Danganronpa/D4DJ One-Shots

Class Trial Demo 1 of the Killing School Transfer

AN: Ok, so I know I said my series was going to focus on the pre-Despair, Hope's Peak stuff, but envisioning a D4 class trial was just too fun! So this is a snippet of how I think the game mechanics would work:

The podiums stood in a circle. The tile floor in the center was black like a DJ disc. The only color was a dash of red acting as the disc's needle, but it was oddly shaped, jagged, like lightning. Monochio reclined on a large, red couch behind the podium farthest from the doors. Once they swung open, the beckoning cat waved its 24 pupils inside with its tail, like a flag waving before a race. Perhaps that was exactly what it was.

It was a race against the clock. A race against one another. A race against the Head-cat-ster. A race against life, a race against death. A race against lies, a race against truths. It was a race against the class trial!

Trial. Start. All rise.

"Now, now, now, we've all seen this one before!" Monochio's nasally, obnoxious voice pierced the air. "Three times before, as a matter of fact! So rather than bore everyone with yet another repetitive rehash of the goals and rules of a class trial, I'm just gonna letcha get on with it! Nyahahahahaaaa!" Monochio raised a paw to its fanged-mouth, mechanical laughter echoing from its giant metal body. The only thing it gave them in the way of help was a tablet that it called a Pheline Fone, or PheFo. It could store clues, alibis, photos, and anything else useful in an investigation.

"B-but how are we supposed to start a trial without a case?" Saori whimpered meekly, unable to look up from her PheFo and meet her headcatster's beady little black eyes. They were soulless, especially the longer one looked into them.

"Oh, pooh! And you guys are Ultimates!" Monochio flicked its ears disdainfully. "Just start somewhere and go! You have to do that anyway!"

"S-sorry! Sorry!" Saori waved her hands and recoiled. "B-b-besides, my Talent... isn't very useful in this kind of situation anyway..." She sighed and hugged herself, self-conscious, no longer able to meet anyone's eyes.

"Don't worry about it!" Rika grinned, bumping her right shoulder against Saori's left. The way seats were assigned, every unit was together. Monochio sat right behind Marika. Saori was to her left, and Dalia right. If one could've seen the trial room from above and imagined it as a clock with M4 on 12, clockwise, there was Photon, Peaky, Hapiara, Lyrilily, and RONDO. "It's not Talent that matters, it's how you use it!" Rika continued. She raised a finger in the air importantly while Saori winced in embarrassment and Marika and Dalia chuckled quietly at her expense.

"Hey! I said let's get on with it!" Monochio interrupted with a snap. "Although, I suppose you do have a point. Can't really figure out whodunnit if no one dun nuthin! Now, I could be lame and just make up a scenario where Hiiro is killed in the bathroom and you guys have to determine which other student caused the struggle that was found in her room after the murder, but..."

"Why me?" Hiiro's eyes widened, and she cried out in alarm. "I wanted to solve the mystery, not be the one it's about!"

"Well, if you would've just listened the first time, missy," Monochio swished its tail and hissed at her tauntingly, "I'm not going to go with that idea! I have something a little more original, and even less complex! Perfect for a Class Trial Demo of the Killing School Transfer of Hope's Pinnacle!"

ooo

[Case Summary for context]: Nagisa is found tangled and strangled to death in a trap hanging from the ceiling in a hallway branching off the main entrance. Her body was found early morning by Ibuki, who had gone for a jog through the school. Nagisa was last seen the night before, after the 24 students had a dinner party that ended in everyone going their separate ways the rest of the evening and night.]