Chapter 1:
The Crow Cries When the Swan Stops Singing

Daily Life

I somehow made it back to my room. I don't really know how or why. My room just feels like the safest place right now. But now I'm just standing there, staring at nothing.

Sleep. I want to go back to sleep.

I ignore the computer on my desk and head straight for bed. The only thing I do is kick off my shoes and take off my sweater vest. At least my bed feels nice and comfy. I wouldn't mind spending all day here.

Though, I'll need to go down eventually to grab lunch. Maybe I can get an apple before anyone sees me.

Pressing head deeper into the pillow, I eventually fall asleep.

…

…

"Wakey, wakey…"

"Hm…mom…leave me alone…"

"Tsk, tsk, spending the day cooped up in your room. How irresponsible. And lazy. While it's such a beautiful day outside! You could be hanging out with friends, work on your talent, setting up a murder plan…"

"Shut up…you know I don't have friends…"

Wait, what was that last thing?

I open my eyes…to see Monokuma's terrifying grin staring right at me.

"AHHHHH!"

I ungracefully stumble out of bed, getting tangled up in the sheets and backing away as far as possible. "What the fuck are you doing in my room!?"

He looks down as if he'd been scolded. "How rude, and I was acting as your personal alarm clock. You should be more graceful for that. Not everyone gets to be woken up by such a cute mascot character!"

Still shaking, I desperately try to find anything to defend myself with. "Don't you fucking dare go and kill me, you bastard!"

"Hey, hey! I'm the school's headmaster, not a participant! I can't harm or kill you unless you break a school rule. Isn't that listed in the school rules?"

"Last time I checked, no."

"Upupu, looks like I forgot. But don't worry, as long as you don't bring me any harm, I won't bring you any harm either. How does that sound?"

"…" I can't seem to find a response to that. Instead, I change the subject. "Why are you even here?"

"No real reason. I just thought it would be nice to inform you that the cafeteria is closed off at night-time, so if you want to eat, you shouldn't wait too long."

I look at the clock. I slept so much, it's almost evening. As I slowly get up from the floor, I realize Monokuma is gone. At the very least, I'm not tired. I am once again hungry though, so I put on my shoes and vest and walk outside.

No one's sitting at the table this time, so I'm betting both Isamu and Shinri are in their dorms. Shinri must still be paranoid. In the courtyard, I see Hanako eating a banana on the grass with Homura next to her. I pass them on my way, but none of us make an effort to try and talk with each other. I don't blame them.

The cafeteria is empty, safe for Noriko and Ainosuke. Noriko is busy cleaning the place while Ainosuke is writing.

"Yurika! Are you here to eat something? Don't mind me, I'm just making sure we don't dirty this place up too much."

I simply nod at her (fake) cheerful tone. She is obviously trying to lift the mood, but she isn't doing a good job at it. I go into the kitchen and make a few sandwiches. When I come back, Ainosuke has stopped his writing.

"I haven't seen you since I left the gym. Have you been in your room the entire time?" He asks.

"Why do you care?" I grumble at him. I'm not in the mood for small talk.

He simple shrugs. "Just wondering. It's not very healthy to spend all of your time in your room. You should go out and befriend the people here. Who knows, it may turn into something wonderful…" His voice turns creepy, but I doubt he's realizing it.

I eat my sandwiches without a single word.

Eventually, he gets up from his chair and exits the cafeteria. Noriko stays, despite having given up at cleaning. She stands in the middle of the cafeteria, looking lost. She sighs and sits next to me. "I've never cleaned that much before…"

"Why are you even cleaning then?"

"Because…" She pauses, unsure of how to phrase her words. "I just can't stand around and do nothing."

Despite everything, I smirk. "It's the complete opposite for me. I can't stand doing anything, so I do nothing."

She looks at me with concern and I wish I haven't said anything. "Forget it."

"Why? Why do you not want to do anything?" She asks me with legitimate curiosity. It takes me a while to come up with a good answer. "I…don't like conversating with other people that much. It's just something…"

I don't finish my sentence and look away. "Look, it's nothing. I'm perfectly fine spending my days in my room. Besides, we're in a killing game. What's socializing going to do?"

Noriko is silent for a moment before lightly smiling. "I don't know what could have happened in your life to make you think you're better off alone and it is not my business either. However, if you refuse to try to open up to people, you will forever live in fear of them. And…living without human contact greatly incapacitates you. So, I think you should at least make an effort to socialize. Besides, if we live all paranoid and fearful of each other, I doubt we would last one day. Maybe becoming friends is the key to getting out here."

I can't help but scoff a little. "Effort? Friends? This isn't some cheesy manga or Disney movie." I get up to leave.

