A/N: Hello, dear readers, and welcome back to Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Ending. I'm your wonderful author, ultimate unkn0wn! I'm posting a chapter so soon after the previous one since that one is rather short. I didn't want to leave you all with just that! I do hope this chapter isn't too long, however... It seems I got a bit carried away. Let me know whether you think this length is good or if I should write only half this amount for each chapter in a comment below! (Do know, however, that I will never again write as short as I did with the first chapter.)

Here, we have the first part of the prologue. You may notice that I wrote the intros a bit interestingly. There are reasons for that. The first reason is, well, if I wrote every single introduction, this would become extremely long! What fun is there in reading a chapter filled with nothing but introductions? So, to prevent introduction spam, I condensed some of the introductions. The second reason is... For plot purposes. It may not be clear now, but the ones whose introductions were fully written out instead of summarized are important. They will have significant changes to the story.

Also, you may have notices that I changed some of the Ultimate Titles. Why? Simply because some of them flow terribly. I mean, really? "Ultimate Pop Sensation"? "Ultimate Writing Prodigy"? They're so long! I can sort of understand why, but for the sake of keeping a good flow, I changed them up. I'm sorry if this bothers anyone. If popular demand well, demands it, I can revert back to the original titles, but for now, please bear with me.

Next, I do use quite a few Japanese terms throughout the story, and that is because they have no English counterpart. So for the sake of accuracy, I left them as is. If you ever struggle to understand what they are, simply search for them online.

With all of that said, I hope you do enjoy this! The next chapter will feature our beloved mascot, Monokuma. Until then, stay tuned!

Disclaimer: I do not currently and never will own the Danganronpa series. I own only this story. All characters and dialogue taken from the series belong to Spike Chunsoft. Some dialogue taken from the series has been paraphrased and edited to fit the flow of the story.

Any words in bold refer to words or names that are regarded as important.

Any dialogue in italics and 'single quotation marks' are a character's thoughts.

Any dialogue in "double quotation marks" are spoken by a character out loud.

PROLOGUE Pt. I: Welcome to Despair 💀

The ticking of a clock was the first thing that permeated his senses as he drifted back to consciousness.

"...Nng?" he murmured, feeling rather disoriented and confused. He sleepily picked up his head, distantly noting that he was seated at a desk and had been lying his head on his arms. "Wh-What...? Where am I?"

'I woke up with my head resting on top of a hard wooden desk. My body feels...heavy. It's pretty normal for me to zonk off in the middle of some boring class or whatever, but... What was I doing asleep here just now? This isn't a classroom I've ever been in before,' the brunette thought. He glanced around blearily, barely managing to take in his surroundings.

"What the heck is going on...?" the boy said, scratching his head absentmindedly. From the looks of it, he was in an unfamiliar classroom with rather...flashy walls. His gaze traveled around the room before finally resting on something peculiar in the corner of the room.

"Is that...a surveillance camera?"

Sure enough, upon closer inspection, it was indeed a camera attached to the ceiling. The lens was focused on the door, as if to watch for any unwanted visitors. Still, the boy decided to pay it no heed. It was a dangerous world he lived in, after all. The camera was likely necessary to keep out intruders. So, he decided to see what else was in the classroom.

"What the heck...?"

But then, he noticed something even more peculiar than the camera. Where windows would lie in average classrooms, heavy-appearing metal plates were bolted over. The boy walked over to them and rapped his knuckles across the closest plate. The action elicited a hard BANG BANG noise, proof that the plates were indeed made of metal.

"Yup. Definitely metal. Thick, too. Very solid," he muttered to himself while nodding.

'Wait, that's not what matters here. More importantly, why are there metal plates over the windows?'

Glancing around the room once again, his eyes happened to come across the clock.

'Jeez, I can't believe it's already 8 o'clock. It was just after 7 when I first got here. Has it really been almost an hour since then?' he thought, somewhat startled at how quick the time had passed. He must have been asleep for that long... Yet, strangely enough, he didn't really remember ever falling asleep...

Ah, he was probably overthinking it.

