I have to stop this.
*beep*
I have to do something.
*beep*
I have to do ANYTHING!
*beep*
BUT WHY WON'T I MOVE?!
My trembling hands could barely hold the bomb straight anymore. It was not big, It was not heavy, but my shaking arms would not let me have a firm hold on it whatsoever.
If-If this went on, it would fall off of my hands and… and it would kill us all.
I…. I have to…. defuse it…
But…. w-what do I do?
D-Did I have to cut the red cable? O-Or w-was it the blue one? W-W-Where is the fuse? W-What IS a fuse?
I could hear my heart pumping up to my ears.
I wanted to clench my chest, to calm myself down if I could at all.
But I just couldn't.
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, I was rapidly running myself out of breath, and I didn't know how much longer I even had.
It was do or die.
And once I realized that no one would come to my rescue, I had to… I had to do it.
So I gritted my teeth. Clenched my hands around the bomb. And closed my eyes as I braced myself for my nigh end to come, grabbing both cables with mighty grip, and pulling them off as hard as I could.
I ripped them off.
…
…
…
Silence...
…Was I… alive?
I opened my eyes, and saw how the bomb I held was now void of power. No beeping, no lights… nothing.
That had seemed to work…
I stared at the device. It was surely dead… energywise at least...
Unconsciously, My grip on it had waived, resulting in it falling off of my hands and landing on the ground, next to my feet. Had it been an extremely volatile bomb or something that could have blown up by impact, and I would have perished right there and then.
But I didn't care, as I brought my hands to my face and I started to cry.
My knees gave up, as they placed themselves on the dirty ground.
My hands were dirty, I could still taste that man's blood on my mouth.
But I couldn't care less, or rather, I did care?
Because it terrified me.
Because It horrified me.
I was so afraid.
I felt so powerless.
I thought I was going to die…
That I was never going to….
Them….
…
…
I want to see my parents…
I miss mom…
I miss dad…
I miss Komaru…
I want to kiss mom, I want to talk with dad, I want to hug Komaru…
I miss them so much, I…
*BOOM*
A loud explosion went off. In a panic, I quickly looked around my position and managed to find some black smoke being left…
That was one of the bombs we were ordered to disarm.
From here I could see the bodies of fellow Fenrir mercenaries completely charred.
Any of them could have been me right now…
Even from far away, I still felt that painful pinging in my ear that said explosion left after blowing up.
And the worst part is that… those of us that are still left alive… will probably have to endure the consequences of that…
The consequences of… failing…
I… I don't want to be here…
I want to go home…
I heaved heavily as I saw how the black mist in the air slowly dissipated away.
"The hell!? Th-That sure as shit wasn't a joke. It blew the hell up..."
The pinging in my ears slowly goes away. and I hate this smell of powder. I don't think I'll ever get used to it, but at least I can endure it.
'twenty six seconds before detonation… Was this intentional to warn us to behave? Will they kill us if not?' I internally asked myself, even though I most likely will not receive an answer.
I turned around to face my classmates and I asked. "Is anyone hurt?"
Most shook their heads after recovering from the pinging the explosion left behind, some handling this better than others.
"No." Sakura firmly assured me. Thankfully no one looked to be in pain, other than the pinging.
I nodded as I relaxed a little. The petite girl 'Chihiro' then walked up, making herself be noticed by everyone else.
"Well… does this mean that with the teddy bear now destroyed…-"
"What about it?" She wouldn't be able to finish her words, as a familiar cheery voice interrupted her once more.
Popping right from the stage's stand, the monochrome bear reappeared. "And I'm not a teddy bear!" Monokuma said as It repeatedly raised its paw.
"Another one!?"
Mondo paid no mind to Leon's comment. "You son of a bitch! You seriously tried to kill me just now!"
"Well… yes. I was serious about trying to kill you. You did violate one of the school regulations, after all. I'll let you off with a warning this time, but you'd better be careful from now on. Any naughty boy or girl who violates my rules won't get off with just a little swat on the butt."
Despite its cheery voice, this was clearly meant to be a warning. or rather a threat…
Whoever is behind all of this, they do not lack the capacity to kill any of us. Again, we were their hostages.
"Now then, lastly... To commemorate your joyous entry into our school, I have a little something for you… Within your person, each and every single one of you has been give this wonderful device, The e-Handbook!"
As the bear said that, every one of us started to look through our pockets. I searched through the pockets of my jeans but I moved on from there when I didn't find anything, I searched through the inner pocket of my hoodie and when I felt contact with a rectangular object there, my body froze and my blood went cold as I realized something.
All my belongings were taken from me.
M.
I wanted to slap myself for being so careless.
"G-Gross, Who put this in my skirt in my sleep!?" The fashionista exclaimed.
