It has been way too long, but I am finally back! It took me a VERY long time to write the trial, considering how short writing this part took, but I'm back with the Chapter 1 Deadly Life at last!

Quick side note, cause I saw this in reviews last chapter, but for the BDAs, I am not excluding the killer from being a discoverer. The BDA will go off whenever any three people discover the body, which can include the killer. So don't rule out anyone until you have all your clues, okay?

Anyways, first things first, the entire credit for me getting my butt in gear and getting this started and then finishing it? That entire goes to CandleFire45 and Sakura Idol, Candle for their reviews reminding me to get to work and Sakura for doing not one, not two, but THREE fan arts in the space of one week to give me the inspiration I needed to finish this long haul! Thank you both for giving me what I needed to get this chapter done at long last! Also everyone, go check out Sakura's art on Deviant Art, it's so good!

Okay, now then, the updating schedule. So as you all hopefully remember, I made a poll to determine how you guys wanted me to post these chapters, since I'm well aware that a long wait for something like this would probably be torture. The options were, in case you don't know, once a week, all at once, every other day or you would leave it up to me. Well, you all decided to leave it up to me, so I am proud to announce that this Deadly Life will follow an every other day updating schedule, so be sure to spin your theories on what's going to happen to your heart's content!

Now, I know this is a short chapter, but I made sure I covered everything and hopefully left enough hints that you guys can figure it out for yourselves or at least enough that the final twist shouldn't be a HUGE out of left field twist. I tried my best at least, and the one DR fan I know IRL refused to help me, insisting my writing was fine, even though this is the first DR trial I've ever written.

Quick note before we start our investigation: if anyone thinks they've figured something out, please send it to me via PM rather than a review. I don't know about you guys, but sometimes I check out reviews before I read a fic and I wouldn't like it if someone wrote 'oh no, I'm so sad this person killed this person' and I happened to see it before I'd even read it myself. I love theories, don't get me wrong, but I want this experience to be fun for everyone! And I want all attempts to solve the case I'm presenting to you all to be equal.

So yeah, that's that then. This'll be the last time you'll hear from me until the chapter's over with. So, without further ado, I hope you all enjoy our very first Deadly Life of Happily Never After!


Chapter 1 Deadly Life: Into the Unknown

For a while, Maria could do nothing but stare. It was as if she were frozen, as if she weren't even really there at all. All she knew was that the others were, one by one, gathering in the Talent Room and seeing Michi, just as Monokuma dictated they would, even Irusu, and she didn't even feel as if anything around her was real. Static was ringing in her ears and she was only vaguely aware of a headache that pulsed in time with her heartbeat.

At the edge of her mind, she wondered if this was what an out of body experience felt like.

In the end, it was Satou's reaction that snapped her out of her strange half-aware state.

"Why is Mimi sleeping in there?" She asked, her words completely in contrast with everyone else's more solemn air. "He should know better, come on, let's wake him up so we can eat!"

"What the fuck did you say, Bubblegum?" Hibiki asked, his voice sounding almost dead, as if he couldn't feel anything at all.

"Satou…you shouldn't say things like that." Ren quietly chastised, looking shaken and so, so scared.

"But he's just sleeping, come on, it's not that big of a deal!" Satou shook her head, as if everything in the world was fine.

Everything was not fine.

The scraping of a knife drew everyone's attention and they all turned only to find Chiasa picking up one of the knives that were hung on the wall. She then turned and walked straight towards Satou and the giant tank behind her.

"Chiasa, don't!" Fuwari cried out, sounding scared of what the huntress would do.

But the huntress only said one word.

"Move."

Satou had barely stepped a millimeter to the left when Chiasa threw the knife directly at the tank.

The blade struck the glass, which fractured from the force of the weapon…before it completely shattered and the water, the fish and Michi all washed into the room.

"Heeeeeeeey! I was gonna do that!" Monokuma whined as he entered the room, causing Jordan to jump at least a meter into the air.

"Jesus, fuck!" He cried out in English instinctively. If this were any other situation, Maria might've laughed.

She did not laugh.

"Well, it looks like our dear Little Mermaid returned to sea foam before anyone else! Puhu, and it looks like it hurt too! I wonder how they did it…shall we find out?" Monokuma grinned before he walked over to Michi's body and held his scepter over him. "By the might of my goddess, show me the end to the Little Mermaid's fairy tale!"

The scepter glowed a dark, blood colored red and in a flash of light, a scroll appeared on the ground next to Michi's soaked body.

Monokuma bent down and picked it up, glancing at it for a moment before he went around the room and handed one to each student, most of them still too numb to react.

