Prologue 0-2: Bury All the Records in the Backyard

Beta read by Lupus Overkill

Drip.

Everything is worth it.

Drip.

Nothing I have done is wrong.

Drip.

Just don't tell anyone, alright?

Drip.

Nobody will understand.

Drip.

I truly do love you with all my heart.

Drip.

But love is meaningless in this world.

Drip.

Especially in the face of...

Drop.

...

But then I remember...

It's your blood spilling onto these floors.

Nobody is here. It is pure mystery and emptiness. Everything is too quiet, especially considering there is a fight going on literally in the room behind me. It is so quiet that I hear my own breathing and the sight changes with my heartbeat. Although I am presumably calm, my heart struggles inside my chest, as if it is trying to crawl out of its prison.

But there is nothing but space, where I too try to get out of my endless jail cell. Banging on the bars, nothing can be heard yet the miserable screams of the invisible voices as they are doomed to execution and then forgotten by history. They get buried in the backyard, their makeshift graves so rushed that some of their rotting flesh can still be seen. Much like the records of my youth, smashed and torn to pieces as they rot into nothing more than dirt. All of our lives do not matter as, by the end of it all, every single one of us is just going to be dirt. Dirt that gets destroyed by the collapsing universe as the whole painful cycle of life recycles, again and again, never getting bored by all the horrible decisions human beings keep making for the sake to satisfy some emotional need.

Nothing brings what humans call happiness. There is only meaningless pleasure filling the endless void of one's soul. Sex, drugs, hope, despair...they all fulfill the same purpose. Running away from the truth in a pitiful attempt to find some kind of meaning. Yet meaning is too emotional to actually exist in the real world.

"New friend!" Snapping me out of my thoughts, I feel something weird but strangely expected with this strange cast of colorful characters. Somebody has jumped on me and started hugging me. Truly, it is not a smart move to do this to a stranger, as I could easily take advantage of him in this situation.

"You're going to die if you keep doing that," another person comments. It is a woman this time. Finally somebody with some sort of sanity.

"I'm very excited to meet you! My name is Keiji Inukami, Ultimate Dog Walker! Nice to meet you!" Still hugging me, I cannot see much else because of how big he is compared to me. This only makes me wish to be taller, yet I know this is a useless wish since I am fully grown and do not want to be the subject of more unethical experiments.

Keiji Inukami

Ultimate Dog Walker

Something is...off. I cannot place the feeling, as it is much like my emotions about so many of my fellow students beforehand. I am not stupid enough to believe such a thing as fate, but maybe this is why so many people are misguided by the snakes feeding them poison apples. The poison makes the world happier even when it is eating away at everything that makes you a human. These fools keep eating the apples, being blinded by the emotions that they throw away what truly matters in the world. People take strange things to feel normal, not fully realizing that normalcy is a lie that they have created themselves, as some sort of weird self-fulfilling prophecy.

Keiji himself is...interesting. It is impractical to spend this much time on appearance since it never truly shows who you truly are, but it is too tiring to constantly correct people on their stupidity. Why waste time on people who will never allow themselves to listen? The boy has messy long hair colored blue which I cannot tell whether or not it will be technically considered a mullet. But it is not important to learn such useless fashion terms, especially since a lot of my sisters can already do that for me. Yet they are not truly part of my life anymore. It will be nothing but a waste of time to try to repair those broken bonds, as they were made to be fragile in the first place. All human connections are, as humans are selfish and will throw anybody, including those most important to them, away in a heartbeat for their own personal gain. Focusing on the present, Keiji has soft, hazel eyes. The type of eyes that can reveal the very best and worse of humanity.

Continuing on with his appearance, Keiji has a dark beard. Some of his bodily hair looks strangely like fur, with the dark cooper blue fur-like substance (I surely hope the Committee has not found a way to give humans fur yet) covering some of his arms. Even with his round face, Keiji has a large body because of how muscular he is. No doubt that he can easily scare away people who judge others on appearance, but I have grown too used to being around people like Keiji. Looking closely, I notice a few calluses on his palms and faint scars on his arms. Though what truly stands is his painted black nose, standing out contrasted to his tanned complexion.

For his outfit, the outlandish boy wears a tight sleeveless dark brown and white tank top. There is a cute puppy on the front of the shirt. Very cute. He wears baggy dark blue cargo pants with too many pockets to be truly functional. Light blue and white dog-shaped slippers that look comfortable but hard to walk in and probably not part of any school's dress code hide his feet. Around his neck, Keiji wears a dark red collar that has a golden pendant, which is in the shape of a dog print, attached. Attached to a black headband, Keiji wears a pair of brown floppy dog ears. One of the ears, I believe the right, is slightly bent to an angle. Keiji also has a dog tail, able to be possible because it is attached to the black belt around his waist. The boy also wears a blue bracelet around his left wrist that has a silver paw print hanging from it. On his hands, there are dark blue fingerless gloves, exposing his fake black dog nails.

In conclusion, Keiji likes dogs. And is somehow adorable while being kinda unsettling. But that is too emotional for me to think, although this strange boy must be good at bringing the best and worst in people.

"You can stop just looking at us and actually strike up a conversation," the girl comments. She smirks as she crosses her arms.

