Chapter 1: Pulling the trigger (Daily Life)
Note: I am not including the part where Oowada knocks out Naegi because I want him to interact with the other characters a bit.
After Monokuma left the gym, a cart filled with small boxes, slightly larger than bricks, was rolled to the center. Each of the boxes had our name on them, some of us thought that these could be our phones, so some of us quickly rushed over to grab our boxes. Hoping that we could call someone for help, the bad news is that these boxes didn't contain our phones.
Instead, inside the boxes was a few items that were made by that bastard bear. The first item I saw in mine was a key with my name on the tag. I assumed that this was going to be for our rooms that we'll stay in, also was inside the box was a small pouch with Monokuma's face on it. I opened up the pouch and saw that there were small bronze coins inside the pouch, like it was a wallet of some kind. And lastly, inside the box, at the very bottom, was some sort of dark grey thin block. It definitely wasn't my phone. I turned it on and the startup screen appeared, it had a simple light-blue background with white letters that say "e-handbook".
It included a map of the school, a report card page for me and the other students, and it also had a list of the school rules. Which goes as follows.
1. Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.
2. "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 7 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.
3. Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.
4. With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.
5. Violence against headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.
6. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.
7. If the blackened is caught, then they and ONLY they will receive punishment.
8. Additional school regulations may be added if necessary.
"Why do I get the feeling that this is his answer to the iPhone?" I heard Murphy say. "Alright! Everyone, I suggest we start out by searching for a way out of this school." Ishimaru shouted as if he was a general giving commands. "Since there's 15 of us, we should split up into 3 groups of 5 people." Celeste responded, most of us nodded in agreement except for one person. "No thanks, I work alone." Togami's statement shocked all of us. "Hold on, why do you want to work alone?" Nemphray asked the heir, Togami just kept his stone solid face and responded "Because some of you are probably plotting my death as we speak, it would be safer for me to just go solo." Maizono stepped in and responded to him "But if we're in a large group of people, then no one would even think about killing someone."
The heir looked at the idol with that serious face and asked her "Why do you think that? You're just a silly girl filled with broken dreams." I felt my fists clench with rage, no one calls my friend "a silly girl filled with broken dreams" and gets away with it. "Because it says in the school rules that someone can't graduate unless they are discovered. So in that case, it makes sense to split off into large groups!" She responded confidently. She then looked back at me and smiled, I blushed and looked away slightly.
Togami then put his hand to his chin and responded "While your argument is valid, I still believe that I should work alone." He then walked out of the gym after that statement. I then heard a voice shouting back to me, "Alright! My group will consist of Me, Makoto, Cal, and Sayaka! Everyone else, decide on your own." Murphy then grabbed me by my hoodie and dragged me along.
"Hey Murphy, I have a question." I asked him, the comedian just looked back at me and responded with a very unusual response "Murphy? Makoto, dude, where I come from, we refer people to their FIRST names, so please, call me Joshen." He asked as he put his hand on my shoulder. "And because Cal is the same as me, just call her Cal. It's more natural that way." Joshen replied pointing at Cal.
Maizono then looked at them and asked them "Why do you want to be called by your first names?" Joshen and Cal looked at each other then looked back at us. "Well, it's sort of an American and European thing. Which is where we are from, A land far away called 'The Western Hemisphere!" Joshen said acting like he was voicing for a movie trailer. Cal just face palmed, shook her head in shame then said "Basically we usually call each other by our first names where we come from. So we preferred it if you called us by first name."
"Um…Okay, Joshen." I replied unconfidently. Joshen then turned away from me and asked me. "So what was your question?" Still trying to get over the fact that I had to call someone I just met by their first name, I asked my question. "Where are we going exactly?" He then started walking along and then told me, "We're going to the dorms, seems like the most logical place to find clues. Plus, I'm getting sleepy."
Once inside the dorm area, we decided to split up, "Okay, Cal and I will take a look at the dorms, see what's inside there; and we might also pass by the incinerator on the way over. Makoto, you and Sayaka are going to the kitchen, and then to the sauna. We'll meet back here, once we think we've found enough." Joshen and Cal started to walk in the other direction towards a red colored hallway.
I just looked at Maizono and asked her "You know, there are a lot of other boys, who are more popular than me. So why did you choose to stick with me?" she simply smiled at me and replied "Well, we've known each other ever since middle school. So I think following around someone I trust is safer for me!" She then grabbed my hand and then continued "In fact, Naegi, I'll be your assistant!" She put a smile on her face, the same smile that always seems to warmth my heart. I then nodded in agreement. Then Maizono and I headed to the kitchen. Just as Joshen asked us to.
