Disclaimer: Danganronpa belongs to its rightful owner. I take no monetary gain upon writing this Despairification Project. All rights reserved yada-yada, let's get this over with!

A Danganronpa Fan Fiction

Written by NewMusic098

希望の邸宅での滞在と絶望の新しい波

"Danganronpa: Kibou no Teikaku de no Taizai to Zetsubou no Aratashinami"

"Danganronpa: A Stay at Hope's Mansion and A New Wave of Despair"

–

Prologue: A Despairingly Gloomy Stay at Hope's Mansion

That massive school stood conspicuously tall over its surroundings downtown...

Hope's Peak Private Academy, a place where all kinds of diversity can meet and take part in one another. Academics, sports, art, showbiz... You name it, it's there! The school brings all of the top students, the best of the best of the best of the best in those various fields together and help them grow. There's all sorts of people who get chosen by that school, and all of them are considered the country's "Hope". There's also this widespread fact that whoever graduates from that Academy will have guaranteed success in life. Though there's also the undeniable fact that only students who get chosen by the school itself can go there. Well, it is a top-notch school for top-notch students.

Walking through the streets as I looked at the envelope sent to me last week, I couldn't help but wonder if this was just good karma or a fantasy, and I'm about to wake up at any moment. This letter, signed and sealed by the Headmaster of Hope's Peak, is absolute proof that I, Hisagi Koten, was chosen to be a part of this year's class of "Super Duper High Schoolers". I still remember all the buzz everyone all over the internet was making when they first heard about the new batch of students. It's like a yearly event where they post up info about some of the students and make blogs about them, purely because they've already made a name for themselves and have that name circulating around the country for a while.

"Did you hear?! The Super Duper High School Racer is gonna be at Hope's Peak this year!"

"The Super Duper High School Memorizer will also be attending that school this year, I can't wait!"

"I also heard that that super famous teen artist is gonna be there! Man, I wish I could see her draw!"

"Forget that! I heard that the Super Duper High School Cosplayer is gonna be part of the class!"

"I think there's also a High School Joker out there this year!"

"How weird can this class get?!"

"The most popular one has got to be this High School Loser! What the heck!"

"Even a Super Duper High School Loser got accepted?!"

"Well, he is Super Duper..."

My eyes twitched as I remember the countless blogs pertaining to the Super Duper High School Loser. They have no idea that the guy they're talking about is the one standing in front of the school's gates, nervously trying to recompose himself as even more pressure got to him. I looked at the pretigious school right in front of me, then to the sides, where I can see all the students excitedly making their way to school.

Will I even make it here? I'm not even sure I have what it takes to be a part of this place. It's like I feel left out or something, but I might as well take this chance. If I graduate, I'm guaranteed for success in the future. Yeah, all I need to do is get through this, and I'm all set. Balling my fists, I fortified my resolve with a deep breath and a determined expression.

'The first step I take is the first step to achieving success. The first step I take in Hope's Peak Academy is a step filled with hope. Hope for me, hope for my dreams, and hope for the future...'

Or at least... That's how and what it was supposed to be. The very first step I took as I entered the grounds of Hope's Peak wasn't one filled with hope. I realized that now as the ground and space around me seem to crack, shift, then swirl into something like water, mixing and melding until it was completely unrecognizable. The last thing I remember before losing my consciousness was a faint color of red, and then everything turned black.

–

Darkness everywhere. As far as the eye could see, not a single spec of light to be found. That was the first thing I saw when I woke up somewhere. I was sitting down on something wooden, my arms under my head as I laid down on whatever surface it was, but I don't quite remember how I got here.

With a bit of effort, I raised my head to get a better view of my surroundings. Everything was absolutely dark, and even as I squint, I couldn't get a good look at anything. I felt like I was floating, like I was swimming in a sea of darkness, and I have no idea where I am. Suddenly the ground felt like it was moving, shaking, making me dizzy as well as nauseous. I couldn't hear anything, and somehow, I was glued to the chair that I was sitting on. With my feet still locked in place, the ground continued it's insufferable assault, and I have absolutely no idea what's happening. With confusion and fear circling my mind, I waited for whatever was happening to be over.

Just moments later, however, everything came to a standstill. It didn't feel like the ground was moving anymore, and when I moved my feet, I realized I could finally move about freely. I stood up slowly, expecting something to happen again, relieved that my expectations didn't come true. I sighed and stretched my arms and legs, trying to get the feeling back in them. It didn't feel like hours since I was sitting in that chair, but why did I feel so numb all over? That didn't matter at the moment, I still need to find out what the hell was happening.

"All right..." Now that I got my bearings back, I can finally get to the bottom of this. But as soon as I took a step forward, light flashed in before me, and I closed my eyes and shielded myself with my arm to keep myself from being blinded. What is it with all these weird things happening one after another? I wanted to figure it out, but something tells me I don't want to stick around long enough for me to find out. The light slowly began to fade away, and it's probably safe to guess that it's not going to happen again. I peeked an eye open to see what all the fuss was about, and I was surprised to see that I was face-to-face with a giant, red, metal door. It was designed like one of those old movie mansion doors, with gold rings instead of doorknobs and an intricate, ominous design carved into the metal. The only difference is that this one looks brand new. But what was a door doing appearing out of nowhere all of a sudden? And oddly enough, I feel something weird. It was like I was being pulled towards the door. I couldn't control my hand as it casually held on to one of the golden rings and pulled the massive door open.

