[IC] [PG-16] [Not Accepting/Started] Danganronpa

[Kay Faraday 23]

---

The day was young as the students of Hope's Peak Academy's newest class had begun to arrive on campus for the first time, the towering school in front of them practically blocking out the morning sun. Their arrival was very... Strictly planned out, arrive at 8AM at the very latest, enter the gym, and wait for the Welcome Assembly to start. It was straight forward enough, so as the sun rose, students had began to enter the prestigious school and head towards the gym, which according to their orientation guide was straight ahead once they had entered the room. The gym had bleachers lined on either side of the room, unfolded to provide the students a place to sit and wait for the event to actually start. Along one wall, parallel to the court, was a stage with a podium on it, no doubt where the speaker would be once things got started. Along the ground, aside from the usual basketball court, the students were greeted by the insignia of Hope's Peak Academy embedded in the floor, the massive symbol surrounded by a giant circle that separated it from the rest of the room. Once all sixteen of the students had arrived, there was a moment of... Awkwardness. No one was really talking as the ceremony was supposed to begin, but nothing seemed to be happening. Until finally, there was a voice. "Is that everyone? Can we finally start?!"

After that voice stopped talking, a chill washed over everyone in the room, as if telling them to look towards the podium. A few seconds passed in silence as the students glanced between each other and the stage...

Something had jumped from behind the podium and sat down on it... A teddy bear? The static face on it looking both adorable and malevolent at the same time. Students just stared at it for a moment in confusion, before Brian finally spoke up, "It's... A teddy bear?"

"A teddy bear? Please... I am your headmaster, Monokuma! Welcome students to Hope's Peak Academy!"

Students murmured among themselves in confusion over this, before one of them near the door held his hand up into the air before speaking lethargically, "...You can't be serious, can you? I know this is a special school, but a stuffed animal? Come on, bring out the headmaster already..." 

The bear put its arms behind its back as it looked out over the students, "I'm always serious! As I was saying..." The way the bear spoke was... Odd. There wasn't a hint of worry in its voice, it sounded delighted to even be here, but... All the same, there was something else to it, as if it was just waiting to spring a trap on someone, a cruel undertone. "You're all the hope of the world, everyone expects great things from you, blah blah blah, but I'm here for something more fun!"

"More... Fun?" Cassidy mumbled under her breath as she heard that, a concerned look crossing her face for a moment as she did. She spoke again, her voice remaining rather flat, but her hand had gripped onto a book that she was holding a little tighter, "...Usually that's accompanied by terrible news in the stories."

The concerned looks among the students kept going as the bear slowly stood up, pointing a stubby arm towards the student body, "Now, as I was saying, you're all here for the school year, but I have something much more fun in mind... We're gonna play a game! From now on, you sixteen students are going to live the rest of your lives here at the school, you will no longer be able to leave this place!"

There was moment of pure quiet once the bear finished speaking, students just staring at him as he finished. One larger male stood up, his hand pointing up towards the bear as he spoke, "What are you even talking about? You can't hold us here, we're students, not prisoners! What is the meaning of this?"

"Well it has to be come kinda dumb joke, right? You can't actually keep us locked in the school. We'll just... Go out the door." Raegan rubbed at the back of her head as she glanced back to the door, as if she was considering making a break for it before anything else weird could happen.

"Wrong!" The bear's singsong voice picked up once again teasing the students as the bear held its arms out, and from the ceiling a small table descended, landing on the ground in front of them. "Now if I can continue... You will all be staying here for good! You will build a communal life together, and grow as people... And there will be no more contact with the outside world! But don't worry, all your basic needs will be take care of. And even your more expensive ones too. Now, the only way this gets undone... If you reaaaally wanna leave... You gotta kill someone! That's the game!"

Monokuma moved from one topic to the next faster than the students probably would've liked, motioning towards the table in front of the stage now. On top of the table were little tablet computers, "These are the backbone of your lives here at Hope's Peak, the Student Handbook! It acts as your ID, your student registration, everything. Each handbook comes with a copy of the rules, along with a basic map of the academy that will be filled out as you explore the rooms. We have to stimulate those brains of your's after all! Any questions so far?"

There was silence in the gym as that question was asked, just waiting to be broken by anyone at this point. Students glanced between each other, no one seeming to want to be the first to approach the table that had the handbooks.

---

 

[yui 576]

Today was the big day. Aya would meet her classmates, introduce herself, start her life at this big important school everyone told her she should go to, and then maybe have a snack later. She was one of the final students to arrive, and sat near the right side of the crowd. They looked like an alright bunch, though there was one guy among them that looked kind of shady. And speaking of shady, that was exactly what Aya felt about the self-proclaimed headmaster. It was, of all things, a stuffed bear. How it was moving and talking was beyond her.

This has to be a joke.

And then it announced that it was here for something a bit more fun than the hope of the world. Aya wasn't sure what she was expecting, but a "game" about killing other students certainly wasn't it. There were a lot of words Aya could think of for that, but "legal" was nowhere on that list.

A really bad joke.

The more this bear talked, the less sense it was making. It was acting as if it planned to keep everyone locked in the school. The student handbooks looked pretty neat, though. Aya wasted no time getting down from the bleachers, stepping up to the table and picking one up. Then she eyed the stupid bear warily. "I've got a question. Is this an out of season April Fool's joke?"

"Phuhuhu..." The bear had brought his hands up to his mouth as that little laugh escaped it, just loud enough for Aya to hear it now that she had approached, "Man, you kids just naturally doubt everything these days, huh? Whatever happened to listening to the adults? Don't you have trust?"

