"But it looks like it's had a number of strange… Renovations done to it." Said Kirigiri.
"Renovations…?" I asked.
"I don't know all the details yet." She continued. "All I found was details about the 1st floor."
"But then…" Began Chihiro. "This really is Hope's Peak. We didn't get kidnapped and taken to some other place…"
"So stupid it's not even possible." Grunted Mondo. "This is where the country's future elite are supposed to come an learn?"
"But if this really is Hope's Peak, where are all the other students?" Asked Asahina.
"Hey, come on, guys…" Said Kure. "Let's just stop talking about all this… You know, negative stuff…"
"But aren't you worried?" I asked him. "Things don't look good…"
"Worried?" He asked in confusion. "What's there to be worried about? I mean, this was all planed out, right? The people in charge of Hope's Peak put this all together, right? Man, if I got stressed every time something like this happened, I'd have ectoplasm shooting out of my mouth! Good things come to those who wait, right? So we just gotta chill and everything'll work itself out!"
"Hahaha!" Celeste laughed.
"Wh-Why are you laughing?" Asked Fukawa. "What's so funny!?"
"I am just happy, that is all." She said. "It seems splitting up was a good idea, after all."
"Haven't you b-been listening?!" She angrily exclaimed. "Looking around was a t-total waste of t-time! We d-didn't find a way out, didn't f-find who's behind this. We still have no idea what's going on!"
"Huh?" Celeste cocked her head in confusion. "Is it not clear to you what is going on? It is perfectly obvious that we have been imprisoned in some secret location, with no way out."
None of us had any response to that. We didn't want to accept that reality, but it was staring us right in the face.
"You didn't h-have to go and s-say that." Said Fukawa. "I w-was trying not to th-think about it… N-No way out… We're t-trapped here. What are we supposed to d-do…?"
"It's very simple." Stated Togami. "If you want to leave, you just have to kill-"
"Don't even joke about that!" Exclaimed Junko.
"Everyone just calm down, please!" Said Maizono. "We need to stop and think about what to do from here."
"There's gotta be SOMETHING we can do…" Muttered Leon.
"All we can do is adapt." Celeste said out of nowhere. "Adapt to living out lives here from now on."
"Live here…?" Gasped Chihiro. "Are you saying we should just accept it?"
"A lack of adaptability… Is a lack of survivability." Celeste began. "Survival is not based on who is the strongest or the smartest. It comes down to who can adapt. As someone who has come out on top more than once, I have a suggestion."
"Huh?" Asked Mondo in annoyance. "What do you mean?"
"We all understand that we are trapped here. Which means we will be spending the night." Celeste continued. "However, you all remember the rule regarding nighttime, right?"
"Nighttime" is from 10 PM to 7 AM. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution. Sleeping anywhere than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.
"So regarding this "nighttime", I think we need to add a rule of our own." Said Celeste.
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
"Going out at nighttime should be prohibited altogether." She explained. "The school regulations do not actually tell us not to go out at night. I would like to make it official."
"B-But why…?" Asked Fukawa.
"The way things are now, every time night comes we will all start to get worried and anxious. We will all be afraid someone might try and come kill us."
"What!?" Exclaimed Maizono.
"If we have to worry about that night after night for who knows how long, it will wear us down in no time." She explained. I didn't know how she was so calm throughout all of this.
Sakura then spoke up. "So you're suggesting we limit our activity at night as a kind of preventative measure."
"However…" Continued Celeste. "Unlike the other rules, nobody can be forced to comply. We all have to agree to follow it."
"I see what you mean." Said Junko. "But… I think I can agree to that. It's like the little goth lolita said. Without something like that, we're just gonna self-destruct."
"On behalf of all the men here, I agree to comply!" Proclaimed Ishimaru.
"Hey, you can't just decide to speak for us!" Exclaimed Leon.
"So everyone is in agreement? Good." Said Celeste after chuckling. "Then if you will excuse me…"
"Huh? Wait, where are you going?" Asked Chihiro.
"It is almost nighttime." Celeste stated. "I want to take a shower before it arrives. So… Goodbye."
Moving with pure elegance, Celeste left the dining hall. Her behavior seemed so natural, I couldn't imagine anyone trying to stop her.
"S-So I guess it's pretty obvious where we go from here." Yamada said nervously. "We'll be spending the night, it looks like."
"Adaptability…" Murmured Sakura.