"But, even so, why not at least try? I mean, this is your chance at a new start. And I think you should take it. Find something to talk about, do little things, try and get to know each other. This may well be your chance…your last, maybe." She calls out to me.

What does she know about chances? She doesn't know anything about me. She wouldn't be talking about socializing if she knew what I've been through.

However, there is a little voice gnawing at me, telling me she is right. These people are strangers. They don't know me, or anything related to me. Just like I don't know them.

I silently walk out of the cafeteria, not responding to her voice. But what if I'm wrong? What if someone I spend time with ends up dying? What if they start hating me? Isn't it just better to spend my days in my room, working on my computer or sleeping?

When I'm outside, the sun has start to set. It probably won't be long before the night time announcement will ring. I want to go back to the dormitory when I spot a strange building near it. It has a picture of one of the bears, Kumachrome, I believe, with the words 'Kumachrome Shop' in neon.

Despite it having the image of one of the despair teddies, I can't contain my curiosity and head for the building. I open the door and I'm immediately greeted with rows upon rows of things, ranging from pretty teacups to fake guns.

"The term 'Monocoin' sounds much better! Who would want to have something called a 'Chromecoin'!?"

"Fuck off, you already have the Monomachine, you're the headmaster of the Killing Game, and you're the main mascot! I have the right to name my shit too!"

"Your shit!? Your shit is the fucking Kumachrome shop! You have your own goddamn shop and I have my goddamn money."

"Again, you're the one with the machine. Besides, the coins can only be used in my shop, meaning I should have control over it too!"

"And do you know who hides these coins!? Me, that's right!"

What the fuck is going on here?

Monokuma finally notices me and turns around, immediately heading over to me like a child throwing a temper tantrum. "Yurika! Right on time! Chrome here is saying we should rename the Monocoins to Chromecoins, but that's nonsense!"

Kumachrome stands up from his place behind the counter. "Feel free to ignore him. He's just pissed to learn that not everything is about him."

"But I'm the school's headmaster! You're just a puny sidekick who will never be loved, so who cares about your opinion?"

"What are those actually?" I try to keep my phrasing cool, to avoid setting them off. Kumachrome immediately jumps at the chance.

"As a reward for exploring the school and living life, Monokuma has hidden coins all over the school. With these coins you can buy items from my shop. You can choose to put them in the Monomachine, which will spew a random item per coin. Or, if you save them up, you can buy a particular one from me. In any case, while not necessary, they might make life easier or some shit. I don't care what you do, but if those coins are gonna be used in my shop, I think they should be called Chromecoins.

"Bull-"

"Please tell me you guys realized you can call them Kumacoins too, right?" I sigh with exasperation. They're too silent for my liking.

"I'm okay with that."

"Sure. Whelp, here's a little reward for helping us out. Upupu, see ya!" Monokuma hands me a few coins and disappears out of the doorway. I turn to look at Kumachrome.

"What? Don't just stand there, do something with it."

How are these two keeping us captive again?

"I seriously have no idea what to get." I truthfully tell him. He clicks annoyed with his tongue and points at a black and white machine in the corner of the shop. "Then try your luck with the Monomachine. Who knows, it might give you something special."

Left without a care in the world, I slide one of the coins into the slot and turn the handle. A capsule rolls out of it. I open the capsule and find…

"An empty notebook? What am I supposed to do with this? How did it even fit in here?"

Kumachrome cocks his head, seemingly interested, but then leans back again. "How should I know? Make it a diary or give it away to someone. Who knows, might be a good conversation starter…"

A conversation starter, huh?

BING BONG BING BONG

Before I can ask what that was, the monitor switches on. Monokuma appears on screen, holding a glass with some sort of alcohol in it. "Ahem, this is an official announcement from the facility's headmaster. The time is now 10.00 pm, which means it's now night time. The kitchen and Kumachrome shop are now off-limits. Sweet dreams everyone!"

The monitor switches off again and I look at Kumachrome. He just stares back at me. "You heard him. Now get out of my shop."

Without any kind of protest, I move out of the shop. I have better things to do with my time than to annoy the bear. Like sleeping. The trip to my dorm is fairy quiet. I meet Noriko, Masato and Tomoe on my way. Noriko shoots me a look and I shrug. I'll decide tomorrow what I'll do.

I make my way to my room, throw off my vest and shoes, lock the door and jump right in bed.

"Hey."

…

"What's your name?"

…

"Really? I like it! My name is so generic."

…

"Ahaha, did I forget to introduce myself?"

…

"Well, my name is…"

BING BONG BING BONG

"Rise and shine everyone! Right now, the time is exactly 7 a.m! It's another beautiful day, so let's give it all we got!"