"If I doubted everything, I don't think I'd be in this school to begin with. Let's assume you're serious for a second though. Surely you've got a murder weapon on you for an opportunistic student that wants a head start, right? Like a gun or something?"

Another laugh, though this one was a lot louder, "Oh wow! I didn't know we had a bloodthirsty killer in the group!" The bear raised a hand up towards Aya, the other hand behind his head as if he was trying to wink towards her, "It wouldn't be fair of me to give out a weapon directly, I'm an impartial observer... But don't worry! Get creative and there's plenty of wonderful things you can use to kill! Knives for stabbing, bats for bludgeoning! Knock them unconscious and set them ablaze! If you're feeling particularly angry, crush them! Anything can be a weapon!"

"Even these?" she asked, holding her Student Handbook out toward the bear. If they're really so important, they ought to be pretty sturdy.

"Whazzat?" Monokuma's head tilted as he glanced down at the handbook, before throwing his arms out towards Aya, "You gotta be kidding me! The student handbooks don't break, they have no weaknesses! If you break one, I'll punish you right then and there!"

Unbreakable, huh? Neat. There were some other things Aya wished were unbreakable. The loss of a dear camera last year came to mind in particular. Oh well, that was just part of life. But if they were truly unbreakable, why would the headmaster specify she'd be punished for breaking one? "I'm not really familiar with tablets. Is it okay if I come up there for some instructions on how to use this thing?"

"Are you stupid?" The bear had claws it seemed, and they were bared right in front of his face as he looked down at Aya. "You press the button on the tablet and then it's a touch screen, god! I thought you kids were supposed to be glued to these things." It seemed like he wasn't quite the nurturing type of Headmaster, if that was his idea of helping. "Ask one of your classmates for help, maybe you'll get lucky and they won't murder you!"

"Hmph." The whole murder game thing was a dumb joke anyway. Right? Reluctantly, Aya returned to the bleachers, putting a notable bit of extra distance between herself and the other students, looking over the features her handbook had. By how smoothly she was navigating it, there was no way Aya was unfamiliar with tablets.

[radio414 906]

Hannah could rattle off so, so many reasons that sunsets were better than sunrises. For example, even though golden hour lighting was the same no matter what time it was (or, at least, similar enough), getting ready for those single filmable moments was so much easier when there was a whole day ahead to prepare and go over camera coverage or blocking or anything else that needed doing. So it went without saying that Hannah was an evening person and, when obligations didn’t require otherwise, slept in late. J.J. Abrams only needed four hours of sleep a night? Well, J.J. Abrams was a hack who relied way too much on a sham marketing tactic that promised disappointments instead of quality -

Anyway.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t meet her morning responsibilities, it was just that, well, she might not be paying the closest attention. “Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee” was a good way to describe it, and today, Hannah had not had her coffee. The only reason she’d managed to bring everything she’d wanted -- all inside a durable, if rather worn, purple backpack slung around her back -- was because she’d done the majority of her packing the night before and “Don’t forget your backpack” was so much easier to remember than “Don’t forget this and this…”  and so on. 

But it was still enough effort that she’d still arrived at Hope’s Peak Academy in a daze. She’d only managed to get to the auditorium by following everyone else and once she got there, instead of socializing with her classmates like she should have, could only pace the perimeter of the gym in hopes that that might get some blood flowing.

It didn’t work. The only thing that worked was the bear.

And even that didn’t work right away. Like, the types of films Hannah normally made didn’t involve that level of animatronics, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t ignorant of their existence. So when the thing -- it said its name was Monokuma, right? -- popped out, it was merely an odd addition to an odd school. Some of the others’ reactions matched that assumption, too. “Come on, bring out the headmaster already!” somebody said.

What finally got Hannah’s attention, and, consequently, got her actually awake, was what came a few moments later, when Monokuma said, “From now on, you sixteen students are going to live the rest of your lives here at the school; you will no longer be able to leave this place!”

Part of her -- a larger part than Hannah would have liked to admit -- was just worried if she’d packed correctly or not. Like, she remembered feeling appropriately ready the previous night, but was she ready ready? Would it be too awkward if she just started digging around in her backpack taking inventory? The rest of her, well, that was the part that started to wake up. The rest of her life? At school? There were only two kinds of films made at schools, and they’d both been done. They were passé.

She had to get out of here, Hannah decided. Only, as soon as she’d arrived at that conclusion, Monokuma spoke again. “If you reaaaally wanna leave... You gotta kill someone! That's the game!”

And that’s what finally gave Hannah’s brain the swift kick to the metaphorical shins that it really needed. There were sixteen people in the gymnasium, and if this was really happening, that meant only eight of them could feasibly leave alive. Of course she wanted to be one of those more-fortunate eight, but there was no way… no, she couldn’t even think it! And if any one of them decided she was an easy mark…

“No, no no no no no…” Hannah said under her breath. Her head was on a swivel, eyeing every other person- well, counting Monokuma, she was every other moving thing in the room. She even flinched when someone else finally spoke up.

“I’ve got a question. Is this an out of season April Fool’s joke?”

Monokuma’s denial immediately smashed the remaining glimmers of hope Hannah might have had, though, to be fair, she wasn’t sure what she would have done even if it were all some gag. It wouldn’t have been worse than the reality of the situation -- it couldn’t have been! -- but still…

And then the girl had the audacity to ask for a gun! What was her deal? All she got was a tablet -- actually, it looked like everybody was getting a tablet -- but what was really chilling was Monokuma’s words after that. “Anything can be a weapon!” he said. And, despite herself, Hannah immediately tried again to do a mental inventory of what she’d managed to pack the previous night. If anything was a wea- No!

