- WARNING -

- This story will contain spoilers for Danganronpa 1, 2, 3, and V3.

- Viewer discretion is advised: this story may contain detailed depictions of violence.

- Viewer discretion is advised: this story will contain major character death.

- If necessary, there will be future warnings, and/or the rating will be changed to M.

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chapter 0-1

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When I stepped out into the carpeted hallway and saw Theia face to face, I felt a sense of nostalgia and sadness. Seeing her again began to slowly dissipate the heavy fog that had settled in over my memories of the last four months, but alongside that nostalgia, I also felt a strong fear. Something told me that considering the circumstances, I should be extremely grateful that she was okay, and something terribly wrong could happen at any moment. I thought that if I took my eyes off her for a second, she would be snatched away, and with her, my memories.

"Mister Ryuzaki? You seem to be spacing out," she spoke.

'You're right. I am.'

'There's no time for this.'

Instead of replying, my eyes darted from side to side for the exit. I quickly noticed the elevator sign behind Theia.

"Come on," I said hurriedly, "let's go!" I was still having trouble using my voice, and the words came out dry.

Even with the fear and confusion still lapping at my brain, I was checking corners for somebody to jump out with a confetti popper to yell 'surprise'; and when that didn't happen, I blinked repeatedly in an attempt to wake myself up. Terrifyingly, that didn't happen either. I wasn't convinced yet, but the possibility of this being reality was growing ever more likely.

The hallway expanded into a wide, circular area, with several other hallways extending in different directions. A marble plaque was installed next to each one, detailing where they went. Most read nothing but suite numbers.

"Ah, here! This one," Theia said. She suddenly grabbed my wrist with a force I wasn't expecting, and led me to the hallway she found. Sure enough, there were elevators on either wall - the relief was immense, but it wouldn't be enough until I was home. She quickly called for a lift to take us down, with her grip on my arm being loosened by only a fraction.

We had to wait for a while, in eerie silence. No hotel I'd ever been in was this quiet. There was always that one group of tourists who were already drunk before they made it downstairs, or at the very least, traffic horns and running engines outside.

'To think we're the only ones here...'

'That's impossible, isn't it?'

"Oh, god."

Theia finally broke the silence in quiet distress.

"Just what is this?" she asked aloud, looking up at me then at our surroundings. "Where are we? Why is no one else here?"

"I - I don't know," I replied. I wasn't able to look her in the eye. Even though I was beginning to remember growing quite close to Theia, I'd never seen her grow desperate like this, and the sight was painful.

"Please... please, anyone!" Theia called out. She stepped away from me, letting go of my wrist to cup her hands around her mouth (above her mask) to shout down the hallway. "Somebody come out here and explain, please!"

"Theia, please, don't," I pleaded, even though I didn't blame her in the slightest. "We're gonna figure this out, alright? Bet you it's just a prank. That's the only reasonable explanation."

"A prank, Mister Ryuzaki?" Theia asked, turning back around to face me. "Just what kind of prank would rob us of our memories and leave us in an empty hotel? There is nothing reasonable about this!"

'Dammit...'

'Dammit! She's right!'

'What the hell is going on here!?'

Eventually, one of the elevators arrived. We were inside as soon as the doors were open enough to allow us, and I immediately pressed the 'ground' button.

I didn't pay attention to what floor we had just left, or how long the ride was. My mind was not in that elevator, rather, it had seemingly detached itself from my physical form to protect itself from whatever it was about to see. I did everything I could to bring it back so I could focus on my missing memories - but nothing was working. Nothing would work, not until more information came. Even then, I had to wonder if it was already too late for my memories to return, like a dream just out of my grasp.

The elevator descended with no sound but the rhythmic chugging of the mechanics lowering us. Finally, the doors slid open.

Theia and I exited the elevator into another hallway, with walls and flooring of marble polished to a sheen, reflecting the bright yellow spotlights beating upon us from the high ceiling. The contrast in atmosphere from the carpeting and dim lighting above was quite a shock. With haste, we ran into the lobby.

The lobby was vast and extensive, with massive black pillars supporting a second storey accessed by a spiraling staircase. A balcony from above looked down on the main reception area. Over both floors was the ceiling, a minimum of thirty feet overhead, spotted with dozens (potentially hundreds) more spotlights. Established in the ceiling's direct center was a massive round light fixture covered by many triangular-shaped glass panes, surrounded by a line of light. Everything was blinding, especially as it all reflected off the uncannily stainless tiled floors. There appeared to be several directions one could take, but the architecture was generally centered around the long reception desk at the back, sitting in front of a felt violet curtain. In front of the desk itself was a waiting area with a few different sofas and loveseats in a lilac shade.

