AN: Thanks everyone so much for 200+ reviews! I was amazed to find out that I had reached that mark!

Wow! It felt like just yesterday when I uploaded the Prologue! I got an amazing number of forms and every time I see a review, my day is made. I appreciate every one of you following my story. In fact, you're the only reason I make this! I know it sounds preachy and cliche, but it's the truth. I mean we're already at the third chapter, after all.

Soundtrack: Persona – Aria of the Soul

…

"Nanako," I said immediately. My face was grim and saddened. Like I thought, Nanako was the only one sitting across the table. The room was familiarly dark. The only light was the natural moonlight that shone out of the marvelous window. Yet here I was, strapped in a chair, having something drained from my body. But the weird thing was...I didn't feel that same hostility when I came here. "Nanako, please tell me...what's going on?"

Nanako shook her head. "As much as I'd like to help you, it is beyond my jurisdiction to."

"Why?" I asked, my voice frail. "Why?!"

"Hmm," Nanako observed. "It seems like you are a bit more emotional today. I would like to know why, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't already know..."

I could feel my face turn a bit hot, and I was never happier that I was baked in a crisp, cool darkness. Though considering my certain situation, I felt a bit silly that I was worrying that my face was starting to turn red.

"W-what are you talking about..?"

"Mr. Lost Memory," Nanako chuckled. Her tone of voice was sad for some reason...I couldn't tell why. Maybe she went through tragedy too..? "I wish to feel what you feel. I used to know as well, but unfortunately, no matter how much I want to, I cannot help you. If Mirai dies, it is beyond my control."

"You just said his name," I choked. "Do you know everyone's name..?"

"Of course I do," Nanako said proudly. "However, as much as I'd like too..."

"You'd like to do many things," I sighed, interrupting her. Nanako chuckled at my outburst, and I could hear her get out of her seat.

"Like I was saying, while I'd love to idly chat, it is not why I summoned you here again."

"Then why?" I asked.

"What Rhyssa revealed to you must have been quite a shock, hasn't it?" Nanako asked.

"Obviously it's not true though, right?" I asked hopefully. Yet Nanako's answer was not what I was hoping for at all.

"Unfortunately, Rhyssa was telling the truth. You have no memory of your school life at Hope's Peak Academy."

My heart sank, and at the same time, I grew confused. "What does that even mean? I remember standing in front of Hope's Peak for the first time just a few days ago...and now I'm alternating between sitting in this chair and fighting in a battle royale coliseum!"

"I just needed to confirm your doubts," Nanako said. "The answers are for you to find on your own."

"Why..?" I asked. "Why can't you tell me and end this all?"

"There's a very good reason why," Nananko said, her tone turning grim. "Unfortunately, that will not be revealed to you until the end of your journey."

"My journey..?"

"Every journey someone takes always has to have a beginning, and an end. That journey you take...well, that depends on each person. I've been on a journey, and my master has been on a journey. Perhaps it wasn't particularly similar to yours, but it was journeys we had to take. You have to carry this out on your own. For you to do that, this is all the help I can offer you."

I shook my head furiously. "I don't understand..! I know you aren't a bad person, Nanako...so why can't you help me?!"

"I apologize sincerely," Nanako said. There was indeed sincerity in her voice.

The chair shuffled aside, and Nanako approached me slightly. Although even by the slightly lit window, I could not see her face. I struggled to with all my might, yet there was no hope. Nanako apologized once more, and snapped her fingers, envloping me in a bright white. As I whited out, Nanako spoke a few words.

"Do not worry," she started. "You will remember what I said. You will recognize the futile truth that your school life memories have in fact disappeared. What you will do with the information is beyond me."

Just like before a murder, huh..?

Heh...

==NANAKO'S REPORT CARD HAS BEEN UPDATED==

ID: Nanako / Role Unknown

|||Nanako revealed the despairing truth that Keiko's memories have indeed disappeared.|||

Closeness Level: 4 == Level Up! == 5

Location: Keiko's Room | Time: 7:00 AM | Chapter Three | TIMER PAUSED

"Good morning, everyone!" blared Monokuma's voice through the intercom. "It's now 7:00 AM! Rise and shine! Let's make today the best day it can be!"

I opened my eyes to the sound of Monokuma's unsightly voice. That night was an unrestful night. I'm not sure if I was able to sleep at all, though I do faintly remember having a dream. I brushed it off and stretched as I climbed out of my bed. As I was changing, terrible memories managed to pour into my head. I remembered Hideki, and his odd, but cute obsession over games. I remembered Yayoi and her apparent innocence. She was also straight to the point, and a bit paranoid at times, but I still wouldn't point that out as something bad. I remembered Micky before we got to know the real him. He was a bit flamboyant but still fun to be around. Lastly, I remembered Rhyssa. She seemed to be more than she was. A stressed out teenager because of what her show does to her personally. She seemed so normal...so how could she even kill?

