CHAPTER 1: Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum
DAILY LIFE
An awkward, tense silence fills the gymnasium.
The silence lingers for some time.
Until—finally—Akiko breaks it.
"Okay, guys!" she announces, putting her hands on her hips. "It's decided! No one is going to kill anyone!"
Everyone looks at her.
"Uh… how is that decided?" asks Tsubasa.
"Because I decided it!" Akiko answers cheerfully. "Just now!"
"And how do you plan to enforce this decision?" asks Naomi.
"I don't need to enforce it," says Akiko. "It's already been decided!"
"What the heck are you talking about?" asks Yuna.
"Sorry, guys" Akiko says, winking, "but the decision has already been made! You'll just have to go along with it!" She closes her eyes. "I'm tired of sailing away in my happy little sailboat." She opens her eyes, and speaks loudly. "From now on, this whole school is my happy big sailboat! And I've decided that we're all gonna sail away together!"
Some people laugh.
"Hey, c'mon!" Akiko says, pouting. "This is serious! I thought really hard about this decision!"
I find myself smiling. Others are smiling, too. The mood has lightened up considerably.
"You know," says Tsubasa, "I can sorta get behind that attitude."
"Hmm," Momoka drawls. "If it's already been decided. I guess it can't be helped, then."
"Our prospects certainly look bleak," says Emi. "However, we do possess one major advantage over previous participants. For we remember that previous participants exist."
"That's true," Naomi says, looking contemplative. "Monokuma tried to use that knowledge against us. But it puts us in a very different position—and that means we might be able to succeed where others failed."
"More knowledge is always a plus," says Jun.
"On top of that," says Shingo, "this appears to be the work of an entirely new Mastermind—and they may not be as competent as their predecessors."
"Listen," says Ryu. "I've been thinkin' about that little speech you gave, Hiroto. And you know what? You're right. If we want to get out of this, we gotta work inside the rules and outside the rules.
"Inside the rules, our main goal is to keep everyone alive. Make sure Monokuma doesn't get antsy and start killing us. Make sure none of us kill each other. If no one does anything stupid, we can keep all sixteen of us safe and healthy for as long as it takes to get out of here.
"Outside the rules—well, we gotta get out of here. That means turning over every stone. Every pebble. Searching every nook and cranny. Every crack in the wall. We might be in this for the long haul—so we gotta stay patient. But we can't get lazy. If there's a way out of this hellhole, we will find it. Just so long as we keep our eyes peeled."
"Shall we begin the investigation, then?" asks Emi.
"The sooner, the better," says Jun.
"Alright!" says Tsubasa, giving a thumbs-up. "I'm gonna speedrun it! Time to set a 100% school investigation world record!"
I've been sitting in the bleachers for a while now, resting my face in my hands. Hiroto is sitting next to me, for some reason—in a more dignified, less slouchy pose.
Everyone else walked out a while ago, off to investigate the school. I guess they left the gym to Hiroto and me. But we've just been sitting here in silence.
A couple times, I see the door open, and Kenji's face peeks in. But when he sees me, he gets this panicked look in his eye, and immediately shuts the door. Kenji seems keen on avoiding me, as usual. I wonder what the deal with that is.
Otherwise, it's just me and Hiroto, alone in the gym.
"Shouldn't we be investigating?" I point out, breaking the long silence.
"Probably, yeah," Hiroto says, smiling awkwardly. "But… you seemed upset. So, I figured we could both use a little break, after going through all that."
I sigh.
"I think everyone's a little shaken up," Hiroto says reassuringly. "More than a little, really."
"I was shaken up," I reply. "But what really scares me is… that I got better." I pause, thinking. "I've always wondered how the killing games went on for so long. How they just became such an accepted part of society. But… aren't I part of the problem? I get so obsessed with Danganronpa—with all those people, and everything they did in those horrible killing games. Me and the whole Danganronpa fandom—sometimes we'll even make up our own killing games, just for fun, and create all these original characters just so we can make them kill each other. Isn't that messed up, though? Isn't that the same attitude that made the killing games continue for years and years?"
"What?" says Hiroto. "No, it's completely different. You're talking about stories—stories about people overcoming harsh challenges, and finding hope in the face of despair. Some of them really happened, and some of them didn't—but either way, it's the stories you enjoy. That doesn't mean you want things like that to happen. That's—that's like saying that someone who loves murder mysteries must secretly be rooting for murder. No one actually thinks like that."
"You're using all the same arguments I've always used," I say, half-smiling. "But…" My smile disappears. "Maybe you were nitpicking the rules for noble reasons… but I'm not so sure I was. I… was starting to think of it like a game. Like an actual game, that you can win or lose. I… wonder if playing those video games… desensitized me to situations like this. I mean… people must have been really desensitized, to let the killing games keep going for so long. And—the way I felt—maybe that's… what it was like back then."
"It sounds to me like you found a good coping mechanism," says Hiroto. "It's horrible to think we're really in this situation. And if you treat it like a game… it's almost like we aren't." He smiles at me, scratching the back of his head. "I think you encouraged a lot of other people to think that way, too. In the end, even Tsubasa, Akiko, and Momoka were blurting out these absurd questions about Monokuma's absurd rules. Honestly, I wish more people had done that. It felt like we were mocking this whole dreary situation—like we were refusing to take it seriously, by treating it like the moronic game it is. And you started that. I don't know what your intentions were, or what was going through your head—but without you, I think the mood around here would be a lot bleaker."
