Class 78th Watches the Future

by Spirit Soldier

We know the story. Class 78th loses their memories, and were forced into the killing game. Only a few of them survive the game. And what happens when those sixteen students, their memories of each other intact, watch the Danganronpa series? What happens if they see their future selves killing each other? Watch, as Class 78th watches their future.

15. Watching Ch 1: To Survive P7

Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, we're back to the canon stuff now. This chapter will show the class watching the first motive happening. So, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.

Chapter 14: Watching Ch 1: To Survive Part 7

Makoto slowly pulled himself out of bed, groaning sleepily. "Another night of restless sleep." Makoto said to himself. "I can feel the fatigue piling up."

His commentary concerned some in the group. "Your future self should try to get better sleep." Kyoko informed Makoto. "Otherwise, he's going to fall on his face at some point."

"Well, could you blame him?" Makoto asked his friends. "I'm pretty sure most of us would be pretty restless given the condition we're in."

"Good point." Chihiro admitted.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, the sound of the doorbell ringed his room. Curious, he went up to the door and opened it, only to be met with an energized Taka.

"A fantastic morning, isn't it?!" Taka greeted cheerfully.

"T-Taka?" Makoto said in surprise. "What's up? Why are you here?"

Instead of answering, his reply went: "No matter how intensely the stormy seas may batter me, I will not fall as long as my feet are firmly planted! You agree, right?"

"U-Um, I'm not sure I understand…."

"And if you can't do it alone, just find someone to support you, and you can support them back!" Taka continued passionately. "That's how you can overcome any storm!"

Question marks appeared on Hifumi's, Hina's, and Hiro's heads. "Um, does anyone one know what he's saying?"

"I think bro was saying that he wants all of us to form up together as a team." Mondo translated. "So that we can face the mastermind."

"But, we're already a team, aren't we?" Hina asked, still confused. "I mean, aren't we already working together?"

"Maybe, but we all seem to have formed our own groups or are looking around alone." Chihiro explained. "The only one here who's trying to get to know everyone is Makoto."

Said luckster smiled sheepishly.

"So in other words, future Taka wants us to bond with each other?" Sakura deduced.

This time, Taka was the one to speak up. "That would be an accurate conclusion!"

Makoto was silent at this. He honestly doesn't know what to say. Thankfully, Taka explained himself. "I was thinking about it last night, and….I decided we all need to really come together. And that when I realized, every morning from now on, after the morning announcement, everyone should have breakfast together!"

"And now is the beginning of that fateful day!" Taka stated with his usual passion. "Please head to the dining hall at your earliest convenience!"

"Look like they nailed it." Hina turned to Mondo and Chihiro. "The two of you got pretty good at speaking Taka's 'rule-book' language."

"Well, hanging out with a friend for a certain amount of time helps you understand them better." Chihiro stated in her usual polite and meek tone.

"True." Makoto nodded in agreement. He knew everyone better enough that even he could tell their moods or how they hid their feelings.

Without waiting for a reply, Taka turned and walked away. Makoto stood there for a moment before speaking to himself. "Well….I guess I'd better head to the dining hall."

The scene changed to everyone gathered at the big lunch table. "Everyone, thank you for making this time in your busy schedules to come together."

Leon rolled his eyes. "How much do you want to bet that Taka dragged us into it?"

Leon scoffed at his side of the table. "I didn't make time for shit. You dragged me here."

"Called it."

"No one disagreed with you Leon." Sayaka remarked.

Taka ignored the remark. "I know I already mentioned this, but in order to get out of here, it is essential that we all cooperate with each other. And first, is this breakfast meeting to allow us to become friends and to build trust!" He began to get more passionate once again. "So from now on, let's all meet here in the dining hall every morning after the morning announcement!"

Byakuya sighed. "This isn't going to work." The heir stated. "Not only do we distrust one another at some level, but there's Monokuma to worry about."

"Byakuya has a point. Would the mastermind just leave us alone after three days?" Celeste remarked. "The bear seemed quite eager about the possibility of us killing one another."

"Let's try not to think about that right now." Makoto said. "At least we're making an effort to work together."

"Let's see if that effort will be worth it." Kyoko stated.

"Now then, let's eat!" With that, Taka sat back down on his chair, grabbing his plate.

"You w-want me to eat breakfast with other p-people?" Toko stuttered out, pressing her index fingers together. "I've never done that b-before. I'm not s-sure…."

