“Like, who do you think you are? Don’t you know who I am?”

              Akihiko looked around to find the source of the voice. It belonged to a girl in a black and white dress and had two ponytails. She was yelling at a man with wild hair who was holding what looked to be a crystal ball.

            “I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care! It’s not my fault you bumped into me, lady!” The man yelled back.

               Guess I’ll try to break that up. Akihiko walked over. “Hello senpais, what’s wrong?”

                “This homeless-looking idiot bumped into me and made me fall, and like, didn’t even help me up!”

                 “Who’re you calling homeless?! And you’re the one who bumped into me?!”

                 “Uh, senpais, as long as you’re both okay, it doesn’t really matter, right?” Akihiko immediately knew he said the wrong thing.

                 “Doesn’t really matter?! Of course it matters!” The two shouted in unison. “He-“ “She-“

              “Should apologize!”

              Akihiko tried to stop them, but to no avail. Finally a girl dressed in purple came to intervene. “Enoshima-san, Hagakure-san, how about you apologize to each other so that you both will be satisfied?”

             “But-“

             “No buts.” The girl glared at them. There was a period of silence then the man sighed.

              “Sorry, Enoshima-san.”

              Enoshima rolled her eyes. “Like, sorry, Hagakure-san.” They both stomped away in opposite directions.

              The girl in purple turned to Akihiko. “I’m sorry I did not step in sooner.”

              “It’s fine! You solved the problem anyways. By the way, I’m Akihiko Momota, the Ultimate Child Prodigy. Pleased to meet you.”

               “That explains your young age,” the girl mused. “Those two over there are Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Fashionista, and Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant. I am Kyoko Kirigiri, and I…don’t know what my ultimate is.”

              “Huh? Why?”

               “Your guess is as good as mine, Momota-kun. Do you have any clues about what’s going on here?” Akihiko shook his head.

                “The only thing I can think of is either Hope’s Peak has a bit of an, erm, unique entrance ceremony, or we’re in a hostage situation.”

                 “I thought of the same thing. Even for Hope’s Peak, this is overkill.” Kirigiri shook her head. “Honestly, I’m not sure how well our chances of rescue is due to the fact that there’s bars on any windows or other methods of escape. That would entail that the culprit has been planning this for a long time.”

                 “You’re right. So what do you suggest we should do? Personally, I’ve been talking to as many people as possible and making allies.”

                  Kirigiri nodded. “That would be wise. If you hear anything, notify me, alright?”

                 “Alright.” Akihiko walked to a nervous looking girl with two long braids and glasses.

                 “Hello.” The girl jumped, looking at him angrily.

                 “Y-y-y-you s-s-scared me!”

                 “…I’m sorry.”

                 The girl grumbled. “Stop undressing me with your eyes you tiny pervert.”

                  “What?”

                  “You heard me!”

                  “I wasn’t doing that senpai. I’m ten.”

                 “Doesn’t matter!”

                 “Anyways. My name is Akihiko Momota, the Ultimate Child Prodigy. How about you?”

                  “T-t-toko Fukawa. I-I’m the Ultimate-“ before Toko could finish, a squeaky voice came over the intercom.

                  “Mic check, mic check! Do you kiddos hear me?” 

                  Huh? Akihiko turned towards the stage. It came from there. He ran to the podium and climbed up. Just before he looked behind it, a black and white bear popped up right in front of his eyes.

                 Akihiko let out a small noise, startled, and fell backwards. Luckily, he was caught just in time. He looked up and saw the person who caught him was a boy with red hair and multiple piercings. “You good, man?” He released him.

                Akihiko nodded. “Thank you.”

               The black and white bear cleared his throat. “I’m Monokuma! And I’m your new headmaster! And before anyone says anything, I am not a Build-a-Bear reject!”

               “What’s going on?” Hagakure asked. “Is this the entrance ceremony? Why are there bars on the windows?”

                “Cuz y’all are here for an extended stay, for about, hmm…” Monokuma pretended to think. “For the rest of your lives!”

                 A gasp ran throughout the room. “What?! But what about our families?”

               Monokuma cackled. “Too bad!” Akihiko looked around and saw everyone was as scared as he was. For the rest of my life? But…I can’t. What about Kaito?

               “Well…If you want to leave….you just have to kill someone!” Monokuma said the next part so quickly and quietly, Akihiko almost missed it. “And get away with it.”

              Did he say the last part quietly so he can say he did even if we didn’t hear it? That’s weird. “Upupupupu! Happy killing! Make sure to grab your Monopad on the way out and read the rules!”

               Just as Monokuma was about to leave, Mondo grabbed the bear around the neck. “Not so fast,” he growled.