While inside the kitchen Maizono asked me a question. "Hey Naegi, remember that one day when we were in 6th grade? When you rescued that large bird?" I nodded in reply "Of course I do, it was a crane that walked onto our campus." Maizono then looked at me, and it looked like she was blushing. "Well, I saw what you did, and I wanted to thank you for what you did. But because I was always surrounded by people, I never actually got the chance. Even though it's not in the situation I would've wanted, is it alright if I say it now?" I looked back at her from after I checked under a table, "Why?" I asked her. She had a serious look on her face and then responded with something I never expected.
"I am that crane, so please allow me to make you a cloak!" She said confidently. I stepped back in shock with a "Huh?!" she giggled a bit in response and then said "I'm just teasing!" I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment. "A-anyway, let's check the kitchen." I said to her, Maizono nodded her head as we headed into the kitchen.
Once inside there, we saw entire stocks of food; fruits, vegetables, meat, and everything else! "Look at all this food! It's enough to feed an army!" Maizono said as she looked around. "But is it enough to feed us for the rest of our lives?" I asked as I looked inside the fridge. Then suddenly that cheerful voice popped up again. "Actually, the food gets restocked every day! Depending on how much you guys have eaten." Maizono and I jumped when we heard that voice. "Dammit! You stupid bear! Warn us before you scare us!" I shouted at him.
"Repeat after me Mr. Ahoge! It's Mo-no-kuma! Is it really *that* hard is it to say?!" The 'head master' of Hope's Peak said, sharpening his claws. "Anyway, that thing you said about the food storage, is it true it gets restocked?" Maizono asked him. "Yep! Every day! So you guys won't have to die of starvation! If that happened, then we wouldn't have a class trial!" That word peaked Me and Maizono's interests. 'Class trial? What is that?' I thought curiously, so I asked him. "Hey, what's this class trial thing?" He looked at me with a curious look before he walked away. "Oh, that? It's nothing don't worry about it." He said as he waddled away.
Maizono and I couldn't stop worrying about it. What was this 'class trial' he talked about. And did it have something to do with when someone murders someone. Just as these questions kept piling into me and Maizono's heads, he heard a voice that snapped us out of our trances. "Hey you guys! Did you find anything interesting?"
Joshen and Cal were looking back at us through the kitchen. "We did find something interesting, but let's wait until everyone is back here." Maizono said to them, Joshen then looked at me intently and asked "Hey Makoto, one question. You two didn't do anything… steamy… did you?" Maizono and I blushed at the comment he made "D-dude! Don't say things like that! We're just friends! That's all." I yelled at him.
It took a little while for everyone to get here, the order of arrival went like this.
Ishimaru, Oogami, Fujisaki, Zuta, Junko, Mondo, Kuwata, Celeste, Togami, Fukawa, and then lastly Kirigiri, who Ishimaru yelled at for all being late.
"Alright! Everyone list out what you found!" Ishimaru announced to the group. Oogami started by saying what she found, "I found a grate blocking a stair case that looks like it leads up to the second level. I am not sure what we have to do to unlock the second floor; but it might relate to murdering someone." She then let Oowada pick up from when she left off. "Me and Celeste found an iron plate that looks like a door, no matter how many times I kicked it, it wouldn't budge! It was like it was made of iron or something" Celeste replied with a very calm attitude "That's because it *was* made of iron."
Zuta then continued by saying what he found. "Me and Enoshima found something that resembles a school store; there was two different machines inside the room." Enoshima then continued "One was a vending machine with like, snacks and drinks inside of it. While the other one had like, prizes inside of it."
Joshen then picked up announcing what he and Cal found. I was actually curious, because I didn't get to hear it. "Me and Cal looked at the dorms, each person has one. And the ones for the guys and the ones for the girls are different aspects about it. Apparently only the girls have locks for their bathrooms, while the boys do not. Also that bastard bear gave us each a present." He reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a toolkit. "While the guys got a toolkit, I assume this is used for killing instead of repairs. Which means it's totally worthless." Cal then took out what was in her pocket and then continued where Joshen left off "Us girls got a sewing kit, it also included a piece of paper with a picture of a person with their vitals labeled on it."