"Yeah, it's been a while for me too." Leon stated.

"Well anyway," Junko spoke up. "Did anyone happen to come up with any clues?"

Silence was met with that question, echoing across the dining hall.

"Guess that answers the question." Mondo deadpanned. "Not one fucking clue."

"Seriously? Nothing at all?" Junko said in disbelief. "Anything? It can be about how to get out, or who's doing this, nobody has anything?!"

"...You are going to die." That chilling statement came from none other than Celestia.

And it shocked Junko. "Huh?"

"If you can't stop yourself from showing weakness in front of others," Celeste explained coldly. "You will die."

Several chills went up to people's spine. Mukuro subconsciously narrowed her eyes on the threat, her hands twitching towards her knives.

"Celeste," Makoto spoke up nervously and slowly. "Did your future self had to say that to Mukuro? It was pretty unnecessary."

"I admit, that was out of line. I apologize for my future self." Celeste said, looking to Mukuro. That settled down the soldier for a bit.

"W-What the hell?" Junko exclaimed, a bit rattled. "Don't even freaking joke about that!"

"I am not joking. Adaptability is survivability." Celeste repeated what she had said three days ago. "Did I not say so? So you'd better hurry up and adapt to your new life here."

"Have you gone completely insane?" Junko questioned, looking directly at Celeste at her side of the table. "Adapt to my new life here? Do you have any idea what you're saying?"

"Yeah, I have to agree. Why would any of us want to adapt to that kind of life?" Leon questioned. "I definitely wouldn't."

Celeste debated whether or not to tell her classmates about her lying. It wouldn't hurt if they knew, and they might benefit from it. But, she's nervous about how they would react to it. Maybe she'll ask Makoto about it later.

Mondo then spoke up. "Yeah, sounds like the girl wants to live here. And hell, more power to her. But shit," He slammed his fist onto the table. "No way in hell am I living here! I'm gettin' outta here, I don't give a shit!"

Celeste laughed a little at that. "Sure, feel free."

"Okay, so," Leon cut in, getting the conversation back in track. "Nobody has any clues?"

"One thing I can tell you is who's behind all this." Hina declared. "Someone who's totally weird and messed up. Why else would we be trapped here in the first place?"

Byakuya face palmed. "I think he meant actual clues, dimwit. Anyone with a functioning brain could've figured that part out."

"Hey!" Hina pouted angrily at this. "Well, no one else said it!"

"That because many of us already deduced that in our heads."

"Well, sure, it could be something like that. But for now, actual clues are…." Leon trailed off.

That's when Chihiro spoke up a little. "U-Umm,"

Leon turned his head towards the programmer. "Huh? What's up?"

"If you think in terms of people who are really abnormal or bizarre," Chihiro began explaining. "Do you think maybe the person responsible for all this could be a certain murderous fiend?"

That got everyone's attention. "Certain murderous fiend," Makoto repeated. "Is Chihiro talking about Genocide Jack?"

"But that would be impossible." Kyoko disregarded. "Genocide Jack is Toko's other personality, and Toko is with us." Toko flinched a little at the reminder of her alter ego.

The group found out about Genocide Jack some time ago. Kyoko, being in the law enforcement, wanted to tell the police about Jack, but Makoto managed to convince her not to. Instead, they made sure that Jack, or Jill as she preferred to be called, doesn't go on a 'cute boy' killing spree.

"Not to mention she doesn't have the brains to conduct something like this." Byakuya remarked.

"A-And she only kills c-cute, adorable boys." Toko put in. "There's no way s-she would be interested in something like this. And she prefers doing the killings herself."

That got the groups' attention. "A murderous fiend," Makoto repeated. "Chihiro, do you have any idea who might be behind all this?"

"Well, maybe." Chihiro confirmed. "I mean, I can't really be certain, but…."

"Certainty is not a concern right now!" Taka cut in. "I'll allow whatever remarks you may have!"

"O-Okay." Chihiro responded, a bit startled. "Well, have you guys heard of Genocide Jack?"

Makoto's eyes widened. "You mean that serial killer that's been in the news and all over the internet?"

"And it seems that Chihiro was talking about her." Sakura stated. "But we already established it would be impossible for Genocide Jill to pull this off, especially since Toko is with us."

"So who could pull this off?" Taka asked. "Should that be the question we should ask ourselves?"

Chihiro hummed in thought. "Well, I don't know about starting the whole killing game, but I know someone who could possibly wipe away our memories of Hope's Peak."