Finally changing, I headed outside to the cafeteria. I wasn't sure how long these "daily meetings" were going to last, but it didn't hurt to go to one anymore. I walked down the long glass hallway slowly, thinking about everyone. I never expected another murder, and now that two more people were killed, I can't think like that anymore. I want to trust everyone here, but at this rate, it's impossible. It hasn't even been a week since Hideki's death, and Micky was already killed by the hands of Rhyssa.

Before I knew it though, I was in front of the cafeteria. The large metal doors stood right there as a barrier between me and the others. I wondered what the others would be like, and how they would react when I walked in. Would they avert their gazes and not look at me? What would they do...so I opened the doors unsure of how they would act.

And I was pleasently surprised.

Soundtrack: Persona 4 – Like a Dream Come True

(AN: I can't believe I never remembered this BGM from Persona 4. The perfect happy music IMO.)

"Yo!" Ryoko called out. Almost everyone was at the table eating...and they were holding bright happy faces. Even though four people were killed in less than a week...they all seemed to be happy? "You going to eat Keiko, or can I have your share?"

"R-Ryoko..?" I stammered. "What's going on..? Why's everyone so happy?"

"Well, why shouldn't we be?" Furo asked.

"I mean, two people died yesterday, right..?"

Noah got up from the seat and gave me a slight smile. "We all agreed that if we act depressed and emotionless after the deaths of four of our friends, we'd never be able to work together and get out of this."

"True story bro!" Takayashi exclaimed. "We're going to play soccer in the gymnasium after this! Luckily I don't think the gymnasium is made of glass..."

I was a bit taken aback, and they seemed to sense my reluctance.

"You shouldn't be upset over those deaths," Kaito said. "Er, no, I said that wrong..."

"Wow, an expert with his words said the wrong thing!" Unmei said sassily. "What happened?"

Ignoring her, Kaito continued. "Instead, use those deaths as your strength..."

"My strength, huh..? Sounds like a corny anime."

"Well, true," Kaito laughed. "But we won't forget those four that left us, will we? I'm sure they're watching us somewhere, happy for us that we're able to work together like this."

"Though we're not really at that point yet," Furo sighed. "I guess it'll take a few more days for us to actually get working."

I pondered this for a while, and I guess you could say I liked the idea. I nodded in agreement, and sat down with my breakfast.

"G-good morning, Keiko," Kirei greeted. "How did you sleep?"

"Oh, not well," I admitted. "I don't think I've been able to get a good sleep at all lately."

"We're all like that," Unmei agreed. "Don't feel bad about it. When we get a good lead on how to get out of here, I think that's when we're going to be able to sleep comfortably."

"Agreed!" Yoshinori said. "For now though, the timer is paused right?"

"And Monokuma should have added five more days to the countdown timer," Noah observed . "Which means since yesterday, the timer was at fourty-six days, we should now have a good fifty-one days to work out these mysteries."

"I think we should take today as a day off," Ryoko sighed. "Won't do any good to work for nearly two months, right?"

"I'm in agreement," Noah chuckled.

"We are playing soccer though, right?" Takayashi asked. "Because I'm eager to show off my mad skills, dude!"

"Of course we are," Shougo laughed. "I have to warn you though, I'm pretty good at the game myself."

"But...what about our memories?" I asked. I had a strange feeling...that the memory thing was the truth.

"I-I think Rhyssa was lying," Kirei told me. "I remember everything after all...teehee."

"Yeah! No way she's telling the truth!" Yoshinori remarked.

I smiled at all of this. I thought it remarkable that we were able to recover from our slump like this. Even Shougo, who should be one of the most depressed out of us, was able to socialize. I guess Kaito was right. Through the deaths of our friends, we've all changed and grown stronger... I hate sounding like a preacher, but it's true.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Don't exclude the cowgirl, please!"

"This shall be interesting," Hikaru chuckled. "As a prisoner, although I did not enjoy being one, I've garnered up a decent amount of physical strength. Who will win, I wonder..? Me or speed?"

"Speed, of course," Takayashi said. "I'm the fastest one here, after all! I didn't get into this school because I was some regular jockey at a normal highschool playing varsity! I could have gone pro, yo!" She said all this with a peace sign.

Through all this happiness, I noticed something. One of us here...was missing. Missing out on all of this.

"H-hey, guys, did you see Mirai today?" I asked.

"Oh, Mirai..." Unmei said sadly. "No, I didn't see him...but I feel really bad for him."

"As do I," Noah said. "No one should be denied their pasts like that...I couldn't imagine going my life without remembering my childhood."

"...Maybe we should go get him?" I asked. "I don't know if it's the best for Mirai to be alone like that."

"You do not have to worry," Hikaru reassured. "Mirai is the type of character to rebound from things like that. I suppose now is a good time for him to be alone and think about things."

I nodded. "I guess you're right. Though I still feel really bad..."

"We all do," Yoshinori said. "But it'll just make us even happier when Mirai comes back to us with his usual, dumbfounding self, right?"+

She gave me a thumbs up, and I gave her one back, letting out a smile. It really was nice for us to come together like this...so nice, that I didn't even want to finish my breakfast. I took the food from my tray and threw it into the trash can, and since everyone had already finsihed eating, I stood up on the table.