"Hey Makoto, Sayaka, what did you two find?" Cal asked us. Maizono then stood up and told them what we found. "Well, what we discovered was that there was a lot of food in the kitchen, it was probably enough to feed an army!" She stated. "And the storage gets restocked everyday depending on how much we eat. At least that's what Monokuma told us." I then continued where she left off. "Monokuma also mentioned something about a 'class trial'. He told us not to worry about it, but we suspect that it might have to do with when the murders happening."
Ishimaru then stood up and said "Alright! So have we found any leads yet?!" Fukawa, who was standing next to Togami at another table, responded to the hall monitor "No we haven't! All we know is that we're stuck in here. We don't know who is behind all of this. And we're supposed to kill each other!" Zuta then looked at the nervous author and responded "It's only the first day, I don't think that anyone would consider killing on the first day."
Celeste then stood up to ask a question. "Pardon to interrupt, but I suggest we take a look at the school rules for a bit." She then pulled her e-handbook and went to rule #2 "If you will look it says that curfew is 10:00 PM, so I suggest that once that time hits, we all stay in our rooms." Enoshima was pretty pissed off at the idea. "Why do you say that? We all have to find a way out don't we?" She asked. Celeste put a cheerful look on her face, but I knew she was lying. "Well in a scenario like this, it's not the strongest or smartest who survive. It's the ones who are able to adapt the fastest. Which is why I suggested the idea". All the students were arguing at this point about what we should do, except for a few people like Togami and Kirigiri.
Hours had passed while we were arguing, we all then looked at the clock and noticed it was 9:00 PM. It was getting pretty late so we all decided to return to our rooms just as Celeste said.
I heard that the water turns off at midnight, so I decided to take a shower before the announcement occurred. I turned the doorknob, but it wasn't opening. "What the heck? Why won't it open?" I jiggled the knob even more, but the door still wouldn't budge. "I though only the girl's bathrooms had locks!" I said to myself, then that annoying, but familiar voice appeared behind me. "Bingo! You're right on that my friend!" I looked back and saw Monokuma standing behind me. "Oh… It's you." I replied with an annoyed look on my face. "Look, just tell me why my door won't open." "Well, Mr. Ahoge, it's very simple! Your door doesn't fit quite right in the frame. But there is a trick to opening it. Just lift up when you push, it should open just fine then."
I tried exactly as he told me and then the door opened! "Hey, what do you know. It did open!" I said. The mechanical bear started to chuckle and replied. "I can't believe the SHSL Luckster got the bad door frame! This is just great!" He said laughing. "Anyway, Nighttime is coming in half an hour, so take your shower and head to bed!" He said as he left. I then took my shower and then went to bed.
"Good morning everyone! It's now 7:00 AM! Time to get up and get to work!" The PA shouted in Monokuma's voice to wake everyone up. Sighing as I opened my eyes to see the same ceiling as yesterday disappointed me. I then opened up my door and heard a familiar voice. "Makoto, did you sleep with your clothes on?" Joshen asked me, I nodded in response, he was then flabbergasted to the fact that I slept with my clothes on. "Why are you so shocked? It's not like this place has sleep clothes or anything." I replied, he then grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me. "Makoto, listen, you have two jackets (one of them being black), long black pants, and SHOES! You would die if you wore all of those in bed. Think logically man!"
He then stopped shaking me and then asked me something. "Anyway, I have a question for you. Do you wanna go to that school store? I heard that they've got some neat stuff!" He said taking out the bag of bronze coins he got along with the e-handbook. I nodded and we headed to there.
Once we got to the store, we saw the machine with prizes inside of it that Enoshima was talking about. "Alright! Let's try my luck!" Joshen then put a coin inside the machine, turned the crank, and out popped fairly large capsule of some kind. He then popped open the capsule and out popped an MP3 player, "Sweet!" He shouted, "Do you know how perfect for me this is?" He asked me. I rubbed the back of my head and replied "I didn't know you were a music enthusiast." He then stared at me intently and said "That's not what I'm talking about, I'm saying that I could play an appropriate song with the situation someone is in!"
I then tried my "luck" at the machine. And out popped a capsule, and inside of it was a button. Me and Joshen stared at it curiously "A button? Pretty lame dude." While Joshen didn't think it was a big deal, I knew exactly what it was. It was the second button off a guy's graduation gown! They say you give the second button of your graduation gown to a girl you like to show that you love her. At that moment, I had a daydream.