That got the group's attention. "Really? Who is it?" Hina asked eagerly, hoping to expose the mastermind early.

"He's an upperclassman that I've been working with on a project." Chihiro stated. "His name is Yasuke Matsuda, the Ultimate Neurologist."

"The Ultimate Neurologist?" Byakuya thought about that possibility. "With his skill set, it could be possible that he develop something like that."

"The question is whether he's the mastermind, just involved in this, or if the mastermind took some of his research for their own purposes." Kyoko put in. She sighed. "If he was able to erase memories at all, then it's something we'll need to talk about later."

"The monstrous villian who's murdered scores of victims in brutally bizarre fashions. The word 'bloodlust was left at each murder scene, written in the victim's own blood." Byakuya built in. "Whoever it is, he's like a ghost. He strikes without warning, and disappears without a trace. And on the internet, they started calling him…."

He turned his head towards the group. "Genocide Jack. That about covers it, I think."

"Most of it is right except that he is actually a she." Junko stated. "What made you guys think that the murderer is actually a guy?"

"Well, to be fair, a girl murdering people isn't the first thing that pops into your mind." Leon said. "Especially in the bizarre fashion Genocide Jill does it."

"They say he's claimed over a thousand victims." Hiro said, a disturbed look on his face.

"That's just an urban legend though, right?" Junko asked, also looking a bit disturbed. "I mean even like, ten people would be totally insane." All the while, Toko stayed silent, not looking anyone in the eye.

"Thank god it isn't a thousand victims." Makoto sighed. "But her victims are in the double digits."

"At least we're able to control her though!" Hina chirped optimistically. " Or at the very least, stop her from killing anyone else!"

"Y-Yeah. I'm glad she hasn't been able to kill for a while." Toko agreed. Despite her bitter attitude, she doesn't like seeing people die, especially at her hands.

"Anyway," Chihiro spoke back up. "Whoever Genocide Jack really is, he's obviously some kind of super crazy killer."

"And if he really is this 'ultimate' psycho, I wouldn't be surprised if he put together something like this." Mondo stated.

"Super crazy killer? Definitely, especially the crazy part." Leon stated. "Putting something like this together? Not possible."

"But like I said, I can't be certain." Chihiro reminded them. "I don't have any evidence or anything. It's just a thought."

"But if they're a killer, isn't that like a killer kind of a problem for us?!" Leon asked nervously.

"It's okay!" Hina stated with slightly forced optimism. "Everything's absolutely, positively, one hundred percent without a doubt gonna be okay! Cuz help is gonna be here soon, I'm sure of it!"

"Huh? H-Help?" Toko questioned, finally speaking up.

"We've been stuck in here for a few days, right?" Hina asked rhetorically. "Nobody's been able to contact us, so I'm sure they're getting worried, I bet they called the police already!"

"That's another question to ask." Kyoko murmured loudly. "People would've noticed what's happening in Hope's Peak. So what's going on outside?"

"Is there something stopping the police from trying to get us out, or at the very least, investigate it?" Makoto wondered. "There are several theories we could think of, but all of them have several holes in them."

Kyoko nodded in agreement. "The best theory is that there are barricades or traps outside that prevent the police breaking in, if they found out about us."

"But the main question is how the mastermind was able to set all this up without people noticing." Byakuya joined in. "That is the question surrounding all these other questions."

Suddenly, an evil laugh was heard throughout the dining hall. And soon enough, Monokuma appeared in front of the table. "The police? You're putting your faith in the police?!"

Several of them jumped and/or yelped when Monokuma laughed and appeared. "Again?!" Leon exclaimed.

"And it looks like Monokuma stopped leaving us alone." Byakuya sighed.

Several jumped and/or yelped at his sudden appearance. "What are you doing here?!" Sakura demanded.

"You guys, seriously," Monokuma ignored Sakura's demand. "Do you understand what role the police exist to fill? All they're good for is being a foil, playing against a villian or anti-hero or evil organization. The bad guys come along and destroy them, and that shows just how badass they really are. Are you sure you wanna rely on such an unreliable group of losers?"

"He's got a point." Hifumi said in thought. "In mangas and anime, as well as games, the police always end up being defeated by the antagonists."

"I-It's the same in literature as well." Toko put in. "The p-police are always defeated."