More importantly, the rest of the 84th Class was scattered around the lobby. I recognized our classmates, and I could tell right away they were as confused and upset as we were. Shouting and yelling came from the reception desk while others were trying to work something out.

Warren, standing among a group in the waiting area, spotted Theia and I approaching and came up to us with worry in his eyes.

"Hey," he greeted with caution, "oh, man. You two are alright?"

"I- I suppose, but I don't know what's - Warren, what the hell is all this?" I asked, gesturing to the grand decorations surrounding us.

"None of us have a damn clue. But with you guys, the whole class is here now. I guess it's good we're all together," Warren replied. He turned his head to look behind him at everyone spread about the lobby.

I did the same, and I eyed a set of glass doors. "The entrance. It's open or locked?"

"Open."

I blinked.

"Ah! Let's go!" Theia exclaimed, eyes widening. She nearly broke off to run to the doors.

"Hang on. Hiroto, ah..." Warren said, reestablishing eye contact with me. He made a gesture towards the reception desk and said, "Something is going on over there, and I feel like you might wanna take a look."

I'd been hearing shouting for some time, but I didn't think anything of it. It was justified, and after all, my mind was still out to lunch. Still, I tried to tune in and see what exactly was happening.

'...'

'...?'

"Warren," I started.

"Yeah?"

"Who the hell is that?"

"...Yeah. Nobody recognizes her."

Behind the long, mahogany reception desk, was a woman that I swore I'd never seen before. I was aware that my memory was not functioning at full capacity, but I had at least recognized Theia, even if it took a while. The stranger gave me no sense of deja vu like the others. On our side of the desk were a few of our classmates attempting to talk with her, and from this distance, it seemed tensions were high.

"Hiroto, you're the Ultimate Peacekeeper, right?" Warren asked, "Can you do anything?"

"I'll see what I can do. Theia, do you want to-"

"Come on!"

I was about to ask her if she wanted to head outside, but before I knew it, she grabbed my arm again and began dragging me to the desk. I scrambled into a sprint so not to trip over myself.

'I'm pretty sure she did this before, too... I'll have to just get used to it again.'

Akuma stood tall over the desk, with his hands balled into fists on the shining surface. Perhaps it was because I'd never seen him in this type of situation, but the way he towered over it made him appear larger and scarier than I remember ever seeing him (the scars across his face didn't help either). He shouted obscenities and threats at the stranger, and next to him were Ashlynn and Lucille, both appearing just as hot-headed.

As for the stranger herself, she seemed close to our age, maybe a few years older at most. Her eyes were vivid, an unnatural and unnerving yellow, on a fair skinned face under a black baseball cap. The hat hid locks of bright red hair that ended in abrupt points, as if she cut it short herself. She wore a white dress shirt tucked into stone grey pants, kept up by olive green suspenders. Around her collar was a skinny tie with the base color the same as the suspenders, but it was adorned with a pattern of colorful flowers, twisting and turning up into the knot. She sat in a fold-up chair and leaned back, watching Akuma swear at her in amusement. My gut didn't know how to react - on one hand, she appeared completely innocent, but something was setting off alarms that just couldn't be ignored.

'Is this our captor?'

"Hey! Who are you?" Theia suddenly interjected, running up to the desk and putting her hands on it like Akuma. Considering the fact that Akuma was well over six feet Theia wasn't even close to breaking five, the intimidation factor just wasn't quite comparable.

"Huh?" the stranger said, her face falling flat. "Who is this... sassy lost child?"

"What the hell? That's Theia, not a child! Apologize!" Akuma retorted.

"Yeah! Theia, don't listen to her," Ashlynn said, turning to her, "this girl is so annoying!"

"A shame," Lucille spoke with crossed arms and closed eyes, "I may have taken her to dinner under different circumstances."

"Lucy, sis, you're too much of a flirt, and that's coming from me..."

'This is not how I imagined this confrontation would go.'

"Alright, sorry, I'm butting in," I said, trying to fit myself in between Akuma and Theia. I decided I'd leave my hands by my side instead of trying to intimidate the stranger. "I really would love to know - who are you, exactly?"

"My name is Akira. Akira Nishimoto. Does that help?" she responded with a grin.

'Not really, but if that's your real name, then thanks for making the police report much easier.'

"To be blunt, Akira, I hadn't meant to ask for your name. I was inquiring as to the reason why I didn't recognize you, and you're sitting behind the desk like you're an employee at this empty hotel."

