𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞'𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 | Inquisitormaster & Zsquad| Danganronpa

☆𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎☆ || 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐬 𝐘𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡

FRESHMEN YEAR- MAY

~Alex's POV~

I should be excited now that it's finally here, but I don't think I am. This school year has passed so fast, yet so much has happened. I don't think I'm ready to become a sophomore (year 11), either. And it's only the second week of May, too: May 9th, the last day of Freshman year.

The thought circles my mind as I enter the classroom. Everyone's face is lined and highlighted with content and excitement, the room is lively with conversations of all varieties. What's going to be done over the summer, who's hanging out with who, some people exchanging phone numbers with each other, and some people slacking off with the uniform— not surprising to me at all. I did, too. The last week of school was like the "chill week" or the week to cool off before the official end of the school year came again. Today, I enter the classroom with only a crossbody bag as everything has been returned to my home. Right. The week before, we were all instructed to pack up everything we had brought to our rooms and have them transported back to our houses. Luckily — or so I think— we're going to have the same dorms next year as we did this year unless anything comes up. Seeing my walls so bare of the pink and white wallpaper broke my heart, but I forced it back together when they stored the wallpaper carefully to reapply next year upon my request. I love this school.

"Hey, Alex!" Charli greets eme xcitedly, strolling over to me before I approach the girls in the back. When I wave back, she asks, "So, any plans for the summer?"

"Nothing, really. I want to get some pieces that I've been slacking on this entire year done, and... Yeah, that's about it! What are you doing?"

"I don't know yet! But, Kat's having a party sometime in... June?" She looks to the athlete for confirmation, to which she nods. Charli takes it as a signal to go on, "For her birthday! For now, it's girls only. Soooooo, you up for that? It may mess with your plans?"

I laugh, a small smile blossoming on my face. "Yeah, of course. If it's okay with Kat herself."

"Of course, it is. Why do you think I'm over here?" Charli laughs, too, a vibrant and cheery laugh. Her dimples dig into her cheeks as she smiles, her phone in hand, and her finger swipes many times before she flashes the phone to me. Insisting, Charli beams, "Take a picture of it! Or— Wait, I can send it to you." She rolls her eyes at her absurdity, but I can only muster a heartfelt laugh. It only takes a moment for her to send me the picture and I feel my phone vibrate in my bag.

I jump up onto a vacant desk, fishing my phone out of my bag and looking at the notifications. Messages from unlabeled numbers that I had acquired during my trip around the room, and another that I had completely forgotten to reply to yet I know who had sent it. A day or two ago, I had asked Darkness to send me the intel she had heard while looking around the school for hints about Levi's disappearance— who had still not turned up.

Darkness's message alone screams caution, the tone of words merging with a few periods and commas scattered throughout the text. I understand it perfectly. And with the information she has granted me, I know where her anxiety sprouts from. Two men were conversing troubledly when Darkness had spotted them. Spying from the iron door shielding the science lab from everything else, the scientist kept her ears open for anything interesting or important, taking in the strangely ironed lintless suits they wore. Masks concealed their faces, she says, so it was a challenge to decipher their conversation. Darkness was determined to manage. And so, she did. The next words made my chest almost cave in on itself, a striking pain fueled by the ominous approach to the answer I'd been looking for. According to Darkness, they were talking about Levi, yet someone else was involved in the conversation, another person they had taken an interest in from the reserve course.