I smile back. "The defense is making a persuasive case," I tease.
Suddenly, he takes my hand in his. I feel my heart speed up a bit.
"I was saving this truth bullet for last," he says. "Koi, if you were even considering killing anyone, the last thing you ever would have done is tell me about it."
My smile widens—partly because of his words, but mostly because I like the way his hand feels around mine.
"I'm not worried that you'll do anything," Hiroto continues. "But I am worried about this attitude. The way you think of yourself is going to influence the way you think of others. And the more confused you are about that… the harder it'll be to get close to you." His gaze intensifies. "So, to clear up any confusion, I want you to decide right now. Are you going to kill someone, or not? I want you to make a firm, final decision. And whatever you do, don't tell me what it is. This is your own, personal choice."
I look into his eyes.
"Okay," I say. "I've decided."
"Good." He smiles. "I'll hold you to that choice."
"How do you know what I chose?"
"I'm psychic."
We look at each other.
"Just kidding," he says.
"You just have really good intuition?" I suggest.
"No, my intuition is terrible, actually," he replies.
We laugh.
"C'mon," says Hiroto. "Let's investigate."
We poke around, but the gym doesn't seem to hold any secrets. Soon enough, we head out—through the door, and into the trophy room.
There, we see Kenji gazing at trophies. He looks up at us—and his eyes widen a bit.
"Hi, Kenji," I say, smiling.
"Oh, uh—hi," he says, not smiling. "I was just—investigating the trophy room, but—I'm done with that now, so, uh… I guess I'll leave."
"Wait…" I start. But he's already out the door.
Hiroto chuckles.
"I don't get it," I say, my smile fading. "He's a linguist, but he'll barely say a word to me. And whenever he sees me, he gets all upset and runs away as fast as he can." I look at Hiroto. "Do you think I offended him somehow? Like… he didn't act that way with you, right?"
"Oh, no," says Hiroto. "He was very amicable when we talked." Hiroto scratches the back of his head and smiles slightly. His voice lowers. "To be honest," he says, "I'm pretty sure Kenji is just shy around girls."
"Ohhhhh, is that what it is?" I say, the pieces coming together in my head. "Wow, haha. I really thought there was something wrong with me." I'm laughing, feeling tremendous relief. "Haha, that's kind of cute, actually. Aw, poor Kenji."
"Well… it's just my theory, anyway."
Now I'm in much better spirits as we investigate the trophy room.
"It's so bizarre," I say. "These are the exact same trophies, in the exact same position they were in during Danganronpa 1. And not just the trophies—the room layout is the same, even though Hope's Peak should have changed a lot since then."
"Not to mention the cameras and screens," Hiroto says.
"Right," I reply, looking at the large monitor above the door, and the clunky camera hanging from the ceiling. "There's a camera and monitor in every room—but they're all so old-fashioned looking. Plus, didn't the later Danganronpas use tiny micro-cameras?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if the cameras are just for show."
"Right—it almost feels like they were put there out of nostalgia. I wonder if we're even really in Hope's Peak, and not some kind of recreation."
We leave the trophy room, and go into the hallway. From here, our next move is obvious.
"We should check on Takeru and Jeff," says Hiroto.
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," I reply.
So we round the corner, walk past the bathrooms, and reach a door with hearts painted on. We go through the door, into a hospital-like room.
There are three beds near the left wall. On the bed farthest from the door, a brown-haired boy is leaning up. He's shirtless, and has white bandages wrapped all around his abdomen. On the bed next to him, there's a… mess of blue hair, and a yellow sweatshirt too large for the girl wearing it. She's lying flat on her back.
"Hi, guys!" says Jeff.
"Hey, Jeff," I reply. "Hi, Momoka."
"Mhm," mutters Momoka.
"Where's Takeru?" asks Hiroto.
"He left with Shingo a while back," says Jeff. "He said something about his wound being 'typical for a warrior of my caliber.' He didn't seem very upset about it."
"I'd imagine not," says Hiroto. "At least now, when kids ask him if he's a real ninja, he'll have an actual battle scar to show off."
"How's your wound?" I ask.
"Pretty bad!" Jeff replies cheerfully. "It still hurts a lot. But Yuna gave me some medicine, so I'm starting to feel better."
"Hmm," Momoka drawls. "Yuna and Ryu are coming back. They're at the school shop, to see if there's anything useful…"
"Momoka was nice enough to keep me company in the meantime!"
"Mhm," Momoka confirms. "I was trying to take a nap. But I couldn't sleep. Plus, I felt bad for Jeff…"
"I don't know how anyone can sleep after… what just happened," I say quietly.
"Did Monokuma… visit?" asks Hiroto.
"He did," says Jeff, still smiling. "He gave me and Takeru those e-Handbook things, and told us the rules." He laughs. "What a jerk, right?"
A jerk? Is that all?
"These captors are really something else," Jeff continues. "They actually think they can start another killing game! Is that stupid, or what!"
"Well…" I reply. "…Unfortunately, it looks like they have started another killing game…"
"They wish. This is nothing but a half-butted imitation!"
Does he mean half-assed?
"Society has changed too much since then," Jeff continues. "There's no way anyone would go along with this in today's time. Once the police save us, these captors are going to feel like total idiots!"
We talk a bit more. Eventually, Hiroto and I decide to go check on Ryu and Yuna.
"Well, you have to admire his optimism," Hiroto tells me after we leave the nurse's office.
"So… what's Momoka's deal, anyway?" I ask quietly. "Like… she always seems like she has only one foot in reality, and just barely."
