Hello! Hope you enjoy this part! Please read the authors note at the end of this part once you're done! Also let me know what you think of this part!

[This part has been edited and updated after the completion of Chapter 2]

DANGANRONPA: OFF THE RAILS

Chapter 1 – Freedom's End

Part 3

A few days had passed since the first night shifts had gone. And soon enough, a routine started to form for the night time. After group one did their scouting, followed by group two, the focus shifted from information gathering to simple security. The night shift would have one group of two watch the back four cars while the other two watched the front four. As for the method of how to watch said cars at night… that was what needed to be figured out. So, after groups three and four attempted two different methods of surveillance, it was now the second night shift for the first group.

Shunso was sitting in his wheelchair as he looked around the room, sketching out more details for his notebook. At the moment, he was in the observatory cart trying to draw out the different constellations of the room. All the while he would glance back every now and then at his partner for the night, Chizure, who grabbed a stool from around and looked exhausted. Feeling the awkward air, Shunso closed his book and turned to the forger. "So… if I may ask Chizure… I'm not the only one bored out of my mind, am I?"

This caused the forger to laugh a little before shaking her head. "No, I'm feeling the boredom as well. Sure we're only playing lookout. But then again… I can only stare at the same eight carts for so long before I feel them engraved into my mind. ...Ready to move to the seventh car in an hour?"

The intelligence officer nodded as closed his notebook. "Indeed." As the forger grabbed his chair, Shunso found himself yawning and groaning. "I've dealt with cases where I stayed up much longer but the scenario is so different that it's getting to me. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish there was someway to improve the time during the nightshift. Until then… I can't wait for some sleep."

Shunso rubbed his eyes as Chizure looked curiously at the intelligence officer before she gained a curious look and a smile. "Well… why don't we play a game to pass the time?" This caused Shunso to stop and turn to Chizure with a raised brow. "Oh don't give me that look. We're both exhausted and bored out of minds. But we still have a few hours left. So let's pass the time with a game."

Shunso stared at the forger for a while before he sighed. "…Fair enough. But only for an hour, alright?" Shunso turned his chair around to face Chizure as he raised a brow. "So… what are we gonna play?"

Chizure tapped her chin for a moment before she smiled. "How about 'Never have I ever'? We can even play it where we try to get points as we say stuff we have done." This caused Shunso look confused. "Well... say we say something we have done but the other hasn't, we get a point. If the other has done it, then we both get a point. That way we aren't here forever."

The intelligence officer simply shrugged at the rules, but nodded to the forger. "Sure… I don't know much of the game itself but it sounds fine. First to three points or so?"

Chizure nodded with a smile. "First to three points! You want to start?"

"Why not… never have I ever… stolen from a convenience store." This caused Chizure to blink a bit before shaking her head. Shunso raised his thumb and sighed as he could see the questioning look on the forger's face. "Was never really the most well off. When I was younger, I'd nick a bag of chips or a chocolate bar if I was hungry. Had to run away at times when I was caught."

This caused the forger to blink before laughing a little. "Mister Intelligence Officer used to be a bad boy huh?" But then blinked. "Wait... run?"

Shunso just scoffed and gave a tired glare. "Oh shove it. And yes... run. I wasn't always paralyzed. It wasn't a genetic case when I was born. But enough about that. Your turn Chizure."

The forger nodded with a sigh but still held a smile. "Very well… I'll stop. Hmmm… never have I ever… plagiarized a story."

Shunso blinked for a moment and chuckled a bit before shaking his head. "Surprisingly enough, never did that. Never had the need to compared to some of my classmates... Though to be fair, I doubt anything they've written wasn't plagiarized."

Chizure smiled a little as she raised her own thumb. "Guess you're not so Mister Bad Boy after all. Tie game now. Your turn."

"Alright… alright… Don't want to hear that nickname from Miss Story Theft. Hmmm…" Shunso pondered a bit more before shrugging. "Never have I ever had a single mother?"

Chizure gave a weak chuckle before she nodded, which caused Shunso to overexaggerate a snap of his fingers in frustration. "Darn. So we both get a point… say happens if we tie at three points?"

This caused the forger to pause as she hummed in thought. "Hmmm… then sudden death until one of us says something the other hasn't?"

Shunso just shrugged. "Eh. Doesn't matter to me."