Looking up, I cannot believe that I have not noticed it. I even made comments about his head, so why did I overlook something so big? Must be all the stress of whatever is happening on this spaceship getting to me. Once I get some time to myself, I should at least try to meditate. There is no reason to get myself panicked over everything that is happening. Of course, there is something bigger going on, but that is outside of my control, and I should not easily give in to what the kidnappers or whoever want. Clearly, it has to do something with emotion. Perhaps they mean to measure such things as our shock, sadness, anger, etc. But I will not give another person the pleasure of becoming their best subject. Mostly because it is a waste of my precious time.

But, anyway, that is not what is important. Because what truly should take all my attention is what is resting on top of Keiji's head. There is a Shiba-Inu and Pomeranian mixed puppy. He matches Keiji, having brown and white soft fur. He wears a dark red bandana around his neck.

I must resist having a reaction. Whoever is doing this must be putting animals in here alongside us for a reason. Nothing good will happen in this environment with these animals here. Even though I hate cats, I am worried about Pon-chan's survival as well. After all, that would greatly decrease morale if something serious was going to happen. But I cannot help myself, as humanity seems to have been made to be weak. Ever since the big bang, every step of the universe has led to the point of every single human being nothing more than lovesick fools.

Dogs do not have the same problems as humans, or cats for that matter. Although it might be the last of my childhood innocence screaming out to me to save the fires of my youth, dogs are what some people would call pure. There are no bad dogs, after all, just bad people. The only reason I have not gotten a dog is that I am a horrible person. Nothing pure deserves to be associated with me. But sometimes I cannot help it, the feelings I have bottled up for so long breach onto the surface, and I make an utter fool of myself.

"Oh my God, you're so cute! Awwwww who's a good boy?" I say. It is almost like my body has gone on autopilot. Yet I cannot help it, as humans have some kind of psychological need to act this way of all things not corrupted by this cruel world.

"Not another dog person," the girl sighs. "First I have to deal with dog cosplayer that won't leave me alone, now I've to deal with composer lady-"

"I am a man-"

"Oh, composer man! Wait, how are you a dude!? You're prettier than I am with my most expensive makeup!" The lady just stares at me but I do not care. Some people will react like that. In fact, I am surprised that nobody has done anything overly harmful. The first time my father by blood figured out, he already kicked me out of the house, leaving me with absolutely nothing. But perhaps that is more a generational gap than anything. That is when I learned that you can never be too careful, and, even if you take all the steps you possibly can, the truth will one day come out. Nothing can remain hidden forever.

"My sweetie is a good boy! Do you want to play with him?" Keiji's eyes sparkle. "Just make sure you're not a baddie! We can both be tenacious! Arf arf arf arf!" Kobi barks and I must resist the urge to melt. This is a serious situation and I do not have the time to be carried away by dogs. I have already allowed myself to show weakness, which will only hurt me in the end. But it is not my fault that Kobi is so cute.

"..." Must resist the cute. It will only lead to horrible things. Whoever is behind this can easily use the dog as an exploit. One of the easiest psychological manipulation tricks in the book. "Oh, yes, you're a good boy! Oh yes, you are!" Dammit. Something inside me makes it impossible to resist to dogs. Perhaps it is some hidden paternal instinct left over? Trying to solve the psychology of myself is pointless since I highly doubt I have any experience in the field that would be trustworthy. Does not help that psychologists are not to be trusted nowadays.

I cannot reach the puppy, though the puppy stares at me with what seems to be judgmental eyes. But there is no way that a dog can be that expressive, so perhaps it is my mind trying to play tricks on me. Although I can just ask Keiji to sit down, or an action similar to that, I do not want to give in to the temptation of doing so. I must try to distance myself than the puppy as much as possible since even something as small as this can lead to me somehow becoming a puppet of some greater power. Those who rule will use anyways necessary to make sure that their subjects stay in line.

"Seems like I'm gonna be stuck with you as well," the girl notes. "Next thing you know, the whole ship is going to be filled with a bunch of crazy dog people."

"Excuse me for the...improper display, but my name is Shiro Amari. The Ultimate Composer. May I ask what your name is, madam?"

"Choumi Sokudo, I wouldn't expect someone like you to have heard of me, I'm not so special unlike you, I'm the Ultimate Courier, got a problem with that?"

Choumi Sokudo

Ultimate Courier

Other than her attitude problem, the first thing about Choumi that sticks out to me is her maroon hair. It is quite messy, with it flaring at the bottom near her waistline, and her having a side-swept fringe. Strands of hair stick out everywhere, making me have to resist the urge to put everything back into place. She has purple, round eyes that stick out when compared to her expressive, thin eyebrows. Her pale body is quite thin but has the beginnings of some muscles, especially on her legs, though not as much as Keiji's. Almost like the universe has a sense of irony, Choumi has a heart-shaped head. Everything about her is flat as well, with there being almost no curves to speak of.

Choumi wears a peach cream button-up blouse. Over the shirt, there is an unzipped dark red bicycle jacket. Due to Choumi moving to flip her hair in the most overly expressive way possible, I am able to see that on the back there is a logo in black and blue saying 'Sokudo Express.' She wears black exercise leggings underneath her bright red knife-pleated miniskirt. White and blue bicycles shoes are on her feet, nicely complemented by black socks. A dark blue newsboy cap rests on top of Choumi's head, favoring the right side, and has a white heart in the front. Two blue flower clips are over her bangs on the left side of her face. On her right wrist, there is a silver cuff bracelet with red rubies. Resting around her shoulders, there is a brown satchel bag.

