*EDITOR'S NOTE*

Please be noted that the story itself has already been drafted out and the Ultimates have already been decided by yours truly, I will attempt to be consistent with continuing the story in a timely fashion, but I cannot make guarantees

Thank you for your understanding, and I hope you enjoy yourself delving into this new tale of the Danganronpa world.

- Natsuna

Hope's Peak Academy...the shining pinnacle of human achievement, and the one destination in the world that guarantees a successful future to all that depart from its gates.

The thought of attending such a prestigious pillar, to actually breathe the same air as the future legacies of the world, how it made me ever so light-headed in excitement...

Oh, but I should introduce myself first before all this banter, shouldn't I?

My name is Eiichi Karitomo, it's a great pleasure to make your acquaintance.

Now…if you took a glance at me from afar, my best guess would be that nothing in particular would grasp your attention, I truly do possess the composition and appearance of a "normal" high schooler. Many people who lead "average" everyday lives and have fallen into the simplistic mindset of normalcy would probably be content with the thought of just fitting into the crowds. I'm a bit different though; I look average and seem somewhat complacent, but my goal is to truly make something of myself, succeeding in my aspirations and surpassing my peers in the subjects we are presented. I'm sorry if I sounded arrogant; please make no mistake, I would never stoop to the level of using any honors or accolades to bolster my ego and put others down below me. In fact, I actually want to be a teacher and use my desires for achievement and ethic to build a similar mantra in others who may be lacking motivation or feel helpless.

I want to be that beacon, I want to inspire hope in others and lead them down a road to a better life.

And I will finally have that opportunity, the gates to my awaiting dream have at last opened, as I have been accepted at Hope's Peak Academy, the pinnacle of every aspiring student in existence.

The thoughts raced through my head as I leaned back in my cushioned chair, the very thought of finally being able to attend the school I have practically worshipped as a child made my spine tingle with gaiety. My parents were a bit skeptical from my acceptance letter, but it only took about a couple days of exposure to my overwhelming excitement that they finally gave in and showed their pride in a son that was going to be set for life after graduating from such a prestigious academy. The following weeks leading up to my deportation to the academy seemed to crawl in a shallow hunch, my brain was practically imploding from the pressure of making sure I memorized the entire introductory handbook from cover to cover up until the night prior. I may have acquired a severely minute amount of sleep during that period, but the adrenaline powering every fiber of my being managed to resist any ailment I may have experienced from such strain; or at the very least made me numb to it. Whatever the case may have been, the day was finally here, and I found myself on an express, private, government-funded jet that served as the envoy to bring the most recent selection of students to the academy grounds.

Tuning my brain back into the present, I reviewed my surroundings, mostly wanting to just make sure I wasn't having some elaborate dream; it has happened before after all. The cabinet I was seated within had deluxe seats that gave optional partitions for each of the seats that dotted the space, unlike a normal set-up that most planes that served to crowd a congesting amount of patrons. I didn't care much for confinement in my position, so I chose to just leave alone most of the optional accommodations. Some of the other students had their seat's walls raised, and those that did covered from view the ones who hadn't; such was my luck of being in the furthest row back. Nonetheless, I turned to my left and gazed over to the student next to me who had a mutually exposed seat, he had notably wavy, jet-black hair that reached just below his shoulders. Though from the angle I was having, his hair hid most of his face from view, but I could see a pair of thin-framed glasses being donned on the bridge of his nose. He looked preoccupied reading a large, thick hardcover book of some sort, I couldn't make out its contents, but figured it might have something to do with his ultimate talent with how intently focused he was on it. I thought it only polite to just leave him be, I had no preconceived notions how his personality worked, and sometimes it is just universally agreed that strangers shouldn't need pry into other's matters unless reason permitted it.

"I'll probably meet him when we get to Hope's Peak anyway," I thought to myself, however much I was believing something that chance would likely deem otherwise. Taking a moment to look at the control settings on the console adjacent to my armrest, I flipped the switch with a monitor icon just above it, signaling the miniature screen above me to lower and allow me to access it's functions. I didn't have anything in particular I desired to watch, I was more looking for a way to distract myself until we finally landed at the academy; then I would finally be able to house up and get my dorm all prepped up for the oncoming school year.

As I flipped the power and took the pair of padded headphones hanging from the side of the monitor, I began skimming the channels at random. I had to have spent a good five minutes just pressing the channel button repeatedly, noticing that I was probably looking somewhat obnoxious from the clicking, I ceased my cycle of the options and stopped on a forestry documentary.

"What…a riveting program to land on," my expression went cross as I continued to listen to the annoyingly calm voice of the commentator as he moved on to explain rubbish about the natural health of landscapes.

It seemed like hours had passed as I painfully forced myself to engage with the program presented to me, taking an occasional break to spy on the status's of the other students around me, I noticed the one next to me had stopped reading and had his head held back, clearly asleep from the closed eyes and partially loosened lips. Looking at my watch, I gazed in disbelief as the minute hand mocked me with a mere twenty-five minute difference since I began my ordeal learning about the bear's contribution to the ecosystem.

"You have got to be kidding me," I murmured in irritation. Having given up with the bland exposition of my detested television companion, I powered off the monitor and flipped the switch to hoist up its contents back to the holding deck above me.

Not even a couple minutes after my ears had tuned back into the ambiance of the jet's interior, I heard a long-winded chime come from the intercom's above us, likely the pilot giving an update on the status of our flight.

"Ahem! Attention all passengers bound for Hope's Peak Academy, may I first request that all students lower their partitions, so as to respectfully be ready for further commands?"

"Further commands?" I spoke aloud, the student next to me was alert as well, we both witnessed every raised wall before us lower and expose the colorful assortment of selected students.

