Monokuma reveals his motive to the students, causing unrest. I haven't stated it explicitly in the story, but a body discovery announcement will only occur when three people find the body. This does NOT include the killer. As always, comments and critique are welcome! Enjoy the read!---

A Life of Deadly Despair

Chapter 2- Breathtaking Despair

Part 3

As you enter the gymnasium with Akiko and Akinobu, you see everyone else is already there. The group is standing in the center of the gymnasium before Monokuma’s large podium, awaiting his announcement.

Yoshi rolls his eyes when he sees you, scoffing. “It’s about damn time,” he says, holding a hand off to the side cockily. “Can’t you guys get here earlier like the rest of us?”

You choose to ignore him, standing next to Hikari in the back of the crowd. She gives a gentle smile and bow as you stand next to her.

“Hello Master Fukui,” she says, sounding somewhat nervous. “What do you think Monokuma wants with us?”

You shrug, letting out a small sigh. “I’m not sure,” you reply. “But whatever it is, I have a bad feeling about it.”

“Such a smart boy,” Monokuma says cheerily as he appears out of thin air behind the podium. He stares at everyone with his cold, red eyes as his grin slowly grows wider.

“What did you call us here for,” Madoka demands. “Some of us have important things to do.”

Monokuma stares down at the floor, feigning sadness as he sighs. “Aww, how terrible,” he says as he looks back up at everyone. “And here I was, about to give you all some useful information.”

Yuki steps forward, looking very skeptical. “What information would that be,” he asks cautiously. Like you, he doesn’t seem to trust Monokuma in the slightest.

“Well,” Monokuma says cheerily. “Let me answer your question with a question. Just how long do you think you’ve been here?” Monokuma covers his mouth with his paws as he giggles.

“Wh-wh-why do you ask,” Mayumi asks, sounding more nervous than usual. “W-we’ve been here for about three or four d-days, right?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Akinobu says, nodding slowly. “What’s your point?”

“But are you sure you’ve only been here for four days,” Monokuma asks, his grin spreading wider across his face.

“Just get to the point you fucking bear,” Yoshi says, glaring Monokuma down. “Enough with these stupid riddles.”

Monokuma sighs, once again looking upset. “High school students are so rude these days,” he says wearily. “Fine. My point is, you’ve actually been here for much longer than four days.”

“That’s… that’s impossible,” Rokuro gasps, covering his mouth. “If we were here longer than that, we’d definitely remember it.”

“Oh, you definitely would,” Monokuma agrees. Everyone heaves a collective sigh of relief. “That is, if you all still had your memories.”

All around you, everyone gasps and whispers to the people next to them. Some people, like Akiko and Jackson, don’t seem to believe Monokuma, while others seem utterly shocked.

“Not only that,” Monokuma says, causing everyone to fall silent. “But one of you guys is responsible for all of your memories being stolen! Isn’t that unbearable? One of your beloved friends is a traitor!”

Everyone around you starts glancing at everyone else. The whispering and murmuring starts up again as a few students start pointing at others, trying to point out the traitor.

“You’re lying,” Huan shouts, shaking her head in disbelief. “There’s absolutely no way that’s true!”

“If you guys keep interrupting me,” Monokuma says angrily. “I won’t tell you how you guys can earn your memories back!”

Immediately, everyone falls silent again. Everyone’s eyes are fixed on Monokuma, who simply grins and stares at you with his fiery eyes.

“If you want your memories back and want to find out what’s happened since you’ve lost them,” Monokuma starts. He pauses for effect, looking at each student individually. “All you have to do is… kill someone!”

Panic.

Most of the students around you start whispering even louder, frantically trying to get a hold of the situation. Mayumi, who’s always on edge to begin with, starts hyperventilating and runs out of the room. You turn to chase after her when Akiko grabs your hand.

“Let her go,” Akiko says flatly. “We need to hear what else he has to say.”

“I suppose you could consider this your motive,” Monokuma says gleefully. His evil grin spreads even further as his red eyes gleam. “Only the blackened, if they’re successful, will be able to get their memories back! But to make things more interesting, you only have twenty four hours!”