To take his mind off of unnecessary things, the brunette continued to examine the room. In the other corner of the classroom, he noticed a TV monitor mounted on the wall just above the board littered with papers and notices.

'There's a TV...'

Certainly enough, it was interesting, but he supposed it wasn't too surprising. After all, Hope's Peak Academy was funded by the national government, so the school had more than enough money to install TV monitors in each classroom.

"Let's see... What else is here?"

Another glance around the room led him back to the desk he had been seated at. He could see a trail of drool that he likely left there.

"...I'll have to clean that up later..." he muttered to himself, somewhat glad that no one else was here to see that. The brunette's eyes were then drawn to an object on the desk that he hadn't noticed earlier. 'Hey, what's that on the desk?' he wondered before reaching over and grabbing it. Opening it up, he found that it was a pamphlet of some sort, albeit a rather crude one. There was a doodle of what looked like Hope's Peak Academy in it, though it looked as though a child had drawn it.

"An orientation guide...? It's some kind of cheap-looking pamphlet. And there's something handwritten on it," the boy noted, before he proceeded to read the words aloud. "'Hey there, new kid! The next semester is about to start. Starting today, this school will be your entire world.'"

He found himself squinting at the words and it wasn't due to the chicken-scratch handwriting. The brunette turned the pamphlet over and over to see if there was any hidden words saying, "Hah! Fooled ya!" but there was nothing like that. With a frown, the boy said, "What the hell? Is this someone's idea of a joke?"

Now that he'd seen just about everything of note in the room, the boy tried to put together the past events that led to his situation.

"Okay, let's see. So what might have happened is... I got myself so wound up, I passed out in the main hall. And then someone carried me here...? If that's true, it must mean... This is a classroom inside Hope's Peak," he muttered to himself out loud. But, if that was indeed true, it produced more questions than it did answers.

'This is all really strange. I mean, those metal plates covering the windows... It's like it's a prison or something. None of this makes any sense...' With a sigh, the brunette decided to try heading towards the main hall. It was already past the scheduled time for the orientation, after all, and there were likely other students waiting there. So, after steeling his resolve, the brunette slid open the door and stepped out into the hallway... Only to be even more bewildered than before. The hallway would have appeared as an average hallway, what with its checkered floor and arching corridors, but the pinkness of the main lights gave the area a rather chilling ambience.

"Jeez... This hallway is kind of weird, too," the boy remarked with a suppressed shudder. It was made even more odd by the fact that there were no teachers or students roaming the halls, but then he supposed it was because today was merely the first day. With a look behind him, he noted that he had been in Classroom 1-A. Truly, the boy wondered how he had wound up there, but decided not to think about it. He needed to focus on reaching the main hall, first. Proceeding down the halls, he eventually reached what he assumed was the main hall. The doors creaked open...before revealing an assortment of different people.

"Whoa, hey! Another new kid?" one of them called out. The boy blinked at that. Did that mean...?

"Huh? Then you guys are all...?" he trailed off, prompting someone to respond, "Yeah... We're all new here. Today's supposed to be our first day of class."

"So counting him, that makes fifteen. Seems like a good cut-off point, but I wonder if this is everyone," another voice said.

'Then... These guys must be the Ultimates,' the brunette thought in awe. These were the Ultimate Students chosen by the school... Just by standing before them, the boy could feel a sort of aura coming from them. Deciding to introduce himself, the boy shuffled his feet awkwardly before saying, "Um...how's it going? My name's Makoto Naegi. Sorry I'm late. A bunch of stuff happened, and then all of a sudden I was just...asleep." At that, a tall boy with unkempt, dark-brown dreadlocks and stubble gasped, holding a hand before his mouth.

"Whoa, you too?" the tall boy asked, looking incredibly surprised. He had on a yellow short-sleeved shirt underneath a rough, white shirt, which was also underneath an old, dark-green uniform jacket and brown haramaki with yellow rope for a belt. The boy glanced around in disbelief, seemingly more than a little unnerved.

