And for this chapter, I present you with a little insight into what is/was happening with the missing students. Obviously, a lot of it is vague since there isn't a full cast of anyone yet, let alone missing students. Nonetheless, you'll get to meet some of them, so enjoy!


Sensing that Ae-ra's sobs were quietening down, Ena chose that moment to gently extricate herself from the girl's rather soggy embrace. Not because she didn't want to continue comforting her year-mate, but because she wanted to see what was happening with the screen. Given that Ae-ra wasn't technically clinging on the way one would have done if they had fingers, it was easy for Ena to do this, but she still murmured:

"It's okay, Park-san. It's okay."

Ae-ra sniffled, seeming to fold into herself. Her long black hair, normally smooth and glossy, was all tangled and bunched up. Ena had to fight the urge to offer to comb it for her, instead mentally filing that away as an idea for later, a distraction to pass the time until they were all rescued. Instead, as she gave Ae-ra one more pat on the shoulder and got up, she idly wondered what her hair looked like. She didn't want to even think about the state of her hair cones(amongst her foggy memories, there was one of Yuuto re-doing them yet again, grumbling about it the way he always did) Instead, she tugged one of her long, soft pink braids and concluded that she looked about as bedraggled as everyone else.

Letting go of her braid, she spotted one of the girls and some of the boys at the staircase clustered around the screen, and she decided to go and see what they were doing. As she passed the others though, she made sure that they were alright. There had been shock, tears and many other reactions in between these. Chiara had been particularly hysterical when they'd first opened their cell doors and seen each other, and many others had wept the way Ae-ra had. But, for the most part, it seemed as if everyone had calmed down, and so she smiled at them and murmured reassurances until she got to the boys and the girl.

Luca was standing by the stairs with the girl, and both of them nodded at her. Luca asked her:

"Are you alright, Setsushi?"

"As alright as I can be, I suppose? Are you alright?"

Luca nodded, but then frowned and rubbed his head. Before Ena could ask, the girl beside him said:

"I think whoever got him hit his head quite badly. It's exacerbated his headaches."

The headaches which were a result of a brain injury he'd suffered a couple of years before getting admitted into Hope's Peak, making it about four or five years ago now. Ena didn't remember the finer details, but Luca was pretty open about it, which is how she knew about his recurring headaches. And also how she knew he hadn't had any for a while in the weeks leading up to his disappearance.

"Is there anything we can do?" Ena asked.

"I have water in my…."

The girl (she was the one who'd disappeared across from the school gates) gestured to the door that she had come out of, and Ena guessed at her dilemma. Calling it a room felt too ordinary. Calling it a cell felt like admitting something she wasn't quite ready to admit. Though, she wondered, what difference does it make? We're already in danger. She couldn't let herself get caught up in the insignificant details like that. Not when there were people here who needed looking after, who needed comforting. Not when they needed answers about the situation they were in, so that it'd be easier to take care of everyone. And especially not when she had Yuuto to get back to.

Because she would get back to Yuuto. She would.

"You have your bag with you?" Ena asked. "This is your school bag, yes?"

"That's right." The girl nodded. " My phone was taken, and my school tablet, but everything else is in there. Luca-sempai has most of his things in … in there, too. Right?"

Luca nodded, and then winced:

"Fukue," he said gruffly. "I think actually, I'd be liking to have some of that water now."

Fukue nodded at him, reaching out for his hand before reddening slightly and withdrawing. She gave him a hesitant smile, and instead just ushered him back to her room. Though she was still a little concerned about Luca, not knowing if he perhaps took any medication for his headache or if he was experiencing any other lingering effects of the old injury, she just decided to leave them to it and check on them in a little while if nothing else happened in the meantime. It seemed like Fukue knew Luca well, which was something. So, for the time being, Ena turned to the others who were still by the staircase, and asked:

"Have you found anything?"

"No." groused the short, pink-haired boy whom she recognised as having been the first to disappear.

The quiet, bespectacled boy next to him rubbed his eyes, and elaborated:

"The screen doesn't seem to be turning on, no matter what we do." He said. "Ono-sa….se….Ono…."