"Oh thank you Naegi! I'm so happy!" Maizono said to me. But my daydream was cut short. "Yo! Makoto!" I was snapped out of my trance by Joshen, who then said "You gonna explain the button to me?" I then ignored him and put the button in my pocket, then I felt. "Dude! You just going to ignore me!?"
I quickly went to Maizono's dorm room, and knocked on the door. She quickly opened the door as if she was expecting me. "Oh, hi Naegi! Did you want something?" She asked me, I was a little embarrassed because I was technically asking her on a date. I blushed a bit and then stuttered my line "w-w-would you l-l-like to hang out with me?" She kept the smile that she kept on her the whole time and responded with "Sure, I'd love to!" I celebrated inside my head gleefully.
Maizono and I headed to the cafeteria to talk for a bit. We talked for a bit, and after a while Maizono asked me a very strange question "Hey Naegi, do you have a girlfriend?" I was shocked at her question. "W-what?!" She looked depressed at my reaction, "Oh, does that mean you do have one?" I then shook my head in disagreement and saying. "N-no! I-I don't have one!" She then giggled a bit and then continued "Naegi, why are you blushing? I just asked a simple question."
Maizono and I were quiet for a while, until she broke the ice "Well?" she asked me as if I knew what I was supposed to say. I looked at her curiously and then she continued. "Don't you want to know if I have a boyfriend?" She asked. I simply put my hand to my chin and responded "Well, you are pretty popular, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you had one." And I would also be a little disappointed. But Maizono smiled at me and said "Nope! I'm single!" I was honestly surprised, she was about 17 years old and she doesn't have a boyfriend? Not to mention she's a famous popstar! My azure haired friend then continued "Well the reason I don't have a boyfriend is because I'm so busy with my work as an idol, that I don't have the time to get one." She then started to blush at me, and then she stated "Although, there *is* someone I'm interested in." I then blushed at what she said. Suddenly Kuwata came in and shouted "Dude! The one she's interested in is ME!" We then heard Joshen's voice behind him and he shouted even louder. "Don't ignore my question! Now tell me, why don't you look like a baseball player?!" Kuwata then looked in the direction that we heard Joshen's voice "Well I think it's obvious, I'm quitting baseball and become a rock star!"
Joshen then replied with a sound of realization saying "Oh, is that why you were trying to get in Maizono's pants the other day, or skirt?" He then smiled and replied "Yeah!" Next to me, I could feel Maizono's rage building. She then said something in a threatening voice "What was that?" I then tried to calm her down with success. Kuwata then ran off, frightened of the fact that Maizono would beat him up.
Maizono and I decided to check around the school to see what else we can find. Then once nighttime hit, we said goodnight to each other and went to sleep.
We all decided to continue the search around the school, but just like yesterday, we couldn't find anything.
Under Ishimaru's orders, we met in the cafeteria to discuss what to do. "I cannot believe this! Three days of searching, and we *still* haven't found a way out!" Kuwata complained. Joshen then stared at the baseball player intently and responded "This stuff takes effort! It's not like there's just going be a neon sign that says 'EXIT'". Fujisaki then started to cry and said "W-will we be stuck in here? For the rest of our lives?" Cal then tried to comfort the sobbing programmer. "Oh come on, someone has probably noticed that we're gone, and they'll start looking for us!" Fukawa then glared at her and said "H-how do you know that for s-sure?"
Cal then looked at Fukawa and responded, "Well, think about it, we've been gone for 3 days! Someone's bound to have noticed and called the police."
We all then continued discussing different matters, until Monokuma showed up at the end of the table. "BOOOORING! Seriously guys, three days in, and not even a single pint of blood has been shed. What a major let down!" He said in his cheerful tone. Then a disturbing smile crossed his face, then he started talking again. "Wait a minute, I've got the right atmosphere, situation, and purpose but not the final ingredient to finish the murder cake!" We were all wondering what he meant by that, we were all looking around. The Kirigiri asked the black and white bear "What is this 'ingredient?" His smile became bigger, enough to separate the top and bottom half of his head. "That final ingredient, gives someone the reason to kill. I'm talking about motivation! All students, come to the A/V room after breakfast, I've got a present for all of you!" He then disappeared under the table after his statement.
Just as the head master said, after we ate, we all went to the A/V room. Inside, there was a box filled with discs, each labeled with our name. I pulled out mine and stood at the monitor next to Maizono, I inserted the DVD and put on the headphones and the first thing I saw on the screen.
