Danganronpa: Song Of Despair

Chapter 2: Motivation?

As I walked downstairs the following morning, a little before the morning announcement, I immediately regretted it. No one else seemed to be up yet, but I heard yelling coming from close by. Yelling coming from a girl who was usually calm and collected.

I couldn't help but take a small peek into the restaurant, seeing Jikkō with what appeared to be a wrinkled newspaper in her hand, and Monokuma in front of her. I moved out of view from the door, instead settling for just listening.

"How did you even find this?! It's from years ago!" Jikkō exclaimed.

"I have my ways~" Monokuma responded playfully.

"Why this?! Out of everything you could've put here for everyone to see, why did you have to choose this?!" The assassin yelled. This was the most emotion I'd seen- or rather, heard- Jikkō express since meeting her, and it sent a shiver down my spine. What did Monokuma do that was bad enough to make her lash out like this?

"Oh, I chose that because I knew it'd stir up the most bad memories~" Monokuma responded. "Hitting where it hurts, it's a great way to make people lose their cool- like you right now!"

"Are you doing this to everyone?"

"Of course! After all, emotional people get angry easily, and anger leads to violence, and violence leads to killing!"

"I swear, once I find out who's behind this I'm gonna-" Jikkō cut herself off, and I heard no reply. Monokuma probably left.

The door next to me fully opened, and Jikkō walked out. She immediately looked at me, glaring. "You know Kazuki, it's rude to eavesdrop."

"S-sorry..." I muttered.

Before either of us could say more, the monitors came to life, displaying Monokuma.

"Rise and shine everyone! It's now 7am, and night time is officially over. Get up and greet this day with a smile!" Monokuma exclaimed. "Oh, and everyone come to the front of the hotel at your earliest convenience!"

Wondering what was going on, I looked to Jikkō. "Should we go?"

"I don't think we have a choice." She simply replied. "C'mon, we shouldn't keep him waiting."

Together, we made our way towards the front of the hotel. Upon arrival, I realized we weren't the first ones there. Michio and Orochi were already sitting in the entrance, waiting.

"What's taking everyone so long?" Orochi groaned in annoyance.

"Relax, the announcement was only a minute ago." Michio responded in a laid back tone. "We'll find out what's happening soon enough."

"I know, but... How did he even get that?" Orochi let out a sigh.

"Hey, Kazuki, Jikkō, did you find anything yet to stir up bad memories?" The guitar player asked us.

I shook my head. "I didn't."

"I did." Jikkō stated. "You?"

"Yeah." Michio smiled a charming grin. "But I'm over that, it doesn't effect me anymore."

Jirou and Haru entered the room together, and not long after Willow and Mai followed. After came Katashi, Akio, Riku, Kaiya, and Natsumi.

A few of them had troubled expressions, while others were confused. Though I had a bit of an idea of what was going on, I was probably still among the confused ones.

"Is everyone here?" We all looked to see Monokuma standing on the front desk.

"Satchiko's not here yet..." Kaiya spoke up, twirling a strand of hair nervously. "I hope she's okay..."

A spark of fear lit up inside of me, and I hoped that nothing happened to her. I was just starting to grow closer to her, she couldn't be....

A loud yawn sounded from the hallway as Satchiko entered the room stretching her arms in the air. "Why so early?" She said through yet another yawn.

I couldn't hold back a small sigh of relief. Seems she was just sleeping in.

"Okay, good, finally you're all here!" Monokuma exclaimed. "As some of you already know, I'm leaving objects around the city that will trigger painful memories. I was going to just give you a motive for killing, but I thought this would make things more interesting!"

"Interesting? Is this some sort of game to you!?" Orochi yelled.

"Upupu, of course! I thought I already made that clear." Monokuma replied nonchalantly. "Some of you don't really have any tragic memories, but that's alright, I made it work."

"How do you know anyone will kill someone just over the past?" Jikkō asked.

"Well, I could tell everyone about the event at any time too," the bear added, "some of your chosen memories are a little private, aren't they?"

Jikkō narrowed her eye at him, and I wished I could see the rest of her expression, as she said nothing more.