Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, once again, the internet wasn't working (Eye twitched). Apparently, someone didn't want to do their job and it resulted in no internet for around a week. So sorry for another delay, but there wasn't much I could do about it. Plus, there was the usual decision of what to add and what not to add. So, with that out of the way, enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.
Editor: We're going to put the questions section here as someone suggested putting them at the top would give it more attention.
Q:Regarding the quality of the writing.
L: To be honest, I'm not sure in what aspect the "quality" has dropped but I guess the readings do seem a bit weird sometimes. For the readers who've been with this story since the beginning, I'm sure you guys would be able to see the differences between now and then. How Spirit and I work is that Spirit sends me the docs of every chapter, and I edit it in a specific way, gather up some questions from the reviews with my own answer, then send them back to Spirit for final review. My editing is done in a way where it will try to preserve his way of writing, while making it easier and more interesting to read for everyone else. This most of the time includes a small over-haul of the chapter since in a very basic sense, strictly fixing the errors can completely change the point and direction that Spirit has wanted. If you compare the earlier chapters to the more recent chapters in terms of writing and structure, it's kind of different (However, despite only joining Spirit somewhere around CH11 of this story, I've also taken the chance to edit the earlier chapters so there is a small bias here).
Q:How long does it take to finish a chapter?
S: Without any interruptions or problems, I say between one to two weeks.
L:Given how things were going so far, and disregarding the delays on the last two chapters, usually Spirit finishes within a week and a half and if he doesn't deliver it to me on a weekend where I have work, then I'll usually finish it within a day or two. To be honest, Spirit sometimes surprises me as he finishes up some chapters much faster than others.
Q:Will you be setting the interactions the same as CH1? Namely, how it focuses on the people involved in the chapter?
L:It would seem to be that way. After all, it is the most efficient and easy way to get everyone's FTEs done. Although, I'd suppose there will be certain exceptions like Kyoko who's 'arc' will be more gradual rather than fitted into one chapter due to plot purposes and characterization (Let's be real, as good as Makoto is at befriending people, there's no realistic way he'll befriend Kyoko to that level in one chapter.). That's just my thoughts though, no guarantees.
S: Lucky is correct. I'll be focusing on the people involved in certain chapters, though there will be certain exceptions. Nothing is concrete, however.
Q:Anything regarding DR2 and beyond
L:I don't think Spirit has planned that far yet and won't be able to give you a proper answer.
S: Again, Lucky is correct.
Chapter 25: Watching Ch 2: Boys' Life of Despair Part 2
(Chapter 2 - Boys' Life of Despair - Daily Life)
"How ominous" Celeste commented. "It seems to suggest that the boys will be getting the attention in this chapter."
"Come on, really?" Hina pouted at that. "A lot of shows focuses on the guys."
"Yeah well, we don't want the focus in this kind of show." Leon remarked.
When the picture disappeared, narrator Makoto spoke up. "I woke up the next day to Monokuma's normal morning announcement. Then he called us to the gym."
"Say what?" Leon questioned in annoyance and worry. "He's already got more plans in motion?"
"C-Can't he give us a b-break?" Toko whined in fear.
"We were practically frozen with fear. But Monokuma was determined to get us involved in his little game," Makoto continued. "And with that goal in mind, he began it…."
Everyone tensed up, wondering what Monokuma got in store for them now. Chihiro, in particular, is shaking in trepidation. Is it another motive? A new rule to be added? Is he just going to mock the dead?
None of them expected what happened next….
The screen the lit back up to show everyone gathered in the gym, with Monokuma doing some sort of exercise in front of them. "Okay! Lift your arms up, and down! One, two, three, four!"
"One, two, three, four!" Taka repeated, as he was the only one doing the exercise while everyone else was just standing around, confused as to why Monokuma wanted them to to do this.
"Now reach waaay up, and bend waaay down!" Monokuma instructed, doing exactly what he's instructing. "Tighten those muscles! Let's add a little strength, a little speed to those young bodies of yours!" While Taka did as he instructed, everyone else continued to stare in confusion.
And just like their future counterparts, the group was confounded. "Is he….trying to make us do exercises?" Makoto slowly, utterly befuddled.
"It would seem that way." Byakuya couldn't help but shake his head, both disappointed and annoyed at Monokuma for the jest. "Clearly, I also underestimated the bear in a different sense as well."
"What is his intention for gathering us to exercise I wonder?" Kyoko questioned, trying to figure out what's going through the mastermind's head.
"Well, I think it's wonderful that he's making sure we maintain our physical fitness!" Taka stated. "But why isn't anyone else exercising?"
"Um, I don't know, maybe it's because they're wondering if the mastermind has a screw loose?" Leon dryly stated. "Or more loose?"
