The laptop looked pretty old, and it was still covered in dust. I reached for the power button, but Kirigiri's voice stopped me.
"It's broken." She said. "I tried the power button earlier, but nothing happened."
Well, that's too bad. I was hoping I could use it to go online and see what's going on in the outside world. If it's broken, there's nothing a can really do about it. But I couldn't shake the feeling that it would play a major role.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something on nearby bookshelf. It was an envelope with a red seal and something written on it.
"Hope's Peak Academy…?" I read aloud. Kirigiri walked over to me.
"It was buried under a thick layer of dust. It must have been sitting there for quite a while." She pointed out. "Well, shall we see what's inside?"
"But…" I began. "We shouldn't read other people's mail without their permission."
"What we shouldn't do is leave this here without finding out what's inside." She said sternly.
"O-Okay…" I said. Clearly intimidated by her tone. I broke the seal on the dusty envelope, and pulled out the single sheet of paper I found inside. After unfolding it, I read what was written there…
"From the Hope's Peak Academy Executive Office: Throughout the years, we have been committed to shaping the youth who will one day shape the world. We have a long, proud history as an institution higher learning with full governmental support. Our graduates enter society ready to take on active leadership riles in every major job field. However, Hope's Peak Academy must now lower the curtain on its glorious history, for the time being. The decision was not an easy one to make, but serious issues beyond our control have made it necessary. But make no mistake; this is not the end for Hope's Peak Academy. We intend to reopen our doors as soon as the issues forcing out closure have been resolved. That being said, this is the end for now, and I would like to personally and sincerely thank everyone for your help and support over the years. For now, we are awaiting official governmental authorization to formally cease operations…"
I looked back up at Kirigiri. "What does this mean…?" I asked.
"Hmm… The contents of this letter are quite interesting indeed." Said Togami.
"It would seem Hope's Peak had stopped functioning as a school." Assumed Kirigiri. "And judging by the amount of dust the letter had collected, it doesn't seem to have happened recently. If I had to guess, I'd say this letter could be at least a year old."
"So, you're saying Hope's Peak closed down at least a year ago?" I asked.
"Most likely." Said Togami. "The mastermind took over the abandoned school in order to put on this little performance."
"B-But that would mean it was closed when I got here just a few days ago…" I worried. "But I didn't get that sense at all. Plus, if the school had shut down, don't you think it would've been in all the newspapers and stuff? I mean, you're saying it could've happened over a year ago, right? But before I got here, I looked stuff up online about the school, and never saw anything about this."
"That must have all been part of the mastermind's plan." Togami stated. "They lured us all in here… Someone who could create a place to judge and execute people could potentially be capable of anything."
He then smirked. "Of course, that's all assuming that this letter is real."
"If it is real, though, that does solve one mystery surrounding the school…" Said Kirigiri. "The reason there are no other students here could be because the school had already closed down."
"That would be a nice, simple solution, it's true." Agreed Togami.
"But then… What about this other part?" I said. Looking back at the letter. "The decision was not an easy one to make, but serious issues beyond our control have made it necessary. But make no mistake; this is not the end for Hope's Peak Academy. We intend to reopen our doors as soon as the issues forcing out closure have been resolved. What did they mean by "Serious issues"? That's apparently why the school had to close… Is there any connection between that and what's happening to us right now…?"
"If the two events are in fact connected, uncovering that connection would be a useful clue, on top of figuring out the mastermind's motive…" Assumed Kirigiri. "Although I can't really say any more until we find more details."
"So, in other words, only the mastermind knows the truth right now." Said Togami.
The mastermind's motive… if we can figure out why they would want to imprison us all here, will that be enough to get us out of here?
Anyway, now I have a pretty good idea what's on the 2nd floor, but I didn't see anything that might lead to any kind of exit or anything… All I can do now is hope someone else found something worthwhile…
I'd better head back to the dining hall as soon as possible!
A/N: Again, sorry for the short chapter, but I hoped you enjoyed nonetheless!