DANGANRONPA V2: ECLIPSE

Chapter 1: Clubs and Daggers Part 1

The sun was blazing over us as we all headed back over to the lodge per Monokuma's request. Tora and I had just barely enough time to drop all the supplies she collected off at our cabin before rushing to the meeting place in fear of being late. 

We were the last two to arrive. Even Rantaro was there, though he kept himself distanced from the rest of the group, as did Daiki. Were they distancing themselves for their own safety, or was it so they could get a better read on the rest of us? Both seemed fairly reserved, but not shy like Ruji. This was strategic. It was like they were already immersed in the game, even before it properly began.

"Alright, is everyone here? Everyone check for your roomies! Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed. 

I rolled my eyes, but briefly found myself looking at Tora. She was standing right next to me as always, so I didn't really have any reason to check, but I found myself checking anyway. Besides, it wasn't like she was difficult to look at. She was actually a super pretty girl. Not pretty in a way that made me jealous, but pretty in a way that made... well, I wasn't sure how to describe how looking at her made me feel. 

"Good, good, now, for the announcements," Monokuma beamed. "First of all, I'm glad to see that some of you have gotten familiar with our lovely little training center. I'm glad you're all taking this seriously!"

"The only reason we're training is to rise up against you," Yuuki announced, crossing his arms and grinning a heroic smile. "Not to fight each other. We're a team, Monokuma. And you can't break that. You can't turn us against each other-"

"BORING! Enough with the annoying hero-talk," Monokuma interrupted. "I've brought you all here to present you with your very first MOTIVE!"

Motive? What did he mean by that?!

"Motive for what?" Nori asked, sounding slightly annoyed. "You've already taken everything from us. Our lives, our hobbies, our families. All for what--to watch us kill each other? Well, it's like Yuuki said! It's not going to work!"

"Yeah!" Bashira shouted in agreement with the ultimate DJ. "No matter what you do, we're not going to let you win!"

Yuuki grinned and nodded in approval. I was glad his positive influence was spreading. If we could all agree to just join together and be a team, then there would be nothing to be afraid of. After all, Monokuma was clearly not going to hurt us. He didn't want to be the murderer. He wanted to turn us into murderers. All we had to do was not give him that satisfaction. 

"Maybe your little minds will change after this..." Monokuma laughed. The bear seemed to raise his arms, creating a glowing item above his head.

Each of us frowned at the strange object. What the heck was it, and how was it floating?

"Is that a spirit orb?!" Ruji asked, his voice shaking. "If it is, then please be careful. It's hard to determine which spirit orbs contain the souls of gentle spirits and which ones are hostile. Although, considering the fact that you're presenting this as a motive, I bet it'll be one of the more violent of spirits. Oh, please don't let it be a violent spirit. I-I'm not good at handling these kinds of things!"

He moved back behind Maikeru, grasping the security guard's shoulders, which I found odd because he was the ghost buster. I would think he'd be used to seeing strange things. Maybe he was a rookie at his trade. If that were true though, then how did he manage to become an ultimate?

The security guard rolled his eyes and pushed the ghostbuster off him, brushing himself off as if he was repulsed by being touched by Ruji. "Enough with your stupid ghost-talk," he hissed. "It's bad enough you kept me up all night with these lectures. You don't need to make everyone else suffer too."