A/N: So, yeah. This is a thing still.

A slight fill-in chapter, since I realized that I needed to have the group search the school for stuff. For reference, just look for the DR1 map of Hope's Peak.

Free time is next chapter, which is probably gonna go up very soon since I've been bored as fuck lately. In what I consider to be a bit of a shocking twist, the winners of the poll were Hanae & Daisuke, meaning that they'll be ineligible for the next free time segment.

Also, this chapter has POV switching to account for the various parties in this chapter. Search groups 2stronk. Don't worry, though - they'll still be third-person, so the tone of the fic won't suddenly change.

Also also, I'm gonna start shipping people now. Because I need more shipping in my life, and you do too.

Also also also, I don't own the Danganronpa franchise and... yadda, yadda, yadda... you should know this part by now.

-DA BOSS

Act 0-5: The Highlander

Sawako POV

As soon as the reality of the situation set in for the "students" of Hope's Peak Academy, all hell began to break loose. Everyone had clearly lost their minds for the time being, as shown by the various reactions of the group. Some - such as Dell, Dave & Hanae - went, for lack of a better term, 'batshit insane'. Others, such as Li and Adeline, were more subdued in their anger and sadness at their situation, but could be visibly seen shaking.

Sawako, on the other hand, was damn near tempted to kill someone just to get her mind off of what was going on - but then, she realized, that she'd be executed herself. 'Not the greatest plan,' she thought. As she looked around, she noticed that Hikaru and Yukari had already left - Sawako couldn't help but think of why, as she heard a sharp voice pierce through the cries around them.

"People!" A voice that Sawako swore was Daisuke's rang out over the sea of people before him, with Yoshida standing behind him for reasons unknown. "Can you please calm down? This type of behaviour will get us nowhere..."

"You can't prove that!" Dell cried out, pointing a shaky finger at Daisuke as he backed into the gymnasium's padded walls. The hunter sighed as he rubbed his forehead, before Yoshida rolled his eyes.

"It makes no difference to me whether you all scream now - you'll all be begging for mercy when I've won this little game." He snarled as he walked towards the gymnasium door, purposely shoving into a still shivering Sebastian as he did. "And mark my words... I will be the only one to survive this little game. I care not for your disposable lives."

With a slam of the gymnasium door, he was gone, and Sawako let out a furious roar. Sure, it was unladylike, but how else could she react to such a disgusting display? The ones who weren't reverted to snivelling cowards by the reality that they'd fallen into looked towards the fighter in fearful silence - perhaps afraid that she wouldn't give a damn if a murder were so obvious that she'd kill someone now - probably Yoshida, based upon that venom.

"Ignore him, people. We have bigger issues." Daisuke finally broke the silence that had swept through the gymnasium as he did a quick headcount. "Hold on a moment... thirteen? We should have fifteen people here, since Hideki left..."

"Um..." Izumi peeped out, before she felt the group's eyes fall upon her. "I-I saw Yukari-san leave the gym with Hikaru-san while the others were all screaming and... stuff." She turned slightly pink at the last word, seemingly embarrassed that such a genius would use a simplistic term like 'stuff' in conversation. Another sigh came out from Daisuke at this, until he seemed to stumble onto something.

"Shit... if they're alone, then it's possible that..." Daisuke trailed off as he clenched his fist and lowered his head, raising it just as quickly. "No time! Meimei, I trust you can get the others to search the school for a possible exit?" The small Taiwanese girl nodded, and Daisuke responded with one of his own as he darted towards the exit.

"Oi! Where the fuck are you going?!" Sawako yelled out to the hunter, who stopped almost on a dime and turned to her.

"To find Oruma & Orihara, and make sure that they haven't killed each other!" Daisuke called back as he sprinted out again, leaving a still-confused Sawako behind him.

"Huh. Remind me to get him into speed skating." Elliot joked, scratching the back of his head. Li rolled her eyes.

"This is no time for joking, Senpai." She noted bluntly as she surveyed the group as best as she could. "Now then... I believe it would be best to split into three teams." She continued as she pulled up a map on her ElectroID. "I'll take Adeline-san, James-san and Sebastian-san with me to explore the classrooms. Sawako-san, you can take Dell-san, Hanae-san and Elliot-san to investigate the main hall where we all met in order to see if there's a way to open that large door. The rest of you will search the dormitory area. After you're done, we'll all meet in the cafeteria to discuss our findings."

