Living Danger

Prologue 2/2

As if on cue a strange bear with a white, normal right half and a black, creepy left half appears on stage, behind the microphone "Hello to all freshman. Let us begin the entrance ceremony."

"A teddy bear?" Kaida questions, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Though Ren doubts anyone heard her due to her soft voice, he was only able to pick up what she said because he's standing right next to her.

"What the hell is a fucking toy doing here?!" Maeko exclaims "And why is it moving?!"

"I'm not a toy, I am Monokuma!" The bear, Monokuma, stands up and points at himself "And I'm your principal."

"A moving teddy bear is the principal of Hope's Peak Academy?" Tatsuya wonders, adjusting his glasses "That sounds a lot like a lame joke to me."

"Show some respect! Now then, since you are all the beacons of hope of this world, I've decided that you are all going to live together within this school."

Ichiro furrows his eyebrows and narrows his crimson eyes "Live together? Here?"

"As for the time you'll be staying here... Hmm... Forever!" Monokuma beams.

"F-forever?" Yukiji stutters with wide eyes.

"You can't be serious. We can't stay here forever!" Chuya exclaims, she seems a bit upset.

"Exactly! We have family and friends who'll miss us!" Reiji agrees.

"You're nuts." Kagami mutters. She has her arms crossed and looks not amused.

"I'm not nuts, I'm Monokuma!"

Ren sweatdrops 'Stupid bear.'

"But don't worry, we've got a huge budget so there won't be any inconveniences for you." Monokuma cheerfully continues, ignoring the outburst of the students.

"Please tell me this is a joke!" Masao looks horrified.

"So that's what those steel plates are for. To keep us here." Ren realizes. Everyone turns to look at him in shock.

Monokuma chuckles "Upupupu, you caught on quickly. I didn't expect anything less from the Ultimate Chess Player. That's right, you're going to be living here in harmony, whether you like it or not. Unless..."

"Unless, what?" Seiichi urges Monokuma to continue. Reiji, who's standing in front of the ninja, is almost scared out of his skin, since he didn't notice the purple head.

"Unless... you kill one of your classmates!" Monokuma announces.

A silence falls over the gym, but it doesn't last long before everyone starts talking at once. Ren is unable to make out words everyone says. He glances at the person near him, Kaida, and notices that she looks like she still needs to fully process it.

"Enough!" Yuna yells, shutting everyone up, before turning to Monokuma "You're out of your mind if you really think we're going to kill each other."

Monokuma tilts his head in an 'innocent' way "Hm? Why not?"

Yuna is about to respond but Naomi speaks up "Leave it. I'd like to hear what he has to say."

"Riiight, you must be really enjoying the idea of killing, huh?" Aika questions before giggling "Tee-hehe, you'd love to hunt us, wouldn't you, Endo-chan?"

"I agree with, Endo." Haru ignores Aika's comment, his arms are crossed "It's better to know what he's up to."

Monokuma clears his throat "As I was saying before someone," He glances at Yuna, "interrupted me, all you have to do is kill someone and get away with it!"

"What does 'get away with it' mean in this context?" Naomi asks.

"Well, if someone kills their classmate, they become the blackened. In a Class Trial the blackened student faces of against their spotless students. If you vote correctly, they alone will be punished. But if you vote for the wrong person, I will punish all the spotless students instead."

"Wh-what is this p-punishment?" Yukiji wonders.

"I'm glad you asked! It's basically an execution. Kill someone and see for yourself, upupupu."

"E-execution?" Maeko questions, looking horrified.

"Electric chair, drowning, decapitating, and so on! It's very simple really. And the best part is that you have all liberty with murder! You can kill anyone you like, any way you like, any time you like! The beacons of hope, killing each other! It's so much despair it makes me all hot."

"No."

"Hm?" Monokuma tilts his head "Did you say something?"

"I said no." Kaida says, a little more firmly "Killing is wrong, no matter the circumstances. We won't do it!"

To say that Ren was surprised by the timid girl's outburst would most likely be an understatement, but he finds himself agreeing with her. Nothing can justify murder, though he doubts everyone here feels the same way about it.

"Matsui-san is right!" Ginjiro agrees "We're not going to kill our classmates!"

"Upupupu, keep saying that." Monokuma seems kinda... happy?

"What do you mean by that?" Ren asks.

"It's fun when those 'firm believers' finally snap and get their hands dirty. Anyway, the school regulations are in your student handbooks. Happy killing! Ah-hahahaha!" And with a creepy laugh, Monokuma leaves.

Ren hears an alarm coming from his pocket and he takes out a Monopad. He frowns 'When did that get in my pocket?'

When he opens his e-handbook it displays his name. He taps on the school regulations.

Regulations:

Students must live at the Academy for the remainder of their unforseeable future.

'Nighttime' is from 10 pm to 8 am. The dining hall and gymnasium are off-limits at night.

Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.

With minimal restrictions you are free to explore the campus at your discretion.

Once a murder takes place, all surviving students must participate in a Class Trial.

If the blackened is exposed during the Class Trial, they alone will be executed.

If the blackened is not exposed, all remaining students will be executed.

If the blackened survives the Class Trial, they will graduate and re-enter the outside world.

Violence towards Monokuma, the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy, is strictly prohibited.

The body discovery announcement will play when three or more students discover a body.

Students who violate these rules will be immediately punished.

The headmaster may add new regulations to this list any time.

Once Ren finishes reading the regulations and looks up again, he notices his fifteen classmates are already looking at each other. There's something in their eyes, though he can't quite place a finger on it. Is it... doubt?

'It's possible.' He thinks to himself 'One of us could have the capacity to kill someone.'

End of Prologue

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