Hello, everyone! I am finally back! I hope the wait wasn't too bad. The good news is that I started this shortly after my schedule opened up and wrote it in two nights! And the time I was gone gave me plenty of planning time, which I used as much as I could, so I tentatively have a plan for this chapter!

Some of you may also notice that this chapter is shorter than the previous ones. That is partly because I'm still trying to figure out how to structure these chapters. So yes, shorter chapter, but a chapter all the same!

In any case, enjoy!

Chapter 1 Daily Life: Into the Unknown

The night of the ball, the night Monokuma revealed himself and everything his existence entailed to the eighteen of them, Maria's dreams were…strange.

Because her dreams were filled with static, randomly cut through by the sound of someone's voice. Who's voice, however, the ballet dancer could not say. It was familiar, yes, but for some reason, her brain couldn't quite identify just who it belonged to.

She was tempted to blame Monokuma for that as well. Even more so because come morning, before the morning announcement, Maria awoke to a massive headache.

Quietly groaning, the ballet dancer pushed herself to sit up…only to scream.

For right in front of the lit fireplace slept none other than Monokuma himself.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!" Maria shouted, ignoring her headache entirely to stand and glare down at the now startled awake bear.

"I was just getting some beary much needed sleep, I'll have you know!" Monokuma let out a huff as he crossed his arms. "Planning a killing game is hard work, you know!"

"That doesn't mean you can break into my room!" Maria shrieked, about ready to lose it. She was vaguely aware that she was starting to speak in some kind of mix of Japanese and Russian, but she couldn't care.

"But your room looks like my natural habit! It's only right I'd choose your quarters, Snow White! You should be honored that your king chose your quarters as a place to sleep!" The bear insisted, causing Maria's eyes to dart to the room itself.

Compared to the night before, where only the carpet had changed, she was startled to see new changes to the walls. Namely, that the previously blank walls now contained paint that made the room resemble the meadow the floor resembled, with the cottage for the seven dwarves on one side of the room and the prince's castle on the other. It was a beautiful room, minus the ominous coffin and apples, but the timeframe the changes could have been done made Maria feel cold.

She turned back to Monokuma, who was staring up at her expectantly.

And Maria was just so frustrated with this whole situation, so she…she…

"Do not invite yourself into my room, you poor excuse of an animal!"

She screamed in crystal clear Russian. Her fists trembled at her sides as she waited for something, anything, to happen.

But Monokuma only brushed off his red cape and nodded.

"Very well. Then I, the great King Monokuma, shall take my leave, puhuhuhu!" The bear declared before he swiftly left.

For a moment, Maria was frozen where she stood, a cold sweat clinging to the back of her neck. She had…Monokuma had…what the hell?

It took her a minute to pull herself together enough to make her way to the wardrobe.

The morning announcement still had not played, but there was no way she was going back to sleep. Not after that.

So instead, the ballet dancer examined the wardrobe for the tools of her trade. Sure enough, she found a drawer full of leotards, tights, tie around skirts and her ballet shoes. The vanity, when she examined it, also contained all the materials she needed to properly pull her hair into a bun.

So Maria lost herself to the motions of preparing for a warm-up, simply to calm her nerves. Within the minutes it took her to change and pull her hair up into a bun, her heart rate had slowed down measurably and she felt, well, not calm, but closer to that then she'd previously been.

With a satisfied nod, the ballet dancer left her room behind and made her way to the ballroom. Thankfully, the room was empty, leaving her to warm-up and dance in peace.

She started with her stretches, making sure every part of her body was duly warmed up so that her dancing wouldn't cause her to pull a muscle or something of the like. That was absolutely the last thing she needed right now.

Once she was sufficiently warmed up, Maria placed her feet in first position, took a deep breath…and danced.

This wasn't a routine, no, it was simply something she did for fun, her body transitioning from one step to the next. She'd pirouette and then perform a grand jete, the motions followed by an arabesque that transitioned into further complicated movements. On and on she went, no rhyme and reason, simply allowing her body to dance.

