Danganronpa: Digital Daze

We all left the Courtroom, no one speaking a word, and split up, each of us going our separate way in silence. I was still numb inside from the horror I had just witnessed, and my mind was a complete blank. I wasn't even sure exactly where I was walking to; I just knew I had to get away from that Courtroom.

I eventually found myself at the School Store, staring at the various prizes and costs. While none of the prizes were anything I particularly needed, I still found this room interesting.

I heard two sets of footsteps approaching me from behind. Turning around, Kenchikka and Kaede were at the entryway.

"Bera? Are you alright? I was really worried about you after that Trial!" Kaede asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm...just..."

Kenchikka interrupted me. "Class Trial sucked. We know. Lost Sonia, lost Hifumi. Sonia nice, friendly, a bit too naive, but always meant well. Hifumi? Hifumi pig, deserved death. Nothing we can do. Rules are rules."

Kaede looked at Kenchikka in shock at her bluntness. "Chikka! How can you-"

Kenchikka cut her off. "I call things what they are. Call spade 'wooden-handled, metal-tipped, manually-operated land excavation utensil'? No, is spade. Hifumi is pig. No need care about feelings of dead people, anyway."

I decided to change the subject. "What are you two doing?"

Kaede answered. "Theo wanted Kaito and I to check on anyone who didn't show up to the meeting at the Dining Hall. You, Yasuhiro, Chihiro, and Mukuro weren't there. Why not?"

I shrugged, having no idea where the other three were. "I just...kinda spaced out, and wandered aimlessly for a while. I didn't even know there WAS a meeting, to be honest. Sorry I missed it."

Kaede smiled. "Hey, it's no problem! What's important is that we've found you, and that you're ok."

I nodded. "Thanks, Kaede." I then looked over at Kenchikka. "And you too, Chikka."

Kenchikka's brown eye darted over towards me, her head not moving, but she gave a small smile. "No problem. In no mood for second Class Trial anyway. Just want to eat dinner, take meds, go to sleep."

Sleep...that sounded like a great idea right about now. Looking at the time, it was almost 9pm already, so I just returned to my dorm, got dressed, and drifted off to sleep.

My dream was much the same as most of my others; my dad's insults and a feeling of failure, of worthlessness.

"I hope you end up making yourself into a good son, because you sucked as a daughter!"

"Sometimes, I wonder if I let your tomboy daydreams go too far..."

"Just because I agreed to let you have the surgery, doesn't mean I support or condone it! Your body, your choice, sure, but you need to face the consequences of your actions! Not me!"

"Bera? Who the fuck is Bera?! That's not your real name!"

As the verbal barrage continued, a pit grew more and more in my chest, a void that felt carved out of my very essence. A new voice, MY voice, began speaking next, as Henkutsuna's voice faded out.

"I knew my dad only let me have the surgery to shut me up about becoming a boy, but I didn't deserve these sharp words from him!"

"Or did I? Maybe he was right. Maybe my Gender Reassignment Surgery was a mistake. Maybe I should've just remained...her...and kept my father...well, less angry with me than he was now."

"Or maybe I should just give up and find a way to..."

Monorakun's 7am alarm woke me up before that sentence finished, saying the same thing it always said in the morning.

"Wake up, everyone! It's 7am, and Nighttime is now over! Time to enjoy another fun-filled day at The Ultimate Talent Enhancement Center!

Well, two of us would not be waking up, because they died yesterday.

Brushing the thought from my mind, I got myself ready, took my meds, and opened my E-Handbook. I was surprised by what I saw in the Group Chat.

Kaito Momota: The gate blocking the stairs is gone now! We need to check it out!

Theo Poster: Patience, Kaito. First, we must eat. It is ill advised to explore a new area on an empty stomach.

Kaede Akamatsu: I agree! Let's eat, then we can split up and check things out!

Kenchikka Kowareta: Agreed. Meet at Dining Hall for breakfast, then group up. Divide, conquer. Sound plan.

Sayaka Maizono: Count me in!

Chihiro Fujisaki: What if there's something bad waiting for us up there?

Mukuro Ikusaba: Neutralizing threats is my specialty. Leave that to me.

