Disclaimer: Danganronpa: Bloody Rampage is a fan-made spin-off of the Danganronpa franchise created and owned by Spike Chunsoft. I do not own the franchise or any of its canonical characters. However, I think I technically own the fan-made characters in this story.
Ugh...where...where the hell am I? His face felt practically numb as he tried to open his eyes, his vision blurred beyond reality. What happened last night? For some reason I...I-I just can't remember it. I was in the city subway with Kenzo, heading back to the Reserve Course building, but that's where my memory starts to cut to static. So where did I end up? When his eyes finally adjusted themselves, what he saw made his situation much stranger and intimidating then he could've imagined.
He found himself sitting at a desk, covered completely in dust. He looked at the room around him and saw that the classroom he was in was in very bad shape. Several chairs and desks were knocked over, the teacher's desk looked like it had been destroyed by a battle axe, and the floors looked like they hadn't been cleaned in weeks. On top of that, the lights above him were very dim, and where there should've been windows, there were gigantic metal sheets, firmly bolted to the wall, covering the windows. It was sealed efficiently, too, as he couldn't see a ray of sunlight coming out of them.
How did I get here?! This isn't the Reserve Course! This must be some other school, but I don't know why everything here looks so abandoned. I need to find a way out of this place. He had no idea where to go next, and the only exit he could see was an open door near the end of the room. Screw looking around in this room. I doubt there's much here that could help me now. He also noticed that in the top left corner of the room, there was some kind of security camera watching him, too. The red light coming from the camera made him think that someone was watching his every move.
So, you're probably wondering who I am, and how in Atua's name I ended up here in the first place, right? Well, sorry, I haven't the slightest idea where the hell I am, but I'll be more than happy to introduce myself to you. It's not like I'm giving you my whole autobiography or whatever. Anyway, my name is Hiroshi Tanimoto, and I'm not exactly your normal everyday high school student.
You could say that I look pretty good. I have this dark brown hair that's sort of spikey, but not too much, and I have eyes as green as jade crystal. I'm also a little tall, around five foot eleven to be exact. I'm not that muscular, either. I'm certainly strong, but not one of those body-builder types. I mainly wear a large lime green hoodie with a red undershirt, by the way.
You see, I've been working nonstop in the past few months so I could get into the Reserve Course Department. The Reserve Course is the place where the talentless students (well, I don't exactly consider myself to be talentless) go to earn an education there for a huge fee, and maybe even get a slight chance to enter in what is perhaps the best school in the country, none other than the famous Hope's Peak Academy.
That place is the elitist of the elite, where only the best of the Ultimate talented high school students can attend. For example, there's the Ultimate Fashionista, better known as Junko Enoshima, who is one of the most popular models that I know about. I'm pretty sure I've read some website article about her going there. I think I've got a couple of magazines of her from my best friend Kenzo, but he never told me how he got those. Anyways, there's a very small chance that someone from the Reserve Course could get into the Main Course at Hope's Peak, but it's highly unlikely. Besides, if you graduate from that place, you'll practically be set for life.
My family is working hard to help pay the fees to keep me enlisted in the Reserve Course. It's always been a dream of mine to one day attend Hope's Peak, but I know it's probably not going to happen. But enough about that dream for now. What my real question is, how did I even get here?
Was I drugged or kidnapped or something like that? But who would want to kidnap me of all people? I mean, I know I'm a Reserve Course student, but I'm still not that important. Overall, I'm just a high school student. My family isn't too rich, but I don't think it's worth taking ransom or anything. Oh, forget it. I should be focused on finding a way out of this goddamn school.
He exited the abandoned classroom and made his way to the hallways. They were much better than the classroom, with the floors looking surprisingly clean, some of the ceiling lights were fixed, and the walls seemed to be covered in a luxurious plaster type. Why is it so clean in the halls but so messy in the rooms, anyway? I don't recognize anything here. This clearly isn't the Reserve Course. I guess I still have to keep looking. Come on, where's the exit, already?
He walked down the hallway to see if there was anything he could find that could help him escape. Nothing too special so far. Just some more abandoned classrooms and random posters on the walls, but not much else. A short while later, when he came across some kind of trophy case, filled with many awards that the school must've won, he heard a stranger talking from behind him.
"Well, well, found another one."
Who was that?! Startled, Hiroshi quickly turned around to see whoever it was that was speaking to him. The stranger was standing a few feet away from him, and he didn't recognize him. The guy seemed to be around the same age as him, wearing some kind of luxuriously decorated blue robe, with an undershirt slightly covered in silver, along with some kind of ancient necklace in the shape of a demonic-looking eye around his neck. He seemed to have spiky, white-blonde colored hair, deep brown eyes, and some kind of large, strange collar was around his throat. It looked something like an electrical collar, actually. His voice was kind of gentle and soothing at the same time.
