Chapter 2: A Disastrous Storm Part 1 (Daily Life)

Remaining Students: 16

Yūgo Hachiken (Silver Spoon): Ultimate Tutor

Reyn (Xenoblade Chronicles): Ultimate Tank

Pietro Maximoff "Quicksilver" (Marvel Cinematic Universe): Ultimate Speedster

Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic The Hedgehog): Ultimate Pilot

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd (Fire Emblem: Three Houses): Ultimate Prince

Satou Kazuma (Konosuba) Ultimate Thief

Bede (Pokémon): Ultimate Gym Leader

Ray (The Promised Neverland): Ultimate Strategist

Finn (Star Wars): Ultimate Rebel

Sayori (Doki Doki Literature Club): Ultimate Poet

Konata Izumi (Lucky Star): Ultimate Otaku

Saki Nikaido (Zombie Land Saga): Ultimate Biker Gang Leader

Tsuyu Asui (My Hero Academia) Ultimate Amphibian

Kokomi Teruhashi (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K): Ultimate Beauty

Minori Ichinose (Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure): Ultimate Bookworm

Kale (Dragon Ball Super): Ultimate ?

Third-Person POV

"Hel…o? Can anyone… ear… e? We….still…ive…"

"...ra…. I don't….nk… they…n hear us…"

"AH!" Sayori jolted awake and found herself breathing heavily.

Insert Song: Dusk (Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!)

She looked around her dorm room, wondering what she heard a moment ago. Turning on her e-Handbook, the current time was 5am, no normal person could be awake at this hour. Well, if you consider most of the other students to be "normal" anyways.

Were those voices just some weird dream then?

Placing her bare feet on the soft carpet, she sat up from her bed and went towards the window to open up the curtains. The artificial sky was pitch black, the streetlamps on the path towards the plaza being the only thing illuminating the very early morning. Tears then began to well up in Sayori's eyes as she reflected on what occurred the previous night, being thankful that the rooms were soundproofed so that no one could hear her sobbing.

"It's… gonna happen again, isn't it? I… can't take it…"

Her voice was shaky, not ready to face everyone after the trial. Wiping her tears, she closed the curtains and walked to her bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. Thinking about how she almost took her own life.

"If they didn't manage to find me, they would have felt guilty and blamed themselves… I can't do that to them again, but… what am I supposed to do now?"

She trembled as she asked herself that question, knowing that no one would be able to answer it.

Hachiken's POV

Insert Song: Uneasy (Silver Spoon/Gin no Saji)

"Blah…"

I didn't want to wake up this morning, and I doubt everyone else would want to either. And who could blame us?

Two people died last night in an accident. One had gotten trapped inside the burning gym, while the other had been sacrificed at our hand. The part that stings the most is that this could have been prevented if we had just been a bit faster. And yet we failed, now it feels like we've got blood on our hands.

Well, some of us literally do after the execution last night, so I'm just going to take a shower and hopefully it'll finally wash those stains away.

…

…

…

Five minutes after I got in something scary just popped into my head.

"That was only the beginning, wasn't it? Someone could wind up dead soon if we're not careful." I thought as the water droplets pounded on my head.

It would be foolish to say it won't ever happen again, but we just witnessed it happening before our eyes. Sure it wasn't done on purpose, still though… ugh, I hate how I can't just choose to believe it. I dry my hair with a towel as I grab my glasses and stare into the mirror.

"Ok, Yūgo, even if it keeps happening you have to promise yourself this."

I start to talk to my reflection, grateful that our rooms are soundproofed since I want to be sure that only I can hear this.

"You will find a way out of here without killing anyone, if you do nobody back home will look at you the same way. Your friends, your mom, Mikage… even you will be disgusted at yourself if you go down that path. Promise me and them that you won't do it, even if you see an opportunity or when your own life is at stake. It would not be worth it, whether you win a trial or get executed."

I finished that vow and I truly hope that I don't betray it. Surely I didn't even need to tell myself that, since I would obviously know the reasons against it. In this place however, it can't hurt to be more careful. Even if you don't intend to kill, something could cause you to do it anyway. Just makes me wish I was home all the more.

Stepping out of the bathroom fully clothed, I heard my e-Handbook's ringtone go off and I saw a message from Monokuma. Great, as if I needed any more things to worry about...