Maria wasn't even going to argue with the fact that apparently the scroll was duplicating again and again until everyone had a copy.

She looked down at the scroll and almost sobbed when she saw the perfect replication of Michi's corpse in the tank right at the top.

Right below it, the most basic information was listed, as if Michi could ever be explained in a series of numbers and letters.

Maria couldn't look at it yet, so she rolled the scroll up and turned back to the damn bear, who looked way too pleased with how silent they were all being.

"Allllllll righty! We're finally getting to the main event, so everyone give it your best shot! Ohhhhh, I'm so excited!" With a skip in his step, Monokuma turned and left them all there in the overwhelming silence.

All any of them could do was just stare at one another, both avoiding and glancing at Michi's body in turns.

Finally, Yoshi broke the silence.

"Alright…first, I want to apologize to all of you and to Takemichi specifically, for being unable to protect him." He said, bowing at his waist before he straightened up. "I shall strive to be a better leader going forward, to prevent such a tragedy from reoccurring."

"Yoshi, this isn't your fault." Fuwari shook her head, walking over and laying a gentle hand on the jeweler's arm.

"That's kind of you, Fuwari." Yoshi smiled before his expression turned grave. "But this isn't about me, this is about Takemichi. We must find his killer and get justice for his death."

"Agreed. Whatever happens, he deserves some peace." Jordan nodded in agreement.

"Ohhhhhhhhh no, if you think I'm getting involved with this, you are all absolutely insane!" Irusu screamed, glaring at them all. "I refuse to be part of this twisted game and remain here for a second longer!"

With that, he turned and marched out the door.

"Player Irusu, wait!" Arisu cried out, turning towards the door before she looked back at the group at large. "Tori and I will go after him, try to get him to participate in this lame game. After that, we'll go investigate too!"

"R-right…" Tori nodded, avoiding glancing at Michi's body entirely. She was as pale as a ghost, her body trembling like a leaf.

With gentle hands, Arisu guided Tori out of the Talent Room and back into the Palace at large.

That left the remaining fourteen living classmates alone with Michi's body and still a bit unsure of what to do next.

"Well…now what?" Chia quietly asked, looking lost and scared.

"Now we investigate!" Satou cried out way too loudly. "Fae and I will go on the catwalks up there to get a better view, Chiasa-"

"I will guard the crime scene." Chiasa stated, her voice leaving no room for argument.

Hibiki followed her towards Michi's body and dropped down beside him without a word, simply sitting there and staring at his closest companion's body.

"I would like a chance to investigate his body." Rosamie added.

"Alright, then the rest of you go check wherever before Monokuma calls the time!" Satou smiled. "Annnnnnnnnd break!"

With that, the executive producer grabbed Fuwari's wrist and dragged her off towards the ladders to the catwalks.

Maria stared quietly after them before she once again unrolled the scroll, showing Michi's autopsy with the words 'Monokuma File' printed on the top.

Her body was ice cold, but she read on.

Monokuma File #1: Takemichi Goro

Information:

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 168 lbs.

Blood: O+

Birthday: July 28th

Cause of Death:

The victim is the Little Mermaid, Takemichi Goro.

The body was discovered inside the Little Mermaid Talent Room.

The estimated time of death is believed to be midnight.

He suffered from crushing of his vocal chords, blunt force trauma to his head and bites from various poisonous fish.

Official Cause of Death:

"I guess that's all. What a shitty autopsy." Nat scoffed as they folded their scroll back up, then turned away to investigate with a huff.

Everyone else seemed to kind of…float as they all individually tried to figure out what to do, where to start.

"Maria?"

At the sound of her name, Maria turned only to see Sayuri approaching her.

Sayuri…was walking.

"Sayuri! Your leg!" Maria cried, rushing towards the singer, who gave a small smile, tinged with sadness.

"Yes. It…it seems that when you, Hibiki and Chiasa discovered Michi-chan's body…my curse was removed. I imagine it was the same for Ari and Robin as well." Sayuri confirmed.

"I see…" Maria trailed off, before she blinked and refocused. "Anyway, you wanted to ask me something?"

"Yes. I was wondering if you would like to investigate together?" Sayuri sounded so hesitant, shrugging a little unsurely as she offered.

Maria smiled.

"I'd like that." She agreed. But before she could say anything else, something occurred to her. "Wait…the motive. Monokuma mentioned two people would be cursed each day without a death, right?"

"Yes, that's true." Sayuri nodded, placing a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "But…I was the only one yesterday, was I not?"

