Huh?

Where am I?

What's going on?

It was dark. I don't remember much of anything. My last memory is this darkness. I feel like I've been dragged down a bottomless pit. Am I falling? No… I don't think so. I should try... Try to remember. Remember… who I am… who am I?

Suddenly, it came back to me, like a flash of light.

Kaede… Kaede Akamatsu. That's me. That's my name. Is that… all I can remember?

I tried to remember more, like I did before. I'm… I'm a student… at Hope's Peak Academy. Hope's Peak? You mean, like that school for ultimate students? Talented students, mostly from right here in Japan, but some even come from all over the place! All you need is to be a high school student, especially gifted at something, and to be scouted and invited by a staff member at the academy. But if I'm a student, does that mean...

Oh yeah, that's right! I'm Kaede Akamatsu: the Ultimate Pianist! How could I have forgotten something so important? Well, maybe I can figure that out later. Right now, let's try and move… where am I again? It's still so dark. Can I open my eyes?

…

…

Ah!

I opened my eyes, it took a lot more force than I remembered it did. But then again, that was probably just me trying to remember how to open my eyes again. But now that I did it, I guess it's time to look around.

"Huh?"

I let my gasp leave my lips, I was not at anything that even looked like an academy. Not that I even remembered what Hope's Peak academy looked like. Still, this definitely isn't anything like I would have imagined it to be.

I looked around, and realized I was sitting on sand. Sand? Then again… there's an ocean, and those are palm trees. That must mean… I'm on a beach?

The waves were calm and soothing, creating their own peaceful melody as they lapped up the sand from the beach. Keeping the tempo, like the beach's very own metronome. It made me long to stroke the ivory keys of a grand, I'm sure I would remember how to play if I could find one.

"Oh, you're finally awake?"

I heard a voice behind me, it sounded masculine, but just slightly prepubescent. I turned around, slowly regaining control over the machinations of my body, and saw him standing there. He had a very kind face, but he looked like any normal guy, like someone you would find in the background of an action movie for a split-second until he was out of sight. He wore a dark jacket over a forest green hoodie. His brown hair was messy, but also very stylized, like he wanted it that way. He extended a hand to me,

"Here, let me help you up!"

I grabbed his hand, he was just as weak as his frame seemed to suggest, I ended up having to support myself more than he did. But it was the thought that counted, and I made sure not to let him catch on to that.

"Thank you."

"Sure, no problem!"

I dusted off the sand from my plaid skirt, straightening out my pink sweater vest, and tidying up my hair afterwards. The boy kept looking at me, seemingly forgetting the concept of communication in general. I looked at him, and his face reacted nervously, as though he were catching himself.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Makoto Naegi: Ultimate Lucky Student!"

He gave me a short bow, rubbing the back of his head. I smiled back, there was something cute in his nervous attitude.

"I'm Kaede Akamatsu: Ultimate Pianist!"

I returned the bow, and Makoto seemed to be put at ease. Makoto Naegi: Ultimate Lucky Student. I think I remember reading somewhere that that title was reserved for random high schoolers who won a lottery to attend Hope's Peak… which would mean,

"Hey, so you're a student at Hope's Peak Academy too Makoto?"

Makoto raised an eyebrow, "Huh? Oh, yeah… wait, you too?"

I nodded, and he gave another nervous laugh.

"I mean, well, obviously! You're an ultimate! My bad…"

I smiled reassuringly, "No worries! But…" I looked around, prompting Makoto to follow my lead, "Where are we? What are two students from Hope's Peak doing in a place like this?"

Makoto shrugged, "Hope's Peak is in Tokyo… we couldn't be on the beach without seeing the city… so where are we?"

I scanned the horizon, across the sparkling blue appeared several other islands, but they seemed too far away to swim. Maybe if I was the Ultimate Swimmer… but neither of them looks like a mainland, so it doesn't really matter. Looking over the island Makoto and I were on, I could catch the glimpse of several buildings, just beyond the wall of palm trees. Makoto must've seen it too as he said,

"Hey, looks like there's something over there! Should we check it out?"

I nodded, "Yeah, the more we walk around, the more we'll learn about our situation."

He nodded in affirmation, and we paced down the coastline, making sure we didn't go too far into the thicket of trees for fear of getting utterly lost.

We approached what appeared to be a small ranch. There was a cute little barn at the edge of a pen, in it appeared to be a couple lonely cows. It wasn't so much the cows that got my attention however.