After a moment, the boy gave up on the honorifics, and then pointed to the staircase. There, Naruhito from the other third-year class was standing, some way up the staircase, his goggles on as he peered at something affixed to the staircase wall. He had clearly heard them talking because he glanced over, gave a cheery wave, then returned to what he was looking at. The boy then continued:

"He said there's something in the workings that means it can be turned on remotely, away from here. He thinks it might be connected to the same system that's operating the cameras."

Ena blinked at him.

"The cameras?" she asked.

The boy blinked slowly, and then pointed upwards. Ena followed his gaze and saw a camera mounted in the corner of the ceiling, a small red light blinking. She looked across and saw one in the other corner, too.

"Presumably, there are others at the opposite end," the boy said. "I think I noticed some in my room, also. Did you, Dax?"

"Yeah. Means they were watching us passed out and all stinky all this time."

"You do not smell that bad, Dax." The boy said, a little awkwardly.

"Bullshit, Silas," Dax said instantly, dark eyes narrowing. "I mean, who knows what day it is but I've been here since fucking December and I feel like I'm completely crusted over with dirt."

"I wonder how long it's been since we ended up here…" the other boy-Silas-said thoughtfully.

He then yawned and blinked again. As if something had occurred to him, he started to pat down the pockets of his school blazer before smiling slightly as he withdrew a small round pink lollipop. Taking off the clear wrapping, he stuck the lollipop in his mouth.

"You still have lollies after being kidnapped?" Dax asked, goggle-eyed.

Silas shrugged at this, concentrating on the lollipop for a few moments before pulling it out of his mouth to say:

"Perhaps I should have saved it, but I feel like this is the first thing I've eaten in a long time. And who knows when we'll get to eat next?"

"Hey, kiddo, I do have some cherry blast sweets if that's the kinda thing you like. Though I might eat just one of them now. But don't worry, I'll make sure to save some if you want any!" Naruhito called out.

"I'll think about it. Thank you, Ono."

As Silas put the lollipop back in his mouth and Dax started peppering him with questions, Ena went up the stairs to where Naruhito was still staring at the wall, trying to discreetly sniff her cardigan as she did so. When she got there, she saw that there was a camera mounted. She wondered if someone was on the other side of this particular camera, if they were looking at Naruhito and her. And if they were, what did they think of all this? Why were they watching at all?

Sighing, Naruhito leant back and pushed his goggles back up onto his forehead, and then turned and noticed Ena.

"Hey there, Setsushi-chan!" he said. "How's it going? Well, apart from the obvious, that is. I mean, it's so weird to think that you've all been here this entire time. I-I mean, what's up with that? Also, Setsushi-chan, I had no idea you'd been kidnapped too."

Before Ena could say anything to this, Naruhito rubbed the back of his neck and said:

"Ah, I just realised that sounded silly, huh? Because duh, clearly I wasn't the last if I'm not remembering you, and there's a couple of others I'm pretty sure were walking around all fine and dandy before I got nabbed. So, you're obviously one of the later disappearances. Right?"

"Actually…" she started. "I assumed you were one of the disappearances after me."

Naruhito gawped at her, and then asked:

"So when did you disappear? Do you remember the date?"

"January the…"

Ena had to think. For a moment, all she could remember was taking Yuuto's jacket carefully off his chair and putting it around his shoulders like a blanket, writing the note on the post-it, the swirling snow outside. But then, she finished:

"January 21st."

Naruhito's eyes widened, and somehow she knew what he'd say:

"Jumping gizmos, that's when I got nabbed! "

But knowing what he would say didn't mean she knew what to say to it. But it didn't matter, because Naruhito shrugged, and started to take something out of his utility belt, saying:

"Now, I'm thinking I'm reaching the point where staring at this isn't going to help. I need to really get into it. D'ya feel like holding stuff for me, Setsushi-chan, while I try and get a closer look at this camera? I don't know why the kidnapper left me my tools but I'm going to make the most of it if it gets us outta here-"

"Oh, I wouldn't recommend that."

"HOLY SHIT, THE SCREEN'S TURNED ITSELF ON!" Dax screeched.