After a few minutes of exercising, Monokuma stopped. "Ahh, doesn't this feel just great?!" Monokuma asked the class rhetorically. "Being stuck inside like this, you gotta make sure to stay healthy!"
"You're the one keeping them there in the first place! I mean, give them some fresh air already!" Hina exclaimed in anger. Then her head dropped. "Poor future me! How is she faring for not being able to go outside?"
"I'm surprise she haven't lost it yet." Celeste commented on. Hina had the most energy out of all of them, so this must be hell for her.
"You're the o-one keeping us 'stuck inside'..." Toko retorted.
"Don't sweat the small stuff! That's my motto." Monokuma waved off. "Whoa, I sounded pretty cool just now, don'tcha think? Did you fall in love with me? Am I just to die for? Am I just to die in writhing agony for?"
"Disgusting." Byakuya deadpanned.
"Yeah! Like hell we would die for you!" Mondo growled.
No one bothered to answer any of those questions. "So….why did you call us here?" Sakura questioned. "Certainly it wasn't to make us exercise…."
"'Just' to make you exercise?" Monokuma repeated, sounding angry. "JUST to make you exercise?!" He then went on a tangent. "If exercise makes you laugh, exercise will make you cry! Now, if you keep doing these exercises, you will uncover the secret of the Assassin's Fist! Passed down from generation to generation in the empire of darkness….the power can be yours!"
Everyone was at a loss of words from Monokuma's response. Usually, any sort of complete silence was from the horror of the situation. However, Spirit paused the video for a second as he noticed how practically the entire class was completely bewildered from Monokuma's 'explanation'.
"...How old is the mastermind?" Leon deadpanned as Spirit pressed play. "Like, seriously? Assassin's Fist? Empire of Darkness? Are you sure Hiro isn't the mastermind?"
"Hey!" Hiro shouted as he raised a fist in protest. "I'll have you know that I would sound way more convincing than that bear!"
"Reminds me of that Tanaka guy with the hamsters. He never shuts up about his black magic." Mondo mused. Taka glowered at the reminder of the Ultimate Breeder. He tried extremely hard to have him put those hamsters back in his room, but his upperclassman was resilient about keeping them around.
His offer was only met with more blank stares of annoyance. "That sounds like the kind of junk a middle schooler would come up with…." Hifumi stated.
"It doesn't matter!" Makoto exclaimed, getting slightly annoyed. "Just get to the point. Did you really call us down here just to exercise?"
"Of course not!" Monokuma denied. "You think I have that kind of free time on my hands?!"
"Okay, so then…."
"Ahh, I'd like to make an announcement!" Monokuma declared to everyone. "Every time you overcome a class trial here at Hope's Peak, a whole new world will open up to you!"
"A whole new world….?" Hiro repeated in confusion.
"It'd really suck if you had to live here forever with nothing new to stimulate you!" Monokuma began explaining. "Besides, I know how you kids get these days with your ADD and ADHD. I gotta keep you motivated! So go ahead, look around all you want! Enjoy the brave new post-trial world till you explode!" With that, he left, leaving everyone else even more confused than they already were.
"...Um, what the heck just happened?" Hiro asked in confusion. "A whole new world? New post-trial world?"
"Sometimes, it's hard to tell the mastermind's age." Kyoko sighed, rubbing her forehead. "The fact that they're speaking through a robotic bear doesn't help."
"Do you think he opened a way out?!" Hina asked eagerly. Some of the others looked eager at the prospect.
Unfortunately, Celeste decided to pop their bubble. "That's highly unlikely. Even I wouldn't make a bet on that."
"W-Well, you never know!" Hina argued, though it was weak. "Maybe they got lucky!" Celeste only raised a brow at Hina, not even going to bother responding to that.
"Tch, If that's the case, Makoto wouldn't have had that ominous narration before." Byakuya responded, slightly annoyed. "Have you not been paying attention?" That got Hina to sag her shoulder in disappointment.
"A new world….?" Makoto repeated what Monokua said.
"Is he talking about….a way to get outside?" Hina asked hopefully.
"That seems….unlikely." Celeste stated doubtfully.
"Well we won't know till we look!" Mondo argued loudly.
"Whatever he meant, it seems like we'll have to search the school one more time." Sakura stated to everyone.
Kyoko held her chin in thought. It didn't take her long to deduce that a whole new world means areas of the school that were previously closed off. She was about to tell everyone until a quick survey around the room told her that half of the others had managed to come to the same conclusion. Well, it seems like the rest will figure it out in a minute anyways.
"Okay, then let's split up and start investigating!" Taka instructed. "When you're done, everyone meet back up at the dining hall and we'll share what we found!"
Byakuya rolled his eyes. "You're basically a one-trick pony, you know that?"
"More like a staple food source!" Taka countered. "Now let's get moving!" With that, everyone began searching around the school one again.