"But this isn't an anime nor a game. This is reality." Kyoko stated. Her tone is neutral and cold, and her eye is twitching a little. Being in the law enforcement, Monokuma's comment stung a bit.

Makoto, noticing those slight changes in her demeanor, spoke to her quietly. "Don't let it get to you. It's just words coming from a maniac. Besides, you know yourself that the Kirigiri lines of detectives are the best in the business."

Kyoko smiled slightly at Makoto's attempt to make her feel better. She slightly nodded to him before turning back to the screen.

"I mean come on! If you really, REALLY wanna get out of here, all you gotta do is kill!" Monokuma attempted to tempt them, once again.

Suddenly, Hiro laughed, drawing the group's attention. "Why the hell are you laughing?" Leon questioned in bewilderment.

"I'm just impressed at the total commitment to this whole act." Hiro said, still smiling.

While others had looks of disbelief or exasperation, Hiro nodded in agreement. "I know, right? I can't believe how long they're doing this act."

"I wish his stupidity is an act." Byakuya mumbled in irritation.

"...You're still going on about that?" Asked a incredulous Junko.

"I'm thinking the same thing sis." Junko sighed. "Looks like we do have the twin connection." Seriously, Hiro's stupidity right now is boring on her, more than her usual boredom. Not to mention how irritating it was.

She could not wait for his world to come crashing down. That should fix the extreme boredom with him.

"So, mister serial killer psycho freak bastard….what the hell do you want?" Mondo growled.

Monokuma tilted his head in confusion. "Mr. Serialkillerpyschofreakbastard, huh? That's a pretty long name! German, maybe?"

"We know who you really are!" Mondo stated.

In response, Monokuma merely turned away. "Maybe if I just ignore him, he'll go away…." He murmured loudly to himself.

Mondo growled. "I really want rip that piece of shit teddy bear!" The biker snarled. "So much!"

"Mondo, take some deep breaths." Chihiro pleaded with him. Mondo was silent for a moment before doing the progammer's suggestion and took some deep breaths.

"Better." Mondo admitted. "Still angry with the bear, though."

"Join the club." Leon grumbled.

"Hey! Don't ignore me, asshole!" Mondo shouted in anger.

Ignoring him, Monokuma turn back to everyone else. "Okay, okay, let's get back to business." The bear stated. "Your life here has already begun and a couple days have gone by, and nobody's killing anybody!"

"He really expected that we would kill in a heartbeat?" Leon questioned in disbelief. "Um, newsflash. None of us are bloodthirsty, or desperate enough."

"And Genocide Jill only kill 'cute, adorable boys'." Hina quoted what Jill said. "And the only one in her criteria is Byakuya, and she claims that he's too hot to kill."

"Don't remind me." Byakuya shuddered. Toko is merely an annoyance to his life. Jack is the bane of his existance.

"I thought all you kids were lazy and selfish, and here you are working together." He then hung his head. "But I'm totally bored!"

"We already mentioned how insane he is, right?" Hina asked. To the several nods, she said this. "Well, I'll say it again. He's insane."

"Yeah. From the sounds of it, he's doing this because he's bored." Taka stated in disbelief. "Who would do something like this, just because they're bored?"

'Me!' Junko cheerfully thought. Truthfully, she's bored as well, though some of the commentary does free her of her boredom a little bit.

Makoto glared at Monokuma. "There's nothing you can say that'll make us start killing each other…."

Before he could finish, Monokuma interrupted. "Wait, I think-yes! Ding ding ding! I got it!" He declared. An idea seemed to pop in his mind. "All the mystery ingredients are right here-right people, right place. So why hasn't anyone killed anyone, yet? That's what I couldn't understand. But I just realized there was one very important piece missing!"

"Um, does anyone else have a bad feeling about this?" Several hands was raised to Hifumi's question. "Oh, good. It's not just me."

Makoto looked nervous at this. "Wh-What are you….?"

"If you wanna know, I'll tell ya! It's motive!" Monokuma declared. He giggled in glee. "It's so simple! I just have to give everyone a motive!"

"Motive?" Taka questioned. "What does he mean by that?"

"He means that he's going to give us a reason to kill." Byakuya informed him. "Give us a reason to murder each other."

"What reason could he give us to do so?" Leon asked, though he does sound nervous.

"We're in trouble." Celeste deadpanned to herself. You do not ask that kind of question. They always get answered in mangas.

"Motive? What the fuck are you talking about?" Mondo growled.

