#and also and that's... kind of impossible to prove or to pinpoint or rationally explain

[rawliverandgoronspice]

still a hardcore believer in the "totk was absolute development hell" theory btw, even if I know it will never be confirmed or denied, but all the signs are there honestly

[askthedespairkids]

Chapter 1: Your First Lesson in Despair ~Daily Life~

//Woo! Finished this off and it’s ready to upload. The way this is formatted, I’ll show important moments from the daily life sections, then do highlights of the investigation. Trials will be full out, and at the end there will be FTE with the victim and killer of each chapter!

//Hope ya’ll enjoy

-Chapter 1 Daily Life, Cafeteria-

 We had all gathered when we woke up. Well…most of us. 14 out of the 16 in the group arrived at the cafeteria. You could really feel the tension among the group with what we were told yesterday…a killing game? What does it all even mean? It can’t be real, can it?

 “This isn’t ideal.” Watanabe-san started off as she scanned the room where we were scattered to different tables. “Who is missing? I want to keep a record of who isn’t coming to these meetings.”

 “You call them meetings…but it’s more or less a way to keep track of each other.” Kurosaki-san chuckled. “I believe only Mademoiselle Ram and Herr Okanaya are the only ones missing.” Okanaya-san and Ram-san…?

 “I tried to get Ram-chan to come out of her room, but she wouldn’t open her door.” Hachi-san said.

 “I don’t blame her. With the situation we’re in, it probably pays to be a little cautious.” Sly-san added. So…why are you here? Then again, if Sly-san’s the Ultimate Assassin, he probably has no reason to be worried.

 “Oka-chan, on the other hand? I saw him walking about but he totally threatened me when I tried to get closer to him. Ahhhh! I was really scared! I thought he was gonna hit me! We’re better off not being around him!” Irunami-san said. Okanaya-san was walking around? Most likely looking for a way out. If he knows the building’s layout, he’d know where to check for exists. I just wish he’d try to be more cooperative.

 “Unfortunately, we cannot force him to come. Though, I hope that both of them come around eventually. We need to work together in this situation in order to prevent any incidents from happening.” Watanabe-san said. ‘Incidents’ she says…she means so that nobody dies, right? Are we really gonna die in here? “For now, should we discuss the situation and our setting?”

 “Ah, if we’re discussing the setting them let me take the lead!” Without warning, Hachi-san clapped their hands together and produced a map resembling the floor plan on the E-handbook we received from Monokuma. “All right, who wants to annotate the map~? Hokama-chan! You do it!”

 “No, don’t ask me. I never learned how to write.” Amaterasu-san held up a hand to decline. “And call me Amaterasu.” She quickly added.

 “I’ll do it.” Shinko-san offered, grabbing the pen from Hachi-san. “Okay…obviously where we are right now is the cafeteria and the kitchen. This line of rooms is the dorms. How about this room?” He tapped on the room directly across from the cafeteria.

 We all ended up huddled around the map as Graves-san quickly stuck her hand up. “Oh! That’s a bathhouse! I tried it out yesterday and the water is super nice! I jumped straight in and didn’t want to leave!”

 “E-eh?! You didn’t even wash yourself beforehand?!” Kurohiko-san said.

 “A…are you supposed to?” Graves-san rubbed the back of her neck. I guess she doesn’t know how it all works in Japan…she’s definitely cleaning it first.

 “A bathhouse.” Shinko nodded and noted it then pointed to a room behind the cafeteria that was down another hallway. “And here?”

 “That’s a storage room. In addition to the food in the kitchen, that room is filled with snack foods, sodas, and other miscellaneous items like extra clothing. It could prove useful if we have to start rationing.” Sly-san explained.

 “Ah, but…our drawers in our dorm rooms are already filled with clothes, and when I went to get breakfast, Monokuma told me he’s gonna restock the food daily. So, I don’t think we’re gonna have to worry about rationing.” Kibe-san added.

 “How thoughtful, despite such a game, he doesn’t want you all to starve to death. How oddly generous.” Ishikawa-san smiled.

 “Just…make sure to eat with us, Ishikawa-san.” Kurohiko-san said. The thanatologist nodded though I wonder if she actually believed she needs to eat?

