"W-wait!" A startled Ishimaru yelled as he quickly speedwalked out into the hallway, trying not to show his embarrassment. How could he have missed the sign on the door?

Kirigiri was nowhere to be seen, the same for the other students. "Where did th-"

Ishimaru was cut off by the sound of a door inching open, creaking as if it had been used thoroughly. He looked to his left with his one working eye, trying not to let the pain make him wince, and saw a door he had never seen open before. Before then Ishimaru had simply presumed it let to an off-limits area, and being a model student did not venture to open it... until now.

The poor broken boy took a deep breath before slowly walking up to the door that had opened so noisily, and stared into the room before him, careful not to let anyone see him doing so. He would have liked nothing more than to uphold his clean reputation, yet for some reason, the room seemed to pull him in, as if enticing him to come closer, to see what secrets lay inside. Although he knew such things were impossible.

All he could see was an empty darkness, not a clue, no people and absolutely nothing of use to him, after all, what use was darkness?

Ishimaru stepped cautiously closer and poked his head through the door to double check, proceeding in him tripping and falling into the ominous room with a Thud.

*Click*

Ishimaru opened his ruby eyes and immodestly closed them again. The whole room was suddenly lit up with a fantastically bright red glow, one that was as unsettling as it was distasteful. "What is this place?" Ishimaru coughed as he stood up, clutching his pulsating left eye. His question was soon answered by a machine starting up just in front of him, and speaking three fateful words as clear as day.

"It's punishment time!"

Those words struck Ishimaru like a blade, sliced through his core, penetrated his soul with cruel indifference. They were the words that killed Leon... and the words that killed his brother.

"Why?!"

They were more than just words to Ishimaru, they were things that pulled the painful memories of Mondo out of him and smashed him over the head with them repeatedly, things that he had hoped he would never have to endure again... he didn't know how he would be able to endure it all. In fact... he couldn't even endure it now.

Ishimaru's bloodshot eyes opened wide as he grasped at his neck, choking and spluttering, tears running down his cheeks and splattering the floor with a mixture of water and diluted blood. And at that moment, he opened his mouth and screamed as loud as his lungs would allow, crimson flames bursting from his eyes in a sudden spout.

He heard footsteps. They were coming closer and closer to the room. Closer and closer and-

Ishimaru briskly ran over to the door, and pushed it shut with all his might.

He couldn't let the others see this. it would surely drive them to madness, to catch even a glimpse of what he had so unfortunately discovered. It was something most vile, something that made his heart pound in his chest and his face turn into a deathly white.

What he saw was simple, yet sickening.

Behind a thick sheet of glass before him was strange equipment that was all too familiar.

A baseball dispenser. A stunt cage.

but there was more as well, weapons and objects that Ishimaru was sure he had seen before, yet he was sure he had never seen them in his life. The floor was stained with blood, the walls hung with portraits of someone clutching a monokuma doll, someone that he recognised extremely well.

It was none other than himself.

What was this strange feeling he was experiencing? It could not be described as anything more than seething pain, torture...

Despair. Sweet Despair.