what truly is insanity?

chapter one: a clock that stopped

chapter one: a clock that stopped        

"I'm sorry, Naegi. There's no other choice," The girl spoke, a few tears falling down her face.

He sighed, frowning. As the girl finally pushed him off the stairs

——

He hit the floor with a harsh thud, his head twisting 360 degrees. His eyes drooped close, as the ruby liquid spilled out from his head. The cold embrace of death welcoming him was a pitiful sight. But, It was no shock to Ultimate Lucky Student. Neither when his eyes opened to a familiar black void. God forbid, he was going to get through this round.

Naegi Makoto. That was his name. Although, the thought of it gave an odd bitter taste in his mouth. A small teenage boy. Who would believe that he had died over 499 times? No, not even Naegi himself would believe it.

If you asked him to name 50 ways to die. Naegi can give you 100 ways, in 5 minutes. Thanks, 78th class. He's been blended, gutted, stabbed, crushed. Thanks, Kirigiri. Eaten, frozen, drowned, hit on the head, poisoned, sliced in half, suffocated. Once again thanks to the 78th class. And a lot more if he checks his notes.

Naegi flipped over on his back, his eyes facing upward. A 2-minute timer was set there right in the sky. He sat up and moved his knees closer to his stomach. He gave himself a soft small,  and pushed himself forward, urging his legs to walk. Although it seemed like Naegi was walking nowhere, he was looking for the spot, where the void had given him a desk.

" Please, don't tell me, they got rid of it.." Naegi voiced his worry to no one.

But the worry was short as he ran into the pink desk. Naegi inhaled a deep breath, then a small smile flashed. He looked back up at the sky. 1 minute. "Okay! Just enough time."

He grabbed a torn sheet of notebook paper from his pocket. Loop 500, was messily written on top of it. The desk had a myriad of notebook sheets on it. He flipped onto the back of the sheet, grabbing the pencil he had taken too. Loop 501. A beeping sound was heard from the sky

"I'll just finish it, at the desk." He replied quietly, as he lost all weight in his body. His head hits the desk, and his vision slowly fades to black.

Naegi sighed, his eyes opening. "Yay... He was back at his desk." He mumbled, angrily. He thought maybe this time, he would have escaped from his nightmare. Naegi was still lacking a plan. I'll just wing it this time. He thought. He still had a good 15 minutes, until Monokuma showed up. He might head down early and increase his friendship with Ḿ̸͎̩̹̱̟̲͈̫̻͖͍͖̰̰̖̇̍͗͗͂̎̍̒͒̍́̌a̶̱͍̠̣̯̱̭͖̺̝̱͆͆͐͑̄͆̐̈́̾̍͗͑́͌̐͛̂̂́̈́̂͝i̴̟̔̑̈́̎̈́̍̀̿̉̔͗̈̐̅͛͘z̵̡̟͖͔̼̘̠͚̗͂̊̿̉̇̌́̚õ̸̗͇̗̯͍͕̹̆̉͊̏n̶̘̟͔̺͖̣͕̣̟̯͎̥͚̽̀̋̒͆͌͂̏͛̎̃̆͐̓̑̍̈́͘͝o̸̺̖̗̳̣͍̩̞͉̲̔̉̅̈́̏͗̾͠. But the thought of that scared him.