"Things just keep getting curiouser and curiouser..." a girl with black hair in two large, twin-drill pigtails remarked. She had skin as pale as freshly fallen snow and wore a rather gothic ensemble. Her clothes held a very gothic lolita-style, comprised of a white blouse, a black jacket with white ribbon lining the sleeves fastened with a simple, white ribbon across her chest revealing a crimson tie with an elegant, black butterfly design, and a tiered skirt lined with white lace. She even wore a white lace mob cap atop her head and a silver, gunmetal-plated ring on her index finger.

"So strange... I declare beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a strange situation indeed!" a rather large boy wearing glasses added, biting his nails nervously. He wore a gray cardigan with a carrot-orange necktie adorned with a blue arrow pointing upwards from the end, a white button-down shirt, dark-gray trousers and even had an orange backpack on. Makoto blinked, rather unsure of what everyone seemed to be talking about.

"Um...what are you talking about? I honestly have no idea what's going on right now," Makoto asked. Before anyone could answer him, however, a boy dressed in a white uniform with rather magnificent eyebrows cut in, shouting out, "Just a moment! There's something else we must address!" The boy dressed in white pointed an index finger at Makoto, then shouted with much energy and fervor, "Makoto! Your tardiness is unacceptable! Surely you were aware the meeting was to start at 8 AM sharp! To be late on your first day is unspeakable! I must report you, and you must accept your due punishment!"

At that, a girl with strawberry-blonde hair tied in neat pigtails rolled her eyes before examining her colored nails disinterestedly. She wore a black uniform with a white and black polka-dotted necktie. All in all, she seemed very stylish and fashionable and was very pretty, as well.

"What's your problem? It's not like he wanted to be late. He didn't have any control over it," she sighed, sounding somewhat irritated. Makoto glanced at her rather gratefully, as it was true that he hadn't had any control over his tardiness. Another girl piped up at that, one with tanned skin and brown hair kept in a ponytail. She wore dark-blue, athletic shorts and a red tracksuit jacket over a white shirt.

"Everyone just calm down! Listen, why don't we all go around and introduce ourselves?" she suggested, her voice bubbly and energetic. From the other end of the room, a tall, muscular boy scoffed and scowled. He had dark-brown hair in an aippa-style, slightly tanned skin and wore a long, black overcoat. He had on baggy, black pants held up by a belt and a white T-shirt. The boy, who looked more like a man now that Makoto got a good look, gave off a very menacing aura, like that belonging to a person no one wanted to mess with.

"'The hell!? Now's no time for friggin' introductions!" he growled, his voice tough and gravelly, just as Makoto imagined. At this, the gothic lolita girl chuckled before replying, "Perhaps, but it may be good to at least find out who we all are before digging into the bigger problems here. I mean, how are we even supposed to talk to each other if we do not know each other's names?"

"Ah, that's a good point..." a small, shy-looking girl with light-brown, layered hair and hazel eyes said. Her voice was soft and gentle, adding to the angel-like appearance she had. She wore a winter school uniform consisting of a dark-green jacket, a white shirt with a large collar secured by a green ribbon and a pleated, dark-brown mid-thigh length skirt. Upon everyone's gazes turning on her, she let out a shy squeak before meekly turning away from their gazes.

"Okay, so let's get introductions out of the way, then we can move on to whatever else. Sound good?" a girl with long, dark-blue hair dressed in a traditional, seifuku-style Japanese school uniform said, her voice sweet and smooth like silk. Her uniform consisted of a white, long-sleeve shirt with a dark-blue sailor collar, large pink bow and a blue tartan skirt. The blunette kept her dark-blue eyes trained on the ceiling as she spoke, as if deep in thought. Admittedly, Makoto still felt incredibly lost, but supposed the other students were right. Introducing themselves took priority, if only to help them all sort out their thoughts and understand who they all were. So, Makoto decided to first talk to the boy in white, if only to further apologize for being late. He wasn't sure how he knew, but Makoto had a feeling that the boy in white took things such as tardiness, grades and the like very seriously.

"Um, hello! I wanted to apologize again for being late... I didn't mean to fall asleep like that. I even got here fifty minutes early just to make sure I wasn't late..." Makoto said to the boy in white. Really, how had he managed to use up all of that time?