And over the resulting outburst from all the other students, a tinny laughter rose high. Ena tried to ignore the chill that coursed through her, instead running down the stairs, Naruhito behind her. They all gathered and stared at the screen, which flickered with an image of a cartoon bear against a plain grey background. One half of the bear was white, and looked like a standard teddy bear, but the other half was black, its eye a jagged red scar instead of a cute little button, its smile full of teeth. Something felt vaguely familiar about it, but Ena couldn't think what.

The bear on the screen tipped its head back and laughed and laughed. Some of the others murmured things, but it was Dax who straight out asked:

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked.

"Oh? Me? I suppose you can call me….Monokuma. That's Monobear in English, since I'm fairly sure all you non-Japanese know English anyway regardless of where specifically you've come from, upupu…."

"Hmmm," Silas said thoughtfully. "Is that as in monochrome?"

The bear laughed again, and said:

"Yes, yes! Oh, well done."

"Yes," someone else snarked. "Because that's such, such useful information to know. So what if you're monochrome? Who the hell are you?"

"Oh dear, oh dear. You're not one of the ones who pays attention in class, are you? I'm Monokuma, dammit, Monokuma!"

"Uhhhh…." Naruhito said.. "I think the question was who you are? Not the character, but you? Because like, as cool as the idea of a sentient animatronic bear is, being held captive by one is kinda -impossible? Also really, really freaky. Not that being held here by human beings is any better, but like, it makes more sense. As much as any of this does, anyway…."

The bear animation did not move in any way for a few seconds, before suddenly flickering away, the grey background remaining. The voice that spoke was lower-pitched than the bear's, but there was something oddly remote about it. Ena couldn't pin down any attributes of the voice, apart from the fact that Japanese was likely their native language, spoken in a standard Tokyo accent:

"Alright. I shall indulge you briefly. You may think of me as the…Creator. But I have no intention of breaking the fourth wall in this way asides from this. I have no intention of letting you, my characters, do so either. You shall simply have to get used to Monokuma as your captor. If this story gets interrupted again, you won't like the consequences, I can promise you that."

And before anyone could say anything, Monokuma appeared on the screen, munching a sandwich. They blinked, and then said:

"Oh, we're all done? Oh good, good, time to get onto the fun stuff!"

The bear flung its sandwich away and grinned at them.

"Upupu, so….you must be wondering why you're all here and well, let's cut to the chase, shall we? You have all been specially selected-with some adjustments-to participate in a very, very special event."

"An event?" someone asked.

"What sort of event?" another student added on.

Ena wondered those things too, but she also wondered what was meant by with some adjustments. Why the dispassionate disguised voice had referred to themselves as The Creator, to a story. Was that all this was to them? Some form of entertainment? The thought made her want to shudder, but not yet.

First, she had to listen to what was going on.

"Oh yes, a very very special event indeed called…..now, drum-roll please!"

When Monokuma was met with a non-plussed silence, the animated bear visibly drooped:

"Awww, I thought teenagers were meant to have a sense of fun and dramatics! All the hormones and impulsivity, you know? Pffft, fine, whatever. You are all now part of the Mutual Life of School Killing…and never fear, I will explain what I mean!"

"Will you actually?" Dax muttered. "Or are you just going to keep explaining how you're going to explain?"

This earnt a snigger from Naruhito and a few others, and additionally an odd, muffled sound that Ena quickly realised was Silas trying to hold back laughter while still sucking at his lollipop. The bear huffed briefly, but did thankfully explain:

"To put it simply, you will be spending the rest of your lives here. There's no getting out, unless…unless you kill. Oh, and before you get any mad ideas in your heads, I'm not talking some low budget horror movie massacre. No, no, that wouldn't be any fun at all. Plus, if you all die in one go, there won't be any story. No, we need to keep the pace up and take things to a proper conclusion, ratchet up the tension…all that fun stuff! So…"

Monokuma appeared to take a deep breath, before grinning even wider and saying:

"So, the crux of it is this: only two of you can kill at any one time, maximum. And only one victim each at any given time, as well. Or maybe two if I'm feeling nice about it. Either way, no free-for-all bloodbaths, please. But, and here's the most important bit, so even if you never paid attention in class you'd better pay attention to this: you can't just kill them sloppily and get caught in the act..oh no. If you really want to get away from here, then you have to get away with murder."