 “I know personally that this room is a boiler room. It’s got a giant furnace and a trash chute. Monokuma told me that each week, we have to assign someone new to take care of the furnace. He gave me the first week, so I guess we can cross that bridge when we get to it.” Shinko-san marked the boiler room down.

 “Take care of the furnace, what does that mean?” I asked.

 “Things that can’t fit in the chute are supposed to be burned in the furnace. He also mentioned how we could ball some evidence up and throw it in there. Seriously…I’m getting sick of hearing about that.”

 “Meanwhile in the building that the hallway connects us to…” Yokozawa-san pointed to the rooms on the map. “That’s the front entrance there, but it’s totally blocked off by all that machinery. Electronic locks, normal locks, this that and the next thing. Totally unbreakable.”

 “Unbreakable…we’re really trapped then…” Kibe-san seemed to pale.

 “That was already obvious from the start though. Don’t worry too much about it.” Sly-san looked over the room we hadn’t filled in yet. Even for an assassin, should he be so calm? It’s almost unnerving… “That’s an infirmary. It has two beds, some medication, and blood packs that are kept in a mini-fridge.”

 “An infirmary in a killing game? Really, even if it’s a school setting…” Kurosaki-san crossed his arms and sighed.

 “We obviously have the gymnasium. This room over here is like a school store. Monokuma said we can get all sorts of stuff from there. I went there last night to see if I could find something to break us out of here, but no luck.” Kurohiko-san said.

 “And this last room is an AV room. There’re rows upon rows of computers room. A projector, and a big screen. Maybe we could watch a movie in there or something.” Hachi-san suggested. “Though…we don’t have any internet.”

 Shinko-san finished off the map. “Alright…that’s everything. Now what are we supposed to do?”

 “I’m not entirely sure…” Watanabe-san admitted. “For now, maybe we should split up for the day…that seems like the most sensible choice.” We got a better understanding of our surroundings, but that alone…but what am I supposed to do? Maybe I should find a way to spend my time?

 -Chapter 1 Daily life Bonus Event: Pretty Pretty Cakes-

 “Ahh…” Irunami-san whined. “Naga-chaaaaan!! I can’t handle it! I’m bored! So bored! I need something to do with my time or I’ll go totally insane!” He wants me to do something about his boredom…?

 “U-um…what kind of things did you do before to pass the time?”

 “Hmm…I really liked to bake at the homeless shelter. They said my brownies were really good! Ah, maybe I should bake…! But I’d need some good utensils. The stuff they have in the kitchen is no good for the way I do it.” Irunami-san pouted and kicked the floor. Ah, come to think of it…

 “I have a baking set I got from the school store. Would that do?” As I told him, his eyes lit up like Christmas decorations.

 “Naga-chan, you’re the best! Alright, alright! If you bring the utensils and stuff to the kitchen later then I’ll be ready to get my bake on!” Irunami-san stood on his tiptoes and patted my head before skipping away. All I have to do is bring them to the kitchen. Seems easy enough.

 ----

 I arrived in the kitchen later with what Irunami-san asked me to bring. When I arrived I found a small crowd in the kitchen. Watanabe-san, Kurosaki-san, Kibe-san, Graves-san, Asano-san, and naturally Irunami-san were all crowded around the centre table.

 “I…Irunami-san, what’s going on?”

 “I figured that if we were gonna do some baking, I should invite some other people to join in! The more people we have, the better!” His face was beaming with pride at the turnout. I looked around at the eager faces.

 “C’mon, I wanna bake already!” Graves-san whined, waving her arms about. “I haven’t had brownies in forever so if these are as good as Sadao says they are, then I wanna eat then right now!”

 “We have the ingredients already so should we just jump right into it? Before Fraulein Graves has a fit, I mean.”

 “Kurosaki-san, you came along as well?” I questioned.

 “Ah, is it that surprising? How could I turn down an offer from such a cute boy, y’know? It was impossible to pass up this opportunity.” He explained. Geez…he’s just here to flirt, isn’t he?

 “What an annoyance you are. I can’t stand those who try to force a harem.” Watanabe-san almost spat. S-seriously, what kind of personality does she have?! I can’t pinpoint her at all. “No matter. Shall we start?”

 “Okayyyy~!” Irunami-san chirped.

 The baking session went…as expected with people like these.