"Well, I haven't talked to her much," says Hiroto, "but a couple of the girls have heard of her, because of her perfume-making talent. From what I can gather… once you manage to smell that good, you're pretty much set for life. It becomes easy to just drift through each day without caring all that much about anything. Which seems to be the path she went down."
We round a corner, and walk just a bit farther. The school shop is pretty close.
We go through the door, and find… a whole bunch of stuff everywhere. The store is very cluttered. But it's mostly just decorations and antiques.
There's also a large vending machine near the wall. And two people in front of it.
"Fuck yeah!" says Ryu. He chugs down his bottled drink.
"Heck yeah!" says Yuna. The tiny girl sips her bottled drink.
"Um…" I mutter.
"…What are you two so excited about?" asks Hiroto.
"My friends," Ryu says, smiling at us, "feast your eyes on this shit."
He throws us each a plastic bottle. I catch it, and read the label.
"It's… seltzer water," I remark plainly.
"Eff yeah!" cheers Yuna.
"Can you fuckin' believe it?" says Ryu. "It's like soda, but it's water!"
"And unlike soda, it won't make you get fat and die!" cheers Yuna.
"Where the fuck's this shit been my entire life? All this time, I've been killin' myself with sugary crap."
"We need to go tell everyone! It's a matter of life or death!"
"This girl right here," Ryu says, rustling Yuna's violet hair. "This girl's got exactly the fuckin' attitude we need."
"I sure flipping do!" Yuna says, smiling widely. "You're gosh-darned right about that!"
"Like I said earlier—keeping everyone alive is our number one goal. The healthier our bodies, the better. This girl's just become one of our most important assets."
"Hey—we're wasting too much time!" Yuna says, her smile waning. "Jeff could be dying of dehydration at this very moment!"
"She's got a point," says Ryu. "I'll catch up with you two later. We got business to take care of."
They leave the shop, carrying a large quantity of seltzer water with them.
"He's not what I'd expect from a yakuza," I remark.
"Ryu's a good guy, deep down," says Hiroto. "He didn't choose the family he was born into." He puts down his seltzer bottle, and crosses his arms. "He sought me out for his uncle's case," Hiroto continues. "That one wasn't pro bono—obviously. They offered me a lot of money. Normally, I'd turn something like that down. Getting mixed up with the yakuza—it can make things complicated. But I noticed a lot of irregularities from the start. And no one else was taking the case—plus, I thought my family could use the money, so—"
"Okay, okay!" I interrupt, because he's starting to sound defensive. "You don't have to justify this to me! I never doubted your intentions!"
Hiroto smiles. "Sorry," he says. "It's just… I got a lot of hate mail for that one. The most I've ever gotten. Now I'm the guy who got a high-profile yakuza out of prison." He leans against the counter. "There was a time when the yakuza were feared and revered by everyone," he says. "A time when the police would look the other way. But that's long past. There've been major crackdowns in the last few decades. Now everyone uses the yakuza as a scapegoat. The police will plant evidence, even when they don't need to—and prosecutors will overcharge like crazy. I'm no yakuza fan… but that kind of thing really irks me."
We exit the shop, leaving our seltzer bottles on the counter.
"Where next?" asks Hiroto.
"Well," I reply, "the Entrance Hall is across from here, but… um…"
"Yeah, I think we've seen enough of that room for one day."
So we turn left, and keep going down the hall.
"Oh, the A/V room should be around here," I point out. "Maybe we'll find something useful in there."
I turn right, and find the door where I expect it to be. But there's a plaque on the door—which I don't expect. I read the plaque:
ULTIMATE HACKER'S OFFICE
"Wait… what?" I say. "What the heck? This is supposed to be the A/V room. What the heck is an 'Ultimate Hacker's Office'?"
"It's our newest feature!" says Monokuma.
"Gah!" Hiroto and I both cry, startled.
"Ta-da!" says the black-and-white bear. "For this killing game, I'm introducing a brand new feature never seen before in Danganronpa! I call them… Ultimate Offices!"
We stare at him.
"'Monokuma, whatever might an Ultimate Office be?'—you ask, bursting at the seams with anticipation and curiosity."
"Sure," I reply.
"We're asking that," says Hiroto.
"Why, I'm glad you asked!" says Monokuma. "Your Ultimate Office is furnished to suit your own specific talent. It also contains the supplies you need to practice your talent at your leisure. It's a totally unique, original feature!"
"You say it's unique and original," I reply, "but it sounds a lot like the Ultimate Research Labs in Danganronpa V3."
"What? No way! This isn't at all like the Ultimate Research Labs! It's totally and completely different!"
"How is it different?" asks Hiroto.
"Well," says Monokuma, "the Ultimate Research Labs were called 'research labs,' while the Ultimate Offices are called 'offices.' So—as you can see—they're entirely different concepts! There aren't any similarities at all!"
"Oh," I reply.
"You'd be surprised how many legal arguments go like this," Hiroto mutters.
"Okay, fine," Monokuma says, downcast. "They're basically the same thing as Ultimate Research Labs." He raises his arms. "But who cares? The research labs were a popular feature! The fans loved them! A good revival is all about bringing back the classics!" Suddenly, he's downcast again. "Only… it's kind of sad, though. I've already set up sixteen Ultimate Offices throughout the school—but there are only a small number on each floor. Since new floors only open up after a class trial, a lot of you will never live to see your own Ultimate Office. All that hard work, gone to waste!"
