Silence.

That's all I could hear for a good four minutes. I looked at my current surroundings.

Just darkness.

"I suppose this is what I deserve." I said to myself with tears in my eyes.

My name is Kaede Akamatsu. I'm the protagonist of this crazy story. Or at least, that's what I thought. Myself and 15 other students were trapped in a school which was trapped in a large cage by a bear known as Monokuma and his 5 color-coded children, the Monokubs. One of the students, Shuichi Saihara, had a theory about one of us students being the Mastermind behind this incident. So we acted on it, hoping to save everyone. However, I didn't think the plan would work. It wouldn't be enough to catch the Mastermind in the act.

I wanted to kill the Mastermind. Then there'd be no one else standing in our way to freedom. However, it was this line of thinking that led to my downfall. Instead of the Mastermind, I ended up killing one of my friends. Rantaro Amami. I led my friend Shuichi to the truth, killing me in the process, but also giving my wish of everyone escaping together to Shuichi and the others.

And while it is pretty lonely here, I sincerely hope nobody else joins me.

"Hey, Kaede." A cool toned voice said causing me both to smile, and cringe at the same time.

"Hello, Rantaro." I said somberly.

"Come on, ease up. I've got a surprise to show you." He said as I nodded following him. The point he led me to was a shining green light.

"Rantaro, what is this?" I asked him as he grinned.

"It's your continue." He said simply.

"Like I said when we were alive, you have what it takes to win. And considering my death wasn't your fault to begin with, this world, and I, think you deserve an extra life." He said shrugging.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'wasn't my fault'?" I asked him. "I thought it was my shot put ball that killed you!" I said coughing a bit, feeling the brooze on my neck.

"Don't worry, Kaede. I know you'll find the real truth." He said pushing me towards the light. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope I don't see you back here." He said waving goodbye to me with a sincere smile.

I turned back to look at him as the light began dragging me to what looked like binary code. I'm still not quite sure about me not being responsible for Rantaro's death, but either way, I plan to take advantage of this second chance, I will help my friends! That is what I have to do with this second chance at life!

Kaede's POV

"Urk!" I said after falling to the ground. Now this feels all too familiar. It's almost like it was just yesterday since I exited that locker. I picked myself up, and got a better look at my surroundings. However, there wasn't much. The room was green, the portal that brought me here was gone, cutting off my connection to Rantaro, and there was only one real object in the room. I decided to check on it, to get a better idea of what it is. "A, power button?" There doesn't seem to be a game console around here, and it's two tones of green.

"W-Who the hell are you, and how did you get here?!" A woman screamed behind me.

I turned around to see a woman with green hair and a revealling black dress with matching black leggings. However as soon as she saw me, she gasped and ran out of the room shouting, "LADY VERT!"

"Geez, I know she likely lives wherever this is, but why did she just leave?" Oh well, it's not worth talking to myself. I might as well try to follow her. The room I was in is completely different compared to the hallways here. It looked like quite the mansion with a lot of green. "How fancy. I wonder if this place has a piano here?... No! Bad Kaede! The piano can come after the situation is handled! I still have to figure out where I am in comparison to the Ultimate Academy and how to break in to get my friends out!" I continued walking until I found myself in what looked to be a dining room, with the woman from before as well as a new tall blonde woman with an elegant green dress on.

"Is this the girl, Chika?" The blonde lady asked the green haired lady. So Chika must be her name.

"That's right." She said making slight glares at me.

"Excellent." The blonde said with a kind smile.

"Um, hello. My name is Kaede Akamatsu. Before coming here I was known as the Ultima-" I was saying to introduce myself before the blonde lady grabbed me in quite a large hug. Though due to some, assets of hers, I found it a bit hard to breath.

"It is an absolute pleasure to meet you, Kaede! I shall introduce myself as well. I am Vert, otherwise known as Green Heart. The CPU of Leanbox! As well as your older sister!" She said leaving me confused.

"H-Huh?!" I shrieked.

"Oh I have been waiting for this moment for the longest time! I finally have a little sister to call my own!" Vert said with clear glee on her face.

"J-Just wait a second, please!" I sais as she released the hug. A large part of me missed it. "What exactly is going on? What is Leanbox? Is it anywhere close to Japan?!" I asked her as she gained a confused look on her face.