"You're Hiroto, right?"

"Huh?" I raised a brow.

"Right," she said, standing up out of her seat. She crossed her arms. "Can I call you Hiro? I'm gonna call you Hiro."

"No, I would rather you didn't do that—"

"Hiro, I'm gonna ask you to do something for me. I need you to think about something for a minute," she said, her voice growing serious.

"Can you quit playing games? I'm—"

"I want you to reaaaaally think about what you just said to me. That you don't recognize me, and I'm standing over here behind the desk."

"I don't underst—"

"Hiro, you should consider the wild and inane possibility that I am an employee at this hotel."

Akira had this big, toothy grin on her face, and that combined with her sarcastic tone told me everything I needed to know about her.

"That was rude!" Theia protested, coming to my aid.

I sighed aloud. "It's alright. I may disagree with her tone, but I learned something useful, just now."

"If you work here," Theia said with her attention toward Akira, "then, are you our kidnapper?" Her voice was laden with disbelief, and I felt the same.

"No," Akira said right away. She had become closely interested in her nails, which she idly inspected as we all stood around.

"I figured. However, you don't disagree that we've been kidnapped?" I asked.

"Why the fuck would I do that?" Akira cursed, and this time it was her turn to raise a brow. She looked up from her nails at me. "You didn't come here willingly, did ya? If you did, then there's a real problem here, and we're gonna have to deal with that."

"N-No, I didn't come here willingly, and I am fairly certain that is the problem!" I retorted with a building exasperation.

"For you, I guess."

I had to pause. If I replied right away, I likely would've insulted her greatly, and I did not want to lose an opportunity to gain information. Even if it costed every ounce of my rapidly declining energy reserves.

"Are you working with our kidnapper?" I eventually decided to ask, although it came out like a deadpan statement.

"Oh, yeah," she confirmed. She went back to her nails.

"You understand that's what I meant when I asked 'who are you', correct?"

Akira smiled again. "You're fun. For the 'Peacekeeper', you get mad pretty easily."

"Excuse me—"

"Why are you doing this!?" Theia yelled, cutting me off. She startled me, in fact. "Explain!"

"Chill, kid. They're getting everything set up as we speak," Akira replied.

"And just who are 'they'? What are they 'getting set up'?" I asked.

"They' are 'they', and everything is 'getting set up'."

"Ugh. I can't spend another minute around her," Ashlynn groaned, putting her hand to her forehead in a dramatic fashion. "I'm done. C'mon, Lucy." With that, she turned and walked away. Lucille followed.

Akuma continued to glare at the stranger for another moment, before finally letting his hands off the table. He gave me a glance from the side with narrowed eyes, and the look said a lot. I returned the glance. When Akuma took this to mean I understood, he stepped away without a word.

"The hell was that?" Akira hollered, pointing at Akuma's distancing back. "Can you two fuckin' communicate telepathically or somethin'? Hey, don't lie to me!"

I left as well. I didn't pay attention to Akira's continued barrage of swears, nor where Theia went, but instead met Akuma at the doors.

He gestured for me to come close to whisper something to me. "Hey, my memory's pretty fried right now, but we worked out a lot before, didn't we?" he asked.

"I think so. I started working out at home at some point," I said, returning the hushed tone.

"You also told me about taking martial arts classes, right?"

"...Oh, that's right. Yes, I went back to it in the summer. I don't remember it well, but-"

"Alright, c'mon, let's go check out what's getting set up."

He turned away again, stoically heading outside.

'Those may as well be two entirely different topics. What's he expecting out there?'

I frowned, but I couldn't blame him for being cautious. I was about to follow until there was a tug at my sleeve.

"I'm coming with you." Theia was there, again.

"You sure about this?" I asked, raising a brow. "You might be safer inside, with everyone here."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about me. I'm stronger than I look."

'You really don't look strong at all, so I'd hope so...'

"Come, Mister Ryuzaki!" she said, dragging me behind her as she went through the doors. In that moment, I decided to trust that she knew what she was talking about.

Since the adrenaline in my body wasn't as intense as it was when I woke up, I felt the full brunt of the wind and considered if I should've brought a jacket from the closet. The evening breeze felt like I'd returned to the beginning of spring again. Though, this may have had to do with the architecture surrounding us, as when Theia and I stepped out of the hotel, we found ourselves among a jungle of highrises and skyscrapers. Each building was generic as the last, all lacking any sort of descriptor such as a logo or company. The hotel simply had the word 'HOTEL' in luminous neon lights, but that was the only sign around. And as I saw from my balcony, the streets were completely bare. Not a single vehicle in sight in both directions of the long four-lane road before us. There wasn't even a piece of discarded trash anywhere, like I'd expect in a city like this. I had to wonder if I was wrong - perhaps rather than the population emptying before our arrival, there was simply never a population to begin with.

