Dear Nori,

What do you do when you have a talent, but no one recognizes it? I think I'm a pretty good singer, but my parents never pay attention when I tell them and say its a waste of time to pursue it. There isn't a choir or anything at my school, but I know I'm a good singer. I think I could get really good, maybe even famous! But with no on supporting me, I don't know if I should pursue it or not? What good is being talented if no one else cares?

Thanks,

A singer (maybe)

Reijirou Saiki stared at the letter on his cheap laptop screen. He'd been thinking about how to answer this letter for a while. Technically, he didn't even have to answer this question; it wasn't one that his editor had chosen to published for the advice column, but Reijirou had long since decided he didn't like leaving these people hanging for advice. What kind of counselor would I be if I left them with no answers? He thought.

Although, Reijirou wasn't a counselor yet. He was halfway through his senior year at university, but he knew he'd also need to get certified before he could actually start practicing. And before he could even do that, he'd need to pay of his debts. That was also why he had started university late. And why he'd taken this job as an advice columnist. The pay wasn't great, but it was just enough that he could send a little towards the mounting hospital bills and student loan payments. The rest, plus the salary from the convenience store, went to regular bills and food.

Honestly though, Reijirou liked the job. Even if it was remote, he felt like he was helping people. Most of the askers were teens, and despite being a teen not very long ago, his thoughts almost always drifted back to, I wanna help these kids. All of them.

And so he typed away, getting ready to post on his 'super secret blog,' where he responded to letters that didn't make to the paper. Of course, he couldn't include the original letter (privacy and legal issues), but he could include the signed name and hope, who ever the sender was, they found his advice.

To a singer (maybe),

I could tell you that whether people appreciate your talent doesn't matter and you should just do you regardless! But, I doubt that'd be helpful. Even for adults, not being appreciated for the work you do is hard, and tiring. I would know, trust me.

He paused. Honestly it was less that he was unappreciated and more that he got a rough start on his career. He'd get to be a counselor...eventually. He deleted the sentence anyway.

My advice then is to find the people that appreciate you. No choir at your school? Start a singing club! Or find a group outside of school, a local choir or a cafe with open mic nights. If you or any of your friends can play an instrument, upload covers to the internet. You will probably get some flack at first, but if you keep working to improve, you will find your audience. And hopefully, if you can show your parents your dedication to your skill, they'll learn to appreciate it.

Stay strong,

Nori

Reijirou smiled as he clicked the upload button and stretched his arms high above his head. He got up from his swivel chair, yawning; he had a morning class tomorrow, so he ought to go to bed. I really should have gone to bed hours ago. Its 2 AM. Why didn't I answer letters during dinner, like a sensible person—

A sudden knock at the door broke his train of thought. Who could that be, this late? He thought as he wandered over to the apartment door and looked through the peephole. It was a middle aged lady in her house slippers, holding some kind of package. He didn't recognize her, but she must be a neighbor. It was a big apartment building; there's no way he could know everyone. Still a little wary, Reijirou left the chain locked and opened the door a crack.

"What is it?" he said quietly, hoping not to wake the neighbors.

"You're Reijirou Saiki right?" The woman said, gesturing slightly to the name beside the door. "I think I got your mail." She held up the package again.

"Oh…" Reijirou slowly shut the door and undid the chain lock. The package was too big to fit through the crack. He opened the door again with a sluggish tug and a yawn. "Thanks I guess. I wasn't expecting a—" He never finished his sentence because the woman grabbed his wrist and painfully turned it behind his back.

Suddenly something was covering his face. It took a full second for his sleep addled brain to realize what was happening. He struggled against the woman's grip on his arm and face, but his already sleepy movements were becoming slower. "Shit! Shit let… go of…" Black swam in the corners of his vision and his eyes became heavy. And all the while the woman said nothing. No no no no! Why? Panic filled his mind even as his thoughts slowed down. Why...I haven't...I'm not...important enough for this…

That was his last complete thought before Reijirou lost consciousness.

Reijirou shifted in the hard wooden chair to get a better position for his head on top of his folded arms on the desk. I'm gonna have a crick in my neck again from sleeping while working, I know it— Except, the chair at Reijirou's deck wasn't wooden. Suddenly awake, Reijirou sat up and jumped out of the chair, panting slightly. He looked around in shock and slowly dawning dread. This isn't my apartment.

The room he stood in had dark wooden walls, like a cabin he had seen in an American movie once. The sofa on one wall was ratty and well used, and on the opposite wall was a half filled bookshelf. The top shelves help well worn books, but the lower ones held a first aid kit, a length of rope, and various rustic wilderness themed nicknacks, including what looked like a stuffed moose that had seen better days. The desk he'd been sleeping on was mostly bare, just a lamp, a few pencils, an outdated looking tablet, and a name plate. He quickly walked around the desk to see what it said, noticing the other char in front of the desk first before staring in shock at the nameplate.