"Yeah, you were…but that doesn't make sense." Maria furrowed her brow. "Unless whoever was the fourth cursed person just…never told us."

"Or planned to kill Michi-chan to break it…" Sayuri whispered, her voice soft as if she hoped no one would hear.

Feeling sympathy for the singer, Maria didn't acknowledge the words, just simply nodded even as she kept the fact that there was a missing cursed person in the back of her mind.

"Should we go check…Michi-chan's body then?" The ballet dancer suggested instead. Sayuri's smile was shaky, but she nodded her agreement.

"Lead the way."

The two made their way over and found Hibiki and Chiasa where they'd last seen the two. Chiasa was still standing guard, watching closely, while Hibiki was still just staring at Michi.

Maria…couldn't bring herself to talk to him. He needed the time to grieve.

Rosamie, on the other hand, was carefully examining Michi's body and seemed…confused.

"How fascinating…" She muttered to herself.

"Did you find something?" Maria asked, curious as she glanced over Michi as well, trying not to flinch or burst into tears.

He was so pale and covered from head to toe in water. The fish bites were obvious now that he was out of the tank, as were all the props that were tangled around his body, which would've prevented him from swimming for air…if he was even still alive then. The floor was sprinkled with blood, presumably from his head wound, and his right hand looked…clenched almost, as if he had held something in it. There was also a stain on his chest, blood from the looks of it. Beside Michi was a dead fish, which was surprising considering the fish that Chiasa had freed were all still flopping around, alive.

How did that one die then…?

"I read over his autopsy," Rosamie said. "and I find it fascinating that it mentions his vocal chords are crushed, yet I find no evidence of an outer wound on his neck."

"Oh, you're right!" Sayuri gasped as she looked. "The prop strings aren't tight enough to have caused it and there's no bleeding from his neck!"

"Exactly, so what could have caused such a wound." Rosamie hummed.

"That's really strange…an injury like that would be difficult to miss, wouldn't it?" Maria asked.

"From my experience as a midwife, wounds are always obvious, even if it's just a bruise due to blood under the skin." Rosamie explained, pushing her glasses up slightly. "Simply fascinating…what other possible conundrums are you hiding, hm?"

"We'll…leave you to it then." Sayuri smiled slightly, carefully pulling Maria away from the three surrounding Michi's body.

"Probably a good idea…" Maria mused to herself as she slipped from Sayuri's grip and turned to make her way towards the catwalk only to run straight into a much taller figure. Instinctively, her hand landed on the person's chest and pushed.

"Whoa!" Jordan cried out a second before he fell to the ground.

"Jordan!" Maria gasped. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you, are you okay?" Her words were a mish mash of Japanese and Russian, her hands gesturing almost wildly as she spoke.

"I'm okay, if that's what you're asking." Jordan chuckled weakly as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"Are you sure? That looked like quite a fall." Sayuri asked in concern, reaching out a hand in case the drag artist needed a steadying grasp.

"Nope, I'm all set." Jordan reassured. "Though…I really wish today could've gone differently."

"Yeah…we were supposed to have a lot of fun…" Maria trailed off, remembering the plans the two had formed just the day before. Had it only been yesterday? It felt like months had passed since then.

"There'll be other times. And I'm sure Michi-chan is gonna be watching from wherever he is." Jordan said, reaching out a hand to squeeze Maria's shoulder.

"Yeah! We…we can d-dedicate our performance to him when we do it!" Chia joined in eagerly, looking almost desperate for something lighter than the memory the room they were in would no doubt be haunted by. "I…I think he'd like that."

"He most certainly would." Sayuri nodded in agreement.

"Yeah…" Maria trailed off, her heart aching and tears stinging her eyes.

"Um…I'm not sure if this is important…" Robin suddenly spoke up as he stepped closer to the two. "But…I saw Michi-chan running around a lot of last night. I don't know everyone he visited but…he seemed excited."

"He was meeting with someone?" Jordan raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Or he was s-surprising them maybe?" Chia suggested.

"And it ended like this…" Sayuri whispered, looking remorseful and lost.

Maria bit her lip, unable to think of what to say.

Thankfully, however, she was distracted by other voices.

"I told you, I spent my night in bed after I said good night to Maria and Sayuri, you saw me!" Ren was insisting near the catwalk ladders. Yoshi was standing beside him, while Satou had a notepad out and was staring at him suspiciously. Fuwari, behind Satou, just looked lost.

"You say that, but how do we know you really went to bed? It was only 8pm according to our clocks, after all." Satou hummed.

"I think we should believe him. After all, most of us were in bed when this happened, I have no doubt." Yoshi stated.