The group nodded at the surprisingly well-laid plan that Li had come up with. "Wow Li-chan, you're really good at this kinda thing!" Dell piped up, which caused the faintest shade of pink to brush across Li's cheeks.

"W-Well... I suppose that it was a bit... ah, pre-meditated..." Li stammered out, much to Sawako's surprise. This... wasn't much like her. "Now then... shall we be off, friends?" She asked, motioning to Adeline, James & Sebastian, who all nodded (a bit shakily in Sebastian's case) and followed her out. Naemi motioned for Izumi, Dave & Komachi to follow her as well, as they went to the dormitories, leaving the remaining quartet to their task of examining that big metal door in the main hall.

Daisuke POV

This could likely have classified as a 'bad situation' in anyone's perspective, especially that of Daisuke Kagegami. After all, they'd just been thrust into what appeared to be the second School Life of Mutual Killing, and two of Daisuke's classmates had vanished in the midst of the chaos around them and gone off to... god knows where. He wondered which of them was doing the killing - his money was on Oruma, for what little it was worth - but shook it off in the hopes that they were still alive.

As he rounded a corner in the main hall, he heard a very faint moan come from one of the classrooms nearby. He was surprised he'd heard it - the acoustics of the school seemed unfit for such a small noise to travel at all - let alone to where he was now - but then he recalled his hunting prowess and how he'd gotten good at tracking his prey based on sounds, faint as they were.

Trudging towards the classroom, he began to think up some sort of angry diatribe about how the pair was acting irresponsible for doing so and that the killer - whichever of the pair that it was - had only dug his own grave by slipping away like they did.

The moment he threw open the door, said diatribe was quickly dashed in lieu of three simple words.

"What. The. Hell."

Rather than finding one of them splayed across the floor in a bloody heap, with the other hovering over them bearing the sinister weapon that they'd used to commit the vile act... the hunter found the pair sprawled across a desk, entangled with each other and... well... making out. In the midst of Mutual Killing.

Daisuke's words seemed to make a lot more sense in his mind after thinking about that little detail.

"Ah! D-Daisuke-san!" Yukari, unsurprisingly, was first to react, shoving Hikaru off of her and straightening herself up. One of her pigtails was out, showing off her striking green hair, and she'd been missing her boots - though not her socks, thankfully. "I-I can explain! Really...!"

"To be honest, I'm not sure how the hell you can explain that... But at least you weren't killing each other." Daisuke sighed, as Hikaru slowly picked himself up off the floor and cracked his neck, licking his lips at the same time. The upper half of his jumpsuit, which was tied around his waist before, had been discarded, as had his necklace and sunglasses.

"We were coping." Hikaru finally said, directing a sort of 'how dare you' glare at Daisuke, to which the hunter shook his head.

"Coping or not, what you two did was irresponsible considering the circumstances." The hunter sighed, as he straightened his own self into a more stern form. "I figured you two were trying to kill each other, considering the fact that you vanished right after."

"It was my idea, 'Dad'." Hikaru spat out, throwing an arm around the shoulders of the still-blushing Yukari. "To be honest, I'd been getting bored, and Yukari here was more than willing to... help alleviate that." Daisuke's stern look instantly contorted to one of disgust, hating the fact that he was being told off by this... playboy.

"Yukari-san is not a sex toy, Hikaru."

Hikaru simply snickered at Daisuke's retort. "Now now, take it easy... We weren't going to fuck or anything." He replied bluntly, which made Yukari's face redder than a tomato. "Besides... she's pretty. I bet you're just jealous." Daisuke was now starting to flush a bit, though a good chunk of it was due to anger as his apparent lackadaisical approach to the matter at hand.

"Hikaru-kun, please..." Yukari said in a surprisingly meek manner as she slipped her left boot back on. "I'm sure he wasn't meaning anything by what he said. He's just as worried as the rest of us are..."

Hikaru scoffed and walked out, with the other two trailing behind - neither of whom were welcome followers, but Hikaru trudged on anyway.

Daisuke still wondered why the hell they made out that bloody soon. They could have at least waited.

Naemi POV

Naemi Sondergaard was many things. A talented bladeswoman, unmatched in her field worldwide. A gifted student, who, even at a young age, managed to get into high school when she should have still been in grade school.

She was not, however, a gamer girl, which meant that travelling with Dave & Komachi down the halls was really awkward and boring for her.

"Oh cool, so you're a part of Spirit? Man, they make the best games!" Dave was clearly excited that he'd found himself a fellow video game aficionado, even if they weren't as big on actually playing games as much as making them.