We met up in the Dining Hall, where Theo had whipped up breakfast for everyone. Pancakes with various fruits baked into them. Some had bananas, some had blueberries, and others had strawberries. There was also maple syrup, blueberry syrup, and strawberry syrup on the table for everyone to use. Apple juice, orange juice, milk, and chocolate milk was also available for everyone to drink, with Theo voluntarily serving the drinks.

After everyone ate and drank their fill, we started splitting up into groups. Sayaka and Kaede joined up together, with Leon tagging along. Chihiro and Chiaki paired up next, with Kaito offering to join them. Angie and Yasuhiro joined forces together. Theo and Kenchikka grouped together. Makoto and Mukuro were already together, as well.

That left me with Celeste.

"So, Celeste, want to join me and check out the Second Floor?" I asked Celeste.

To my surprise, Celeste chuckled at me. "Me, taking the arm of a lowly D-Class like you? Please don't waste my time like this." She then turned on her heel and walked out of the Dining Hall, alone.

Confused, and worried about going up to the Second Floor solo, I heard a voice behind me, calling my attention. Turning around, it was Makoto.

"Hey, want to join Mukuro and I to the Second Floor? I don't know what Celeste's deal is."

Nodding, but saying nothing, I walked behind him and Mukuro, and followed their lead up the stairs to the Second Floor.

Upon arrival, we were met with a fairly long hallway, with windows along the left side, as well as two hallways going to the left. One was close to us, and the other was at the end of the hall.

As Makoto and Mukuro looked down the first hallway, I glanced out the first window I reached. Down below was the Courtyard, empty of students. I could see pretty well up here, but these windows appeared to have no way to move them; there were no sliding panels, and they did not budge outwards.

I felt a presence behind me. Turning around, it was Mukuro, looking at the window as well.

"Step back. Let me try something," she said with little emotion.

I complied, and she took out a strip of film-like substance, stretched it once, and placed it on the window. The strip started to freeze on the window, from the middle outwards.

After a while, Mukuro grabbed her combat knife, still sheathed, and slammed the butt of it HARD against the frozen sheet, shattering the sheet onto the floor.

The window, however, was unfazed. Not even a scratch.

"Hmmm." Mukuro seemed lost in thought for only a few seconds. "This is a special type of glass. It's apparently shatterproof."

"Right you are, Mukuro!" Monorakun appeared from the opposite side of the hall. "These windows are shatterproof, soundproof, and can even withstand hurricane force weather. They're not going anywhere!"

Mukuro silently nodded, then turned to Makoto. "Should we show Bera the Exercise Room we found?"

Makoto nodded and looked over at me. "Follow me, let's show you!"

At the end of the first hallway on the left was a single door, with a T-intersection beyond it. A sign on the door said "Exercise Room".

Inside was a variety of exercise equipment: Dumbbells, bench presses, exercise bikes, and various machines for different parts of the body. In the back was a grey gym mat, likely for aerobics or something.

I could use this room to maybe bulk up a little bit, and maybe make myself look less girly, so people would quit asking me...questions. I definitely planned on coming here.

Meanwhile, Makoto and Mukuro were speaking to one another, but I didn't really hear anything they said.

Leaving the Exercise Room, we reached the T-intersection. To our left was another gated-off staircase. A feeling of foreboding doom washed over me; was this the same thing as the one that just opened? Would someone have to die to be allowed to go upstairs?

Makoto and Mukuro, however, only gave the gate a casual glance before examining the Biology Room, which contained various charts, diagrams, and even two full-bodied mannequins (one male, one female), with plates you could remove to view muscular or skeletal features.

Other than that, this room didn't really seem too interesting to me, though Mukuro seemed to take note of several of the diagrams.

Leaving the Biology Room, we faced a longer hall, with a door on the left near us, a door on our right further away, and an intersection going to the right. Straight ahead appeared to be another door, at the very end of the hallway.

Checking the closer room to the left, the sign said "Music Room/Jam Room". The Music Room contained a piano in the corner (which I realized Kaede was sitting behind), as well as various musical instruments along the walls and on the floor. Guitars, drums, violins, flutes, trumpets, cymbals...all kinds of instruments were within this room!

Kaede, meanwhile, played several notes on the piano, then stood up and looked over at our general direction. Then she spoke up, though I was unsure if it was to us or to herself.