No! There were countless creators who had done sickening, despicable things, sometimes not even in the name of art, and Hannah had always considered herself unmeasurably distant from those monsters. To even think about killing someone to escape would be to take a step in their direction, and that was not something Hannah was about to let happen.

Monokuma had already presented the alternative earlier. “Build a communal life and grow as people!” he’d said. But Hannah had already dismissed that option, so what was a girl to do?

The words “Get out” rang in her mind, or maybe she mumbled them under her breath. And to do that, she’d have to participate in Monokuma’s little game, at least for the moment. But if she ever saw an opportunity… any opening at all…

Because of her panic and subsequent resolutions, Hannah was later in the line to get her Student Handbook. She didn’t turn it on just yet, though. Instead, she started over towards the girl on the bleachers, the one who’d spoken up first. Hannah wasn’t entirely sure why she chose her. Maybe it was the rebellious way she approached their headmaster, maybe it was just running towards the first person who stood out, but Hannah had made a decision, and she wasn’t going to be swayed by anything if she could help it. One thing did need clearing up, though…

“Hey!” Hannah said as she started climbing up the bleachers. She said another “Hey!” as she got even closer, just to make sure she had the girl’s attention, even if she didn’t wait for the girl to respond. “Hey, you were kidding about wanting a gun, right? Like, you’re not seriously thinking about killing someone, right?”

[Blake 312]

Before the bear appeared and ruined the mood, Devin had been happily greeting their new classmates. A handshake here, a high-five there, and even a party popper to form some camaraderie with a girl who looked to be a clown! Not everyone seemed to enjoy their schmoozing, but that was pretty normal. Devin tended to rub some people the wrong way. They would love Devin by the end, so it was fine! Although, one person had questioned the host(ess)'s gender...

"Mmm... Who cares?"

And all was well until the ceremony began. That person, named Brian, gave Devin a weird look after, but other than that, Devin just talked the others' ears off while they waited. Then, he appeared...

"This is a pretty sorry idea for a game, man."

Monokuma's idea of entertaining was whack. Who would ever want to play this game? Who would even believe it to be real? This was a prestigious academy. The teen rubbed the back of their neck and sighed as they stepped forward, pointing at the bear.

"There's nothing fun about this. This isn't heart-pounding, exciting, or even amusing! This is the worst joke since dead baby jokes."

It was a joke, right? There was no way something like this was actually happening. Maybe this is why the school wanted them to attend? To fix their poor sense of entertainment? Yeah, that had to be it. And the way some of these other people acted certainly made it look like the sticks in the mud needed to be pulled. Maybe the clown girl was here for the same reason... Grinning, Devin walked up to the bear and slapped it on the back, playfully.

"Or is it that you want me to teach you how to throw a party, little guy?"

[reparoni 161]

Cherie couldn't help but burst into laughter when the small bear entered the scene, claiming to be the headmaster. She started laughing even more when the bear talked about some game they were playing. She had to hand it to the place, they were really good at setting up jokes. There was something tickling the back of her mind, though. The way the bear was speaking about trapping them in a sick murder game so joyously, the lack of any apparent way to escape...

They were very committed to the prank, which Cherie could admire! She took a look around as everyone was in horror. Cherie shrugged; sure, the joke itself wasn't very funny. Heck, it didn't even have a punchline! But the effort put into the joke itself was something that only Cherie seemed to appreciate. Well, her and one other - a girl in a raincoat, who asked the bear for a gun. She seemed to understand the joke - that, or she was a killer - but she didn't look like a killer. Cherie laughed as she honked her nose, before making her way towards the tablets practically skipping. "Don't worry Mr. Kuma, I liked your joke!" She said smiling, before her face turned into fake fear. "I-I mean oh no, how could you~!" She let out a small giggle as she picked up one of the handbooks. She turned to the other individual that was next to the bear, who seemed to not be very fond of the bears joke. Devin said something that caught her fancy, though. "A party? That sounds like a great idea!"

[Monokuma 0]

---

"Geez you kids sure are annoying."

There was a coldness in the bear's voice as he said that, his black hand, paw?, being lifted up into the air as he turned that side of his body towards the student body gathered in front of him. "I'm glad at least one of you seems eager to kill! I thought I would have to wait and wait for aaageees before anything got done around here." He was still going on about that as the students lined up and got their handbooks and from the sounds of it, he wasn't joking. It took another student speaking up directly towards him to catch his attention.

"This is a pretty sorry idea for a game, man. There's nothing fun about this. This isn't heart-pounding, exciting, or even amusing! This is the worst joke since dead baby jokes."

"Whazzat?" The bear tilted his head towards Devin as she spoke up, his hands falling back to his sides as he stared straight at her, giving her a blank stare as he did. "You seem to have a basic misunderstanding of the situation. This isn't a joke! It's a game, a killing game! The best kind of game in fact! What's not to understand about that?" His voice took on a slightly angry tone as he spat out that last sentence, and those watching would get the feeling that if the bear could glare at Devin, it would be so...

"Or is it that you want me to teach you how to throw a party, little guy?"

"A party, are you kidding me? We can't have a party with something like that looming over us!"

"It has to be a bad joke, right?"

"Don't worry Mr. Kuma, I liked your joke! I-I mean oh no, how could you~!"