…Hm? Oh, that must be the morning announcement. Guess I better get up and eat something.

I can't believe three days have already passed. My cloths do, however. I don't find anything in my room but an extra pair of grey sweatpants and an extra white tank top, so I don't have much choice in the matter. There is a pretty red dress, but I don't feel like wearing it.

Oh, of course. We were probably meant to get new uniforms yesterday, but Monokuma's hijacking must have put a stop to that plan.

Washing my cloths is an annoying chore I want nothing to do with, but if I don't want to be walking around in sweaty cloths, I have to do it. Unless I can rope someone into doing it, but right now, I doubt anyone will.

I change into fresh underwear and cloths, wrap my sweater vest around my waist and head out. It's colder without my warm vest, so I pay no attention to who is also walking out the dorms and head straight for the main building.

Inside, I find Hanako making breakfast for all of us. When she sees me walking in, she waves enthusiastically at me.

"Hi Yurika! Good morning! Please help yourself. I know it's not that extraordinary, but it's the best I can make."

I sit down and take a bite out of the rice. To my surprise, it's great. "Wow, I didn't know you can cook."

Hanako just laughs it away. "Ah, it's more something I learnt from my cousin. It's nothing special, but hopefully it won't bait Rea into insulting me."

"Then she's got poor taste." I casually remark, but I can't prevent grinning. "Then again, we already know that. If only she were poor too."

She doesn't respond, and I continue eating. Noriko comes out of the kitchen, holding a pot of soup. "Ah, Hanako, where should I put this?"

"Ah, oh, uh, just for there."

"Are you okay?"

"Huh? O-of course! I just…never made that much."

I don't pay much attention to their conversation, and neither do I to the fact that more and more people are walking in. They sit at table and begin chattering away. It's funny. Despite our situation, the cafeteria looks like any high school cafeteria, complete with stereotypes. It almost feels…normal.

"LET ME GO, YOU PSYCHO!"

I look up to see Tomoe once again dragging someone with him, but this time it's not Yoru, who instead pauses his one-sided conversation with Mizuki to look at the unfolding scene. Homura stops lightly tugging at Ainosuke's dyed streak and even Rea is silent.

Tomoe almost throws Shinri onto the ground but stops and instead puts him down lightly on the chair, holding onto his shoulders so he can't slip away.

"Tomoe, Shinri, what are you-" Noriko begins, but Shinri glares at her. "This stupid Tarzan-rip-off just barged into my room and forcefully dragged me here after I refused to go to the cafeteria!"

"I'm not letting this asshole starve. Because who will be burying the body then? That's right, me. So, you're getting breakfast, whether you like it or not."

"I was planning to do just that, except later! When you potential murderers aren't around me!" Shinri yells. "Because let's face it, if any of you guys are tempted to murder, I'd be first on the goddamn list! Along with starboy, I am the weakest among everyone! It's only a matter of time before someone kills me, so leave me alone so that I can live as long as possible!"

Tears of pure fear stream down his face as he curls up in his seat. Tomoe lifts his hands a bit, still hovering over his shoulders to grab him should he make a run for it.

"T-there is now way that's going to happen, right?" Yoru trembles. Shinri's words must have been a slap in his face. I can't blame him. Shinri's freak-out reminds us of the situation we're in.

"Are you guys still convinced puppies and kittens and being ignorant is going to save you?" Rea casually asks us. "Or are you going to wait until someone starts playing the game?"

My blood begins to boil. "I haven't seen you make any attempts at 'playing' though." I snap at her.

She grins amused at me and sips her tea. "That would end the game far too soon. I want to enjoy it as long as possible."

Shinri's cries seem to have only gotten louder and Noriko seems torn between soothing him and scolding her. Before she can decide on what to do, someone else does.

"Alright, that's enough." Homura stomps over to Rea and grabs her by a braid. "If you're not going to contribute to the group in any way, you can fucking leave."

She pulls her from her seat and drags her out of the cafeteria. Rea lightly struggles, but it looks like she's not putting any real effort into it. Once the two of them are out of sight, Kikoi walks over to Shinri.

"Hey, you're scared because you have no way to protect yourself, right?"

He looks up, still shaking. "Of course. W-what…"

Her voice is firm. "Then let me protect you."

It takes a moment for him to realize what she said. "Huh?"

"Like I said, I will protect you. And everyone else. I know not everyone can protect themselves, so let me do it."

She looks over at everyone else, smiling confidently. "I will promise to do my best and protect you, so we can all leave this cursed facility."