"…Yes, well, moving on…This handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don't lose it! When you start it up, it will display your name. Always make sure you have the right one! It's completely waterproof, and thanks to its space-age design, it can withstand an impact force of up to ten tons. Very resistant! It contains all of our school regulations, so make sure you review them thoroughly!"
I took the e-handbook and powered it up. My full name, "Makoto Naegi", showed up on display.
"Okay, well... that brings our entrance ceremony to a close! Please enjoy your abundantly dreary school life! And... see ya!"
And with that, he was gone, leaving us all in a state of shock.
Ishimaru tried to break the uncomfortable silence. "So, guys... How would you define what we just experienced?"
"How...? Why...?" Leon could not answer properly "I don't understand any of this…"
"We have to l-life here forever...? Or... k-kill? And the stuttering mess of Toko just… settled it. "Wh-What...? What just happened!?"
Everyone started panicking, thankfully no one did anything rash and Kirigiri-san managed to calm down things a little.
"A lie. That's what it is. All these ridiculous things we've heard. This all has to be fake!" However, after Taka spoke once more… everything would… freeze.
"Right now it doesn't really matter if it's real or fake." The Togami heir declared, and his words cut sharp as a knife, because he spoke with the truth. "What matters is… is there anyone here who's seriously considering all this...?"
And right there, time stopped, not just for me, but for everyone, as each one of us stared at each other, doubt looming, filling and convincing our entire beings.
The realization struck us hard.
To kill…
Or to be killed…
If we want to get out of here…
We have to…
Kill…
Defusing the bomb was one of our objectives.
One.
The other was to hold the point down until backup forces arrived.
Or at least… that's what I hoped.
As I stood there, Hidden behind cover to avoid getting shot, I saw how most of my 'comrades' were gunned down.
It was horrible.
"What are you doing, boy?!."
I heard a scream to my side.
A man holding his rifle hiding behind a wall that barely covered him was there
"Are you stupid or something?! Hold this!."
I didn't understand him but he threw something at me, which landed right on my chest.
It was cold. Sturdy.
And when I grabbed it with my two hands I realized it.
It was a pistol.
"Who comes to a gunfight without a-."
That man wouldn't get to finish his sentence, as his head popped like a balloon due to the lack of cover for his head. His body dropped limply.
Breathing was getting harder and harder by the second. I clutched onto the pistol as tightly as I could.
I was going to die.
It was only a matter of time now.
"RAAAAAH"
It was then when a bunch of the enemy forces jumped into our hotspot.
Invading the objective where we were supposed to protect. We were quickly getting swarmed.
Time slowed down when I saw out of the corner of my eyes a man bring a sword down to me.
I was looking elsewhere and I didn't realize that man was there until it was too late.
*BANG*
The swordsman was gunned down by one of my allies who took a peek out of cover to shoot
"RUN-"
And he got shot down as well.
I started running as fast as I could, We were swarmed and I got flanked from all sides.
And each foe I crossed was a foe that was taken down by my fellow mercenaries.
Who in order to save my life… would lose theirs.
It was horrible.
And it happened again, and again, and again, and again.
So many people died… because I was here.
If I didn't hide back there, that man wouldn't have bothered with me.
Heck, If I hadn't lost my gun after defusing the bomb, he wouldn't have risked showing his position and getting shot down.
The same with the one that shot that swordsman.
And for everyone else…
I can't take this anymore!
I want to go home!
The more people fell, the less noise of battle was made.
And now I just wanted this all to end.
"ATTACK!"
I heard a scream from my side, and I was completely frozen when I saw a man running.
He was holding a musket with a knife underneath the cannon… and he was running right at me.
It felt as if I stood head on to a train.
I had to move out of the way!
Otherwise, he would kill me!
But my legs were wobbly… I was frozen by fear.
And every step that man made was a step closer for me to meet my demise.
Right as the man was preparing himself to strike his makeshift spear into my body, I moved.
But not my legs, they were still frozen.
I raised my hand, pressed the trigger and-
*BANG*
Fired…
*THUD*
That man's body went limp on the ground.
My hands trembled, little by little yet escalating fast enough until I became a mess once more.
I had….
I had…
I had killed him…
I…
I killed him.
I didn't see his life slowly fade away dramatically, as I had seen in a lot of the media that I watched, no…
That man's life just VANISHED. In an INSTANT.
One trigger press, just like that.
And I killed him…
I…
I-I-I…
I M.
I N' E.
E?
The gun fell from my hands as I dropped to the ground, clutching my head, sobbing furiously.
And my cries were enough for me to not realize that the battle had ended, as the entire field went mute. The only noise there being the whimpers and sobs I left out.
I clutched my hand tightly.