Was my family, My mom, dad, and my sister, Komaru, all siting on the couch with smiling faces. They were congratulating me for getting into Hope's Peak Academy. Their faces filled me with hope, the hope to keep on going, to get out of this hell hole, but the screen went fuzzy; and what I saw next was the couch my family was sitting on, was torn up and they were gone. All that hope inside me turned right into despair. The screen then faded to black, and text appeared on the screen that said.
"If you wish to find out what happened to them, you'll get your answer after you graduate."
I took the headphones off my head as quickly as I could, "I've gotta get out of here! I need to see if they are safe!" I said to myself, I could guess that everyone in the room was thinking the same thing, I then heard a scream next to me, Maizono's scream.
"Nooooooooooooooooo! Oh god, I've got to get out of here!" I quickly rushed to her side to try and comfort her, "Maizono? What did you see?" She quickly slid to the floor and held her hand against her head. "W-why is this happening to us, why do we deserve this?" She was shivering with fear, what she saw in that video, only she knows. Monokuma then appeared on the large screen in the front of the room "Hey guys, how do you like it? Pretty great huh?" Togami the glared intently at the screen and asked "What is it you want from us?" Monokuma glared at all of us and said. "The only thing I want from *you* is your DESPAIR!"
This made Maizono bolt out of the room screaming. I ended up chasing after her and grabbing her by the arm. "Maizono calm down! Remember, you said it yourself, you're my assistant!" She tried to struggle away from me as I continued. "Listen, someone is going to find us!" She then yelled directly into my face, "No one's coming for us, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" I then shouted even louder in response "LISTEN! No matter what happens, I will protect you. As long as you're with me, you'll get to see the outside world again!"
She then hugged me and started to cry. You when they say, "There's a first time for everything"? well, this is my first time seeing Maizono cry. I put my arms around her to comfort her and tried to calm her down. "Shhhhhhhhhhhhh… It's okay Maizono, it's okay. I'm here, everything's going to be alright." As I was talking to her as if I was her father. Probably the closest thing she's had to words mainly spoken by a father. There were only two things anyone could have heard in the hallway. Maizono's sobs and Monokuma's devious laughs. "Upupupupupupu! Upupupupupupu! Upupupupupupu!"
That night the only thing I could think about, was Maizono. I'd never seen her so scared. It's like that smile was taken away from her.
"Good morning everyone! It's now 7:00 AM! Time to get up and get to work!"
After the PA woke me up, I headed over to the cafeteria where Ishimaru, Oogami, Joshen, and Fujisaki were located. These guys were the role model students, they are the ones you should look up to. I grabbed a seat and waited for everyone else to come join us.
The next group of students included Oowada, Enoshima, and Cal. These people were just a few minutes off.
The last group of students included people like Kirigiri, Celeste, Kuwata, and Fukawa. Those people basically run on their own time and give excuses to why they were late.
Only three people were left, Togami, Maizono, and Zuta. After a few minutes of us talking, Togami then showed up and took a seat at one of the far tables. "Hey Togami, did you see either Maizono or Zuta on your way here?" Oowada asked him, he then glared directly at him and said "Do you have any right to talk to me like that? And no, I did not see either of them." I then started to become worried, that someone could of… could of…
"Wait just a minute guys, I have to go check on her!" I got up from my seat and dashed out of the cafeteria "Wait, Makoto! I'll go with you." Joshen then started to follow me to Maizono's room.
Once we reached her door we tried knocking on it. "Maizono? Are you in there?"
No response.
I then reached for the doorknob and turned it, but for some reason it was unlocked. 'Why is Maizono's door unlocked?' I slowly opened up the door, and inside we saw that stuff in Maizono's room was flown everywhere. It was as if a struggle happened here. But the main thing that caught our eyes was Maizono's bed covers on the floor. We saw a hill under the sheet that was in the shape of a person.
Joshen and I crouched down to look at the hill. He then turned to me and said "Well pull off the sheet on three okay, and if this is who I think it is. Then I'm sorry." We grabbed the sheet tightly. To be honest I was hoping that I was both right and wrong about what *I* though was under her sheets. Be both shouted at the same time. "One, two, three!" And we threw off the sheets, revealing what was under them.
And even though I was wrong about what was under there, I still couldn't believe my eyes.
14/15 Students remain.
