Danganronpa Zero

Chapter Four

A short while after leaving the laboratory, Yasuke Matsuda stood in front of a large door that exuded a solemn atmosphere and straightened his posture.

What are you so nervous about? He wanted to mock himself, but at the same time realized nervousness was inevitable. It was the first time he'd ever stepped into Hope's Peak Academy's inner sanctum, the staff building. It was the only building on the campus' east quarter that students were forbidden to enter, and sure enough - once he did he ended up having to explain the situation to several teachers who stopped him along the way. That wasn't enough, though - his final destination was itself a special place, even inside this forbidden building.

Yasuke Matsuda raised his head and stared at the door in front of him.

It was a pretentiously decorated wooden door that gave him the feeling visitors weren't welcome. The metal plate set in it read "Hope's Peak Academy's Steering Committee Meeting Room". This was the inner sanctum's inner sanctum. Even the teaching staff could not just walk in uninvited. Nervousness really was inevitable for someone about to enter such a special room. But, nevertheless -

"This really isn't like me..."

Matsuda cleared his throat. He tried to cheer himself up before he ended up swallowed whole by the oppressing

atmosphere. Then, he raised his fist and knocked twice on the door.

"This is Yasuke Matsuda, from Hope's Peak Academy's 77th class", he announced, slowly pushing the heavy door open. "...Excuse me."

The room was as different from a classroom as a room could be. The ceiling, pillars and walls were excessively decorated, in a way that Matsuda found gloomy. He stepped forward, the sound of his footsteps swallowed by the thick carpet.

"We apologize for calling you here on such a short notice". The voice was surprisingly light and cheerful. It belonged to Hope's Peak Academy's headmaster, Jin Kirigiri. Every time Matsuda saw the man he couldn't help but be astounded how young he was. In his mind, a headmaster was a middle-aged man with white hair, a mustache and a drab suit. Kirigiri, still in his thirties, was just too young for the job.

"Please sit down. It would be easier to have a conversation that way."

A large circular table stood in the middle of the room. Antique chairs were lined up all around it. "Excuse me", said Matsuda as he sat on the nearest chair, placing him exactly across the table from Kirigiri. The moment he sat down, he felt several pairs of eyes staring intently at him. They belonged to four old men who sat around the table at set intervals. Every one of them wore a pitch-black suit, as if they were on their way back from a funeral. Their ties were the same color. Their appraising glare felt to Matsuda as if someone was breathing their hot breath down the back of his neck.

"Do you know who we are?"

The voice was rusty, and Matsuda couldn't tell which old man it belonged to.

"You must be the members of Hope's Peak Academy Steering Committee."

"You have our sincere gratitude for all your help with that incident".

"......I don't know what you're talking about."

The wrinkles on the old men's faces deepened. They didn't like dodging around the topic of the conversation.

"There is no need to be cautious here. We know everything", one of the old men said. "You helped us with the interrogation of the student who first discovered the crime scene, didn't you?", said another.

The student who first discovered the crime scene. The second Matsuda heard those words, his heart began to beat faster. He tried to hide it by asking a question of his own. "...Do you intend to try and get more information out of that student?"