"Most, yes, but not all and we'll never find our killer if we go around without doubting anyone!" Satou insisted.

"St-still…this seems a bit much." Fuwari stuttered nervously.

"It is never enough for the truth!" Satou cried, her voice loud and grandiose. She then set her eyes on Maria's group and ran over. "You! Where were all of you last night?"

One by one, Maria, Sayuri, Jordan, Chia and Robin all confirmed they were in bed. Satou looked ready to interrogate them further when Ren stepped forward.

"Now, now, there's not a lot of time and debating with everyone on where they were is going to take a lot of it, do you see?" He said, his voice pacifying.

"True…I still need to talk to a lot of people." Satou hummed. "Alright, you're off the hook for now. Fae, let's go!"

"S-Satou, wait!" Fuwari cried out and chased after her friend as she ran towards Michi's body.

"No running, you're going to trip!" Yoshi scolded as he followed after the two girls.

Ren simply sighed in relief.

"That could've gone worse." He smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry I couldn't intervene sooner."

"We should be sorry for not helping you." Maria protested.

"Yes. Are you alright, Ren? Things seemed…tense before." Sayuri added, concerned.

"I'm okay, I promise." Ren smiled. It fell a moment later though. "Or at least, I will be, I hope. Once this mess is solved."

"Don't we all…" Jordan smiled bitterly in agreement.

"Did…did you find anything?" Robin asked, curious.

"Actually I did, yeah." Ren nodded, before he gestured for them all to follow him. They did so and watched as he pointed up at the ceiling, and the catwalks attached to it. "It's a bit difficult to see, but…right there. I think that's where Michi-chan hit his head."

And it was a reasonable deduction to make. The catwalk was right above the tank Michi had been in and was close enough to one below it that, were Michi to fall over the edge, his head would have no doubt hit the catwalk above it.

And, of course, there was also the blood that stained the edge of the catwalk.

"Well, that's one mystery s-solved at l-least." Chia tried to smile.

"It's something, yeah…" Maria trailed off, thoughtfully.

"Perhaps we should go find Ari and Tori then? I don't see anything else here we can investigate." Sayuri suggested.

"That's a good idea. And…I guess we'll all meet back up at the trial then?" Maria tried to smile at the others. At the same time, she glanced around to make sure nobody else had come in. But it seemed that Akihito had vanished at some point as well, possibly having followed Nat's lead in investigating alone.

"We'll see you there." Ren confirmed with a shaky smile.

With one last shaky smile amongst them, Maria and Sayuri left Michi's Talent Room behind and instead made their way towards the gallery instead.

Sure enough, Arisu and Tori were inside. And as soon as they entered, Arisu frantically waved the two girls over.

"Come see, hurry!" She insisted. Tori's eyes never left the painting they were staring at.

So Maria and Sayuri ran over to them as fast as they could…and gasped when they saw the portrait.

Because it wasn't the portrait of Monokuma, oh no.

The four girls were staring at a portrait of Michi.

Specifically, Michi was bare chested and his legs were replaced with a sea green tail that ended in sea foam green fins. He was supporting his upper body on a large pointed rock and his red hair was blowing in the wind as a wave crashed into the rock behind him. Surrounding his hands on the rock were all sorts of shells and trinkets. In the water at the rock's base, fish, dolphins and even seagulls all stared up at Michi with bright eyes.

And resting right on top of Michi's right hand was a yellow duckling.

The portrait was beautiful, lifelike…and haunting considering what it now confirmed.

"When we die…a portrait of us as our assigned roles appears." Tori whispered, her voice filled with horror.

"It's like he's mocking us and everyone who he expects to die!" Arisu raged, clearly furious. She waved her arms around as she spoke, and Maria couldn't help but notice the red stains littering her arms and fingers.

"It's so cruel…" Sayuri whispered, lifting a hand to cover her mouth delicately.

"He's a monster." Maria growled, clenching her fists tightly enough that she could feel her fingernails digging into her palms. "We won't play his game like he wants…not if there's a way out of here."

"And there's always a way out…" Sayuri whispered, as if she were trying to convince herself as well as the others.

"Well I sure hope so, cause this is the worst game ever. And I hosted the worst Street Fighter tournament ever! They kept ending in ties and nobody ever won! It almost never ended!" Arisu groaned, her liveliness dragging everyone else's eyes away.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad…" Tori trailed off, seeming to barely stifle the smallest giggle as Arisu pointed at her with a pout.

"It took five days of very little sleep to finish." She deadpanned. Maria shivered at just how flat the game host's voice sounded in that moment.