"So, if it isn't a way out of the school, what does Monokuma mean?" Taka asked.
Makoto was the one to speak. "I think Monokuma opened up the upper floor." Makoto explained to him. "That's the only thing I could come up with."
"It's the only thing anyone could think of." Byakuya remarked. "What else it could it possibly be?"
"It could've been a gateway into an all powerful mystical world!" Hiro suggested.
"...I'm just gonna pretend you didn't say that. For my own sanity." Leon deadpanned.
The scene switched to Makoto walking out of the gym and into the hallway. When he got to the hall that leads to the upper floor, he saw the that the gate that was blocking the stairs has been lifted up. 'The gate is gone.' Makoto thought in surprise. 'So this is what Monokuma meant by "a new world"?'
"If so….what's up there?" With that question, he began walking up the stairs.
The group already knew what was in the upper floor. After all, despite only being in the old school building for a short amount of time, the layout of it was still fresh in their minds.
"So, they're gonna be going to the second floor now?" Hina whooped in joy at this. "Future me can go to the pool!"
"There's also the workout room where my other can go to." Sakura said, a small smile on her face. "There's no doubt she'll enjoy that."
"The library as well." Byakuya mentioned. "Hopefully, there will be some information on the situation."
"The school's library has always been up to date." Chihiro mused.
"But we can't know for sure if that had continued." Kyoko pointed out. "For one thing, after making the new school building, I doubt they would continue updating the library in the old one. And we also don't know what modifications Monokuma could have made to it."
"You…..raise a good point." Byakuya sighed.
When he got up to the second floor, he saw a completely different looking hallway. 'So this is the second floor.' Makoto thought, looking around. 'Maybe there is some kind of clue here…..yeah, I'm sure of it. There's gotta be something here….!' Energized by his optimism again, he began looking around the second floor.
The scene switched to Makoto entering the pool area, with Chihiro, Hina, and Celeste already in there. "Oh, Makoto! Hey, guess what!" Hina began talking excitedly, going over to the luckster. "Guess what I found! There's a pool! A POOL! Pool, pool, pool!"
"Y-You don't have to keep repeating it, I got it…." Makoto said, chuckling nervously.
Hina's excitation brought some warm smiles across the class, temporarily relieving them of their situation. "It's almost exactly similar to your reaction on our first days of school." Sayaka said with a fond smile.
"The only difference is that she didn't immediately jump inside the pool." Leon remarked with a smirk of amusement. "With her uniform still on."
Hina blushed in embarrassment. "I-I couldn't help it! I was really excited!" Hina whined. Makoto chuckled and flushed a little, remembering how her uniform clung onto her body after getting out of the pool.
"And there's tonnes of exercise equipment in the locker room!" Hina mentioned, still excited. "Sakura's gonna go nuts when she finds out!"
"Yeah, you're right about that…." Makoto agreed. 'Hina seems way more excited than usual.'
"Well, of course I would be! Despite everything that's happening, a pool will always get me excited!" Hina stated. Then she held up one of her donuts. "That, and donuts!"
"Yes, we know Hina." Makoto said with a small chuckle.
Makoto then turned to Chihiro. "Hey Chihiro, have you checked out the pool yet?"
"No," Chihiro answered, a bit nervously. "I….don't like wearing swimsuits."
'Yeah, you do seem like the type who might not be into that kind of thing.' Makoto thought to himself.
"For sure! You looked really uncomfortable when we all went swimming together at the pool." Hina mentioned. "You even went out of your way to submerge your entire body most of the time."
"Y-Yeah," Chihiro fidgeted, looking away.
"But still," Chihiro continued. "It sounds like the locker rooms have all the exercise equipment you could ask for. Maybe I'll give it a try. I'd kind of like to get a little stronger…."
"You want to get stronger, Chihiro?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow. "You never expressed anything like that before."
"W-Well, I guess being in this dangerous position made my desire stronger." Chihiro said nervously, rubbing the back of her head.
"You want to get stronger?" Makoto asked in slight surprise. "I have to say, that's kind of unexpected…."
"But," Chihiro looked down. "I'm not even brave enough to step foot into the locker room…."
"Huh? You don't even wanna go in the locker room?" Makoto asked in confusion.
"It's not that I don't want to. It's just…." At there, Chihiro stopped, struggling to find the right words.
"Now that Makoto mentioned it, you did seem to avoid the locker room when we were in the old building." Celeste pointed out. "Even when we all decided to go swimming, you changed your clothes in your own room."
Chihiro looked down, trying to think of what to say. Fortunately, Leon decided to help out. "Well, not all of us like to change with other people around." The baseball player stated. "For me, the thought of changing in front with a bunch of sweaty guys does not sound cool at all."
