Danganronpa

Despair Overdrive

Prologue one

Hope is an empty casket

AN: hi guys and welcome to the new killing school semester! This chapter may be a bit awkward and short but I would really appreciate your opinion on it! I'm not really used to writing like this so it should be fun for everyone! Also special mention to OnlyTruePotterhead for their character, Hideki, who I've decided to make the protagonist of the story as I really liked the concept and you'll see what I mean in later chapters. Once agin thanks a lot and..

enjoy!

-SSAM

I've never seen anything like this in my life. How can so much destruction occur in a matter of seconds?

The once proud standing Hope's Peak Academy, the place where only the best of the best students around the world would be invited to hone their talents to heights beyond any averages, was levelled to the ground, blasted into rubble and ash. And I had witnessed it with my own eyes as I was about to walk through the gates.

Hope's Peak had always been my dream school ever since I was a kid. I mean, it was everyone's. Imagine the kinds of things these students could do... imagine the freedom, the recognition and the respect it would grant upon anyone who entered into the halls to begin with.

A year ago, I received the letter of acceptance into Hope's Peak through the letterbox and my life hasn't been the same since. I had been super anxious about what was going to happen there, who I was going to meet and how I was going to survive without my family for 12 months but overall I was actually happily surprised to have been accepted. I mean, most of the alumni of the acedemy, who are now household names around the country, are characters famous for their... well, character. You know, the aggressive and threatening gang members or grumpy, sarcastic magicians or even just plain creeps like that Teruteru guy. I'm none of those things. Apart from my talent I'm a stereotypical shy student that you wouldn't think would be of any use to anyone. And to most, I fit that description perfectly, being the Ultimate Apothecary and all.

Hideki Takenaka: Ultimate Apothecary

Age 16

Likes: quiet, reading, rosemary, pomegranate, family and the smell of freshly cut wood

Dislikes: spiders, rap music, cursing, bullying, Greek yogurt and burnt rubber

Sounds erupted from the rubble, and I slowly backed away as a large metal pillar rose up, with a medium sized box on top, shuddering and twitching. There seemed to be a voice coming from it, a scratchy holler similar to a cartoon villain.

"HEY! LET ME OUTTA HERE! I GOTTA PEE! TEN YEARS OF SLEEP REALLY TAKES A TOLL ON BLADDER CONTROL... hey, that rhymes!"

The box rattles and rattles, until it pops unceremoniously open. The events after this moment, no matter how odd they seem, are all true events that truly have occurred. I'm not lying when I say that I did scream when I saw this thing.

It's a...a...

"What? Ain't never seen a bear before? Kids these days, huh?" The small, monocrome creature muttered, jumping off the pillar and walking towards the rubble, kicking a piece of cement a good few yards away. "Eh, never liked this building anyway," he uttered. He was about waist height, with a scar covering his left eye. Was it a scar? It wasn't unlike anything I'd ever seen before.

"W-who are you?!' I tried to not sound too scared, but deep down I wanted to hide behind the pillar forever.

"Ohhhhh, do you not remember? Puhuhu!"

"Remember what?!"

"The whole remnant of despair thing?"

"Remnant of what?"

"Ah. The names Monokuma. You good now, you're up to date. Now come on, kid. You're late."

"L-late?"

"Yeah! Everyone down there is itchin' to meet'cha!"

"Who? There's actual PEOPLE here? Where?"

"But of course! As if I'm gonna start class with no class! Jesus, for an ultimate you're ultimately stupid. As for where, follow the leader,"

He tugged the bottom of my cargo pants and led me down to the center of the rubbish. There was a gaping hole in the ground, and there seemed to be light at the bottom. But... it was pretty high.

"What are you waiting for? Jump already, we don't have all day!" Monokuma was tapping his paw inpatiently on the floor.

"Are you insane?!" Was I actually gonna jump this? What happened to the whole Hope's Peak plan? Why was I listening to an anthropomorphic bear with bladder issues?!

"Yip."

And he pushed me into the hole.