Chapter Text
I grinned as I stepped in front of the giant building. Looking it up and down, I felt a sense of optimism. Things were finally going to turn out okay. I’d meet my father, make friends, and live my life as the Kyoko Kirigiri, the Ultimate Detective.
I’d done a ton of research on Hope’s Peak academy ever since I’d started to show an interest in becoming a detective and holding up my family name. It was a school only the most talented students went to. In order to attend you had to be a high school student, and the most skilled in your trade. After being accepted I researched the people coming to the school - the Ultimate Programmer, Chihiro Fugisaki, who was already one of the most popular game developers in the world, the Ultimate Baseball Star, Leon Kuwata, who many professional teams were already arranging to recruit, and the Ultimate Fashionista, Junko Enoshima, whose face was plastered onto every magazine, billboard, and virtual ad people saw - just to name a few.
The school was meant to be an epicenter of hope, a glorious university where the best of the best would go to become better. Although that was very far from the events that took place in the school.
I stepped in, trying to make myself look as presentable as possible, fixing my bangs straight for the millionth time, when the whole world started to spin. My head started throbbing and I let out a choked gasp before everything went black.
I woke up some time later in a completely empty classroom, my head slumped against a desk. What had happened….? I never fell asleep in class. My education was of absolute importance to me. And why was there nobody in the classroom? Did they forget me?
A virtual bell toll sounded to my left and I turned my head. The head of a black and white teddy bear, displayed on a yellow television stared me down, a smirk on its face. I stared back, confused. Why was a video of a stuffed animal playing on a monitor taped to the wall? I looked around, confused, only to notice that the windows - or what appeared to be the windows - were completely covered in iron plates, and bolted shut with huge knuts. I stared in shock for a second before the bear on the screen started talking.
Alright, everyone! Now that you’re all awake, please make your way to the school gym for an assembly!
After that quick tone the screen went black. I looked around to see if there was anyone else in the room before heading out of the room. This definitely wasn’t Hope’s Peak. It could have been a dream but it felt so real - even if it was, I wanted to see how it played out. I wandered around the school for a while before coming across a room labelled GYM and walked inside.
Standing in the gym were fifteen students, all clearly attendants of the school - everyone I’d done research on before coming. The only person missing seemed to be Makoto Naegi, labeled the “Ultimate Lucky Student”, who was only here because he won a raffle. I admired him for his luck, but he seemed so painfully average that he wouldn’t survive a day here. We looked around at each other. Everyone clearly had no idea what was happening. Some people tried looking composed, others were talking frantically amongst themselves, visibly stressed.
After a few minutes of waiting Naegi finally showed up. He looked just as confused as the rest of us.
“Uh… hi….” he said shyly.
We all looked at him before someone stepped forward and introduced himself as Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the Ultimate Moral Compass. That got the introductions started and we all started talking, confused.
After a while a feedback noise sounded from the stage on the side of the gym and we all looked to see the bear from the television screens hop onto a small podium.
“Hello, everybody! Glad you could all make it! I am Monokuma, your school headmaster!”
After he said this everybody just stared in shock.
“What the hell? The bear talks?” Yasuhiro Hagakure said from behind me.
He was the Ultimate Fortune Teller, although I hadn’t bothered to do much research on him. He seemed like a waste of a slot at the school.
“T-this is a dream…. It’s… this c-can’t be real….” Toko Fukawa said quietly.
She was the Ultimate Literary Prodigy, or just a fancy term for author. She was a very skilled writer, but always a bit offputting - her works were almost always either incredibly sexual or incredibly gory. Makes you wonder what she’s gone through in her life to make her so desensitized.
A few other kids shared their despair before Monokuma spoke again. “What, you guys have never seen a talking bear before? Sure makes me insecure…” he made a sad face that seemed almost sarcastic.
“Anyways, welcome to Hope’s Peak Academy! I hope you’ll be ready to start your school journey here! Although, I have changed some of the rules…”
“That bear’s tellin’ us he’s the fuckin’ headmaster? The hell kinda acid trip is this?” said Mondo Owada, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader.
He seemed respectable enough, although his constant cussing seemed to upset a few students.
Monokuma seemed to ignore his input. “Now, let’s go over what I’ve tweaked about how you’ll live you school life. First of all, you’re trapped here until you die. Isn’t that enriching!” he giggled after he said it. He was so laid back it was disturbing.
Aoi Asahina started rambling quietly from the corner. “Trapped…. What? You can’t be serious! This isn’t real, this can’t be real….”