"So you're just uncomfortable with changing in front of girls?" Hina inquired. Chihiro nodded quickly to that. "Oh. Ok, then."
Chihiro sent a grateful smile towards Leon, who grinned back. He was also one of the few who knew about Chihiro's true gender, something he teased the programmer about from time to time.
'I don't get it.' Makoto thought with furrowed eyebrows. 'Is she afraid of locker rooms or something? That's a pretty weird phobia, though….'
Leaving her alone for now, Makoto's focus shifted to the two doors in front of him. 'So this is…..the locker room?'
"Oh! And I guess you need your handbook to get into the locker rooms!" Hina said, noticing the locks beside the doors.
"Really….?"
"Really, really!" Monokuma sudden appearance caused Hina yelp and jump a bit.
Some of the others did the same. "How many times is he gonna do that?" Leon asked in aggravation.
"As long as it will keep giving us heart attacks." Junko said with an annoyed sigh. Was this really all she could think of for Monokuma's entrances? Lame.
"If you want to unlock the locker room," Monokuma continued. "You'll have to swipe your personal e-Handbook across the card reader next to the door. However, to ensure maximum security within each locker room, only a boy's handbook can open the boys locker room, and the same goes for the girls! And that's the bottom line!"
"That programming has been there before he took over Hope's Peak." Chihiro said. "Why is he making it out like it's his own doing?"
"A subtle assertion of power maybe? While that technology does belong to Hope's Peak, he's doing an awfully good job convincing us that it's his work." Kyoko suggested. "Though judging from what we've seen, it's not farfetch'd to think that way. It's possible that he could have replaced it with his own."
"Hmm….but what if someone opens the door, and then someone else sneaks in?" Hina inquired.
"Anyone who commits such indecency will be punished without mercy for their scandalous sexual depravity!" Monokuma declared. He then hopped over to the huge mounted gun on the ceiling. "See, there's a gatling gun mounted on the ceiling, right? And it'll be all DUKKA DUKKA DUKKA DUKKA!"
The sight of the huge turret on the roof was more than enough to drive the point home. "That's a fucked up way to enforce a rule." Mondo stated bluntly.
"Yeah! Somebody could get really hurt with that!" Hina proclaimed.
That earned a few facepalms. One of which, was Leon. "Huh yeah. I'm 99% sure that's called being dead." Leon retorted.
"I'd bet it'd really hurt to get shot by that thing!" Hina exclaimed.
"Um, no," Chihiro hesitantly said. "I think it'd be a little worse than that…."
Toko snorted. "U-Understatement. You don't n-need a soldier to k-know that you would get k-killed from that thing."
"But what happens if someone loans their handbook to someone else?" Celeste inquired. "A boy could borrow a girl's handbook, and that would get them into the girls locker room, would it not?"
"Wh-?!" Monokuma looked shocked. "That never even occurred to me! To think someone could be so low, so cowardly, so devilish!"
"Hmm," The bear looked down in thought before looking back up. "Okay, then how's this sound? Time for a new rule! As of this moment, loaning your e-Handbook to another student is strictly prohibited! There! So now nobody can give their handbook to anyone else, right?
"You like that? I'm kind of a genius, right? It's cuz my brain is 100% cotton!"
"That psycho bear loves to hear himself chat." Leon deadpanned. "How does it switch from sadistic psycho to an annoying chatterbox?"
"Well, it's easy to switch roles when you aren't showing your actual face." Junko said with a shrug. Then, deciding to take a chance, she swiftly put a crown on her head and spoke royally. "Of course, the mastermind doesn't even compare to I, the Ultimate Fashionista! How dare he make a mockery of me?!"
"Is now really the time to do that Junko?" Taka griped. The moral compass turned to Mukuro. "Mukuro, can't you do something about your sister?"
The soldier gave him a blank look. "Would you like to try?" She offered.
That gave him pause. "...Good point." He sighed. Even he know it's hard to stop Junko and her antics.
"I do not imagine anyone would have lent their handbook out in the first place." Celeste stated. "After all, they would likely be held responsible for anything that they might do using the handbook…."
"That, and there's not really much of a use for switching Handbooks." Byakuya stated. "Our handbooks are mainly used as a rule book, to open up lockers, and other areas of the school, such as the locker rooms."
"Though the consequences could be much more dire in the killing game." Mukuro commented.
"But ya know, you seem awfully concerned with all this locker room security stuff," Hina mentioned.
"It's cuz all you teenagers are sex-crazed maniacs! You're at the age you'd try humping a plastic bottle!" Monokuma accused. "So to keep anything unseemingly from happening, I have to maintain a vigourous watch!"
"I doubt any of you would be in the mood for something like that." Celeste remarked. "After all, being trapped in a school where the only way to get out is to kill someone doesn't leave a very... romantic setting."