Choumi is much like a flame, threatening to burn down everything yet needed to make sure everything survives. I do not know how I got that impression, yet everything burns inside me. Meanwhile, although he is the opposite of what most people think of, Keiji is like the water, full of life and energy but can be used against you. Both have hidden depths and I am not quite sure I can trust them like everybody else.

"I've already just met you and I can tell that for sure you're as big of an idiot as the infamous dog cosplayer himself. There are so many idiots around here. Like there was this one guy who wouldn't shut up about how theatre is the best shit ever. It's unbelievable that some of you are still alive in the Hellhole the world is today!" Choumi and Keiji already seem like they are not the most useful people to have around. The best Choumi would be good for is perhaps something athletic, or maybe she would be a good pawn if provoked to act in a certain manner. Keiji's use would be for morale even though many can find him scary at first. Mostly because his dog is so cute.

"But we're fun, Choumi. Woof, woof." Looking at her, the puppy does not have the same face. Instead, the puppy has his tongue out, happily minding his own business.

"Oh. I didn't mean to intrude...maybe I should just return with that weird massage guy..." Surprisingly us all, we see that there is another woman with us. I do not know how long she has been there. But, then again, the three of us are just standing in a random hallway, so it should have been a given somebody would run into us eventually. In fact, a part of me is shocked that we did not get another visitor sooner. But it seems like whoever bought us here is gradually releasing us than doing it all at the same time. My guess is that they do not want too many people in the same place until whatever they are preparing is truly ready. Or they do not want chaos, but that has already failed considering the state of Saitou and Ryoichi. By the state of things, I will predict that Ryoichi and Saitou were released first. Is there any meaning in the order, however? At this point, it is uncertain.

"Look, another new friend! At this rate, we can throw a whole party with everybody else!"

"Somebody will die-"

"Of fun!"

"Um...nobody should die?"

Being the first person I really did not feel any weird sort of connection with (though Seina was weaker than the others, maybe there is something...pulling me to her), the new girl is foreign. If I have to guess, she is either Danish, Czech, German, or maybe even Novoselic. It is rare to see people from that region of Europe since it mostly got destroyed in the Tragedy. Most likely her parents are refugees. Although, due to many factors such as interracial relationships, it is getting harder to tell people's nationality by looking at them, as I have seen Japanese people with natural hair colors from blonde to purple. I have read somewhere that we have so many unique hair colors now due to some kind of radioactive outbreak way before the times of the Tragedy, but there is no way to know if it is true or not.

Onto the stranger herself, she has thick, blonde hair tied up in a messy bun. Once again, I have to fight back my urge to fix up her hair. Dark brown eyes are hidden behind a pair of black-thick rimmed glasses made of possibly cheap plastic. She has olive skin that looks a little oily in some spots but otherwise well taken care of, way better than Choumi's. Because of her exposed shoulders, a large, dark beauty mark that covers it can be seen. Everything about her face is sharp and defined, and she is more filled out compared to the other girls.

She looks like she got up and just put on whatever was closest to her or clean, at least there are not any stains on her clothing like a lot of my siblings. The stranger wears light grey jeans with a black, studded belt. For her shirt, the girl wears a black tank top with a symbol in front of it. If I paid more attention to current trends I would probably know what it is, but, at this point, I do not see the point of keeping up with media such as television and video games. Onto the point, the mascot is a purple and pink cat with a smile I personally find to be creepy (though I really should not feel that way, it is literally just a fictional character). This girl has a bracelet much like Keiji and Choumi, with it being on her right wrist and made of amethyst beads. Looking closer, I realize that this girl does not have any shoes on. That has to be completely unhealthy. At least it is healthier than say, stealing shoes from a dead corpse. Sort of weird that is where my mind first goes, but it is still true. After all, weird is not something I really care about, since it is only a useless word society throws around to make people limit their progress out of fear.

"Madame, I do not know your name-"

"..." Looking up, something causes the new girl to fear up and start slowly backing away from all of us. I wonder what can cause such a reaction, so I look at her train of sight and see the dog, still wagging his tail because of Choumi. This will be a problem, hopefully, there will be somebody more capable of solving it. It does not take a genius to realize I am not the best with these sort of matters. More effort should be put into making sure they do not happen in the first place than solving it after all the solution usually takes time out of everything for everybody involved.

"Relax, Kobi will not hurt you-"

"Wait, what? Am I hearing things or did you just know Kobi's name without this idiot telling you?" Moving faster than I ever could, Choumi gets right up in my face. Though I do not blame her since there really should not be any way I have access to that information. Perhaps I meet them before and forgot, my memory has never been the best. That is why I usually bring a notebook with me, but, for some reason, whoever did this took it away along with my bag, while deciding to let Seina and Choumi keep theirs. Maybe my horrible memory is why I am getting all sort of weird feelings.

"What do you think, Kobi? Should we trust him or is Shiro a villain?" This is not a good situation. There must be an explanation for this. But, no matter how hard I think, my mind cannot decide on anything. Everything is blank. The dilemma itself is a canvas and I the painter, unable to continue on with my painting due to a block in my creativity. But, when all other solutions fail, I cannot admit defeat, which means I have to come up with a convincing lie.

"Okay, I'm just going to get out of here. Very far away. And lock myself in my room." Without any of us following her, the stranger walks away. Truly that is an action that makes a lot of sense since she cannot help in this situation.

"Um...what's going on? I have a bad feeling about this." As if this cannot get any more awkward, Sachiko is now somehow in this conversation as well. I really have to pay more attention to who is coming and going in this hallway, considering that this is a very public place. We really should move somewhere more private like one of the rooms. Pon-chan is in her arms, and I can already feel my nose start to tickle.

