Chapter 1: Me and You, Surviving Everlasting (Daily Life)

Walking into the next room was nothing special. This new room was just as white and plain, maybe even plainer. This time, nothing but an intercom on the ceiling was in the room, not even another door.

Speaking of door, the moment I walked in, the one behind us slammed shut!

"What the hell?!" Haru yelled, immediately rushing over to the door. He banged on it, but nothing happened.

All hell broke loose once everyone realized what was happening: we were trapped inside! The quiet and calmness of our group had completely been thrown out the window as people started to bump into each other, running their hands along the walls to look for an exit and expressing their panic.

"What the hell?!"

"Let me out of here!"

"Where's the door?!"

Everyone started banging on the walls, yelling "Let us out!".

I helplessly watched, feeling trapped and overwhelmed. I sank to the floor and buried my head in my knees.

"Setsuna?" I recognized Yoshiharu's voice and looked up to see him kneeling next to me. "Are you good, homes?"

"Uh, yea-" Before I could reply, a quick, loud noise sounded from the opposite end of the room. When I looked in the direction it came from, I saw Haru with his fist connected with the wall.

"Haru!" Michie ran over to his location and grabbed his hand. It was then I noticed his hand was covered in crimson red blood, and his fingers looked like they were limp.

"You broke your hand..." Magane sighed. "How careless..."

"Whatever, I don't give a damn!" Haru jerked himself away from Michie and glanced at the ground.

The spot on the wall that Haru punched was slightly dented and had a little blood on it.

A buzzing noise rang out and a generic female announcer spoke. "Damaging property in the Hope's Peak Practice Building is forbidden. Please refrain from doing so again."

"Hey Siri, is that you?!" Zato called excitedly (or perhaps he was joking). He got no response, of course...

"So what," Shion frowned. "This is the Hope's Peak Practice Building?"

That is what the woman said...If she's telling the truth, the Practice Building is just this 20 x 20 foot room.

As I looked around, no one looked surprised. Everyone's faces bore dejected, defeated expressions.

Haru continued to stare at the ground, his face red with rage. Michie looked hopelessly at him and his injured hand.

"Guys..." I frowned. I too felt defeated after everything that's happened, but moping around won't do us any good.

"I know that the situation we're in is less than perfect," I admitted. "But we can't give up!"

"Give up on what?" Aya crossed her arms. "Leaving here? I think being trapped in this room seals our fate."

"Yeah and, uh, 'Fight Night' and J.A.R.V.I.S. over here aren't exactly filling me with hope right now." Puck rolled his eyes, pointing to the silent Haru and the intercom.

"That kind of negative attitude is what Monokuma wants, to start the killing game." I frowned. "We need to put our heads together instead of mindlessly banging on the walls!"

...

...

...

I nervously chuckled. "Uh, was that too harsh?"

"No, you're right Setsuna!" Tomoe smiled. "Plus, by actually using our heads, we won't get hurt!"

"U-Um, I second t-that!" Toshi quickly said, tugging at his scarf and narrowing his eyes.

"Inari would say the same, Setsuna!" Tomomi beamed.

"Uh yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Matthew nodded with a hint of a smile. "I just want out of here ASAP, to be honest with you..."

Slowly, I felt the mood in the room become brighter, as more and more people agreed to use our mind rather than body to find a way to escape. Of course, some were less vocal than others, but I could tell by their expressions that they agreed.

I nodded my head, smiling. "Alright! So-" Once again, I am interrupted by a loud sound.

It was the same buzzing sound from earlier, when the lady spoke.

"The...23...participants have solved the mystery of the room with no doors. Participant...Setsuna Arai...is the winner of this challenge and will receive...an advantage in the upcoming challenge. Now opening floor."

Before anyone could even think anything, the floor opened up beneath us, and we plummeted into a dark void.

"Is...is everyone OK?" Everything was still dark, but we appeared to be on solid ground. I felt fine, but the silence of my fellow 'participants' scared me a little.

"Uh...what just happened?" I recognized Matthew's voice, a little shaky. I couldn't blame him, seeing at what just occurred.

Participants? The mystery of the room with no doors? Me? The 'winner of the challenge'? Also, where the hell are we?!

As if the lights read my thoughts, they turned on to reveal our gorgeous surroundings.

We were in a rather large, well-lit room, laying on top of a trampoline built into the floor. Although the room was just as white as the other rooms we've been in so far, this room had greenery everywhere. From vines on the walls to cherry blossom trees and bamboo, the room looked beautiful, even with the glossy white floor.

