Next! Danganronpa 4 - Despair Beyond Hope

Prologue - Welcome to Hope's Peak

It's dark.

Why is it dark?

Not ten seconds ago, I was going... Where was I going?

Come to think of it, where am I now?

In the dark it's impossible to tell, moving around feels more like floating in a pool as opposed to standing on the ground. There's something in front of me, a desk? A table?  And another, and another... 

And a big one, Oh, I get it! This is a classroom! Logically thinking, the door should be... Right over...

Light! At last, the refreshing white embrace of the ceiling lights flood into the dusty old classroom. 

I suppose I should introduce myself anyway.
My name is Shima Tetsuhara, and despite what my current, confusing circumstances may suggest, all my life I've been blessed with enough luck to last me a thousand lifetimes. I could put the winning numbers on any lottery ticket. 
Problem is, luck plays by it's own rules. My brother threw a dart directly at me at a party when we were kids, I was in a corner, no way of avoiding it, but lady luck being the unforgiving maiden she is saved me with a low flying bird, right between me and the dart. 
Of course that's how I won... I remember!

I was going to Hope's Peak Academy! Today was meant to be my first day! 
Every year Hope's Peak Academy, an elite school for exceptionally talented high schoolers in their own individual fields, selects a name from a raffle, and the "Lucky" student who's name gets picked, gets in as the Ultimate Lucky Student.

Well this year, that's me.

Shima found himself wandering halls, this certainly looked like Hope's Peak Academy, it was similar to the pictures but also, not, at the same time. The pinboards on the walls were filled with what appeared to be kids drawings, each one labelled with a name and a talent, unsurprisingly none of the childish images were labelled with "Ultimate Artist".
On top of that, the windows were bolted shut with large metal plating.

Shima found himself wandering through the school with a sense of unease, the dust was settled as if no life had seen the building for years, and without natural light and the soft buzzing of dim translucent bulbs overhead, there was an uncomfortable feeling in the air, like he'd walked into someone else's dream. Or perhaps nightmare.

Just as the dread of realising he was awake started to set in, there were voices, a commotion nearby. Following the voices, Tetsuhara found himself approaching a set of double doors, flinging them open he found himself blinded for a moment, as he adjusted to the much brighter room, he found himself with a lot to take in.

Before him was a cafeteria, almost in the style of a 1940's American diner he'd seen on TV. Scattered around the room were 15 people, other students. Each one crazier looking than the last. From an overly buff ginger sitting on the serving station, to a guy sleeping face down at a table in what appeared to be pyjamas. 

"That makes 16 of us, a full class, I'm not sure why we're here in these circumstances, but it's a start at the very least" Came a voice from the crowd, belonging to a girl in a smart red school uniform. Not that Shima knew any of the people stood infront of him. He never bothered with the gossip sites and the media to find out who his classmates would be. 

"Great, so all 16 students in our class were taken hostage, yeah best news all day" Came a monotonous, cold voice from a boy in a harness with a mask pulled up over his mouth. Shima's eyes darted around the room, from girls in long dramatic gowns, to a pink haired boy who looked away the moment Tetsuhara's eyes landed on him.

Right as Shima opened his mouth to ask what was happening, he found himself rudely interrupted by the speaker system.