 “Ahhh!!! Kurosaki-kun stole my sugar!” Kibe-san complained.

 “I did not! Mademoiselle, keep her off of me before she tears me for something I didn’t do!!” Kurosaki-san clung to Watanabe-san’s shoulder as Kibe-san began beating at him with a chocolate-covered whisk. “At least clean it if you’re to hit me!”

 “I’ll hit you in a second if you don’t let go.” Watanabe-san said in a low voice, glaring at the two. Both quietened down instantly and went back to their stations. I looked over at Asano-san who was methodically creating her batch, much further along in the process than anyone else.

 “It is odd. I never knew that this was how people my age spent their time together. I did so much home economics that it didn’t even occur to me it could be used for socialising.” What a sheltered girl. I can’t help but feel sorry for her.

 “Nagata-san, make sure you aren’t using too much flour.” Watanabe-san brought me back to what I was doing, I looked down at my own bowl realising I had been building up quite the pile of flour on the sieve.

 “A-ah!” The problem with flour in a sieve is that no matter how you move, you’re getting flour everywhere. Irunami-san pouted at me from across the counter.

 “Geez, Naga-chan, you’ll never make a good stay-at-home-husband with baking skills like that.” Why am I already having my life predicted by you? “Looks like it’s up to the great Sadao Irunami to show you how it’s really done!”

 Irunami-san abandoned his own work to help me with mine, step-by-step. And eventually…we had several plates full of brownies, Irunami-san put name cards in front of the plates so we’d know which plate belonged to which person.

 “Yahooo! We did it! They all look so good!” Irunami-san bounced around the kitchen, hugging everyone individually. “Ah…I don’t even know which one to try first…”

 “Huh? What’s going on in here?” We all looked over to the kitchen entrance to find Shinko-san standing there with curiosity written on his face. “It’s sickeningly sweet in here. Was there a sugar blast or something?”

 “We all baked brownies! Shin-chan, you should try some and tell us what you think!” Irunami held out a plate to Shinko-san. The director stepped back and frowned, pushing the plate away from his face.

 “I would rather not poison my body with such amateur works.” He looked away.

 “Ah, that’s a shame. Even though we all went through so much effort…” Watanabe-san sighed. Shinko-san peered out of the corner of his eyes, his face instantly flushing to a bright red. He swiped the top brownie from the plate.

 “F-fine, if you’re going to get on my ass about it, then I’ll eat one! Fuck!” He grumbled a few more curses before taking a bite. There was a small silence before Shinko-san’s expression became that of a violent sneer. “Disgusting. Which one of you pigs decided that was okay to give to someone like me?”

 “Ah, Herr Shinko, you’re too mean to me! I’ll cry if you insult my baking skills like that!” Kurosaki-san put a hand up to his face and wiped away a non-existent tear.

 “Get better then, dipshit.” Shinko-san growled before leaving. Gagging slightly as he left.

 “I suppose now is a bad time to mention I’m not a great chef?” Kurosaki-san chuckled a little as Irunami-san subtly threw away his plate of brownies.

 -Chapter 1 Daily Life, Motive-

 After hearing Monokuma’s announcement, the group all gathered inside the gymnasium. I couldn’t ignore how many nervous expressions were painting the room, my own included. Though what really got my attention were those two…

 “Ram-san and Okanaya-san? You’re here too?” I asked. Okanaya-san seemed to growl before he answered me.

 “What the fuck did you expect? That bastard bear told us we all have to be here. With the situation we’re in, it’d be stupid to ignore him.” He crossed his arms and glared at me, clearly angered as if I had taken him for an idiot or something. Ram-san stayed silent, avoiding any eye-contact with the others. She really didn’t want to leave her room, obviously.

 “H-hey…does anyone else have a bad feeling about all this? I really don’t wanna be here right now.” Kurohiko-san fidgeted with the top button of his shirt.

 “Cool it, Doi-chan. If you keep up that attitude, I’m gonna get annoyed.” Amaterasu-san yawned obnoxiously as she spoke. “I wanna go back to my nap, so can we get this over with…?”

 “D…Doi-chan…?” Kurohiko-san repeated as he began mumbling an incoherent monologue to himself. That guy has some issues he needs to work through.