Chizure nodded and smiled. "Then we'll do that. That is if I don't win here. How about… never have I ever worked with the police… wait." A moment of silence passed as Shunso stared at her and raised a finger... before he burst out laughing. Chizure would facepalm but smile at the joyous laugh before she gave him a tired look. "…It's late at night… And we are literally doing this to not pass out from boredom. I can safely say I'm not fully functional in the head at the moment."

Shunso just laughed for a little bit before he started to calm himself down. It was a silly moment, but he held a smile on his face as he rolled his eyes. He didn't seem to notice how he was going with the flow the game as the 'perfect winning pick' popped in his mind. "Yeah yeah… Whatever you say… Either way, I can win this sudden death easily. Never have I ever been thrown off a cliff."

Upon revealing that piece of his past unintentionally, as it caused the forger to stop and look at Shunso in shock. "You were what!?"

Shunso, not fully realizing what he just revealed, looked at her confused. However, once it clicked, his face paled as he stopped and looked away. He would turn his wheelchair away and start to leave. "…hour's up. Game's over."

Needless to say, the mood took an awkward shift as the two headed towards the next cart. Chizure would take glances at the intelligence officer in front of her as she worked up the courage to speak up. "…Do you… mind if I ask what you meant?"

"…Not now. I'm not in the mood to deal with this now." The forger nodded sadly as she remained silent. Shunso meanwhile was cursing himself as he let that slip and decided to remain silent as well. And for the rest of the night, the two stood guard in a heavy silence...

The night shift had passed and Shunso promptly sleep in until the afternoon as memories of the night before echoed in his mind. The intelligence officer would avoid the others for the larger part of the day and would not leave his room until it was dinner time.

His mind was still filled with uncertainty as the intelligence officer decided to skip dinner for the night. Moving past cart after cart, he soon found himself heading heading towards the university lab. However, upon entering, a familiar blonde-haired strategist caught his eye as he saw her grumbling at one of the tables. Raising a brow, he moved over closer as he noticed her sitting in front of a chess board on her own. Needing a distraction himself, he decided to move closer and speak up. "Where did you find a chessboard? And… Mind if I join in for a game?"

This pulled the strategist out of her grumbling as she stared at him for a moment. "Found the chessboard hidden away in the storage car. Lucky find I think." She then put her head in her hands before nodding at his request. "Very well... I have been in need of an opponent." However, a grin then appeared on her face. "But are you so sure? Facing the Ultimate Strategist in a game of strategy?"

Shunso would stare at her for a moment before he shrugged. "I mean... why not?" Shunso moved his chair closer. "Either I win and get bragging rights or I lose which is expected. Either way, it'll be interesting."

"…Oh." She sent a suspicious look at the intelligence officer. "You seem to calm... but I do not back down from a challenge. ...But I'm watching you..." She then grabbed the board and flipped it around so she would be playing black. "…You start."

Shunso nodded and looked down at the board before grabbing his knight and moving it forward. On the other side, Yokona would grab one of her pawns and move it up two spaces. And thus a back and forth began with Shunso found his face to face with the skills of the Ultimate Strategist. Every time he would make a move, Yokona always seemed to be a few steps ahead. So much so that he had to start mixing things up and try to think outside of the box.

As the two continued to play, with Yokona taking the second of Shunso's bishops, the strategist would speak up. "…So why did you challenge me to a game of chess in the first place? You were being all 'leave me alone' mode like Katashi and Kana. Check."

Shunso raised a brow at the question and sighed. "Well... I was avoiding others because I needed to process something. As for challenging you?" The intelligence officer would just give a shrug as a response. "I never really got to play much back home. And when I wanted to play, no one else wanted to." He then moved a his rook to take out Yokona's knight, taking himself out of check. "I guess I'm just trying."

Yokona would stare silently for a moment before she gave him a small glare and scoffed. "I swear… you're too carefree." Seeing the confused look, Yokona continues. "Seriously… you're an intelligence officer. You're one of the few in this train who can understand the stress and hopelessness of this situation. And yet? You seem very nonchalant about things. Not like the others but more… you have the knowledge and skills to be more serious, yet you aren't."

This caused him to look at her in shock as Yokona continued. "Oh don't even try to deny it. You're career is based around this. Logistics and information gathering. And yet? You seem to be very slow with everything that it makes me think you're hiding something! It's irritating!"