"Good morning students, we've opened up more of the campus for you to explore! Take in the sights of the new areas and see what resources you can utilize to make the killing game more interesting! Speaking of, there will be a meeting in the plaza at 6:00pm to discuss the next motive, I can't wait to see your smiling faces again! Puhuhuhuhuhu!"

I swear I could hear his voice as I read through the whole thing. Damn it, can't even get a single day to mourn over who we lost!

I gritted my teeth in frustration before I made my way to the dorm's living room.

"Ah, mornin' Hachiken." Reyn greeted me as he looked up from his bowl of cereal.

Surprisingly, everyone was here eating breakfast. Well, everyone except Konata, maybe she took Sakaki's death hard? The two of them did spend some time together, hell I met them both at the same time.

Tails was on the couch explaining something to Sayori (who I was surprised was awake) and Saki, "So the device harnesses the power of Red Star Rings to overclock systems and could erase deadly viruses! It's still just a prototype, but once I get back to my lab… oh! How'd you sleep last night, Hachiken?"

"Well… I honestly can't believe I managed to sleep. I was out like a light though, exhaustion probably." I answered as I plopped down on a chair.

"Mm…" Sayori grunted as she munched on a piece of toast with an egg on it.

I could see some bags under her eyes, guess I was right about me and almost everyone else not wanting to wake up this morning. Maybe I should go and have a talk with her later, to make sure she's okay.

"Urgh! I couldn't sleep a wink after all that crap! Just so pissed about all of it, we need to find some way to kick that Sird-bitch's ass!" Saki growled with anger.

I objected to this, of course.

"H-Hey! You know that attacking her or Monokuma will likely not end well, just like the first time you tried it."

"He's right! With the way things are now, we can't possibly face them in a fight! It would just get you hurt, or even worse…" Tails agreed and Sayori nodded along with his statement.

"Tch, I already died and even survived the thing that killed me the second time I tried it! I ain't afraid to brawl with her one more time if it means we don't see any more people dying!" Saki told us, not backing down, "C'mon, Reyn, back me up here! Reckless knuckleheads like us should stick together!"

Rubbing the back of his head, Reyn thought about his response, "You got me there, but I know that if we do this we could endanger the lives of everyone else. Sounds weird coming from me, but now's not the time to be thinking with our fists."

Saki didn't react well to this, and the unfortunate victim was our coffee table.

SMASH!

"SHEESH!" I stood back in a defensive position as we saw Saki storm out of the dorm.

We all collectively sigh as I went over to get myself some breakfast. Hopefully she'll be able to calm down after a while, I'm pretty sure Monokuma's cruel enough to charge us if more things end up broken. After swallowing the remaining pieces off my fried egg, all of our Handbooks go off at once: Another message, thankfully from Dimitri this time.

"Good day to all of you. Let us all make our way to the new area posthaste in order to continue our investigations. Until we manage to find some way to escape our predicament, finding more information on the origins of Kumaversity is a must. Be sure to assist one another, especially during this time of mourning of our fallen comrades. I wish you all good luck, may we be successful in our discoveries! - Prince Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

Man, I feel like I just read a letter to go on some big quest. It's pretty motivating, so we better not keep him waiting then. Placing my plate into the dishwasher I wait outside for the others to join me. Sayori, Reyn, and Tails joined up with me, and right as we were about to leave…

"Gah! Sorry, I felt SUPER depressed after last night, so I thought I could make myself feel better by playing some games. I was going to play just one, until I found out I have a whole three shelves full of ones I haven't even touched before, and I couldn't just pick only one out of the bunch. That lead me to picking one JRPG up and a few other random ones, but hoo boy I shouldn't have chose to play the RPG first because—"

I interrupted Konata by slightly raising one hand up before she could continue rambling.

"Let me guess, you pulled an all-nighter and that's why you woke up late? Seriously, it's not good to do that when we're in the middle of a hostage situation."

"I know, I know, Hachiken. But the demon known as temptation came to me in the form of an expansive world where you wield a laser sword that can help one see the future! So many hours exploring and slaying monsters in a way I've never done before, it was so awe-inspiring!" Konata's eyes sparkled as she described whatever game she played.