This, this was why she loved ballet. It let her think clearly, let her step out of the world for just a little bit to a place where all that existed was her and the dance she was performing.

This was her world, a very small one, but it protected her.

As that thought floated away, Maria allowed her body to slide to the ground in a split, taking a moment to breathe before she happened to glance up.

Her gaze, instantly, landed on Irusu, of all people.

The sight of the acoustic engineer was so startling that Maria found herself sliding up to her feet, halting her dance entirely.

There was, however, something different about Irusu. He was…well, for one thing he was standing with his back straight and his eyes were closed, his expression entirely calm…

"There you are…the others didn't know where you were." The acoustic engineer said, his voice calm and steady, further throwing Maria off.

"I-I'm sorry…?" The ballet dancer prompted.

"It's very strange that none of them thought to check here when you didn't come to the dining room…and Irusu didn't inform me of our situation…"

"But a-aren't you Irusu?" Maria asked, feeling herself grow even more confused.

"Ah…Maria? Do you mean…?" The boy, not Irusu?, looked up and his eyes opened the slightest bit, looking shocked. "You…don't know who I am…?"

"No…I can't say that I do. I thought you were Irusu…" Maria trailed off, suddenly aware of her rather fast breathing and the sweat coating her skin. How long had she been dancing, anyway?

The thought was cut off, however, by the boy suddenly punching the ballroom wall.

"Dammit…so they got us after all…" The boy cursed before he stepped closer to Maria. "Come with me…I'll explain this to everyone at once."

"Alright then…" The ballet dancer agreed as she cautiously followed the boy all the way back to the dining room in silence. The boy was now so very tense, his jaw clenched tight enough that she thought his teeth had to hurt. And he seemed…scared.

Wait…could it be-

Maria's thoughts cut off as they entered the dining room together, where everyone else was waiting for them.

"Yay! Irusu-chan found Maria-chan!" Michi shouted as he and Fuwari ran over to the two of them.

"Excellent job, Irusu. I am glad I put my trust in you." Yoshi nodded with a proud smile a second before Maria was tackled by the rather excited Michi, which basically involved him dwarfing her due to his considerable height compared to Maria's own shorter stature.

"I'm glad that you're okay, Maria-chan, everyone was worried!" Michi beamed as he pulled away from the ballet dancer.

"A-are you okay, Maria?" Fuwari questioned, looking concerned.

"I'm alright, Fuwari, Michi-chan." Maria smiled. "I just woke up early and decided to dance before breakfast. But I guess I lost track of time."

"See? I told you dumbasses she was fine." Nat rolled their eyes from where they sat at the main dining table beside Rosamie.

"We can't be too careful in a game like this." Yoshi warned, his eyes narrow from where he stood at the head of the table. "As your elected leader, I feel it is my prerogative to make sure that we all meet every morning, in order to make sure no murders have yet to occur."

"I-I'm sorry…I really did just lose track of time…" Maria trailed off. How could she be so stupid? This was, officially, a killing game. Not showing up to breakfast was a guarantee to set off a lot of alarms.

"Don't worry about it, Irusu was able to find you quickly after all, so all's well." Sayuri smiled as she walked towards Maria, Michi, Fuwari and the boy.

"Oh, right!" Maria gasped as she turned to the boy. "He told me on our way here that he needed to say something."

"Oh? And what's that?" Jordan questioned from where he sat near Hibiki, who was face down on the table.

The boy's eyes darted over to Jordan and stayed right there for a moment before he glanced away.

"Right, well…I'll start by introducing myself. I'm Nima, Irusu's other identity." The boy, Nima, explained. "And…I know all of you. From our time at Hope's Peak Academy."

Nima

Ultimate Acoustic Engineer

"Wait! Is this guy being serious?!" Satou cried, shooting up to her feet with wide eyes.

"Why would I lie…?" Nima returned, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"You would if you're Monokuma's plant to make us all think this is real in the first place!" The executive producer insisted.

"And you think this is all a joke, huh…" Nima trailed off.