"My dear, I don't know what this "Japan" is, but Leanbox is one of the four nations of Gamindustri." Vert answered.

"That only leaves me with more questions than answers!" I shrieked in my mind. "Let's try something else, Kaede." "Do you know about Ultimates? High schoolers with a great amount of expertise in a specific talent?"

"Unfortunately, I do not know that was a term here. However, the idea does seem quite intriguing." She said putting her hands together. This continued to make me increasingly worried. "Kaede dear, is there something wrong?"

"I-I'm sorry, Vert. You seem really nice, but this is a lot to take in, and I'm not sure if I can handle this right now..." I said holding my head as I began trembling.

"Is there anything I could do to ease your nerves? Perhaps some form of music, or games?" She asked as I dried my left eye.

"Would you happen to have a piano somewhere?"

"My word Kaede! That was beautiful!" Vert said with tears of joy in her eyes.

"Hehe, thank you." I smiled looking towards the piano. "Back where I come from, I was known by two names. Piano Freak, and the Ultimate Pianist." I said with a smile as Vert became quite shocked.

"Back where you come from? This is quite confusing." She said thinking.

"What's wrong Vert?" I asked.

"Normally, CPU Candidates don't have a place they came from beforehand. As they are just born into existence." She said pondering out loud.

"A CPU Candidate? Is that, me?" I asked.

"Oh of course. The younger sibling of a CPU is naturally the CPU Candidate." Vert responded.

"Hey Vert? This might seem quite strange, but, have you ever heard of alternate dimensions?" I asked as she nodded.

"Ah yes of course! The other CPUs and I have done it quite a number of times!" She said smiling.

"THAT'S what she knows about? At the very least it's a start."

"Unfortunately, I do not know all of the details about dimensional travel, but if you are interested, we can meet with someone who does know about it. Plus I can introduce you to CPUs of other nations as well!"

"That sounds like a great idea!" I said smiling.

"I shall make the preparations then. However it is quite late, so I shall show you to your room." She said smiling. "There are also new various clothes in the closet prepared for you." She said as the two of us moved to a different hallway leading to my room. It was simple enough, continuing the elegant green theme from before. "I shall return to my room for the night. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask Chika or myself." Vert finished.

"Got it. Thank you, Vert." I responded with a smile.

"And also, " She began with a softer hug than before. "welcome home, Kaede." She said as she then left my room. I decided to check the closet to see a green sailor uniform with a red tie. I decided to try one on after stuffing my old uniform in my backpack. I got up on the bed wondering what my plan for saving my friends would be. At most, while this new dimension I'm in is quite welcoming so far, I have no idea what a CPU is. I suppose that's what tomorrow is for.

"Shuichi, Kaito, everyone, please wait for me. I'll get you guys out of there, if it's the last thing I ever do."

This was the last thing I said before sleep overtook me.

Vert's POV

I noticed Chika walk into my room while I was playing my game. "Vert, dear, we have to talk. It's about Kaede." She said hesitantly, most likely due to not wishing to upset me. I sighed, paused my game and turned around.

"I believe I know what exactly we are discussing." I responded. "It has to do with the girl's memories?"

Chika nodded at this. "Yes, it's quite confusing to me. Aren't CPU Candidates just, born?"

"This is what I thought too, however, Kaede does seem to be quite the variable to this line of thinking." I said as I pondered some of the phrases she said. "If they were coming from anyone else, especially Neptune, I would've written it off as silliness. However Kaede's tone indicated how serious she was. I must discuss this with her tomorrow morning." "Needless to say Chika, even in this strange situation, Kaede is still my younger sister."

"I understand, my dear, though is it possible that Kaede was just making that stuff up?" Chika questioned as I shook my head.

"Not possible, you heard Kaede's tone when she discussed this, 'Japan' and 'Ultimates'. It's likely that Kaede was telling the truth. Be that as it may. It's quite late to worry about this. At the moment, I reccomend keeping it within the back of our minds." I said with an affirmative tone. "Good night Chika." I said with a soft smile.

"G-Good night Lady Vert!" She said as she blushed and scurried out of the room. "Chika is quite easy to fluster. I hope she doesn't worry too much. Same goes for Kaede as well... It's decided! I shall do everything I can to make Kaede feel more at home! But first, I should probably tell Histoire about Kaede's birth, and her forseeable plans."