Monokuma just looked down at the students from his podium, before raising his arms up into the air, "Anyways, that's the game! Kill to play, play to survive, that's the Killing Game! You all ruined my grand entrance." The bear grumbled and muttered himself, 'stomping' off in a waddle as he disappeared from the stage... Just leaving the students on their own now.

"You all don't really believe this, right?" A girl with part of her face bandaged stood up as she stretched, "Ah, who am I kidding, of course you don't! I say we all just take a look around the school and see what we've gotta work with, how's that sound?"

"We don't... Have too much of a choice, huh? I guess we should start by looking around. No one take any unnecessary risks though, alright? If that bear is telling the truth, who knows what's just laying around the school." The boy who spoke up took a few steps forward, glancing around as he did, "Let's just... Make sure there aren't any obvious dangers." The way he said that made it clear that he was more than a bit worried about things going wrong, but it seemed like he wasn't going to keep talking as he made his way out into the hallway...

The rest of the students stood around, some of them just taking in the situation as they mumbled among themselves, others tapping away at the screen of the student handbooks. One stood up, a deep breath being taken before he spoke up, "Everyone! We're doing a full sweep of the school, spread out and let's figure out what's going on here."

With that, students began to stream out of the Gym, making their way to various rooms... Leaving just a few in the gym. One boy was sitting on the bleachers, a shocked look on his face as he took a deep breath, his hands swapping between fidgeting with the scarf around his neck and tapping at the screen of the tablet that had been given to them. Everyone else seemed to have streamed out of the room, going off to their respective searches.

---

[yui 576]

“Hey!” called out a voice in Aya's direction, interrupting her browsing of the handbook's features. “Hey!” it called out again, closer this time. It was a girl, who looked like she probably didn't spend much time outdoors. “Hey, you were kidding about wanting a gun, right? Like, you’re not seriously thinking about killing someone, right?”

"I figured I'd shoot the bear. He didn't say we couldn't kill him instead of an actual human being in our class, right?" Unless the headmaster was in fact a midget in a bear costume. But in that case he was a deranged psychopath who probably should have been put down anyway. Her gut was right; coming to Hope's Peak was a bad idea. While everyone else panicked and split off for their own searches around the school building, Aya continued looking at what all her handbook was capable of. "Name's Aya by the way. Aya Kuroi, Ultimate Storm Chaser. I'm gonna go help the others look around." With a dark smirk, the storm chaser added, clearly as a joke, "Don't get yourself killed."

And so, exploring she would go... after finding out what that boy's deal was and if he was alright. He seemed stressed. Aya sat down next to him, casting a quick glance at his tablet screen, then bringing her attention up to his face where it belonged. "Relax. Nobody here's gonna try murdering anyone because a talking teddy bear told them to."

The boy glanced up, his face slightly pale as he mumbled, "...You're the one who asked for a weapon." He said that as matter-of-factly as possible, before his own gaze turned back to the handbook as he looked over the given rules, "No one will kill, huh? I hope you're right... What if someone gets tired of being cooped up inside? And it's not even just that, what if someone gets sick, do any of us know first aid? What if an accident happens?"

"We treat them, obviously. I've been in the hospital enough times to at least have a general idea how to handle someone getting hurt." Which wasn't as many times as one might think, given how she phrased that. "As for an accident... well, if we all end up in danger of getting killed in a tornado or something, I'll suddenly be hero of the day. Aya Kuroi, Ultimate Storm Chaser. Nice to meet you."

The introduction was met with a shaky gathering of his breath as he stood up slowly, "It's nice to meet you t-too. I'm Brian Scott, and according to Hope's Peak, I'm the Ultimate Blogger... It's not much of a talent compared to yours." He put a hand behind his head as he glanced aside, "I'm just gonna hope this is a bad joke like the others were saying, I don't want you to have to patch anyone up if something actually does happen. But if it's a bad joke, they're committing to it hard, they actually added that stuff to the rules."

"That a fact?" Aya got out her own handbook, and went to the rules. Yup. It did discuss the killing game. Weird. "Well, we should probably get a feel for the campus. I'll be checking out the main entrance if you want to tag along. If not, see ya."

[radio414 906]

Right! Right, shoot the bear, of course! Of course that would work. Hannah had just been overwhelmed with the whole “someone’s probably going to kill you” aspect that she’d completely overlooked the obvious solution. And then after that, like, they’d have all the time in the world to overcome whatever else was keeping them in the school, no murder required. Or even, if they were really lucky, they could just leave. Wouldn’t that be something?

In the meantime, the other girl had taken it upon herself to go forward with the conversation, starting with introductions. Aya Kuroi, the Ultimate Storm Chaser. It was a profession Hannah was only familiar with by reputation. Or maybe just, like, a single lyric in that one TV commercial (“I love tornadoes,” the guy said/sang). And Aya was the ultimate version of that. That was pretty cool. Maybe they could bond over their shared love of getting just the right shot. Maybe they’d argue about what lenses they preferred and break up over that before making up within the hour. It was a nice thought, at least.

But she was getting ahead of herself. First, she had to reciprocate the introduction. “My name’s Hannah Elliot,” Hannah said. “Um, when I was accepted, the letter said ‘Ultimate Director,’ but, like, I do a lot more than just directing for a lot of my stuff. I mean, I write, produce, sometimes score, sometimes- aaaaaaand you’re gone.”

It was true. While Hannah was off monologuing about how great she was, Aya had wandered off to some other kid. She’d probably said something to that effect, too, and Hannah just hadn’t heard it. The other shout, the “Spread out and let’s figure out what’s going on here!”, she heard loud and clear though, so she left that pair to their own devices and went out to the rest of the school.