Before I could even think about what's going on, I was enveloped in the strange light I saw earlier. I had closed my eyes out of reflex, and waited for the light to die out again. I heard the door behind me slam shut for some reason, and immediately, the light disappeared. I opened my eyes to see that the door was, in fact, closed shut. I walked over to the door and tried to open it again, but it wouldn't budge. After a few tries, I gave up and turned around with my eyes closed. Then, I opened them to the freakiest thing even I couldn't imagine.

I was in a classroom. Which ever way you look at it, from the wooden desks, to the white boards in front, I was inside a cramped up classroom, and the weirder part of it all is, I'm not alone. Standing across me were a bunch of people, I guess students, who were just as shocked seeing me as I am seeing them. They stared at me for who-knows-how-long while I try to remember everyone's faces. I think these people are going to be my classmates.

"Hello there!" A guy with a weird-looking dog hat wearing glasses waved over, breaking my concentration. "You're number twenty!"

With a confused expression I asked, "I'm...what?" It bothers me that he can be so friendly around someone who he only just met. I don't even know his name yet.

"You're a new face here," A red-hooded girl said. She was holding a sketchbook and had cat ears sticking out of her hood. "This is surely a strange situation we've gotten ourselves into, huh?"

"Y-yeah..." I agreed, avoiding eye contact. It's awkward making eye contact with someone you just met. "A-anyway, what did that guy mean that I'm number twenty?"

"He's just countin' heads." Another guy with platinum hair from across the room said. "Twenty, huh? What a rounded number, wouldn't you say?" He asked. That big smile on his face gives me the creeps, so I steered my eyes away from him slowly. I was faced with a girl with green, wild-looking hair, and that sneer of hers isn't something to ignore, either. Her chocolate brown eyes caught me staring at her, and I was terrified by the sudden glare I received.

"Huh? What the hell are you lookin' at?" The growl she gave sent shivers down my spine and back up again, and with a squeak, I quickly turned my head to another direction. I thought this was a school for privileged students? All I'm seeing are wackos, every which way I look.

"Uh, I don't wanna spoil the party or anything," A guy short brown hair raised his hand to call everyone's attention. He was sitting on one of the desks as he rocked a chair with his foot. "But does anyone have any idea what we're doing here?"

"We woke up somewhere dark," A girl short, grayish hair answered. "And then was brought here... Who brought us here, though? Was it ninjas?! The Mexican cartel?! Are we gonna be shipped off somewhere? Or is it aliens?! Oh god, aliens!" She began to panic and start muttering nonsense about how aliens abducted us and are now experimenting on us. Beside her was a girl seemingly fixing her dark purple hair, twirling it around her index finger as she ignored the rantings of the girl next to her. She caught me glancing at her for a second, and she smirked at me, putting a finger near her lips.

"Hey, pretty boy..." She said in a maliciously seductive tone. "Like what you see?" I blinked a few times, blushing furiously at those words. Before I could say anything, she added, "Just kidding~ You're not my type, anyways." She giggled a bit at that and began scouring the room, possibly looking for someone her type. She's making me feel sick, so I ignored her and kept looking at all the other students. Is it me, or isn't this a bit too weird? Despite being in a classroom, why is it that I can't hear any noise from outside?

"What the-?!" Someone suddenly exclaimed. We all turned towards the classroom door, which was left across from where I was, and found a guy with red hair trying to open said door.

"Is there something wrong?" A girl with blonde hair asked. The guy clicked his tongue, tried to shove the door once more, then gave up entirely.

"The damn door's locked..." He muttered. He tried kicking the door down, even doing so many times. He kicked it harder and harder each time, but the door just didn't budge one bit. He sighed then turned to face us. "Look's like we won't be getting out any time soon..."

"Uh, you think?" The green-haired wild woman asked sarcastically. "If you haven't noticed, the windows are pretty messed up, too! You prick!" She walked towards one of the steel-plated windows and slammed her hand roughly on them as she growled her sentences out. That's the first time I've seen steel-plated windows before, and it doesn't seem we can take them off that easily. The plates are so thick, and the screws on each of them vary in size. It'll be almost impossible for us to get out of here with those things blocking our way. Plus there was the door locked from the outside.

"P-prick?!" The redhead glared. "Why you-!"

"More importantly," The dog boy interrupted. With a tilted head and a finger to his chin, he asked, "Has anyone seen their phones? I can't find mine anywhere, and I know for sure I haven't lost it..." A number of gasps were heard before everyone started to search themselves.

"Wait, wait, wait..." The green-haired girl interrupted, glaring at the dog boy. "How the hell can you be so sure that you lost your phone? Maybe you didn't bring it just this once?" The seemingly stupid dog boy adjusted his glasses with his middle finger and smiled innocently at the terrifying woman.

"Because," he said, making a peace sign with his right hand's fingers, "I'm the Super Duper High School Memorizer. And as such, I know for sure, without a doubt, that my phone was not missing before I passed out. I'm sure you're all aware of this fact right now, right?"

"Tch..." A tall guy wearing a gray hoodie clicked his tongue. "My headphones and cellphone are both missing... And I never leave without them..."

"See?" The dog boy asked. "I knew I was right!"

"I wasn't talking to you..." The black-haired guy muttered. He then turned his back on the the dog boy, while the latter looked rather disappointed at the attitude taken towards him.

"Huh? He's right! My phone's missing, too!" The gray-haired girl exclaimed. "It's gotta be the aliens doing this!"

"I doubt aliens would want anything with our phones..." The redhead guy sighed, holding his chin. "But this is strange..."

"Badass!" A strange-looking guy exclaimed suddenly. "What a badass place for a badass dude like me!" My eye twitched visibly as the place got noisier and noisier. I might as well check for myself if what they're saying is true. For all I know, they could be pulling the rug from under me. I doubt my phone's missing, but just to be sure, I slipped my hand into one my pockets.