"Shiro here has to explain why he is being so goddamn creepy." Choumi gets even closer to my face. My personal space has far been breached, with her being so close that I can feel her breath. A part of me wants to push her away, but that will not only give her a win, it will also improve tensions between us. Sachiko does not need to be dragged into our own petty personal drama. Though I do not see why such a big deal is being made, pointing that out will not improve things with two people that are emotional creatures.

"Wait for me, Sachiko!" Osamu comes running after her.

"Osamu, you should not come here!" Sachiko warns. But it is too late. Keiji and Osamu make eye contact, with Choumi too focused on me to pay attention to her other surroundings. The pure hatred in their eyes in more than enough to tell the whole story, with Kobi starting to growl at Osamu, completely ignoring the easy prey of the cat. Realizing something is wrong, Choumi finally gets out of my face, and immediately notices Osamu. She begins to glare at him as well, causing an uneasy silence. Everything is so quiet that I can faintly hear the sounds of Saitou and Ryoichi fighting.

Breaking the silence, Choumi loudly stomps towards Osamu. She then flips him off while being directly in his face like me before. "Don't go anywhere near Keiji or I, you fucking piece of shit. Come on, Keiji, we're leaving. We can question creepy composer dude later." Choumi and Keiji both leave without a single other word, Kobi still growling at Osamu as they do so.

"We should go too, Sachiko." Much like a father handling his daughter, Osamu drags Sachiko somewhere else. I do not pay attention to any of them. The drama does not interest me, as much as whatever faulty thing is happening to my memory. It is like my mind is an outline for a book, things being changed and deleted as the creator deems fit. Though, if that were true, who would be considered the creator? Even with all my memories, I cannot recall anything like this happening to my mind. Maybe the stress of my entire life is finally catching up to me, the Master's words finally becoming true, and my last bits of sanity are clinging desperately onto the ledge for just one more day to survive. That is not truly accepting everything, however, as I am not what most people would consider sane.

These thoughts are like a poison, and I desperately wish to turn them off. But there is no way to perform such a feat, for I am stuck with myself for the rest of my short life. Unknown to everybody, I have experienced so much stress that I have started to grey. It takes forever to color in the roots, but I do not need the Committee finding yet another reason to perform experiments on me. That is why people should be logical because I would not be in this situation in the first place if I thought for one second. I would have my own life, have an actual sane family and be able to actually take care of children, and a job still involving composing, but for music and not so many other things I wish I can take back...

Shiro, you are spiraling again. That is not wise. Remove everything and focus on the current situation. The past does not matter anymore.

Considering nobody else are in these halls, that I know of, it would be best to explore one of the rooms not being currently used by two people that should probably visit the psych unit. Osamu mentioned something about the storage unit beforehand so it is best to know what we have in stock. Considering we are in space with no clear out right now, it is best to monitor the supplies and make sure that we do not run out.

Entering the storage room, I see that it is rather...random. It looks more like a maze than anything, with me looking at some of the shelves and finding the weirdest of things together. There are also several car generators dangerously close to falling off which is a clear hazard. Whoever set up this spaceship clearly does not care about safety, also proven by the two most eccentric personas I have run into having literal weapons with them. Strangely enough, the floor is an old light brown carpet that somehow does not look out of place or dated. Whoever worked on this room must have serious talent, since this should clearly not work. Especially since all the walls look like they come from a children's book, bright blue and covered with many different mascots smiling and having fun with each other. Weirdest of all, the light is only lit by one object, a giant chandelier. The chandelier is way too big for the setup, considering it is resting on some of the weirdly placed brown shelves.

Breaking me out of my trance, I have somebody come up to me and clap in my face. "Didn't see that coming did ya? Unforeseen Number Seventeen strikes again!" She has a wide smile on her face. Something is weird about the way that she is acting, but I have no idea why I keep experiencing these feelings. For sure, I have not seen her before, as she is clearly dressed as an athlete, a group I usually do not socialize with. It is not like I have anything against athletes, but our paths rarely cross outside of me performing sometimes during their shows.

"What is your name, then?" I ask her. Even with her rather unusual introduction, she seems to be saner than a lot of other people here. "My name is Shiro Amari and the title given to me by Hope's Peak is Ultimate Composer."

"I'm Captain Asuka Takano, Ultimate Volleyball Player," Asuka winks at me. "But...you can call me whatever you want." Not even a second later, Asuka cannot help herself from breaking into laughter. "Okay okay, even I didn't see how horrible that was going to be! But really, it's a pleasure to meet you! You seem really chill, we should talk more and maybe I'll show you an unforeseen trick or two."

Asuka Takano

Ultimate Volleyball Player

Asuka's awkward smile shows off her prominent dimples. For her body, Asuka has tan skin and a muscular complexion. The girl's jawline is sharp, along with everything on her face making her look more like she is in her late twenties than a highschool student. Her eyes are a dark blue, almost black, reminding me much of the ocean in its darkest depths. Like a lot of other girls I have met today, Asuka has messy hair, though it looks like it is more due to exercising than not putting in the effort since it still looks healthy. Wavy, thick red hair goes everywhere, with most of it being tied in a loose high ponytail. It is fairly long, with the hair just being in a ponytail reaches to her thighs. Though Asuka is simple, she is unique, as I have never seen somebody that looks remotely like her. She looks like the type of person who spends a lot of her time on the beaches since they have gotten a lot better since I was a child. Would not be surprised if Asuka can do other sports such as swimming. But, like all Ultimates, she has to be typecast into one talent, as it is easier to control her future and actions that way. Who needs somebody with free will when you can just have another version of you?