---

Hannah took some of that in-between time while wandering around to actually look at her eHandbook. “Hannah Elliot,” the thing said as she booted it up. It was nice to confirm that she grabbed the correct tablet, but she was more interested in other things right now. For example:

Rule #4: Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited! Along with this, breaking any security cameras or monitors is also prohibited and will be punished accordingly.

So maybe shooting the bear wouldn’t work.

---

When Hannah looked up from her eHandbook, she found herself standing at the entrance to what her map said was the Dining Hall. Which reminded her: she hadn’t really had the best of breakfasts, had she? At the very least, the prep time could give her some time to think things through a bit more clearly, and the extra meal would help give her the energy do whatever she needed to do. And hey, maybe nobody had come here yet. She could be the first to scout it out and report back.

“Hello?” she said as she entered, her eyes lazily scanning the room in search of anything that might talk back, eventually focusing on a boy lounging in one of the seats, a small cigarette in his hand. He took a little glance towards the door as Hannah entered, before putting it out a small portable ashtray. “Oh, hello!” Hannah said. “Looks like we had the same idea, coming here.”

“Eh? I suppose so, hello.” He stood up slowly, his hand shifting to rub at his neck for a moment as he turned to look Hannah’s way. He scooped up the ashtray and slid it into his pocket, “I wasn’t sure what I would find here, but I needed to sit down after… Well, that entire ordeal. I’m Casper Keller, I’m the Ultimate Therapist.”

“Hannah Elliot,” Hannah said, sticking her hand out. “Ultimate Dire-aaah --” It wasn’t worth ranting a second time. “-- Ultimate Auteur. I was just coming to make an actual proper breakfast. Starting with coffee, at the very least. Did you want any?”

A small grin appeared on Casper’s face as he took her hand and gave it a little shake, “We’ll get along just fine, I already started a pot of coffee in the kitchen. It should be good enough for you to get a cup if you want one…”

Hannah was already on her way over. “Alright, well, I don’t have the biggest sample size yet, but you are officially my favorite person so far,” she said. And Casper was right. Right there, just as she crossed the threshold, was a huge pot, all hot and ready and waiting for her. 

After that, only one (immediate) problem remained. “Is there cream and or sugar anywhere? Do you know?” she called out through the kitchen door. “Sorry, I’m kind of basic when it comes to coffee.”

She could hear Casper groan even before he followed her inside. “The fridge has creamer and some milk if you like that in it…” he said. “Sugar…” He stepped over to one of the cabinets over the counters, opening it up to dig around for a moment, before pulling out a massive bag of sugar, “...Yeah, there’s plenty of sugar for us.”

“Oh, neat,” Hannah said. “And mugs…? Oh, here they are.” There were so many! And of so many different sizes and shapes, like, that was apparently a consideration among the biggest coffee connoisseurs? “Whatever,” Hannah mumbled. She looked back over her shoulder. “You were getting one too, right?”

She grabbed a pair of the medium-sized mugs and filled them both up, leaving room in hers for the equivalent of her preferred two creams and five sugars. Once she was satisfied, she gave Casper a warm smile and brought the mug to her lips.

And then she remembered: Casper might be trying to kill her.

Slowly, as calmly as she could, Hannah lowered her mug back down, and said, “Actually, this is stupid, but do you think we could drink at the same time? It’s dumb, I know, but… yeah.”

Casper, Hannah noticed, was one of those nerds who took his coffee black, which was fine. But she also noticed he cared a lot less about the whole “One of us could have slipped poison in this while the other wasn't looking” idea. He lowered his own mug with a slight smile on his face and said, “So that bear’s got you on edge, huh? I guess I can’t blame you… It’s the reason I went off for a smoke once everything there was done.”

He held up the cup, motioning towards her as he did, “To our health… And our survival in this strange school.” He took the lead, closing his eyes and bringing his cup back to his lips, and began to drink.

“To our health,” Hannah echoed as she took her own sip. Once that was finished, she once again put down her mug and said, “Alright, now for phase two: Breakfast. You want anything cooked? I bet there’s a griddle in here somewhere and I’m craving some french toast.”

[Blake 312]

As the bear wandered off of the stage, Devin felt the urge to both frown and laugh. On one hand, they had ruined his attempt at a very bad joke... On the other, his angry waddling was adorable. Well, weird starts aside, it looked like the rest of the class had begun to wander off... except for the clown girl from earlier.

"Cherie, right?" Devin smiled, extending a hand to the clown, "I'm sure you remember, but just to be safe... Name's Devin Kismet, and I'm the Ultimate Host slash Hostess! It seems like you agree about throwing a welcoming party, and I figure you have some great ideas... So, wanna follow me to the kitchen, and we'll see what we can whip up?"

Turning to walk away, the party king/queen headed off without waiting, sure the girl would follow. Having someone reliable like her around would make it easier to focus on the food aspect, since a clown would surely know about entertaining people... at least somewhat.

-----

Walking into the dining hall without a care in the world, Devin hummed as they headed through it to get to the kitchen. Devin waved to the others that had gathered there as she slipped into the door at the back, calling out.

"Hey, let the others know to gather here in, mm... 2 hours? Yeah, I should have everything ready by then~"

With a spring in their step, the party planner got to work. The coffee pot being used was a bit of a nuisance, because they would have to clean it before moving it out, but it could have been worse. Pulling out a cutting board, Devin resumed their humming as they began to gather and chop vegetables, oblivious to the danger they were all in.