"But what if you end up killing me!?" Shinri yells, his voice breaking. Kikoi's eyes widens and she tries to stammer out a response. She probably didn't think of that…

"Then I'll make sure that doesn't happen." Tomoe suddenly says. He turns his head away from everyone else when they stare at him. "No one's stupid enough to try and do shit with me around, so I'll make sure nobody kills each other."

"Uh, sure, I'll help too. What's the worst that could happen?" Yuyami shrugs.

"I'll help too! I know I'll probably not be much of a help, but I want to be useful anyways." Masato speaks up. Noriko walks over to Shinri and rubs his arm.

"If we do our best and watch out for each other, I'm sure no one'll get hurt. So, don't worry, okay?"

He swallows and meekly nods. Yoru beams up and runs to hug Noriko. "Thank you! I'll work hard and do my best too! I'm sure we can all work it out together."

Ekorin, who has been quiet until now, laughs. "Aha! How amazing! Everyone is being so diplomatic!"

"Such strength even while facing despair. I hope this lasts for some time." Ainosuke remarks.

"Yeah, I mean, not everyone's a total stud like me, but hey, gotta give points for teamwork! Nothing beats teamwork! Tomoe and I can totally take down anyone who tries anything dangerous." Yuyami cheers. Masato frowns.

"Kikoi can take down someone too, you know. Don't leave her out."

He only chuckles in response. "Oh, come on. Stunt chick's a total badass, I get it. But I doubt she'd be able to throw down someone's ass when things get serious."

What happens next is almost too fast for eyes. Kikoi, with a darkened look on her face, runs up to him and grabs him by his arm. She steps, she swings, and suddenly, Yuyami is in the air. He falls down onto the table with a loud CRASH, almost breaking the table in two.

"You were saying?" She asks him when he groans in pain. "Aw, fuck…"

"To be fair, you were asking for it." Mizuki calmly states. "Though we should keep violence to a minimum. You might just end up accidentally hurting someone badly."

Kikoi sheepishly scratches her arms and it almost seems like she's shrinking. "Sorry…"

"Mizuki is right." Noriko says. "Unnecessary violence is intolerable. It will only escalate things."

Ekorin nods. "I am in complete agreement. Violence is so barbaric. We are not in a wrestling tournament. Everyone should strife more to be a gentleman or lady."

"Let's keep personal views out of this." I say before anyone can frown upon her words.

"Are you okay?" Toshiya asks Yuyami as he helps him up. "Yeah, just…didn't expect that."

"Ignoring what just happened…what now?" I ask. "Are we just going off to do our own thing?"

Going by the way Noriko places her chin in her hand, I bet she probably didn't think of that. Swearing to protect someone is nice in theory, but how are we going to pull that off? I doubt Shinri's going to be happy with someone watching over him the whole time.

She looks back at me again and grins. I'm not sure if I like where this is going…

"Alright, then let's make sure we don't end up potentially vulnerable by hanging out with each other. It will increase our relationships and we will always have someone with us."

Isamu shakes his head. "Then I'll retreat to my dorm. Then I know I will be safe without needing to hang out with any of you. Besides, what if one person turns out to be a killer? Then you've just set up a murderer with a victim."

"Not necessarily." Toshiya objects. "Monokuma specifically stated that a murder should be carried out in secret, in other words, without letting someone else catch you. It's hard to set up such a murder plan if someone else is constantly watching you. Not to mention, this place isn't really that big. Many area's have been sealed and will probably be opened much later. This shortens our array of hang-out spots, thus you'll be more likely to run into other people. In short, carrying out a murder plan is hard, especially considering how we're all just teenagers."

Tomoe snorts. "Yeah, the only one here smart and psychopathic enough to kill someone is Rea, and she just stated she isn't planning on it."

Mizuki crosses her arms. "That's assuming she isn't just lying."

Shinri audibly swallows. "And I bet Monokuma probably has a plan or two to make sure we start killing each other. Most likely with some sort of motive…"

Murmurs fill the air. I just look at the ground. That's a lot of information to work through. Honestly, a part of me just wants to get up and leave and spend the rest of the day secured by blankets, protecting myself from the dooming thoughts of dying. Although…

"Find something to talk about, do little things, try and get to know each other. This may well be your chance…your last, maybe."

Noriko's words are really striking a cord. One that I've buried away for so long. In this new world…with new people…am I really going to be so afraid of taking a second chance?

"Does it really matter what Monokuma does?" I mutter to myself. Apparently, I'm louder than I intended, because the group becomes silent.

"W-what do you mean?" Ekorin asks. I shrug and look away. "Well, so far, Monokuma hasn't tried anything serious. Sure, he is keeping us captive and he threatens to kill us if we don't obey the rules, but the rules don't actually state we have to kill someone. The option is just presented to us, we don't need to do anything with it."