Ignoring him, Monokuma spoke to the group. "Oh, by the way! There's something I want to show you guys!"

"Stop changing the goddamn subject!"

"I have a little video I'd like you all to see." Once again, the bear ignored the angry biker.

"Something tells me that he isn't changing the subject." Makoto gulped.

"Oh, but don't worry. It's not some pervy 'adult' video or anything. Seriously, it's nothing like that!" Monokuma hastily assured, looking nervous and sweaty. "It's a special video for each of you showing that's going on outside the school."

That got everyone's attention. "Outside the school….?" Makoto said warily. "What are you talking about?"

Monokuma chuckled. "Ooh, Master's important today! Why don't you just watch it and find out?"

"I'm getting really nervous." Chihiro muttered, fidgeting a little. "What does he want to show us?"

"Something that would give us the motive to kill, probably." Sakura deduced. "What it is exactly, I'm afraid to find out."

"You can go to the A/V room to watch the videos." Monokuma informed them.

Kyoko nodded. "Good, then we can go watch the videos right now. But before we do that, I would like to know…." She stared at him directly in the eyes. "What are you? Why would you do something like this? What do you want from us?"

Monokuma tilted his head. "What do I want from you?" He repeated. "Well, if you must know…."

The camera then gain a close up to his face. "Despair. That's all."

Chills went down everyone's spine. What he said, and how he said it scared several of them. "I got a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach." Makoto admitted.

"So do I, man." Leon agreed. Sayaka, Hifumi, Hina, and several others also nodded in agreement.

"Now I'm really nervous." Hina shivered.

"Why would the mastermind be interested in our despair?" Sakura questioned, crossing her arms. "What have we've done to them to earn that?"

"I doubt that question would be answered soon." Celeste sighed.

The screen went back to it's regular size. "If you want to know more than that, you'll have to figure it out for yourselves. Do whatever you need to uncover the mystery hidden within this school. I won't try and stop you. Cuz to be honest, it's entertaining as heck watching you guys search so desperately for answers! So I guess I want some amusement, too."

Mondo growled in fury. "The fact that he only sees us as fucking entertainment is pissing me off!"

"There's a lot of things that's 'pissin us off', as you say." Byakuya stated, eyes narrowed. Once they find out the identity of the mastermind, he will use all his resources from the Togami family to hunt him down!

"Well, at least he gave us some useful information." Kyoko stated, drawing all attention to her.

Makoto was the one to speak. "Really? What do you mean?"

"You'll see." Was all she said.

With that, he disappeared, laughing along the way. "He's gone," Sayaka said, a bit to herself. "And once again, he left before we could find out anything useful."

"Really?" Kyoko questioned rhetorically. "I think we learned something very useful. He has no intention of standing in the way of our pursuit of the truth. Interesting."

"Oh yeah, he did mention that." Makoto agreed. He tapped his chin in thought. "I wonder why, though."

"He's either arrogant or stupid to believe that we can't find anything." Byakuya stated.

"Or he set up measures to make sure we don't find anything." Mukuro suggested. "That's also a possibility."

'Or the possibility of losing is too delicious to ignore!' Junko thought merrily. She really don't think that her class have a high chance of escaping, but the small possibility is just oh, so, delicious.

"Perhaps," Sakura agreed, partially at least. "But what about the videos he mentioned? I'm very curious to see what's on it."

"Same here! Okay, so….!" Mondo started looking around the dining hall, until his gaze landed on Makoto.

Makoto sighed. "Great." He mumbled. He should've known this would happen.

He grinned. "Hey, Makoto! Check this out for us, would ya?" Makoto's eyes widen at the request.

"Huh? Why me?!"

"Cuz you're the closest to the door!" Was the biker's answer. "That's the rule, right?"

"R-Rule?"

"What rule is that?" Sayaka questioned, a raised eyebrow.

Mondo rubbed the back of his head. "Um, the rule of doing an errand."

Mondo sighed. "Hey, hey," He started mumbling. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" He then began shouting. "HEEEY! You see how passionately I'm begging you?! What's the big deal? Just check it out real quick!"

"Why Makoto of all people?" Kyoko asked, also raising an eyebrow. "Why not someone more capable of handling anything dangerous thrown at them?"

"How the hell should I know?" Mondo asked with a shrug. "Like my future self said, he's the closest to the door. And he probably doesn't think anything dangerous is going to happen."

"You're terrible, you know that?" Sayaka muttered, shaking her head.