I hadn't seen them before, but now that I was closer, there was no doubt about it. There were two very stoic looking teenagers standing around the pen. The closest one appeared to be female… well, they both appeared effeminate. But the closest one I could easily tell was female. She had short black hair, nicely cupping her pale, freckled face. Icy blue eyes seemed to be observing the other figure, as though she were intentionally keeping her distance so that she could analyze them. She must have seen me through her peripheries, because she instinctively turned to face Makoto and I.

I could feel the tension in the air, exasperated by my instant fear of her. Her eyes were fortresses, not bothering to let me catch her inner thoughts, but I had no doubt she was analyzing mine. She looked like the kind of girl who could smell fear.

"You two… are you also from Hope's Peak?"

She said it with such conviction. Like she had no problem interrogating total strangers. I nodded, Makoto did too, I could tell he barely had the courage to say anything. I didn't blame him.

"I'm Kaede Akamatsu: Ultimate Pianist… this is-"

"I-I'm Makoto Naegi: Ultimate Lucky Student!"

His bow towards this new girl was much more frantic than when he'd bowed for me. Hell, I nearly felt compelled to follow suit. But somehow, I prevented myself. The girl gave an assenting grunt.

"I figured as much. He's one too. So are a couple other people I found on this island." She'd pointed to the other figure nearby the pen, I glanced over at him, and he just stared straight back at me. So he was a he. His hair was so long… but then again, he's wearing a mask, so I couldn't really tell.

"I'm Mukuro, by the way."

My attention was brought back to the girl in front of me. Her face remained emotionless.

"Mukuro Ikusaba: Ultimate Soldier."

That would explain her intense presence.

"Nice to meet you, Mukuro." I was able to muster that much before she completely ignored me. I guess she has all she needs from me. Cautiously, I approached the slender man in the mask. He was wearing some kind of uniform, but I couldn't recognize it. It certainly didn't look like a school uniform. Mukuro had at least been wearing that. He looked more like the ultimate soldier than she did, with his tags, zippers, his hat. Maybe he was too. Only one way to find out.

"Hm?"

He hadn't kept his sterile amber eyes off me since I'd arrived. Me specifically. I could tell from the corner of my eye, he hadn't even bothered looking at Makoto. Only me. That was definitely unsettling. His arms were wrapped in bandages, and one such arm has snaked its way up to propping his cheek.

"... So you've come to visit me. How quaint."

His voice was silky, yet coarse, like one would expect a snake to sound if they could vocalize. There was something in his gaze, it almost seemed… familiar.

"H-Hi, I'm M-Makoto Na-"

"I'm Korekiyo Shinguji: Ultimate Anthropologist."

He'd completely ignored Makoto, continuing to stare directly at me. It was unsettling, to say the least. Nevertheless, I knew I had to introduce myself as well,

"Kaede Akamatsu: Ultimate Pianist."

Korekiyo sighed, "The piano… such a beautiful instrument. It has followed mankind for generations, evolving right alongside us, capturing our beauty with the flow of its melody."

That was surprisingly poetic for an unsettling man. It almost put me at ease, my body seemed to react positively at the thought of pianos. I appreciated it.

Makoto was finally able to introduce himself, and Korekiyo finally relinquished his gaze on me. Mukuro had mentioned there were other students in this place, I just hope they're not all so… disconcerting.

"They were certainly strange…"

I nodded in agreement with Makoto's statement. But we continued anyway. We approached what looked like a gas station. There was someone else standing by the pumps, much more obviously a man. His large trench coat draped over baggy pants and a white tank top that left very little to the imagination. His ripped physique was very well accentuated, I felt a sort of flutter in my chest. His gaze was intense, but not like Korekiyo's was. For one, I could see his whole face, sturdy chin, purple eyes brought out by the eyeliner jutting out of them. While his mullet was straight and black, the top of his head was stylized with a grand flourish: curled into an exaggerated pompadour that was dyed a bright brown.

When his eyes met mine, it was a much different sensation than Korekiyo, and I was both thrilled and terrified. Crossing his arms, he motioned upwards with his head, beckoning the two of us into a conversation,

"You guys don't happen to know what the fucks going on, do ya?"

I shook my head, "No, we came to ask you that."

The burly young man cast his gaze aside, rubbing the back of his head, "Figures. What the hell is goin' on here…"

Chancing an opportunity, I suddenly felt compelled by something inside me to introduce myself,

"I'm Kaede, by the way!"