"Hm? Oh, yeah... Well, I guess we're a pretty well-known group now, huh? Hehe..." Komachi smiled sheepishly, clearly not used to someone so... well-versed in her field. Especially someone who didn't know how to develop a Flash game, much less a full-fledged FPS. Naemi sighed loudly.

"Could you two focus, please? We're not exactly in a good position to be discussing video games here." Naemi said bluntly, glancing over at the walls. "Hmm... the rooms are all labelled... So this wasn't spontaneous. Not good..."

"Ooh! Koma-chi, look!" Dave squeaked out excitedly, pointing at the plaques on the wall that indicated which room was who's. "They've got eight-bit pictures of us on these plaques!" Upon closer inspection, Naemi couldn't help but agree - under her was a crudely-sprited - yet still very detailed, based upon the fact that the bow on her head was slightly crooked just as she wore it - portrait of herself.

"A-Ah, Naemi-chan...?" Izumi stuttered out, as she held her room's plaque in her hands. "These can apparently slide out as w-well..." Naemi raised an eyebrow. How was it that these people were noticing these things that she didn't care to?

"Well... Should we take a look in the rooms?" Naemi suggested to the group, all three of which nodded and went to their rooms. Naemi herself had been positioned between Daisuke & Adeline - which was fine with her, of course, considering that Adeline was very interesting to her.

The room itself was actually quite plain and ordinary, though she noted a couple little things - a display wooden sword on the wall, and the fact that the walls weren't just some generic beige colour like other schools - they were the same pale pink as her dress. 'Odd...' She thought. 'How could this room be so... tailored to me?'

She went over to the bathroom door and noted the lock on it - it was probably on all the bathroom doors, to ensure privacy... and a way to protect yourself from a potential killer. Shuddering at the thought, Naemi quickly exited her room and found that the others were already done in their rooms.

"Well?" Naemi asked quickly, as if to take her mind off of the potential hazards that her room could provide - both for her, and for any potential guests. "Did you find anything of note in your rooms? Because I did..."

"Yeah!" Dave was quick on the gun, which made Naemi wince slightly at the sudden loudness invading her ears. "My room's got a nice TV in it! And a PS2, too!" Dave then glanced at the floor, muttering something about wanting a PS3 instead. "Oh, and the walls were this, like, greyish colour? And my bathroom door has no lock on it, which is lame."

"Well, my room had a small desktop on it. I booted it up and found some programs that I'd use to make little games on... but, of course, no Internet connection." Komachi picked up where Dave left off, and the group as a whole sighed - though Naemi wasn't sure if Dave was sighing at what her & Izumi were, but she didn't bother saying anything. "Plus, my bathroom actually locks."

"U-Um... my room had a chalkboard on the wall. And an old university math textbook, too." Izumi was next up, and much like Dave & Komachi, she was finding that her room had slight personal touches. "And my bathroom locks too."

Naemi cleared her throat before beginning. "Well, my room has a decorative sword on the wall, and wallpaper matching my dress. Also, my bathroom locks much as yours do, Komachi-san and Izumi-san." Naemi stroked her chin and came to a quick conclusion. "So, all of us have rooms that have some personal touches... Is it just a coincidence, or..."

Dave shrugged. "Who cares? We got what we need, now let's go finish this next objective!" He pointed in the direction of the cafeteria and took off, with his group following close behind.

James POV

James grimaced as if he'd hit into the worst bunker ever on the 18th hole of a major tournament, leading by only a single shot. Clearly there was something... off here, but nobody seemed to be able to hit it on the head exactly what was wrong. James was no exception, of course - he was smart, sure, but not that smart.

"Now then... I'm sure that we can find a way out somehow..." Li said quietly, glancing around the halls they'd found themselves in to look for something - a weak spot in the walls, perhaps? James wasn't sure, but at this point he just kept hoping for the best. Turning his head back to their other two companions, James found that neither of them seemed to be in a talkative mood - both were shaking (Sebastian moreso) and kept their heads hung low, as if trying to mimic turtles and hide in a make-believe shell.

"So, James..." Li began, snapping James out of his observation time, as she turned her head back to him much as he did before to Adeline & Sebastian. "What exactly is your talent? I don't recall you mentioning it outright." James had a puzzled look on his face; after all, how is it that she made that grand plan without knowing the talents of the people around her? Still, it was a legitimate question, so it deserved a legitimate answer.