"Did I scare you? Yeah, I didn't think you'd expect me to sneak up on you like that. Don't stress it too much, though. I was just walking around here looking for any other students."
So is this guy trapped in the school with me, too? Hiroshi thought about it for a moment before he responded.
"Wait. Did you say 'other students'? As in, there are more people trapped here?"
"Yes, indeed. We're far from the only students trapped in this place, my guy. There's plenty of others, too. In fact, you should probably come with me. They told me I should look around and bring back anyone I happened to find to the cafeteria. That's where you'll meet the others."
Hiroshi was very anxious to know more, with over a million questions running through his mind as he spoke.
"How many other people are even trapped here? I mean, we're just high school students. Who would want to kidnap and put us in an abandoned school of all places?"
The stranger gave him a smug smile before answering.
"Believe me, bro, I know about as much as you do. There's so much crazy stuff going on that I can't even wrap it around my head properly. Oh, that reminds me. What's your name, exactly?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm Hiroshi. Hiroshi Tanimoto. How about you?"
He seemed to be more than welcome to answer Hiroshi.
"I'm glad you asked. The name is Ronin Konami. Please don't make any jokes about the video game company, Konami, you know, because I'm telling you now, I'm sick and tired of those jokes. Anyways, I'm the Ultimate Necromancer."
Wait, he's a necromancer? As in, he can bring the dead back to life? And he's an ultimate student?! But I've never heard of him before. I need to ask what this guy can do.
"Wait, a necromancer? Does that mean you can-"
"It means that I am a master of the spiritual arts. Sure, I can resurrect the dead, but I need a Necromonium to do that. Other than that, I can also summon demons, angels, creatures from the spiritual realm, you name it. But unfortunately I can't do any of that because of this collar."
He pointed to the large, blackish-blue collar on his neck. Hiroshi responded.
"I was wondering about that. What does that thing do, anyway?"
"I don't know, but for some reason, every time I try to start a summoning ritual or use my spiritual powers, I get an incredibly painful electric shock from this collar. I don't think it's cursed or anything, but it somehow is countering my powers. I can't even do a simple barrier protection seal. Every time I try to take it off, the same thing happens, and it hurts like hell. I don't know how it's working, but my guess is that it must have some kind of curse on it, or something like that."
"You can actually bring the dead back to life? That sounds like an amazing talent, actually!"
Ronin's expression quickly turned very somber.
"It's not as 'amazing' as it sounds. Interfering with the powers of life and death itself is a dangerous thing. All sorts of terrible consequences can come from messing with it, which is why I was taught by my master to only use the power to bring back the dead as a last resort. Besides, it comes with a very heavy price, one that I don't want to pay ever again. You don't want to know the cost. Trust me."
Probably best to keep that secret to himself. Whatever kind of spiritual thing he's got going on, I'm staying out of it. No need to get into that issue. Hiroshi responded.
Hiroshi: "So you're an ultimate student? As in, you're a member of Hope's Peak Academy, right?"
Ronin: "Yeah, pretty much. I was supposed to be in the runner-up class for Hope's Peak Academy next year, and so are the other people here, too."
Hold up - the others guys that are trapped - they're all ultimates? Just like this dude? I'm beginning to see a pattern I'm not sure I like. But then why am I here? I'm no ultimate student. Hell, I don't even have an ultimate talent. I'm just someone from the Reserve Course. I can why someone would want to kidnap these guys, but me of all people? Man, I feel so out of place here. This feels so weird.
Hiroshi: "I'm not an ultimate student. I'm a student from the Reserve Course."
Ronin: "Oh, so you don't have a talent then? Well, I won't judge you for it. You people at the Reserve Course aren't exactly treated the best, anyway. Must be hard for you there."
Hiroshi: "Yes, very hard. Especially the end exams."
Ronin: "Ah, I don't want to be rude, but I'm getting bored from just standing here. Come on, let's go already! I'm sure the other Ultimates are waiting around in the cafeteria bistro. I figure it's best that we all get to know each other well before we find a way to get out of this Atua-forsaken place."
Hiroshi: "You don't need to tell me twice. Lead the way, Ronin."
Hiroshi followed Ronin to wherever this bistro was. Along the way, they saw more of the other features of the school they were trapped in, including the main entrance, where the doors at the front were completely barred off by a large safe-like door.
Ronin: "There's no way we're getting out that way. We've tried breaking through that thing for hours and it still wouldn't budge."
Looks like that way is a dead end, then. Let's move on then. After walking around for what felt like fifteen minutes, Ronin and Hiroshi both arrived at the cafeteria bistro, where some of the other Ultimate students were waiting to introduce themselves.