Inescapable Despair (Song of Despair AU)

Chapter 1: Figuring out

Satchiko would only be lying to herself if she said she wasn't scared, in fact, she was terrified. Just the thought of any of her classmates dying was unbearably painful.

But instead of breaking down, she looked to her fellow students with a reassuring smile. "C'mon, I'm sure it's not that bad! It's just some big prank, right?"

"It's pretty elaborate to just be a prank." Michio said with a frown. Uh oh, Michio's serious mode. This is worse than I thought if that came out. Satchiko's smile almost faltered.

"I like you Michio, you catch on quick!" Monokuma exclaimed with a light laugh. "He's right, this is no prank! Just accept you're stuck here until you kill someone!"

"Like hell we're gonna accept that!" Natsumi exclaimed.

Monokuma just shrugged. "Well, whatever. It's the truth, you'll figure it out someway or another." He paused for a moment, then let out a small gasp. "Oh, I almost forgot! Here I have all your e-handbooks, they got all the rules and info you need!" He handed out tablet-like devices to each of us, before leaving the room.

"This looks bad..." Jirou said, looking a little scared. "B-but I'm sure we can make it through this!"

"You're right." Haru replied, then addressed everyone. "We should split up and explore the area, see what we have to work with."

"I'll find a way out before the end of the day, just you watch!" Tomi exclaimed, puffing out his chest in pride.

Jikkō sent him a warning glare. "Don't get too cocky. You shouldn't go alone either, I'll join you."

"I'll go too, if that's okay..." Riku spoke up quietly.

"I wanna go with you!" Satchiko exclaimed, squeezing her girlfriend's hand.

Kaiya laughed a bit, and offered a small nod. "Of course, I won't leave you alone for a second if it's not safe!"

Satchiko couldn't help but be comforted by this, even though she knew she would be the one protecting Kaiya. The cat lady got scared much easier.

"Katashi, Momo! Come with us!" Satchiko exclaimed, waving their other friends over.

Soon everyone had split into groups. Natsumi had joined the cat lovers, Mai, Willow, Akio, and Ichiro were together, and Orochi, Jirou, Haru, Michio and Kazuki were grouped up.

Satchiko kept holding Kaiya's hand as they walked out of what appeared to be a hotel they were previously inside. The lucky student could only hope this wasn't all as bad as it seemed, and hope she would.

~*~

About an hour and a half had passed before everyone met up at the hotel again and discussed their discoveries. They now knew what they had to work with, and Satchiko felt more hopeful than before. At least there were things to do while they figured out their situation. Now, the class sat in the hotel's restaurant, and has just finished going over all the areas.

"We forgot to mention one thing." Jikkō said, looking over at Tomi.

Tomi pulled up one of his light blue sleeves to reveal what looked like a metal bracelet around his left wrist, tight around his skin. "It shocks me when I get too close to the border. They're training me like a dog, I think it's working."

"Well that's just wonderful." Natsumi huffed sarcastically.

"This is really too harsh for j-just a joke... th-this is really happening..." Kaiya muttered, shaking from where she sat beside Satchiko.

Satchiko couldn't deny it anymore. We're screwed.