"Yes, hello! I'm Kiyotaka Ishimaru. I believe in bold simplicity! Let's work together on our educational crusade!" the boy in white replied, before clamping a hand on Makoto's shoulder and laughing heartily. "No more apologizing necessary! Do your best to avoid being tardy from now on and there won't be any problems."

'So that's Kiyotaka. According to what I saw about him on that thread... He went to a famous private school and won top honors every year. He's basically a flawless honor student... He's also known for the work he's done with his community's Public Morals Committee. They say he respects rules above all else, earning him the title of Ultimate Moral Compass,' Makoto thought. It made sense. After all, no one would have cared more about tardiness than Kiyotaka Ishimaru.

"Anyway, you can call me Taka. You said your name was Makoto Naegi, right?" Kiyotaka responded with a somewhat stern look. Makoto nodded, albeit nervously. What did that stern look mean? Had Kiyotaka heard something bad about him? Makoto certainly hoped not... Then again, the brunette supposed that was a little over-the-top, as he hadn't done anything to warrant bad rumors about him. Makoto's fears were dispelled when Kiyotaka smiled a great, big smile and laughed heartily again, throwing his hands out.

"That's a good name, a strong name! You should thank your parents for giving you such an excellent name," Kiyotaka explained. He then gave Makoto a determined expression and clenched a fist. "And to keep that name from losing its value, you must devote yourself every single day! Life is worth putting every ounce of effort into it! Right? Right!"

Makoto let out a nervous chuckle at that, slightly taken aback by Kiyotaka's enthusiasm. While the Ultimate Moral Compass certainly seemed to mean well, Makoto couldn't help but feel a bit perturbed by it... Kiyotaka was just a tad too energetic for his taste. So, Makoto waved goodbye before moving onto the closest person.

That person just so happened to be a girl with dark-purple hair kept in long braids. She wore round glasses and a black school uniform consisting of a black, long-sleeve shirt with a white sailor collar, red ribbon and a long, black skirt. She kept her gaze away from Makoto even as the boy approached, and once Makoto was close enough, muttered, "N-not that you'll remember my n-name anyway, but... I'm T-Touko... Touko Fukawa."

'Yeah, she wrote a novel when she was ten that got everyone talking and launched her literary career. Then two years ago she released "So Lingers the Ocean," a love story said to be her masterpiece. The book was such a hit with women that fishermen quickly shot to the top of every "Hottest Men" poll,' Makoto thought, remembering what he'd learned about Touko. 'Despite her age, she's won countless literary prizes and all her books are instant bestsellers. Which is why she's come to be known as the Ultimate Author. What else would you call such a young and talented author? But I figured she'd be a lovey-dovey type, what with her masterpiece being a romance and all...'

A silence fell on the duo as Makoto stared at Touko, trying to see the "romance author" in Touko. After a while, the girl twiddled her index fingers, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"W-What? I-It's not polite to stare, you know," she said, prompting Makoto to blink. The brunette was about to apologize when the girl suddenly cried out for him to stop staring at her "like she was some filthy creature".

"F-Filthy creature? No, I just thought-" Makoto started, only to be interrupted by Touko blurting out, "I-I know what you "just" thought...! You just thought you've n-never seen such an ugly woman. You just th-thought it was sooo funny...!" Makoto tried to argue that that wasn't true, but the girl was having none of it.

"Don't bother trying to l-lie to me! I know it's true. Otherwise, you... I know you can't stand looking at me!" she cried out, pointing an index finger at Makoto accusingly. Then, she lowered her arms and looked away before saying that she was "used to it" and that she "didn't really care". By this point, Makoto was at a loss for words, so he decided to move on. After waving goodbye (which only elicited an "I knew it! You did think I was ugly!" from Touko), Makoto all but ran away from the purple-haired girl, nearly colliding with the blunette who was standing a few steps away from him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized with a slight bow while scratching the back of his head. He really needed to look where he was going sometimes... The girl merely shook her head, saying that it was fine.

"I'm Sayaka Maizono. I look forward to getting to know you!" the blunette introduced herself with a friendly grin.