"This is a very high-quality piano they have here! Even better than the one in my room. I can't wait to be able to play entire songs on this!"

We decided to check out the Jam Room next, which was accessible via a sliding door that went into the wall within the Music Room. Inside was a full stage setup, with a keyboard along the wall, a full stage (including a drum set), lighting up above, and some wires connecting various props or harnesses.

Sayaka was on the stage, looking around in awe.

"Wow! Kaede and I could host a small concert in here! She could play that keyboard, and I could take the stage and sing!" Her smile beamed, then went away for a moment. "Too bad we don't have another girl to play guitar with us, though. Theo said he has some knowledge of drumming, so he could handle that, but a girl on guitar would really set the stage for our group, I think."

I shrugged, not really sure how to respond. Sayaka resumed looking over the stage setup, and I let her be, leaving the Jam Room and Music Room with Makoto and Mukuro.

Moving further down the hallway, a curious sight befell me. A sign above the door on the right said "Computer Room".

...Computer Room? Could we use this to escape?

I quickly bolted inside, not even noticing Mukuro's or Makoto's reactions, and encountered Chihiro and Chiaki inside. Inside were two computers, one on each side of the far wall of this small room. Chihiro was at one computer; Chiaki was at the other.

Chihiro turned to face me, his eyes lowered.

"No internet connection," was the first thing he said.

Sure enough, the web browsers were nonfunctional, and anything Chihiro tried that involved even a Wi-Fi connection failed.

Chiaki spoke next. "Still, there are some useful programming tools on these computers, that Chihiro could make use of."

Chihiro nodded and smiled. "I'll just need a little time, but I'll do my best!"

There was nothing else of note in this room (barely even anything on the walls, in fact), so I left, with Mukuro and Makoto standing outside the doorway. Together, we kept going straight, towards the Library.

The Library had wall-to-wall books on nearly every topic imaginable. Fiction, Nonfiction, Mythic Tales, Biographies, you name it. There was also a table in the middle of the room, which seated 10 people (two at the ends, three on each side).

Theo was inside, looking over the books, but not wanting to disturb his concentration, I decided to leave him alone and head to the final room, around the corner. The sign above it read "Costume Room".

To my surprise, Kenchikka emerged from that room, a perplexed look on her face. She looked at the walls, then the ceiling, then the room behind her, and then the walls again. She then sniffed a few times and shook her head.

"Smells different here. Like recent construction. Walls different, too. Newly built? But why?"

From what I gathered, Kenchikka seemed to think this section was recently renovated, and was not part of the original floor plan...I think?

Kenchikka quickly walked past the three of us, talking to herself. "Need to rerun measurements, check First Floor walls for comparison. Costume Room, Computer Room, wrong, somehow."

I looked over at Makoto, who shrugged in confusion. If Makoto had any thoughts, her face didn't show it.

Having no other choice, we walked into the Costume Room, and I was delighted with its contents.

Inside was a mirror covering the entire back of this short, wide room. Costumes for men, women, or both were lined up on the front and right sides of the room (as I was standing in the doorway), and props and accessories were along the wall to my left.

This room was incredible! I could come up with SO MANY ideas for new designs in here! My eyes drifted along the three-piece suits, the stunning dresses, the cute pleated skirts, the shirts and blouses hung up with care, the various lengths and colors of stockings and tights on display, and even the various boots and shoes along the floor.

Suddenly, my E-Handbook vibrated. Opening it up, I saw I had a Private Message from Chihiro. Looking around, Makoto and Mukuro had already left, leaving me in here alone. Curious, I opened the Chat menu, then selected the Private Chat icon.

A single message was within, from Chihiro. I opened it and read it.

"Meet me at my dorm tonight at 9pm. I need to talk to you. It's really important!"

Why would Chihiro message me? Wasn't he still in the Computer Room? Maybe he was busy and couldn't step away from what he was doing, I guess.

While I was still staring at my E-Handbook, a growling voice suddenly pierced the silence in this room, and my whole body froze with dread.

"Chihiro needs to WATCH IT..."

In fear, I slowly turned towards the doorway, and my heart sunk as another cold chill flowed through me.

Monorakun was standing there, claws out, and his red eye glowing.

And he was glaring. Directly at. Me.