Starting at the bottom with her shoes, Asuka wears black and white tennis shoes. Her dark blue socks are noticeable considering they cover about half of her calves. The shorts she has on are black fitting spandex that has Hope's Peak Academy's school crest on the bottom left hem in white ink. Her top is a white jersey-sweatshirt that touches right above her bottoms. There is a dark blue logo printed on the sweatshirt, which a volleyball. Standing out like a sore thumb, Asuka wears a golden necklace that looks like it is an engraving of the big dipper. Once again, stars are not my strong suit, but this situation I am now most likely trapped in will probably make me learn more about them.

"Come on, there are the others to introduce you too. Sure hope you don't mind a whole lot of sports talents. I was really worried that I would be the only one but turns out I'm not."

"That would be useful," I comment. After all, muscle is needed, knowing that is a personal area I lack in. Asuka also seems to be fairly smart, for it is hard to be an athlete in this world, especially a captain.

Walking further into the maze of the storage area, I only get more confused about whoever designed not only this room but this entire ship. The Committee is clearly not behind this since they would not accept such foolishness. Even if the Committee tried to make another space ship, the world would be in an uproar since there has not been one made successfully since the Tragedy. I may not know that much about space but I highly doubt the ships from the past looked absolutely nothing like this. It will only be possible by an organization that has access to countries worth of fortune and supplies. There is no way that they will be able to hide something from the whole world, right?

Onto the shelves themselves, I see even more random things. There are even more hazards, such as shot put balls put on the top and many other heavy sports supplies like bowling balls. Boxes are on the bottom shelves for many childish things, such as Lego sets and Barbies funhouses. In the middle, there are actually useful items even though their order is random. There are even some of the tissue boxes that Osamu gave to help me. This weird sorting method must have taken more time than usual, not to mention that it is not even effective. At least there is a pattern to the madness, as humans truly are creatures of habit.

"Hey, we got another poor soul!" Asuka calls out to somebody. Examining what looks like more sports equipment, but more like nets and rackets and such things, there is another man. First thing I notice is how tall he is, being around Keiji's height. He is observing everything with a concerned stare, only broken by Asuka's voice.

"Great, another one," the man lightly chuckles. "Yo, stranger, I'm Renkou Tenkubashi, Ultimate Basketball Player. What's up?"

Renkou Tenkubashi

Ultimate Basketball Player

Renkou has a complexion that is between olive and fair, and, much like Asuka, has a muscular body, slightly more so than Asuka's. There are a few calluses and bruises on his hands, most likely caused by basketball. I do not want to think about the other alternatives. Much like a lot of other people I have bumped into on this ship, Renkou has a sharp jawline. His face is diamond-oval shaped, being the host of his long, upturned nose and pink, thin lips. His eyes are small and a strangely alluring dark red color, reminding me of blood. He has hair that is also messy, with it being black and somewhat slicked back. The hair is slightly on the long side and spiked, reaching just below his ears.

Renkou has on a dark red jersey with black stripes, with the number three being written in black in the middle of it. Above the number, there is the word "ducks". When he goes back to examine the rest of the shelf, I can see the back of his outfit. There is once again the number three can be clearly seen, but this time it is bigger, filling up most of the space. With the space not filled, the name Tenkubashi can be seen. In his hands, there is a hoodie, since it is sort of hot in this room. I am surprised that Asuka has not taken off her sweatshirt since even I am thinking about removing my jacket. The hoodie that Renkou has in his hands is a dark blue one that looks to be on the looser side. There is another clothing item in his hand, a grey blazer. I am not surprised he got overheated in this room with that many layers. For his bottoms, Renkou wears dark grey jeans. He wears black socks and dark blue and white basketball shoes. Around his neck, I notice that Renkou wears a black leather-like necklace. For his earrings, Renkou has on silver rings around his left earlobe.

"I'm finally with somebody that can serve something else other than balls."

"Oh please, I don't only serve volleyballs," Asuka smirks. She then dramatically poses. "I'm also serving looks!" Instead of saying anything, Renkou only rolls his eyes and continues with what he is doing.

"Is there anybody else here? It will be best to keep track of everyone," I comment. Asuka and Renkou will be good allies with first impressions, considering they have not tried to kill anybody yet or go on rants about their delusions. Even if they turn out to not be smart, they will be useful tools. Tools are what is truly needed to survive in this cruel life.

"Yeah, he's exploring something else. We should see how he's doing, RenRen~"

"I am going to ignore that." With that, Renkou meets up again with Asuka and I. The three of us continue down into the maze. The further we get, I see that it gets more dangerous and wacky. There are chainsaws and bombs on the top shelves, staring down on us waiting for somebody to make a wrong move and claim a victim. We will have to do something to make this room safer if we are forced to stay here for a long period of time.

Renkou and Asuka exchange friendly chatter but I do not listen, for it is not important to hear more of their horrible jokes. It is better to think about how I can use them since their position as possible celebrities outside of our prison can help the sales of my own shows. We are all human, we are all pawns in somebody else's game. Believing in the kindness of strangers is something only utter fools do. Strangers are humans, humans are horrible things, which means they will only ever want to gain something from you. Selfless people are nothing but delusional martyrs who cannot come to terms that they do not truly exist.