"So… which offices are on this floor?" I ask.
"Hey, now—I'm not going to ruin your exploration!" says Monokuma. "But, just so you know, there are three Ultimate Offices on this floor. Oh, and the offices are locked at night—but you can unlock your own office with your e-Handbook." He puts his white hand behind his head. "Which reminds me—your e-Handbook is also the key to your dorm room. So make sure not to lose it!"
He lifts up a floor tile, and disappears under it.
"I hate how he can just pop up at any time," I say, shivering a bit.
"Best not to think about it," Hiroto agrees.
We open the Ultimate Hacker's Office door, and walk inside.
"It's like a LAN party," I marvel.
There's a big, long table that's covered in computers and laptops. Jun is sitting at a laptop, facing away from us, munching on potato chips. Tsubasa is sitting in front of a computer monitor, facing us. The computers and laptops seem to all be hooked up to each other.
"Yo!" Tsubasa calls out, waving to us. "Check it!"
We walk over to him. I see an 8-bit game on his screen.
"They've got a whole library of classic games in here," he tell me.
"Seriously?" I squeal, excited.
"Hell yeah!" says Tsubasa. "So much for boredom, right? No matter how long they trap us in this dump!"
We talk about games for a while. I feel like Tsubasa and I get each other; there aren't really any walls between us.
Eventually, I walk around, exploring the office. There's a big shelf full of servers that covers the back wall. The other walls are lined with shelves that hold computer supplies—mice, keyboards, cords, and all sorts of other things; I'm not great with computers, so I don't recognize all of them. There's also a bookshelf with a row of advanced programming textbooks; the other rows have thumb drives, CDs, and even some old-fashioned floppy disks. The room's slightly bigger than I expected the A/V room to be, like they've expanded it a bit.
I walk over to Jun, who's typing complex lines of code on his laptop. Unlike Tsubasa, I don't really get Jun at all.
"So… you're the Ultimate Hacker, huh?" I say, trying to make conversation. "That sounds exciting."
"Heh," says Jun. "Not always. For the most part, I'm a white hat. Companies pay me to find holes in their cybersecurity."
For the most part. So, not everything he does is strictly legal.
"Well, I'm a big fan of Chihiro Fujisaki," I say. "Though… I guess he was the Ultimate Programmer, not the Ultimate Hacker."
Jun taps his head. "Hacking is as much psychology as technology," he says. "It's a game of wits between you and the security software engineer."
"That sounds really useful for the situation we're in right now."
"I'm hoping," says Jun. "Unfortunately, Monokuma isn't keen on making this easy. Far as I can tell, the network in this room doesn't connect to anything interesting. If I could find some Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signals, it'd be a different story—but that's also looking like a no-go." He eats a potato chip. "What I'd really like is for some way to hijack those cameras. That would be very interesting." He eats another. "Well. I got my work cut out for me, anyway."
"What about the e-Handbooks?" asks Hiroto. "Do you think you can hack those?"
"Monokuma visited me personally to tell me it's impossible. Said it's not even worth trying." Jun grins. "Sounds like a challenge."
Soon enough, we've exited the Ultimate Hacker's Office. We walk down the hall, turn left, and keep walking a bit.
I stop, turn left, and tap the wall.
"Huh," I say. "This is where the door to classroom 1-B should be. But there's nothing here." I walk farther, turn left, and tap the wall again. "And here's where the door to classroom 1-A should be." I backtrack. "Instead, there's just this one door in between."
"Looks like it's another Ultimate Office," says Hiroto.
I read the plaque on the door:
ULTIMATE ACCOUNTANT'S OFFICE
We open the door, and walk inside.
The room is bigger than even two classrooms put together. Again, I think they've pushed back the walls a bit to fill up unused space.
The first thing I notice: filing cabinets. Filing cabinets everywhere, all along the walls.
I also notice a desk, with a computer and a large printer. Shingo is sitting behind it.
And there's a reading corner. Some bookshelves are lined up, full of thick books with complicated-looking titles. Near those bookshelves, Takeru is sitting in an armchair. There are white bandages wrapped around his left arm.
"Takeru!" I call out, glad to see that he's safe.
"How's the wound?" asks Hiroto.
"You refer to the mark of my latest battle?" says Takeru, smiling. "Ha! Such injuries are trivial to an experienced shinobi."
"Yuna says it'll heal up in a few days," says Shingo. "It'll leave a nasty scar, though."
"A permanent reminder of my defeat," Takeru says, looking wistful. "Yet defeat and victory are more alike than civilians know."
I explore the room. There are shelves full of office supplies—binders, paper, writing utensils, and so on. I also see a shelf with several brands of graphing calculators. Another shelf holds several types of reading glasses. And, below that… magnifying glasses? I pick one up. "What are these for?"
"Fine text," Shingo answers.
"Oh, yeah—that's pretty important," says Hiroto. "I had this one client who…"
Hiroto and Shingo end up getting into a detailed discussion about things I can't really wrap my head around. I feel kind of inferior, sometimes, around these Ultimates who are already deep into their careers. Meanwhile, I'm out there… organizing fan conventions.
As they're talking, I walk over to Takeru. "So," I ask him, "how did you and Shingo meet?"
Takeru takes a few seconds to respond.
"Our paths crossed," he answers, "at the village where lost shinobi gather."
The room is quiet now. Hiroto and Shingo are looking at us.
"He's talking about the orphanage," says Shingo.
My heart sinks.
"When I was eleven," Shingo continues, "my parents died in a car crash. I had no family left but my little brother—who, at the time, was barely old enough to walk."