"What?" I gasped in shock. I looked and pulled my pocket inside out, even checking the other one just to be sure. My phone wasn't there, as well as any of the gadgets I brought along.

"What's going on here...?" A small girl that looked no older than ten squeaked, her hands balled into fists and tucked near chest. Her eyes seemed to get shiny as tears threatened to fall to her cheek.

"Fear not, everyone..." A white-haired boy holding a cross announced. "The light of God shall guide us down the right path!" He held the cross with both hands and bowed his head, closing his eyes as he did so. "Now let His Holiness's guidance calm your worrying souls!"

"G-God, huh?" A small blonde girl stuttered. "H-he wasn't there when I got an i-imperfect score on one of my tests, and He won't be here now!" She was shivering in the corner, as if she was trying to disappear from everyone's sight. Why did she bother to speak up if that was the case, then?

"Nah, my magic's gonna get us out of here!" A robed wonder exclaimed. But immediately after announcing that, "...But I bet no one's going to believe me... So I'll just sit in the corner here..."

"G-get your own c-c-corner!" The little blondie sneered. The crowd's getting rowdier and rowdier, and I think everyone seemed to forgot that we're trapped in this strange room with no possible means of escape.

"E-everyone!" A girl with gold-colored hair tied with ribbons loudly said. "This is no time to be fooling around... I surely hope that none of you have forgotten the situation that we are in, yes?"

"Of course not," The guy with the dog hat said again. "But does anyone really know why we went here in the first place? All I could remember was seeing a red door, and after that, I was stuck in this place."

"You, too?" The little ten year old asked. The guy with the hat nodded and hummed in question, then looked at everyone else.

"Did everybody here experience the same thing?" He asked them.

"Yeah, I did..." The hooded cat-girl answered. "It was weird... It was like I was being pulled in to door... I didn't even know I was opening it until I heard it screech open."

"Looks like everyone here had the same experience," The creepy, dark-purple haired girl spoke. "It's safe to assume that whoever is behind this was the one who forced us to open that door."

"More like led us to it..." I sighed.

"The question is, who made us do it, huh?" The green-haired girl asked. An eerie silence settled upon the room, and the temperature seemed to have dropped a few degrees. No one uttered a word, as if we were waiting for something to happen. And then, we heard it. That whimsical laughter that doesn't really fit the grim situation we're in. A laughter of enjoyment that shouldn't be heard in a crisis like this.

Achichichichichichichichi!

All of us turned and faced the front side of the classroom as the sound of laughing echoed through our ears. Something about that laugh isn't right at all, and things are about to get creepier. A moment after we faced the front, our attention was focused on the desk, where a strange stuffed animal that wasn't there before sat lifelessly. It was a stuffed tiger, who had orange fur and black stripes on the right side, and black fur and orange stripes on the other. Its eyes are also very different; one was just an ordinary button sewn on to it. But the other looked much more, mechanical, is the only way to put it. It's a large, green glass with an edgy design. Its mouth looks like any other stuff toys' mouths on the right, but it wore a sinister grin on the left side, and I could feel a malicious aura radiating from it.

"A-a stuffed animal...?" The ten year old asked, trying to get near it. But before she could start a step, the tall guy with black hair wearing a gray hoodie put a hand in front of her. His eyes were glaring at the stuffed animal, intently focused on it. It was making me nervous just looking at it. Suddenly, the stuffed toy twitched. Right in front of us, too.

"The stuffed toy moved?!" The magician exclaimed. "What kind of sorcery is this?!"

"I am no stuffed toy!" The tiger shocked us even more by replying to him, standing up as he did so. "I am Monotora, and I will be your host on this expedition!"

"Monotora?" I repeated. "The stuffed toy can talk, and its name is Monotora..."

"As I said, I am not a stuffed toy!" Monotora said in a dignified-like manner. "I am Monotora, and I will be your host on this expedition!"

"Expedition?" The redhead guy asked. "What are you talking about?"

"An expedition," Monotora repeated. "We're going to a place far, far away from here. That's what I'm talking about!"

"What?" The gray-haired girl exclaimed, her eyes wide and bringing up a hand. "Aren't we supposed to go to Hope's Peak Academy? What are we doing here?"

"Achichi..." Monotora crickets, bringing a chill up my spine. "You plan on going to Hope's Peak? You must first finish this expedition!"

"What the hell expedition are you goin' on about?!" The green-haired woman growled out. Monotora only laughs as he brings out a controller from somewhere and pressed the big red button on the middle. The ground began to shake again, and loud siren sounds could be heard echoing throughout the room. With our ears covered and our legs trying to keep us balanced, we could only watch as the walls of the sealed room we were in collapse backwards, creating a cloud of dust that obscured our vision.

Confusion aside, we were all shocked to see the results of what Monotora did. With the walls undone, we were surprised to find ourselves still locked up, but with far bigger space than the cramped up room before. The windows were still barricaded, so we didn't know where we were being held, and when I turned around, the door was made of solid metal, like a vault door that needs to be opened with a special key. The maroon-colored wallpaper covered the entirety of whatever place we were in, and red wool carpeting covered the floors. There was a wide staircase with wide, wooden railings stretching all the way up, then splitting to two directions. A large painting of Monotora was hung on the wall just by the wall where the stairs would intersect. Doors led from which every direction as everyone got a good view of what this place is.

"What is this...place...?" The little blondie asked, shivering still.