"Then in that case, I would ask that you keep the same close eye on our dorms." Celeste requested. "If some man and some woman decided to share a room, there would be nothing to stop them."
'Yeah, nice try you royal disappointment.' Junko thought with a mental eye roll. 'I ain't born yesterday.' She could obviously see that Celeste is trying to lower the chances of a killing to happen.
"All I care about is protecting the holy image of the school itself!" Monokuma retorted. "I don't care what happens in your private dorms! By force or by cunning, do whatever you want!"
"I hate you so much…." Hina growled at him.
"Okay, so the new regulations are in place! See ya!" With that, Monokuma disappeared once again.
"...So, the bear killed the mood once again." Leon sighed. "That thing loves to do that."
"Of course it does. It enjoys seeing us suffer." Sayaka said.
Hina sighed in aggravation. "Maaan, that stupid bear totally ruined my mood!" The swimmer complained. "Maybe I'll go take a dip to cheer myself up. Celeste, Chihiro, you wanna come with me?"
"There is nothing I hate more than getting water on my face." The gambler replied.
"Sorry….I'll pass this time." Chihiro politely declined.
Hina pouted. "I don't get why you guys don't want be in the water all the time!"
"That because very few love the water as much as you do Hina." Makoto said, smiling a little.
"How come!" Hina exclaimed in shock. "When you're in a funk, there's nothing better than a good swim to pull you out of it!"
'I pretty sure that only applies to you….' Makoto thought..
"It's kinda funny seeing the differences of Makoto's thoughts from when he first met us compared to him now." Leon commented as the scene transitioned, earning a look from the luckster.
The scene switched to Makoto entering the library, where Byakuya, Hifumi, Toko, and Kyoko resided in. "It's remarkably dusty in here. And the lighting is less than ideal." Kyoko commented on. "For a library, it's not the kind of place I'd want to do much reading in…."
'Yeah, there's a lot of dust on the books.' Makoto mentally agreed as he surveyed the books. 'Like it hasn't been taken care of for a long time.'
"Guess the mastermind left the library alone." Makoto thought outloud. "I wonder why, though."
"Maybe it didn't cross their mind to clean it, or alter it." Sayaka suggested.
As Makoto looked around, a shocking gasp from Hifumi brought his attention to the fanfic creator. "I'm absolutely shocked!" Hifumi exclaimed.
"...How come?"
"They have all these books here, and not ONE copy of ANY of my works!" Hifumi cried in outrage.
Byakuya rolled his eyes. "That's a library, not a manga store. Your filth wouldn't be seen in there."
"M-Master's right. Your filthy mangas w-wouldn't be found with pure literature." Toko agreed with Byakuya. And not just because of her obvious feelings for him.
"Besides, didn't the library not have any of your works to begin with?" Chihiro thought out loud.
"None of you get my art. Not one bit." Hifumi said, looking frustrated.
"W-Well, yeah," Toko said. "Why would they have m-mangas in a library? Plus, most 'fanfic' is j-just porn drawn by a bunch of a-amateurs…."
"You just don't get it. Not. At. All." Hifumi stated in frustration.
"I-I do too get it," Toko responded back, with a perverted grin on her face. "And w-with a face like yours, anyone can tell n-nothing you do is worthwhile."
"Uh oh." Makoto muttered.
"Say whatever you want about me, but never judge a book by its author!" Hifumi exclaimed. "Now hear this! Appearances mean nothing at all! What you see before you is nothing more than the rind that contains the meaty pulp of my genius! My creations is what determine my meaning and value!"
Toko snorted. "I-I still th-think you're full of it." The writer stated. "O-One look at you, and others will tell t-that your books aren't a-anything good."
"Then what about your books?" Hifumi retorted. "Anyone that knows of your personality wouldn't ever believe that you wrote those books!"
"Wha-What? H-How dare you?!"
The class sighed at this. Why did they have to get into an argument now? "Toko, cease this pointless conversation." Byakuya said firmly. "Now."
"You as well." Celeste commanded the fanfic writer. "A waste of my precious time."
Toko immediately backed off like an obedient puppy, whereas Hifumi only reluctantly did so.
Toko snickered at this. "You're so f-full of it…."
"Hmph. I'm used to being misunderstood." Hifumi waved off. "You think weak attacks like yours will drop my HP?"
'Those two….really worry me.' Makoto couldn't help but think.
"I think we can all agree on that." Leon said blankly. "And in more ways than one."
Several nodded in agreement while Hifumi and Toko let out indignant squawks.
"And besides, I've seen what you write Miss Fukawa." Hifumi stated, calming down for now. "Talented as you are, your stuff isn't any more 'worthwhile'."
That got Toko hissing again. "Don't compare your garbage with my novels!"