"I'm a golfer. I... well, I golf." James never was good at explaining golf. It just... was golf. Li seemed satisfied with that answer, and so another brief silence fell over the group. James, not wanting to deal with that right now, decided to flip the question back onto his Taiwanese partner. "What about you? I know you said something about music..."

"I am a musician... one who specializes in classical pieces, to be more precise. I'm also the next successor to a prominent Taiwanese family, for what little that is worth." Li responded in her signature polite manner, which caught James off guard; how could she keep so calm with their current situation? "Regardless, I'm likely considered to have it easy in life... As I imagine is the same with you, right?"

James' eye twitched. If there was one thing that he couldn't stand, it was people underestimating how hard he had to work to become the SHSL Golfer in the first place. Before he could open his mouth, though, he was cut off by Li. "I'm sorry. I suppose my assumption was wrong." She apologized rather quickly... It must have been the twitch.

All the classrooms they'd searched had the same things in them - a standard set of desks, a monitor, a couple of cameras, and metal plates over the windows. James tried futilely to pull the plates off, but to no avail - they were stuck on tight, even with two people (he'd eventually convinced Sebastian to help him in this matter) pulling on them with all their might.

"I see..." Li seemed engrossed in her own thoughts, as James had his own. Just why was this girl so calm? Could she know something about this place and why they were there...? "Well, enough wandering about." Again, Li had interrupted his train of thought - 'Of course,' he thought - and motioned for him to come with her, heading to the cafeteria.

Sawako POV

Another kick, another bruise on her foot. Sawako was getting tired of trying to simply kick down the door, even with Dell & Elliot throwing their full weights into slamming against it as well. Hanae, despite being an action star, wasn't able to do much - she tried to copy Sawako and throw a powerful kick at the door, but only succeeded in breaking something in her foot - so she was sitting close by.

"Guys..." Hanae suddenly said, causing the trio to stop. "What if there's no way out? What if... we're stuck in here?" The action star then buried her face into her hands and began to softly cry, apparently already overcome with paranoia and dread about what they were involved in. As selfish a thought as it seemed at the time, Sawako didn't like this Hanae; she was nothing like the girl she'd idolized back when she first got into fighting. Rather... this was someone who seemed like they'd already been defeated. Dell responded by going over to the bench she was on and throwing an arm over her shoulder.

"Ah, cheer up!" Dell exclaimed excitedly as he used his other arm to help him strike a goofy pose. "No matter what happens, we will protect you! ... Right guys?" He looked over to Sawako and Elliot, both of which gave him nods and smiles to back his claims.

"Of course we will... After all, we're in this together. All of us, as much as certain people seem to be opposed to that fact." Elliot said, making sure not to name names in case Sawako were to get mad again. Of course, Sawako wasn't dumb; she knew he was referring to Yoshida when he said that, but she didn't bother going on about him. They were trying to pick Hanae up, not put Yoshida down.

"Exactly! So come on, there must be something else we can try that you can help us with!" Sawako replied, punctuating the statement with a big thumbs up and an even bigger grin than Dell regularly sported. Hanae lifted her head up and sniffled; the trio of friends she was with continued to sport their big grins, though they were clearly faltering in their anticipation.

"That's a promise... right guys?" Hanae asked, to which the three others could only glance at each other in an... unusual way.

"Of course!" They exclaimed as a group, as they all pumped their hands into the air. Hanae wiped her arm across her eyes, as Sawako was starting to feel proud of both herself and Hanae; herself for helping the clearly shaken girl up, and Hanae for not rejecting it.

"Thanks, you guys..." Hanae slowly stood up as she finished, and put her hand out. "I wanna make sure that this is a real promise, though. I know when people are acting, you know... I'm good at it myself." She winked playfully at Sawako as she said that, and the group quickly realized what she wanted. And so, the group put their hands one on top of the other - Sawako ended up on the top, much to Dell's joking chagrin - and let out a group cry; they'd decided that, no matter what, they would not falter. They would not fail. And, most importantly, they would not die.

Of course, foresight never works out as you'd like it to.

ACT 0: END

SURVIVING STUDENTS: 16/16

A/N: I'm just gonna cut off the chapter here, since I don't think the cafeteria scene matters enough to put in here. Plus, I can link it into the free time event for Hanae next chapter, so it works out.

Note that just because a certain character had a POV in this chapter, that doesn't mean that they'll last through the whole thing. I can guarantee it.

The free time poll will be updated after the next chapter, which will probably be soon, since... again, bored as sin.

As usual, R/R. And tune in next time on DANGIT RUPAUL Z~!

-DA BOSS