Š̷̻a̸̠̕y̵̘̌ä̸̠́̄͜k̸̨͇̋a̴̡͍͌͆'̶͙̹̋͋s̸̻̥̀ ̸̻̮͑l̵̥͛́i̴̢͓͂͌m̴̡̤̄p̸̣̃͘ ̴̘͒b̷̧̞̂o̴̭̒d̶̮̭̾ÿ̵͚ ̶͎̹̒́w̴̭̫̏a̸͙͉̿̚s̶̪̓ͅ ̸̱͆̉i̴̱͋́n̷̜̐̚ ̴͉͒h̵͈͙͂͌i̴̞̅͘š̶̠͈̓ ̸̼̾̅b̴̪͛̃ą̸̠̓͊t̵̰̉h̸̨̬͐ŗ̷͆̽ó̴̗̖̎o̵̮͂͝m̵̼̏ͅ.̶̺̕͜ ̷̖̈́̀H̶̢͕́̅e̵̮͒r̸̺̖̄̈́ ̵̨̘̓s̸̯̎ǐ̸͙͙̑g̷̦͎̈́͠h̸̬̀t̸̙͊l̴̰̽e̸͈̽̒s̶͚̝̊̓s̷̤̳͑ ̴̧̣̽͗e̵̱̎y̴̠̖͗͒e̷̮͖̽s̶̭̆̌ͅ ̶̱̹̇́s̶͙̈́͠ͅt̸͓̼̏̄ä̷̬͎r̴͈̟̿̍é̷̼d̵̀͜ ̸̡̑͠r̶̭̓͜ĩ̸͕̲g̵̟̔̕ḩ̷̙̄͘t̶̟̕ ̷̱͈̄̂i̶̢͕̚͘n̴̥̂̕t̶̜̱̕o̴̧͓͂̇ ̷̞̀N̸̟̹̋̃ă̸̟̆ẽ̵̝̜͝g̵͙̈́į̸̈́̽'̵̲̇͂s̵͓͆ ̸̣̆s̶̨͕̿̽ớ̸̹͙ù̵̘̟͋ḷ̷̢͗̎.̵͍͛ ̸̛̼̟Ḫ̷̆e̵̛̯͔̿r̸̢̰̐ ̷̦͝b̸̗͍̌l̷̘͑ō̷̠͓ö̷̹͕́̚d̷̘̐,̷̼͠ ̴͉̀̕l̶͎̰̈̆i̸̝͂ķ̴́ȩ̸̱̏̍ ̶̡̺͊h̸̭̎o̷̭͚̿͐ŗ̴̎͝r̶͉̦̎͘i̷̧̐d̷̖̭̂ ̸̡̮̇p̸̬̥̂͐a̵̝͇̔̕į̷̯̌n̵̬̲̓̉t̷͚̦͋,̴̡̝͗ ̶̡̖̓w̶͈͇̅̃a̵̫̍͑s̷̱̔ ̵͔̥͊s̵̠̜̏p̴̙̂͂l̶͖̩͊a̶͓̿ṫ̷̮̈́t̸̬̩̽̉e̵̹͝r̸̘̙͑͋e̴̹͛̓d̴̙̈́̄ ̷̩̖̉̽a̷̖̽͗ċ̴̜́r̶̨̿̈́͜o̸̓̕ͅs̶̯̰̕͘ṡ̸̳̪ ̵̱̀̊ṭ̵̼̍̈́h̴̨̗̄e̷̬͎̎̂ ̴̙̠͊b̴̝̓a̸̧̮͊̃t̴̠̲̏h̶̞̹̀r̶̖͌͜o̷͈̺͑ơ̶̢̆m̵̘͓͗͝ ̸͈͈̽̎ḽ̵̒́i̶͉̇̓k̸̛̳e̸̠̐̇ ̷̣̺͌̚ǐ̶̩̐t̷͚̔̽ ̶͔̩͌w̶̧͗͝a̷̩͠s̵̪̄̏ ̵͍̯̈́a̸̰̥̍ ̷̺̄̓͜c̸̪̫̀a̵̢̩͌ǹ̸̼v̸̗͌a̴͈͝s̸͔̝͊.̴̥̌͛ ̵̣͚̾͗H̶̝͋̂e̷͍̿̆͜ ̴̪̗͂h̷͔̕a̷̞͑d̵͚͉̓ṉ̶̤͂'̶͇̘̾̿t̵͕̖̎͗ ̵̯̣͋̀b̴̮̯̋̓e̵͕͠ȩ̵͌n̶̰͂ ̵̬̳̌͝a̶͕̍͜ẅ̴̢́̎ã̴͈͍̒r̸͔̍͜e̸̮͆́ ̵͉̌h̴̗͙̅e̸̫͗ ̷͓̕ẉ̵͝a̵͔̻̒s̶͎͓̋ ̶̖͆͜s̸̀̑͜͜c̵͕̳͝͝r̵̯͌̃͜ȅ̷̼̆a̸̧̻͛m̴͓͉͠i̶̢͐n̴̞̙̄g̷̫̩͂̄ ̴̫͋ṷ̴͛͝n̸̹̓͗t̶͎͒͜͝i̸̱̇l̶̜͠ ̵̼̈́ȟ̴̖͑i̷̞̐͜s̷̯̀ ̸͍͚͑t̵̲͈̂ḫ̵̄r̷͚̬̈o̷̘̜͂͐a̵̘͒t̸̻̦̆ ̵̦͗g̴̢͉̈́̾ă̷̡͓̕v̷̰̄̀ẻ̴͙̳̆ ̶͕͋̚ō̷͚̓ų̴̏͒ẗ̴̨.̵̊̽͜͜