I spotted Akuma looking up at the front of a building. He heard us coming and turned his eyes to us for only a moment, before his focus returned.

"Look at that," he said simply, pointing upward.

He was pointing at a large security camera that was jutted out of the wall in what seemed to be an entirely random spot. Near it were several other cameras on the same wall, pointing in all different directions. It was a mess. One was even watching the skies. The wiring for the cameras also appeared quite amateurish, loosely hanging off the wall and exposed in some points.

"That building across the street has the same thing. And a couple more down the road, too," Akuma explained.

"Strange..." Theia whispered in curiosity.

"Why is it such a hack job?" I wondered aloud.

"Dunno. I'm more worried about why there's so many cameras, though," Akuma commented.

"Yeah. Dystopian, isn't it?" I muttered.

"It has to be our captors," Theia said, suddenly very confident in herself. She softly brought a fist down on her open palm as the idea came to her.

"Of course. They're probably watching us right now," Akuma said in agreement.

'But how? This wouldn't be allowed unless the owners of the properties gave the okay to tamper with them, right? I guess the answer to that is the same to why the rest of the city is empty, though...'

The three of us kept moving. I don't think we knew what we were looking for, or what we could expect to find. Was it going to be a police station? If so, would anyone be there to help us? Or maybe we would run into our captors - then what? What if they weren't as open as Akira and resorted to violence? Is that why Akuma asked about my martial arts training?

Am I really in danger?

'Danger...?'

I realized the last time I felt like my life was in danger like this was at the peace talks with the Matzushitas. As I walked through the empty streets, head twisting from side to side looking for something, anything, my thoughts decided to be completely unhelpful and return to that night. An intrusive thought of Chika came into mind, holding the remains of her wounded eye together-

'Stop.'

'You can't do this right now.'

'It wasn't your fault. She even told you that, dozens of times.'

"Mister Ryuzaki?" Theia asked, realizing that I'd slowed down.

"I'm alright. Let's go."

Soon after, we hit a dead end and ran into two more of our classmates.

"Kaz, Kei, that you guys?" Akuma asked aloud as we approached from behind.

Sure enough, the two turned around, and Kazuya and Kei faced us. "Ah, and so the plot continues on," Kazuya commented, with a strange snicker at the end. "Greetings, you three."

"You look like you're in high spirits," I observed.

"Why, of course! Ever since I awoke in that hotel room, the creative gears in my mind have been churning without fail," Kazuya replied, nodding. "Yes, I already have an abundance of ideas for my next novel."

"Really? Like what?" Theia asked with what seemed like a burning curiosity.

"No, no, that's alright Kazuya," I interjected before he had the chance to respond, which he looked far too excited to do. "We can talk about that another time. For now - what exactly are we looking at, here?"

"Oh, this?" Kei prompted, turning his head to face the dead end. "Why don't you come see for yourself? C'mon, touch it."

In front of us was a sturdy chain link fence about ten feet tall, topped with rolling barbed wire across the entire width of the street. Looking at the polished, sharp points was enough to give me goosebumps. And if it wasn't for that, then the pulsating waves of electricity striking through the metal would probably do it.

"No!" Theia exclaimed, suddenly. She stood herself in front of me and made an 'X' with her arms. "Don't do it, Mister Ryuzaki. That's an electric fence."

"Yes, I noticed."

"So we're closed in, huh?" Akuma muttered. "Damn. If it wasn't for the electricity, we could've made it over."

"The barbed wire?" I pointed out, raising a brow.

"What about it? The rugs and curtains back in the rooms are heavy enough. We can head back, grab those to cover the barbed wire," he said, with his arms crossed as he looked up at the fence.

"You're... way too confident about that."

"I am talking from experience."

"Well, I'm glad we're discussing how we plan to escape, but before we start trying to disable the electricity or whatever it is you're thinking," Kei began, "climbing over is still not an option. Akihiro is wheelchair-bound, and the luxury make is likely quite heavy to carry over a ten foot fence."

"What about Yoshio, then? I'm sure the brute could carry all of us," Kazuya stated.

"We could also turn around and go the other way," I said, slightly exasperated. "This is just one dead end, and we've passed a few intersections from the hotel to here. Let's discover all of our bounds before we try climbing an electric fence with barbed wire."