"Enough." Chiasa cut in, her eyes narrow as she stared down both Nima and Satou. Satou bowed out first, though she still looked disgruntled. Nima, however, did not and turned towards the huntress. "Tell us what you know. Are we correct in our assumptions that Monokuma has stolen years from our memories?"

"Yeah. A few." Nima confirmed.

"So that means we all know each other…" Tori trailed off as she stared at Nima with widened eyes.

"And we must've played plenty of games before this! I see no reason we shouldn't beat this one as well!" Arisu beamed as she squeezed the hand Tori had resting on the table excitedly.

"So there must be a way out?" The painter gasped, her eyes sparkling with the first bits of hope.

"There's always a way out." Nat scoffed, leaning back in their chair. "There's no perfect cage, ya know. I even said it last night."

"And as your leader, I shall do everything in my power to prevent any such deaths from occurring before we can escape." Yoshi vowed, his eyes solemn.

"That's the spirit! Let's give three cheers for our leader!" Akihito teasingly beamed as he pumped a fist in the air, causing Maria's eyes to dart over to him…and she sighed.

"Akihito-kun, return everything you stole. Now." She said, her eyes narrow and annoyed.

"Whoops, sorry everyone! I didn't mean to, honestly!" The track and field star smiled as he returned Fuwari's brooch, Yoshi's pocket watch and Rosamie's glasses of all things.

"There's more." Nima cut in, his voice freezing the hopeful atmosphere they'd enshrouded themselves in.

"What else could there be that you know?" Jordan questioned, looking curious. Next to him, Hibiki still looked dead to the world, though he tilted his head so his exhausted eyes were gazing at the acoustic engineer.

"Too fucking loud…get to the point already, Wise Guy." The dispatcher groaned.

"Aw, poor sleepy Hibiki-chan!" Michi said, moving over to sit beside said dispatcher. "Maybe some water will help you, it always helps me!"

"You can't mean…Nima do you know who brought us here?" Ren's quiet voice silenced the entire room.

"But…but that would mean we knew our kidnappers…" Robin whispered, looking paler then before at the thought.

"Yeah." Nima confirmed, just as quiet.

"S-so that means…for Master Monokuma…this is personal?" Chia's eyes were wide, her hands trembling. "He has…a reason for doing this to us?"

"Yeah…he does." The acoustic engineer nodded.

"But why?" Maria burst out, unable to hold the words back. "The Tragedy is over, so why would he-"

Suddenly, trumpets sounded and the entire group flinched almost violently as the dining hall doors burst open and Monokuma marched in.

"Ahem! By order of King Monokuma, I hereby declare that all spoilers are not to be revealed!" The bear declared as he pointed his scepter at Nima specifically. "And to that end, you, Mr. Hyde, are no longer allowed to speak of any spoilers that our dear author does not want revealed!"

"You little shit…!" Nima snarled before his voice suddenly…vanished. He was mouthing something, but no sound left his lips.

"How intriguing…his speech has been robbed." Rosamie mused, seemingly entirely unaffected.

"Wh-what is this?! Magic?!" Fuwari, on the other hand, cried out before violent coughs left her throat. Maria turned to her, patting her back to try and ease the strain while Sayuri quickly ran to grab glasses of water for both Fuwari and Nima.

"Puhuhuhu! We are in a fairy tale, of course! Thereby, I used my magic to make sure no spoilers to the story's end can be revealed!" Monokuma laughed, a triumphant look on his face.

"You are truly a menace with no regard for the sanctity of life." Chiasa glared at the bear.

"Why, thank you! I do try so hard!" Monokuma smiled. When he turned to Nima, however, he raised one of his paws, the claws on it gleaming in the light as his red eye glowed. "This is your only warning, Mr. Hyde. Try to break my rules again and it's Punishment Time for you and Dr. Jekyll."

"…!" Nima sucked in a breath, gritting his teeth as he glared at Monokuma with open loathing.

"There will be no punishment. Nima will not tell us anything. We shall escape on our own." Yoshi cut in. "I swear on my honor as the leader of this class."