 “Mmmm…I wonder…Ha-chan! Maybe we can work together and totally destroy Monokuma-sensei!” Irunami-san poked Hachi-san’s shoulder. The illusionist seemed to twitch slightly at the contact. “A hypnotist and an illusionist could be unstoppable together, don’t’cha think?!”

 “The problem is that my magic is exactly that: illusions. It’s not like I could ever properly hold off Monokuma…” Hachi-san replied sadly. “Is it possible to hypnotise a robot anyway?”

 “Ah…you’re right. Ahhhh! And I thought I came up with a cool idea too!” Even though we’ve not been here a long time, I can see the small relationships between the group growing. Some people just seemed to gel well together instantly, almost as if they’ve known each other for a long time.

 …am I…alone?

 “Upupupupu! Sorry to keep you all waiting!” We all stopped and turned to the stage where Monokuma launched up onto the podium. “Wow. Look at all of you getting along so well. It fills my heart with joy, knowing my students are such good friends…oooh…I might tear up.” He shook his head and his claws sharpened. “As if! Why aren’t you guys killing each other yet?! This was so much easier with that council!”

 “Council?” Watanabe-san repeated, though quickly ignored.

 “Hmm…I guess it’s hard to get you guys to start killing without any incentive. Well, if that’s what it takes then I’ll just have to give it to you now!” Monokuma produced a number of envelopes and threw them into the air. Each was marked with one of our names, and though hesitant, we all eventually grabbed our respective envelopes. “Now, if you look inside, you’ll find a very special thing! A name or a word or a phrase, maybe even an image! It might not hold significance to you…but it does to someone in the room!”

 “Explain. Clearly.” Watanabe-san demanded.

 “Usually I would just give you something like a video that means something special to you and only you…but that formula is way overdone! What you have is somebody else’s motive! What kind of motive you ask…? It’s unfinished business from the outside world!” Monokuma placed his paws over his mouth, attempting to stop himself from laughing.

 I looked down at the envelope with my name crudely written on the front. I tore it open and read what was on it. In big block letters it simply said “APE”.

 “How does this make us want to kill?” Sly-san said.

 “Well…in 24 hours, I’ll reveal that unfinished business to all of you! And if some of you have already figured out what your unfinished business is…I’m sure you wouldn’t want it getting out.” Monokuma’s red eye flashed menacingly. “Upu…upupupupu!” And with that, he disappeared behind the podium.

 There was an eerie silence looming in the air. What kind of unfinished business would I have in the outside world? What does “APE” mean? Who does it belong to? Who has mine? There’s so many things I want to know about…

 “Oi! Show me your letter!” I snapped back when Okanaya-san began advancing towards Shinko-san. “I saw that fuckin’ look you gave me! You have something that’s mine, don’t you!?” Shinko-san scoffed and pushed Okanaya-san away.

 “Don’t be such a brute. I was simply admiring how the steam flared out from those nostrils of yours. Besides, someone like me would never be able to identify if this motive belonged to you.” Shinko-san shrugged dismissively. That really didn’t seem to please Okanaya-san as he went to grab Shinko-san by the shirt, Shinko-san batted Okanaya-san’s arm away. “Do not even think about touching me!”

 “You egotistical bastard, I’ll fuckin’ kill you if you act like that!” That set off alarm bells quickly in the group. Watanabe-san called on the both of them to cut it out, but it didn’t seem like either of them were listening.

 “H-hey, maybe you should calm down-“

 “Huh…?” Okanaya-san loomed over me when I tried to intervene. “You wanna get involved, asshole?! I’ll fuckin’ kill you too!”

 “Th-that’s going too far, you shouldn’t say stuff like that! You’re not thinking properly at all!” I kept trying different lines to diffuse the situation but before I knew it Okanaya-san’s fist was reeling back.

 Then black.

 -Chapter 1 Daily Life, Infirmary-

 “Ughhhh…” I slowly let the light floor my vision. It took me a few moments to register the fact that the blurriness was caused by my glasses being removed. “Wh…where….?”

 “A-ah!” I heard a squeak and someone trip over something. I could make out the grey blob in front of me enough to guess who it was. The only with that colour scheme…

 “Ram-san…?” I guessed. She grabbed something next to bed and handed me it. I felt they were my glasses and I put them back on. I was right, it was Ram-san. Now that I had clear vision, I knew I was in the infirmary. “…what happened? Ah!” As I spoke, there was a sting by my right temple.