He looked back at me, kind of shocked. Maybe I'd said it too eagerly? Either way, he didn't seem to mind. He was quick to respond, curtly.

"Mondo Oowada: Ultimate Biker."

Mondo and I studied each other for what felt like an eternity. Slowly, however, his eyes began drifting to my side, and fixed on Makoto,

"Don't take this wrong, man, but you seem familiar to me…"

Makoto jumped a little, but nodded, "Y-yeah, I was just thinking that… but… that's impossible, right? We just met."

Mondo nodded, "Yeah, that's true. Well, whatever." Mondo shrugged, then glanced over at the pumps, "There's gas in these, but I don't see anything to put it in. I almost feel like there should be a bike here. I hate to admit it, but I feel kinda naked without one."

Kinda… naked?

Huh? Why would I think about that?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door swinging and a chime ringing. The three of us turned to the market and watched as a scruffy looking guy came waltzing out, carrying bags of potato chips in his arms. Like Mondo, his head of hair was massive, but it was nowhere near as stylized. His muddy brown dreads were spread out like a backdrop. He wore a green coat over an unbuttoned white shirt, that revealed yet another shirt, this time bright orange. Every ounce of his aura told me he was a bum. But that couldn't be right… right?

"Oh hey, new people, huh? You guys want some snacks? That store's loaded! And best part, you can just take whatever you want!"

He strolled casually up to us, not a care in the world.

"Sup, name's Yasuhiro Hagakure: Ultimate Clairvoyant. You can call me Hiro, though."

Clairvoyant? That seems pretty sketchy…

Hiro waved a bag of chips in front of Mondo. The biker acknowledged it with a flourish of his hand, sending the snack with a smack to the ground.

"Get that nasty shit outta my face!"

"Hey, watch the merch, bro!"

"I'm not your fuckin' bro, bum!"

Makoto and I slowly backed up so as to avoid getting caught in the cross-hairs of the impending fight. Scanning the premises once more, I looked over at Makoto,

"Wanna check out the airport?"

"Yeah, maybe we can find someone who knows how to fly?"

"There has to be a way out through there, right?"

Makoto nodded, his resolve wasn;t quite as firm as he may have thought it was, and his squeaky voice was shaky,

"We can hope."

I crossed the threshold into the hangar with my head held high, hoping that there would indeed be a way out. Upon entering the area, I immediately noticed two young men talking excitedly to each other. The more energetic of the two carried himself with great bravado, a purple jacket draped over one shoulder, with his other arm in its sleeve. His spiky hair and goatee were also a plum hue, and he gave off a very commanding aura.

This actually seemed to encourage rather than smother the energy of the other man, whose braided pink locks were topped with a black beanie. He was zipped up in a lime jumpsuit, and exuded a much weaker presence than the taller, purple man, but still seemed very enthused, as though the purple man was giving him energy. As I walked closer, I could hear more clearly what they were so giddy about.

"If I could find that, we'd be golden!"

"Well then, what are we waiting for? This island won't get rid of us itself!"

Ah! They were hatching an escape plan!

Both young men turned to me and Makoto. The purple man's smile waved over me like a gravitational pull. There was some sort of raw, charismatic energy exuding from him that just made me feel… safe. Looking into his galactic eyes, I felt a similar sting of familiarity I had with Korekiyo, only this time I was much more drawn to it.

"Hey there! Name's Kaito Momota: Ultimate Astronaut! You guys are trapped here too, huh? Seems everyone we've met here are students at Hope's Peak, that true for you?"

Makoto and I nodded, "I'm Kaede Akamatsu: Ultimate Pianist!"

"And I'm Makoto Naegi: Ultimate Lucky Student!"

Kaito grinned wider… there's a lot of really cute guys here, huh?

"Well, Makoto, you really are lucky! Kazuichi and I were just planning out our escape! Shouldn't be too long now, just need to find the jet fuel, ain't that right Kazuichi?"

The pink man scratched the back of his head, "Ah, well, we also need to find the jet too…"

You mean, there isn't even a plane here? How were they planning to escape?

"Well, I believe in you! You're the ultimate mechanic, after all!"

The pink man turned to address me next, "Uh, I'm Kazuichi Souda, by the way. Nice to meetcha."

Kazuichi Souda: Ultimate Mechanic.

Kazuichi shrugged up his shoulders, placing his hands on the nape of his neck, inhaling a sharp breath of confidence.

