Danganronpa Midnight: Lantern Lament (Fanganronpa)

Chapter 2 - A Grasp of Fading Spotlight - Class Trial Opening

We each left the elevator one at a time, kicking the scattered pebbles that rested at the entrance of the class trial court.

Just great...A place I never wanted to see again.

Although...The dim cave we were in last time did face some changes.

The rocky walls of the cavern had pillars now erected in them. Some scaffolding aligned each corner of the room as if something was being built around here. It seemed as if we were getting some new lights too as a few lightbulbs dangled from the ceiling, dropping a few rocks on top of our heads that we quickly avoided, coughing out the cloud of dust that had emerged.

Even the trial podiums had been polished, the rust having miraculously disappeared and replaced with a nice shine.

Looks like this place is going under some renovations. Well...if we're gonna be stuck here and forced to come to this dingy excuse for a court, I suppose it would be slightly better if it was tolerable to be in.

Kokoro stumbled into the trial room with her hands behind her back, looking down at her feet. Once she raised her head, her breath got caught in her throat and she began to panic.

Hidemi's eyes followed to where Kokoro was now staring and sighed. "Monokuma...Is this really necessary?"

"Of course it is!" The bear snapped at her. "I said it last time and I'll say it again, just because they're dead doesn't mean they should sit out!"

That's when I realised what they were talking about.

Over at the podiums were two more portraits to commemorate our dead friends. One for Shunsuke and now one for Yukari.

"Seriously? Even more?!?" I exclaimed. "This is just freaky."

"What do you mean by that?" Monokuma then tried to act innocent. "I'm just saying...They should still be able to join in! That's not a crime. They're here in spirit!"

"S-Spirit?!?" Shouko perked up.

"N-Not that kind of spirit, Sho..." Aki awkwardly laughed at her reaction.

"...I know." She sighed. "I wouldn't even want to hunt them anyway. I wouldn't be able to bring myself..."

"Ugh, who cares about your childish hobby?" Ryoko rolled her eyes, dismissing Shouko. "I know I'm not the only one excited for what's to come! Just who will be the blackened?" She did an over-dramatic pose as if she was presenting some cheesy TV show. "Well, we're about to find out. Ha, this is so exhilarating...I can hardly or even possibly wait! Am I dreaming...Ohoho! Someone, pinch me!"

"I-I actually will pinch you if you don't cut that out!" Kairi threatened.

"Do it!"

Kairi froze after Ryoko answered with hesitation. "...Ok, maybe you need more than a pinch!"

"That girl is weird." Satoshi sighed, saying what we were all thinking. "I still don't like her."

"I slowly starting to see what you mean." I crossed my arms. If only I could ignore her during this next class trial...

"Let's...just get started, ok?" Tatsuo exhaled a deep breath. "As Kenjiro said earlier, the sooner we do this, the better. I'm sure that's what everyone wants."

"If that's what they all want, then of course!" The bear chimed in. "Find your podium once again and prepare yourself for the second class trial!"

"I-I guess this is it..." Kenjiro stuttered, following behind the others who were already standing at their podiums.

I did the same, standing at the same one as last time, the familiar feeling on my shoes against the metal.

Can't wait to stand here for the next few hours...

But seriously...This is our second class trial.

Before, we had all promised to not kill. Then Shunsuke froze for a second and ended up murdering Akemi...

Then, Shimura got killed because of his wristband...

And now Yukari is dead on the floor of her own Ultimate lab. And on top of that, we all have to find the killer yet again.

But it's most likely that Yukari started the attack...So how did she end up dying? And what did the murderer do exactly?

Just what happened last night to make all of this mess...

Well, I suppose that's what we have to figure out.

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