'The way she moves is positively mesmerizing. And the pleasant scent I can't quite place... Sayaka Maizono... When I saw her name in that thread online, frankly I was pretty surprised,' Makoto admitted to himself. 'She's in a pop group famous across the country. In fact, she's their lead singer... As the Ultimate Idol, she's in high demand to appear on TV and in magazines everywhere. But actually, that's not the only reason I was so surprised to find out she'd be going to this school. I'm sure she doesn't remember, but... Well, never mind. No matter how you slice it, she's really beautiful. Almost like a doll or something...'

"I'm not a doll, you know. I'm alive!" Sayaka suddenly said, prompting Makoto to blink. Had... Had he said that out loud!?

"Huh? Did you hear me!?" he asked, startled at what had happened. Sayaka gave him a serious look before replying, "I'm psychic." The reply had been so sudden and sounded so serious that Makoto had to take a moment to process what she had said. Then Sayaka gave him a friendly grin again before saying, "Kidding! I just have really good intuition."

"Huh? Hey, by any chance..." the blunette started, before trailing off, as if she had just thought of something.

"Now what?" Makoto asked, a bit exasperated. It wasn't her intuition again, was it?

"...Yeah, it must be. I'm sure of it. Hey, Makoto. Did-" Sayaka began, looking very surprised, before she was interrupted by Kiyotaka shouting that they were "wasting their valuable time". At that, Sayaka apologized, saying that she had gotten "carried away". Kiyotaka added to his statement, shouting that "self-introductions were for introducing yourself, not bumbling through a bunch of idle chit-chat". Sayaka apologized again, agreeing with Kiyotaka, albeit a bit startled from being scolded. She turned back to Makoto before apologizing and stating that they could "talk about it later" before walking away. Makoto wondered what she had wanted to talk about, but supposed it could indeed wait for later. After all, it wasn't like he would never see her again.

Next, Makoto met the Ultimate Baseball Star, Leon Kuwata. He was a boy with flashy, orange hair, a goatee and pale blue eyes, who apparently had quit baseball for good after being accepted to Hope's Peak Academy. Leon had explained that he had never even loved baseball and instead wanted to become a rockstar. That had definitely explained his clothes, dyed hair and his many piercings... It was somewhat surprising to hear, but Makoto supposed it was good that Leon had a dream he wanted to pursue. After all, Makoto still wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life...

...He met the Ultimate Fanfic Creator next. The Ultimate Fanfic Creator was the large boy with glasses. He had short, black hair with a pointy ahoge and a very mousey face. Hifumi Yamada was a bit odd, with a tendency to speak very proudly about his work. While Hifumi was certainly interesting, Makoto could feel an earnest enthusiasm from Hifumi, as well as a deep passion for the work he did. Makoto supposed that was admirable, too, as Hifumi had something he truly enjoyed and put his all into.

Next came someone Makoto didn't really want to approach, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice. Even as all of his instincts screamed at him to run, Makoto approached the tall boy with the aippa haircut and greeted him. After Makoto introduced himself, the other boy scowled as if he didn't want to do this before replying, "'Name's Mondo Oowada. Nice to fuckin' meetcha."

That name certainly rang a few bells in Makoto's mind. It was the name belonging to the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, the current leader of the biggest gang in all of Japan. Mondo had earned respect, even awe, from just about every gang in the country.

"...Umm... Nice to meet you, too," Makoto gulped, trying not to show how scared he was to be in front of Mondo. The muscular boy scratched the back of his head a few times before glancing down at Makoto and murmuring a, "Hell yeah," which Makoto then took as his ticket out of there. He waved goodbye before practically dashing off. After that, he ran into Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Model. Junko was the girl with strawberry-blonde hair. She had slanted, amazingly-blue eyes and long eyelashes, and Makoto couldn't help but feel that she looked very different from her photos... So, when he had mentioned that, Junko had responded that they were all photoshopped. With dreams crushed, Makoto waved goodbye and moved on. Not too far from Junko was a girl with lavender-colored hair, purple eyes and pale complexion. She wore her hair down with one braid along the side tied with a black ribbon and had on a dark-purple, collared jacket over a white blouse and brown necktie, along with a black skirt and black gloves. She looked thoughtful with her gaze held to the side, and after a few moments of silence, Makoto piped up.