Makoto silent for a moment. Then, he said shakily. "O-Okay….I guess I'll get going, then."

That made Mondo's anger disappear. "Awesome, thanks! I owe ya one!"

"...If Makoto's going, I'm going with him." Sayaka declared. "It's not safe to walk around this place alone."

Makoto sighed in relief. "Thanks, Sayaka."

"Anytime Makoto." Sayaka replied with a smile.

"Yeah, sure thing. Then we're countin' on the both of ya!" Mondo stated. "If anything happens, just yell and I'll come runnin'!"

Makoto and Sayaka nodded before walking out of the cafeteria. After walking a few feet away from the dining hall, Sayaka spoke. "I can't decide if Mondo is totally dependable or completely terrible." Sayaka admitted.

"Yeah, I'd have to say he's kind of both." Makoto said. 'He's not exactly a bad person, but I definitely can't say he's a good person, either.'

"Hey!"

"Sorry Mondo." Makoto apologized. "But to be fair, you did send me to check out the motive by myself. Not to mention the punch you gave me."

"He got you there bro." Taka said, placing a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.

Mondo sighed. "Yeah, I guess so."

With that, the two went on their way to the A/V room. It didn't take them long to get there, and when they did, they saw a cardboard box sitting on one of the video players. "Huh? A cardboard box?" Makoto and Sayaka went towards and looked inside. Their eyes' widened. "It's…." Makoto began.

"...a bunch of DVDs." Sayaka finished. Sure enough, there are a bunch of DVDs, with names on each one. "And each one has a label on it with someone's names."

"One hundred bucks says it's the motives that Monokuma was talking about!" Hiro stated.

Leon snorted. "A sucker's bet."

"This must be the 'video for each of us' he mentioned." Makoto deduced.

Sayaka nodded in agreement. "I'd better go tell everyone!" With that, Sayaka ran out of the A/V room, leaving Makoto alone. Makoto, meanwhile, just stayed where he was, looking at the discs inside the box.

'How are we going to play these?' As Makoto thought that, he saw a DVD player underneath the monitor. 'Oh. That's how.' He then spoke outloud to himself. "Maybe I'll watch mine real quick, before everyone else gets here."

He then began sorting through the DVDs and after a moment, found the one with his name on it. After that, he took out the disk and slid it into the expensive looking DVD player. He sat down and put on a pair of headphones. He stared at the screen, and when it blurred on….

It revealed his family, all sitting down on his couch. He cried out in alarm and shock. "Mom? Dad? Komaru?" Makoto said in surprise.

The present Makoto is also surprised. "That's the same video my family sent me, my first few days at Hope's Peak." Makoto realized.

"So that's your family?" Sayaka asked. She smiled. "They look like nice people."

"And they sent a video for you?" Leon asked, snickering a little. Makoto flushed.

"Lay off." He muttered.

His mom then started speaking. "You getting picked to attend Hope's Peak Academy is like a dream come true. Make sure you do your best!"

"I'm so proud of you, son." His dad started speaking. "But remember - don't push yourself too hard!"

"Are you really watching this, Makoto?" His sister, Komura, asked. "Good luck, okay?" Makoto couldn't help but gain a happy look on is face at seeing this video.

Makoto couldn't help but smile at this, though a small blush formed on his face. "Aww, your family is so supportive of you!" Sayaka gushed and teased a little, causing the blush to form more on the luckster.

"You definitely have a loving and supporting family Makoto." Kyoko agreed, a bit envious of that fact. Though she made sure to hide that envy from her voice and facial features.

"Yeah. They're the best alright." Makoto smiled happily. Though while he's happy to see that video again, something is bugging him. Why would Monokuma show him something like this? Was that really a motive to kill? The idea has a little merit, but if anything, it would give him the determination to find a way out without killing anybody.

It also bugged Kyoko and Byakuya as well. They're wondering the same thing Makoto is.

"If it had ended there, that would've been fine." The narrator Makoto spoke up. "A message of love and support. After leaving my family behind to attend Hope's Peak, it would have given me hope, given me strength. If this was a normal school, I would've been happy, if not a little embarrassed. With my family's support to rely on, I would've been motivated to do even better."

"But, here, now, it was totally different." Makoto's voice got slightly darker. "I wasn't living an ordinary school life. So I had a pretty strong feeling that the video wasn't going to end there."

Makoto's happy feeling was slowly replaced to being concerned. What's going to happen? What's going to show next?