With that, Monokuma disappears, leaving everyone in utter shock. You look around at your fellow students, trying to gauge their reactions. Jackson and Akiko seem to not believe Monokuma as they look at everyone impassively. Other students, like Yasuo and Miho, seem a bit worried but not terribly so.

Who really catches your eye, however, are Yoshi and Huan. Huan is clinging onto Yoshi, looking incredibly stressed and worried. Yoshi, looking dumbfounded, is trying to comfort her but doesn’t seem to know how.

“Well at least he’s trying,” you think, impressed he’s not being cold.

“Alright,” Akinobu says, clearing his throat as he steps forward. “I know what he just said has us a little on edge-“

“On edge,” Madoka interrupts, sounding terrified. “I’m more than a little on edge! What the hell does he mean?”

Yuki nods, looking around nervously. “And how long have we been here?” He adjusts the hunting goggles on his head, eyeing everyone in the room.

“Can… can there really be a traitor,” Miho asks, folding her arms over her chest. “Do you think that’s even possible?”

“Of course not,” Akinobu says, trying his hardest to keep his smile up. “Monokuma is just trying to scare us. That’s all.”

“That sounds like something the traitor would say,” Yasuo gasps, eyeing Akinobu nervously. He bites his lip as he shuffles his feet, eyes darting around the place. “I.. I-I can’t handle this right now!”

Yasuo turns and bolts out of the gymnasium before anyone can react. Madoka and Rokuro, looking equally worried, leave the gymnasium as well. Akinobu sighs as he runs a hand through his brown hair, looking unsure,

“Look guys,” he says slowly. “I know we’re all worried right now. You’re all thinking about what memories you could have lost.” He looks around at everyone slowly, suddenly looking very serious. He nods to himself. “But we can’t let Monokuma get the best of us. We can’t let another murder take place, understand?”

Slowly, one by one, the rest of the group nods in agreement. Everyone seems to have calmed down quite a bit after Akinobu’s little speech.

“No wonder he’s the Ultimate Politician,” you think. “He definitely knows what to say in situations like these.”

Jackson clears his throat and steps forward next to Akinobu. “Okay, it’s,” Jackson starts, pausing to look at the clock. “3 PM. I know we don’t want to think about it, but if a murder were to occur, it would happen within that bear’s time limit.”

The group nods. Everyone’s face is a mixture of nervousness and seriousness. They’re all considering the possibility of another murder.

“As such,” Jackson continues. “I urge everyone to be on their guard. Don’t leave your room after nighttime. Don’t go off on your own. Don’t skip any meals. Understand? We need to stick together.”

Huan, clutching Yoshi’s hand now, nods when Jackson finishes speaking. “I think that would be best,” she agrees as she turns to leave. Still holding onto Yoshi’s hand, she takes him with her.

Everyone agrees not to go out alone until the time limit has passed, and the group disperses. You head to your room, deciding to wait there until dinner. At least you’ll be safe there.

* * *

By the time dinner rolls around, your nerves have settled down considerably. You highly doubt anyone here is capable of murder, especially since the only one so far was an accident. You just know nobody is going to die.

As you head to the cafeteria, you bump into Yasuo in the hall. He still looks a bit tense, but he smiles when he sees you.

“Oh, hey Hachiro,” he says, forcing a smile. “You heading to dinner?”

You nod as you walk to the cafeteria with him, stomach once again growling. “I think Miho is in charge this time,” you say, mouth watering. “What do you think she made?”

“Well, she’s German,” Yasuo says, his stomach growling lowly as well. “So my guess is something German.”

Yasuo’s guess is proven true as you step into the cafeteria. The smell of cooked sausages floods your nostrils, making your stomach growl louder than you thought possible. Everyone is sitting at the table, talking about nothing in particular, except for Miho. You take a seat next to Rokuro, with Yasuo on your other side.

“Holy crap,” you say as you sit down. “It smells amazing in here.”