No…
No!
I will not…
I will not take another life!
You will not force me!
"Everyone!" I shouted "This is exactly what the mastermind wants us to do."
"Mastermind?"
"The one that caused… all of this. They want us to turn on each other. To fear each other so we don't cooperate. So we gotta do exactly the opposite!"
"Exactly what?" The ultimate heir asked, his arms still crossed.
"By working together. We'll find a way out of this."
"R-Right! He's right!" Ishimaru shouted after leaving his trance of fear. "Even if nervous or afraid, we gotta move forward!"
He clenched his fist to his chest "To forget such a simple fact... I can't forgive myself! I'm so ashamed!"
He suddenly turned to me "MAKOTO! I even shouted at you before… Please! Punish me!"
I… was taken aback. "H-Huh?"
"Set me back straight! Hit me! On the face will do!"
"I-I-I'm not going to do that, Ishimaru-san!"
"Just once Makoto! I failed you all for not properly trying my hardest to help you all!"
I never was the best with people myself… And Taka is a unique type of guy that I… didn't know how to handle.
Surprisingly, Mondo came to my rescue. "Jesus. If you have time to yell about it, you have time to DO something about it."
"Perhaps, but... what is the mission, exactly?" Hifumi asked.
Leon would quickly answer him. "Idiot! To look for a way out, duh!"
"And we totally need to find whoever was controlling that stupid bear and beat the hell out of 'em."
Chihiro squirmed at the display of all these different emotions around us. "...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."
"True. We don't want to break any rules without knowing them." Celeste commented.
The cherry was topped by Mondo. "Shit…"
I turned on my e-Handbook, read my name once more and opened the icon that said 'School Regulations'.
The list of all the rules appeared on-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.
As I read through them, I started forming up several questions about all of these.
I raised my face up from the screen and I saw the same stormy expression on everyone's faces.
Mondo would not stay silent. "This is bullshit! What the hell kinda rules are these!? I'm not gonna let them control ME!"
"Well then, why don't you wander around the school without a care in the world and see what happens?" …And Celeste would not tread carefully around the volcano that Mt. Owada was…
I decided to cut short the discussion between the two of these. "We all just read the same six rules, right? Am I the only one that doesn't fully understand all of them?"
"Actually…" Surprising me, Sayaka spoke up "I have a question."
I nodded and we all collectively gave her the floor to speak. "For regulation number six... what do you think it means exactly?"
"Rule #6 Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered."
I didn't know how to answer that, I didn't try to hide showing my face about it. "I actually asked because of this one as well… What could "Blackened" even mean?"
"And the whole thing about being 'discovered'?" She asked, and I could only shake my head.
The Togami heir would speak up now. "It's saying that if you want to graduate, you have to kill someone without anyone finding out it was you. But I don't see any reason to worry about it."
"Huh?"
"Just worry about following the rules as they've been explained to us. Now, I'll be going my own way"
"What!? Why?" The fashionista asked. "That's a pretty stupid idea, don't you think?"
"Someone here might already have started thinking about murdering one of us. Are you saying we should stand around with them in our midst and make it that much easier for them?"
Sayaka spoke, wanting to deny what the hair had just said "W-Wait, hold on a second. That would never-!"
However, he would cut her voice in half. "Don't bother saying it couldn't happen." He scoffed. "You can't deny the possibility. That's why you all seized up with fear when that graduation rule was made clear to you. Am I wrong?"
"B-But…" The idol could barely try to refute his words.
"I'm simply acting in accordance with what I think is best for me." Togami 'explained' as if he was barely affected by what could the others think.
"Hold on!" Mondo however, had a bone to pick with the ultimate heir. "Like hell I'm gonna let you run off and do whatever you want!"
Mondo towered Byakuya, blocking his path. The Togami heir however was unperturbed, annoyed if anything.
"Out of my way, plankton." He replied to the literal gangster.
"Wh-!? The fuck's that supposed to mean!?"
"One tiny bit of plankton, drifting across the sea, minuscule, insignificant, they couldn't possibly have any kind of influence on the boundless ocean."
Now that angered Mondo. "I'm gonna kick your ass!"
'This is getting out of control!'
By impulse, I quickly stepped up between the two. Using both arms to separate them, even without contact. "Stop it! We shouldn't fight!"
"The fuck you just say?" Mondo turned to me, bothered I nosed in. "You some kinda goody-goody little bitch? Who do you think you are, talkin' to me like that?"
I looked him straight in the eyes. "I'm the one putting an end to this before someone gets hurt! Don't you see this is exactly what they want? To put us against each other?"
"And who do you think you are to order me around? My dad or some shit? Fuck you!"