"Oh, Shi-Shi, so extravagant." Satou laughed as she turned towards Monokuma. "I quite like this place you fixed up for us, Monokuma! Where on earth did you find it?"

"You won't be getting any spoilers out of me either, Light Princess! No matter how much you kiss up!" Monokuma shook his head sternly.

"Why! I would never!" The executive producer gasped.

"Of course not, Satou." Ren smiled slightly, before he turned back to them all. "But I agree with Yoshi, as I'm sure the rest of us also do. We will not kill."

"Honestly, it's such a boring game! I don't even see the point!" Arisu huffed.

"I'd rather swim with dolphins, Monokuma-chan." Michi tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Dolphins are much better than teddies, after all."

"For the last time, I am not a teddy bear!" Monokuma huffed before he brightened. "Ah well, it's still early. And your hopes will surely be crushed by the weight of the Palace of Despair! Puhuhuhuhu!"

With those final words, the 'king' turned and left the eighteen of them in silence.

"What if he's right…?" Robin suddenly voiced hesitantly from where he stood slightly apart from the group. "I mean…the Tragedy happened because he was right…m-maybe we should just hide in our rooms until this is over."

"That would be most prudent, but it would cut us off from looking for an escape." Yoshi mused thoughtfully.

"And give Monokuma what he wants." Maria spoke up and all eyes landed on her. "I mean…he took our memories and stopped Nima from talking so that we wouldn't know each other, right? If we isolate ourselves, we still won't know each other. And if we don't know each other, that makes the idea of killing each other easier."

"So you're saying we all need to become friends to avoid the game, eh, Maria?" Akihito grinned as he made his way over to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "See, I knew it wasn't just your cute expressions I was attracted to!"

"You're an idiot is what you are, Akihito-kun." Maria rolled her eyes, but she didn't push him away. In fact, her voice came out almost…fond? It was…weird. Very weird.

"I-I would like that, being friends with everyone, I mean." Chia said, her cheeks flushing pink in embarrassment. "If we're friends, then we won't give in to despair, right? So Master Monokuma can't win."

"Is it…really that simple?" Robin whispered, staring at Chia as if he couldn't believe her. The fire dancer smiled at him and nodded, somehow looking both subservient and firm at the same time.

"Well, if we're going to take this seriously, then I think we should start with some breakfast." Jordan said.

"I agree! As we eat, we can go over the rules as well, so that Monokuma cannot surprise us." Yoshi nodded firmly.

"Nima? Are you okay?" Maria asked, turning towards the acoustic engineer before she made her way to the table. Akihito, Fuwari and Sayuri also glanced over.

"…yes, I'm fine." Nima nodded and the ballet dancer sighed in relief to hear his voice. "Breakfast would be good…strength in numbers to stay safe…"

"Wonderful! Then I will make enough to eat for everyone." Sayuri smiled as she made her way to the kitchen.

"I'll help too!" Maria offered, quickly escaping Akihito's hold and joining the singer, who happily accepted her help.

Between the two of them and the vast supplies of the kitchen, making breakfast was a simple and rather fun affair, allowing Maria to relax for the first time since Nima greeted her in the ballroom that morning.

As soon as they returned to the dining room with breakfast in tow, however, the atmosphere became heavy as the weight of the killing game they found themselves in truly settled in.

"Now then." Yoshi cleared his throat. "To start, I believe we should all look over the rules Monokuma left us with on our MonoPads."

"Uh…Yoshi…?" Chia hesitantly voiced, drawing all eyes to her. "I-it's just…my MonoPad's gone."

"Hey, so's mine!" Michi cried, having turned all his pockets inside out.

"Mine too…" Jordan trailed off, briefly glancing at Nima who now sat beside him before his eyes met Maria's own.

"It appears every MonoPad has vanished, how curious." Rosamie mused with a hand to her chin.

"Not curious, whoever took it, give it the hell back!" Nat roared, fury contorting their expression.

There was only one answer as to who had managed to steal sixteen MonoPads, considering Maria was well aware hers was still locked in her room and Sayuri also looked very concerned as she checked her pockets.