"That's horrible," I half-whisper. "I'm so sorry."
"It is horrible," Shingo agrees. "But seeing as we're all trapped in a killing game, I'll hold out on seeking anyone's sympathy."
"The village elders quickly realized Shingo's talent," says Takeru.
"I was always telling them how to run the place," says Shingo. "And—to their annoyance—I was always right. It didn't take long to notice that I was set to become the Ultimate Accountant. But that meant studying nonstop. And I had a baby brother to take care of. Luckily, I found out about Takeru in an advertisement—and the rest is history."
"The path of a shinobi, and the path of a scribe," Takeru says wistfully. "Our fates intertwine in unexpected ways."
"He's almost like a third sibling at this point," says Shingo. "My brother's a bit older, now, than the kids Takeru usually deals with—but Takeru's still there when I need him."
A bit later, Hiroto and I are leaving. As Hiroto opens the door, however, I turn around and face Takeru. "I just realized who you remind me of," I tell him. "Wakashi-sensei, from Laruto."
"Laruto?" says Takeru. "You are familiar with those great documents of shinobi lore?"
"Um… yeah," I say, even though Laruto is a manga. "It's one of my favorite… documents."
Takeru smiles at me. "We shall get along well, I believe."
On that note, we exit the Ultimate Accountant's Office.
We keep walking down the hall. Finally, after a narrow tunnel, we walk through a gate—passing the threshold that separates the school from the dormitories.
Now we're in the wide-open main hall. The lighting is much better here; everything looks sleek and white. To our right is the cafeteria. We head over there, and poke around a bit—but we don't find anything interesting.
So we leave the cafeteria, and head across the hall.
"Oh, it looks like the bathhouse is open!" I say excitedly. "That's such a relief—no matter how horrible things are, at least I can still take a nice, relaxing…" My smile fades as I approach the door. "Wait… what's this?"
I read the plaque on the door:
ULTIMATE MORAL COMPASS'S OFFICE
"Are you kidding me?" I growl. "What the heck! There's supposed to be a bathhouse and sauna here!"
"That bathhouse was a hotbed of degeneracy," says Monokuma.
"Gah!" Hiroto and I cry, startled.
"All sorts of nasty things kept happening in there," Monokuma continues. "Boys and girls having clandestine meetings. Boys and boys having clandestine meetings. Steamy sauna rivalries that turn into something more. Not to mention all the peeking!"
"You encouraged the boys to peek!" I retort.
"Yeah—and they listened to me! Whose fault is that?"
"I can't believe this," I say, holding in my anger. "You seriously got rid of the bathhouse?"
"Sure did!" says Monokuma. "Sorry—but if you wanna see nude boys in steamy situations, you'll have to get a little creative!"
With that, Monokuma retreats into the floor.
"Well… should we check out Mizuki's office?" Hiroto asks nervously.
I sigh. "Fine," I reply, dejected. "Let's do it."
We open the door, and walk inside.
"Help! Help!"
The first thing I notice—because how can I not notice it?—is that there's a jail cell in the corner of the room. With, like… rusty metal bars, and dark-gray concrete floors and walls. It looks totally miserable.
Standing next to it is a short, brown-haired girl with pigtails, who's avoiding eye contact. Next to her is a red-haired girl with a somewhat intense gaze.
And inside the jail cell, an albino girl with a sailor's hat is shaking the bars and yelling.
"Help!" Akiko shouts. "Please, help me! Mizuki's gone mad with power! She's locked me in her sex dungeon! She's going to do all sorts of horribly perverted things to me!"
"Please don't take this seriously," Naomi tells us, sighing.
"This is serious!" shouts Akiko. "Mizuki is going to steal my maidenhood! She's going to ravish me for hours and hours without rest!"
"…No I'm not…" Mizuki mutters.
"You're not?" says Akiko. "Aw, that's too bad. Maybe someday, though!" She opens the gate, and exits the cell. "Haha, I was just kidding—it was unlocked the whole time!"
"Well, so much for preventing degeneracy," Hiroto whispers, smiling.
"Excuse me," I say, "am I seriously the only one who's completely creeped out by this? Why is there a freaking jail cell in here?"
"It's not that big a stretch," says Naomi. "The duty of a Public Morals Committee member is to enforce the rules. Enforcing the rules requires discipline."
"Discipline? Does no one else see how weird this is? It's not even a normal jail cell! It looks straight-up medieval!" I walk closer, and look inside. "Oh my gosh—are those chains? Are those shackles? There are chains and shackles on the wall! What kind of torture chamber is this?"
"Well," Mizuki mutters, "if it helps enforce the rules, then… it might be a good thing…"
Might be a good thing? I can't believe what I'm hearing from this short, timid, soft-spoken girl. Have I completely misjudged her?
"Enough about that, though!" says Akiko. "You guys still haven't seen this room's best feature!"
She shows us the best feature.
"Wow," I say.
"Huh," says Hiroto.
"I… did not expect that."
There are a bunch of television screens by the wall—some are stacked on top of others. On each screen, there's a different image of the first-floor hallways.
"It seems to be a direct feed from the cameras," says Naomi. "Unfortunately, we don't have access to the tapes—so we can't rewind, or watch earlier footage."
"Pretty cool, though—right?" says Akiko.
"But… why?" I ask.
"I guess it makes sense, actually," says Hiroto. "Mizuki is basically the Ultimate Hall Monitor. And now, from her office, she can literally monitor the halls."
