Chapter Text

Prologue

Screams echo in my mind and all around me as I sprint through these desecrated halls splattered with blood.

My brother... I need to find my brother.

Running faster, I hastily turn the corner and--

"... Hello?"

All I see is black. I attempt to reach out to the voice, but my entire body feels numb.

"Are you alright...?"

Groaning, I open my eyes and see a dark blob standing over me.

"Oh... You're waking up, that's good."

The dark blob transforms into a young man as my eyes adjust: Dark messy hair, dull gray eyes, round brown face, and glasses... Freckles spattered across his kind face. Looking down at me with his thick brows furrowed, he smiles softly.

"Hey... Can you talk?"

"Ugh.. I..." Suddenly my entire body bursts with adrenaline and I shoot up. "Where am I? What the hell happened? Agh—!" My hands find themselves grabbing my head as it begins to throb with pain.

"Woah, hey, calm down..." The boy recoils back, his trenchcoat billowing across the floor. "The headache will pass, just breathe.."

Rubbing my temples, I take a deep breath. After the pain mostly subsides, I turn to the boy.

"Wha... What's going on?" I ask.

"Um.." The boy avoids my gaze. "I don't really know.. None of us do.. I think you're one of the last ones to wake up."

"... Us?"

"Oh! Yes, yes... There are more of us," The boy points down the hall behind himself. "Down there, near the entrance of this building."

As he explains, I look around at my surroundings. Feeling the sheets of the bed I'm sitting on, I notice we seem to be in an abandoned hospital, the vegetation now growing wild within the confines of what remains of the walls.

"So, are you ready to meet everyone, now?" Flinching, I realize it's the boy talking again.

"Oh, ah, yes... I suppose so." I get off of the bed and begin following him down the hall. "May I ask your name?"

"Oh, my name? Yes, right, my name.. um.." Pausing for a moment, the boy stares down at the floor. Then, he says slowly, "My name is Daichi Sato... What's yours?"

"I'm.." Strangely, I draw a blank. "... I dont know."

"Ah, wait!" Daichi begins rummaging his hands in his coat pockets until he pulls out a notebook with his name and other information on it. "You should have one of these in your pockets." I put my hand into my pants pocket and find the notebook. "It should all your info if you don't remember it for some reason."

I open it and read the contents:

Name: Ayaka Kaneko

Talent: Super High School Level Philosopher

Sex: Female

DOB: August 14

Age: 17

Height: 5'5"

"Well, apparently my name is Ayaka Kaneko... And what is this? 'Super High School Level Philosopher'? What does that mean?"

Daichi puts his notebook back into his pocket and gives me a curious look. "It's your talent... Don't you know about it? I'm the Super High School Level Archivist."

"... Oh."

We reach the end of the winding halls and finally to the entrance of the hospital. Outside, the sun's light casts down onto the town. Several run-down buildings line the streets, some not even identifiable due to them having collapsed. The vegetation is even more wild here, a majority of it so large that it could have very well been responsible for crushing the buildings themselves. What was more questionable is the nearly twenty-meter-tall steel fence surrounding the town. Multiple warning signs and barbed wires are placed all around it, signifying that it's likely an electric fence.

Standing on the cracked street are two more people speaking to each other in hushed voices. The one on the left has heavy bags under his dark pink eyes, deep maroon hair nearly covering his view and the back of his neck. His yellow hoodie is two sizes too large for him, which probably feels terrible in this heat. The other one on the right is even more peculiar...

"What are you looking at?" I wince, realizing that I'd been staring at the other boy. 

"Oh, my apologies," I reply. "I just recently woke up."

The peculiar boy harrumphs. "So have I." 

Large yellow hoodie smiles at me as the strange one looks away. "Hello, newcomer." he greets, holding out an open hand slowly, like a sloth. "What's your name?"

"Ah, I am Ayaka Kaneko," I shake his hand gently. "What is yours?"

"The name's Akito Yoshida. I'm the Super High School Level Author, nice to meet ya."

".. I'm the Super High School Level Philosopher."