Maria sighed.

"Akihito-kun, return the MonoPads please." She requested.

"Who, me?" Akihito pointed to himself with wide, disbelieving eyes. A second later, however, a wide smile replaced the expression and, sure enough, he held up his hands to reveal all sixteen missing MonoPads. "Heh, my bad! Just couldn't help it!"

"That's the second time this morning!" Satou cried, obviously angry as she snatched a group of tablets and began to sort them snappily. Thankfully, Fuwari and Robin moved to help, their calmer mentalities making sure nothing broke.

"I'm sure Akihito meant no harm." Ren tried to placate the few angry classmates they had. "Don't you agree, Sayuri? Maria?"

"Well, I…suppose it was simply a harmless joke." Sayuri, seeming to agree with Ren, also attempted to smooth things over. "Everyone has their correct MonoPad now, yes?"

"Yes, Sayuri-chan!" Michi beamed as he waved his tablet.

"Careful, that's breakable!" Tori cried out, sounding worried.

"Relax, Braids, I've got it." Hibiki huffed as he forced himself to sit up and snatched the tablet from the marine biologist's grasp. "Now sit down, Jungle Gym."

"A great save by Player Hibiki! Now to learn the rules of the new, dull game we've found ourselves part of!" Arisu narrated as she beamed at Tori, who giggled the littlest bit at the game host's actions.

Remembering that she had left her own tablet in her room, Maria turned towards Sayuri with a sheepish smile.

"Would you mind sharing your MonoPad with me?" She requested.

"Of course!" The singer smiled, scooting closer so they both could easily read over the rules with everyone else.

Rule #1: Students may reside only within the grounds of the Palace of Despair. Leaving is unacceptable.

Rule #2: 'Nighttime' is between 10 pm and 7 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please be aware.

Rule #3: Sleeping anywhere other than the sleeping quarters is not allowed and will be punished.

Rule #4: With minimal restrictions, you are able to explore the Palace of Despair at your leisure.

Rule #5: Violence against King Monokuma is strictly not allowed, as is destruction of security cameras.

Rule #6: Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes the 'blackened' will have the opportunity to leave unless caught.

Rule #7: Once a murder takes place, a court trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.

Rule #8: If the blackened is exposed, they alone will be punished via execution.

Rule #9: If the blackened is not exposed, the remaining students will be punished via execution.

Rule #10: The Body Discovery Announcement will play as soon as three or more people discover a body for the first time.

Rule #11: Additional rules may be added as needed.

"It's very similar to the original killing game." Chiasa commented once they all finished.

"Meaning our mastermind really is modeling themselves after Junko Enoshima." Yoshi nodded in agreement.

"S-so what does that mean for us?" Fuwari stuttered, her eyes darting from the huntress to the jeweler and back again.

"For now, nothing, Nightbird." Hibiki sighed. "Because nobody's fucking dying, capiche?"

"I wouldn't phrase it like that…but I agree." Nima added, his eyes remaining slightly closed and his expression calm. "The mastermind…they want us to kill each other…that's why we were kidnapped…"

"So we do everything we can to avoid that outcome." Maria summed up.

"And you assume that will be enough?" Rosamie cocked her head to the side.

"It has to be." Ren insisted. "None of us are killers, right? So nobody's going to die."

"And…we're supposed to know each other right?" Tori added. "Maybe Monokuma was trying to…keep that from us because with that bond we won't kill?"

"So becoming friends will be our best defense against Master Monokuma!" Chia smiled, turning towards Robin with the full force of her smile. The glaciologist blushed bright red under the onslaught.

"If…if you think so…" He trailed off, smiling slightly back at Chia.

"That's the spirit! Now let's go see just what that bear unlocked for us last night!" Akihito cheered, his hand closing around Maria's wrist and pulling her up from the table. Thankfully, she'd finished her breakfast already, but she still glared up at the track and field star. It was the principle of it all.

"I would appreciate if you would not suddenly swoop me up, Akihito-kun." She deadpanned.