"Huh. When you put it that way…"
There's a big desk on the other side of the room, and a chair behind it. Several bookshelves surround the desk—this room has a lot more books than the other offices. Many of them are books about the philosophy of morals and duty. Some are psychology books about creating well-behaved children—and adults. Some are just collections of school regulations around the country.
Around the room, I see a few objects on display. Whistles. Sirens. Megaphones. Strobe lights. Basically, rule-enforcement tools.
By the time we leave the Ultimate Moral Compass's Office, I'm feeling goosebumps.
"I'm sorry," I say, "but that whole room just… creeped me out."
"Well," says Hiroto, "in any case, I'm glad Mizuki is making friends."
"Yeah—good point. She seems like the kind of person who'd fade into the background if other people weren't there to pull her out of it."
We explore the laundry room a bit, but there's nothing interesting in there. So we cross the main hall—and then go all the way down a side hall, toward the storage room.
We open the storage room door, and walk inside.
"Oh, my," says Emi. "It seems I have visitors."
The storage room is huge, and filled with piles and piles of junk. Between two rows of junk, a kimono-clad girl is walking toward us, wearing her usual eerie smile.
"Hi, Emi," says Hiroto.
"Did you find anything?" I ask.
Emi sighs. "Sadly, I did not," she answers. "I was hoping to find spare origami paper—yet I remain empty-handed. I brought plenty of my own, of course—however, I find myself burdened by the prospect that I might run out."
"Oh," I say. "You can't just do origami with regular paper?"
"Ohohoho!" Emi laughs. "What a delightful joke! You perform such an amusing impression of a total ignoramus!"
I really don't know anything at all about origami…
"You two may look around all you like," Emi says, walking past us; "though, I doubt you will find much of value. There seems to be naught but common school supplies in this room." She's almost out the door—but then she turns around, and smiles at Hiroto. "By the way, Hiroto. When we get out of this place… my family's offer still stands."
She leaves.
"What was that about?" I ask.
"Ah, well," Hiroto says, scratching the back of his head, "long story short, the Togami family is having an internal dispute, and Emi's side is trying to drag me into it."
"Does this have to do with why she called Byakuya her 'bastard dead cousin'?"
"Yeah, that sounds right. Byakuya was Emi's second cousin twice removed, I think. After the Despair Wars, he had to rebuild the Togami conglomerate from scratch—and he did it by bringing in all his relatives who'd been cast out of the family. But, pretty quickly, all those different branches started developing their own identities and diverging from the main branch. Byakuya had to keep them all in line—sometimes with brutal or underhanded methods. He believed the ends justified the means. Emi's family disagreed—and they ended up being the only holdout that the main branch couldn't keep in line. They've held a grudge ever since. Now the two branches are in this big legal battle over who owns what. At this point, the main branch has given up on uniting them—they're just out to destroy Emi's branch completely. And since they're so much bigger and more powerful, they might just win."
"And Emi wants you to prevent that," I add.
"Right. They keep sweetening their offer. It's tempting, but…" He sighs. "That sort of thing would eat up all of my time, year after year. I'd have to give up on criminal defense entirely."
"There's nothing wrong with sticking to your specialty."
"True. A lot less profitable, though."
We're silent for a moment.
"So…" I begin. "Um… what got you interested in criminal defense?"
Hiroto crosses his arms, and leans against a metal shelf.
"I guess it was my dog, Pochi," he says.
I wait for him to elaborate.
"Whenever Pochi misbehaved," says Hiroto, "my parents would lock him in his crate as a punishment. I was just a kid, back then. The idea of being stuffed in a tiny cage against my will, with no way out—it was the most terrifying thing I could imagine. I had nightmares where giant aliens would force me into a cramped little cage—I'd try and try and try, but there was no escape—and I kept asking what I did wrong, but I couldn't understand the aliens' language.
"One day, I couldn't take it anymore—I opened Pochi's crate, and let him run free. By the time my parents found out, it was too late—putting him back in would just confuse him.
"I got punished for that. My parents made me stay in my room. But, even so—I felt freer than ever before. And I never had those nightmares again.
"Obviously, I couldn't keep doing that. Instead, I worked within the rules, and became Pochi's advocate. If they accused him of peeing on the rug, I'd demand evidence that it wasn't spilt juice. If they locked him up for an hour, I'd list the cases when they locked him up for fifteen minutes over equivalent offenses. I never got sent to my room—I wasn't disobeying my parents. I was just demanding that they stick to their own rules." He pauses. "I'll admit, it's kind of a lame backstory. Sorry if you were expecting something deeper."
"No," I say, turning away so that he doesn't see that I'm holding back tears. "That was an incredible story. I actually liked it a lot." I don't have it in me to speak my thought out loud.
Right now, we're all dogs in a crate.
After backtracking through the side hall, we're back in the main hall. To our right, there's another hallway—and doors lined up on both walls. Our dorm rooms.
"Oh, look!" I say, pointing to the first door on the right. Hiroto's name is on it, below a pixelated 8-bit representation of him. "Your door is right here, closest to the main hall. Right where Kyoko Kirigiri's room was!"
"I need to stop being surprised that you know these things," Hiroto mutters, smiling.
Across the hall, Emi's is the first room on the left. My room is next to Emi's.
"Whose room did this used to be?" asks Hiroto.
"Um… Mondo Owada's…"
We go down the hall, checking each door. My room is second on the left; Yuna's is across from it. Akiko's room is third on the left; Rin's is across. Mizuki's is fourth; Naomi's is across. Shingo's is fifth; Jeff's is across.