Best of all, the room has a door!

"Let's not get our hopes us, the door is probably locked..." Chiharu sighed.

"We wake up in here, and that's the first thing you say?" Jao chuckles. Chiharu shrugs.

"What is this place?" Puck asked. "It's hideous."

"Maybe...this is one of the rooms in the real Hope's Peak Practice Building?" Kinuya suggested.

"I believe so." Izumi nodded. "That woman referred to the room we were in previously as a 'challenge', so I don't believe that was actually the whole Practice Building."

"We won't find out by standing around," Noriko stated. "Let's go."

I observed the room more, and even though it was beautiful-nothing in here stood out as important. Noriko is right; we have to keep moving.

We all stood up from the trampoline and made our way to the door. Noriko grasped the knob, and slowly moved it. To our relief, it turned.

Noriko opened the door fully, and we ended up in a huge, foyer type room. There was a spiral staircase in the middle, leading to a supposed 2nd floor, and three wide hallways. On the walls were various contemporary paintings, adding color to the otherwise blank room. There was also glass chairs against the wall, that looked like they belonged in the waiting room of a fashion designer's office.

"Great, even more places to explore..." Kaz grumbled.

"Well, yeah. This wouldn't be a killing game without a bunch of places to get 'inspiration' from." Matsuda sighed.

"Well, we can look at it that way, or look at it as more places to find an escape." I suggested.

"Or more places to set fire to!" Hiru giggled. "I'm all fired up!"

"...Yeah, no." I said.

"Soooo, we need a plan..." Yoshiharu scratched his head in thought.

A plan...Ugh, she could probably help, I guess...

"Hikari..." I sighed. "Do...Do you have any ideas?"

"Ideas?" Hikari repeated. "Hmm..."

"Well there are four places to explore, the three hallways and the second floor, so that means we should make four groups; three groups of 6 and one group of 5, to explore each of the places. And while I've been saying this, I've already come up with the groups:

The first group will consist of, myself, Puck, Aya, Shinya, Noriko, and Setsuna.

The second group will consist of, Yoshiharu , Kazuko , Matthew , Tomomi, and Jao.

The third group will consist of, Shion, Hiru , Tomoe, Chiharu, Izumi, and Toshi.

The fourth and final group will consist of, Michie, Zato, Haru, Kinuya, Matsuda, and Magane.

Any objections? None? Good."

Well, that was quick...I raised a brow at some of the groups. Me and Hikari and Puck in the same group? Sounds fun...

"W-wait-" Toshi tried to speak, but Hikari was in tactic mode.

"The first group will take the middle hallway, the second group will take the second floor, the third group will take the leftmost hallway and the fourth group will take the rightmost hallway. Let's go." She finished. Without saying anything else, she began to walk down the middle hallway.

"Uh, I guess that's that." Jao chuckled.

"While I don't appreciate being forced into a group, we should start moving." Kaz said.

"If we have to..." Shion grumbled, her arms crossed. "Fuck authority..." She muttered.

"I'm sure we'll find something of importance!" Kinuya smiled.

"You're getting your hopes up..." Chiharu mumbled.

"I'll do the best I can to tell you all what we find considering my situation..." Matsuda sighed, writing something in his notebook.

"I will do my best to support you all from this chair." Magane pat the arms of her wheelchair.

"Ooo, maybe we'll find something flammable!" Hiru giggled.

"You all know we're probably not going to find something, right?" Puck shook his head.

"Whatever happens, don't worry!" Tomoe beamed. "I'm here to protect you!"

"Let's find a way out of here, everyone!" I smiled.

Everyone split off into their different groups to explore their assigned areas.

I realized that not only is my group filled with two of my 'favorite' people here, the two other people in my group aren't exactly the most talkative or friendliest.

We walked in silence down the hallway, which seemed to stretch on forever. At last, we came to a dead end- a large room with two colossal doors on the far wall.

Also in the room is those same glass chairs as in the foyer type room, and a large blank TV on the left wall.

"Let's try these doors." I suggested.

"No shit, Sunset." Puck scoffed, already going for the door.

But the moment he touches it, he screams and violently shakes, quickly backing away.

"Puck?!" I rush over to him.

His expression is dazed and for once, he's quiet. "What the hell happened?"