"Don't worry, you guys, I'm gonna get us off this island before anything major happens! You can count on me, alright?"

He didn't have Kaito's swagger, but he was vibing off his energy. The astronaut clapped the mechanic's back,

"Alright, Kazuichi, that's what I'm talking about!"

He turned to me,

"Say, why don't you two go over and check on the guys in the hotel! Ask 'em if they've seen anything useful! Let them know Kaito Momota: Luminary of the Stars sent ya, that should inspire them!"

Kaito turned around and sauntered to a backroom, pulling Kazuichi in with him.

Well, he certainly is a positive guy. I'm glad he's here with us.

Turning to Makoto, I shrugged and the two of us walked over to the hotel, which was a lot closer than we'd anticipated it would be.

As I stepped inside, I was quick to see the diesel of a man standing close to the reception desk. He wore a black jacket and jeans. Jet black hair spiked up and a chain wrapped around his shoulders. Turning around revealed his insanely jacked body nearly bulging out of his white tank top. He had a goatee similar to that of Kaito's, but he looked way more intimidating.

His sudden adjustment of his body revealed he was talking to a cute, redhead girl nearly a third of his body mass. She had pale skin and freckles, wore a short sleeve white button up with a cute olive dress over it. An vintage looking camera was slung over her shoulder. When the man turned to face me, she did too. They appeared to have been in mid conversation.

"Oh, uhm, sorry to bother you, Kaito sent us in here to look for you guys!"

The redhead's neutral gaze shifted into a cute smile, the man too emanated a warm glow, despite not really shifting expressions as much.

"Oh, Kaito? He was here just a while ago, wasn't he Nekomaru?"

"Damn right, I remember that guy, love his spirit!"

The burly man, called Nekomaru, and the girl with blood red hair stepped forward, making themselves more welcoming. It was reassuring that Kaito wasn't the only friendly one after all.

"You're ultimates too, right? From your hairpins, I'm guessing you're into music, right?"

That's right! I did have those in. I nodded,

"I'm Kaede Akamatsu, ultimate pianist!"

"I'm Makoto Naegi, I'm just the lucky one!"

The redhead giggled,

"It's my luck to meet you both! I'm Mahiru Koizumi: Ultimate Photographer!"

She shook both of our hands, a firm grip, probably from holding that camera all the time. A much larger hand fell upon Makoto's shoulder, startling him greatly and me a little as well.

"Makoto, you gotta work more on your introduction! Be more confident, man!"

Mahiru waggled a disapproving finger at him, "Nekomaru, calm down! Leave the poor boy alone and properly introduce yourself!"

The burly man took his hand off Makoto's shoulder, but kept his uncomfortable proximity, declaring in a voice way too loud not to irritate our eardrums,

"NEKOMARU NIDAI: ULTIMATE TEAM MANAGER!"

Well, that certainly explains a lot.

"Nekomaru, inside voice!"

That wasn't particularly quiet either!

"Sorry! I just get excited when I need to take a shit!"

Mahiru turned nearly as red as her hair,

"That's disgusting!"

"IT'S TRUE!"

Nekomaru's beefy hands flew up in exasperation, flailing as though that helped his case. He didn't stick around much longer, galloping off to what I assumed was the restroom.

What a charming character.

Mahiru let out a defeated sigh,

"I apologize, you know how boys can be so immature."

"H-hey!"

The photographer ignored Makoto, keeping her focus on me instead. It seemed a lot of people on this island were more interested in me than Makoto. I'd have felt bad, but I wasn't sure I liked the attention myself.

"Well, if Kaito sent you, does that mean he's found a way out? That's what he was after, anyway." She put a hand on her hip, making her look like a scolding mother, "Honestly, though, I think he might've just let his testosterone drive him. I doubt there's a real way off this island."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Mahiru gave me an apologetic look, "I don't mean to sound defeatist, but if we were abducted and all brought here, I bet that person would have thought of every possible plan we might think up. There's no way Kaito's going to just find a way out on day one!" She added with a bit of a smile, "Besides, he may be an astronaut, but he didn't seem like the brightest light in the academy!"

Well, that's probably true.

"So, you haven't seen anything unusual?"

Mahiru turned to answer Makoto, "No, I haven't seen anything, and that's what's so unusual. This place looks like a resort, but the only people here are a handful of teenagers. That's why I think we were abducted. That, and I woke up blacked out on the beach."