It only takes us a few minutes to get to the other man. He does not seem to have noticed us yet, examining what seems to be a boxed dancing game. He is quite different from Renkou and Asuka, though in some places similar.

The boy is feminine, with his build being almost impossibly curvy for a man. He has a subtle amount of muscle that most people do not realize, especially in his legs, yet still has a seemingly fragile, small body. I get the feeling that he knows my pain of being commonly mistaken as a woman, which is good since that means we will have common ground. He has a heart-shaped face and delicate pink lips. His eyes are upturned and lavender, matching nicely with his mint green hair. The bangs he has are slightly tidy, covering much of his forehead. For his main hairstyle, the man wears his long hair in a braid hanging on his left side. However, what stands out the most about the man is his makeup, having four red slashes on his face. Two slashes each on his left and right cheeks, making him look somewhat exotic and intriguing.

Showing lots of skin, he wears a tight dark grey tank top under a slightly transparent jazz dance top that is black. The jazz top acts mainly as ribbons that tie around his entire body, mainly his arms and the top over him looking as if it were intentionally cut into holes. On the bottom, he wears white jeans that match nicely with his black sneakers. Over his neck, he has on a ruby necklace. His ears are fitted with stunning golden earrings that make him sparkle.

"Look at him, KaiKai, he's not that bad looking!"

"What does RenRen think?"

"That's something you've to think for yourself. I don't understand what game you're playing."

"But you look so cute! I love your lips. They're so plump and full. It makes me want to kiss them, y'know?" Without even knowing his name, I get a feeling that this one can possibly become a problem as well. I have dealt with enough people like him to know that they cause nothing but trouble. They only want what is best for them, which is true for all of humanity, but they certainly have...different methods for getting what they personally desire. And the weird...deja vu, perhaps?...comes back, screaming at me to run.

"Another cutie pie like RenRen. I can't wait!" the boy exclaims as he turns to face us. The moment he fully registers who I am, his normally olive skin turns white.

"...Einosuke, is that you? You silly bean, we've been looking everywhere for you!" Quickly changing his mood, Kaimaru...wait, what...the man smiles. Einosuke does sound familiar, which is probably because it is my blood father's name.

"Excuse me, but you seem to be mistaken. My name is Shiro Amari, Ultimate Composer. I must look like whoever this Einosuke person is."

"Turns out this ship is filled with sexy men. Let me introduce myself then. Well, sweetie, my name is whatever you want it to be, but by birth, it is Kaimaru Aburaya. I'm the Ultimate Dancer and will happily serve you. Charmed to meet you~"

Kaimaru Aburaya

Ultimate Dancer

"Who is this Einosuke if you do not mind my asking?"

"Just a friend of mine that went missing and most likely dead. You know, that's fairly common nowadays. The Committee sure sucks at everything," Kaimaru states without hesitation. That was surprisingly easy to get out of him.

"Alright, let's change the subject! We should investigate more!"

"I agree with Asuka," Renkou replies. Efficiently shutting Kaimaru and me up, Renkou leads us through the rest of the maze, with Asuka following closely behind him. If they try to do anything to me, I will be screwed since they all will easily overpower me. Although I could have been strong, I highly doubt it will be smart to accept anything offered by Kotori, though I have so many times. Death does not erase everything that an individual does, even though I find myself hoping that could be a reality. But I must learn that nothing will ever be that easy. Nobody can ever escape Kotori Hiraoka once they get trapped in her web.

Eventually, Asuka, Renkou, and Kaimaru stop, examining the box of what seems to be mini playsets for every single one of their talents. Then I look around and see that there are playsets for everybody I have met, and clearly ones for the ones that I have yet to meet. There is even 'Baby's First Blood Sacrifice' for Ryoichi. Mine is a concert menu made for dolls, with toys included inside. Songs are premade for the instruments, including a lot of the classics from famous names like Mozart and Beethoven. Mine stick out like a sore thumb, especially since they are all from the beginning of my career. Although there are many reasons I do not perform original music anymore, the main is simple greed, they do not sell as much as the Committee indulging the same sound, trying to trick many others into thinking that they are more proper than they originally seem.

...Eimu's Rapture...

It takes all my strength to not destroy the box right then and there. There is no reason to do something so brash. That is a thing of the past, and I have already dealt with it the best I could.

...Hana's Happiness...

"Promise me, that we'll never be apart," Eimu smiles. But that smile fades until the nothingness. Since that smile never existed. Nothing about Eimu ever existed. But they refuse to get out of my head, screaming for me to finally listen to them. To go back. Yet I can never go back, no matter what. I have already left everything I ever loved there, including my own bleeding heart.

Those fuckers.

...Once again, it is not time to get so emotional. This would be a good time to just step away and take a breather. Clearly, this is placed here for a reaction, even though I do not see such a reaction from Renkou, Asuka, and Kaimaru. It can be a possibility that they are targeting me with that attack, but maybe the others are better at hiding their feelings than I realize. They do not seem to be paying attention to me, so I take this option to walk down the path I believe we were taking beforehand.

It turns out that is not the path we were taking beforehand. For the last ten minutes, I have been fruitlessly trying to find my way back. It would be logical next time to make some sort of trail. Maybe somewhere in this storage room, I can find a new bag and notebook, and hopefully a pen that has not dried out yet. Even now, I struggle to figure out why people do not perform such a simple action like putting a cap back on a pen. Humanity is the most stupid animal on the planet, we have just the arrogance to assume we are the best at everything. Yet we keep destroying ourselves and our surroundings, while the animals we share the Earth with have never done such a thing.