Mondo's aggressive behavior led up to him lunging his fist towards me after I stepped in. However, I could see how his arm slowly extended towards my face. Mondo was not holding back, throwing a direct hit towards my jawline.
I stared at how his fist, slowly, came right to my face.
And I couldn't help but to reminisce about an old memory.
How… nostalgic…
*THUD*
I fell as my face landed on the dirt of the training grounds. My reddened cheek now dirtied after getting hit.
My face hurted, but that was to be expected, as I have been getting my face punched over the last hours.
"Can you stand?" I hear the dead and monotonous voice of my partner.
I stood back up. I needed to ask him. "How many more times do you think we have to do this?"
"As many as necessary. Until you lose the fear of getting hurt." He coldly stated.
I sighed and nodded as we retook our positions.
"Whenever you feel like it." he gave me the signal, as I mentally prepared myself.
We stared at each other's gazes, locked in place. The both of us were immobile.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Now!
I threw the meanest punch I could muster and hitted him straight in the jaw. However, I was quickly disappointed with my punch. Other than the force of the punch itself moving his face, my partner hadn't flinched the tiniest bit… again…
"That." He pointed to his own face, displaying no emotions whatsoever. "Is what we are looking for."
"I'm not as fearless as you are…" I lowly dejected.
"It's not about being fearless, it's about preparation. You have to be prepared for any possible outcome in battle.."
"Is that… even possible?"
"You have to make it possible."
I lowered my head down towards the ground, I… wasn't made for this…
"Look up."
I did, and I met his eyes once more. His face, still, not showing any moves he'd do, but I knew what was coming, I just didn't know when.
"Remember. Take the hit with your whole body, not just your face."
"I still don't und-"
Time slowed down, and I could see how his fist slowly directed itself towards my right cheek.
…
…
…
*BAM*
Mondo's fist landed head on.
A direct hit.
I could hear some worried gasps and screams around me.
However they fell short, as after Mondo punched me straight in the face… I was still standing up.
I had to turn my face once more towards Mondo, since his fist had moved my gaze towards my left.
And I looked him straight in the eyes.
I breathed air through my nose.
"Can we all calm down please?" I pleaded him, as he hadn't hit me just now.
I suppose that since my usual tone had remained unchanged, some of my classmates were thrown off.
Mondo seemed utterly starstruck. "W-What the-"
"Owada-san" His gaze never left me. "I understand. We all are scared."
Mondo's confusion turned into rage once more. "Scared?! You think I'm some weak pussy?!"
He threw another punch at me, but this time I caught it with my hand. I stopped his fist with my palm and I used my fingers to get a better grip on it.
"-Nngh!" Mondo was surprised at the very least, seemingly stuck in place.
"Being afraid is not a parallel of weakness, nor of cowardice, it means how much you value your life, a sign to prove what you are capable of. It's up to us what to do beyond that." I said, portraying a smile on my face, fondness growing in my heart for these words. "Fighting with each other will not accomplish anything, and I don't wish for anyone to get hurt. So can we please move on?"
Mondo had been trying to wiggle his hand off of my hold, however he eventually relented after hearing me.
"L-Let my hand go man…"
I did as I was told as Mondo retracted his hand and rubbed it with his other, albeit awkwardly.
I tried my best to defuse this tense moment for him, as I brought my hand to my face. "You have a mean punch, Owada-san" I said with a little laugh while rubbing my palm against my right cheek.
"...And you have a strong grip. Not gonna lie, didn't expect that outta you."
I scratched the back of my neck. "I don't think it's anything like that, haha…"
'I don't think he was as tall as Owada-san is…' I couldn't help but smile at the comparison.
My smile turned a little bittersweet, until I faced the rest of our class. We weren't alone and all of our classmates were looking at us the whole time.
All of them were in silence, but their reactions varied person to person. Ranging from scared like Chihiro, Toko and Sayaka, to impressed like Ishimaru, Hifumi and Leon, to… unreadable such as Celeste, Kyoko and Junko.
Even Togami's interest was piqued, with him staring at me with a raised eyebrow.
Mondo eyed me uncomfortably for a moment, not knowing what to do or say.
I myself didn't know exactly what to do either. I opened my mouth to suggest that we investigate the school. "S-"
"Are the two of you in on the joke as well?" A confused Yasuhiro asked, not reading the room.
"This guy…. I swear to god!" Mondo massaged the bridge of his nose in irritation.
I quickly jumped in before we had a repetition of what just happened. "H-Hey, what if we go to look for a way out? We've only checked the gymnasium so far?" I suggested out loud for everyone to hear.
"That sounds like the best course of action." The ultimate martial artist seconded me, as I smiled in appreciation.
"Alright!" Ishimaru voiced out. "Everyone pick a partner and we'll split up to investigate the whole school!"