He gave himself a shake, he was going to be fine. His breaths became even. He needed to establish relationships with, Maizono, Kirigiri, and Kuwata. He had learned that being friends with Kuwata made the 1 first trial end quicker. But, it didn't make it go any smoother.

Maybe, this time they wouldn't vote for him as the mastermind. Naegi covered his face, still shaking at the thought of going down. But in the end, he was aware it couldn't be avoided. He pulled himself out of his chair and sauntered over to the door, steadying himself.

He opened it and hoped for the best. He stared around, the halls empty. He sighed and rushed towards the gym. Maybe he would get there in time, so Kiyotaka wouldn't be that upset. He slowed his pace, he didn't want to give off a bad impression.

Naegi's mother always said you can only give one first impression. Naegi scoffed this was ironic, considering his 500 first impressions. He walked unless he reached the gym door. He pushed the door open, and the batch of brightly colored was awaiting him. Naegi felt like an ant compared to all of them.

" Why were you late!? We were all told what time the opening ceremony was!" A harsh voice sounded from in front of him. Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the Ultimate Moral Compass. Slapping on a mask quicker than, Celeste could, Naegi flinched. "I'm sorry! I overslept!" Kiyotaka sighed. " It is alright! Do not oversleep next time!" Naegi nodded, a bit embarrassed at the fact Kiyotaka had decided to call him out in front of everyone.

Naegi knew what he had to do next almost on autopilot, he moved towards Maizono, Kuwata, and Kyoko, being cheerful and upbeat with Sayaka, being cool and understanding with Leon, and silent but hopeful in front of Kyoko. He simply hoped this was good enough, to set the building blocks for the first trial. Hopefully, he will be able to avoid it. He finished up all his introductions with Class 78th and took his spot in the gym. He took some breaths and waited for Monokuma.

Naegi zoned in and out for the whole section of Monokuma, only snapping back to make distressed sounds or whatever he would have done at the beginning of the killing game. He pondered if he would be allowed to be punched by Oowada. He cut his inner dialogue off, and the heated argument of Togami vs Oowada was beginning. He had to be honest, Togami's insults were pretty creative.

He stepped between the two and opened his mouth. " Stop it! We shouldn't fight!" His shook voice a little but that was alright.

" Shut up, Goody two shoes! You think you're my fucking dad! "

He steeled himself, digging the soles of his shoes into the ground. The world seemed to almost slow down. " Remind me, to never take Oowado's punch again." He thought the sides of the world fading to black.

He peeled his eyes open, he was in his dorm room. Naegi sighed, falling back into his bed. " It didn't kill me... That would have been unfortunate."  He lies there for a moment just staring at the ceiling. Naegi wasn't in a rush, right now. He pulled his legs over the side of the bed, and on his nightstand was his Monopad.

He grabbed it, his hands tracing the familiar device. He sighed and switched it on. He went through the rules, checking for any new ones. He had learned to do this in the 50th loop when Monokuma had decided that they shouldn't open doors anymore. He muffled a giggle, after checking the rules. He lies back down, shutting his eyes. Hoping the darkness wouldn't take him away. He deserved a short break, just for now...