               Monokuma didn’t say a word, but started beeping, slowly doing so faster and faster.

               “Throw him away!” Kirigiri yelled.

               “Huh? Why would I listen to someone like you-“

               “Mondo-senpai, it’s a bomb!” Looking back at Akihiko when the boy spoke up, Mondo’s eyes widened in understanding. Immediately he hurled the bear into the air. 

              BOOM! The bear exploded.

              There was a small period of silence, then Hagakure asked, “Is it gone?”

               “Imbecile, logically whoever is controlling this bear would have replacements.” Togami said with a self satisfied smirk.

                “Daddy long legs is right!” Akihiko almost burst out laughing at the nickname Monokuma came up with as he popped out of the podium again. “Like I said, happy killing! See y’all later!” He disappeared again. 

            “Agh! Stupid bear!” I’m going to kill him!” Mondo was about to run out in search of Monokuma but Naegi approached from behind and said, “Owada-kun, I don’t think-“

            Akihiko winced. Bad move, Naegi-senpai. With a roar, Mondo punched Naegi in the face and sent him flying. Akihiko knelt down next to Naegi and checked his pulse. “He’s just unconscious.” He said to a worried Sayaka.

            “I’ll keep an eye on him if you guys want to explore.” Sayaka said firmly.

            “Tch!” Mondo skulked off, Ishimaru following and yelling all the while. Taking this as a cue, slowly but surely, the students dispersed into groups.

               Akihiko sighed inwardly. I guess I’m investigating by myself. “Momota-kun?” He turned around. It was Kirigiri.

              “Yes, Kirigiri-senpai?”

              “Come investigate with me, you and I are the only ones without a partner. I understand if you wanted to investigate by yourself, however it is wise to pair up in case someone is planning a murder.”

              “Alright.” Akihiko followed Kirigiri out of the gym. Mostly, they had just seen classrooms until they came upon a staircase that was closed by an iron screen. As if the two had shared the same thoughts, wordlessly they approached the fence and knelt down. They grasped the bottom of the fence and in unison, tried their best to lift it up. However, it was stuck firmly in place.

            “I wonder if this is a motive.” Kirigiri mused.

             “Hm? Isn’t the idea of being trapped in a high school motivation enough?”

             “Not exactly. I believe ordinary people without a predisposition to murder, especially Ultimates, need a little more to produce results quickly. The idea of a new area to discover that could potentially have an escape could push someone over the edge.”

              “But the school rules Monokuma mentioned said as long as you get away with the murder, you will escape. Why would they kill to find an escape when if they get away with it they’d leave?”

              A small, seemingly rare smile crossed Kirigiri’s face. “Not everyone is as observant as you are, Momota-kun. Anyways, we should bring it up at the next meeting but we have to be careful.” Kirigiri and Akihiko got up and continued walking.

            Akihiko peeked into a decently sized room with a cross on the door.

             “An infirmary,” Kirigiri said, confirming Akihiko’s thoughts. “Since this is Hope’s Peak, we need to search this room thoroughly. Most likely, there will be syringes, scalpels, and drugs that may offer assistance to perform a murder.” 

             “Indeed.” Akihiko glanced to the side and noticed an empty box on a shelf. “Place the dangerous items in here, then we can decide a place to hide them later.” Kirigiri agreed, then the two started searching the infirmary, occasionally tossing an item into the box.

             “Tylenol?”

              “Leave only one bottle out.”

              “Epinephrine?”

               “Leave it, we don’t know who has allergies and who doesn’t.” Kirigiri paused. “I would recommend leaving a container of each type of low strength medication out at a time, and a few epinephrine doses as well in case of emergency. Any opioid medicines, or any medical drugs of that caliber we control the dosage of and keep it in the box.”

               “Alright, Kirigiri-senpai.” Akihiko continued looking around.

               “You know, if you’d like, you can call me Kyoko.”

               “Hm?” Akihiko was slightly confused. To cover it up, he laughed uneasily. Her too? “Senpai, you don’t have to tell me that just because others have as well.”

               “It’s okay, we’re in this together, so you may call me by my first name,”

                “Then…you may call me Akihiko, Kyoko-senpai.”

                “Agreed.” Akihiko and Kyoko kept searching in silence, Akihiko’s thoughts racing through his head.

                What am I doing? I’m not trying to become friends with anyone here. Just like before, when Kaito isn’t here, it’s me against everyone else, whether it’s school or a life and death situation or any other possible scenario.

               I can’t afford to lose focus, now more than ever. I do not have the physical capability to kill someone, so I must find a way out. I won’t trust anybody, but I’ll gain everybody’s trust, and if need be…

              Sacrifice them all to win.