 “O-oh…you were knocked out by Okanaya-kun…Watanabe-san asked me to take you here to treat your injury. You were bleeding and needed a stitch, so I patched you up…” Her voice was demure. Scared, almost.

 “Right, I remember the fight now. What happened? Are Shinko-san and Okanaya-san okay?”

 “Y-yes…o-once you got hit, a few of the o-others jumped in and pushed the two apart. Luckily nobody else got hurt.” ‘luckily’. Did I have to take the blow so we could avoid a murder maybe…? How lucky for everyone else that they didn’t get hit.

 “So, you patched me up?”

 “R-right. E-even if it’s a gross talent, being the Ultimate Taxidermist means I’m great with stitches.” She smiled weakly, but there was a hint of pride in it. She must really love her talent.

 “Ram-san, I’m really sorry about what I said when we met. I didn’t mean to sound like your talent was gross or something. I do really think what you do is impressive.” I should’ve apologised earlier, but Ram-san wasn’t answering her door for anyone.

 She seemed genuinely shocked by what I said, caught in a momentary disbelief. “Ah…th-thank you, Nagata-kun.” She smiles softly. A genuine smile, and even if it’s only for a moment, I’m glad she’s smiling.

 -Chapter 1, Daily Life BDA-

 The next day, I arrived at the cafeteria earlier than usual to find most of the usual suspects there. Sly-san, Asano-san, Kurosaki-san, Ishikawa-san…but what surprised me was- “Ram-san? You came too?”

 “A-ah, yes! I, um…I felt more unsafe being alone, so…I figured it was better to come along here in the morning.” She played with the piece of hair that trailed down the centre of her face as she spoke. I smiled a little, it was good that she seemed to be trusting the group a little more. I wonder if it has something to do with what we had talked about yesterday?

 “Has anyone seen Shinko? Or Watanabe? They’re both usually here by now.” Sly-san’s question seems normal, but with the current situation, I can’t help but feel alarmed.

 “Couldn’t they have simply overslept?” Ishikawa-san suggested.

 “Not a chance. Not with that Monokuma announcement in the morning. It’d wake even the heaviest of sleepers.” Kurosaki-san smirked. The more they talked, the more anxious I got. I think my face gave it away because Ram-san looked at me and frowned.

 “Nagata-kun…do you want to go look for them? We can check their doors.” She suggested. I was probably being paranoid, but...

 “Y-yeah, let’s go.” I stood up probably too quickly, but I don’t care. Ram-san and I leave the room and walk towards the dorm hallway.

 That’s when we hear it though. A loud scream, almost bloodcurdling. Alarm bells are really going off in my head now. “Wh-who was that?!” Ram-san exclaimed. She didn’t wait for an answer as she grabbed my wrist and began pulling me toward the source of the sound. Thinking about how far away it sounds it had to come from…

 “The boiler room…” I mumbled. Ram-san and I glanced at each other nervously before I reached for the door handle. It’s fine, I keep telling myself. Everything is fine…

 I’m just paranoid…right?

 When we walk into the boiler room, on the ground behind the shutters is the body of Maemi Watanabe, the Ultimate Harem Mangaka, face down on the floor, blood seeping through the back of her cardigan. And next to the door is the extremely pale Shinko-san, who must have been that let out the scream.

 It takes a moment to hit us before…

 “Ah…KYAAAAAAAAA!!!” Ram-san let out her own scream. I didn’t even flinch from the volume, I was so dumbfounded by what I was looking at that I just fell to my knees.

 “W-Watanabe-san…? This…c-can’t be right…” I saw her yesterday. She was acting the same as always. So serious but had this playful side that you couldn’t help wanting to be her friend. She wanted to lead us out of the game without any deaths so…wh-why is Watanabe-san like that!?

 ~Ding dong, bing bong~

 My attention was brought to the monitor that flashed on displaying Monokuma. “A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time is given, a class trial shall be held! Please all gather at the scene of the crime, the boiler room!” The monitor switched off.

 “N-no way…a class trial?” Shinko-san spoke. A class trial was that thing Monokuma said would happen whenever a murder took place…which meant…Watanabe-san was murdered? By one of us?