Masato frowns. "I don't think I follow. I'm fairly sure this is pretty serious."

"Well, let's be honest, being captive is why we are here in the first place. This isn't much different from before, except that breaking a rule is punished much harder. Aside from that, we have no classes and we are free to do what we want. Sounds to me like an improvement."

"Being held here for the rest of our lives is an improvement!?" Hanako asks me perplexed. I roll my eyes.

"Oh, come on, authorities are going to notice sooner or later. Those stupid teddy bears just want to seduce us into committing homicide, which will only increase our sentences. Or did any of you have a plan beyond just escaping?"

The group remains silent. A few people are shaking their heads and I throw up my arms in response. "Whoops, there you have it. Getting out of here, killing or not, will only land us into more trouble, so all we need to do is just ignore these fuckers and wait until authority comes to save us. Problem solved."

Kikoi rubs her arm. "I…doubt it's going to be this easy. These robots have drones with machine guns. They have the ability to take us hostage, if they won't just try to gun down whoever come too close. That explains why those drones aren't flying around now." She quietly says, but since the rest of the group is silent too, her voice carries over anyways.

"Besides," Ainosuke points out "like Shinri said, if we don't kill, I'm sure Monokuma is going to be using other means to achieve his goal, whatever it may be. I doubt that after all the trouble of taking over the facility, he is just going to let us do whatever we want."

"However, Yurika has a point. So far, we have only been talking about surviving and escaping, but not about what we're going to do after that. We're all convicted criminals, whether we like it or not. We can't count on support or any help from outside. Fleeing to another country will be near impossible and there is no way we can hide. In other words, this place may be our best bet, murderous teddy bears or not." Mizuki says, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

Yuyami, having fully picked himself up, starts whining. "But we're ultimates! We aren't just some ordinary people, we are talented! I'm sure if we work together, we can totally flee this place."

Despite the fact he is still shaking, Shinri speaks up. "Yeah, but we're still teenagers. Emotional, hormonal and unstable teenagers. We lack the experience of the outside world. Even with our talents, surviving on our own will be hard. Plenty of shows with groups that need to survive on their own fall apart because of fights and disagreements. We will need to work together at all times. One argument could endanger everyone. Besides, the police will soon enough be on our tails and we will be caught before we know it."

"We came to this place to learn how to operate in society. That means we definitely don't have the knowledge to live on our own, how handy our talents may be. So, all in all, we gain nothing from escaping this place, if we do it by killing the bears or…" Toshiya trails off, but he pretty much summarized my entire standpoint.

I throw my arms into my neck. "Like I said, Monokuma doesn't matter. We're not getting out of here, so we might just as well start getting used to it. And if everyone knows this, chances are slim someone's going to kill. If we can't survive in a group, no one's sure as hell going to survive on their own."

Silence rings once again through the group. The painful reality that we will never see our family and friends again is stinging. Eventually, Mizuki gets up. "I'm going to inform Homura about all this. Hopefully she hasn't killed Rea yet."

There are a few nods and murmurs, but no one objects when the silver-haired girl leaves the cafeteria. The silence is eventually broken by Hanako, who groans and grabs her head.

"All of this is confusing me…let's just promise to keep an eye out for everyone and to stick around with other people. That sounds easy enough for me."

"Weren't you the one saying you wanted to prove you are smart?" Despite the words, there is no malicious tone in Tomoe's voice. Hanako whoever, doesn't catch that.

"Huh? You want to say that to my face, punk!?" She growls at him.

Noriko intervenes. "Your idea is good, Hanako. Let's not fight and focus on creating good bounds with each other."

I don't miss the look she directs at me.

"Sounds good to me! I love slacking off and doing stuff with friends, so feel free to hang out with me." Yuyami laughs. Hmm, despite his idiocy, he may not be so bad.

Ainosuke chuckles. "An excellent idea! Let us forget about our situation and instead spend time with each other. Beauty comes from socialization after all!"

Everyone ignores his comment. Aside from that though, most seem to be okay with it. Even Isamu shrugs, not fully approving but not dismissing it either. "If someone dies, I'm going back to my room."

Ekorin clasps her hands together. "Then let's hope you don't have to!"

Noriko goes to stand on the table and points to the sky with a determined grin on our face. "Then, let's bound and work together to a bright future!"

And with these words, she dismisses everyone. I immediately head back to my room.

Alright, now I have two options. I can either ignore Noriko's advice and spend the day on my computer, or I can go and talk to someone. Hmm, what should I do…?

Next time: Free time events with Isamu and Ainosuke