"Welcome to Hope's Peak Mansion!" Monotora announced. "As the young students who represent the hope of humankind, you all must be taken care of properly. And what is more extravagant than a stay at Hope's Peak Mansion?" He put his paw in front of his face and continued, "Although, the duration of your stay has not been discussed yet, so I would suggest you get comfy here, since you'll be staying here indefinitely..."

"What?!" Was our only unison response after hearing that bullcrap of a statement.

"Indefinitely?!" A boy with orange hair and blue eyes asked angrily. "There's no way you can keep me locked up here indefinitely! What about the mecha-anime I'm tuning in to, huh!?"

"U-uh, minus the last part, I agree with him..." The platinum-haired boy nodded. "That's not right, keeping us here when we should be in school..."

"Damn right!" The green-haired woman exclaimed. "Like, what the hell is your excuse for locking us up here, you sick freak!"More and more people kept ranting at the stuffed-tiger, and for a while, he didn't seem to mind them. He looked like he was thinking, which made me even more nervous of the things he has planned for us.

"Oh dear..." He muttered in sarcastic worry. He didn't even bat an eye at all the people glaring at him so hard. He was so calm all throughout this, and it's making me even more nervous. "It seems you have more than complaints for me... Well, I can't take all your half-assery right now, for I am very busy. I'll be back before 7 pm, so hold your complaints until then. We will meet up at the dining area over there..." He pointed his paw to the far left of the giant lobby-like place we're stuck in. "Well, so long, cretins!" With that being said, he disappeared, leaving only the sounds of his laughter. He didn't even wait for any of us to respond before disappearing. He just poofed and gone, just like that.

"W-what the freakin' hell?!" The redhead asked in shock. All of us were still under the impression that we were trapped here with no chance of escape, and stayed silent at the time. The one that spoke up again after a few short moments was the orange-haired kid.

"H-hey!" He began, trying to catch our attention. "Let's all not lose hope, okay? I'm sure there has to be a way out of here! We just need to find it!"

"M-maybe he's right..." The girl with the cat-hood agreed. "All we need is a bit of determination, and I'm sure we'll find the exit before Monotora comes back!"

"I'm not so sure about that..." The magician, or whatever he was, spoke out. A girl wearing beige shorts right beside him was jogging on her spot as she seemed focus on something.

"All right..." She muttered to herself. "E-everyone, let's split up and find an exit! I'm sure we'll cover more ground that way!"

"Not a good idea..." The redhead said. "I mean, what if that stuffed-tiger appears out of nowhere and does something to you?"

"Huh?" The dog boy, the High School Memorizer, asked. "What do you mean by, 'does something to you'?"

"...I think what he's trying to say is..." A guy wearing a weird-looking face mask butted in. He was at the edge of the group, near the dining area entrance. "What if that strange character tries to kill you while searching for an exit?" A series of gasps and states of shock broke throughout the room, only to be shushed by the priest-like guy in front of me.

"Calm yourselves, children of God." He declared, still composed despite the heavy situation. "Join me in prayer as we seek guidance from His Grace and-"

"Ah, shut yer trap!" The green-haired woman snapped, shocking the poor priest in the process. "We don't wanna spend our time kneeling on the ground like we're in a damn sermon! We need to look for an exit, fast!"

"How do you suggest we do it, then?" A blonde wearing a green polo and pink skirt asked. "Though I doubt that Monotora-san will try and attack us, I also doubt that we'll be safe investigating this place all by ourselves..."

"How about we split into two's," The dog boy said. "We're twenty people here, right? So each of you, take a partner with you and investigate a part of this place. We'll come back to this place just before 7 pm." He pointed to the clock above the door frame that led to another room.

"All right," The purple-haired woman huffed. "Does anyone else have any bright ideas?"

"I do! I do!" A petite girl with short, pink hair exclaimed. "If by chance, that scary-looking tiger attacked any of us, we should scream as loud as we can so the rest of us can come to the rescue!"

"I thought that was already a given..." The tall guy with the hood muttered to himself. The pink-haired girl giggled and patted the man on the leg.

"Oh, don't be silly! Not everyone here is as smart as me! Tee-hee! Just kidding!" She giggled a little and clung to the guy's pants... That was a pretty awkward thing to say.

"So, it's decided." The redhead announced, looking at the clock, then back to us. "Everyone find a partner and investigate the area. Do not go anywhere without your partner, understand? The time is 5pm, so everyone be back here before 7, alright?"

With a nod of agreement, everyone headed off to find a partner. I never planned to investigate this place in the first place, especially now that we had to pick a partner. I don't do well with social events, given my title. Pretty soon enough, the pairs slowly started to disperse and begin their own investigation. The only two people left here were me and the dog boy, who was smiling at me for some unknown reason.

"W-what?" I asked, a little embarrassed that someone was staring at me. He only smiled wider and walked closer to me, extending a hand of greetings.

"Let's go, partner!" He exclaimed. Partner?! I never agreed to be this guy's partner, and there is no way I'm agreeing to it now!

"I never agreed to be your partner!" I exclaimed, backing up a bit. "And besides, I don't even know you! You go with someone else!"

"But everyone else already has a partner..." He said, dropping the greeting handshake. "Don't you think it would be a bit unfair if we're the only ones who don't have a partner? Plus, we'll have a higher chance of survival if we team up, right?" Even though I don't want to admit it, he's right. There's no way I'm going to walk around this place alone, and he's the only one here.

"Fine..." I reluctantly agreed. "But don't expect me to be all friendly with you just because I'm your partner!" He nodded, but kept that strange smile of his.