Finally, there's Momoka's room—the sixth on the right. Around the corner, there's Tsubasa's room on the back wall. From here, the hallway turns left.
Moving down the next hall, there are four rooms on the right: Tsubasa's, Ryu's, Takeru's, and then Kenji's, in that order. There's also—to my surprise—a room on the left, across from Takeru's. "Wait—this wasn't here before," I say, pointing at Jun's room. "Oh—I get it. There were only fifteen students back then—they had to make room for one more."
I try to memorize the room order. For some reason, I feel like it might be important later.
"Should we look at our rooms?" asks Hiroto.
"Let's check the trash room first," I suggest. "It's the only place we haven't seen yet."
So we round another corner. The trash room is a brief stroll down the hall, to our right.
We open the door, and enter.
I expect the gate to be closed—but it's open. Deep in the spacious room, between a large dumpster and an incinerator, a tanned gyaru girl notices us.
"Oh, hi Rin!" I say excitedly, running over to her. "Did you open the gate?"
Rin rolls her eyes. "It's, like… so lame," she says. "Like, Monokuma just popped out of nowhere? And he said that he would, like, reward me for coming here first? So he, like, gave me the key, and told me I had trash duty. What a fucking drag."
"His evil knows no bounds," Hiroto mutters, repressing a smile.
"Also, he, like, disabled the incinerator? Like, permanently?"
"Wait—really?" I say, looking at the machine. I walk over to it, and press the green button. Nothing happens. "Wow—he really did, huh?"
"Um, yeah. I asked him why, and like. He went on this weird rant. I didn't like, catch all of it? But he said something about 'that sicko in the kimono,' and that he 'can't believe she just blurted it out.'"
"A sicko in a kimono? That's Emi, for sure."
"Come to think of it," says Hiroto, "Emi was the first one to mention the possibility of incinerating a body."
"Yeah," say Rin, "and, like. I thought she was, like, a total fucking weirdo when she said that? But, like. Maybe this is what she was going for?"
We think about this.
"Emi must have known about the incinerator," I say. "It was used in the first case of the first killing game. She knew that someone might use it to destroy evidence—including a murder victim's body. But… Monokuma probably wanted a killer to figure that out on their own."
"By stating the idea in front of everyone," Hiroto says, touching his chin, "Emi made it almost inevitable that a killer would try it, if they could access the incinerator. From Monokuma's perspective, she sort of ruined the game."
"Yeah. I have to admit—I was also creeped out when she said that. But… maybe she was trying to protect us from an unsolvable murder."
Again, we think.
"In other words," says Hiroto, "Emi is the first one, out of all of us, who's actually managed to outsmart Monokuma. She might be one of the most valuable people on our side."
"She still fucking skeeves me out, though," says Rin.
We leave the trash room—and Rin joins us, shutting the gate behind her.
"So, like… you guys doing anything?" says Rin. "Because I'm, like, totally bored."
"There's actually some stuff I want to figure out about the dorm rooms," I reply. "Hiroto, is it okay if we use your room?"
So we keep going—down the hall, and then left, down another hall—until we're back in the main hall. Then, with another left turn, we've gone all the way around—and we're at Hiroto's door again. I notice a device in the wall next to it.
"I guess that's the scanner," I say. "Monokuma said that our e-Handbooks are the key."
So Hiroto scans his e-Handbook—and opens the door.
"Wait," I say. "Close it again."
He closes it. I test the handle. "Okay. So, it automatically locks when you close it."
After conducting a few more tests, we determine that—after the e-Handbook is scanned—the door will automatically lock again if it isn't opened within ten seconds.
We go inside, and conduct a few more tests. The door automatically unlocks when it's opened from the inside. However, there's no way to unlock the door if it's closed.
"I want to try something," I say. "Are either of you willing to go out there and, um… scream a little?"
"Um…" says Hiroto.
"Like, whatever," says Rin.
So Rin goes outside, and screams at various decibel levels. Then we switch places—we're outside the door, and she screams from inside. Finally, we gather back in the room.
"Okay," I say. "That's weird. In the first killing game, Monokuma told everyone that these dorm rooms are soundproof. But I guess that's changed since then."
"Well, it's kind of soundproof," says Hiroto. "Like… maybe 80% soundproof."
"There's one more thing I want to see," I say.
I go in the bathroom, and check.
"So, that's interesting," I say. "This time, the boys' bathrooms can be locked." I think. "Though, maybe it's just because this is supposed to have been Kyoko's room. We'd have to check my bathroom to be sure."
So we travel to my room, and I check the bathroom door.
"Yeah, this can be locked too," I say. "Even though it was a boy's room before. I guess they all have locks now."
"I was, like, so invested in that question," Rin quips, rolling her eyes.
I lie down on my bed.
"Is this another test?" asks Hiroto.
"Sure," I reply. "The comfiness test. So far, this bed passes."
Suddenly, I feel all of my exhaustion coming home at once. It's been a long, long day.
"I wonder what happens if I close my eyes," I mutter. "Better test it…"
Author's Note: student profiles are here! I'm going to include them at the end of each update for a while. Feel free to look at them, or skip them if you want.
You can still vote for students to spend Free Time Events with in a review—but I've also included an easier method. Use this poll, and choose 1 or 2 characters:
strawpoll "dot" com "slash" cdpyshbga
Just replace "dot" and "slash" with... a dot and a slash, respectively. Characters are listed in alphabetical order.