"I hated having that feeling," The video than began started to switch. "but it turned out that I was absolutely right." And it switched to a destroyed living room, with no one in sight. Makoto's happy face was replaced with absolute horror.

It was the same with the present Makoto. "Wh-Wha-?" He stuttered, trying to form words, but couldn't. His face pale and eyes were wide with panic.

The others are also shocked by this scene. "What the hell happened to the room?" Mondo cried out. "Did it become a warzone or something?"

"And where's Makoto's family?" Chihiro questioned fearfully. "What happened to them?"

Makoto is shaking now. "Mom. Dad. Komaru." He whispered. Where is everyone?

Kyoko and Sayaka, seeing his state, quickly took his hands and held them tightly in comfort. Mukuro looked away, her heart lurching at the horrified look on Makoto's face.

'It's your fault.' A voice in her head said. 'You let this happen. You know Junko's plan, and could've stopped it. You could stop it now. But you won't.'

Mukuro pushed that voice away. She can't listen to it. She can't abandon her sister again. Even if that means Makoto suffering.

'Where'd everyone go?' Makoto thought in panic. 'It looks like a warzone or something.'

As if to reply, a voice he's growing to hate went through the speakers. "Makoto Naegi, accepted into Hope's Peak Academy. And his family, who supported such a lucky boy. But it seems like….something's happened to this family's well-being! Oh boy, this is bad! What could have possibly happened to this family's well-being?!"

Then the video switched to a sentence, saying "Look for the answer after graduation".

Some of the horror was replaced with anger. "That fucker!" Mondo roared. "He attacked Makoto's family!"

"And he either took them hostage or worse." Hifumi stated nervously. That did not helped settle Makoto's nerves.

"W-Why?" Makoto asked himslef. "What happened to them? Are they hostages or…." Sayaka and Kyoko gave Hifumi a quick glare before going back to comforting the panicked boy. Hina, Celeste, and Mukuro also looked a bit crossed at Hifumi.

"Makoto, calm down." Kyoko said softly. "Nothing happened to your family in our timeline. Don't worry."

"Yeah, Kyoko's right. Please, don't be so worried." Sayaka added in. Slowly, Makoto is getting himself together.

Junko masked the glee and pleasure she's feeling. Seeing Makoto so shaken up caused her pain in her heart, a pain she welcomes. And to fuel the flame, she said that. "Guys," She spoke up 'nervously'. "If Makoto's DVD showed his family possibly in danger, what's on our DVDs?"

Everyone paused, for a moment, before eyes began widening in realization, horror, and/or anger. "Does that mean our families may be in danger?!" Hina exclaimed in fear.

"It's a likely possibility." Sakura said grimly.

"So that's the motive he's talking about." Byakuya realized, a frown on his face. "Show those close to us being in some form in danger…."

"...thus fueling our desire to leave." Kyoko finished. Makoto finally managed to get himself back together, but he's still scared of the possibility of his family in danger. And also angry at Monokuma.

As soon as the video ended, Makoto spoke. "W-What is this?" He shakily asked himself. His voice got louder. "What happened to everyone?!" He started shaking in fear and anger. "GOD DAMMIT!

He slammed his fist on the desk over and over again. "I have to get out of here." He said to himself. He started getting louder again. "I have to get out, right now! I need to make sure everyone's safe!"

"And it seems like the tactic is working." Byakuya commented. He looked at Makoto.

The luckster gripped his knee. "Could you blame me?" Makoto asked them. "One moment, I saw a video of my family wishing me luck. The next, the living room was a warzone and they're missing. What else was I supposed to think at that moment?"

"No one blames you Makoto." Sayaka assured, though she sounds scared of the possibility of what her future self would see. "Any one of us would think the same way in your position."

"Yeah." Hina agreed, wanting to help cheer up her friend. "And it look like we'll be in your position soon."

"Makoto?" Makoto turned his head slightly to see a concerned Sayaka beside him. "What happened? Make sure who's safe?" He turned his head more to see everyone else at the entrance of the A/V room. There's faces are full of confusion.

"Wh-What's going on?" Hina asked him hesitantly.

Not trusting himself to speak, Makoto pointed at the cardboard box. "Is that what Monokuma was talking about?" Leon questioned nervously.

"What's on them?" Taka asked. Everyone gathered around the box, and each of them grabbed their DVDs. They all went to a monitor, sat down, and put their headphones on to watch.