"But we are unpair."
Yes… we were fifteen students after all. How do we work around with that?
"Then the best approach would be to split in groups of thre- "
"I can help with that." The heir started to take his leave by himself.
"Hey! Do you want to die?! Didn't you just listen right now?!" Mondo quickly chased after him.
I felt panic and had the need to go accompany the two of them to make sure nothing would blow up again, but a hand fell on my shoulder and stopped me altogether.
I turned to see Ishimaru. "I will go look over them, Naegi-san. Let me prove my worth to you."
I blinked in confusion at what he said, but I felt that someone was watching me from behind. When I turned towards it I saw Sayaka staring directly at me.
When I turned back again expecting to see Ishimaru, he had already left the gymnasium to catch up with the other two, leaving me completely on my own.
Staring back at Sayaka, she was now walking towards me.
She's walking towards me….
Should I be worried?
Should I be not worried?
What would THE Sayaka Maizono even want from me?
I nervously scratched the back of my neck as I slowly saw how Sayaka became closer and closer…
I stood motionless for her to arrive…
…
…
Until I sensed someone lurking on my left. I quickly turned towards them.
"Heya!"
"Enoshima-san?!" The strawberry blonde nearing me had taken me by surprise. What does she want with me?
"Come!" She said as she grabbed my wrist. "There is SO much you have to tell me now!"
"W-W-W-What?"
Junko turned to our classmates. "I'll take Naegi-kun here and we'll look around!"
"W- H-Hold on!" I tried to argue with her but, to no avail, she would lead me out of the gymnasium…
'Weren't we supposed to go in pairs of three…?'
Walking our way through the halls…. I didn't exactly know what topics of conversation I could bring up to talk with someone like… Junko…
In her defense though, I probably wouldn't be sure what to talk about with any other of our classmates…. So it's not her… it's me…
…wait…
"Soooo…" Junko would say, leaving her statement in the air
"...So-"
"You tanked a whole fist of Mondo's!"
"Y-Yeah?"
"I definitely thought you were going to get knocked out! I was super worried! Even after I told you to be careful!"
"I-I'm fine though, right? I'm glad that nothing serious happened…"
"That's what got me most curious though."
"Huh?"
"You sure don't look strong, but there you went and held your own against Mondo."
"...I wouldn't say that I held-"
"What talent did you say you had?"
I never said it.
That question was the one I was scared to answer when I thought of attending Hope's Peak to begin with.
And now… with the killing game…
"That's…."
"Hey, Look at this."
When I stared up, I saw a bunch of doors in a red hallway.
'Each and every one of these doors…'
They had our names. And even a frame with a little pixel art of ourselves?
'Makoto…' I read at my own door.
"O-M-G." Junko was standing right beside me. "You look even more adorable!"
"W-What?"
"Yeah, you heard me. You got that herbivore look going for you. One of those innocent boys who couldn't hurt a fly…"
"...I do…?"
"...But I don't think that's the whole truth…" she lowly murmured.
"...What did you say?"
"I mean. If you stood up to freaking Mondo of all people, I wonder how wrong that could be. Don't you think so?" She asked and… winked at me?
"I…-"
"Say. We should check our rooms."
"You are one to quickly change subjects, huh…"
She gave me that cheshire grin of hers, "Well, I mean, it's only logical at this point. We can't exactly do much. I'll go in mine and you should go inside yours. Perhaps we find something?"
"I honestly doubt we'll find a hole to escape inside our new… dorms…" I sighed.
"Then what? We just stay around and do nothing?"
That's… a pretty fair point.
I smiled, there's no point in shutting down everything that's thrown at us. In the end, we just gotta keep trying, right?
"You are right, Enoshima-san. I'm sorry I haven't been… with the highest spirits just now."
I turned to her, only to immediately get my hair shuffled by her figure towering me.
"That's what I'm talking about, Sulking doesn't really fit you."
"A-Alright, alright. Please let me go."
She stopped her antics and turned towards her door now. "Let's share what we find in our rooms. Maybe there's a puzzle or… somethin' I guess…"
I nodded and opened the door to my room. When I entered it I wasn't sure what to expect inside of it, but it surely looked like a pretty normal room. The walls were colored the same they were outside, so there wasn't anything that immediately stood out to me.
There was a bed, a desk, another surveillance camera… truly nothing stood out as abnormal at this point… other than the metal plates locking what I can only assume to be windows, but other than that, just… nothing stood out.
There was a door which I figured could lead to a bathroom, but I wanted to scout the rest of the room first.
At the opposite end of the room from where I entered. A wooden wardrobe laid there.
I figured that here would be where the clothes and my belongings that I sent would be stored at…back when I thought this would be an actual school, but when I opened It I saw… well, yes, my clothes neatly hung up.