Junko turned her attention to Ishimaru. "So, Mr. Chairman… What next? One person already left."
"U-Umm…" Stammered Ishimaru. "Well then, what say we call an end today's meeting!? Like she said, it's almost nighttime anyway. We can reconvene first thing tomorrow morning!"
"Do we really have to stay the night here…?" Worried Chihiro.
"We don't have a choice." Junko shrugged. "We can't go for long without getting some sleep."
"So we just have to give up…" Sighed Mondo.
"That's all f-fine and goof for t-today, but what do we d-do tomorrow?" Asked Fukawa.
"Our only option is to split up and look around again, and let everyone know if we find anything." Said Sakura.
"Yeah, okay." Agreed Asahina. "Let's do that…!"
"Then we're done for today?" Yawned Junko. "Good, I'm exhausted."
With heavy movements, everyone headed off to their privet rooms.
Maizono came up to me. "Naegi… Are you ready to call it a day?"
"Yeah, let's go." I said as I walked out of the dining hall with her.
When I got back to my dorm, I looked around. Is this really where I'll be staying for the foreseeable future? Oh, that's right. I should check the bathroom one more time before I go to bed. Only the girl's bathrooms should have locks on them, right?
I tried the bathroom door handle again. "It's no use." I sighed to myself. "It really is locked."
"Bzzt! Wrong! Not locked!"
I turned around in shock and found Monokuma standing behind me.
"Holy crap!" I yelled.
"Jeez, talk about an overreaction." He said. "It's like you just seen a ghost or somethin'! Like… Some kind of… Robot bear… Ghost."
"Wh-What are you doing here?!" I stammered. Still shook up.
"Naegi Makoto, this is super duper majorly bad! So bad it's almost magical!" He began. "Ultra magical awful awful attack! In point of fact, I acknowledge that the bathroom in your room has a problem with the doorframe!"
"Wait, so the reason it won't open isn't because it's locked?" I asked. "The door just… Doesn't fit?"
"Didn't you see the notice?" He asked in annoyance. "What, can't you read? The bathrooms in the boys' rooms don't have locks! I mean, a lock on a boy's bathroom is kinda pointless, don't you think? Well, it's that it's pointless, I guess. But I'm no expert on the birds and the bees and all that. Anyway, there's a little trick to opening this particular ill-fitting door. And that's what I'm here to teach you! Okay, ready? So you just gotta turn the doorknob, then lift up while you pull! Go ahead, give it a try!"
"Turn the knob, and lift the door up while I pull…" I repeated as I did just that. When I did that, the door opened without a problem.
"Upupu…" Laughed Monokuma. "See? It opened right up! Isn't that crazy, though? Your door's the only one that doesn't fit quite right! You're supposed to be the Ultimate Lucky Student, right? But it looks like you're not so lucky at all! Anyway, I suddenly don't feel like being here anymore. Bye!"
And with that, Monokuma lunged behind the bed and disappeared.
Ding dong, bing bong,
After that familiar noise, the monitor in my room suddenly turned on and displayed Monokuma in a room filled with monitors.
"Ahem." He cleaned his throat. "This is a school announcement. It is now 10 PM. As suck, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and all entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then… Sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite…"
At with that, the monitor turned off. Looks like it's nighttime. We all promised we wouldn't leave our rooms now.
"All I can do now is try to get some sleep…" I said to myself before collapsing onto the bed.
As I made myself more comfortable, I couldn't help but remember what Monokuma said to me.
"You're supposed to be the Ultimate Lucky Student, right? But it looks like you're not so lucky at all!"
What did he mean by "Ultimate Lucky Student"? Did he know my secret talent? What did that mean? Did I just have a lot of luck, or was it something… More?
My eyes closed almost immediately. It's not that I was ready for bed, exactly, I was just utterly exhausted. It was as if I'd spent an entire day staring at a TV watching movies. Or like some kind of illusion where I'd been tossed into a made-up fantastical world.
"There's no easy way to accept the situation we've suddenly been dropped into." I said to myself as I dozed off.
So this is how the curtain closed on my first day at Hope's Peak Academy. Soon enough, I was asleep. Would it be too much to hope that when I woke up, I'd realize it was all a dream? It's kind of lame as far as endings go, but I'd be fine with that. Actually, that'd be the best…
Sadly, it wasn't a dream, it was reality.
I was not prepared for the events that were to follow…