"Um... Can I ask you your name?" he asked, prompting the girl to introduce herself without even turning to look at him.

"...My name is...Kyoko Kirigiri."

'She's a bit tight-lipped, huh...? Oh, but I never saw her name in any of the Hope's Peak Academy threads... And I did see that there were students like me... Ones who didn't have any real identity or presence. Could this girl be one of them...?' Makoto wondered, hope alight in his heart. Still, it was highly unlikely that he would find someone else like him, even with his "Ultimate Luck". So, he decided to ask her.

"Um, so...what are you doing at this school?" he said, trying to be subtle. At that, Kyoko turned to the left with a hand in her hair to keep it out of her face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked after a few seconds had passed. Ah, Makoto supposed that was a bit too vague... He decided to try again, but with more explanation.

"No, I just meant... Getting invited here means you're some kind of "Ultimate" something, right? So what Ultimate Something are you?" he asked with a friendly grin, hoping that it would help her answer quicker. After a few more moments, she replied, "...Why should I tell you?" Makoto supposed she didn't have to tell him, which Kyoko then muttered that, indeed, she didn't have to tell him and thus would not tell him. Makoto stared at her for a few more seconds before deciding to give up. Kyoko's face was akin to an iron mask, and if the girl didn't want to divulge that information, Makoto wasn't going to push harder. So, he moved on.

This time, he met the Ultimate Programmer, Chihiro Fujisaki. She seemed nice enough, albeit a little quiet. She also had a tendency to look as though she was about to burst into tears at the slightest idea that Makoto was mad at her, which, while not annoying, was a bit hard to get used to. She had a kind of "timid, bunny thing" going, as many of her fans put it, and after speaking to her a bit, Makoto felt he understood why so many fans adored Chihiro.

After Chihiro, Makoto met the Ultimate Swimmer, Aoi Asahina. She was the tanned girl wearing the red tracksuit jacket from earlier who had suggested they all introduce themselves. Just as Makoto had expected, Aoi was very friendly and energetic, although a bit forgetful. After she'd introduced herself, she admitted that she had completely forgot Makoto's name! After re-introducing himself, Aoi shouted, "Oh yeah, I knew it was something like that!"

"No, not 'something' like that, it is that," Makoto replied with a sigh. Aoi smiled and nodded, saying, "Sure, sure, got it! Here, I'll hammer it into my brain right now!" Then, she kept repeating his name over and over and moving her finger across her palm as if writing something. When questioned what she was doing, she replied that if one wanted to remember a name, they had to write it three times on their palm. A few seconds later, Aoi paused and looked a bit sheepish, before asking Makoto how to spell his last name. Sure enough, Aoi was full of energy and easygoing, but Makoto had a feeling it would be a bit tiring to speak with her sometimes.

From there, Makoto met the Ultimate Martial Artist, Sakura Oogami. Sakura was a massive girl with bulging muscles and wild, white hair. She had dark, reddened skin, a scar running across her face and wore a seifuku-style Japanese school uniform consisting of a white shirt, a blue sailor collar, a short, blue skirt and a red tie. All in all, she looked like a monster from a horror film... Admittedly... Makoto had no idea Sakura was a girl from first glance. He'd almost asked her if she was a man, and he was certain that he would have been turned into a human meatball if he had actually asked her that. From what he had read on the Hope's Peak Academy threads, Sakura Oogami had competed in a martial arts tournament in America and won. She'd fought in over 400 different matches and never lost a single one. Up close, Makoto could certainly believe what was said of Sakura, and he hoped to never cross her.

After her, Makoto met the Ultimate Heir, Byakuya Togami. He had combed, short dirty-blonde hair, sharp, blue eyes and wore a black suit over a white button-down and a green criss-cross tie. With an eternal sour look on his face, Byakuya was as cold and distant as the threads had said of him, but Makoto supposed he should have expected as much. After all, Byakuya Togami was the heir apparent of the Togami family's massive financial conglomerate. Even among the Ultimates at Hope's Peak Academy, Byakuya was a special one. He was the true definition of the word, "exceptional" and he was definitely out of Makoto's league... Still, Makoto had a feeling Byakuya could be befriended, with enough time spent together.