Yeah, that sounds right.

"But that's weird…"

"Huh? What is?"

"It's just that," Mahiru scratched her chin thoughtfully, "Well, I thought it was just Kaito, but no, you guys too. You don't feel familiar to me."

Oh, does she mean… like how I felt with Korekiyo and Kaito?

Makoto piped up, "Yeah, that's weird. But I know I've seen Mondo and Hiro somewhere before. Mukuro too, I think?"

Mahiru nodded, understanding what he was saying, "Yeah. I was mentioning that feeling to Nekomaru. We both saw that in each other, plus the mechanic and those other two-"

Other two? Huh, Mahiru looks upset?

"Oh my God, did they leave together? Ugh, that pervert!"

Before I could react, Mahiru stormed over to a flight of stairs, rushing down it. Makoto and I instinctively followed her, keeping her in our sight. She turned down a corridor and burst through a pair of swinging doors. It was a kitchen, but what surprised me was more who was in the kitchen.

"Are you sure you want me to suck out the poison? I've never done anything like that before."

"Oh I've never been more sure of anything in my life, princess!"

"Get away from her you pervert!"

Mahiru grabbed a spatula and began swatting a short, tubby young man adorned in stereotypical chef's attire. He had quite the stylish perm and tanned skin. The boy jumped off of the stool he'd been standing on, where nearby knelt a young, fair-skinned blonde with enchanting gray eyes and a gorgeous, yet simple green dress. The young girl stood up and stood back to avoid getting hit by the aggressive Mahiru, stopping what one could only realize would have been a very cruel and crude trick.

"Ow! The more you-ow-hit me the-ow-more horny I be-ouch-stop it, you'll break the spatula!" Mahiru did not stop her attacks, the tubby little chef cowered in the corner with his hands raised defensively over his head as she continued to lay down the law of the land.

The girl who once was kneeling found herself backing up into Makoto. The poor boy fell over, and the blonde turned apologetically,

"Oh my, forgive me please! I didn't see you there!"

She moved her arm down, but much to my surprise, stopped just in front of her dress. Clasping her hands in a regal and collected manner, closing her eyes, she turned to me with a radiant smile,

"Could you pick him up for me, please?"

Wha-?!

"Now wait a minute, why should I do that?"

She looked back with confusion swirling in her platinum eyes, "I do not understand, I said 'please', yes?"

I fumed, "That's not the point! You knocked him over, you should help him up!"

She pondered this for a second and nodded, "I see, your logic follows…"

She motioned to Makoto, who had already picked himself up. She watched him dust off his pants and beamed with accomplishment,

"Aha! I have helped!"

Well… she's cute, I'll give her that.

She gave him a small bow, "I am Princess Sonia Nevermind of the kingdom of Novoselic! Pleased to make your acquaintance!"

Ultimate Princess? That feels like a stretch…

Wait…

Princess?!

Makoto had the same reaction, except more visceral, nearly sending him flying back down to the floor. He caught himself, and bowed deeply,

"Ah- I'm Makoto Na…"

As he stammered out an introduction that would've severely disappointed Nekomaru, Mahiru yanked the lusty chef by his ear, dragging him over to me. His nose was bloodied, but I suspected it had nothing to do with any physical injury Mahiru may have given him.

"Oh Mahiru, you have such a firm gr-iiiiiiii!"

The photographer had a very neat trick of twisting his ear, a handy trick for perverts. I'd have to learn it from her, especially with this pig on the loose.

"Oh, Teruteru! Careful, Mahiru, he is hurt from poisoned loins!"

Poisoned… loins?

"He's just fine, Sonia, right, Hanamura?"

"Well, actually-" Mahiru twisted harder, causing tears to stream down the chef's cheek, "Yes! I'm all better now! T-thank you for your concern…"

"Oh, thank goodness! I did not know how to suck out the poison, so I am glad that you did Mahiru!"

Mahiru's face went bright red, although likely not from embarrassment. The pudgy boy called Teruteru giggled, earning him another sharp twist. His beady eyes looked up into mine, he smiled weakly,

"Why hello there, you must be new! I'm Teruteru Hanamura: Ultimate Chef!" He gazed up cautiously at Mahiru before continuing, "I am pleased to make your… acquaintance." He added a subtle wink, then preemptively winced, but he must have been subtle enough for Mahiru to ignore it.

"Kaede Akamatsu, ultimate pianist."