She was the Ultimate Swimming Pro. Not a very interesting talent, but a formidable one, and she seemed like a very kind person. I has been glad to see her on the roster for the students that year.
“Oh, I’m as serious as can be! You’re all trapped here until the day you drop dead. Although there’s one way to get out….”
“And what would that be?” Celestia Ludenberg said, clearly interested.
Celestia was the Ultimate Gambler, earning millions off of sheer luck in the casino. Many people admired her.
“You gotta kill someone! I don’t care how, just kill ‘em! Burn em’, bash em’, crush em’, stab em’, dunk them in boiling french fry oil for all I care, as long as they die! And as long as you get away with it at the trial, you’ll be forgiven of your crime and walk out of here scot-free into the outside world! Now, doesn’t that sound great?”
“Trial? Will a trial be held after every murder?” Hifumi Yamada asked.
He was the Ultimate Fanfic Creator, incredibly popular on apps like Tumblr and Wattpad, and profiting heavily off of his work. As strange as he was, I couldn’t help but respect him for finding a career in something he enjoyed.
“Yep! After every murder takes place, you’ll have some time to investigate the crime scene before the class trial begins! If the murderer, the blackened, yets away with the deed, they’ll be allowed to leave, and everyone else will be punished! However, if the blackened is caught, they will be the only ones punished!”
“Punished? What do you mean by that?” Byakuya Togami asked calmly.
As the Ultimate Affluent Progeny, it was typical of him to stay unfazed in this type of situation. Only God could know what he’s actually thinking, but he keeps a straight face. At only seventeen he’s amassed over four billion dollars in wealth, making him the youngest billionaire on the planet.
“Killed! Slaughtered! Executed! If you kill someone and you get caught, you get a taste of your own medicine!” Monokuma said this with an unsettling grin.
Everyone gasped at this. “So it’s like… kill or be killed?” Sayaka Maizono asked.
She was the Ultimate Pop Sensation, incredibly popular among high school girls and plastered onto magazines and ads almost as much as Junko.
“Precisely! And if you choose to not kill anyone, I’ll prepare a special motive for you all! It’ll be soooo fun!”
“I’m sure this will be the exact opposite of ‘fun’. But talk all you want, I guess…” Mukuro Ikusaba said bluntly.
She was the Ultimate Soldier, highly skilled in all kinds of combat. I was pretty convinced she’d be behind one of the killings that could take place.
“Oh sure, maybe for you. But for me, seeing your faces full of despair is the most exciting thing on the planet! You’ve got some free time until ten pm, which is when you must go to your dorms. I’ve given you all e-handbooks with the rules, and I’d recommend you read em’ over, since if you break em’, you’ll get punished! Bye bye now!”
With that, Monokuma jumped into a small hole in the stage and disappeared. We all looked at each other in shock.
“Nobody…. Would actually kill anyone… right?” Chihiro asked.
“Absolutely not! Even if you offered me a gazillion dollars I would never ever kill another person,” Hina said. She looked confident nobody else would, either.
“I would focus on other ways to get out first. But if it comes to it, I might have to do it,” Togami said with a shrug. He seemed so familiar with the idea of killing.
“I’ll make sure nobody is killed here!” Taka announced, looking confident.
“Yeah, uh… sorry to break it to you, Disney movie hall monitor, but you’re not gonna do ass to protect anyone. Everything finds a way,” Junko said.
Taka looked disheartened and stopped talking.
“Are we just going to stand here, or are we going to look for a way out? There has to be one somewhere,” Togami said firmly.
Some students nodded and everyone started looking around, scattering around the school. I paired up with Celestia and we searched a hallway and every room in it for any sign of escape, but there was none.
After scouring all of the school we could get access to, we finally gave up. The monitors across the school flickered on again.
“Students of Hope’s Peak, it is now ten pm! Please go to your assigned dorms to rest for the night! It is not required, but recommended that you all get a good night’s sleep.”
With that, the screens shut off.
“I guess we should all go to sleep then…” Hina said as she started walking in the direction of the dorms. A few kids followed her, then everybody else. When we got there we all went into our rooms. I locked my door carefully and sat on the bed, putting my head in my hands, exhausted. I was disappointed I didn’t get to meet my dad, but mostly just confused - where was the real headmaster? Had Monokuma taken over the school somehow? Was this even real?
With my mind full of questions and worries, I laid down to sleep, hoping it would quiet my head.