"…I'm not nonchalant. I'm just hiding it better. Check." Shunso had moved his own knight into position that Yokona's king was in check. However, the strategist didn't give it much thought as she looked at the intelligence officer in confusion. Shunso, seeing the expression, just sighed. "As an intelligence officer, I know the dangers of knowledge. One piece of information can be fatal. One misstep could lead to me causing someone's death or a killer to get away. I've been doing my job how I alwats do it and been looking around every day for new clues or points I missed before. But there's not much to go off of and there's only so much I can do."

He groaned and looked away in frustration. "Give me a break, I'm a guy in a fucking wheelchair…" After a moment to calm down, Shunso sighed and he rubbed his eyes a bit. "Sorry. Just... it's been stressful. I haven't been carefree at all. So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not being nonchalant… rather, I'm waiting. I'm waiting and figuring out how to react. If you don't agree… then how do you think I should do it then?

There was a moment of silence between the two as Yokona listened to Shunso's words. After he was done talking however, his question caused a smirk to grow on the girl's face. "Oh? Asking the master now. Fine… I'll say what I think." She moved her queen which took his knight, taking herself out of check, as she looked him dead in the eye.

"…You're being too kind to the others. We've been kidnapped onto this train for a killing game. A game where people are going to backstab you. And yet, people are being… kind and putting belief in one another. I thought you were like that as well. And hell, part of me still thinks you are leaning towards that faith and belief in the others." She would look down at the board and speak with a sharp tone. "I'm expecting that someone is going to backstab you or one of the others soon enough. There's always a wolf in sheep's clothing and when that piece of shit finally decides to strike? I'm going to say I told you so. Whether that's to your face or your corpse."

"…Ah. I get it." Shunso nodded as her words. Despite the harshness, he understood what she was trying to say. Looking at the chessboard once more, he chuckled lightly as he picked up his queen. "…To be honest… I see what you mean. I understand the risk. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to spend time with the others. Rather, I'm playing the long game for it all…"

He slowly moved his chair back as he watched the strategist move her king to take out Shunso's queen. Not even looking back, the intelligence officer would start to roll himself towards the exit. Yokona looked at him in confusion before she looked down at the board. Her eyes widened as she noticed the state of the board… it was a stalemate. She turned to the retreating intelligence officer with a slight glare. "Hold it right there! We're not done here! I want a rematch!"

"…Another time Yokona. For now, I got other things to take care of." As he was heading towards the door however, he stopped and turned to look at the strategist. A small sad smile gracing his face as he spoke. "...Trust me when I say this. I know there's a chance of me being backstabbed. A very high chance. And yet... I still take that chance. Because if it truly happens? Then I guess deserve it." And with that final piece, he was off.

Time passed on in a blink of an eye another round of nightshifts came and gone. As for the intelligence officer himself, Shunso was sleeping soundly... which meant it was the perfect time to be woken up. Sure enough, he would soon find himself being startled up from a loud knock at his door.

The exhausted intelligence officer would look at the door in confusion and annoyance as he moved himself from his bed to his wheelchair. Rolling over, Shunso would open the to reveal a familiar redhaired sidekick. "Morning Shunso!" Shunso stared at Wally for a solid minute... before he started to close the door. However, Wally quickly stopped it from closing. "Waitwaitwait!"

The intelligence officer just gave a tired glare at the sidekick. "…What is it Wally? It's too early for this…"

The sidekick chuckled weakly as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry… didn't mean to wake you up that badly." Shunso just groaned and rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. "It's fine… now what is it you wanted to tell me Wally?"

"Ah! Right! So, as you know, last night I was on night shift with my group, and I was with Takeshi as my partner. The girls took the back cars for the first half of the night as we took the front cars… when suddenly, idea!"

Shunso looked at him with a raised brow as he motioned him to continue. Wally had a massive grin on his face. "I thought, 'Hey! There's a lounge room which felt like a bachelor pad… soooo… why not have a guys night?' And that's why I came to you. Wanted to see if you wanted to stop by tonight for a guys night!"

The intelligence officer gave the sidekick a deadpan expression as he slowly closed the door once more. As the sidekick was going to leave, he heard a voice coming from the small gap in the door. "…What time?"