[reparoni 161]

The bear seemed very committed to the joke, something Cherie could appreciate! The clown waved as the bear left the stage, before she heard someone call for her. "Cherie, right?" Devin extended a hand out towards Cherie, a hand that she eagerly shook , "I'm sure you remember, but just to be safe... Name's Devin Kismet, and I'm the Ultimate Host slash Hostess! It seems like you agree about throwing a welcoming party, and I figure you have some great ideas... So, wanna follow me to the kitchen, and we'll see what we can whip up?"

"Oooooooh~!" She said, beaming brightly. "Of course of course! I would lo~ove to help!" She said, following behind the Ultimate Hostess. She pointed her finger towards the kitchen. "And awaaaay we go!" On the way to the kitchen, Cherie decided to mess around with the tablet that the bear had given them. She was blown away by the commitment of the joke - or was this part of the actual school part of school? She didn't care, it was awesome either way!

- -

"Oh, are you guys here to help set up too?" Cherie asked happily to those that had already gathered at the kitchen. She watched as her new friend slipped through the back, before popping their head out.

"Hey, let the others know to gather here in, mm... 2 hours? Yeah, I should have everything ready by then~"

"Can do!" She shouted happily, turning around to the others that were there. "Hey, make sure to come to the kitchen in 2 hours! We're going to have a party~!" She said, before turning and making her way towards the door.

[Kay Faraday 23]

---

"Well, we should probably get a feel for the campus. I'll be checking out the main entrance if you want to tag along. If not, see ya."

Brain took a deep breath as he stood up, rubbing at the back of his neck for a moment as he did, "I guess I've got nowhere else to be right now, and..." There was an unspoken tension there, which made it clear why he was going to go with Aya. It wasn't unreasonable though, very few people would've wanted to be alone after hearing something like what that bear had said. With Aya leading the way out of the gym, the pair walked off towards the entrance of the school building, where a pair of students had already set up shop. One of them was knelt down in front of the door, examining the lock as the other two approached. The other boy... Was the loud one from the gym earlier, the one who had 'started' the whole search in the first place.

"Hm? Did you two need something in particular?" He turned towards them as they approached, Brain dragging himself behind the girl as he rubbed at his neck. The other boy turned back to the door before Brian could say anything, "And have you made any progress with that lock?"

The boy on the ground mumbled a tiny bit as he shook his head, the approaching pair getting a better look as he turned his head towards the others, "Not yet. The lock is finicky, the moment I move it around, it seems to snap back into place almost instantly. It's not like any lock I've worked with before."

"Is it really that bad?" Brain scooted around to walk over towards the door, a small frown on his face, "I don't know much about lockpick, unfortunately, but I might be able to find some information online, once I get connected to the internet. I know a lot of people..."

"Nah. If I can't do it, it's pretty unlikely anyone else would know." He grinned as he stood up, directing his attention towards Aya and Brian as he held a hand into the air, "I'm Tempest Moore, the Ultimate Thief! Breaking and entering is child's play to me... Which is probably the reason this lock is so crazy. That bear must've been ready for me."

"Right, it's definitely the bear..." The other one who had been there originally turned his head to them, "I'm Declan Barnham, the Ultimate Lawyer. Are you are?"

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

“Alright, now for phase two: Breakfast. You want anything cooked? I bet there’s a griddle in here somewhere and I’m craving some french toast.”

"Breakfast, huh? I'll pass. Cup of coffee and a smoke is all I normally do for breakfast. Don't have too much of an appetite." He smiled for a moment as he chuckled, before blinking as he glanced over towards the door. There was a bit of a noise coming from the other side of it, "...But I might make some eggs, I'll whip up some extra in case you want some."

He yawned as he stood up, walking over towards the fridge to pull out... A massive carton of eggs. "It looks like they've provided warming stations to keep the food warm... I wonder what other stuff they've got around here."

He glanced towards the door as it opened up, a small mumble escaping him as he rubbed at his neck as he heard Devin speak up.

"Hey, let the others know to gather here in, mm... 2 hours? Yeah, I should have everything ready by then~"

"...Everything ready? You wanna tell us what you're planning? Or are you gonna keep it a secret?" He raised an eyebrow as he set the carton of eggs he had grabbed down onto the counter, turning to face Devon as she fished out a cutting board. He kept going on his own task, getting a pan from a cabinet and getting ready to start preparing various different methods of cooking as he glanced over at Devin once again, keeping an eye on her as she worked. The new arrival seemed to have put him a little bit on edge, but that was only going to be tested more as a new arrival entered the kitchen not long after Cherie had left the dining hall...

"A party? Did I hear that right?" The sound of the door opening was met with a soft, though still firm voice speaking up as another girl entered the room, a small frown on her face as she brushed her hair out of her face, "...I should introduce myself, I'm Talia Sky, the Ultimate Archer. Now... Why are we having a party, exactly? It really doesn't seem like an appropriate time to have a party, you know?"

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

"Hey, make sure to come to the kitchen in 2 hours! We're going to have a party~!"

As Cherie said that and hopped out of the Dining Hall, she was met with the sound of groaning from down the Dorm Hallway from a girl in a blue dress, who quickly dipped into one of the rooms and disappeared from sight. Meanwhile, Cherie could crashing from a nearby room. It wasn't too hard to figure out the source had come from the main building and had to be close by... And if she made her way towards the sound, it would quickly be apparent where it came from. In the main hall, there was a relatively plain door wide open and inside of it... Was a massive pile of everything. A cart had toppled over onto the ground just barely visible from the hallway, and scattered across the ground were all sorts of serving trays and containers for holding food. On the ground next to it was a boy who seemed to have tripped, a small scowl on his face as he mumbled, "Shit... I better get this cleaned up..."

