It was silent, the air hung heavy on them, pressing down like a weight on their bodies. Only the sound of students breathing was heard as no one dared to speak. Everyone was staring at each other suspiciously, seeing if anyone took what Monokuma said to heart.

TK thought it was stupid to believe the talking teddy bear. Sure, he believed a talking baseball, telling him that his brother and friends hated him, but he was eight at the time. He's sixteen now, soon to be seventeen, so there's no way he's going to believe a word of a stuffed toy that people get for babies.

"Yeah, why should they believe that stuffed bear!?" Mimi exclaimed.

"Because he trapped them in a school and almost killed one of them," Joe told her.

"Now that I'm thinking about it, why doesn't he just kill them? What exactly does he gain from all of this?" Yolie asked.

"His own sick entertainment," Ken answered. "He wants to enjoy watching them squirm as they all fall one by one."

"Why'd you have to say it like that?" Davis worriedly asked and Ken gave him an apologetic look.

"Sorry, but it should be easy to beat him. Just don't give him what he wants and they should be fine."

"And what's stopping Monokuma from killing them himself?" Kari asked.

"He doesn't seem like he will. If he was going to kill them then he would've killed Mondo the second he came back," TK answered.

"But how long will it take until he gets impatient and takes matters into his own hands?" Cody pondered.

But he also knew that no one thinks the same, looking around he could tell that a few of them were considering what the bear told them to do. He was happy to see that some of them didn't believe the bear, whether it be by the sheer stupidity of the situation or just plain ignorance.

"So? What are you going to do now?" Kyoko's sharp words pierced through the silence, breaking the tension as well. "Just stand around glaring at each other?"

Her comment helped pull everyone back into reality. They realized what they were doing and felt shame for doing it. What good are they doing for themselves if they're all being suspicious of each other?

"It's good to see someone taking charge," Tai commented before giving TK the side eye. "Why didn't you do it, TK? Aren't you your basketball team's captain?"

"I'm sorry, it's a lot easier to get a bunch of guys to focus on winning a game than it is to calm down a bunch of people you just met about being trapped in a murder school!" TK shot back and Tai gave him a toothy grin.

"I'm just messing with ya. All I'm trying to do is raise everyone's spirits in here," Tai explained and everyone glared at him.

"WELL IT'S NOT WORKING!" They all yelled.

"R-Right… She's right! Sometimes, even if you're nervous or afraid, you just have to step forward!" Taka took the lead after finding the courage to speak. Then he looked frustrated with himself. "To forget such a simple fact… I can't forgive myself. I'm so ashamed!"

"Please, someone hit me! I can't forgive myself! Somebody hit me! Punish me!" Taka ordered, which made a lot of people uncomfortable.

"Again, if it wasn't for the Digital World, Joe and Izzy would be exactly like Taka," Tai said. "Especially Joe."

"Don't forget Cody," Yolie added and the three boys that were mentioned glared at the two.

"Jesus. If you have time to yell about it, you have time to DO something about it," Mondo told the moral compass, which seemed to calm him down to everyone's pleasure.

"Perhaps, but… what is the mission, exactly?" Hifumi asked.

"Idiot! To look for a way out, duh!" Leon answered rudely.

"And we totally need to find whoever was controlling that stupid bear and beat the hell out of 'em," Junko added, slamming her fist and palm together.

"...B-But before we do all that, maybe we should take a look at the handbook… It's probably best to check out the school regulations Monokuma mentioned before doing anything else," Chihiro suggested. TK thought it was a good idea, seeing that they might as well look over the rules, and make sure not to break any of them, after seeing what almost happened to Mondo.

"Good idea. You don't want to accidentally break a rule and have Monokuma go after you," Sora said.

"It's also good to know what they can or can't do while they're trapped," Cody added.

"True. If we stumble around with no clue what the rules are, something like that might happen again…" Celeste said as if she just read TK's mind.

"Shit…" Mondo cursed quietly. He knew what Celeste was referring to and he'd be lying if he said it didn't freak him out.

"Fine. Then let's hurry up and check out the stupid rules already," Junko said impatiently.

Everyone pulled out their handbooks and touched the School Regulations icon. A list of the school regulations appeared on the screen.

Rule #1: Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.

Rule #2: "Nighttime" is from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.

Rule #3: Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.

Rule #4: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.

Rule #5: Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.

Rule #6: Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.

Rule #7: Additional school regulations may be added as necessary.

"OK, the rules aren't as restricting as I thought," Joe commented.

"Yeah, the only rules that actually feel like rules are rules three and five," Davis added.

"But what about six? I don't understand what it means," Kari pondered.

"Let's just hope we don't find out," Tai said.

TK raised his face from the screen having a better understanding of the rules, though some worried him, especially Rule #6. He didn't understand what the rule meant by "blackened" or "unless they are discovered", but hopefully he would never have to find out.

TK looked around and saw everyone had the same stormy expression on their faces.

"This is bullshit! What the hell kinda rules are these!? I'm not gonna let them control ME!" Mondo shouted.

"Well then, why don't you wander around the school without a care in the world and see what happens? Personally, I would love to see what happens when someone breaks one of the rules," Celeste said, antagonizing the biker gang leader. TK could see a vein forming on Mondo's head.

"Why are you trying to start something with the guy that was shown to be quick to anger?" Izzy sighed.

"Because she knows that he won't do anything to her," Matt said. "He may be strong and has a short temper, but he doesn't seem to be the type of man to hit a woman."

"But if he got punished like what we saw before, I don't think there'd be a respawn waiting for him…" Hifumi said, while nervously biting his nails.

