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.
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?
"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.
"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.
"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.
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.
"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."
"...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.
"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.
"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.
"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?"
"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.
"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!"
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.
'I knew I should've been wary around him,' with that final thought, TK passed out.
"Ngh…" TK's eyes fluttered open. He was laying down on something that felt like a mattress and not the hardwood of the gym floor. He sat up and looked around and saw that he wasn't in the gym anymore. "Where am I?!"
He was surrounded by reddish-pink walls, there were shelves, a desk with some drawers, a table that had a key on it, and there's also the bed he was on. He also quickly noticed the bolted-up windows and the surveillance camera hanging over the bed.
"I guess whoever trapped us in here wanted to make sure they have an eye on us 24/7," TK said to himself. He got off the bed to stretch his legs and to get a better view of the room. There was a lint roller by the foot of the bed and a trashcan close to the shelves. He also noticed a monitor hanging on the wall, the same as the ones in the main hall and the classroom.
"These must be everywhere so it's easier for the Mastermind to make announcements," TK concluded.
TK saw something in the corner of his eye, leaning in against the shelves was a guitar case. He opened it and saw that it was his guitar resting inside of it. He also spotted a few of his basketball posters laying on top of the shelves.
"What is my stuff doing in here?"
He noticed a piece of paper hanging on the wall which read…
Announcement from Headmaster Monokuma:
Each room's lock has been designed to completely protect against tampering or lock-picking.
Remaking an individual room key is quite troublesome, so please make sure not to lose yours.
Your room comes furnished with a shower, but please note that the water is turned off at nighttime.
Also, bathrooms in the girl's rooms include a lock of their own.
Finally, we've prepared a small gift for each of you.
For the girls, a sewing kit.
And for the boys, a toolkit.
The sewing kit includes a map of the body's vital organs. One stab will do the job, girls!
For the boys, we believe a strong blow to the head with any of the tools should be ample.
Don't think! Just feel! And let's all enjoy ourselves!
"They're not being subtle about how much they want us to kill each other!" TK said and crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it in the trash can. He turned to the table and saw the key, which had his name on it. He quickly pocketed it and took one final look around the room.
"I'm guessing this is my room, seeing that it already has the possessions I sent to the school and room key in here," TK rubbed the part of his head that got hit and looked to see if there was a clock somewhere to tell him how much time has passed. "And how long have I been knocked out?"
He also wondered how he got into his room in the first place, but quickly assumed that someone carried him there.
"I better go look for someone else and hope they have some answers," TK quickly made his way to the door. He opened the door and was met face to face with a surprised-looking Sayaka.
"Oh, you scared me," she said. "How did you know I was standing behind your door?"
"I didn't, it was just a coincidence," TK answered. "So what are you doing here?"
"I just came to see if you're alright. You know, after Mondo hit you…" Sayaka said with a worried look.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just have a small headache," TK said while rubbing the back of his head. 'Though my pride has taken a bigger hit after being knocked out in front of everyone.'
Sayaka coughed to get TK's attention. "If you're feeling better, then will you follow me to the dining hall."
"Why? What's happening in the dining hall?"
"After you were knocked out, everyone decided to go and do their own thing. We've decided to split up and look around so later, we can get together and discuss our findings."
"Oh, so everyone's going to be meeting up soon?" TK asked. Sayaka nodded in response. "Well then lead the way."
Sayaka led TK down the corridor and into a large room that resembled more like a restaurant than a school cafeteria.
"It looks pretty clean so that's good," Sayaka said, but quickly became embarrassed when TK gave her an odd look. "Er, I guess that's not really important right now, with us being prisoners and all."
"I think it's good to find the positives in our situation," TK told her and she smiled. TK looked around and saw that it was just him and Sayaka.
'Sayaka told me that the others will be meeting up here, so I don't see the point of going out and looking for them. We should just stay here,' TK thought to himself.
"Okay, let's wait here," Sayaka said, shocking TK a little bit.
"Did I say that out loud?"
