A/N: And of course things start clearing up so that I can write more. Luckily, I've got most things planned out for this chapter.

Speaking of which... starting after this chapter, you'll be able to select two students for Sawako's Free Time segments so that we can delve a bit more into their characters. Obviously, no dead characters will be up for voting, and certain characters may be left off the options list for certain reasons, plot-related or otherwise.

Otherwise... not much else to say.

As per usual, I don't own the Danganronpa franchise, or anything related to it. Sadly.

-DA BOSS

Act 0-4: Bully

"Nobody knows her, but tonight, the silence, is over..."

As Sawako and Daisuke's group filed into the hallway in between the main section of the school and the gymnasium, they were greeted by Yoshida and his group. More specifically, by every member that wasn't Yoshida. That suited Sawako and the others just fine, since Yoshida seemed like an asshole, for lack of a better word.

"Ah, you all came by after all." Adeline said politely, dropping into a slight curtsey as she did so, with Li close behind her doing just the same. "We weren't sure that you would come, considering that we left with Yoshida..." She was cut off by Dell ruffling her hair, much to the chagrin of the young French girl.

"Don't sweat it! After all, we were all a bit curious about what was going on..." He replied with a grin, while a deep sigh was heard from Yukari.

"Whatever, let's just go..." She said, but before they could, Daisuke motioned for the group to stay quiet.

"Shh. I hear footsteps." He said quietly, as the group stood in defensive positions - including Sawako lowering into something of a fighting stance, and Dave getting into an unusual stance that seemed out of place amongst the others' worried positions.

Soon, the source of the footsteps revealed themselves; and the group relaxed somewhat when they were able to match a face to the sound. For a Japanese student, he seemed very irregular, considering his blonde hair and blue eyes. He also sported some tattoos, and even a scar on his jawline. He wore a pair of pants that seemed to be half of a jumpsuit, with what Sawako suspected was the upper half wrapped about his waist. He also wore a plain white muscle shirt on his torso, presumably uncaring about the clothes themselves. His face seemed... uncaring, perhaps? He kept looking around for something, or perhaps he was just taking in his surroundings. Eventually, he let out a deep sigh.

"Ugh, a school? I could be somewhere else, living my life, and doing something more exciting than this." The male said aloud, as he walked towards the door, but not before being stopped by Sawako's hand going onto his shoulder, which seemed to send a slight chill down both of their spines.

"Oi. You're stuck in here with us, so you may as well give us your name." Sawako said in her firm tone, which seemed to contain enough venom to cause Izumi to take a slight step back just in case. The boy simply laughed and pushed Sawako's hand off his shoulder - then promptly taking it into his own.

"Name's Hikaru Oruma. Try not to forget it, eh toots?"

Hikaru Oruma: Super High School Level Adventurer

Status: Alive

Sawako's eye began to twitch at this kid's arrogance. She wasn't sure who in the room pissed her off more: Yoshida's stoic assholery, or this kid's outgoing assholery. Though, she had heard of him before... somewhere.

Before she could react, Hikaru and Yoshida pushed the door open and led the rest of the students into the gymnasium, which seemed... shockingly normal.

"Huh? No big boss fight? Aw man..." Dave reacted with dejection, earning him a smack to the head from Yukari - then she gave one to the apparently sleeping Komachi too, just to wake her up.

"Idiots. There must be something in here, though..." Yukari said inquisitively, as her eyes surveyed the room. Sawako's did too, though it was more out of instinct on her part than any real suspicion.

"Upupu! I'm not just something, I'm the real thing!" A high-pitched voice - not unlike the one they heard that called them to the gymnasium in the first place - rang out throughout the room, echoing off the walls and, more than likely, in the heads of the sixteen students standing in the room. Nobody seemed willing to speak up, so the voice's source decided to simply show themselves.

It was... a stuffed bear? Sawako looked puzzled, as did many of the others. A few of the students, though, seemed unnerved by the presence of the bear - in particular, Yoshida seemed perturbed greatly, while Daisuke & Yukari sported uncharacteristic scowls on their faces - as the monochrome bear let out another laugh.

"Upupu! You'd think that your headmaster would get a bit warmer of a reception from his new students!" The bear laughed out, as Dell soon followed with a hearty laugh of his own as he stepped to the front of the pack of students.

"See guys? What'd I tell you! It's just a cuddly teddy bear! Nothing to be freaked out about!" The tall male exclaimed reassuringly, before Yoshida slapped a palm to his forehead.

"You idiot... That bear's clearly the one holding us here." He growled, as he started walking swiftly and angrily towards their apparent ursine captor, and stopped right as he stood at the stage. "Now, tell me... Who's behind this? I know that you're operating under the orders of another, so..."

"Oh, is that what you think? That's I'm some kind of clawful person that can't do anything on their own? That's unbearable! Really, Yoshi-chan, you've hurt me." The bear replied, as he walked further back on the stage.

"Haha! He called you Yoshi!"

"Shut up Koto."

Before Dave could retaliate to Yoshida's brush-off, the bear simply cut the both of them off and continued. "And besides, I'm not just any old bear! I'm Monobear!" It called out, which at least gave the students a name to place onto their captor - for now, anyways. "And effective immediately, I'm your new headmaster here! Now stand! Bow!"

The command fell on deaf ears. Even the politer students such as Li and Adeline refused to bow, though it took some serious effort on Adeline's part not to. The others stood defiantly, as Monobear continued.

"Hmph! Fine then, don't bow! See if I care, you bastards!" Monobear continued, angrily. "Anyways, I thought I should tell you a bit more about your stay at this school..." Sawako's ears perked up at this, as did many of the others'. This was what they wanted, after all. "Now then, you guys are the best of the best in your fields! And, as such, you will all be tasked with living a communal school life here!" He declared, before adding the last important detail.

