seemed to monitors above the doors that seemed to point to the door to the next train cart with moving yellow arrows. There was also some text saying, "Please head to the end cart!" "…Seriously?" However, his next words were cut off by a nearby door opening.

Stepping out of a room was a girl with slightly tanned skin, straight medium length black hair held into ponytail with a streak of pink on the right, freckles scattered across her nose, dark chocolate brown eyes & neutral but pearlescent pained fingernails. She had a more slim, athletic build with a slightly large chest and was wearing a slightly loose grey tank top, a pair of brown shorts, a sky-blue belt, and a pair of brown sandals.

The two looked at each other vigilantly and carefully as Shunso slowly spoke up. "…Who are you?"

The girl looked Shunso with a watchful eye before finally speaking up. "I'm Ember. Ember Gwen Otonari. And you?"

"Shunso Kamata. …I think I remember reading up about you. You're the Ultimate… Translator?"

"Kind of? My talent's the Ultimate Lip-Speaker. It's a type of interpretation for lip reading. Although I also do sign too."

EMBER GWEN OTONARI – ULTIMATE LIP-SPEAKER

Oh. That makes more sense. If I remember correctly, that's a type of translator for people who lost their hearing. Well… for the most part. While forms of communication are mainly sign language from ASL to JSL, some people prefer to read lips instead. However, our lips don't always follow what we are saying exactly and can get jumbled for people who read lips, or the person just can't hear us if we aren't showing our lips for them to see like in scenarios where we face our back to them. That's why a Lip-Speaker exists. To be someone who can mouth out the words for those who read lips. And considering their knowledge of sign… seems 'Kind of' wasn't too far off.

Shunso gave Ember a light head bow. "Ah. My apologies. I should have been more certain."

"No… it's alright." After that, the two were in a small period of silence. Shunso was looking around the room as was Ember… while the two were very cautious on how to approach the other. That was until Shunso spoke up.

"…Do you have any idea on how we ended up here? All I remember was going to bed and waking up here."

This caused Ember to look at intelligence officer before sighing. "No. I'm in the same situation as you… went to bed and then woke up here."

This caused the boy to slightly curse under his breath. Neither of them knew what was going on. However, one thing did rest in his mind… they were both taken away during sleep. Meaning… no. It was too early to say anything. The boy looked at the girl and then at the door.

"It seems as though we are being ushered into the other end of the train. …I'm going to head there. What are you going to do Otonari-san? Do you want to come along?"

The lip-speaker shook her head. "No… I'm going to look around here more. You go on ahead."

Shunso looked at her and respectfully nodded his head as he rolled himself to the door. He could understand her thinking since… well… they were strangers. Ultimates, sure. But still strangers kidnapped to this strange train… at least he thinks it's a train… Either way, one must be cautious when all the facts aren't there. That's one of the first things Shunso learned in his line of work. So, he left them to their devices as he headed onwards to the next train.

Moving onto the next train car, he noticed that there seemed to be a solidly made passage from cart to cart. They seemed to be made of solid materials that moved with the train but also showed no way of disconnecting them manually. Either way, it seemed to be rather large so many people can go in and out of the doorways.

Upon entering the next car, he found it to be split into three different sections with two on one side and one on the other side. On the side with two sections, the first seemed to be a large seating area similar to a school cafeteria. The floor was tile with a large table with sixteen seats around it. There were also some vending machines that seemed to have a strange coin slot.

In the next section, it seemed to be more of a restaurant seating area with a couple of separate tables and one that was a booth in the corner. There was more casual lighting than the cafeteria setting, and the floor was a nice plush carpet. However, what caught Shunso's eye was the guy sitting at the booth.

Sitting at the booth was a 6'1" man with a lean and healthy build with a beige skin tone. He had amber eyes, sharp features, and patchy & uneven facial hair on his face while his hair was dirty blonde, long and pushed back. He also seemed to have what appeared to be a tattoo of the five of spades on his left forearm. His clothes consisted of a blood-red dress shirt with a black blazer over top that was unbuttoned, black slacks, a brown leather belt with a silver belt buckle and black oxford shoes. He also had a black tie hanging loosely around his neck, a white poker chip pin on the left lapel of his blazer and a pair of aviators that were on the table at the moment.

The guy seemed to be slightly annoyed but was sitting like none of this mattered. Arms behind his head, feet on the table… he seemed rather confident. Shunso raised a brow at this behaviour as he rolled himself over to him. "…You seem rather fine."

The guy was slightly startled by Shunso's appearance as he gave him a short glare. "Fucking hell, man! Warn a guy before sneaking up on them!"

This caused Shunso to deadpan at the guy. "…I'm in a wheelchair. How can I sneak up on anyone?" It seemed like a ridiculous notion to the intelligence officer.

The guy just rolled his eyes and grabbed his aviators. Putting them on, he got back into his confident pose. "Whatever, man. I'm just waiting till this prank is over and done with. I mean… can you believe this shit, man? Waking up on a goddamn moving train? People have schedules to keep! Do they think we aren't busy? Fucking ridiculous."

The aviator wearing guy then blinked and shook his head before looking back at Shunso. "Damn… where are my manners, man? Kuniyoshi Nishino, Ultimate Poker Player. I'm assuming you've at least heard the name?"