"Oh, shouldn't we introduce ourselves first?" He asked. "I'll start us off. My name is Nidia Galide, and I'm the Super Duper High School Memorizer. Nice to meet you!"

"I'm... Hisagi Koten." I said, not looking at him. "Okay, now that we're through-"

"No we're not." He said, interrupting me. I looked at him with a confused expression on my face, and he raises a finger in front of me. "You didn't tell me your Super Duper High School ability. That's a bit unfair, don't you think?

"Life's unfair," I said, turning my back to him. "Let's just investigate this place so we get the hell out this place... I need a serious nap after all this..." I muttered the last part to myself.

"Oh..." He responded, looking a bit down. "Okay... Let's just... investigate..." I walked away and began my investigation, not caring whether or not he followed. As I said, I don't do well on any social events, even as introducing myself is a pain in the ass. Having said that, I have no intention of being friends with anyone here.

Since we're in this room last, it might as well be the place we start our investigation. This place appears to be the lobby, or at least the place nearest to the entrance. Speaking of which, I went over the sealed metal door, trying to figure out if we could open it or not. There were security cameras in every corner of this room, and the door's pretty much guarded with heavy weaponry. There were machine guns located above the door. I think it's there to keep us from trying to open the door. The bottom line is, we can't get out through here. The windows, as expected, were barricaded with metal plates, so that's off the list, too. There are different rooms that connect from this place, and the stairs lead to another floor.

"Hey, Hisagi-san!" Nidia called me. He was investigating the top floor, and I can't really ignore him if he's found a clue, so I casually walked over to where he was to see what he found out.

"What is it?" I asked as I arrived. However, my attention was caught by the shutters that blocked the way to another set of stairs up here.

"Strange, isn't it?" Nidia asked. "Not only is it blocking our way, but the fact that there's another set of stairs here means that there are more floors leading up. Plus, there's that." He pointed towards the other end of the staircase, which was also blocked by shutters. "There must be some places where we aren't allowed to go yet."

"Why are you even telling me this?" I asked irritably. "Does this help with our investigation?"

"Why yes, it does." He replied simply. "With this discovery, we can safely assume that there are some places Monotora doesn't want us to go to yet. This means that our chances of escaping are slim to none."

"W-what? Seriously?" I asked in shock. He nodded in response before continuing his monologue.

"Also, it seems that he's going to keep a very strict eye on us, given that there are security cameras occupying almost every corner of this place. I don't think it's a stretch that he's planning to keep us here for a long period of time..."

"R-really...?" Again, I asked him. I thought he was nothing but an airhead, but given his title, I think I made the wrong assumption.

"See that monitor over there?" He asked me, pointing above the Monotora painting. I looked up and saw a wide-screen monitor hanging above the painting. "What do you suppose that is?"

"I-I dunno..." I muttered, completely stunned by his investigative abilities.

"My guess is that it's used by Monotora somehow, but now's not the time to discuss all that..."

"T-then, what do we-"

"Welllll, that's just my guess!" He suddenly laughed off. "I don't like talking about all that stuff! It's stressful! Oh well, back to investigating! Say, where do you wanna go next, huh?" He asked, smiling that wide smile again. Well, he seems like a nice enough person, but I still don't know if I could trust him. After all, anything could happen while we're stuck here.

"Uh... I don't know..." I muttered in slight awkwardness. He dropped the smile a few centimeters then looked around a bit. He looked back to me a few seconds later with a curious look on his face.

"Hmm... How about we go check out the dining area. That's where we're supposed to meet Monotora, right?" He asked. Well, he's right about that, that's where that creepy stuffed-tiger told us to go at 7pm. But I don't think I want to go there just yet.

"How about not..." I said. "If we go there now, he might catch us, and who knows what he might do to us." He blinked a few times at that, then tilted his head. What's up with him and tilting his head all the time?

"I guess you're right..." He said. "Then why don't you pick where we should go next?" He asked, shoving and pushing me down the stairs with a gleeful look. We reached the bottom with little effort thanks to him, and he put his hands over his hips as he looked at me expectedly. A drop of sweat rolled down the side of my cheek as I looked at that expression. I turned away and looked at the places we're allowed to go. To the far left was the dining area, and there's an open frame beside it that seemed to lead to the kitchen. There were double doors at the center that caught my eye. To the right, there was a long hallway just opposite of the dining area, and another open frame leading to the living room.

"Let's go this way," I said, going to the place the caught my eye the most, pertaining to the double doors at the center of the left side of the hobby. He nodded and followed, just like that. I don't know if he's trustworthy or just plain obedient. Either way, he's a great help. Walking closer to the two doors, I took their handles and checked if they can be opened. They screeched a bit when being slowly opened, but they moved, so I guess it's somewhere we can go.

The inside of those double doors were a series of rooms lining up the walls, particularly ten rooms on each side. Each room has a nameplate with our names printed out, and it's even gone so far as to put our faces on the nameplates. I had the virtue of having the first one on the left side, while Nidia was third on the right side.

"What are these rooms?" I asked aloud. When I tried to open the one with my picture on it, the doorknob wouldn't turn. It must be locked from the inside, but I'm still wondering about this place.

"These must be our bedrooms." Nidia concluded. "The fact that they're all separate from each other, and the fact that each door has a picture of one of us proves that much."

"Well, we can't open them yet, so it's pretty much useless information..." I sighed. "Let's go check out the living room."

"Okay~" The dog boy replied. "You're talking to me much more often now than you were a while ago. Does that mean you want to be friends with me?"