“Thanks,” Miho says as she steps out from the kitchen, carrying a huge platter piled high with food. It looks to be lentils and some kind of noodle with lots of veggies. “It’s my favorite recipe from when I was a kid. Schwäbische Linsen mit Spätzle.”

“Could you say that in English,” Yasuo says, making everyone laugh. It’s good to see everyone back to their normal selves after this afternoon.

Miho grins as she sets the platter down in the center of the table. “It means ‘Swabian lentils with spaeztle’,” she explains, giggling. “Dig in!”

You take your first bite, drooling a bit from the aroma. It tastes incredible! The food is so good no one says anything throughout the entire meal. Miho smiles, taking this as a compliment.

When the meal is over, Miho and Hikari begin clearing the table. Everyone thanks Miho for the dinner, causing her to blush and shake her head.

“It was nothing,” she says humbly as she and Hikari head into the kitchen to do the dishes.

You cover your mouth to yawn, the heavy meal making you somewhat drowsy. You stand up and wave to everyone, heading out into the hall. You return to your room, collapsing onto your bed and falling asleep instantly.

* * *

You’re awoken by Monokuma’s morning announcement as usual, and step into the shower before breakfast. You hurry and get ready, not wanting to be late and freak everyone out. You remember Jackson telling everyone not to miss a meal. You get dressed hurriedly and sprint to the cafeteria.

When you enter the cafeteria, almost everyone is already there, the only exceptions being Yasuo, Yuki, and Yoshi. Everyone is eating cereal, as no one has volunteered to make breakfast. You grab a bowl from the kitchen and fill it with cereal and milk, taking an empty seat next to Akinobu.

“Where are Yasuo and Yoshi,” you ask as you sit down, looking concerned. “Didn’t they hear Jackson about not missing a meal?”

“Who cares,” Madoka says as she shrugs. “Yoshi is a jerk anyway. We’re better off without him.”

“Y-y-yeah, but what about Y-Yasuo,” Mayumi says, twisting her braid nervously. “I-i-it’s not like him t-to skip a m-meal.”

“He’ll show up,” Akinobu assures everyone, flashing his charismatic smile. “Maybe he just overslept a little.”

The group nods hesitantly. Everyone eats their cereal in silence. It’s not a peaceful silence though, as you can feel the tension suffocating you. After a few minutes, you start to get really worried about Yasuo.

You’re about to stand up and go looking for him when Yoshi bursts into the cafeteria, looking worried.

“Quick, come with me,” he blurts, looking at you and Jackson. The two of you get up and look at each other skeptically. “Goddammit you guys,” Yoshi shouts, looking worried. “This is an emergency!”

You and Jackson step out into the hall after Yoshi. Before you can say anything, Yoshi darts down the hall to the stairs, calling out to you guys.

“Hurry up,” he yells frantically. You chase after him, dread slowly building up inside you. The only people unaccounted for are Yuki and Yasuo. Judging by Yoshi’s stressed demeanor, you just know something bad has happened to them.

Yoshi leads you to the room before the locker rooms. As you step inside, you notice the door to the boys’ locker room is open. Nervously, you step inside behind Yoshi, with Jackson right behind you.

Inside the room you see Yuki, his face hard and solemn. He clears his throat as the three of you step in. “We… we found him about ten minutes ago,”

“No,” you shriek in your head. “This can’t be happening all over again.”

Bing bong BING BONG!

The monitor in the locker room clicks on, revealing Monokuma sitting in his plush chair. His red eyes gleam as he delivers his message. “Ahem,” Monokuma begins, looking quite pleased. “A body has been discovered in the boys’ locker room! After some time, a class trial will be held! I suggest you make the best of the time you have!”

The monitor clicks off, leaving you, Yoshi, Yuki, and Jackson alone once again. Your heart starts pounding in your chest as beads of sweat form on your forehead. It’s happened again.

There, lying on the ground in the center of the locker room, is Yasuo Ochi, Ultimate Hairstylist. Behind you, you can hear the other students stepping into the locker room.

Somewhere in this room, Yasuo’s killer is lurking.