"Life is way too short to spend it so boringly, Maria! C'mon, let's have some fun together!" Akihito declared.

Surprisingly, it was Nima who let out a snort at the track and field star's words.

"Do you know something we don't?" Jordan questioned, raising an eyebrow and leaning closer to the acoustic engineer.

Nima stared at him silently, blinking once in a lazy manner.

"Of course." He stated simply. The drag artist let out a startled laugh at the response.

"Heh, I think we'll get along just fine." Jordan declared. Nima's lips quirked up the slightest bit.

"We'll see…" He said.

"In any case, Akihito is correct." Yoshi declared, drawing attention to himself again. "Monokuma did mention four Talent Rooms would be opening last night. I say that once everyone has finished eating, we should go and investigate these rooms at once."

"Then quit your yakking and let us eat already!" Nat huffed, irritated.

"I agree with Nat-chan, food's important!" Michi nodded firmly in agreement.

"And yet you're still talking, Jungle Gym." Hibiki rolled his eyes, the movement seemingly fond.

"Oops!" The marine biologist cried before he began to eat more quickly.

"Stop, stop, you'll choke yourself!" Ren cried, sounding worried for Michi's wellbeing.

"Michi-chan, you have plenty of time, please slow down!" Sayuri added.

"If necessary, I know how to handle choking." Rosamie offered.

"So do I, but I really don't fucking want to use it, Doc!" The dispatcher snapped, looking ready to grab Michi's arm and stop his shoveling motions himself.

"I-I'll get Michi-chan some water!" Fuwari cried, sounding worried herself.

"C'mon, Fae! He's got people, you need to eat too!" Satou groaned, stopping her indie filmmaking partner and pulling her down to sit.

"Oh my, things are certainly getting lively in this game now, thanks to Player Michi-chan!" Arisu beamed.

"Arisu, I don't think this is something you should comment on." Tori quietly told the game host.

"I…don't think this is normal…" Robin trailed off, his eyes wide in alarm.

"P-Perhaps not…but it's fun, right?" Chia smiled softly.

"It's chaos, is what it is." Chiasa sighed as she ate her own breakfast, keeping to herself.

"But that's what makes it all so much fun!" Akihito laughed as he loosened his grip on Maria's wrist and wrapped his arm around her waist instead. "Wouldn't you agree, Maria?"

And Maria could only overlook them all with something she was pretty sure was fondness for the rather chaotic picture they made unfurling in her heart.

And she was helpless to stop the smile that crossed her lips.

"I suppose…it is fun, yes."

Maybe…maybe they had a chance after all. Just maybe…

And there we are! Surprise! For the record, I have officially introduced every character that has been submitted and accepted for this story. And now the Jekyll and Hyde role for Irusu makes sense!

For the record, please tell me if Monokuma is still in character, along with the OCs. Monokuma is hard to write, so I want to be sure he's mostly the same as canon (since this is not a Junko mastermind, there would be a few differences).

Also, apparently I made a goof last time! So I said in the fic that the Future Foundation Killing Game was known cause I actually never watched all of DR3 the anime, haha. I knew that the Remnants of Despair took credit for it and other details, but not that the public didn't know about it. So...I guess you can go with the public knowing now since it's been five years since the Tragedy ended and several Future Foundation members dying had to be revealed as a Killing Game, with the Remnants claiming they did it, if that makes sense...

Anyways! Taste that hope that Maria feels while you can, cause we all know how this story ends. And for the record, I will be putting in hints throughout the story about the truth, so if you think you have an idea about it, feel free to solve it yourself if you can!

Also, the poll for FTEs will remain open until 11:59 PM EST on Tuesday August 24th, cause we currently have a five way tie and I can only do four FTEs. So go vote if you want your favorites to get an FTE!

And to the OC creators, I ask all of you to send me any Talent Room ideas you have so that when I reveal each one, I can combine your ideas with my own for a blend of the talent and the fairy tale of each character!

I think that's everything now...I hope you all enjoyed! I'll be back whenever I have time with the next chapter! See you!