"Oh," Grinning, he stuffs his hands into his hoodie pocket. "You a big thinker?"

"I suppose so..."

The other boy scoffs and glares at us. "Are we done with this charade? I would like to move on and meet the others.. What are you scribbling on there, glasses..?" While we have been talking, Daichi had been writing something down. At the sound of the boy's voice, Daichi perks up from his notebook.

"I'm just.." Daichi shrinks into himself "... keeping track."

"Hey, erm," I interrupt, trying to catch the boy's attention. "What is your name?"

The boy's head snaps towards me; It's hard to see under his hood, but his eyeliner seems sharper than before. "My name is Kurayami Jigoku. And I am the Super High School Level Sorcerer." Mr. Sorcerer dons a rather extravagant dark purple cloak with strange runes scattered across its linen surface. Underneath said cloak Kurayami wears a loose-fitting blouse tucked into brown pants, a large belt with a silver pentagram as the buckle in between.

"Sorcerer as in... magic..?"

Kurayami suddenly scowls at me. "Of course. What else could I be referring to? I am a sorcerer of the dark arts, black magic. Do not taunt what you do not understand, Miss Philosopher."

"I.. I didn't mean to taunt.. I was just curious."

Breaking eye contact again, he glances at Akito. "Hm. I suppose I shouldn't blame you." Looking at me again, he narrows his eyes. "Asking questions and thinking is your talent, after all."

"...Again with this talent nonsense... What does that even mean?"

Kurayami and Akito give Daichi a questioning look, to which Daichi responds with a shrug. Crossing his arms, Akito raises an eyebrow and turns to me.

"Do you.. not remember your past?"

I attempt to think about any events that occurred before I woke up. "... No.. I don't."

Daichi gives me a startled look. "You don't...?"

The sorcerer frowns and asks in his monotone voice, "Does the name 'Hope's Peak Academy' ring any bells for you?"

"'Hope's Peak'...?" 

Abruptly, the sound of a girl screaming echoes through the street. 

"A NEW ONE!!" I am suddenly tackled by a smaller girl with striking blonde hair in a ponytail. Just as quickly as she grappled me, she releases me and her eyes practically sparkle as she lays her eyes on Kurayami. "Two?  This is fantastic!" The girl grabs my hand and starts violently shaking it. "HI! Mynameismizukitenandimthesuperhighschoollevelmarinebiologistitissuchapleasuretomeetyoutwo!!"

"I-I'm sorry, could you repeat that..?"

"Oh! Sorry.." The girl lets go of my hand and gives me and Kurayami a wide smile. "My name is Mizuki Ten, and I'm the Super High School Level Marine Biologist! It's such a pleasure to meet you two!" Aside from her eyes, most of her attire is blue. She wears a fish-patterned polo tucked into dark blue cargo shorts.

"Ah! Um, nice to meet you," I reply, rubbing my hand. "My name is Ayaka Kaneko... I'm the Super High School Level Philosopher."

"Ooh! I've never heard of that talent before, that's so interesting! I'd love to hear more about it!" Mizuki turns to Kurayami, "And what about you? What's your name, stranger?" Kurayami introduces himself in his standard gruffness, and Mizuki positively shines. "A SORCERER?!"

While Mizuki heavily praises Kurayami for his talent, Akito gives me a nod and signals me to follow him to the side. 

"As we were saying..." he mumbles to me, "Do you not know about Hope's Peak Academy?"

I shake my head. "No... I can recall fundamental knowledge and skills, like walking or basic mathematics... But other than that, I don't know if I have a family or friends outside of this place."

"Huh..." Akito rubs his chin in contemplation as Daichi joins us. "Later, once we're introduced to everyone else," He pats a concerned Daichi on the shoulder. "we'll try to help you out."

Smiling now, I nod. "That will be appreciated.. I thank you."

Once Mizuki is done with Kurayami, who has a bit of a pained expression on his face, the five of us make our way down the old street, theorizing amongst ourselves.

"Over there," Mizuki says, pointing to a large cabin in the distance, flanked by relatively clean suburban houses. "that's where everyone else is." 