Walking through the maze for even more time, I wonder if anybody is worried about me. But that is such a stupid thought. Of course not, the people on the ship have no idea who I truly am, and nobody back home cares about me except for possibly Kazuhiko and Ayano. Yet this maze is something I cannot truly get out of since it expands further than the ship. One of these days I have to find the dead end, and then finally there will be a chance for the pain to stop. Yet that a troublesome thought, as it can never be true, as all the universe is nothing but this cruel maze. We keep getting promises that there is some sort of exit, but there is nothing, as the entrance is a place we cannot access anymore due to our misdeeds. One day somebody will set the maze on fire just to realize that there is nothing else left but the ashes of existence.

"Excuse me, you seem to be lost in thought," another man says to break me from my daze. He yawns. "Sorry, I just woke up."

"It is the afternoon though..."

"I work late nights," he explains like he is used to it.

"Sometimes I do as well, so I know your struggle. My name happens to be Shiro Amari." Although he is tired, I get the impression that he will not try to murder me like Ryoichi, which is a good thing in my book. He seems like somebody I can just chill with if I wanted to like Asuka and Renkou. Creating that sort of friend circle will be beneficial, especially since too much of the hyperactive personalities can be tiring both physically and emotionally.

"My name's Ayumu Tachibana, it's good to meet you. I hope we'll get along."

"Are you an Ultimate? Everybody else is one too. I am the Ultimate Composer." With the more Ultimates I meet, the more possibility that this is something more sinister. There could be a chance that this will be truly turned into a Killing Game, and that will mean I must use my caution even more than usual. No way I will allow myself to die on this ship. If I have to cause the deaths of everybody else to get out, I will gladly do so, but only if there is no other way. There is no reason to cause bloodshed outside of truly necessary situations.

"Yes, I am one. Ultimate Graveyard Shift Worker."

Ayumu Tachibana

Ultimate Graveyard Shift Worker

"Admittedly, it's not really much of a talent, but you know, why waste this opportunity?" Though I will usually disagree, I cannot see how graveyard shift worker will be as useful as some of the others. Maybe he can help with the storage room but, other than that, I cannot truly think of anything.

"That is a good sentiment to have. Hope's Peak will always allow their Ultimates to have a future," I respond. Mostly because the Committee does not want anybody making their track record look bad, even though they will erase students from their records to satisfy their own goals.

Onto Ayumu himself, he has short, shaggy black hair that is lazily side-parted. Some parts of his hair cover his face, partially obscuring his pretty light green eyes. Despite having circles underneath his eyes, Ayumu looks very alert. He must not get that much sunlight since Ayumu's skin is almost unnaturally pale. Though there are no scars, Ayumu's skin looks rough and weathered down, and everything about him makes him look even older than I am. Ayumu is muscular as well and is way taller than I am.

Ayumu wears black denim dungaree trousers worn over a long-sleeved, thin, plain white v-neck t-shirt with a bright yellow hoodie thrown over the top of it, which is left unzipped. His socks are yellow and have stripes, while his trainers generic grey Velcro-strap that are worn. Although it is warm inside the maze, Ayumu is dressed for colder weather Matching his hair almost too well, Ayumu wears a black beanie. He also has matching black gloves. Yawning again, Ayumu crosses his arms and leans against one of the more sturdy shelves.

"I apologize, I know I'm not making the best impression right now."

"It is alright, we need to find a way out of here." Compared to some of the others, being a little tired is a lot better. Of course, I would prefer if he was not, yet, at this point, I am glad to have another potential ally. And a possible way out of here.

"I think I know the way out of here." Having nobody else to depend on, I choose to follow Ayumu. Both of us seem to be quiet types so there is not much conversation as Ayumu finds the way out of the maze. Turns out Ayumu is good for something in my potential strategy after all since he is smarter than I originally thought. Somebody that I can relax around because he does not seem to have any hidden agenda, but it is still too early to make those kinds of assumptions. It can easily just be that Ayumu is good at playing his persona.

Only after about ten minutes, Ayumu escorts both of us safely out of the maze. It may be good to go in for supplies every once and awhile, but I think it will be wise to avoid the storage room. Outside, I see that Asuka, Renkou, and Kaimaru are still together, seeming like they are planning something.

"Look at that, we don't have to save our darling prince after all. And, look at this, another potential match~"

"That's good! We can't lose somebody that quickly! Especially when I haven't shown you any of my serves." Why do I get the feeling that Asuka is not usually like this and Kaimaru is a bad influence on her?

"Ignore them, we wouldn't be in this situation if they weren't so brash," Renkou sighs. "It is good that you got out of there. We should meet up with everybody else now to plan out events." He seems to be already trying to take a leadership role, which can be dangerous. Leaders, and even only attempted ones, usually have big targets on their backs. It is better to manipulate events from the shadows, to be silent but still have your voice heard everywhere. For the leaders will fall, either by their enemy or the weight of their own crown.

"We should split up or something. It goes faster that way," Asuka suggests. Renkou at first gives her a glance I cannot fully decipher before taking a deep breath.

"That is the best course of action. Let us go together, Kaimaru and Asuka." And that is when the plan is made, leaving us to part our separate ways. There is a chance Ayumu might do something and overpower me, but those three have seen us alone together and he seems too smart to do something so impulsive. With Ayumu, I must enter another door, and enter the world of more people I should not even be meeting in the first place. But the world works in mysterious ways, and there has to be a reason that all of this is happening.