"Oh... and the duration of this school life? Permanent!"

That sent the group into an uproar. Some, such as Izumi and Sebastian, let out their concern at this with some screaming. Others stood tensed, ready to unleash some anger on anything they could get their hands on. After a brief moment, Daisuke stepped forward. "I assume that, since we're barricaded in here, that there's no way out?" He asked, to which Monobear only laughed once more.

"Well... There IS a way to escape... It's called graduation!" Monobear exclaimed, as the others quieted down a bit more.

"Graduation?" James asked, breaking the silence he'd kept himself in.

"So, what... we gotta just work hard and study hard so we can get out?" Hanae piped in, with Dave nodding in agreement.

"That... doesn't seem so bad, actually." Li added, keeping her posture calm and composed.

"Well, it's a pain, but I guess if I gotta do it to get back to what I love..." Hikaru chipped in, though his opinion was likely to fall onto deaf ears.

Monobear, meanwhile, only continued to laugh that creepy 'upupu' thing that he did. Sawako was already disgusted, but there was no need for that now. "Not exactly... You see... in order to graduate from here..." It began, leading the sixteen students among it to listen with baited breath.

"You gotta kill each other!"

The group went completely hysterical. Izumi shrieked so hard that Dave & Komachi hid behind Dell in fear that she'd turn into a banshee of some sort, despite the sheer terror that worked itself onto his own face. Naemi, Adeline and Li looked back and forth at each other, unsure of who was to cry first. Daisuke's jaw simply hung open, stunned at what he was hearing, while Hikaru had latched himself to an apparently unwilling Yukari, who was trembling so much it didn't look like it mattered.

The only two who didn't look scared somehow, in fact, were Yoshida and Sawako. Yoshida simply sported a cocky smirk as he stepped towards the group, though one could tell that he was trembling quite visibly.

As for Sawako...

"WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, EH BEAR?!" The fighter roared out, stomping towards the stage with murder in her eyes. "You think that we're gonna just relent and off each other like that?! Just because some punk-ass bear tells us to?!" She climbed up to the stage, much to the apparent horror of Monobear, and continued to yell at him. "Well, I got some fuckin' news for you, teddie! The only one who's getting murdered here is YOU!" As she said this word, she lifted her leg up as if to slam it down on Monobear in a powerful axe kick...

Then she heard the beeping. They all did, and wondered what was going on.

"Eh? What the..." Sawako lowered her leg when the beeping began. Something didn't seem right... For that matter, she swore she could smell something, but what could it...

"Hey! That bear's going to blow!" Hanae cried out from the other end of the gym, hands cupped around her mouth as if to act as a makeshift megaphone. "You gotta get away from it, Sawako-chan! Hurry!"

And get away she did. As soon as she leapt off the stage and rolled towards the group to avoid an injury, the bear simply exploded on the stage, the force blowing into the group like a tornado. Some of the smaller people in the group - such as Li and Adeline - were blown back somewhat by the force, while the others managed to hold their ground. Though none of them were truly okay... After all, they were just told that they were trapped in here unless someone was killed.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrow! That's no way to treat your headmaster, Sawako-chan!" A high-pitched voice that the group had already come to dread rang out throughout the gym, as Monobear popped back up on the stage. Sawako's eyes filled with bloody murder again, but before she could march on, Elliot and Hikaru took either hand and held her back for the time being.

"How then, you can't JUST kill someone to get out..." Monobear began, holding its paws to its face. "You have to commit the perfect murder!"

"I see..." Yoshida said quietly, stroking his chin. "So, in other words, we have to kill and not get caught, correct?"

"Yep! That's exactly right, Yoshi-chan!" Monobear replied, with another chuckle from Dave being audible as Yoshida was once again called 'Yoshi-chan'. Komachi joined in, but Daisuke decided to take the lead.

"So... I assume we'll have a way to catch any prospective killer, correct?" He asked, to which many members of the group voiced agreement with Daisuke in order to get some answers faster.

"Right again! When a body's been discovered by at least three people, a brief period of investigation will begin." Monobear began, as the still-scared group listened in. "And after that, we'll have a school trial! There, you can catch the blackened who would disturb your peace!"

"One last question..." Daisuke began, arms crossed and foot tapping lightly on the floor. "Just what is the punishment for those who get caught?"

"Execution!"

The group flew into another frenzy, much to the dismay of Daisuke & Yoshida. "Will you idiots knock it off?!" Yoshida yelled out, shutting up the group at large. Sighing, Daisuke continued.

"And... I assume the same awaits the entire group if we fail to catch a killer?"

"Yep!"

"Lovely..." Daisuke growled, as he walked away from Monobear.

"Before you all go... I have something for you!" Monobear cried out, before producing sixteen cards that almost resembled tablet computers.

"Um... what are these, exactly?" Dell asked the question that everyone was wondering.

"They're your electronic Student ID cards!" Monobear exclaimed giddily. "They have the rules for this academy in them, so you better not lose these cards!" It placed the cards on the ground, as one by one the students came to grab their cards. "Now then, that concludes our opening ceremonies! Please enjoy your new School Life of Mutual Killing! Buh-bye!" Monobear finally said as it dove into the wreckage of the stage and disappeared, leaving behind sixteen very confused - and very frightened - students.

A/N: that feel when you miss an intro huehuehue

But yeah. Monobear inbound.

Now then, you can chose two students of the fifteen to have Free Time with! This will give some more insight into their characters and whatnot. The only constant rules are:

1) That if you have an OC in this story, you're unable to vote for them.

2) You can't do two Free Time segments in a row with one person. Gotta pick someone new.

Until then, R/R as always. Ciao, bambinos~

-DA BOSS