Although... Byakuya could have been a bit nicer when asking Makoto to leave... He had outright told Makoto that he was "sick of looking at him".

Next, Makoto met the Ultimate Clairvoyant, Yasuhiro Hagakure. Yasuhiro was the tall boy with dreadlocks that Makoto had heard speak up before. Makoto recalled that Yasuhiro was known as the "Supernova" of the psychic community, though the brunette wasn't too sure how much truth lied in all of it. After speaking to Yasuhiro a bit, Makoto concluded that the taller boy had an odd sense of humor, but was generally a good person. He was shocked to hear that Yasuhiro was actually 21 years old, something he'd learned after Yasuhiro suggested that they go for drinks sometime.

Last, but not least, Makoto met the Ultimate Gambler.

"I do not think we have been introduced. I am Celestia Ludenburg," she had said with the slightest of smiles on her face.

"Celestia...Luden...huh?" Makoto parroted, finding it hard to believe that that was her true name. She simply smiled and clasped her fingers together innocently, replying with a, "Ludenburg. It is my name. But if you don't mind, I would prefer for you to call me Celeste."

At that, Makoto asked if she was indeed Japanese, to which Celestia answered, "Of course. Why do you ask?" while her gaze was elsewhere.

"Um, then, if you don't mind... Could you tell me your real name?" Makoto asked, still in disbelief.

"Heh-heh. I don't know what you are talking about. Celestia Ludenburg is my real name. But as I mentioned, I would much rather you call me Celeste," the ravenette responded.

...Makoto was sure that "Celestia Ludenberg" wasn't her real name, but supposed it didn't matter. Sometimes people simply preferred being referred to by another name and he could respect that. Celestia was the gothic lolita girl with the black clothes. She was polite and spoke in a very formal way, though a bit forceful, especially when it came to her name. Though, Makoto knew to be careful around her... As the Ultimate Gambler, Celestia was also named the Queen of Liars. Absolutely everything about her was wrapped in a veil of lies. Deception was her game and she brought it everywhere she went.

And that was all of the students present. Makoto was surprised to see so few people here, as the school was massive, but supposed it was possible that different classes had orientations in different places.

"Okay, time to get down to business. This is no time to stand around making friends like a bunch of dull-eyed baboons," Byakuya piped up, his ever-present frown never leaving his face even once.

"Oh, that's true. I think someone said something about a bigger problem or something? What was that about?" Makoto asked. Now that Byakuya had mentioned it, Makoto recalled everyone's odd reactions when he introduced himself at the start. Sayaka was the one to answer his question.

"Well, you see... Makoto, you said a bunch of stuff happened and then you were 'just asleep' right? Well, the same is true for all of us," the blunette explained, looking a bit scared. Makoto's jaw nearly fell to the floor at that. They had all fallen asleep? How did something like that just happen? It couldn't have been a coincidence...

"Just after each of us got to the main hall, we lost consciousness. And when we came to, we were somewhere here in the school! That's what happened to you right?" Leon added, prompting Makoto to nod. Indeed, that was what had happened, but...

"B-But that's just...weird! That every one of us would get knocked out like that..." the brunette replied.

"Exactly! That's why we're all freakin' out!" Mondo barked out with a clenched fist and an angry look on his face.

"And that's not the only thing. You saw where all the windows in the classes and hallways were, right?" Kiyotaka said, a grim look on his face. Makoto gulped and nodded, only just remembering what the Ultimate Moral Compass was talking about. "But instead of normal glass windows, it was a bunch of big metal plates! What's that about!?"

"Plus, all my stuff's missing! Even my cellphone..." Junko added, looking especially annoyed as she spoke.

"Yeah, you're right. I haven't seen my PDA anywhere, either..." Chihiro furthered the statement, though her voice was just barely heard.

"And then there's the main hall here. The front exit is completely blocked by some giant metal hatch. But there wasn't anything like that when I first got here...!" Kiyotaka shouted. He clenched a fist and voiced what just about everyone in the room was thinking. "What the heck!? What's it doing there!?" Suddenly, Junko grew pale and began to sweat.