"You know our kidnappers aren't going to want us to leave, right?" Akuma asked coldly, "They could be armed. Probably waiting for us."

"Fair point. Perhaps this is a trap," Kazuya considered.

"Um, excuse me," Theia piped up, "I'm worried about everyone else. Can we just go back to the hotel for now?"

"Good idea. I'm getting cold anyway," I agreed.

"A wise decision. Let's continue this conversation inside, shall we?" said Kei, before taking the lead.

For a few moments, everything was quiet as we traced our steps back to the hotel. We didn't share theories or ask about what we didn't remember, but observed our surroundings, attempting to piece it all together. As much as I tried, however, nothing was coming to mind. No landmark reminded me of where I could've been. There weren't any signs or even advertisements in the bus stops, and I still had to wonder if this was a dream and perhaps my brain just couldn't come up with a detailed logo.

We finally regrouped in the lobby. The group itself was much smaller - we were told a few people split off to check out the rest of the lobby or head outside. Yoshio was off by himself, inspecting the fire equipment. Akira sat behind the desk looking bored, flipping through the pages of an old, worn out book. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was just another one of us.

"We found this earlier," Marie spoke to us. In her hand was some sort of brochure. "Take a look."

'Yamanuha', it read, in large letters across the cover.

"It's strange. If you look at this page, here..." she said, opening it up to show a picture of a tall building. Passing by the glass doors was a crowd of people. "Look at the sign."

Over top the doors was a neon sign that read out the name of a familiar company, attached to the word 'hotel'.

"Ah," I said in realization, "I know this company. I've stayed at their hotels before. But this building...?"

"Right. Now, I know the picture is small, but can you see through the doors here?" Marie asked, pointing past the pictured crowd.

It was difficult at first, but the lighting inside the building made it easier, as it appeared just as bright as the lobby we all stood in. In fact, that wasn't the only thing that lined up with the lobby.

"Interesting. That's the reception desk, is it not?" Kazuya said.

Sure enough, the purple curtains behind the desk were easily visible in the picture. I glanced up to the real thing in front of me to confirm.

"Yes. I think it's safe to say this is the same building we woke up in," Marie said.

"Wait! But, what about the sign?" Theia asked, unsatisfied with the answer. "It's not the same sign outside at all."

"Well, I took a look outside earlier, and it seemed like all the signs were replaced or removed, likely including the one on this building. The rest of the building appeared identical, as well," Marie explained.

"I have to agree. Note the balconies in the picture - just like the ones connected to our rooms," Kazuya added.

"Don't say 'our' rooms. We're not staying here, so they're not ours," Akuma suddenly stated. I agreed with the sentiment.

"Let's talk about that then, shall we? 'Here' is, what did the cover say again?" Kei asked.

"Yamanuha," Marie answered.

'Yamanuha...'

"It's familiar," I nodded, in thought. "But it's a ways away from Tokyo, isn't it?"

"Can't be too far. It better not be, because I have nothing to write with here," Kazuya said. He truly seemed dismayed about that.

'Kaz, that novel of yours better be a bestseller.'

"Hey, it's a good thing that brochure was in Japanese. We could've been out of the country, for all we knew," Akuma pointed out. "Good find, Marie."

We did learn something new, but we barely got to discuss it before things finally began.

The lights unexpectedly went black. Darkness carpeted the lobby.

"What the-" I started.

"Hey! Get ready!" Akuma shouted.

"Mister Ryuzaki?" Theia said, grabbing on to my sleeve again.

"Woah! Everyone, stay calm!" I heard Yoshio's booming voice, projecting across the lobby. Screams and shouts followed.

My body went cold, as my eyes darted around the room, desperately searching for something to grasp on to, but finding nothing. Even the streetlights outside went dark, as the only illumination we had was the moonlight through the windows. The adrenaline and the goosebumps immediately came back - in fact, it was like they never went anywhere - as my eyes finally began to adjust. I scanned for a threat, now crucially aware of the situation, waiting for something to come out.

"Theia, stay close," I blurted. I wasn't sure why I said that to her in particular, but thankfully, she was doing so regardless.

"Akira? What's happening!?" Lucille cried.

As she did, the emergency lights came on, showering us in a dim crimson. TV screens around the lobby came to life with static at the same time. And through the speakers, a siren. The siren was shrill, sending shivers through the bones of my fingers all the way up my arms to my teeth and down my legs to my toes. It repeated itself like a tornado warning, but with an exponentially louder volume. I instinctively raised an arm to cover my ear, but resisted and kept it by my side, worried I'd need it free for whatever was about to come.