It was quiet, but that didn't last long as he stood up, glancing towards the hallway. His face went a bit pale as he saw Cherie standing there, a small cough escaping him, "U-Uh, hey. Are you the Ultimate Host...Ess? Uh. That bear popped up in here and told me that this room was made for them, so... If you are, here you go."

---

[yui 576]

"Hm? Did you two need something in particular? And have you made any progress with that lock?"

"Not yet. The lock is finicky, the moment I move it around, it seems to snap back into place almost instantly. It's not like any lock I've worked with before."

Makes sense. If the school really wanted to keep everyone locked in, of course the locks would be top-notch. The doors were probably impossible to break open too, at least with anything the students could get their hands on around here. She suspected some force of nature could probably blast it open, but by that point, there would probably be more pressing concerns than getting out of a school building.

"I'm Tempest Moore, the Ultimate Thief! Breaking and entering is child's play to me... Which is probably the reason this lock is so crazy. That bear must've been ready for me."

"Nice name," Aya smiled, as Declan - the Ultimate Lawyer - also went on to introduce himself, and ask Aya and Brian who they were.

"Aya Kuroi, the Ultimate Storm Chaser. Nice to meet you."

Brian blinked for a moment as he let out a little sigh. There was definitely more than little bit of disappointment in his voice,  "I guess it would be a bit too optimistic to expect the door to be easily opened, huh? I'm Brian, the Ultimate Blogger."

"Ah, it might be a bit optimistic, but even the best can make simple mistakes like that, you know. When you're thinking on a grand scope, it's easy to let little things pass through the cracks." Tempest shrugged his shoulders a tiny bit as he said that, "It was worth checking."

"We could always try blowing it up," Aya suggested. "Assuming someone around here knows how to make a bomb. It's a bit barbaric, but it can't be much worse than anything that bear was talking about, can it?"

There was a pause when Aya suggested a bomb. Declan just kind of glared at her when she finished speaking, "...You're the one who wanted a gun, aren't you? Are you always so quick to jump towards reckless solutions? If we tried to bomb it, who knows how the... Bear would react." Subtly, he tilted his head up towards the wall, a mounted security camera scanning the area.

"And anyway, even if we had a bomb, there's no telling if the door would crumble for it. I mean, this is Hope's Peak, they could afford to make things blast proof." Tempest chimed in once Declan had finished speaking, though he didn't seem as reserved as the lawyer did.

"It's reckless, I know, I know. Maybe I'm just desensitized to wanton destruction because of my line of work or something." Although, I guess natural destruction and man-made are pretty different things when it comes down to it. Aya sat down on the floor, thinking about the door and other, less explosive ways to pry it open. "We could wait for some thunderstorm or something to knock out the power and see if Tempest can't pick it open at that point. Maybe there's an electrical component that's making it tricky?" Though this place probably has backup genereators, and backup generators for those backup generators.

[radio414 906]

Ooh, Casper had even found the eggs, how lucky! Hannah had taken the intervening time gathering all the other ingredients: bread, milk, cinnamon, what have you. She wasn’t really working from a recipe, just a vague recollection of what worked the last time she’d made french toast which was… wow, had it really been that long ago? Huh.

In any case, she thanked Casper both for his offer and as she took a few from the massive carton and was just about ready to actually for real this time have breakfast when someone else entered the kitchen.

Hannah flinched! Casper had managed to calm her down a little bit what with the shared experience of coffee and now also cooking, but the caffeine had reawakened those nerves, so hearing a second unidentified person humming behind her just about sent her shooting right out of her skin. It was only when they started talking that Hannah finally settled down.

“Hey, let the others know to gather here in, mm... 2 hours? Yeah, I should have everything ready by then~”

Then:

“Hey, make sure to come to the kitchen in 2 hours! We're going to have a party~!”

A fourth! The edge, that constant tension had subsided, finally, replaced by the comforting sensation of being in a group. There weren’t any introductions yet, so it wasn’t like she knew them knew them, but it was, you know, a good first step. She had to start acknowledging them at some point, anyway.

“Oh! Uh, am I in the way? Sorry, I can- I’ll just be outside then, I guess.”

It was an odd sort of acquiescence, and Hannah immediately wondered why she had done it. She knew she shouldn’t have. She knew she could easily just stay in her one spot and at worst there’d be that occasional “Lemme just sneak past ya,” or “Oops! Excuse me.” Maybe it was how the newcomer just seemed to take over the entire kitchen as soon as they entered and suddenly she felt out of place.

Hannah also noticed that Casper stayed where he was. Was it really just her?

In any case, her mind was made up. She gave a quick nod to each of the new intruders as she left, but didn’t really do anything more than that. What else could she do?

Well, step one was to not run into the fifth person just entering the area. “A party? Did I hear that right?” the new-newcomer said, projecting like she wasn’t talking to the one person right in front of her, who’d almost had to get out of the way. But this one had the decency to introduce themselves also, so Hannah responded in kind.

“Hi! I’m Hannah Elliot, the Ultimate Auteur. Um, I don’t know exactly going on with the party business, but they seemed to know what they were doing so I kind of just, you know, let them at it. I was just going to wait out here if you wanted to… also do that, I guess?”