Mahiru finally let Teruteru stand. He breathed a sigh of relief, bloody nose disappearing as he regained full height.

"A pleasure, Kaede. Please, tell me, how do you like your steak?"

A spatula flew at Teruteru's head, causing him to fluster,

"Damn it, Mahiru, that was a serious question!"

Mahiru scowled, "I can never tell, perv, maybe cool it more often."

"Uhm, I don't really have a preference… I don't eat steak."

Teruteru gasped, "Ohnononono, you will eat my steak!"

Mahiru glared, but the chef continued,

"I grill it better than anywhere you've ever had it, and that is a Hanamura guarantee! You will be fed only the finest!"

"Uhm, thanks."

Makoto and I made our way out of the kitchen, behind us, Mahiru escorted Sonia out and back to the waiting area. Following the stairs further down, we reached what looked like another lobby of sorts, likely leading out a different exit to the hotel. Like most places we'd visited so far, two new people stood almost waiting for us. Unlike before, there was only a veneer of pleasant conversation floating between the two girls, but neither seemed particularly invested in the other.

"Oh, hello there!"

The first girl ran up to us, quickly abandoning the second one as though she were happy to escape her. Her skin was a porcelain pale, her hair an indigo blue, her outfit suggested she'd walked right off the cover of a J-Pop track, and she carried herself with that cadence. I wasn't necessarily into J-Pop, but I couldn't help but feel I recognized her, only differently from how I'd felt I'd recognized Korekiyo and Kaito.

Makoto's face went beet red as the bubbly girl bounced almost up to our faces. She gave a very cheerful and relaxing smile, it made all my fears and apprehensions melt away. It melted more than that from Makoto.

"S-Sayaka?"

The girl, whom Makoto addressed as Sayaka, opened up her large blue eyes and carefully studied him before exclaiming,

"Makoto? Is that you?"

"Huh? You remember me?"

She giggled, "Of course I do, Makoto! We went to the same middle school for three years!"

Even her laugh sounded like a doll.

"Oh, I'm really not a doll!"

"Wait, how did you-?"

"I'm an esper." She interrupted me with a deadly serious look. I was at a loss for words when she suddenly snapped back to her warm smile, "I'm kidding!"

She stuck out her tongue, further suggesting she was teasing, "I just have really good intuition!"

Intuition, huh?

She met my gaze and extended her hand, "I know him, but I don't know you. I'm Sayaka Maizono: Ultimate Idol!" I shook her hand, "Kaede Akamatsu: ultimate pianist!"

Sayaka looked delighted, "Oh my god, I love the piano!"

Now I was delighted, "Really?"

The pop icon nodded, "I'm probably nowhere near as good as you, obviously, but I took lessons back in middle school, I was sad to drop them, but my schedule just got so busy after I signed my contract!"

I nodded, glad just to hear someone else talk about loving the piano, "I totally get that, maybe if we find a piano somewhere, we could play a duet together?"

Sayaka looked thrilled, "Oh wow, that would be amazing! Absolutely!"

"A pianist, hm? My how wonderful! I do appreciate musicians."

The second girl, just as pale as Sayaka, approached and politely placed herself into the conversation. She had an accent, like Sonia, but they were distinctly different. Still, I assumed she must've been from Europe too, she kinda looked like a vampire. Her night black hair twisted out into two identical drills on either side of her head, the top of which was covered with a dainty white bonnet. She wore a black dress suit with a blood red tie that accentuated her blood red eyes. Her style unnerved me, but her demeanor was at least calm enough to keep me from bursting. She had a polite smile on her face, and held her cute little hand up to her mouth. There were some strange metal rings on her rings, one of which looked more like a claw.

"Pardon me, I am Celestia Ludenburg, but please, call me Celeste. I am the Ultimate Gambler. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Celeste had an unmistakable air of grace and elegance about her, reminding me very much of Sonia. I wondered whether she was royalty as well…

Makoto seemed overwhelmed to have reunited with his middle school friend, from the looks of it, he seemed to have regarded her in a slightly different manner. Sayaka had already taken the liberty to get rather close to him, causing color to rush to his cheeks.

I shook hands with Celeste, and politely left the lobby. Makoto had decided to stay with Sayaka, not that I wanted to separate the two.

When I walked outside, I looked around. There was a pool area, but nobody seemed to be there now. I casually strolled up to the front of the hotel and noticed a cute little park just across the way. Maybe I'll find some more people there.