KUNIYOSHI NISHINO – ULTIMATE POKER PLAYER

I'm pretty sure most have. Word of him has spread over the world about his poker skills, becoming one of the fastest growing international poker champions. To be honest… I have to give this guy more credit now. While one may think it's nothing, poker is a game about keeping composure under pressure. Which… makes sense with his behaviour now. I think… he'll be a hard one to get a read on.

Shunso nodded his head lightly. "Yeah. I've heard about you. Big shot poker player… Right?" Shunso then bowed his head respectfully. "Well it is nice to meet you Nishino-san. I am Shunso Kamata. Ultimate Intelligence Officer."

Kuniyoshi smirked with a cocky expression. "Figures I was right. I mean… who doesn't know about me? Someone had to live under a rock, that's who."

Shunso's expression slowly turned to one of a deadpan expression. Right… He had heard some stories about Kuniyoshi… about how confident he was. Now he understood. It was ego. "…Righttttt… I'm going to continue on exploring. Do you know where we need to head to Nishino-san?"

"Yeah, yeah…" He leaned his head back, uncaring. "The end cart or whatever… I'll head there later."

That was all Shunso needed as he headed off. What an egotist…

Moving away from the one side of the cart, Shunso found himself entering what looked to be a gourmet kitchen. Filled with the fanciest of appliances, cabinets with nice food, and overall a squeaky-clean design. Shunso was honestly impressed as he was more used to fast food for long work nights. So to see such a kitchen? It was pretty incredible.

However, what caught his attention was a light humming coming from within the kitchen. Looking over, he noticed a short girl at 5'2" with a petite figure and a pale porcelain complexion. She had blue eyes and waist length black hair with bangs slightly parted to the right side of her face & was pulled back into two braids, pinned with matching light pink roses.

Her clothes consisted of a white long sleeve button down blouse with a peter pan collar under a gray jumper dress. The skirt of the jumper reached below her knees and was embroidered with white music notes & light pink roses. A silver heart shaped locket engraved with music notes and flowers was worn underneath her collar as she also wore a pair of black stockings and brown mary jane shoes. Finally, she seemed to have silver earring studs in the shape of 1/8th music notes.

Shunso raised a brow as the girl continued to hum lightly as she seemed to have been washing a dish? She must have made something to eat… which… Shunso could respect as he felt his stomach growl. It seemed to catch the attention of the girl despite how quiet he thought it was as she turned to him with a smile. "Hello there."

Shunso was silent for a second before bowing his head respectfully. "Hello. My apologies for bothering you."

However, the girl simply gave a kind smile. "It is no problem at all. I was simply humming a melody."

"I could see that. I guess I am safe to assume you have some sort of musical talent?"

The girl gave a nod as she turned to Shunso and bowed lightly. "Indeed. My name is Kanade Hanasaki, and I am the Ultimate Pianist. I hope we can get along."

KANADE HANASAKI – ULTIMATE PIANIST

That makes sense. I think I have heard of her before… yeah… I think she's the student of a famous retired pianist. Seems as though she has incredible talent to catch the eye of a professional. But then again… she was accepted into Hope's Peak. Everyone here has some kind of talent. …Actually… why have I been seeing Ultimates here? I mean, sure meeting one every now and then is bound to happen. But meeting three so far?

Shunso seemed to be lost in his thoughts as Kanade looked at him with slight worry. "Are… you okay? You haven't given me your name…"

This caused the intelligence officer to snap out of his thoughts, but to save them for later. "Ah. My apologies. I… was just lost in thought. Kinda happens from time to time with my talent. My name is Shunso Kamata. Ultimate Intelligence Officer."

This caused the girl to look at him with a confused yet curious look. "An Intelligence Officer? What is that?"

"Oh… I am basically a person who collects and analyzes information. I tend to… zone out in thought at times. Analyzing the situation."

That caused the girl's eyes to widen slightly as they had a look of understanding. "Ohhh. I understand now. You… are trying to understand why we are here?"

Shunso nodded. "Correct, Hanasaki-san. In fact, I was planning to continue onwards to explore more. Gather an understanding of what is going on."

This caused the pianist to nod while giving a kind smile. "I understand. I won't stop you… but if you wish for some assistance, I can try to help however I can, Kamata-kun."

The intelligence officer hesitated at that before sighing. "Perhaps later on. For now… I wish you a good day, Hanasaki-san."

Bidding farewell, Shunso rolled himself out of the kitchen towards the exit of the car. His mind was full of thoughts and possible solutions… but he couldn't say anything as of yet. However, whatever this situation was, it was worrying. So far, everyone seemed to have been taken while they were asleep onto this moving train. All of them have been Ultimates so far. Whatever this was… it wasn't looking good.

But Shunso would analyze this. That was his job after all.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

Hello everyone! PurpleSweetness here!

I hope you enjoy this part. I'm hoping to get through the Prologue quickly while also giving the characters enough screen time. Please let me know of what you think so far. How will this story go? What is going on? Either way… I'm having fun writing this!

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

That's all for now! See you all next time!

PurpleSweetness signing out!