“Auteur?” Talia paused for a moment, before shaking her head a tiny bit as she glanced back towards the kitchen, sighing gently. “I suppose it’s not too important to go asking why… Those two weren’t together, right?” Her voice was soft as she said that, directing her question solely at Hannah.

“Oh, yeah!” Hannah said, “It’s a French term that means ‘author,’ though it more broadly refers to the sole creator of a piece of media. You see, back in the nineteen forties, some film critics realized- you don’t care. Okay.” It was her fault, really, latching on to the first sign of interest like a moth to a flickering candle. Talia was clearly more interested in other things. 

Talia chuckled. “You can tell me more about it when things are a little less tense, how’s that sound? It’s not that I don’t care, just...” 

“No, I get it,” said Hannah. She beckoned -- though perhaps a better verb was “pulled?” -- Talia over to a corner of the Dining Hall, sat down, and said, “So I met one of them already. The guy with the eggs was Casper Keller, the Ultimate Therapist. But he was here when I got here. Um, the other one- the other two, I guess -- did you see the other girl when you came in? -- they got here after and started talking parties. I guess the answer is no, then? The answer to your question, I mean.”

Hannah noticed Talia’s hands were fidgeting with her bow as she sat down, plucking the string almost like an instrument. “Okay good,” Talia said. “If… Casper wasn’t with her then we have someone in there watching the food. I don’t want to believe that anyone would… go along with what that damn bear is saying, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, you know?”

“Well, the coffee wasn't poisoned, at least when I had some,” Hannah said. “Unless it was iocane powder or something like that.” Did iocane even exist in real life? Hannah wasn't sure. “I’ve had the same fears though, don't worry.”

Despite Hannah’s reassurances to the contrary, Talia did have a point. Maybe they should still be in there? No, surely between two people who probably hadn’t even met yet, they couldn’t both be killers, right? And yet, Hannah was at least curious as to what they were doing. There wasn’t really any way to be discreet about it, though, which was a problem.

The solution was obvious, though: Just don't even bother! Instead, Hannah excused herself from Talia's company, walked right back into the kitchen, and said, to nobody in particular, “Hey, are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help?”

Edited April 14, 2019 by radio414

[Blake 312]

"...Everything ready? You wanna tell us what you're planning? Or are you gonna keep it a secret?"

Devin had already begun making a cake when Casper spoke to them, so they took the whisk in their hand, and placed it between two fingers. Devin pursed their lips and tapped the handle of the whisk against them, spinning their free hand about to the side, thinking of how to explain.

"Well, I can't exactly tell you everything I'm doing... surprises are, like, part of the fun at parties, right? But you're welcome to watch! You know, because someone totally might take that bear seriously, if that's what you're worried about!"

“Oh! Uh, am I in the way? Sorry, I can- I’ll just be outside then, I guess.”

"Nono, you're fine! I just need to get in here and make a totally awesome spread!"

With a happy hum, the host(ess) turned away from Casper, going back to their preparations. At least, that was the plan, up until...

"A party? Did I hear that right? ...I should introduce myself, I'm Talia Sky, the Ultimate Archer. Now... Why are we having a party, exactly? It really doesn't seem like an appropriate time to have a party, you know?"

"Yep yep, we met earlier, silly~" Devin giggled, not even looking up from her work, "But to answer your question, um... Like, why not? We just met each other, and parties are great at getting to know people! And maybe I can show those bigwigs how to make a good show, instead of that bear's sorry joke! I mean, I'm no Ultimate Cook, but mama made sure she taught mini-her how to fill a belly!"

"We might've met briefly, but there were others in here too." She raised an eyebrow as she glanced over at Devin, a small mumble escaping her as she shook her head lightly. She twirled her hair around her finger briefly, before letting out a small sigh, "...And you don't think trying to give people a day or two to wait would've been a better idea? It's already too late, considering the other girl ran off, but you're awfully eager..."

"You mean you don't remember everyone you met from the getgo? Huh, guess that's just me..." Devin muttered, managing to slide the cake in the oven in record time, "And of course I'm eager! Throwing parties for all the friends I've made and will make is, like, what I do... And if it's tension, then don't you think a nice party would totally take the edge off a bit?"

[reparoni 161]

As Cherie said walked around the Dining Hall, she heard what sounded like someone groaning from down the Dorm Hallway from a girl in a blue dress, who quickly dipped into one of the rooms and disappeared from sight. "I wonder..." Before she could finished her sentence, a crashing sound cam from a nearby room. "I better go check to see if everyone's ok!" She said, making her way towards the main hall. Ideally, she'd be able to tell whoever made the noise about the upcoming party!

When she got to the main hall, she saw a door open with a rather large mess in it. Trays and food containers were spilled all over the floor around the toppled cart. On the ground next to it was a boy who seemed to have tripped, a small scowl on his face as he mumbled, "Shit... I better get this cleaned up..." Cherie walked towards the boy as he picked himself up, turning to face her. "U-Uh, hey. Are you the Ultimate Host...Ess? Uh. That bear popped up in here and told me that this room was made for them, so... If you are, here you go."

"Ultimate Hostess? Nah, that ain't me!" Cherie said with a chuckle, making her way towards the boy. "I'll keep that in mind and tell him... her?" Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure whether her new friend was a boy or a girl. That didn't matter, though - what mattered was that they were hosting a party. "Actually you can probably tell them yourself at the party they're planning!" She said, pointing out towards the door. "It's starting pretty soon~! I can take you there!" She said, smiling widely at him.