"I regret to inform you all that other…arrangements have been made in regard to your stay at Hope's Peak."

Voices suddenly rang among those in the pit, it was clear that no one had anticipated this sudden development, I looked to my partner's seat; the first time we exchanged glances was enough for us to see the anxiety in one another.

"Do…you know what they're talking about?" his voice came out in a shaky tone filled with worry, "I…I have really bad acrophobia…this…isn't some kind of sick joke right?"

Before I could open my lips, the intercom's voice silenced all of us with it's next message

"Rest assured to you all, you'll be attending a destination managed by Hope's Peak…"

Silence befell us all, I was akin to a melting pot with equal mixtures of reassurance and dread, the latter dominating as the next sentence was spoken,

"Well…'formally' managed so to speak…Puhu…Puhuhuhu…"

Almost immediately, the plane's smooth current took an abrupt jerk that threw me hard against the back of the chair in front of me, my forehead colliding with enough force to make my entire body whiplash back into my own seat. As I rubbed my bruised head, one of the students in the front row stood up, from the back I could see him wearing a dark blue polo shirt over a cream colored long sleeve rolled up to his forearm,

"Hold on a second! Who are you!?" he called out with accusation coating every word, "I spoke with our pilot right before the flight, even through an intercom, I can tell you sure as hell don't sound like him!"

The entire room erupted in a slew of raised voices and panicked expressions, I found a lump in my throat instantly form alongside a sickening pain in my stomach. Getting up from my seat, I found a sudden urgency in my salivating mouth to vomit, the series of events was giving me a dread I never felt before; knowing how helpless we were in a compromising situation flying hundreds of thousands of feet above ground.

"Oh hush now," the voice rang again into our cabinet, "I won't subject you to despair that easily…it'd be far too boring to begin now, not when the stage hasn't even been set yet!"

Another student wearing a black, fine silk dress shirt stood up, flamboyantly striking his hand forward as if he were to command a group,

"Speak to us you…you fiend!" his voice carried a boisterous vigor that normally would seem sarcastic, "What are you playing at?! Are you a terrorist of some sort!? To what end do you intend to use our lives to bargain with!?"

A slight pause lingered in the air after the eccentric student's words rang out, another chime ensued to bring the pilot's reply,

"Bargain? Puhuhuhu…Oh…I'm not so shallow that I'd ask ransom for such 'aspiring hope' like yourselves…No…you all have a purpose much greater than that."

I finally stepped up to the plate, casting aside all physical discomforts I was experiencing, I held my head up and spoke the next question,

"If we're such delicate cargo, then what are you playing at!? Just what exactly is your game here!?"

The only response we could hear from the intercom in response was a prolonged moment of pure laughter, not the kind that ensues joy, but a spine-chilling cackle that bore a malevolent tone. I gripped my stomach again in desperation to not loosen my contents among my potential peers.

"Oh how you misunderstand, I'm not playing any game here…the one's who will be playing…are all of you!"

Once again we found ourselves in the midst of a panic, many of the students were now no longer seated and were instead forming a group in the middle of the jet's cabinet, protesting in a jumbled mess of incoherent pleas. I stumbled my way to merge within it, just to have some form of company as fear threatened to mercilessly choke me. A good couple minutes had passed, not a single one of us waived our tapestry of shouts mixed with ire, desperation and shock. I found myself compelled to speak out alongside them, feeling a newfound ember of irritation for the lack of a clear explanation, I raised my voice among the rest of the group,

"So just tell us now you coward! Are you going to just kill us or not!?" The severity of my question was enough to quell the panicked students and wait in anticipation for the daunting answer.

A moment passed once again, then came the dreadful chime that ushered in what could be our last words to hear,

"Puhuhuhu…oh no…I'll see to it you do all do it for me."

I didn't hesitate for a second,

"What the hell does that mean!? Answer me, now!"

"Wow, you kids sure don't shut up y'know? Man…I feel bad for your parents, having to put up with your mouths day after day…Puhuhu…no matter, I have my own ways of discipline, and by school rules, you're in my care now…"

We didn't even protest after hearing his insult, perhaps the entire situation was finally hitting us all at the same time, we felt so hopeless, we couldn't even speak out.

"And so long as you are under me, you will obey, so if I tell you to clam it…then you will respect my authority, even if I have to do it…by force."

As soon as the intercom shut off it's communication, I could hear a faint sizzling noise coming from the roof of the jet's cabinet, all our eyes scrambled in confusion to find the source of the mysterious sounds that were emitted.

"What…?" I opened my mouth to question, but immediately noticed my lips were seizing up. It was surreal to feel such a sensation, I touched my face in a confused frenzy just to make sense of what I was feeling; but that was just it, I wasn't feeling anything, my hands only registered tingling. In just a span of seconds, my entire body felt like it was ensnared with pins and needles; my strength was being sapped away with each breath I took. Frantically looking around, I noticed some of the other students had already collapsed to the ground, while others tried to keep themselves supported by the chairs, regardless, each one had a panicked look on their face that read one thing:

"What is hell is happening to me?"

It was becoming too much, I felt my legs give way; perhaps I should have been grateful my entire upper body had lost its sensations by now, I could hear my face as it collided with the floor, a loud crack emitted from the impact. My vision was fading, it felt like I was gradually traversing deeper into a never-ending tunnel that threatened to envelop my entire known world. I was fearful of my situation, but perhaps it was only another saving grace that my consciousness couldn't keep up with the thoughts that sped through my mind like a picture strip spinning through a reel. What followed, was not black and white, not color, just nothingness

Nothingness, coated with a tint of despair.

Yikes, quite short of a beginning in my opinion...rest assured, I'll be providing much more length in future chapters; gotta start somewhere though, don't we?

Cheers all,

- Natsuna