"Yeah!" Sayaka voiced in agreement. "Her love novels are amazing! They are definitely worthwhile!" While Sayaka and Toko don't get along all that well, Sayaka can definitely say that her novels are amazing.
That dropped Toko's smile. "My stories are filled with true love and pure feelings! Don't compare them to that garbage of yours!" Toko hissed in outrage. "Your writing doesn't even m-mean anything. It's just a bunch of j-jumbled up letters….! S-Someone should just….burn it all."
"Ooh, the lady doth protest too much, methinks!" Hifumi declared mischievously. "I bet you're secretly into boy-on-boy action!"
"Boy-on-boy….?" Toko visibly shuddered. "I don't care if it's an a-anime or mangas or fanfic or w-whatever! It's all filth! Throwaway culture that'll be trashed and forgotten in half a decade! Ugh….just t-talking about it makes me sick to my s-stomach. I feel like I'm gonna throw up…."
Hifumi let out a small growl at this. Celeste felt her eye twitch a little from the development. That was not an image she wanted to see.
'I've got to remind myself that Toko probably wouldn't like Komaru.' Makoto thought with a sweatdrop. His sister loved manga and anime, and is very passionate about them. 'And Komaru wouldn't like Toko's attitude...maybe..'
Hifumi let out a small growl. "You've insulted me, and you've insulted my honor!" He declared.
'Those two are really freaking me out.' Makoto thought, taking a step back. 'I've never seen anything like it….'
"You mean a nerd war?" Mondo commented on. "Yeah, haven't seen nothing like that either, until those two."
"N-N-Nerd?!" Toko stuttered indignantly. "D-Don't compare me to that trash lover!"
"Trash lover?! Why I outta…."
"Enough! Such pointless fighting is not welcome in a school environment! Also, you two have wasted enough time as it is! We need to keep moving forward!" Taka shouted, effectively stopping both of the writers.
"Saw that one coming.." Mondo muttered as he grabbed Taka's arm to stop him before he went on a streak.
When he bumped onto the desk behind him, he turned around to see a letter on top of the desk. "Huh?" Seeing the letter, Makoto picked it up and read the outline. "Hope's Peak Academy….?"
"It was buried under a thick layer of dust." Kyoko observed, coming to Makoto's side. "Well, shall we see what's inside?"
"But….we shouldn't read other people's mail without their permission." Makoto protested a little.
That got a few disbelieving looks, as well as facepalming. "Really, Makoto?" Byakuya grouched. "Now is not the time for proper etiquette."
"Well, he isn't wrong though." Sayaka hummed. "But I guess he doesn't really have a choice in that situation."
Makoto blushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Yeah, he couldn't disagree with that.
"What we shouldn't do is leave here without finding out what's inside." Kyoko countered firmly.
"O-Okay…." Opening the seal of the dusty envelope, Makoto pulled out the letter that was inside it. He then unfolded it, and began reading its contents. "From the Hope's Peak Executive Office…."
"Throughout the years, we have been committed to shaping the youth who will one day shape the world." The luckster read. "We have a long, proud history as an institution of higher learning with full governmental support. Our graduates enter society ready to take active leadership roles in every major job field."
"However, Hope's Peak Academy must now lower the curtain on its glorious history, for the time being." He continued. "The decision was not an easy one to make, but serious issues beyond our control have made it necessary.
"But make no mistake- this is not the end for Hope's Peak Academy." Makoto began finishing up. "We intend to reopen our doors as soon as the issues forcing our closure have been resolved. That being said, this is the end for now, and I would like to personally and sincerely thank everyone for your help and support over the years. For now, we are awaiting official governmental authorization to formally cease operations…."
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise. "So Hope's Peak was actually shut down?" Taka questioned in shock.
"That would explain how the mastermind was able to use and alter the old school building, as well as to why there isn't any other students there." Kyoko said, writing down the information on her journal. 'And judging by the dust, I would have to say that it was closed for around a year, maybe?'
"But why did it need to close down?" Makoto asked with furrowed eyebrows. "What serious issues were there?"
"Did the mastermind has something to do with it, perhaps?" Byakuya mused. "Or was it something else, and the mastermind took the opportunity?"
"And how did he manage to get all of us in the old school building if the school was shut down?" Celeste questioned. "Did he kidnap us in our homes? Gathered us there somehow?"
"Man, why do the answers keep giving us more questions?" Hiro whined. "Why can't there be answers that lower the numbers?"
'Oh, trust me. You wish that you didn't know all the answers if you manage to find everything out.' Junko thought with a mental smirk.
While she doesn't know everything that has happened, she knew that her overall plan had succeeded in the future they're watching. Hope's Peak and possibly, the whole world had fallen to the despair and chaos. The current killing game was also being broadcasted to the whole world, if the cameras were of any indication. From all that she has seen, that's how much she was able to make out.