"…What? Oh! It's going to be at seven. Give us a few hours to hang out, game, and do all the usual stuff ya know?" All he got in return was the door slamming closed on him. "...Okay! See you tonight!"

But Shunso did not listen as he moved back to his bed and went back to sleep. Time seemed to pass without much thought as the intelligence officer went on with his usual investigations of the carts. Before he knew it, seven PM approached and Shunso found himself outside of the lounge room in the fourth car.

Giving the door a knock, he could hear the shout of the sidekick. "Come on in!" Opening the door, Shunso saw a gathering of Wally, Takeshi, Hastur, & Satoru, sitting around in beanbag chairs or on the couch in the room, surrounded by chips, pop, sweets, and other junk. Wally, noticing it was Shunso entering, got up with a grin. "Ah! Shunso! You came!"

Before the intelligence officer could say anything, the sidekick rushed over and grabbed Shunso's wheelchair, bringing him to the middle of the room and the center of attention. "…Wally…"

The sidekick just laughed and patted the intelligence officer on the back. "Come on man, relax and have some fun! It's guy's night!"

Shunso groaned and shook his head. "Wally… I'm not against the guy's night. I'm against someone grabbing my wheelchair without asking me." Wally blinked before his eyes widened. "Oh god! I'm so sorry! Oh man..."

The intelligence officer just sighed at the disheartened sidekick. "It's fine. Just make sure to ask from now on okay?" Wally nodded rapidly as Shunso looked around at the gather gents. "So... Where are Li-Wei, Katashi, and Kuniyoshi?"

Hastur, who had been reading a book, looked up and smiled. "Well~ Our stoic leader wishes to have plenty of rest before our shift in the shadows while our poker player was tired. As for our therapist friend… apparently he adamantly refused to come."

Takeshi was sitting there with a nervous smile and a bottle of water as he scratched the back of his head. "Wally, Satoru, and I e-each tried to convince them t-to come… still the same response."

Shunso just shrugged and grabbed a pop as he prepared himself for a long night. The next few hours were filled with video games, card games, and just chatting with one another. Snacks and drinks emptied out and happiness at an all time high. As the boys were laughing over jokes being made, Wally walked over to Shunso who was finishing another pop before grabbing another. "So… what do you think so far Shunso?"

The intelligence officer would open the new bottle of pop as he looked around. "…It's… interesting. Not bad, just... new." A small smile would start to form on Shunso's face. "Never really had a 'guys night' before. Never really hung out with anyone before... so it's strange."

Wally chuckled a bit as he gained an understanding smile. "I know what you mean. Besides the Commander, I never really had a male friend. I never got to hang out with friends like others. I had the Commander of course but... even then… well…"

Shunso raised a brow as he took a sip of his drink. "More a mentor?"

Wally groaned and sunk back into the beanbag chair he was seated in. "Bingo. It's all work with the Commander. Honestly, when it comes to hanging out, it usually either the Commander or my mom."

Shunso chuckled at that response as he smiled. "…You know, I know what you mean Wally. Most of the time I was only around my own mom and my boss at work. So only having a 'mentor' and 'parent' figure around is something I know all too well. So… this has been a fun change of pace."

However, before Wally could respond, the nighttime announcement went off. Hastur stand up and clap his hands. "Well my fellow members of the guy's night! It appears our time has come to an end. Do not worry about the mess and our location. I shall give a humble hand and take care of it all~ Rest well my fellow train riders!"

Saying their goodbyes and splitting off, Shunso would be wheeling himself back to his dorm as Wally walked beside him. With his arms behind his head and a smile on his face, the sidekick turned to the intelligence with a smile. "Man… I don't regret this at all! Having that guy's night was such a great idea. It was such a party!"

The intelligence officer would nod with a sigh and a small smile himself. And as they were walked away, one person stopped and turned to the two before they spoke out loud. "…a party… hmmm..."

It was late at night, right before the nighttime, when a familiarly awful voice could be heard. "Upupupupupu! This is an announcement! It is almost 10 pm and officially nighttime! Entry to certain locations have will be locked soon so please head to your dorms! Entry to the locked locations once nighttime starts is strictly prohibited! Sweet dreams~… Is what I would say, but I have something more important to share! So please make your way down to the end car!"