"Say, Ari…" Maria quietly cut in. "I was just wondering, what happened to your arms?"

"Oh, this?" Arisu glanced down at her arms in curiosity. "Tori and I spent some time painting last night! I finger painted, though I don't know what Tori used. Anyway, I tried to wash it off, but I guess I missed some. Oops?"

"Oh, well maybe I can help you wash it off before the trial starts?" Sayuri offered.

"Really? That'd be great, it's really itchy!" Arisu smiled. "Come on, Tori and I will show you my room! Maybe you can help get Irusu out too, he wouldn't come out for us! Kept yelling at us to go away."

"Alright. I'll see you later, Maria?" Sayuri smiled slightly.

"Yeah, see you." The ballet dancer confirmed. And so the other three were off, leaving Maria in that haunting gallery.

With a shiver, and not a single glance back, she made her way out and firmly shut the doors behind her.

That only left Akihito and Nat missing since they'd been given the Monokuma File. Figuring she should also check out Michi's room, just in case, Maria made her way back towards their rooms.

Once she reached the hallway, she found Akihito stepping out of Michi's room, with a furrowed brow.

"Did you find something, Akihito-kun?" Maria questioned.

"Sort of…" Akihito trailed off. He gestured to Michi's room and Maria entered, curious.

Inside, Michi's room looked as if it were underwater, with the floor resembling the seabed and the walls looking like the water, with the floor having rocks and coral near the walls. The walls also had purple shell emblems, similar to the apples that marked Maria's own room. Michi's bed, on the other hand, was shaped like a seashell with a seaweed shaped blanket. He even had a wardrobe that looked as if it had been underwater for quite some time, yet when Maria opened it, it opened smoothly.

She checked every nook and cranny she could find, but there didn't seem to be anything out of place.

"What's going on, Akihito-kun?" Maria sighed, now thoroughly confused. "There's nothing here."

"Exactly. But a lot of other rooms have had items stolen from them." Akihito stated. Instantly, Maria's spine straightened.

"Wait, what?" She gaped. The track and field star nodded in confirmation.

"I checked, cause I noticed when I went to my room that there was something missing." He explained. "Not everyone, but enough that it's weird."

"So someone stole stuff from a lot of rooms…but not Michi-chan's?" Maria summed up. Akihito nodded in confirmation. "And it wasn't you?" She asked, just to be sure.

"No! Of course not!" Akihito protested. "I'm a kleptomaniac, not a thief, there's a difference!"

"Uh huh…" Maria nodded, her voice sarcastic, though she sobered up right after. "Do you suspect the killer then?"

"I don't know who to suspect, but…" Akihito paused before he continued. "since I've been here, nobody but me has gone in."

"You haven't seen Nat? Or Irusu?" Maria questioned, just to be sure.

"Nat's just vanished. And Irusu has been locked up this whole time in his room." Akihito confirmed.

"That's…really strange…where'd they go then?" The ballet dancer muttered, confused. She stepped out of Michi's room and glanced up, only to find Nat stepping out of their room right down the hall.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Nat glared at the two.

"Nothing, we were just wondering where you were." Maria tried to smile. Nat just rolled their eyes.

"Just checking my shit, making sure that little bastard there didn't swipe anything." The historian answered, turning their nose up haughtily. "You done with your little interrogation now?"

"I would never steal, you guys have to stop saying that!" Akihito whined dramatically, probably trying to lighten the mood.

Maria elbowed him for his troubles.

Just then, a bell rang out and the nearby TV flickered to life.

"Here ye, here ye! Your king has an announcement to make!" Monokuma's voice announced quite joyfully as he appeared on screen. "It is now time for the moment you have all been waiting for! It's time for the Court Trial! Again, as this is a formal event, I expect everyone to be dressed their best and arrive on time! And if you're not, well, let's just say I have ways of making sure you are. Puhuhuhu…oh, I'm so excited, it feels like I've been waiting for this moment for 10 months now! Ahem! When you're all properly ready, please head to the red velvet doors to enter the courtroom! See you really soon, puhu!"

With those final words, the screen shut off.

Before Maria even had a chance to feel the soul sucking terror that was beginning to grip her body like ice, the hands belonging to the ever silent servants shot out and pulled her far away from Akihito and towards her own room.

She could hear Nat cussing the ones grabbing them out all the way down the hall, while Akihito was attempting to joke around with the ones grabbing him.

They all had their own ways to cope. And now she just had to survive these servants getting her ready once more…all so she could survive the deadly trial up ahead.