Danganronpa: Sisyphean Gambit

2: An Improper Meeting

               A mixture of total calm and absolute terror filled me as I approached the odd-looking group.  The one who had gotten my attention in the first place nodded a quick hello, and I waved at her.  I couldn't help but get the feeling that they were all just as disoriented as I was, whether it was their clear worry, or the fact that they, like me, were not in their uniforms.  It all made no sense to me.  Closing the gap, I stopped just short of the other kids.

               Looking back and forth between them proved these new friends of mine to be overwhelming and kind of off.  The girl to my right was smiling sweetly, but it was forced without a doubt.  She was extremely thin, and decked in a scruffy pair of overalls.  She seemed sweet enough.  The girl in the middle, the one who had called me 'Bandaids', seemed a bit more out there.  She was in this sort of crazy red leotard with built-in shorts, and feather was sticking straight up from her tied hair.  She weirded me out a bit, but not as much as the guy on my left.  He was the tallest human being I had ever seen in my life, and was staring at me with wide, dark eyes.  I was a bit intimidated.  To his credit, though, he seemed to be the most worried of the trio, and he had very cool boots.

               I could barely open my mouth and begin sorting the millions of questions I wanted to ask, before the girl in the leotard began talking to me in monotone.  She sounded... sort of angry?

               "You're the last one; everyone else is already in the gym.  We were just about to come looking for you.  Let's go."

               "Wait, I-" was all was able to spit out before she turned and pushed open the double doors, trailed by the other two, who each gave me looks that told me they didn't know any more than I did.  There was nothing I could now do but follow, becoming pretty desperate for an answer.  As I stepped through the narrow room lined with trophy cases that led into the gymnasium, I tried to ignore how much my head was pounding, but it was no use.  I willed myself to shrink down to nothing as I walked into the high-ceilinged room ahead of me.

               Over a dozen pairs of eyes turned to look my way.  A quick scan told me it was all students, and each one was a different level of scared, angry, or utterly lost.  The statement that they had been waiting for me was no lie; I could see my arrival caused a sort of group-up in the center of the gym.  I joined the huddle and tried to look like I belonged with these strangely dressed teens, which I assumed were all Ultimates.  As we circled together, a petite boy with incredibly curly hair piped up.  He sounded bored and antsy, as if he was waiting for a chance to run away, but he put on a brave face when he spoke.  His voice was quiet, but soothing.

               "Now that all sixteen of us are here, we can get to work.  Everyone can finish comparing notes, and then we will move from there.  We've already established that everyone in the group woke up in a different classroom, with fuzzy memories, so we have that much.  I'm assuming the same goes for you?"  He was looking right at me.  I gulped and nodded, shocked to hear that everyone's morning had gone about the way that mine had.

               "Good, that makes things easier.  Before we go any further, take this," he offered, while handing me what looked to be an electronic tablet.  It was about the size of a book, but much thinner, with a black screen that did nothing when I fiddled with the button.  I was too thrown off to thank him.

               "That's how we knew there'd be sixteen people," explained the girl in the overalls.  "Each of us has one, and there was one left for you.  I found them stacked up in the middle of the floor after that announcement played."

               "...Announcement?"  Nothing was becoming any more sensical to me.

               "Ugh, you managed to sleep through it somehow.  I'm almost impressed," scoffed a boy who looked much too young to be a student.  Someone nudged him in the elbow to shut him up.

               Taking the attention for himself once again, though it was clear he was reluctant to, the curly-haired kid went over what he had done since waking up.  He was in clothes that he had never seen before, without any of his belongings, and before he could figure out what had happened to him, the school intercom had crackled to life to beckon all students into the gym.  A threat was issued to anyone who didn't comply.  Once he arrived, the boy found the rest of the group, and the strange tablets that waited for each one.  There were nods of agreement and grunts of recognition from the others as he recapped these events.  Nobody had an additional experience to add.  I considered mentioning the windows, which, even in the gym, were sealed tight, but a few nervous glances toward them told me everyone was well aware.

               "If none of you have any further information, I guess there's nothing to do now but wait.  They called us in here for a reason.  I'm sure they'll come in and clear things up soon enough."

               It was in no way a satisfying decision, but we couldn't think of a single objection.  We each just wandered off into different corners of the gym, grumbling and fidgeting and expecting the worst.  The huge room was suddenly menacing to me, though just a few hours(?) ago I had been so excited about every last detail of the school.  The empty stage, sterile white walls, and huge black crest on the floor all seemed too big for me.  I wanted to go home.

               Nothing I can do now, I guess... except introduce myself to everyone.  I might as well make some friends while I'm here!  Now, who to try and talk to first?

———

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  Keep an eye out, because in the future I plan to create a separate "book" where I can just dump headcanons, character art, and explanations for my inaptness at creating anything concise.  That should be useful in the event that someone actually takes an interest in this mess.  It'll just be a fun little bonus book!