This caused Shunso to raise a brow as he started to wheel himself to the end car. Some of the others passed him while he passed some, but either way, they all reached the end car where… there was no bear to greet them. A minute passed… then five minutes… and soon enough… an hour passed. Everyone was sitting down around on the floor, waiting for the bear to show up.

Kuniyoshi groaned as slowly stood back up. "Screw this… This dang bear isn't even here! Why the hell were we even called here?"

However, an every familiar laugh could be heard. "Well… it's attitude like that!"

And upon those words, Conductorkuma popped up from behind the judge's stand… with a large powdery wig underneath their conductor's cap. Everyone stared at the bear in confusion as they just continued on in a rant. "See! Nothing! No respect for your honourable judge, conductor, and overall BEARy handsome host… I swear… It's at times like these where I wonder what is wrong with the youth these days! No murders!? IT'S BEEN NEARLY TWO WEEKS! This is a killing game! NOT A VACATION GETAWAY! Instead of murder, you've been… chatting! Having parties! What the hell!?"

This caused a grin to appear on his face as Conductorkuma continued. "Butttt… I realized why! There are two large reasons as to why you're acting so… confidently. The first is that I've given you all too much power! None of you are willing to step up and actually follow through to kill someone! But we have a solution to thatttttt… Reason number two! A MOTIVE!"

Before any words could be said, a loud sound could be heard behind the group towards the strange four jail cells. Slowly, platforms rose up from the ground and in each cell was a different object. In the first cell was a pile of food boxes and cans. In the second cell was a sleeping bag and a pillow. In the third cell was a case of water and a case of pop. And in the final cell was… nothing.

Suddenly, parts of the wall opened up to show a large screen that turned on. On the screen showed a progress bar and a timer that had the numbers "07:11:59:59" and continue going down. Everyone turned to the bear in confusion as they simply laughed in wicked glee. "Put simply… that timer is now the law! The timer is split into days, hours, minutes, and seconds. So it's a total of eight days! And after every two days… a cell will be locked away… permanently. Including everything in it!"

They moved over the judge's stand and slammed down a gavel as if calling for order. "SO! From this point onwards, you will lose your power as I remove your privileges! And the only way to stop this is to murder! Upupupupupupupu!"

The ultimates were silent as the bear hopped back behind the stand and disappeared. Turning to the cells, Li Wei spoke up first. "Okay… the first step at hand is figuring out what these privileges at risk are. The first cell is showing… food… so that means we'll lose the ability to eat. The second is… most likely sleep. And the third is water…"

Takeshi nodded somberly as they spoke up. "Y-Yeah… I believe it's step up in a w-way to last as long as possible. A-A person can last between eight to twenty-one days without food… and people start to h-hallucinate after three to four days. As for water… we can only survive three days without it."

Shunso however, was looking at the last cell and rolled closer. He stared at it for a solid few minutes before he turned to the combat medic. "…how long can a person last without air?"

"…W-Without air? Only a few minutes before they would be decease-" The medic's eyes widened as he looked at the last cell with worry. "…O-Oh… oh no…"

The intelligence officer could only nod. "Yeah… the last privilege is the very air we breath. When that timer hits zero…"

…The Ultimates were silent. The game has changed once again… only this time… who knows how long they will last.

...

...

...

[Time remaining: 07:11:53:44]

-TO BE CONTINUED-

16/16 REMAINING

Hello everyone! VoidRebirth here!

…Ummmm… happy new year? Been a while? Okay. So, a few things first. Mainly why I haven't posted in a while… and the answer? Life.

University, other obligations, and much more. That combined with being stuck with my writing? Yeah… it's been a struggle… but here we are! The motive!

This motive was an interesting to come up and God, did I ever wanted to post this part so much… but no. I needed to finish. So, yeah. Here we are. The motive.

So… the struggles of how to move forward… I'm gonna try to do whatever I can? Like, I have ideas… so many ideas. But it may take a little long time. And I hope you'll stick around for this crazy train ride. I want to have people happy with my work and I do their characters justice but overall; I just hope you all enjoy this.

But… a big thing… I'm going to try and write as best as I can. If I don't play a character exactly, please let me know. But yeah… I'm going to try my hardest.

And with all that now said… That's all for now! I'll see you guys next time!

Void signing out!