"It doesn't mean anything! And I don't want to be friends with anyone like you! " I retorted rather violently. I had a fist up and shaking, shocking Nidia, who backed away a little. He brought his head down and turned towards the door.

"I see..." He muttered. "Let's just go to the living room, then..." He opened the doors and went out to the lobby without a single glance at my direction. I lowered my fist as I stared at the doors, then clicked my tongue before walking after him. By the time I got out of that place, he was already entering the living room. I wouldn't blame him for trying to avoid me now after what I just did to him. But that's the reason why I'm dubbed as the Super Duper High School Loser. I can't have friends for more than a few minutes before I start talking crap. Either way, I can't let him wander around partnerless when he was the one who suggested the idea in the first place.

I entered the living room, and I found not only Nidia, but also two other people. One was the strange girl with dark purple hair that was giving me the creeps earlier, and then there was the girl with a cat hood on. She was drawing a sketch of Nidia as he stood melancholicly, one hand balled into a fist under his chin, and the other under his elbow. He was just staring down at the glass table, and the girl was sketching him with quick percision. She's one hell of an artist, that's for sure.

"Oi, Nidia-"

"Yyyyooooouuuuu!" The silver-haired girl suddenly exclaimed, pointing a sharp pencil in front me. "Hisagi Koten-kun, are you not?" I nodded, then she continued. "You and Nidia-san only just met and you're already being mean to him! I can tell I'm not going to like you!"

"T-the hell I was being mean to him!" I retorted. "And how would you know that we fought, anyway? He just barely got here!"

"I can tell if people had a fight or not! And you, my friend..." She laughed a little, before doubling the pencils she's pointing at me. Where the hell did she get that extra pencil, anyway? "If it weren't for the fact that our first priority was getting out of here, you'd be pencil shavings right now..." She withdrew the pencils she had to her jacket sleeve before turning tail and sitting down on one of the sofas.

"And for the record," The creepy girl said. "She's the Super Duper High School Artist, Fate Kurosaki-san."

"Ayame-chan, don't tell him my name!" She exclaimed to Ayame, the purple-haired girl, I guess. "He might start being mean to you, too!"

"Oh, don't worry about that..." Ayame brought a finger to her lips again. "As the Super Duper High School Flirt, I can assure you that no man can resist my charms..." She then steered her eyes towards me, sending chills down my spine.

"Now..." She licked her lips, coming closer to me. "How would you like me to punish you?"

"P-punish?" I repeated.

"Of course," She answered. "Surely you know that, your actions against Nidia-san will not go unpunished, correct?" She gently grabbed me by the sleeve, and I can still feel the chills her aura's sending out. "Now..."

"Ayame-san," Nidia suddenly called the girl. "Thank you for letting me investigate the living room. I learned a lot!"

"Oh..." Ayame said, letting me go and crossing her arms. "You're done already?"

"Mm!" He said with a nod. "I'm finished here, so I'll move to the next room. Thanks again, Fate-san, Ayame-san. Hisagi-san, let's go to the next room..." Nidia neither had a happy expression nor a sad expression at mentioning my name. It's like he didn't get all melodramatic by the bedrooms earlier.

"Wait, wait..." I said. "What did you mean you investigated? You just got here... And you're finished already? Since when excatly did you begin your investigation?"

"The same way they did," He said. "I began my investigation immediately after I got here..."

"Wha-"

"Well, let's not waste any more time..." The dog boy interrupted with a smile. "There are still places we need to check out! Let's gooo~!" He cheered all by himself as he went to the next room, and I could still hear him cheering on the other side, making me put a palm to my forehead.

"What a pain..." I muttered as I trudged after him. The two girls were busy with their own conversation that they completely ignored me. That's good on my part; I don't want to have to deal with them when I have Nidia as a partner.

The next room was, believe it or not, a gym. Gym equipment everywhere could be seen, and others are already testing them out. One was the guy who kept yelling badass in almost every sentence he dished out running on the treadmill, and the other was the guy with short, brown hair lifting some lightweights. Nidia was, again, stadning right in the middle of the room, not doing anything.

"Bad ass, bad ass, bad ass..." The runner panted. He then came to a screeching halt and jumped off the treadmill, grabbing a towel as he did so.

"Badass!" He exclaimed. "Nice to meet 'ya, folks! Rimo Kiriko's the name, and racing is my game! Yeah-heh!" Nidia waved at him and introduced himself, not much of a surprise there. The brunette walked over to us with a dumbell at hand, smiling.

"Yo!" He said. "I'm Setsura Minato, but you can call me Beat Master."

"Beat Master?" I asked. "What the hell kinda nickname is that?"

"I'm the Super Duper High School Musician, that's what!" He exclaimed. "The ladies love calling me by that name! No, no – more like, screaming it!" He snickered perversely as his mind drifted off somewhere else.

"Badass!" Kiriko announced with a thumb's up. My lips twitched to an awkward smile as I watch the perverted faces of the two.

"Eh... Ladies...?" Nidia asked curiously. I tapped his shoulder and shook my head when he turned around.

"I think it's best not to ask..." I said, looking at Minato's perverted smile. "There are some things that you wouldn't want to be curious about..."

"Ah... Oh, well..." He sighed, still confused about the whole thing, then shrugged my hand off him. "I'm done investigating this place, anyway. Come on, let's go." He started to go on ahead without me again, and it's really starting to get on my nerves. I went after him just as he left the door, and we came out to the halls. It intersects to three ways: In the middle led to a number of rooms, the right went back to the lobby, and the left had a giant glass garden where you could see a garden of sorts. Nidia chose the middle intersection, going to the number of rooms where some of the others probably were. But before he could walk away again, I grabbed his shoulder and spun him, making him face me. He looked surprised after what just happened, but I'm not happy with how things are going, either.