"Like I said, I'm psychic," Sayaka said with a straight face. She started chuckling shortly after. "Come on, I'm just kidding! Seriously, I just have amazing intuition."
'I find it hard to believe that it's just intuition,' TK thought with an awkward chuckle. It was quiet for a while, Sayaka was digging her foot into the ground, thinking about what she wanted to say.
"By the way, Takeru…" She said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah?"
"W-Well, it's just…" She paused as she thought over what she wanted to say. "I know this is kind of continuing the self-introduction thing, but I wanted to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"Takeru, did you happen to go to Odaiba Elementary? In Class 5-A?"
"Y-Yeah, I was," TK said, taken back by surprise.
"I knew it!" Sayaka exclaimed. "I went there too. We were actually in the same class. Do you remember me?"
"Remember you…?" TK said as he started to dig through his memories.
'Back then she wasn't as popular as she is now. She did have her own small circle of friends, I even remember seeing her talk with Kari from time to time,' TK thought to himself. 'But I'm surprised that she even remembers me! I spent most of my time protecting the Digital World with my friends and blending into the background. And it's not like we really talked to each other.'
"Hey, you still there?" Sayaka said while snapping her fingers in TK's face, breaking him out of his trance.
"Oh, sorry. I'm just surprised that you remembered me is all," TK admitted.
"Well, we only went to the same school for a year, before I transferred," Sayaka said jokingly. "Besides, it would be hard for me to forget about the only blond in our class."
TK blushed and pulled his hat down to cover more of his hair. "I find it hard to believe that's the only reason you remember me. There were so many kids in our class, and it's not like you and I talked to each other."
"Yeah, that's true," she giggled.
'She has a nice laugh,' TK thought to himself, but quickly shook his head in disbelief. 'Ah, what am I thinking? I barely even know her.'
"Anyway, I'm really glad… that I know somebody here," Sayaka said gratefully. "Talking to you has made me feel a lot better about all of this. You're amazing, Takeru!"
"Call me TK," he told her. "Besides, I'm just some guy compared to you 'ultimates'."
"But you're the one that helped me find my courage again. Not any of these 'ultimate students'," she argued, which made TK feel better.
"Thanks, Sayaka."
"And to thank you for helping me out, I'm going to become your Ultimate Assistant!" She declared.
"My assistant?" TK said surprised.
"Yup! I'm your assistant now!" She said brightly. "I'm going to help you out as much as I can, so let's get out of here together!"
TK felt himself get motivated after hearing Sayaka speak. He knew that they were all going to get out of here. Speaking of everyone, he noticed that it was still him and Sayaka in the dining hall.
'Where is everyone? Sayaka did say we'll be meeting up soon,' TK looked around to see if he could find a clock somewhere.
"What!" TK exclaimed when he found a clock hanging over the entrance door. "It's 7:00 at night!?"
"You were unconscious for a pretty long time," Sayaka told him.
'I guess not being able to look out a window I lost all track of time,' TK thought to himself. 'I hope we're not trapped in here for much longer because I might go insane!'
"I can't believe no one's here yet," Sayaka said out loud. "But I'm sure they'll start showing up soon."
As if he was summoned, Taka flew the dining hall doors open and walked in.
"Ah, Takeru, Sayaka! So you two got here first, huh?" He said after he noticed the two. His shoulders sagged with disappointment. "Too bad… I was sure I'd beat everyone here. I guess that just means I don't have enough fighting spirit yet!"
He then gripped his fists with determination. "Well I won't give up! Next time, I swear I'll win no matter what it takes! Justice shall always prevail!"
"That's a bit much, don't you think?" Sayaka said to herself.
Shortly after Taka made his proclamation, the others started to flood in. Everyone quickly gathered around the big dining table in the room.
"Okay! It looks like everyone's here. Time to start the meeting!" Taka declared. "Let's all go around and share what we've found out during our respective investigations! The sooner we find out what's going on, the sooner we can get out of here!"