Shinya looked at the door for a moment, before digging his hand into his pocket. He took off the piece of paper he took and ripped off a piece. Then, he threw it at the door. It burst into flames!

"He got electrocuted." Shinya deduced, stomping on the piece of paper.

Buzz. "Attention. Please refrain from touching the...First...Challenge Room door before the First Challenge commences."

"Challenge room?" I frowned.

"The woman did say, earlier, something about a challenge." Noriko pointed out.

"...I think this may be related to the extra component of the Killing School Experiment Monokuma was talking about." Aya suggested.

Hikari looked at the door in thought. "That's why he's trying to keep it secret..."

"So what?" I scoffed. "We didn't find anything and Puck gets electrocuted?!"

"We didn't come out empty handed, Setsuna." Hikari claimed.

"Correct. Now, we know that Monokuma is planning something." Noriko added.

"Something big and probably dangerous." Aya muttered.

"But why?" I frowned. "What is the point of this?"

"That's a question we won't get the answer to for a while." Aya admits.

"...Whatever," I shake my head. "Let's just get out of here..."

I lead the confused Puck out of the Challenge Area and start to go back down the hallway.

I notice his hand looks slightly burnt, but he otherwise seems to be breathing fine. I wanted to slap myself from being concerned about someone like him...

But I couldn't help myself, it's just the type of person I am. And so, I walked, hand-in-hand, with Puck back to the foyer, hoping that Noriko, Aya, and Hikari won't mention this to anyone.

At last, we arrived at the empty foyer. Of course, we're the first group back; all we discovered was a locked door and something about a "Challenge".

We stood in silence for what seemed like forever, until it got too much for me.

Hmm...you know what? I probably could get away with seeing what one of the other groups are up to...But which one?

DECIDE!: During DECIDE! segments, Setsuna will have to decide what choice to make from what she is given. In reality, this is me, the all-powerful and mysterious narrator, using a special technique to randomly pick a decision for her to 'steer' her in the right direction.

Most of the time, these decisions will effect Setsuna's Distrust meter, which we'll get into later. That's all for now, toodles!

DECIDE!

-Second Group

-Third Group

-Fourth Group

Hm...

...

...

...

I think I'll check up on the second group.

"Um, I'm just going to see what the other group is up to..." I discreetly said, slowly setting Puck onto a chair and walking up the stairs.

Turning around, Noriko, Aya, and Hikari didn't seem to care as they lounged in chairs, staring off into space.

What awaited me at the top of the stairs was nothing but a landing with a plain white door at the end.

I cautiously approached the door, in fear that what happened to Puck would happen to me.

...Luckily, I managed to touch and turn the doorknob without even the slightest bit of electricity being sent coursing through my body.

The room inside was way bigger than I imagined. It was a round room, one floor, with 23 doors arranged in a circular fashion. Of course, this room was just as plain and white as the others, however, there seemed to be a sign on each of the doors. Unfortunately, my vision isn't exactly the best. The only other thing in the room was, of course, the members of the group sent to investigate it.

"Homie Setsuna, what are you doing here?" Yoshiharu spotted me almost right away and approached me.

"Er, our group's investigation ended a little early." I nervously giggled. "What is this place?"

"It's a dormitory," Yoshiharu led me to one of the doors and I finally saw what was written on the sign; Matthew Portman.

Looking around, I realized that every door bore a different name. He was right, this is probably where we're supposed to stay.

"Ugh," I shivered, backing away. "I don't want to even think about spending a night in here."

Yoshiharu nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't sound very cool, huh? But, at least we know that we'll be pretty safe."

"Pretty safe?" I questioned. "What do you mean?"

"Watch this!" Yoshiharu quickly walked over to a door across the room. Catching up with him, I discovered it was his own. "Alright, try to open it."

I did as I was told, and turned the knob. But no matter how hard I wiggled, pushed, or pulled, the thing wouldn't open! "It must need a key or something!"

"No, no, no," Yoshiharu chuckled. This time, he turned the knob. And it opened!

"W-wh-what?!" My eyes widened as I watched Yoshiharu close and open the door again and again. But when I tried again, it wouldn't open.

"Pretty rad, right?" He smirked. "We tested it on all the doors. The door won't open if the person turning it isn't you."

"Huh, that is pretty rad." I nodded with a smile.

Yoshiharu smiled, a genuine, relaxed smile, and for the first time, I forgot about the unique situation that he, I, and everyone else are currently in. But, I kept my mouth shut and enjoyed living in the moment.