"What the hell, man?" I growled, trying to hide the fact that I'm getting real tired of him constantly leaving the moment I get near him. "I get that you're upset after what I said to you back at the bedrooms, but come on! You're not even investigating! You're just staring at empty space then leaving the room when I get near you!"

"And what's so wrong about that?" He asked, those eyes behind his glasses seem to dull, as if he had no emotion to show. My eyes widen in surprise, making me let go of him and just freezing up.

"W-what?" I asked. "Of course there's something wrong with it! You're acting like a real a-"

"Just to put it out there," He began, stopping what was about to be another reason to make him hate me. "What basis do you have that every time I enter a room, I don't investigate?"

"Basis? Of course there's a goddamn basis!" I exclaimed. "You just stand there, staring at everything, then leave whenever I come near you!"

"That's your basis...?" He asked. I nodded reluctantly, because I didn't see him get fazed when I raised my voice at him. Suddenly, he began to snicker, then went to full-blown laughter, leaving me confused and a little bit more irritated.

"S-sorry..." He chuckled. "I just couldn't help it. See? This is why you need to learn how to be friends with someone you just met!"

"W-what are you t-talking about?" I asked, now completely dumbfounded. How does running from me translate to being friends with me?

"See how you misunderstand things about a person when you don't know them very well?" He asked. "Like, for example, you thought I wasn't investigating when I went room to room and just stood there, right? What you didn'tknow, is that I have a photographic memory."

"A...what?" I asked, still out of confusion. My mind was still processing how all of this can translate to being friends with me.

"A photographic memory." He repeated. "Normally, people with photographic memories tend to remember images for long periods of time, but mine is special. It's not just the images I remember... What I hear, what I see, what I feel, what I smell, and what I taste; I remember all of them, and I never, ever forget any of them."

"And that explains why you leave the room a few minutes after entering it... Because you've already memorized everything?" I asked, rubbing my head when he nodded. "I get it..."

"And you understand what I'm teaching you by doing all this, right?" He asked. My eye twitched and I took a step back, but sighed and nodded anyways.

"Y-yeah..." I answered. Taking a deep breath, I added, "You wanted to teach me about making friends..."

"That's righ-"

"But," I interjected. "that's something I don't do... I'm the Super Duper High School Loser, and I don't know how to make friends..."

"Really?" Nidia asked. "Then start with me, then! I'll be your first friend! Now, let's get going!" He marched off towards the rooms we were supposed to investigate. "Come on, Hisagi-kun! Time's a wastin'!"

"H-Hisagi-kun?" I called out. "H-hey! You don't have the right to call me that yet! Hey!" I ran after him as he turned right at one of the doors. When I skidded to a stop by holding the door frame, I saw Nidia, the little girl with pink hair, and the guy with the gray hood. They were apparently inside the laundry room. It has a ton of laundry machines in a row by the left side of the room, and the hooded guy was sitting on the chair near a desk by the center with the girl sitting on the actual desk, her feet dangling on the edge.

"Oh!" The pink-haired girl exclaimed, climbing down and skipping towards Nidia. "Hello there! I'm Nishiyama Nanami-chan, and I'm the Super Duper High School Cosplayer! Who are you?"

"My name is Nidia Galide," Nidia said. "And this is my friend, Hisagi Koten-kun. Say hi to them, Hisagi-kun..." He whispered the last part to me, to which I reluctantly agreed to.

"H-hi..." I muttered, not looking at them in the eye. Nanami giggled at my introduction and bounced over to the tall hooded guy, clinging to his pants once again...

"You have to make your friend say hi to others, too?" She asked. "I have to make Ryu-Onii-san say hi to others, too! Come on, Onii-san, say hi to our new friends!"

"Tch..." The guy clicked his tongue at the little girl. "Don't make me do such stupid things..."

"Oh come on, Ryu-Onii-san!" Nanami exclaimed.

"Ryu?" Nidia asked. He had this excited aura circulating around him as he looked at the guy named Ryu in front of us."As in, Kazuma Ryuuren? The Super Duper High School Tactician, Kazuma Ryuuren?"

"Yep! That's right!" Nanami said. "Ryu-onii-san is the smartest person in the whole universe! He's my favorite on the internet, and I follow all his gaming accounts!" Nidia was nodding to this the whole time, as if he was some crazed fan or something.

"I know, I know!" He said. "I've been doing the same thing, too! I've memorized all of his strategies, and I've memorized every game he's ever been on! He's by far the best tactician this generation has ever had! Even military officials want him to join the army!"

"Wait... You've memorized my games?" Ryu suddenly asked, a smirk decorating his face. "Interesting... I think I've heard of the Super Duper High School Memorizer before... But I never would have guessed it would be you..."

"Yep, the one and only!" Nidia said, pounding on his chest. "I never thought I'd get a chance to meet the Kazuma Ryuuren!"

"I never heard of him before..." I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Really?" Nidia asked. "He's a really popular internet icon under the name .Machina. He's played a ton of online games that should have required more than one person to win, ..."

"But Ryu-Onii-san is sooo smart, that he defeated the best of the best of those games, all by himself!"

"W-what?" I asked in shock. "All by himself? That's impossible!"

"I'm not limited to just games, you know..." Ryu mentioned. "You don't know what I'm really capable of doing."

"Really? But I think I've memorized everything about you, Ryuuren-kun..." Nidia smiled, putting his hands behind his back and shifting his weight on his right leg. "How you play, how you think, how you breathe... It only takes a few minutes to figure a person out..."