But that was the end of Junko's knowledge. There were still many other factors that she could still be shocked and surprised from. At least it wasn't entirely boring. 'Who knew this future watching thing could be so exciting?!'
Makoto looked up from the letter, facing the others. "What does this mean….?"
"Hmm….the contents of this letter are quite interesting indeed." Byakuya stated.
"It would seem Hope's Peak had stopped functioning as a school." Kyoko deduced. "And judging by the amount of dust the letter and collected, it doesn't seem like have happened recently. If I had to guess, I'd say this letter could be at least a year old."
"A year?" Sayaka repeated in shock. "Hope's Peak is gonna be closed down for a year?"
"Correction: In that time line, it had closed down for at least a year. Taking that into account, since we have no news that Hope's Peak is closing down in our time line, then we have to assume that our future selves are at least nineteen years old," Kyoko mused out loud. "That would mean, we would have lost at least a year's worth of memories and maybe, Hope's Peak is going to make an announcement soon."
"At least a year's worth of memories?" Chihiro cried. "T-Then, everything we've done together was for nothing?" Everyone shuddered at that sudden thought.
"W-well, I wouldn't put it that way.." Makoto said, trying to figure out how to put it so it wouldn't sound so bad.
"But why?" Taka questioned with furrowed eyebrows. "What's gonna be happening? And how soon will it start?"
"It would have to be something that either endangers the students and the staff, or something that stained Hope's Peak reputation." Celeste mused. "Those are the top possibilities I could think of."
"It seems that the mysteries about the future gets more complicated with each chapter." Sakura said, frowning.
Mukuro frowned as well. She knew almost exactly what was going to happen, but couldn't bring herself to speak up. It was such an extreme scenario that it might as well have been a joke.
"So….you're saying Hope's Peak closed down at least a year ago?" Makoto asked her, shocked.
"Most likely, the mastermind took over the abandoned school in order to put on this little performance." Byakuya reasoned.
Makoto looked troubled at this. "B-But that would mean it was closed when I got here just a few days ago," He pointed out. "But I didn't get that sense at all." As he said that, a flashback at the outer appearance of Hope's Peak was shown.
"Plus, if the school had shut down, don't you think it would've been in all the newspapers and stuff?" Makoto asked them. "I mean, you're saying it could've happened over a year ago, right? But before I got here, I looked stuff up online about the school, and never saw anything about this."
The group of Ultimates grimaced at what Makoto's statements. They nearly forgot that their future selves' memories have been stolen. "It seems like our future selves are having a bigger amount of questions." Makoto said forlornly.
"What they remember contradicts what they've seen and read." Byakuya stated. "If they are going to figure out the mysteries behind the old school building, they'll need to find out somehow that their memories have been wiped."
"And even if they do find that out, they won't accept that fact easily." Kyoko said. Memory loss on that scale wasn't something most people would accept as fact.
"That must have all been part of the mastermind's plan. They lured us all in here…." Byakuya said in thought. "Someone who could create a place to judge and execute people could potentially be capable of anything. Of course, that's all assuming that this letter is real."
"If it is real though, that does solve one mystery surrounding the school," Kyoko said. "The reason there are no other students here could be because the school has already closed down."
"My future self raised a good point." Kyoko agreed. "Despite thinking differently, due to our different memories, it's probably the fact that the school was closed down was the reason there aren't any other students."
"However, there's still the possibility that the other buildings could be in use." Celeste pointed out.
"But if Hope's Peak is shut down, what are the other buildings used for? More killing games?" Sakura pointed out, causing everyone to shudder and dropped that line of conversation immediately.
"That would be a nice, simple solution, it's true." Byakuya agreed.
"But then….what about this other part?" Makoto pointed out another part of the letter. "The parts talking about the 'serious issues'. What did they mean by that? That's apparently why the school had to close. Is there any connection between that and what's happening to us now?"
"Can you stop asking more questions?" Hiro whined, holding his head. "I feel like I'm gonna explode."
"Yeah, I'm getting a headache from the amount of questions too." Hina agreed with Hiro.
"But Makoto did bring up a good point." Chihiro told the two softly. "Is it possible what we're seeing and the serious issues that got Hope's Peak closed down are connected?"
"Oh, you betcha!' Junko answered mentally. After all, her plans all revolved around Hope's Peak. And what's more fitting than using the school of hope to bring despair onto the entire world?
"If the two events are in fact connected, uncovering that connection would be a useful clue, on top of figuring out the mastermind's motive," Kyoko concluded. "Although I can't really say any more until we find more details.
"So in other words, only the mastermind knows the truth right now." Byakuya stated bluntly.
'The mastermind's motive,' Makoto thought to himself, looking at the letter. 'If we can figure out why they would want to imprison us all here….will that be enough to get us out of here?'