Reijirou Saiki, Guidance Counselor

"What the hell?" he said. What had happened before he blacked out? Had someone hired him while he was blackout drunk or something? He rarely went drinking, but maybe he had blown off some steam...No, he remembered being at home, he went to answer the door, and then—

A woman's face— pain in his wrist— something on his face he couldn't breath— blackness panic need to stay awake, fight, do something!— fading away...

"Holy shit I've been kidnapped." His breath was coming quicker now and he slowly bent down to huddle on his knees, and once again his thoughts turned to why. Why would someone do this? Breath, Reijirou, you gotta breath, remember your training for this! But it was much harder to talk himself out of a panic attack than someone else.

He had almost gotten his breathing settled when he heard a strange click from above him. He looked up and saw an old TV mounted behind his desk had just clicked on. And on the screen was…?

"Upupupu! Man, I didn't realize you'd be such a crybaby. Then again, you therapists are usually touchy-feely types, so what would I know?"

It was...a bear. A half black half white stuffed teddy bear, sitting at his own desk with what looked like an orange martini in his hand. And it was talking.

He slowly stood up. "What the…? A TV show?"

The bear's expression shifted to one of anger. "I'm not just some show! I'm Monokuma!"

Reijirou's eyes widened. It responded. It wasn't prerecorded.

"Uh, this a Jigsaw type thing, right?" Dammit why am I making jokes right now? "Like, so I don't know your identity or something? Wait, that's not important; did you kidnap me?! Why? What the hell do you want?!"

Somehow with so few facial features this 'Monokuma' managed to look smug. "I am indeed the one behind your current situation. As for what I want, I thought the office should have made that obvious! You're gonna work for me as the guidance counselor of this fine establishment!"

Reijirou frowned. "Oh right, and you needed to kidnap someone for this perfectly legal establishment." Seriously why am I antagonizing my kidnapper; he could kill me! He took a slow breath to calm himself, and continued, "I'm assuming this offer is non-negotiable?"

"Oh yeah, there are no boats on the island, so you're stuck here and if you don't do your job and follow the rules, you'll receive punishment! In that way you aren't too different from your students. Not that they can know that. Gotta have the two of us 'staff' appear united and all that." Monokuma sipped from his martini.

Biting back the urge to ask how he can drink anything, Reijirou shifted through what information the bear had just revealed before asking, "So what is this 'establishment,' and who are my students? What exactly do you want me to do?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Behind Monokuma appeared what looked like a map of a small island, dotted in forests and small buildings, all surrounded what Reijirou assumed must be a fence. "This here is the Talent Camp for Penultimate Students! A remote, isolated island where those with talents that are not quite up to snuff will learn and grow together in harmony…" Monokuma's half grin seemed to grow wider. "...indefinitely."

Reijirou's stomach dropped. "Indefinitely? You can't keep everyone here indefinitely! We'll run out of food!" He put aside the weird name of the camp for now. He'd deal with whatever the heck a 'penultimate student' was later.

"Don't worry about that!" said Monokuma, "I've been preparing for a long time; there's enough food to last for months, maybe even years! And I doubt you all will be here that long. Someone will graduate."

"Huh? Graduate? There's a way out?" That made no sense; why kidnap him and however many kids, (Oh God how many of them are there? How old? I'm only 23 I can't take care of a bunch of kids…), just to give them a way to escape?

Monokuma waggled his finger. "There is indeed! But you'll have to wait for the details just like your students! You may be an employee, but never forget I'm the one running the show! Now in just a few minutes your 16 students will start waking up in their cabins! You should take this time to look over their profiles in the Monopad I have graciously provided for you! In about an hour we will be meeting in the mess hall for formal introductions! You better not be late."

Reijirou stiffly picked up the tablet on the desk and turned it on, still processing this whole situation. 16 students. He was the only adult among 16 students and a mad man hiding behind a robot teddy bear. First he checked for a phone or messaging app, but there was no signal or WiFi, of course. He opened the app labelled 'Student Profiles,' and 16 names popped up in a list. Beside each name was an age, all between 15 and 17. Highschoolers. Okay, I think I can deal with teens. What caught his attention was the last part of each entry. It seemed each student had some kind of title; 'Penultimate' something or other.

"What does it mean to be a 'Penultimate'?" he asked, coughing before adding cautiously, "I mean, I want to uh, do my best possible job, so I should know whatever I can about my students…"

Clapping his hands Monokuma said, "A 'Penultimate' is someone who has a special talent that has not reached its highest potential! Maybe their talent is unappreciated or unrecognized, or they have the passion but not quite enough skill, or plenty of skill but no drive to pursue it! They are all here so that, with our help, they can grow to become proper 'Ultimates'!"

Ultimates? Why does that sound familiar? Reijirou shook off the the thought; he'd consider it later. "And how will they do that?"

"Upupupu!" Monokuma laughed long and hard before cheering, "By playing The Killing Game of course!" And just as suddenly as it had turned on, the TV monitor shut off again with a click of static.