"That sounds way too familiar and it's weirding me out." Reyn stated after hearing that.

Sayori on the other hand was curious, "Wow, can you show me later? I never played a game like that, so I wanna see what this one looks like!"

"Sure! I'll even give ya a full summary of the first two chapters too so you can be caught up. So it starts with these two giants…"

I guess it was storytime on Konata's agenda today, can't say I'm too interested right now. I guess I am glad that she found some way to keep herself busy, can't just wallow in our despair when you can just get a hobby instead as a coping mechanism. Wish that I can get one, though preferably not one that takes hours of sleep away from me. Can't help but notice how Sayori was trying to be enthusiastic about it, I could tell she's hiding how unhappy she truly was.

Of course, who could really blame her?

Insert Song: A Gentle Breeze (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

"Ah, good to see you all have made it. Saki had arrived earlier, so I expected you all to arrive as well, although why weren't you with her?"

Dimitri asked us as we made it to our 2nd "zone" as they were called. This was the R.A. Zone found on the map, and I still don't understand what that name means. (Honestly I forgot myself since it's been so long, same with the first area being called the Ex Zone. Forgive me if these zone names get even more confusing. - Renegade Braveheart)

"We kinda had a bit of a disagreement earlier and she went off on her own…" Tails answers as he fidgets awkwardly.

Dimitri sighed, "I see, it seems tension is on the rise after the deaths of our two companions... Perhaps she'll be more relaxed later on, although whatever Monokuma has in store for us could worsen things. Regardless, you all should keep an eye on her for now, since you live in the same dorm after all."

"Sure thing, Your Highness. So what's the deal with this place? Just looks like more of the same buildings we had back there to me." Reyn asked him.

Dimitri shook his head, "That's only because you haven't seen what is inside each one, Reyn. The external architecture may be similar, yet I guarantee you they aren't the same internally. Go see for yourselves."

Can't turn down a prince, so the others split off to visit the surrounding buildings as he requested. I couldn't help but notice something though: Dimitri had bags under his eyes, like Sayori, though he looked distracted by something else too. I'd hate to bother him about it, and yet I'm thinking that I should sometime. Even though he's a reliable leader to us, we should back him up in some ways so that he won't be overwhelmed.

Handling too much at a time can wear a guy out, I know that feeling…

First things first, Reyn and I entered what was called Sayaka Studio, a dance studio apparently. We saw the lights on in one of the rooms and immediately go in to see if someone was in there and lo and behold…

Insert Song: Because I'm a Perfect Girl (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K)

"Oh wow…" Both me and Reyn uttered at the same time.

Teruhashi was out and about, must have recovered from the incident and got cleared to leave, and was now moving gracefully. LIke a pure white swan, she glowed brightly as she glided across the floor like it was her pond. Her blue hair softly flowed with each of her movements, yet not getting in the way of her dazzling face that—

GAH! SNAP OUT OF IT!

I shook my head to refocus myself as she finally noticed us.

"Oh good morning Hachiken, same to you Reyn!"

Reyn cleared his throat as he looked away, "Y-Y-Yeah, a quite a swell day, isn't it?"

"R-Right, you feeling better now, Teruhashi?" I asked her as I readjusted my glasses.

"Mm-hmm! For the most part anyways, I still have a bit of a cough. Though as you can see, I'm moving without any problems!" She twirls once again to demonstrate.

Agh, I can't look away! How is she this charming? Is it some kind of supernatural ability? I mean I wouldn't be surprised considering what crowd we're in, but how does she do it?!

"Something wrong, Hachiken-kun?"

"Ack!"

She broke me out of my overthinking thankfully, should really not be doing that in the middle of a conversation. I should still get out of here though to not get distracted by her bewitching good looks.

"Sorry, I guess we'll move on then. See you later!" I waved as I pushed open the two doors.

"O-Oh, okay. See you, Hachiken-kun, Reyn!" She waved back as she turned to look into the mirror.

"Sheesh, head over heels for her too, huh? Man, you act so serious, but you're such a joker! Reyn laughed at my expense.

"Jeez, it's not my fault she's so pretty! Felt mesmerized and couldn't help but stare… ugh! I'VE GOT A CUTE GIRLFRIEND. I'VE GOT A CUTE GIRLFRIEND. I'VE GOT A CUTE GIRLFRIEND. I'VE GOT A CUTE GIRLFRIEND."