'Or….?' Before Makoto could finish that thought, the scene turned back and switched to the dining hall.
"Or what?" Hifumi inquired, looking at Makoto. "What was your future about to think, Mr. Naegi?"
"I don't think I want to know." Makoto said with a grimace. He doubt it's anything pleasant.
The remaining students are all gathered at the table, ready to discuss what they've found. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen!" Taka greeted everyone. "How'd it go? Did anyone discover anything interesting new anything?!"
"Interesting new anything?" Leon repeated incredulously. "Who the hell says that?!"
"As a matter of fact, I do!" Taka stated in his usual confident tone. "Or at least, used to! Makoto and Mondo told me that most people don't say things like that!"
"Only if they have a screw loose in their head." Leon deadpanned.
"There's a library!" Hifumi told everyone.
"And a pool! A freakin pool!" Hina added in excitingly. "And locker rooms filled with exercise equipment!"
"There was not, however, anything resembling an escape route." Sakura said grimly.
"Yeah….she's right…." Makoto sagged his shoulder in disappointment.
"But at least they gathered more information." Kyoko said.
"Yeah. There's that." Makoto agreed with the detective.
"Well hey, there's no reason to get all sulky! Wait till you hear about my amazing discovery!" Taka then announced what he found. "The warehouse and bathhouse on the 1st floor of the dorms are now open! And the warehouse is chock-full of food, clothes, whatever you want. There's so much it's insane!"
"Wait, the warehouse is opened now? So that means," Hina's eyes shined brightly. "Donuts! Future me, you can go get your donuts now!"
That got several of them chuckling at Hina's loves for the sweets. "And now that the bathhouses are open, they can take refreshing baths." Celeste added in.
"So go ahead and stuff yourself to the gills whenever you feel like!" Taka then ended that with a laugh.
"Keep in mind, of course, that going out at nighttime is still prohibited." Celeste pointed out. "Please do not forget…."
"Okay, and what about a fuckin' way out of here?" Mondo asked everyone. "You find anything like that?"
"Oh, well….ummm…."
"There wasn't anything in the warehouse we could use to get our asses outta here? Nothin'?" Mondo questioned angrily.
"U-Unfortunately, no," Taka said somberly. "Not that I saw…."
"By now, this isn't becoming a surprise." Kyoko sighed. "The mastermind seems well prepared to block any attempt of escape."
Mondo groaned. "You fuckin' people," He growled. "Who gives a shit if we have a goddamn pool now?! Or a warehouse, or whatever the fuck! We're still trapped in this piece of shit school! We need to find a goddamn way OUT!"
That brought everyone back to reality, and got the mood a bit heavier. "Did you really had to put it that way, Mondo?" Chihiro asked timidly.
The biker sighed. "I don't know." He shrugged. "But everyone was forgetting the fact that they're trapped in the plus. Guess future me was frustrated."
"Well, you didn't have to take it out on everyone." Makoto told Mondo. "Being tense all the time isn't always a good thing."
"And being stuck in a delusion of normalcy won't help either." Byakuya countered. "You saw how that worked out for Hiro."
"Now, now. There is no point in taking your anger out on us." Celeste chided softly. "Adaptation is the key, yes? For now we must find a way to enjoy our current situation."
"Whatever you say, you fuckin' loon…."
"Oh?" A dark aura surrounded Celeste. "A loon, am I?"
"Well, you can't blame him." Junko spoke in. "Your talk about adapting and surviving is pretty psycho like."
"Still, I do not like being called a loon." Celeste did her best to reign in her temper.
"For now, let's just continue our investigation," Taka interjected, still looking a bit down. "And let everyone know if you should discover something."
"So, are we done for today?" Kyoko questioned.
"W-Well….yeah," Taka said unsurely. "I guess so."
'The air is heavy again.' Makoto sadly noted. 'Was this the mastermind's plan? To give us hope, then to crush it….?' The camera then focused on Byakuya, who looks to be deep in thought.
"So they can enter the second floor, as well as the bathhouse and warehouse," Sayaka began listing off. "Find out information about the school….but nothing to help get out of that school turned nuthouse."
"Unfortunately, not." Sakura replied with a grimace.
"Though it won't stop them for searching." Makoto stated. "And maybe uncovering the mysteries surrounding the school will help."
"I hope you're right, Makoto." Mukuro said softly. And she isn't lying when she said that. She does hope that they figure out everything.
And that's the end. I hope you guys liked this chapter. And hopefully next time, the internet or wifi don't get shut off because of lightning, lazy workers, or anything else. So, any suggestions as to who Makoto should talk to and/or which free time I should put in? I'm getting a good outline of what to put in, but I would to hear the readers' opinion. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you later.good outline of what to put in, but I would to hear the readers' opinion. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you later.