Mondo's anger subsided after listening to Hifumi. He knew that if he did break one of the rules again, he wouldn't get off as lucky as he did the first time.

"I… Ever since I was a kid, I grew up with my older brother pounding this into my head…" Mondo said calmly while gripping his fist. "When a man makes a promise, he has to keep it, even if it kills him."

"Isn't that a little extreme?" Mimi asked.

"It is, but if it'll get him to follow the rules then it's a good thing his brother taught him that," TK concluded.

"But still, keeping a promise even if it means you'll die. I think that's going a little overboard," Kari said.

"...So what?" Junko said, not caring about what the biker gang leader is talking about.

"I've made a ton of promises that I still have to keep, that's 'so what'!" Mondo said sternly. "So I can't afford to die in here!"

"None of that made much sense to me, but you're saying you will follow the school regulations, is that it?" Celeste asked while twirling her hair.

"Huh? Oh, well… yeah, I guess you're right," Mondo answered.

"Hey, um… I have a question," Sayaka spoke up, which gained everyone's attention. "For regulation six… what do you think it means exactly?"

"Are you talking about the 'unless they are discovered' part, right?" TK asked and Sayaka nodded her head. "Yeah, I was wondering about that as well."

"It's saying that if you want to graduate, you have to kill someone without anyone finding out it was you," Byakuya told them.

"Jeez, man! Couldn't he have said it in a better way," Davis commented.

"He's just letting everyone know what the rule is in his own way, but I do agree that he could've been softer with his words," Cody said.

"B-But why…? Why do we h-have to do that?" Toko stammered.

"I don't see any reason to worry about it. Just worry about following the rules as they've been explained to us. Frankly, I don't want to hear from someone who waits for others to decide what to do for them," Byakuya said rudely.

"Even though he is a jerk, I do agree with what he said," Sora spoke and everyone nodded.

"Yeah, why panic over something that you can easily avoid," Mimi added.

"D-Don't jab at me…" Toko said while blushing.

"More like a full-on stab…" Leon said to himself.

"Well for now, let's forget all that silly junk about murderers or whatever," Hina said, trying to change the subject. "Now that we know the rules, let's start exploring the school!"

"True," Taka started to list out all the important things they need to find. "We need to find out where exactly we are. Is there any way out? What about food and supplies? There are tons of questions we need to answer!"

"Damn straight! Okay, then let's all start looking around!" Leon exclaimed.

"...I'll be going alone," Byakuya said.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Horror movie 101: never go off on your own because you're an easy target and people might suspect that you're the killer or mastermind!" Yolie exclaimed.

"Also, why would you want to be alone in that creepy place? I would try to partner up with people that I feel safe with," Mimi added.

"So anyone but Hifumi," Tai joked which did get a few laughs out of his friends.

"What!? Why? That's a pretty stupid idea, don't you think?" Junko chastized the heir.

"Someone here might already have started thinking about murdering one of us," Byakuya quickly answered. "Are you saying we should stand around with them in our midst and make it that much easier for them?"

"W-Wait, hold on a second," Sayaka spoke up. That would never-!"

"Don't bother saying it couldn't happen. You can't deny the possibility," Byakuya quickly interrupted her. "That's why you all seized up in fear when that graduation rule was made clear to you. Am I wrong?"

"I think he's being a little paranoid right now. What reason would anyone have to kill someone?" Izzy asked.

"To escape," Matt bluntly answered and Izzy did agree with him.

"You're not wrong, but I don't think anyone would be itching to kill someone right away."

"Well, Byakuya isn't helping the situation at all by accusing everyone," Sora added.

"B-But…" Sayaka couldn't find the words she wanted to say.

"So, I'm simply acting in accordance with what I think is best for me," Byakuya stated as he began to leave the gymnasium. He was close to the exit but Mondo stood in his way.

"Hold on! Like hell I'm gonna let you run off and do whatever you want!" Mondo toward over Byakuya, trying to intimidate the heir. But Byakuya wouldn't be deterred by the biker gang leader.

"Out of my way, plankton," Byakuya insulted him.

"Wh-!? The fuck's that supposed to mean!?" A frustrated Mondo asked.

"One tiny bit of plankton, drifting across the sea. So miniscule, so insignificant, they couldn't possibly have any kind of influence on the boundless ocean," Byakuya said, only angering Mondo.

"Why did you decide to insult a gang leader? I thought you were smart!" Yolie asked in an annoyed tone.

"For someone who's worried about being murdered, he certainly doesn't have a problem with starting fights with people bigger and stronger than him," Davis added.

"I'm gonna kick your ass!" Mondo shouted.

Before the situation could get any worse than it already has, TK ran in between the two boys. "Hey! We shouldn't be fighting at a time like this!"

"No, TK, don't get in their way," Tai said disappointedly.

"They shouldn't be fighting at a time like this. I'm sure my future self will diffuse the situation," TK told him which got him a disappointed head shake from his brother.

"That's not gonna happen. He's too blinded by rage to listen to reason," Matt told him.

TK tried his best to ease the situation but it only made Mondo angrier. "The fuck you just say? You some kinda goody-goody bitch? Who do you think you are, talkin' to me like that? You think you're my fuckin' dad or something!?"

"What? No! All I'm saying-!" TK tried to explain himself but was interrupted by a furious Mondo Owada.

"Fuck you!" Mondo punched TK in the face, and for the second time that day, TK hit the ground like a pile of bricks.

Everyone winced when they saw TK get decked in the face

'I knew I should've been wary around him,' with that final thought, TK passed out.

"You really should've listened to yourself," Matt said.

"OK, I'll make sure not to get in the way of an angry gang leader," TK relinquished and Matt smirked.

"Good."