I repeated that to myself to hopefully drown any thoughts of Teruhashi out of my mind. Mikage would feel so hurt if I betrayed our relationship!

Reyn softly chuckled as he heard me, "Ha ha ha, don't worry Hachiken, I have a girl back home too and I ended up looking at her like you did. Pretty weird how head-turning she is, right?"

At least someone else also finds it strange.

Other than a dance studio there was a faculty office, it seemed like nothing significant except that it smelled of old coffee.

In the corner of one desk, a bunch of crumpled up papers surrounding a trash bin, not a single one inside of it. I opened up one document to see a list of rejected killing game motives.

"Despair Disease 2.0? (REJECTED, would not age well as of 2020 - MKA)".

I'd hate to see what kind of sickness that would be. Although, how would they even create it?

"Wrist bracelets that inject poison into a student's body if specific action is made. (REJECTED, been there, done that. Also it's already hard to come up with these motives, it would be even harder to come up with these conditions! - MKA)"

Whew, dodged a bullet there. I would constantly be worried on any action I take and I would likely get myself or someone else killed quickly. Also, this is another one that has been used before. Were there other killing games like this one?

"Get rid of all students' clothing? (REJECTED, for some people that would motivate them NOT to kill and we're also airing this killing game. Would not be appropriate for the children watching. - MKA)"

… I tore up the paper and walked out of the office.

Reyn was waiting outside for me, "You find anything in there, Hachiken?".

"Nothing important, let's go."

Quickly getting my mind away from that last rejected motive… it seems like these were recently made, so it looks like Monokuma or Sird had taken up a lot of their time on this next one. Now it's got me dreading what they actually chose, and I'm thinking if it's anything like the power going out…

"… Someone will end up dying, whether intentional or not."

"Guh!"

"Agh!"

That last thought echoed through my head enough to distract me, which made me fail to notice a certain curly-haired grump walking right in front of me.

"Watch where you're going, moron." Bede said with spite.

I REALLY don't want to deal with his attitude right now, so I better split.

"Okay okay, sorry. I'll just get out of your way then."

Bede rubbed his forehead, annoyed, "Hmph, good decision. Hey, you big buffoon, are you going to follow his example?"

Reyn was riled up immediately, "What?! You pompous little… I can punt your ass right now, you stupid muppet!"

"No no no, we're not having this today. C'mon, Reyn. See you, Bede." I told the big lug as I grabbed his ear and pulled him away.

Reyn winced in pain, "Ouch! C'mon, that's not fair! I can't let him get away with that!"

Before we could get very far though, Bede had one last thing to tell me.

"By the way, while it pains me to admit this… your efforts to solve the truth during that trial were quite remarkable. Now that you have managed to gain some praise, do try not to screw up in the next one. Farewell."

Huh, did… he just compliment me? That feels so off-putting after seeing him be such a jerk to almost everyone since we've met him. Maybe he'll warm up to us with enough time, but that's kind of wishful thinking. It's ultimately his decision on whether or not to do so.

I assumed the rest of our exploring would take no time at all, thanks to Pietro scouting the place out with his speed, however that wasn't the case. We had to be thorough in our investigation, so unfortunately we had little time to rest. The last places we visited were right next to each other: a music room, full of normal instruments and thankfully not any instruments of torture (unless somebody decides to be morbidly creative), and a theater used to host many different plays (hoping it won't be the final curtain for anyone else yet).

Reyn and I bid farewell when he felt hungry enough to head to the diner for lunch. Wasn't too peckish just yet, so I decided to go take a walk instead. That's when I spotted a certain two-tailed fox, looking all around right in front of the library.

"Uh, Tails? What are you…"

"Hachiken! Good timing, come with me to see the others, I just found something interesting." He told me as he gestured towards the library with his thumb.

Insert Song: Intangible Tails (Sonic Frontiers)

I would normally be skeptical of being led somewhere, being in a killing game does that to you, but I couldn't turn away from the fox boy. I mean, does he really look like someone who can kill a person? Well… he certainly does have that big brain of his, while I'm not listening to any of the thoughts coming from mine so… NO! Be cautious, but don't be overly skeptical.