"That's myline..." Ryu opposed. "That being said, why don't we test that memory of yours, huh?"

"W-what?" Nidia asked in surprise. "Y-you think I'm lying? I was dead serious, you know?"

"Really now...?" The black-haired guy muttered. "We'll see about that..."

"W-what?!" Nidia's expression changed a second, and it scared the hell out of me, before reverting back to his calm and innocent-looking self. "M-my memory is 100% accurate, and I don't like it when people say otherwise..."

"I never said it was inaccurate..." Ryu said. "I just implied that it was lacking..."

"Lacking?" Nidia repeated through gritted teeth, his eye twitching. I could have sworn I heard something like glass break, but maybe it was just my imagination. The hooded man nodded, then smirked at Nidia.

"Just because you know how I play, doesn't mean you know how I think. And we'll use this place to prove that... There's a chessboard by the living room. Have you been there by any chance?"

"Yes, it was right beside the sofa that Fate-san was sitting on. What of it?" Nidia confirmed. Then, his eyes widened at sudden realization. "You mean... I get to play against the world renowned Super Duper High School Tactician? That's... that's amazing!"

"Heh... That will prove whether what your saying is true or not..." Ryu said. "Now get out of here, this is the only place I can find some peace and quiet, and I'm already occupied as it is..." He put his hand on top of Nanami's head and rubbed it. "You're a real handful, you know that?"

"Well, anyway," I said. "We're done investigating here, so we can go. Right, Nidia?" He was staring into open space when I looked at him, like he was in some sort of daze. I had to pat him on the shoulder to make him snap out of it.

"O-oh, that's right!" He said, laughing awkwardly. "Well, I'll see you in a while, Nanami-chan, Ryuuren-kun!" He turned his back on them, a satisfied expression on his face, and started to walk out the door with a skip to his step. I don't know how, but I think he just stepped in a whole new level of weird. I didn't even think that was possible! But I followed him out nonetheless, we still needed to investigate a few more places before 7pm. Thinking back, the places we visited were the lobby, the bedroom area, the living room, the gym, and the laundry room. There were still a lot of rooms that we needed to investigate. The next room we went to was the room adjacent to the laundry room. It wasn't really a room, more like a storage closet. A ton of cleaning supplies and other stuff packed the closet to the brim; I almost dropped a bucket on top of me when I opened the damn thing. That aside, we decided to go back to where the hallways intersect, since time was on the essence and we need to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings.

"By the way, Nidia..." I said as we walked. "You never told me what you found in the living room and gym. I need to know at least a little bit of the places we've been to."

"Oh, right..." He replied, chuckling a little bit. "Alright then, I'll lay it out for you. The living room has red carpeting like the lobby, and it's pretty much ordinary compared to a lot of family rooms. It has two sofas found across each other, a low glass table at the center with a flower centerpiece, and a bright red couch right across it. There's also a large fireplace with wood stockpiled that could last us a few days, given if we stay here that long. The chessboard Ryuuren-kun was referring to is located next to the sofa near the door to the gym. Two security cameras watch every angle of the room, so it looks like I was right about Monotora keeping an eye on us. Oh, and there's also this big monitor screen just above the fireplace, and I still don't know what it's used for..."

"Okay..." I nodded. "But what about the gym? Is there anything important we can note on?"

"Um..." He hummed, cupping his chin. "I don't think there's much we can put any fine detail on. The gym is packed with heavy exercise equipment, and at the end are lockers lined up against the wall. There was also an open closet beside those lockers where a ton of tracksuits hung out. Other than that, the only other suspicious thing about that place is the big monitor screen, and the security cameras that are still watching our every move."

"I guess this place is just your average, not-so everyday mansion, then..." I sighed. "But why the hell are we locked up in here in the first place? I mean-"

Ahem! Ahem!

The loud coughing of Monotra resounded throughout the entire mansion, and we could only look as the monitor screen just practically above us lit up in blue light to show Monotora, his mocking grin making me shiver with something unpleasant.

"This is a PA Broadcast!"He said. "A quick reminder: our general meeting is one hour from now. We meet at the dining area at 7 pm, and I expect all of you to be there! Anyone who disobeys the rules will get a severe punishment, courtesy of me! That is all... Enjoy this wondrously gloomy stay here at Hope's Peak Mansion! Achichichichi...!"

His laughter kept ringing in my head even after the broadcast had come to an end, making me feel more uncomfortable after having reminded us of what's gonna happen an hour after this.

"Guess we know what those T.V. screens are for now, huh?" Nidia jested. "We still need to do a lot more investigating before we meet up with Monotora. After all, we never know what's gonna happen... So let's just do our best to try and get out of here..."

"Right..." I muttered. That's right. All we need to do is get out of here within an hour. How hard was it going to be? I'm sure there's hope waiting for us around the corner, I'm sure of it! With my focus and resolve renewed, I continued my investigations with my elusively weird partner.

–

To be continued...

Surviving Students: 20

Author's Notes:

For those reading this, I'm sorry for the cliffhanger... :( I realized that if I kept on going, it'll be too long for anyone to read and get interested in it. So I decided to cut it and wait to see if I did it right. Although that's not my true intetion, it's still worth trying, right? :)

Anyway, I'll be updating again next month, though I'm not sure when. Just make sure to check in every once in a while~ :D

And by the way, how was this chapter? :) Was it good? Satisfying? Something needs improving? Any remarks, comments, violent reactions...? Anything? :) Just comment/review, and I'll be sure to read it! XD Well, that's all for me, so see you next month!

NewMusic098~