But these were exact replicas of my current clothes. The same hoodies, the same shirts, the same pants…the same… underwear… and the same gloves… which I only ever owned one pair of.
I wore "fingerless" gloves, which usually covered half of your fingers. Mine barely covered a slight part of them, because they were designed to be like that, so seeing exact replicas of something that I only ever owned one pair of was definitely bizarre.
They weren't even that essential to own multiple of, since these had one use only.
I pulled the glove out my right hand, revealing the mark that would follow me for the rest of my life.
The mark of a white wolf, surrounded entirely in black.
Lethal, Yet Loyal.
The mark of Fenrir.
After I completed the objective of defusing the bomb and staying put in the area, some Fenrir forces arrived to extract me. They made me ride the back of a humvee that had been modified to transport as many men as possible.
However I… was the only one there… No one from my assigned platoon had survived the encounter…
And the other squad? The one that failed to defuse their assigned bomb? I don't know if I want to know what happened to them…
My first ever mission… And I was the sole survivor of it…
I thought I would feel honored, pleased, happy even for successfully completing my tasked objective.
But it all felt… wrong. There was no medal of honor worth any of this…
I didn't feel that call of duty that I yearned for.
And I don't believe any of the men that died today wanted to die on that murky battlefield…
And neither did I…
This was… a mistake…
The vehicle halted as we arrived back at our base. The darkness of the night didn't allow me to see the faces of my 'brothers in arms' that walked me out of the humvee.
And the fact that I couldn't understand them didn't make any of it less frightening.
We marched towards someone that was waiting for us. I hadn't seen him before.
The man that led us speaked to him. "Boss."
I could only see him shadowed by the night. "Captain… what's the meaning of this?" I couldn't understand their conversation.
"The operation was half a success. We lost one of our objectives."
"A bomb blew up? Tssk. Shouldn't have sent all newbies."
The man's shadow then seemed to direct its gaze at me.
I flinched back as he kneeled right in front of me, scaring me. "And who might this be?" He had a small smirk showing in his face… he had long black hair that reached his neck.
His gaze… It felt like he was scanning my soul.
"Sole survivor of the Beta Squad, sir. Naegi Makoto."
I heard my name being said… And I immediately tensed up.
"Only he survived?" His smirk grew even larger. "We might have something in our hands right now…"
He snapped his finger on my face. "You. Introduce yourself."
"Ah.. A-Ah…" I couldn't speak… I didn't know what I was supposed to do!
"Has he been like this the whole time?"
"Yes sir. We believe he doesn't understand us."
"Poor kid…" He then stood up, hiding his face in the darkness once more. "Let's show him our Fenrir Fraternity. He's one of us now."
"Yes sir"
"Yes sir"
I felt two pairs of hands grab me by my arms as they lifted me in the air.
I didn't know what was going on, but they were dragging me with them.
I trembled to no end, but I didn't resist, I was scared to find out what would that lead to among these people.
The dark didn't let me have a clear view of how the base looked like on the outside, but I was dragged inside a building, the same one where we had the debriefing of the mission I took part in.
They took me to another room that I hadn't seen before, one that was locked behind a seemingly normal door.
The man with long black hair that led us the entire time opened said door as we entered a room that didn't have anything special… other than one thing.
It had a lighten up fireplace… which was odd considering this wasn't a very cold night.
"Drop him"
The hands that held me freed me, as I now stood on the ground, on my knees.
I stared at the man as he extended his hand to me.
With hesitation and doubt, I extended mine as well and as I was about to grab his hand as if of some handshake we were doing, that man grabbed me by the wrist.
I yelped in surprise as the man dragged me to the fireplace himself.
"You proved your worth, kid. Soon enough you'll be just like us."
His words were incomprehensible to me, and his husky voice didn't help at all. Right when we were right in front of the fireplace, I heard some footsteps behind me, the other men had walked closer as well.
It seemed almost… orchestrated.
"Hold him."
The missing pair of hands reappeared once more, holding me from the shoulders. I still didn't understand what was going on.
The man that dragged me here left my hand as he grabbed a pole that laid on the fireplace.
I hadn't seen it before, it was camouflaged with other metal beams around it.
"Will you do the honors, Captain?"
"I'll have to refuse, sir."
"Buzzkill."
After the two men ended their conversation, the husky man pulled the pole completely out of the fireplace, revealing it to be…
I didn't know what it was.
But the other end of it was completely orange, alight.
Burning.
The other man seized my wrist with a vice-like grip, forcing my arm to extend fully, my palm facing downward, exposing the back of my hand.
The husky man took deliberate, heavy steps towards us.
Towards me.
My arm began to tremble.