"Let the soccer game begin!"

Everyone cheered, and we ran out of the cafeteria like a group of kids coming home in the snow. Excited, immature, but most importantly, happy.

I couldn't ask for anything more!

Location: The Gymnasium | Time: 7:47 AM | Chapter Three | TIMER PAUSED

"Okay! Who wants me on their team?" Takayashi yelled. "Though elite I am, I will choose myself! So chop, chop! Make teams of six on the double!"

"But there are eleven of us here," Furo said. "One team will have six players, that means, unless we're using substitutes."

Sounds good to me!

I had my doubts of having a full soccer game in the gymnasium, but I was surprised. Walking into the gym, it was the size of a football field. It was stretching it to have a soccer game when we could have done a lot more!

The teams were split up (by Takayashi of course) at random. It was Takayashi, me, Kirei, Ryoko, Unmei, and Yoshinori on one team, and Noah, Hikaru, Furo, Kaito, and Shougo on the other team.

"W-wait a minute," Kaito said suddenly. "Isn't this just boys versus girls then..?"

"What's the problem with that?" Unmei asked defensively.

"E-er, n-nothing," Kaito mumbled. "N-nothing at all."

"You stuttered WAY too much to be considered a word twister," Takayashi laughed. And I couldn't help but laugh too.

We started playing at the sound of Takayashi's scream. Halfway through the match, it was an easy win for the girls. Even though Unmei and Kirei weren't terribly atheletic, Takayashi helped us a lot, and it's not like I was terrible at soccer.

"Woohoo!" Ryoko cheered. "Kick their asses, Takayashi!"

"Across the field! Super kick!" Takayashi screamed.

If only this could have lasted forever...

If only we could have lived real school lives like this...

That would have been nice, wouldn't it?

Soundtrack: AoE Second Suite Movement 5P+3P

"Meow!" Meowykins yelled at us, interrupting us during our game. "May I ask what y'all are doing?!"

And here comes one of Monokuma's jesters, here to ruin the fun.

"We're playing a soccer game!" Rhyssa snapped. "What's it to ya, you defective puppy dog?"

"I'm not defective at all!" Meowykins protested. "Besides, I don't see how you are all acting so funny like this..! Shouldn't you be investigating a little bit?"

"Investigating?" I asked. "About what? This is like our day off..."

"Oh, right," Meowykins remembered. "The timer is set off...is that why you are all acting so happy towards each other?"

"T-that's right," Kirei confirmed.

Meowykins began laughing for some reason, and he scratched the back of his head with his paw as he gave us news that no one would want to hear.

"Listen up, y'all! You think Monokuma will let you off with an entire 51 days to investigate this? No way, man! I work behind the scenes with that bear, and I'll tell you, you have only 28 days left, you hear?!"

Music halts

W-what did he just say..?

Twenty days..?

"B-but, that's leagues away from fifty," I stammered.

"Yeah, but Monokuma-sama realized that giving y'all more than a month to do this was stretching it a bit," Meowykins laughed. "So me and him came to a mutual agreement."

Soundtrack: OST 2-26: Re Despair Syndrome

"You now only have 28 days to explore the mysteries surrounding this school...can you do it? Meow...I wonder..."

"But that is definitely not enough time!" Noah protested. "How are we going to..?"

"Don't worry," Meowykins said. "In compensation for not getting a reward for your survival through the second class trial, Monokmua and I decided to expand your school life a bit!"

"What do you mean by that?" Unmei asked. "What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?" Meowykins asked in return. "We aren't going to do anything to you. You now have a second glass dome to explore...and it's much better than this first one."

"You mean there's another place like this?!" Furo asked with anger in his voice. "How the hell is that even possible?"

Meowykins shook his head. "Nuh-uh-uh! That's a mystery, and you have to find that out, don'tcha? Meow! Catch ya later!"

Meowykins then disappeared, leaving us in a petrified state.

A second dome..? More accurately, a second "school" or "coliseum" like this..? But why..? Literally just a few minutes ago, we were having a soccer game! So...why?

I looked at the others. There faces were stone cold. Starting tomorrow, we have four weeks to solve the mysteries of the school. Otherwise, if Meowykins was telling the truth, we'll be dead. We will have drowned underwater in this terrible place.

"M-Maybe this won't be so bad," Yoshinori said. "We're getting access to a new place, right?"

"That could only mean more hints!" Unmei said with optimism in her voice.

But no matter what the two said, most of us didn't return that optimism at all. We all just remembered the dire situation we were in...it definitely wasn't a good one.

Continued in Chapter 3: Section 2

AN: I know, I know, short chapter. TBH though the (ab)normal days arc for this will be a lot longer than four chapters (or so I plan.) this is because I've been focusing mostly on the trials and I don't think I'm focusing on the overarching story itself. So I hope to end that with Chapter 3. (No real promises of course though...things always go wrong, lol.)