It didn't take long for all of them to react. Cries of shock, anguish, and fear came all around. "What the fuck?" Mondo cried out, eyes wide.

"Th-This can't be real, right?" Hina asked, staring at the screen in fear and anxiety. "It has to be fake, right?!"

"Yeah, no way it's real. Haha….no way." Leon stated, not sounding convincing.

"I can't t-take it, anymore," Toko cried out in anguish, holding her head. "I c-can't take this anymore! Let me out of h-here!"

"Looks like we're correct with our assumptions." Kyoko said grimly. "It was videos of those close to us in possible danger."

"I wonder what's worse. Imagining the possibilities, or seeing our videos?" Hina asked randomly and nervously.

Makoto was the one to answer. "The latter is the worst, trust me." He told her. "More possibilities are running through my head about what could've happened."

"We'll take your word for it." Taka stated nervously.

'So everyone is seeing similar videos.' Makoto thought grimly. He can see the looks of fear and confusion from everyone. Well, almost everyone.

Kyoko is still calm and collective, staring at the screen in thought. 'Even now she's still calm and collective.' Makoto thought in a bit of amazement.

"How can you still be so calm at something like this?" Hina cried out in disbelief.

Kyoko looked at Hina dryly. "In my line of work, it's required to stay calm at all times." Kyoko replied. "I don't let myself show my emotions to anything."

'Well, that's almost true.' Makoto mused. There were a few things that can get Kyoko to react, and Makoto knew those few things, but he's not going to exploit them.

"I see," She said, mainly to herself. "So this is what he meant by motive. He wants to fuel our desire to leave so that we're more likely to start killing each other."

"It's the classic 'prisoner's dilemma'." Celestia stated.

"Prisoner's dilemma?" Mondo repeated. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"My other will explain." Celeste replied back.

"...Huh?" That response came from Hifumi.

"Let me use this as an example." Celeste began explaining. "Imagine two countries are on the brink of war. But both countries want peace, and each commits to scaling back their forces as a sign of good faith. But there's a chance that one country may betray the other, so each country fears lowering their guard. The result is that neither scales back their forces, and they both end up betraying each other."

"In other words, the fear of invisible treachery becomes the greatest enemy of stability." She concluded.

"That would be an accurate assessment to what's happening there." Byakuya sighed. "Invisible treachery."

"That video made a bomb that's just waiting to explode." Junko stated 'fearfully'.

"That kinda sounds l-like us right now," Toko said nervously. "Everyone says they'll work together, but in our hearts we're all afraid someone might betray us….."

"Don't put those awful thoughts in our head!" Taka protested. "That's exactly what they want us to do!"

"You can say that," Leon started in a accusatory tone. "But maybe you're thinking that once everyone drops their guard, you can just…"

"What?!"

Makoto shook his head. "They're doing what exactly what Monokuma wants, and what Celeste described." Makoto groaned. "Getting paranoid of each other, until eventually, someone starts killing."

"Makoto is right. Our future selves need to calm down." Sakura grunted. "Or else, this'll end badly."

"Easier said than done." Mukuro said. "Those videos are fresh in everyone's mind."

"This is exactly what Monokuma, or whoever's behind this, wants." Sakura cut in. "They want us to fight. Don't you see?"

"Yeah, you're right." Chihiro said, sounding a bit fearful. "We all need to calm down."

"Okay, then. Maybe we should start by all just….talking." Junko suggested. "Maybe if we all just talk about what we saw, that'll help get everything out of our system. Besides, I think we're all super curious, right?"

Everyone looked at one another. "I have to admit, I'm pretty curious about what's on our videos." Mondo admitted.

"Same." Chihiro agreed. "But at the same time, I don't want to know."

"Yeah. I really don't want scary thoughts running through my head." Hina admitted. "Well, more scary thoughts."

"Well, let's just see what happens." Makoto said, getting back his optimism a little. "If they do talk about it, hopefully it would stop the paranoia and panic. Reduce the risk of us killing each other."

The others nodded in agreement with the luckster. Hopefully, that will happens. Hopefully.

And that's the end. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Apologies if you were hoping to see Sayaka's breakdown, but the chapter was getting longer than I expected. The last moments between Sayaka and Makoto will be shown to class 78th in the next chapter. And hopefully, they will also see the moment you all been waiting for in the next chapter. The first murder. How do you think they'll react to that?

Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you guys later.