No, my entire body shook.
As the man positioned himself beside me, he observed my quivering form. "Oh... kid... You've got nothing to fear..."
I turned to face him, his words still a garbled murmur in my ears. He grabbed my chin, wrenching my head towards my outstretched arm.
All I could see was my hand.
"You'll understand real pain when we tattoo over this."
He then pressed the searing, orange-hot end of the pole against the back of my hand.
It burned.
Agony beyond comprehension consumed me for the first time.
I was forced to watch as the pole branded its mark into my flesh.
Tears streamed down my face.
I screamed, my voice echoing in the stillness.
I felt on the verge of passing out.
But I remained conscious, bearing witness to every excruciating moment.
My Fenrir initiation was complete.
'Still there…'
I chuckled. Of course it was still there.
I was forced to get this tattoo as a mark of my membership of Fenrir… To Fenrir. This tattoo being made on top of the burning flesh that a branding iron laid its mark on. An agonizing process.
Their symbols were identical. Representing the same.
A wolf.
Only difference was that the drawing of the wolf would be molten into my hand. It's dark ink and the star that now surrounds it were tattooed later.
My hand clenched remembering that day.
But, I am aware that there were surgeries and processes that could permanently erase the tattoo, but… what could I do with the burnt marks? This was meant to be a mark to follow me for the rest of my life.
One that I don't deserve to get rid off.
So I gave up on erasing that part of my life.
I was very hopeful that I could, at the very least, right my wrongs when I received the letter to join Hope's Peak, even if I thought that I didn't deserve the chance to begin with, but… I guess that simply won't be the case now…
I wore my glove again and closed the wardrobe as I finished inspecting it. None of my belongings were there and the only clothes that I could find were the replicas, so no trace of my other clothes as well.
This leads me to believe that we are under the will of someone who has this whole place under control, literally. This isn't just a fluke. I sent clothes of my own, the rest probably did as well, but we only get replicas that we aren't even aware of?
I could be wrong though, I myself don't remember asking for any of this, but maybe it's regulation of the school or someone from our class actually asked for this. But as of now what I can make out of this is that whoever watches us through the cameras and controls Monokuma, has the power to force us to do such little things as dressing in a certain way. Who knows what else they've got up their sleeve at this point?
Next I turned to the drawer next to my… new bed…
Top, middle and lower, I opened the drawers in that order.
In the top drawer resided a tool kit with a small note next to it. I grabbed said note and read its contents.
"To the owner of the room, I have placed specific items in each of your rooms. For the girls, a sewing kit complete with a map of the human body. Just follow the instructions if you wish to use this as a weapon. As for the boys, a toolkit. One swing to the head from most of these tools will be game over for your victim. Happy killing!"
My brow furrowed at that, I crushed the note in my palm and threw it away. We won't kill each other.
Then I opened the middle drawer. Its content made me widen my eyes. It was a knife. Military grade. But it wasn't any knife, it was a knife I had grown fond of, a Bayonet M9 specifically, an "M" neatly printed on its grip.
I snatched it immediately and saved it in the inner pocket of my hoodie, where it belongs. This knife has never left my side ever since I left Fenrir… Until just now. But now we were reunited, inseparable.
I had many doubts, but when I opened the last drawer all of them dissipated instantly. Not because of clarity, but because the doubts I had no longer mattered.
I wasn't expecting to see anything from these drawers to begin with. The toolkit was surprising enough, but it had the objective to 'persuade' us into killing someone by giving us the tools necessary.
That's why when I found the knife I didn't think of it much out the gate. The mastermind was arming us… or at least me.
But when I opened the last drawer, I immediately tensed up.
Stored right there was a handgun. PM Makarov, it can hold up to twelve rounds, it fires 9.22 mm bullets. Designed and distributed by the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant… legally. Battle scarred, this gun had its history.
My history.
I immediately shut the drawer once more as I started to hyperventilate.
That was when it hit me, these weapons, they weren't given to me to get me to kill. They were here to give me a message.
They know.
They know who I am, my true talent, and everything that I've done.
The knife… this gun... They are the living proof of it.
I ran my hand through my hair. This didn't make any sense.
'How?'
'How was any of this possible?'
But most importantly!
Who?!
…
…
…
I took a couple of breaths in order to calm down. I wasn't going to get anywhere if I started falling apart now.
I'm still weak… but I'll get out of here.
I refuse to kill. I won't take any more lives.
And after that… show. I turned towards the last place to investigate. The door.
I turned on the doorknob.
…
…
…
And the door opened without major issues.
The room behind it was a normal bathroom. There wasn't anything noteworthy in there.
I closed my bathroom's door as I declared my investigation finished.
I wonder if Enoshima-san already finished searching through her dorm as well.