Another step into the journey to wonderland, where we are still in the honeymoon phase since the true darkness is still waiting around the corner, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The puzzles keep giving us new pieces, hoping that we are able to solve it without the picture or the whole set. For nothing gets complete in wonderland, as the queen always finds you and chops your head off. Only for you to somehow survive thanks to the rules of wonderland making no sense, throwing everything about the real world out of the window. Every time you die, you hear the shocking noise of tick, tick, tick, tock. The clock of the mad hatter does not wait for comfort, as everything about the cruel man wishes to steal your sanity away. Tea is poison for the mind, corrupting once innocent thoughts to one of pure destruction. Where there is much laughter as your own blood spills around you, slowly turning into the very tea that you consume. Everything is the same yet everything is different. To the point that you are cutting your own head off, waiting for the final tock.

Yet I should have noticed something was wrong due to there being no noise in the halls.

So much blood.

It does not stop dripping.

Tick.

There is nothing I can do.

Only watch the drips become a pool.

A pool of regret and sorrow.

Tick.

It is your blood but you're still here.

Everybody is still here, watching.

And there's their damn applause.

Clapping that makes me scream.

Tock.

Sorry this took so long. But, for those who are on my Discord, you know my life is personally even more Hell. So yippee. But here's another chapter and we're still in Intro Hell. And I want to die.

Once again, because I'm new with a lot of these characters, please correct me if I'm writing any of them wrong. And also more outfit and appearance changes because I'm a complete mad lass. Seriously, I'm insane for everything that I do in this story and how the fuck did I ever think of this.

Req's Rec: Danganronpa: Tall Tales and Other Murders by ChaoticMercy

QOTC: How's your day? (wonderful question, Requiem)

Reviews~

ZiggyMia123-Dear God, don't remind me. Yes, Shiro is an asshole, but he's our asshole. Mei is the mastermind. Yep, we're actually getting everybody introduced this time around. Ryoichi and Saitou are very colorful. Shiro needs a break. Yes, you can create the Sachiko Protection Squad, and I'll watch you all fall into despair as you fail to save her once again from her horrible fate.

TheRoseShadow21-YES IT IS! TIME FOR MORE SUFFERING! That's good to hear! :D Shiro has meet less insane people, including precious Ayumu. Sachiko needs to be protected by me, join the squad. Thanks so much!

mpjinindustries-You just gave me horrible ideas. :3 Thanks so much.

AnonChan1-Shiro likes his goddamn poetry. Thanks so much, I work hard because Shiro won't goddamn stop being a poet. Sometimes I laugh because Shiro is trying his hardest to make everything sound cooler than it actually is. All the cute, short, nice ones must suffer, Anon. Everybody in this series has baggage, even MINATO has baggage. Because Osamu's eyes are pumpkins. Pon-chan is here to make things a little less depressing, and so is Kobi. Clearly, Pon-chan is the real mastermind. And then there's BI. White dresses suck, I totally didn't write the white dress scene as a vent scene. Totally. I mean, Yoshi and Eimu are very not okay atm. Clearly, somebody was doing the one-hundred baby challenge but got a little too carried away. Here are some more characters to either help or destroy your theories! Shiro needs help. Ultimate Chicken is the best Ultimate. Poor Shiro is going to get misgendered a lot, and he always suffers (goddammit Choumi).

This is still the real world, don't you worry. Shiro does not have narcolepsy, he just sometimes does strange things and is like 'nothing is wrong.' Poor Shiro needs all the hugs even though he's an asshole. Saitou is Cassius if Cassius wanted to stab people. But Cassius prefers poison. Meanwhile, Ryoichi will just kill you. So here's gonna be fun in a killing game. RYOICHI WILL NEVER CHILL. We're gonna have a lot of Wonderland references so be prepared. Somebody protect all the cinnamon rolls from Satan.

RioA-Thanks so much, Shiro does take a long time to finally get in character for since he will never stop with his goddamn poetry. This chapter shows that Shiro isn't exactly what people would call sane. Shiro is our asshole father and we love him for it. A lot more people like Shiro than I thought which makes me really happy. :D I literally killed all the girls that aren't Etsuko or Emilynn. Thanks so much, Mei doesn't like it. Mei x Mirabilis is one of my favorite crack ships and nobody can convince me out of it. Plot twist, Mei is eighteen in this version. Shiro is very confused with this deja vu and he just wants it to stop. But I won't let it. SUFFER SHIRO. Sachiko looks cute in anything WHICH MEANS SHE SUFFERs. Osamu never stops being the butt of my jokes that I cannot reveal because of spoilers. Poor Osamu. Because Pon-chan is the cute we need to survive this story, along with Kobi. Shiro has a very long and complicated past and I'm so sorry for doing this to you Shiro.

Seina is baby while means she suffers. Media Cafe Luna is somewhere I would like to hang out, but alas it doesn't exist irl RIP. Sachiko just wants people to respect spirits dammit. Very interesting theory, let's see if it becomes true. ;) Whoever the new head is, they're way better than Kotori. If somebody animates anything from this series, I would legit cry. Thanks so much, I worked really hard on that scene since it's really hard to make things scary with just words. Ryoichi and Saitou are both insane and I love them for it. WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF WONDERLAND METAPHORS WOOHOO. Thanks so much, I love all reviews. :D