We go right up the stairs to enter a computer room and find Dimitri, Ray, Tsuyu and Sayori by one desktop computer.

"Is this everyone? If this is so important, Tails, why are we keeping the others in the dark about it?" Ray questioned him.

Tails hopped into the rolling chair in front of the computer and began typing away.

"I just think that less people would be better for now. We don't want Monokuma overhearing what we're doing, so… It's best to stick to a few of us at a time…"

Tsuyu shook her head, "This will just sow more seeds of distrust among all of us. Are you really willing to take that risk after we just had one trial, ribbit?"

"Hm… depending on what this new information is, having more people know it would likely lead to our own destruction as well. I vote to examine this discovery before discussing sharing it with our companions." Dimitri gives his input as our leader.

I guess it does just depend on what we're being shown here. No arguments needed on my end.

"Agreed, let's see what we're getting ourselves into." I stated.

"Guess if we don't shake the tree, we won't know what falls out." Ray shrugged.

Sayori swayed side to side as she thought hard about it, "I really don't want to keep secrets from my friends, but… I vote yes too."

Tsuyu sighed, "Looks like I've been outvoted, ribbit. Go ahead, Tails."

"Okay! So after the trial, I couldn't sleep at all. Went for a walk to clear my mind and think about what else I haven't tried to do to help escape. The library was full of plenty of books I could scour through to keep myself busy, but then I entered the computer room and saw… them."

Tails brings up what appears to be a small chatroom, with yellow, pink, and purple text typed out all over the screen.

"The yellow text is me, if you're wondering, but the other two… from what I can tell they are physically not on campus."

Not on campus…? Does that mean they're on the outside of the wall? If so… who are they?

Sayori was probably thinking the same questions as I was, "R-Really?! That's great, we can ask them to come help us!"

Tails rubbed the back of his head, "Well… not really. Strangely enough, they don't know where they themselves are, yet they're somehow communicating with me through this computer. See?"

Tails: It's me again, are you there?

A few seconds later the pink text answers.

ki: Jeez, not even a "good morning"? Stay classy, Prower.

"H-Huh? I just got here, what did I do?" He stuttered as he typed out that last question as a response.

Kind of a rude reply from whoever this is. Immediately afterwards the purple text chastises them.

Yu: Apologies, Tails. Do not be so rude to him, ki. He has not shown us any kind of disrespect since we have met, yet here you are showing some towards him.

This one on the other hand is much calmer, using a more polite way of typing out their thoughts.

ki: Wow, Yu. I'm just teasing him! This is a chatroom, not a classroom, so stop trying to be Ms. Mature here!

Yu: Excuse me?!

In no time, the two of them began bickering back and forth with their argument taking up most of the screen. Tails put a hand to his forehead as he saw the chatroom continue to scroll up with their messages.

"Sorry, guys. This is not how I wanted this to go but… this is Yu and ki, or Yu-ki collectively. Those aren't their full names, but for some reason those were the only comprehensible letters I could make out so I told them to go by them."

Yu: Really, it's cute how you think that acting so abrasive will get you anywhere.

ki: How many times do I have to tell you, I AM NOT CUTE!

I looked at the others and they were just as confused as I was; a few raised eyebrows, sweat drops from our heads, and in Sayori's case widened eyes. And all Tails could do was awkwardly laugh.

"Ha ha… So does anyone want to talk to them?"

Happy New Year, peeps! After 30 chapters of Fictional Guardians (which if you haven't checked out yet, please do if you're curious!) and some bonus chapters of Fictional Nexus, Danganronpa: Fictional Epicenter has returned! All that time away has allowed some new and very intriguing ideas to stew in my mind, and now I finally get to show it to you all! And since we're back into killing game mode, voting on Free Time Events is back too! We're gonna have two events dedicated to Sayori and Dimitri, but you will get to vote on two others that Hachiken will hang out with later in the chapter in a poll linked right here (poll ends February 2nd 2024): www. strawpoll .com/jVyG8ALA1n7. (remove the extra spaces to get to the poll) Leave some thoughts about this chapter part if you so please, (and believe me I love getting comments on these), and I will see you next time! Farewell for now, and once again apologies for the hiatus. - Renegade Braveheart