"Sooooo, this is like Among Us, but underground instead of space?"

This question came from one of the other first year students in the room, and it was immediately met with a flurry of nervous noises and some laughter. Most notably, from Naruhito, who seemed to find it hilarious:

"Oh, good one, good one!" he said. "You really had me going there for a moment. I mean, come on, there's no way any of us would kill each other, I mean…"

But then he looked around, and saw that even the others who had laughed weren't even smiling anymore. Ena tried to give him a sympathetic smile, but she wasn't entirely sure that he noticed it. His smile faltered, and he ran a hand through his hair.

"There's no way," he insisted. "No way. I know we're not all friends or anything like that, but it won't happen. It can't."

"How'd you know that?" Chiara said, her voice rising unsteadily. "You're always exploding things, how do I know you won't do that here and like, cave us all in? And sure I know Luca and all but the rest of you….any of you could be secretly murderous. What if one of you are like one of my crazed stalker fans or something and now I'm stuck here with you? It's not fair, I don't want to dieeeeeeeee!"

Chiara immediately started wailing again. Someone near her tried to comfort her, but she pushed them away, covering her face with her hands as she wailed:

"Noooo, don't touch me, don't touch me."

"Hey, I was just trying to help!" the other student protested.

Chiara just stared wailing, and some of the others started to look at her with irritation. Even Ae-ra, who had also started crying again (but quietly) narrowed her eyes at Chiara's carrying on. If Ena had to be honest with herself, the noise did grate rather, but she couldn't hold that against the Opera Singer. She couldn't say that she herself felt scared, per se, but there was something inside her that, when she thought of Yuuto far and away from her, wailed with the same lack of restraint. She didn't want him to be here, especially now she knew why she was here. Nonetheless, something inside her echoed the way Chiara sounded right now. So how could she judge her for it?

Hearing one of the others snap at Chiara to 'pull yourself together for fuck's sake', Ena shook herself and called over:

"Give her some space. She's probably just overwhelmed. I don't imagine any of us were expecting this to happen."

"Yes, but I'm not a murderer!" was the indignant response. "I don't like being called one, especially not by an uppity whatsit like her!"

"I know, I know-"

Ena started to make her way over, but stopped in her tracks as Monokuma laughed again, and declared:

"Upupupu, this is all terribly exciting. Exactly the drama I wanted! Now, I'm sure you must all be dying to see the rest of your living quarters. Teehee, see what I did there? Hopefully it won't be too long until one of you actually dies!"

The bear disappeared off the screen, quickly replaced by a screen that was white on the left side and black on the right. Text in both Japanese and English was displayed across it, black against the white background and white against the black background, and in both languages it said:

BEGINNING OF CHAPTER 1 PART 1: DAILY LIFE

"Huh, what's that meant to mean?" someone asked.

"I have no idea. Hey, bear, what's that mean?"

"Don't you mean Monokuma?"

But the bear did not appear from screen, and no voice rang out from the screen. Just that message, half in black and half in white, unblinking. Uncertainly, they all looked at each other, waiting for one of them to say something or suggest something.

"So….maybe we should go up there, huh?" Naruhito said eventually, pointing up the stairs.

"I suppose that makes the most sense." Ena agreed. "Hopefully there'll be food and drink up there."

She stepped aside to let a few of the other students go past. She noticed that one of them was Chiara, who had quietened and was now steadfastly trying to ignore everybody. Luca murmured something in Italian which had her pause for a moment, looking over her shoulder. Her green eyes were now shot through with red, her heavy make-up completely smudged across her face, making it look as if she'd been punched brutally. In a way, Ena supposed, she has been really, hasn't she? In any case, Chiara muttered something back in Italian before tucking a strand of her pale hair back behind her ear, smoothing down the skirt of her blue silk dress and returning to trying to ignore everyone as she walked up the stairs.

