The next morning, Akihiko woke up, stretched, and noticed the clock. 6:50…looks like I have a little extra time to look through the Monopad before the communal breakfast we agreed on last night. He powered on the Monopad.

Student ID: 11037

Name: Misaki Momota

Age: 10

Birthday: 01/22

Gender: F

               Akihiko stopped reading for a second, and gritted his teeth. None of those were changed…I’m not sure why I expected them to. It’s not as if I changed them legally. I can’t show this to anyone else, it’ll make me seem weak. He continued reading.

Ultimate: Child Prodigy 

Status: Alive

Details: identifies as male, detail currently unknown to news, and those he does not have close contact with, as the ultimate Child Prodigy is still listed under ‘Misaki’. The name he uses is Akihiko.

             Akihiko swiped to the tab titled ‘Rules’.

Rules of Killing School Life at Hope’s Peak Academy

1. Any type of murder is permitted.

2. No harm against the headmaster, Monokuma.

3. No sleeping outside of dormitories unless injured and in the infirmary.

4. No property damage is allowed unless absolutely necessary (to either kill a student, discover their body, or something of the like)

5. Monokuma will never kill unless a rule has been broken.

6. If a student is killed, the murderer, known as the ‘blackened’, will face the innocent (also known as the ‘spotless’) in a class trial.

7. If the blackened is found, they will be executed.

8. However, if students vote incorrectly, all spotless will be executed, and the blackened will ‘graduate’ (aka leave this school)

9. Any broken rules result in immediate death for the transgressor.

           As soon as Akihiko finished reading, the morning bell rang.

           Ding dong, bing bong! Monokuma’s voice came through the speakers and he appeared on the monitor. “It is now 7 am, time to wake up and murder lots! And if I see any of you lazy teenage bums still sleeping in an hour, I’ll kill ya!” The screen went black.

           Alright then. Akihiko took a quick shower, changed his clothes, and combed his hair. Straightening his tie, he walked out of his room, down the hall, and into the cafeteria.

          Most people were already in the cafeteria. Only Byakuya was not there, but Akihiko didn’t expect him to attend in the first place.

          He sat down next to the boy with red hair and piercings. “Long time no see, boy genius!” The boy said with a wide grin. “I’m Leon Kuwata, the Ultimate Baseball Star! But I wanna be a musician!”

         Akihiko nodded at Leon. “Nice to meet you, I’m Akihiko Momota, the Ultimate Child Prodigy.”

         “Cool! Can I call you Aki?!”

         Taken aback, Akihiko replied, “I-if you’d like.”

          Then, him and Leon started eating. Once everyone was finished, Ishimaru stood up straight as a pole. “Good morning, fellow students! Might I suggest we share what we discovered in our exploration yesterday?” 

            Akihiko rolled his eyes and scoffed under his breath. “Might I suggest a way to remove the stick up your-ow!” Kyoko elbowed him.

           Don’t. She mouthed.

           Fine. Sayaka stood up, pulling Naegi up with her. She scratched the back of her neck apologetically and giggled.

           “I was taking care of Naegi-kun so I didn’t have any time to investigate.”

            Naegi bowed. “I’m sorry, everyone.”

            Many variations of ‘it’s okay’ rang throughout the room. Mondo cleared his throat. “Sorry for punching you, man. Emotions were high, yknow? Water under the bridge.” Naegi nodded hesitantly.

            “Also, me and Mr. Honors explored together and we explored the kitchens and saw enough food to last us a long time. And it seems to get replaced every month.”

            Ishimaru nodded his assent, then yelled, “My name is not Mr. Honors!”

            Everyone ignored him, and people continued sharing their discoveries. Then it came to Kyoko and Akihiko. They stood up.

            “We discovered an infirmary, and we took it upon ourselves to confiscate anything we saw as dangerous, such as opioids, surgical tools, and syringes.” Kyoko said emotionlessly.

             “W-what if there’s a-an emergency?!” Toko panicked.

              In a measured voice, Akihiko replied, “We left all emergency items within the infirmary. Epinephrine is kept within reach of those who need it, and Kyoko-senpai placed the box of dangerous items inside the infirmary and installed a lock on it, so just call either of us if you need something.”

             “Why should we trust you?” Celeste asked simply.

             “Hm?”

             Togami then entered the room. “I agree with Miss Ludenburg. While it’s understandable that I haven’t heard of the names of the owners of some of these…mediocre talents, I’d rather think I’d hear about someone as adept at academia as myself. While your last name is the same as the Ultimate Child Prodigy, I do not recognize your first name. Perhaps a relative of yours?”

             “…” I hate him. Akihiko took a deep breath and spoke again. “Togami-senpai, I assure you I am indeed the Ultimate Child Prodigy, I’m not pretending to be anyone. And, my dear Celeste-senpai, you don’t have to trust us. It is simply illogical for us to kill anyone with these items since us two are the only ones in possession of the key would make us found out immediately. Is that satisfactory, senpais?”

             “I..suppose. I will expose who you truly are, Momota.”

              “I’ll look forward to it, Togami-senpai.” Akihiko shrugged. “Also, Kyoko and I discovered a fenced staircase. We tried to lift it, but we could not. Seems it’s not going to be available for a while, perhaps until someone is killed.”

            After a period of silence, Ishimaru said, “Alright, thank you Kirigiri-san,” he coughed. “Momota-san. And, everyone. What do you suggest the next course of action is?”

            Hagakure raised his hand. “Free time? To get to know everyone and keep calm and stuff?”

            Togami hmphed, a smirk evident on his face. “That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard from you all day.”

            Hagakure pouted. “Not fair!”

            Ignoring him, Togami stood up. “However I shall not join you because I don’t want to breathe the same air as you peasants. Farewell.” He left. 

            Slowly, everyone dispersed as well, cliques seeming to form already. Hina and Sakura-senpai, Naegi-senpai and Sayaka-senpai and, surprisingly, Kirigiri-senpai, Fujisaki-senpai and Mondo-senpai are oddly enough getting along, Fukawa-senpai is skulking around for some reason, Yamada-senpai and Celeste-senpai, Enoshima-senpai and Ishimaru-senpai and Hagakure-senpai-

           “Yo, Aki!” Akihiko felt a hand clap his shoulder. He looked behind him and saw Leon. “Wanna hang out?”

           “…If you’d like.” Leon grinned, gesturing for him to follow. Akihiko followed him to what seemed to be a computer room with also a TV and a gaming system.

            “What game do you wanna play?” Leon asked, crouching in front of the tv. “It looks like we have an Xbox. Man, they really are making us comfy here.”

           “A-actually, Kuwata-senpai, I…have to go! I forgot I was going to meet someone else after breakfast. Apologies!” Akihiko said, slightly panicky but trying to hide it. “See you later, senpai!”

           He turned to leave, but Leon grabbed his wrist. Akihiko looked back at him. “S-senpai? C-can you let me go?” He hated the tremor in his voice. Surprised, Leon let go, and Akihiko ran out and went to his dorm.

           Akihiko swore under his breath, lying down on his bed. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why didn’t I cover it up easier? I showed weakness, what if he tells everyone?! And all just because I was nervous about telling him I’ve never played video games before. Why am I so terrible at making friends?! And even worse, why do I care what they think?!