The park was very quaint, it had a small track you could stroll along, a fountain at the center, and a small playground complete with a sandpit and a seesaw.

It was by the fountain that I found the next two figures. One was a lean, blond man with elegant and cold sky blue eyes shielded by his thin white-rimmed glasses. He wore a very expensive looking suit and a scowl that implied a great disinterest in the world around him. He did not look very friendly to me.

Near him, on the other side of the fountain, was a shorter girl with long brown pigtails. Her muted brown eyes gazed longingly at the young man through her round wire glasses. She had a mole on her chin and did not seem to be wearing clothes nearly as clean as the man she was observing.

Something is clearly very wrong with her…

The scowling young man cast me a very casual glance, almost as though questioning why I'd even bothered to approach him. I was starting to question that myself.

He stared at me for a bit, then looked away. I stared at him for a bit longer, until his gaze met mine again, scowl slightly deepening,

"What?"

Ah, I should probably say something!

"Oh, uh, are you a student at Hope's Peak Academy too?"

He hadn't even turned to me, he'd barely moved anything more than just his cold blue eyes. His arms remained crossed as he grunted in assent,

"It would appear everyone here is."

Yeah, that's what I'd been thinking…

"Uh, my name's Kaede Akamtsu! I'm the ultimate pianist!"

The young man looked at me, expression only slightly softening

"Pianist… well, that's one less useless talent I'm stuck with."

Was that a compliment?

"Byakuya Togami: Ultimate Scion."

Scion, huh? Yeah, he definitely looks exactly like I would imagine him to.

"Is that all?"

Ah?! Y-yeah, I guess it is…

"Yeah, just wanted to find out who all was here!"

Byakuya looked away again, "Logical. Go talk to that creep over there, then I give you permission to leave."

P-permission?

Without another word, I shuffled off to talk to the messy girl behind the fountain, who I assumed overheard every word of my conversation with Byakuya. She recoiled as I approached her, but she seemed compelled to stay. Maybe she thought Byakuya had given her an order.

"Hi, I'm-"

"Toko Fukawa: Ultimate Literary Writer! N-now get out-t of h-here!"

"Huh? But I-"

"You he-heard what B-Byakuya said! Get out of you you dumb skank!"

Did she just call me-!

"Excuse you?!"

But Toko just ignored my offense and went back to drooling over Byakuya. These were two very unpleasant creatures, and I realized I didn't want to be in their presence anymore than they wanted me around.

So I left.

On my walk back to the hotel, I was intercepted by Mondo, who seemed to be walking towards the airport.

"Oh, hi Mondo!"

D-did that come out too loud?!

The biker glanced over at me,

"Oh, uh, hey Kaede… right?"

He remembered my name! Wait, why do I care so much?

"Yep, that's right! Where are you headed?"

Mondo rubbed his neck, "That astronaut guy asked me to help him build a plane."

Build a plane?!

Mondo shrugged, as though reading my mind, "I don't think anything's gonna come outta it, but it doesn't hurt to try, I guess. Not like I'm doin' anything."

Yeah, that's true.

I felt a sudden leap in my chest, and before I could stop it, I blurted out something I'd barely even thought through,

"Hey, I was just going to grab Makoto to go search the beach for more clues, would you like to join us?"

Where did that come from?!

Mondo seemed just as taken aback as I felt. He avoided eye contact, not a great sign,

"Oh, uh, I'm not really sure that's a great idea. I'm not much for puzzles and shit like that."

"Oh, yeah, that's fine."

Damn it Kaede! What's going on?

There was an uncomfortably long pause that neither one of us seemed equipped to deal with. For better or for worse, we didn't have to worry about that. A loud blare sounded from the speakers that were lined round the island. I hadn't paid them much attention before, if this was a resort, I imagined this was used to make event announcements and the like. The sound was disarming and deeply shrill, but it did sound like someone turning on a microphone. Sure enough, a voice replaced the siren.

"Attention, students of Hope's Peak Academy! This is your headmaster speaking! I would like to invite all of you to Jabberwock Park immediately for a mandatory opening ceremony! Please make your way to Jabberwock Park! I look forward to seeing all your bright and smiling faces again!"

That was strange. That voice called himself our headmaster but… he sounded so… shrill. Like nails on a chalkboard. He also sounded a bit… effeminate. But, it's not like I remember our headmaster anyway… maybe this is some sort of summer program?

Mondo seemed equally confused. Somehow that made me even more nervous. Something didn't feel quite… right.