Yoshiharu is happy I agreed with him! +5 Trust

Yoshiharu-Setsuna: 10 Trust

Yoshiharu and I are now friends!

Distrust/Trust: The more a character likes Setsuna, the more they 'trust' Setsuna! Characters with a high trust relationship with Setsuna will defend her in various situations, be more willing to help out, and more accepting of what Setsuna has to say!

Alternatively, if a character reaches 0 trust with Setsuna , and Setsuna does things that make them dislike her even more, the Distrust meter will go into the negatives and they will then 'distrust' her, meaning they'll act hostile in class trials, are more likely to disagree with Setsuna, and will require more convincing of Setsuna's opinion than others! I'm leaving some stuff out but I'll explain later! You know you love me, XOXO.

Ways To Earn Trust: Spend time with characters, agree with characters, etc.

Ways To Earn Distrust: Disagree with characters, bad behavior, etc.

There are only 3 Trust opportunities per chapter, but an infinite amount of Distrust opportunities, so be wary!

"Aw man, looks like you won't have time to check out your room." Yoshiharu pointed to Tomomi who was pointing to the door, ushering us over. "That signal means it's time to go."

"That's OK, I'm anxious to hear what the other groups have to say." I admitted. "Maybe they found something important!"

We made our way out of the dormitory and went down the stairs.

When we arrived at the end of the stairs, we were met with the faces of the other two groups.

"What took you guys so long?" Shion frowned.

"W-we just g-got here..." Toshi whispered.

"Good to see everyone made it back OK." Michie smiled. I narrowed my eyes, remembering Puck.

Who, speaking of, was currently sitting in a chair, mumbling to himself as he observed his injured hand.

"Tch, are you forgetting that my hand if fucking broken?!" Haru glared. His hand seemed to be wrapped in something white. It kind of looked like a tablecloth.

"That's your own fault." Magane harshly quipped.

"Alright, alright, let's calm down," I nervously laughed. "Let's share what we found out."

I revealed what our group had found, leaving out the details of Puck being electrocuted and me taking him back to the foyer.

"Sounds cool!" Hiru nodded enthusiastically. "A fun challenge should be just the thing to get our spirits up! Maybe it'll involve fire!"

"Cool is not the word that comes to mind considering Monokuma is the one giving us the challenge..." Kinuya awkwardly chuckled.

"Regardless, there's nothing we can do until Monokuma says something." Izumi said.

And once again, we were left with no answers to Monokuma's 'extra component of the killing game'.

The 2nd group revealed the discovery of the dormitories, which was met with relative silence. No one wanted to spend the night here.

"Well if we are going to spend the night here, we'll be ready for the morning!" Tomoe said. "The third group discovered the dining hall!"

"Yup!" Hiru nodded. "The dining hall may be just as plain as the rest of this place, but there's more than enough space for all of us."

"Also, the kitchen seems to be well-stocked," Izumi revealed. "We won't have to worry about starving to death."

"There's no way we're staying here long enough to even think about starving to death!" Shion argued.

"I-it's just in case..." Toshi helplessly mumbled.

"And you never know..." Chiharu sighed. "We might be spending the rest of our lives here."

"It's not about living to die here, it's about living to survive until we can escape." Kinuya calmly said. "And the fourth group found something that will certainly help our need for recreation."

"Yeah!" Zato exclaimed. "Matsuda, tell them what we found!"

"Huh?" Matsuda jumps at the mention of his name. "What we found? What did we find?"

Magane looks at Matsuda with a face of sympathy and comes to his rescue. "We found several rooms with recreation activities."

"A swimming pool, arcade, and a full-length track, to be exact." Michie reveals.

"Wow, just how big is that hallway?" I gasped.

"You know what is is unexpectedly big?" A familiar voice giggled from behind.

We all know who the voice belonged to, but we still turned around in surprise, met with the sight of one Monokuma.

"Hey, kiddos!" He greeted.

"What do you want?" Kaz glared.

"Is that any way to greet your Proctor?!" Monokuma growled.

"...Proctor?" Izumi repeated.

"He's still going along with this 'challenge theme'?" Aya rolled her eyes.

"Of course!" Monokuma answered. "We paid a lot of money for the trademark!"

"What the hell do you want?!" Haru snapped.

"Fiiineee!" Monokuma crossed his arms. "I didn't know you'd all be so eager to hear about the first motive!"