When the sirens stopped, they were replaced with a voice. A voice that filled the room with a strength that shook the ground and instilled nothing but dread.

"Good evening, Class 84th."

Surely, it was through a voice changer. The distortion and crackle confirmed it; it was almost comical in how obvious it was. Clearly, however, whoever spoke wasn't trying to hide it, and nothing about the situation could've elicited a laugh out of me.

"H-Huh!? Who is that!?" Yuki exclaimed, prompting Theia to look over to her in concern.

"Oh man, oh man. It's happening," Mizuki said. She sounded scared, but still trying to remain positive. "We'll be okay, everyone!"

"You are all invited to a special ceremony. Your escort has arrived in front of the hotel."

"'Escort'? To where, huh!?" Akuma yelled out, already balling his hands into fists. "Why don't you just show yourself!?"

"Report to your escort immediately. Resistance will be met with punishment. Do not resist."

The voice spoke in a straightforward, punctual fashion. Each sentence conveyed nothing more than the necessary information, and this was done with such an authority that I had barely considered that resistance was an option.

It became almost silent again as the TVs shut off with the emergency lights, and the room-filling power of the voice vanished. The regular lights popped back on.

"Ooookay, everyone!" Akira exclaimed, "It's time! Get yer asses outside already, you heard all that just now, didn't ya?"

"I refuse. I will not give in to any of your demands," Lucille spoke, her voice true with conviction.

"Yeah, fuck that," Akuma agreed, "Just try and stop me, but I'm not getting on that 'escort'."

Akira sighed, as if to just dismiss our reluctance like we were stubborn children. "I mean, fine. If you don't want to, that's your choice, really. But can't ya just step outside at least? You'll see why you'd be better off listenin'."

"Bullshit," Akuma stated, flatly.

With that, most of the class began showing themselves from whichever corner of the lobby they veered off to. "What's- what's going on?" Eli asked, pushing the wheelchair of an annoyed Akihiro from a long hallway. Fumie came down the twirling staircase with Marine lagging behind, and for the split second I caught her face, there seemed to be a sly smile on the former's. Knowing her, she was probably just excited for things to begin.

We were still missing a few, and just as I tried to piece together who they were, the doors opened from behind. I quickly spun around to see Hideaki standing between them, a worried expression accompanying his paling face.

"Oh, there you all are," he said, with bated breath, "You guys gotta come outside. Warren, Tsutomu, Mariko, uh... Ashlynn, they're- they're all on the bus already. C'mon."

Before I even had the chance to respond, Hideaki turned on his heel and walked past what we could see through the doors.

"A bus, huh? Well, let's go," said Kazuya, shrugging as he followed Hideaki out.

"Do not be so hasty!" Yoshio protested. Poor guy, I could see him trying to think of what to do; he clearly didn't want to listen, but it seemed he was starting to believe there was no other choice. I mean, if our own classmate was telling us to come outside, then things must be pretty bad out there.

"Let me go first," he eventually continued once he came to a conclusion. He walked up to the doors. "Stay behind me, and you'll be safe."

Sighing, Akuma walked past him and headed outside.

'Dammit, don't be a hero, you two.'

Still, I respected that Yoshio did technically volunteer to take the lead. We agreed it was finally time to go.

Once we were outside, the first thing we saw was Akuma on the pavement, wrestling with...

'What the hell? What is that?'

I wish I was imaginative enough to come up with something like this, but Akuma was losing a struggle against what appeared to be a robot, shaped like a monochromatic teddy bear. One half was a matte carbon fiber, the other a shiny pearl white, almost like porcelain. That half looked normal enough, with a single black beady eye and all, but the other was far more sinister, with a glowing red slash for an eye and an evil, stretched grin of fangs. I didn't know what to make of the thing until I remembered the black and white keycard and 'Monopad' I found in that hotel room. I figured they had to be connected to this black and white bear, and that sense of dread returned.

It spiked until it was all I felt when I looked around and realized we were surrounded by dozens - no, most likely hundreds - of the bears. They weren't all the same; some held miniature riot shields, some had wailing sirens attached to their head, others wore bulletproof vests and helmets, and the rest were like the image in front of us.

"Akuma!" Yoshio shouted, as we broke into a sprint toward the scene.

However, before we could get there, the bear pinning down Akuma raised a paw to release a set of sharp claws that glinted in the moonlight, and sliced down towards him.

Akuma let out a pained hiss, and I saw that his arms holding the bear back were about to give out until Yoshio rushed in to deliver a straight kick at it. It fell hard, but in just moments, was back up with ease.