"What if... What if...maybe we got caught up in some kinda, like, you know...crime or something?" the model suggested, causing the color to drain from nearly everyone's faces. Leon seemed to follow her reasoning, as he added, "What, like...a kidnapping? You think maybe someone grabbed us and hauled us off and we're not actually at school?"

"Come on, don't think like that. Cheer up! I bet this is all just part of the school's orientation procedure," Yasuhiro said, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it! So, I'm just gonna take it easy for a little bit." Certainly, what he said was plausible... But Makoto had a sinking feeling in his gut that that was mere wishful thinking...

"Oh... So you think they wanted to do something to surprise us?" Chihiro asked, looking chipper than before.

"Huh. Well if that's all it is, it's nap time for me," Leon chuckled. "I was up way too late last night, so I could use a little shuteye."

Everyone began to murmur and agree that Yasuhiro was probably right and the tension began to slowly dissipate... At least, until it happened.

*Ding, dong, bing, bong!*

Suddenly, a TV monitor began to flicker on and a dark silhouette appeared on the screen. It was impossible to make out the figure due to the static, but the voice that followed after sounded very out of place... It was cheery and playful, while simultaneously sounding incredibly unconcerned... To Makoto, there was something outright dreadful about the voice. The voice was not unlike that of a person laughing at the scene of an accident...

"Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two! This is a test of the school broadcast system! Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then...!" the mysterious voice emitted from the TV monitor. "Ahh, to all incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony at...right now! Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience. ...That's all. I'll be waiting!"

There was a pause after the TV monitor flickered off and the dreadful voice faded. Everyone was silent as they attempted to process what had happened. Junko was the first to react.

"...What. The. Hell was that just now?" the strawberry-blonde asked, all the color having faded from her already pale skin. Byakuya rolled his eyes before grumbling out a, "Well then, if you'll excuse me..." and leaving, presumably headed for the gymnasium. Junko looked very annoyed that Byakuya had left so abruptly.

"H-Hey! What, you're gonna take off just like that!?" she called after the Ultimate Heir, though he paid her no heed and continued onwards.

"Ohh yeah, now I get it! This whole thing was just to get us all pumped for the entrance ceremony! Man, thank god it was all a joke. I'd be totally freaked if this was real!" Yasuhiro laughed. "Alright, guess I'll head out too. Wonder what they got planned for us next..." He, too, left the main hall, laughing all the way.

"Damn, I was totally looking forward to that nap too. Why'd they have to go and kill the mood?" Leon groaned, but did not complain any further and began to leave the area, as well. One by one the students began to head out, until only Sayaka, Junko, Kyoko, Sakura, Hifumi, Kiyotaka and Makoto were the only ones left in the main hall. Makoto had stayed back because there was this odd feeling creeping on his back, as if something was seriously wrong. And it seemed he wasn't the only one feeling this way, seeing as how some of the others had also remained in the main hall. After a moment of silence, Sayaka broke it.

"This... This doesn't seem right," she murmured, her once soft voice now filled with anxiety and distress. Makoto had to agree with her; something awfully fishy was going on, but the brunette wasn't sure what.

"Yeah, that announcement was totally weird," Junko agreed, sounding a tad perturbed.

"Maybe, but just staying put doesn't mean we'll be safe. Besides, aren't you guys just a little bit curious to find out what's going on around here?" Kyoko pointed out. Makoto supposed she was right...

"Umu. If we do not move forward, we learn nothing. The only choice is to push ahead," Sakura added.

...They were both right, but Makoto just felt so nervous...

Ah well, he didn't really have a choice. None of them did.

"They said to go to the gym, right?" Makoto gulped. The others nodded and he decided to steel his resolve once again. With slightly awkward but purposeful steps, he walked down the hall to the gymnasium. That creeping feeling continued to crawl up his spine but Makoto did not stop.

Yet, if he had known what would lie ahead... He was certain he would have turned back and ran the other way.

But how could he have known that only despair awaited him behind those doors?