"... How many of us are there?" I ask.

Akito says, "We've counted, and including you two newcomers, there's fourteen."

"I see.." 

Making our way to the cabin, I hear a clamor of voices within. Mizuki pulls open the door and announces, "Hello everyone! We found two new ones!" The cabin is nice and cool, compared to the humid outdoors. The interior of the cabin is akin to what one would see in a resort: luxurious seating, a few luggage trolleys here and there, a large expensive carpet covering the mahogany floor, and a front desk; Behind it is a small waterfall covering the words "Despair Plaza" in large, white letters.

Everyone within turns around and stares at me and Kurayami. 

"Ooh, new people," A tall, lanky yet handsome blonde boy says in the front of the crowd. He wears an odd pink fishnet shirt with two small hearts on opposing sides of his chest. The boy walks—No, struts toward us, and holds out a hand. "I'm Manato Fukumoto," he introduces with a wink, "and I'm the Super High School Level Pickup Artist."

A voice interrupts us, "More like the Super High School Level Creep!" A girl in a brightly colored blouse and skirt walks up to us, a look of disdain on her face. "Hi, my name is Chiyo Oni. I'm the Super High School Level Toymaker." She glares at Manato. "Don't listen to a word this guy says..."

"I assure you," Manato says, chuckling nervously and backing away from the smaller girl. "I mean no harm.. It's merely my hobby."

"It's your Ultimate talent, dumbass!" 

A brunette boy with staggeringly green eyes strides up and separates the two with his hands. "I am sensing a conflict arising, I'd like for us to keep calm..." He then looks up at me, "Shiro Kanashii. Super High School Level Psychologist." Shiro wears an ironed white collar shirt with a small lapel brain pin. 

".. I'm Ayaka Kaneko, and this," I gesture to Kurayami, "is Kurayami Jigoku. We're the Super High School Level Psychologist and Sorcerer respectively. Pleasure to meet you."

Shiro nods, "Allow me to introduce you to everyone else," Glancing at Manato and Chiyo, he continues, "in a calm and orderly manner."

Before I could politely decline his offer, he points to a silent, masked slender figure donned in black cloth in the corner of the room and says, "That is Jin Shi. They are the Super High School Level Ninja." Jin gave what looked to be a subtle nod before disappearing further into the shadows. Now, gesturing to a small boy with brown hair, dyed blue at the bottom, Shiro states, "That's Hisoka Kyoden. He is the Super High School Level Locksmith." Hisoka waves at me silently with his gloved hand; I wave back. I follow Shiro's hand to an incredibly strong girl wearing an assortment of belts filled with what looked to be climbing gear, her blonde hair fully shaved into a buzzcut. "That is Kaya Noguchi. I'm sure you can already tell, but she is the Super High School Level Climber." Kaya grins and nods at me. "Over there," Shiro says, pointing to a long-haired girl with a quiver of arrows on her shoulder. "is Yumiko Bushida. She is the Super High School Level Archer." Yumiko smiles softly at me. "And finally," Shiro finishes, "Those two are the Super High School Level Baker and Doctor, Soichiro Yasushi and Iyashi Suzuki." The red-haired Iyashi smiles, and the curly-haired Soichiro bows slightly. Sighing, Shiro says, "That should be everyone.."

"Puhuhuhuhu-hu!" A high-pitched metallic voice laughs from behind the reception desk. "You're for-forgetting one per-person!!"

"Wh-who's that?!" Hisoka cries. 

Yumiko readies her bow and arrow while Kaya reaches for the grappling hook on her hip.

"Show yourself, intruder," Kaya huffs.

From behind the counter, a robotic bear jumps up and onto the table, an evil grin on its ripped face, displaying a bright red glowing eye; A terrifying amalgamation of frayed wires, cloth, and metal.

"MY NAME IS MONOKUMA-A!!" The bear yells, its voice glitching. "AND WEL-WELCOME TO THE KILLING GAME! KYAHAHAHAHAHAAA!"

(To be continued)

(2,155 words)