"Oi, what the hell?" said Akira, nonchalantly making her way through the crowd to observe. "Kuma, standby."

The bear, about to go in for the attack once more, froze in place before retracting its claws - in response to Akira, I imagined. We watched in silence as it simply retreated into the crowd, disappearing amongst its clones.

"You tried resisting, didn't ya?" Akira asked, frowning. She crossed her arms.

Akuma failed to respond, instead gingerly taking a finger to his chest, where I saw shredded fabric surrounding a single long cut. Thankfully, his finger didn't come back with blood.

"What's it gonna take for y'all to listen, anyway? Don't you realize what's going on here yet?" Akira asked, shaking her head in disappointment. "Just get on the bus already."

Only steps away now was the bus in question. At first glance, it appeared like any generic streetcar. I never did take the transit much; if I ever needed to be somewhere, it was usually in someone's SUV anyway, so I didn't quite know what to expect. However, once we were closer, I realized it wasn't just a generic streetcar anyway. I noticed the spiderwebs of cracks through the glass windows, and the thick layers of dirt caked within the tires. Splotches of dark red and brown covered the frame behind each wheel.

'That... doesn't look like an old ketchup stain, does it...'

Reluctantly, I boarded. I decided to just ignore the driver (another bear, this one wearing a collared shirt and tie) and find a seat.

Inside was everyone Hideaki mentioned before, so once the group outside settled in, Class 84th's nineteen person roster was all accounted for. The ground was littered with, well, litter, and lots of it - coffee cups, rotten food, torn newspapers, the like. The rotting food did a lot to create a stench inside the bus, and once the doors shut, it became harder to ignore.

We began moving.

Across from my seat was Akuma, who sat between Mizuki on one side and Tsutomu on the other. "Hey, you okay?" Mizuki asked, speaking softly.

"Hurts, yeah, but I've been through worse," Akuma replied, "it's just a scratch." He was clearly trying to wave it off, but something in his voice betrayed him and told me he was trying hard to hide it.

"I mean, that looks pretty bad," Tsutomu commented, leaning forward to observe from the side, "I don't think I'm gonna bother those things. Hell no."

Akuma returned nothing but a glare.

"What? I'm just saying. We should probably leave them alone, they're probably capable of much more than that," Tsutomu said, shrugging.

'Just what were those things? And what else are they capable of?'

'Akuma's probably lucky he made it out with a cut... if that bear was at anything less than arm's length, those claws would've easily went deeper.'

I tuned out of the conversation, glancing about the bus. People were huddled into different groups in different parts of the bus, some holding their own conversations, others trying to just hold it together. I also realized Theia had sat next to me.

'I don't know how long this ride will be, but I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts before we get there.'

"I'll be back," I said to Theia, standing up out of my seat. She nodded, and I heard Yuki start talking to her from her side.

I grabbed the overhead rail for support as I stepped through the trembling vehicle, watching my step around the garbage on the floor. I saw a group by the front, and decided to see how things were with them.

"Hey, Hiro," Warren greeted. I gave a nod in response.

"You guys doing okay?" I asked.

"Well, it was a right proper nuisance getting this damned thing on here," Akihiro spat, tapping on his wheelchair's armrest. "but this decommissioned sardine can had a working ramp, so I guess it wasn't so bad."

"To be honest, I think the ramp almost came off when I was pushing him up," Hideaki said, turning his head to the doors.

"Yep, I wouldn't be surprised if it did. That chair's nothing like I've seen in any hospital, that's for sure," Warren added.

"If I'm going to be confined to it, I might as well do it in luxury, no?" Akihiro frowned.

'I admit I've never seen a wheelchair with a leather seat... but, he has a point.'

"Let's hope our destination is accommodating," I said.

"Hah. We'll see about that," Akihiro laughed, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah. Okay, take care, guys."

I moved on. Next, I decided to check in on Eli, Mariko, and Ashlynn, just as it was getting to the point where all I could hear was the latter of the group.

"...that thing could've killed Akuma! Or any of us!" she exclaimed, to which Mariko agreed.

"H-Hey," I said, trying to force an opening.

"Well hello," Mariko replied, "doing some peacekeeping, Peacekeeper?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"You gotta talk to that Akira girl, Hiroto!" Ashlynn said, pointing a finger at me from her seat. I noticed her eyes were tinged red. "You know how worried I was just now? This- this is horrible!"