I headed towards the exit of my room and quickly opened the door.
There was someone waiting for me.
I felt it in the nick of time.
Before I could hit the door against them, I stopped my swing as I noticed a certain blue haired idol staring directly at the door that was about to hit her.
"Ahh…" Her voice was but a mere whisper.
"M-Maizono-san?" I walked to her as I hastily closed the door of my room.
I almost hurted her!
"Are you okay, Maizono-san?! Did you get hurt?!"
"You make it sound as if you actually hurted me. I'm completely fine." She puffed her chest then "I know how I look, but I've actually built some pretty good muscle jumping up and down on stage! I'm not some frail doll."
I sighed in relief. "That's good, then…"
"But... are you okay? You know, from when Mondo hit you…"
"Oh, I'm fine! Nothing wrong here so far!"
"That's good. I got… a little worried…"
That bewildered me a little. 'The Sayaka Maizono, worried about me? how? why?'
"You were worried about me? Th-thanks, but, there's nothing to worry about" I instinctively scratched the back of my head and gave out a small chuckle, trying to ease her worries down. "By the way... what are you doing here?"
"Actually... I came to-"
"I leave you alone for one minute and you blindside me already?!"
The both of us turned to the new voice, it was Junko. "You are so mean, Naegi-kun! Betraying my feelings this soon already?"
Wh-What? "I-I b-beg your pardon?"
"Forgiven." She then turned towards Sayaka. The fast change in tone actually gave me whiplash for a second. "Now, you were saying doll eyes?"
"Nothing… It was nothing important…"
The two girls stayed staring at each other then… Neither seemed to… back down?
I don't understand what's going on… But it's probably for the best to stop… whatever this is.
I decided to break this… stalemate between them? Opening up my mouth, I changed the subject. "Um,,, DId you find anything useful in your room, Enoshima-san?"
Sayaka turned to me confused, but that wouldn't shut Enoshima-san down.
"Nah. Nothing. Other than a bunch of my clothes, nothing out of the norm."
"Um, with clothes you mean-"
"Exact copies"
'Yep… Just as I thought…' I thought.
"Did you order them like that?"
"They're appreciated, but no. Can't say that I did."
I nodded at that. This information is useful.
"May I ask what you guys are talking about?" Sayaka broke her silence.
"We decided to explore our rooms in order to investigate."
Sayaka seemed a bit… surprised? "You two investigated together?"
Considering her expression, I think she's getting the wrong idea that we investigated our rooms with one another.
Better clear that up. "We-"
I was pulled into an armlock by Junko right there, stopping me from continuing my explanation… "What about it? We can do whatever we want."
I turned to the fashionista at that. "Um, Enoshima-san? You are making it sound like-"
"Like what?" She had that cheshire grin again…
I left out a defeated sighed. "Nevermind…"
'What did I do to deserve this…?'
I decided to take matters in my own hands then. "We…-" I said as I managed to escape Junko's grasp "were looking into our dorms separately. I looked at mine while Enoshima-san looked at hers." Done, simple and easy to understand.
But Sayaka held… a poker face… Not showing what she was thinking about this.
I decided to continue my explanation though. "I searched through everything and I found some of my belongings. Clothes specifically but… they aren't the clothes I sent here, but rather exact copies of the clothes I'm wearing right now."
Junko let out a "Huh…" in thought. "Then it's not talent related?"
I… wouldn't be sure about that…?
"Did you find anything else?" Junko asked. "Anything that could be useful."
I was not going to tell them that I had found a gun and a knife in my room.
I was hesitant enough to tell people of my true talent….
Even more now that we are trapped in a Killing game…
People will immediately get afraid of me… Outcast me.
Perhaps even target me.
It'd go like that naturally… and justified as well…
I went to tell the safe option. "I found this toolkit which had a note that… persuades us to hammer people to death…"
"Smooth." She snorted. "Real subtle about it."
I asked Junko next. "And you?"
"Nope. Nothing worth a penny. A sewing kit with a map of the human body so we know where someone's aorta is, but nothing that we can use to escape."
"Then that settles it!" Sayaka suddenly spoke up, getting our attention.
"Settles what?"
"We gotta look around the rest of the school for a way out!"
I mean… yeah, there wasn't much we could do instead.
"Sure thing, how about we-"
Sayaka then grabbed my arm and started dragging me.
How did this happen twice now?
"Let's go, Naegi-kun!"
"W-What? H-Hold on Maizono-san!"
She was oddly energetic about getting me out of there.
"Hey! Get back here you cheater!" Junko then started chasing after us…
I… honestly don't know what to expect of my new "school life".
But if there's something that I am sure of is that.
This has just begun…
CHAPTER 0 END.