Staring at the TV monitor, the absolute horror of this situation suddenly crashed down on him. He was trapped on an unknown island with no way off, trapped with 16 teenagers, forced by a crazy person to kill each other. This can't be real. This has to be a dream, he thought desperately. Reijirou bit his lip. There was no time for denial. These kids would be scared; he needed to support them. But how could he when this bear insisted they were both 'staff' at this hell camp? "I'll figure it out," he said out loud, mostly to himself. "I'm not gonna let this happen if I can help it. What kind of counselor would I be if I sat by and let kids die?"

Filled with new determination, Reijirou looked down at the profiles again.

Shiori Miura, 16, Penultimate Writer

Remy Lander, 16, Penultimate Animal Photographer...

He took a breath, clicked on the first profile, and began to read.

Hello everyone, and welcome to Danganronpa: The Penultimate Students. I'm Glass-Lady-of-the-Opera, or just Glass-Lady. I had this story idea for a while and I figured the best way to do it would be a SYOC type story.

There are two main "twists" to this story that I hope you will find interesting. The first is the concept of the "Penultimate" students of the title. As mentioned in the chapter itself, "Penultimates" are teens with talents that, for one reason or another, fall just short of being truly "Ultimate." They might be unrecognized, or unable to get more training or publicity because of lack of resources. They might be truly enthusiastic but only somewhat talented, or they might be extremely talented but never pursue that talent for one reason or another. That is what it means to be a "Penultimate," and this story will hopefully explore the concept in more detail.

The second "twist" is Reijirou Saiki himself, or rather his role as the camp's "Guidance Counselor." The exact details of his role will be revealed later, but the presence of an adult among the students, even if that adult works for Monokuma, will change the nature of the situation in many interesting ways, I believe. I'm a sucker for found family tropes, but whether or not any of the students will come to trust Reijirou over the course of the Killing will be a focus of the story as well. In fact, the point of view for this story will alternate between Reijirou and one of the students, Shiori Miura.

Now onto the Guidelines:

1. "Mary Sues/Gary Stus": I don't need perfect characters for this story. Please feel free to have fun with your super awesome character who saves everyone in your own work, but for this story I need more realistic characters, with both flaws and strengths, and interesting quirks to their personalities.

2. I am alright with talents that are similar to canon talents, although not exactly the same. Especially no Lucky/Unlucky Students, Unknown talents or Detectives please.

3. Please submit by PM only. Any characters submitted by review will be ignored.

4. Please title your submission as follows: The Penultimate Students - [character name & talent]. This way I can keep track of submissions. If you find you need to split your submission into two parts please label those as well.

5. I would like most of the characters to be Japanese. I will possibly accept one more foreign character.

6. You may submit up to two characters, but I will only choose one per person.

7. Please be understanding if your character is not chosen. There are only so many slots.

I will be accepting 7 boys and 7 girls. Shiori and Remy will fill out the cast (thanks to my good real life Danganronpa friends raeolu and starinherwake on twitter for your characters!) The deadline will be in two weeks, May 1. If I don't get enough submissions in that time I may extent the deadline, and will post an update if that happens so you can know. Below is the application form, which you can also find on my profile page. I will also be posting a list of submitted talents there that I will do my best to keep updated. I hope you have fun with this premise and create some wonderful characters!

SYOC Form (please delete anything in parentheses when turning in)

Name: (plus any nicknames)

Gender/pronouns:

Sexuality:

Talent:

Height:

Weight:

Birthday:

Age:

Nationality/Race:

Appearance: (physical)

Clothes:

Voice:

Personality: (1-2 paragraphs. How they present themselves to others and how they are around those they are close to. What traits define their behavior? What are their strengths? Weaknesses? Generally what makes them tick.)

Backstory: (about 1-2 paragraphs. What events/circumstances made them become who they are now? How did they discover their "Penultimate" talent, and why do they fall short of being a "True Ultimate"?)

Family/Friends: (who are the most important people in your character's life, the ones who had the most impact on them, for good or bad?)

Likes: (3 to 5 please)

Dislikes: (as above)

Hobbies: (what do they do outside their talent?)

Habits/Quirks:

Pet Peeves:

Speech patterns: (How do they speak?)

Greatest Fear:

Greatest Secret:

Greatest Wish:

Traits of people they would like:

Traits of people they would dislike:

Romance: (open to it? If so, traits of someone they might pursue romantically)

Murderer, Victim, or Survivor?: (Rank them in order of most to least likely)

Why/why not murderer: (please include at least one reason both why and why not)

Why/why not victim:

Why/why not survivor:

Reaction to Killing Game:

Reaction to the Guidance Counselor: (How do they react to the idea of an adult being around? Do they trust him as an authority figure, or they distrust him because he works for Monokuma)

Reaction to death of a classmate:

Reaction to an execution:

Role in Investigation: (both innocent and guilty)

Role in Trial: (innocent and guilty)

Reaction to being accused: (innocent and guilty)

Possible Character Arc/Development:

Execution: (optional)

Possible Free Time events: (optional)

Quotes: (optional but recommended so I can get more of sense of their voice)

Other: (anything noteworthy not covered in the other fields)