Thanks for reading this far. I think this section is where the characters really started coming to life. IMO, it only gets better from here.
Coming up next: a leader is chosen! Who will it be?
STUDENT E-HANDBOOK: REPORT CARDS
~·~·~
Female students:
~·~
Koi Amaki
• Ultimate Fangirl
• 5'4"
• Eyes: hazel
• Hair: auburn; has an ahoge
• Outfit: navy-blue sailor fuku with a red necktie; pixelated Kyoko and Chiaki earrings; a pixelated Kaede pin in her headband
• Freckles
The protagonist. An otaku who loves the Danganronpa franchise—among other things.
~·~
Rin Ono
• Ultimate Golfer
• 5'10"
• Eyes: gray
• Hair: blonde (bleached)
• Outfit: a white button-up shirt that isn't buttoned all the way up, and a short skirt
• Tanned skin, and glossy makeup
A gyaru who was raised in deep poverty. Her golfing skills have brought her fame and fortune.
~·~
Naomi Shimizu
• Ultimate Mangaka
• 5'6"
• Eyes: reddish-brown
• Hair: red; tied up in a professional-looking bun
• Outfit: a businesslike suit
• An intense gaze
She's written award-winning manga since she was a child. Her works span nearly every genre.
~·~
Emi Togami
• Ultimate Origamist
• 5'7"
• Eyes: blue
• Hair: black; clipped up in a traditional Japanese style
• Outfit: an elegant red kimono
• A pink origami flower in her hair
She's often smiling—but what's behind that smile?
The late Byakuya Togami was her second cousin twice removed.
~·~
Akiko Narumi
• Ultimate Sailor
• 5'4"
• Eyes: pink
• Hair: white; pixie cut
• Outfit: a sailor fuku with a white top, blue necktie, and short blue skirt; a white sailor hat
• Very white skin
Despite her albinism, she's sailed around the world several times.
~·~
Mizuki Tenshi
• Ultimate Moral Compass
• 4'11"
• Eyes: green
• Hair: light-brown; pigtails that begin below her shoulders and reach down to her legs
• Outfit: a plain, black dress, with a white collar, and a skirt that goes down to her ankles
• A pink armband
She's very shy, and very quiet. But she cares a lot about enforcing the rules.
~·~
Yuna Koyama
• Ultimate Dietician
• 4'8"
• Eyes: violet
• Hair: violet; tied up in a ponytail
• Outfit: a white lab coat that goes down to her knees
• Tiny
She can be pretty annoying—especially if she finds you eating junk food.
~·~
Momoka Ito
• Ultimate Perfumer
• 5'2"
• Eyes: dark-brown
• Hair: blue; frayed, tangled, and disastrously unkempt
• Outfit: a yellow sweatshirt that's too large, and a navy-blue skirt with little tears in it
• Looks like a mess, but smells amazing
She seems to barely have a grip on reality. As if she's drifting through life on good smells alone.
~·~
Male students:
~·~
Hiroto Oshiro
• Ultimate Attorney
• 6'1"
• Eyes: blue
• Hair: dark-brown; combed back a bit
• Outfit: a black suit, and a navy-blue tie
• Tall and broad-shouldered
He hates seeing people locked in a cage, even if they've done something wrong.
~·~
Ryu Minamoto
• Ultimate Yakuza
• 5'9"
• Eyes: green
• Hair: dirty blonde; greased back
• Outfit: an expensive-looking striped suit, and a black tie
• Looks tough—but he has a charming smile
Heir to the Minamoto Clan. He's pretty friendly, despite his family's notoriety.
~·~
Kenji Sasaki
• Ultimate Linguist
• 5'8"
• Eyes: brown
• Hair: black; slightly unkempt
• Outfit: a normal, dark gakuran uniform
• An all-around regular-looking guy
He speaks over 300 languages—but he's not much for conversation.
~·~
Jeffrey Silverstein
• Ultimate Kabuki Actor
• 5'9"
• Eyes: blue
• Hair: brown; short
• Outfit: white t-shirt, and blue gym shorts
• Strong-looking, though not too bulky
A good-natured, optimistic American who's loved kabuki theater since he was a child.
~·~
Tsubasa Haneda
• Ultimate Speedrunner
• 5'4"
• Eyes: green
• Hair: yellowish-green; spiky; sticks out in all directions
• Outfit: baggy jeans, and a loose, black t-shirt with a game controller design on it
• Several earrings. A sort of punk vibe.
A gamer who's easy to get along with. He's very straightforward, and tends to speak his mind.
~·~
Jun Mujun
• Ultimate Hacker
• 6'2"
• Eyes: brown
• Hair: black with blue highlights; hanging around his head in big, messy locks
• Outfit: jeans, and a leather jacket
• Tall and lanky. Bags under his eyes.
An enigmatic genius. It's hard to faze him.
~·~
Takeru Tao
• Ultimate Child Caregiver
• (not a ninja)
• 5'7"
• Eyes: violet
• Hair: violet; sticking straight up
• Outfit: a full black bodysuit, and a green camo vest
• Headband has a metal plate over the forehead; the Hope's Peak crest is carved into it
He seems to think he's a ninja. Kids love it. His parents don't.
~·~
Shingo Chiba
• Ultimate Accountant
• 5'11"
• Eyes: gray
• Hair: black; well-groomed
• Outfit: a black suit with a bowtie
• Thin-rimmed glasses
An orphaned prodigy. He's literally accounted for everything.