"Chiara doesn't mean anything bad, by what she says," Luca said to them. "It's just…well, when I realised I was being kidnapped, I thought it would be something more….how would you say it? Straightforward? Like trafficking?"

"Trafficking is straightforward?" Dax asked incredulously.

"No," Ena said. "But I think know what he means."

"Yes, I think so too. " Naruhito agreed. "I mean, this is some weird crazy stuff, you know? It does sound like the plot of a video game or a movie or something. And, by the way, I still refuse to believe that any of us would actually do whatever that bear, or their so-called 'Creator', want us to do."

"I hope none of us would think of killing." Fukue said, quietly.

"Oh, don't worry yourself about it, bud, they won't. If we try and get along, then I'm sure it'll be fine…a-ah, but anyway, I'm really hungry now! Come, let's go and see if we can find some food! There's gotta be some, right?!"

"I'd imagine there would be at least some, yes," Silas said thoughtfully, pulling his lollipop out of his mouth "After all, the bear was clear that it didn't want us dying off immediately and at once. To get what they want, they'd need to keep us alive at least for a little while. With that being said, it's possible that they might withhold food as a means to get us to do what they want."

Ena went cold at this, because although she had not thought of this, it made perfect sense. Silas twirled the lollipop-now almost gone-between his fingers, quickly taking in the expressions on everyone's faces. He sighed, and then apologised:

"I am sorry. I probably should have kept that thought to myself."

"Yes, you should have." Dax snapped. "But, like, I don't think you're wrong. Unfortunately. That sounds like a psychopathic thing to do and pretty sure you gotta be a psychopath to do all…this…."

He gestured around to their dismal surroundings. Silas nodded, then returned to sucking his lollipop but almost immediately pulled the now empty stick from his mouth. He sighed and patted down his pockets again, but clearly came up empty for he sighed wistfully. Putting a hand into her own cardigan's pocket, Ena found a couple of the lollipops she kept stashed there, but although her fingers curled around the sticks she did not pull them out to offer to Silas. She knew she should, that it would be a kindness, that Silas needed them more than Yuuto did. She knew it was stupid for her to hold onto them when Yuuto wasn't even here, when he was far and away and hopefully safe. She knew that she needed to pull herself together, because there were people here who needed her.

But they're Yuuto's, the same part of her that wanted to wail protested, they're Yuuto's.

And it was because of that wailing that she did not do what she knew would be the right thing to do, and another part of her felt quietly crushed by her failure to be of help. But in the time she had taken to wrestle with herself about it, Naruhito had already offered Silas one of his own sweets, and now he was bounding up the stairs, with Silas and Dax following behind him. Luca and Fukue followed behind them, and it was Luca who turned and asked:

"Setsushi, are you coming?"

"A-ah, yes, sure."

And so she climbed up the stairs after them, checking in on Luca and his headache, listening to the others talk about their situation and what they might do next, offering reassurances where she could and suggestions when she thought they wanted it. Doing everything she could to support them, as much as was possible.

But all the while, she held onto the lollipops in her pocket.


Characters Introduced This Chapter:

Missing Students:

Ena Setsushi, third year, SHSL Death Midwife (belongs to: CandiedStars)

Naruhito Ono, third year, SHSL Inventor (Belongs to: Abitat Eco)

Silas Jon Finsen, first year, SHSL Guitar Technician (my OC)

Chiara Kai, third year, SHSL Opera Singer (my OC)

Ae-ra Park, third year, SHSL Calligrapher (my OC)

Anyway, in terms of submissions-yes, it's the tenth, but it's still the morning for me and I am sure for some of you it's even earlier in the morning. So definitely not closed yet. I might see, later in the day, if I can fill in a couple more spots or so, but everything else I am going to wait until it's pretty definitively after the tenth for. Especially since I am hoping there will at least be some last minute submissions! In any case, I will provide status updates on my profile for the time being since I am hoping at my next update will be a main-story update, which will necessiate at least having a full missing student cast if nothing else.

So for now I shall leave it at that. Hope you enjoyed this little chapter, and if you want to leave one I'd love a review!