"S-should we go?"

Mondo nodded, "Yeah, that voice didn't sound like we had much of a choice." He kicked the dirt and threw his hands in his pocket, "I don't like this, not at all!"

Yeah, neither do I. But, we should still go. Like Mondo said, we probably don't have a choice.

Mukuro and Korekiyo were the last to join us around the fountain. I stood in between Mondo and Makoto, who in turn had Sayaka mere centimeters from his arm, ready to grab onto it at a moment's notice. Not long after the stragglers had arrived, we heard a very unsettling laugh coming seemingly out of thin air.

"Upupupupupupu!"

On cue, a short, bearlike figure popped out of nowhere. His body was dissected into two distinct shades: a cheerful white and a morbid black. He looked like a yin and yang symbol come to life, and his countenance seemed to emphasize that. On his white side, he looked like a normal stuffed bear, a neutral, even cute expression of a slightly agape mouth. His black side is what unsettled me. A large, sinister, toothy grin sprawled across it, completely asymmetrical. On top of that, his eye matched the sinister glare and was an unsettling blood red, like one of those evil robots from the movies. It was that that made me realize he must've been an animatronic teddy bear.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome students! I am your headmaster: Monokuma! This is the official opening ceremony for Hope's Peak Academy's first ever Immersive Learning Seminar! I welcome you all to this wonderful opportunity that any student in the world would just kill for! Upupupupu!"

He said that word with such emphasis: 'kill'.

Mahiru spoke first, but they were words that all of us were thinking,

"What exactly is this 'Immersive Learning Seminar'? I don't remember signing up for this!"

Mondo assented, "Yeah, I think I would remember signing up for something that sounds like more school, 'cause I like hell I'd do that willingly!"

"Upupupupupupupupupupu! You all don't quite remember a lot of things, but don't you worry, you'll remember everything you need to at all the right times! As for your first question, Mahiru, the answer is quite simple!" Monokuma, who up to that point had been chortling with his white paw over his mouth, suddenly ejected metal claws from it and stared intensely at the sixteen of us, "This is a Killing Game!"

A… killing game?!

A.N: Hello! Welcome to my new story! It's been a while since I've been on Fanfiction, apologies if you're a fan of one of my other stories, I'm currently in the process of evaluating what to do with them! So, in the meantime, I've started this ambitious project! Oh boy, but hey, isn't that the nature of Fanfiction? Commitment is severely lacking in this community!

Anyway, so this is a fun little experiment I'm doing. I recently got back into Danganronpa, and after watching NicoB's let's play of V3, I was inspired to do some more Danganronpa things! I had a neat idea where using a character generator, I randomly threw in characters from across each game and plotted out a killing game based off that cast! (Hint: there may also be a cast for the other two locations... we are missing 32 characters, aren't we?) So if you were wondering why half the cast here is from Trigger Happy Havoc, it really is by chance! I wonder where the other half ended up...?

Some general things about the universe here, in case you haven't picked up on it, this story is basically an AU, so none of the main events of the games happened, as in, none of those killing games happened. As for the events leading up to each killing game, well, we'll see! As you can see, both Kaede and Makoto are in this, and I chose to go with Kaede as this story's protagonist, I hope that doesn't upset too many people, but I just think Kaede is more interesting (sorry not sorry). That said, cannon ships are completely off the table and may or may not happen depending on how I see them fitting into the story I've crafted! (I mean we got a whole game with these characters and we're missing Kyoko, Shuichi, Maki, Kiyotaka, and Gundham for goodness sakes, how could I do this to the ships!?) Well, I have plans, and I hope you guys are open to them! Hopefully, though, the characters are still relatively in character. Some scenarios lent themselves easier than others, but since this is a new environment with new characters to interact with each other, I wouldn't be too surprised if certain characters evolve differently. I know this is Fanfiction and I shouldn't have to spell that out, but I like to talk!

Last thing, this story is still in a relatively early development stage, and things are honestly very open to change. I'm kinda playing it by ear, sitting down and following a very loose and underdeveloped outline (I started with Jabberwock because it had the most developed plot line of the three) so I am very open to suggestions from you guys! If you have any really great ideas for things you might want to see or suggestions on how to write certain characters and relationships, I'm all ears. Nothing is set in stone!

Okay, that's everything! Hope you enjoyed this intro, and hopefully I can stick with this story!

-That1guyeveryonhates.