"I know. You're right, and I'll do what I can," I stated, before looking away for a moment. I was thinking about how afraid I was as well - if Yoshio didn't step in, and if Akira didn't stop the bear either, I wasn't sure what I'd have done. Probably enough nothing to lose my 'Peacekeeper' title.

"It's so strange. This all feels like a manga," Eli commented quietly from the window seat, looking through the broken glass.

"I wish that's all this was," I replied.

"Makes you wonder what's up with all those bears. They're robots, right?" Mariko pondered, and fiddled with the choker around her neck.

"I think so. With AI, too," Eli said, turning his head back to face us.

"Robots with AI...? What's all that supposed to mean, anyway?" Ashlynn asked. Her voice was beginning to quiet down, likely due to nerves.

"Well, AI stands for artificial intelligence, which would let them act on their own," Eli explained, and I spotted him lightly tugging at his gloves again, "they can't not be autonomous. There's too many to be controlled remotely."

"Wow. You're smart, y'know? Where did you learn all that?"

"...Um, from video games."

'There sure are a lot of gamers in this class.'

"You're probably right," I said, "now I just wonder who had the money to put all this together."

"Akihiro, maybe. He is a lawyer," Mariko suggested, shrugging. I couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

'That's one dangerous accusation, y'know.'

I said a few more words to them before moving on.

I realized Marine was sitting by her lonesome, at the back of the bus with a pensive expression on her face. It didn't surprise me that she was alone - she spent the summer alone, too. On campus, she'd push away anyone who tried striking up some small talk. And eventually, she even left the group chat we had. We learned that trying to associate with her was, usually, a waste of time.

'...'

So, I approached her, and took the seat across from hers.

She said nothing for a moment, instead watching me with a raised eyebrow. "Ryuzaki," she finally said, "this is a surprise."

"When do you plan to start calling me Hiroto, anyway?" I asked, with what I hoped was a welcoming smile. "It's just you and Theia who call me by last name. She just does that to everyone out of respect, so...?"

"It's not out of respect, I can assure you. The closeness of this class is something I'll simply never understand," she answered.

"Well, you know, you're always invited to be a part of it," I pointed out.

"Too late now. Not with all of this happening," Marine replied, shaking her head.

"Huh? Isn't now, with all of this happening, the perfect time to have allies by your side?" I questioned.

"Don't you realize I could tell you the same thing, then betray you? Don't you realize that anyone here could betray your foolish trust, Ryuzaki?"

"What...?"

"Come now. We don't know who's responsible for this," Marine stated firmly, "so why do you believe it's not one of us? Why should I believe it's not you?"

"That's a terrible way to live. I couldn't be paranoid about everyone - my friends - like that."

"Then you're putting yourself at a disadvantage."

I sighed.

'Maybe she has a point.'

'When did I get soft like this, anyway?'

'One of the first things I was taught was to not trust anyone outside of the Ryuzaki family...'

'What happened since then?'

Before I could respond, the bus suddenly hit the brakes with a squeal, rolling to a stop soon after. I turned my head over my shoulder to see what was going on, and noticed that we seemed to be in an entirely different area of the city. The doors opened with the wheelchair ramps coming down.

"I don't do this often, but I'm going to give you a piece of advice, Ryuzaki," Marine said as she stood from her seat, "swallow that trust of yours. That pride. That sense of heroism you have because the scouts call you a 'Peacekeeper'. We both know that's not what you truly are."

I watched her back as she walked past me, down the steps, and out the doors.

'I think... I get the hint.'

After digesting that whole discussion, I followed the class back outside, where the cold air came face-to-face with mine. We stood around for a moment, not knowing what would come next, until we were finally beckoned by Akira to where we were needed.

There, we would learn the realities of our new situation.

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[A/N:

o

it's happening

Thank you for waiting for this update, and I hope you enjoyed it. I tried to get mostly everyone at least a few lines of screentime in this, but if your character didn't get much, don't worry: they should be covered in 0-2, which I am working on atm. Speaking of chapter 0, I know this specific part was... quite long, but I don't believe the entire chapter will be very long at all. I'm hoping that I can wrap it up shortly and get right into chapter 1 with the first trial.

Another important bit to mention, the story title. I've shortened it to "Danganronpa: Yamanuha". I mentioned a different title before, but, eh, I changed my mind. Besides, the name Yamanuha starts to become more relevant starting with this update right here. Still, I prefer the shortened version over what I had before, which was a weird inside joke/reference to the RP that this is (loosely) based off. So uhh, there's some trivia for you.

I don't have much else to say right now, but 0-2 is in progress, so look out for that. Thanks so much for reading.