"A...a k-killing game?" I stuttered out. What did he mean by that? What's a killing game anyway?

"That's right, babe! Boy am I excited to get this started!" Monokuma stated. Mello narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest. "What the hell do you mean? What's this killing game anyway?" he asked.

"So glad you ask, Mello my boy! It's the very reason why you're all here! You see, there is a way out of this academy. If you want to leave this school, you only got to do one thing, and then its home run for you!" Monokuma stated. Rena perked up.

"H-Honto? (R-Really?) Just one thing?" she said. Rin smiled. "Alright, now that's what I'm talking about! In that case, just tell us what to do and we'll do it!" he stated. However, Kokichi gave a small chuckle.

"I wouldn't get so excited just yet~" he said. The boy with the teddy gave him a sharp look. 

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you ever heard the saying 'if it's too good to be true, then it is'? Well, just so happens for you guys, I use to be in this exact same situation before. Captured in a random school with other people with that same promise. That's the so called 'universe' I'm from. Which means I know the ticket to getting out of this place.....you have to kill someone." Kokichi explained with a wicked smile. 

The last words that escaped his lips made everyone gasp.

"W-We have to do what?! K-K-Kill someone?!" Crona cried. Kokichi nodded simply. "Yep, that's the only way out. Right, Monokuma?" he said. 

"Hey! Since when did I give you permission to steal my thunder, you little bastard!" Monokuma snapped. Kokichi only blinked, giving an innocent expression. 

"Well obviously, you didn't. I just figured they'd wanna know the truth. Oh by the way, don't expect to be honest like that from here on out. Since I am a liar." he said. Zack scowled at the boy.

"A liar huh, then why tell us the truth?" he asked.

"Well I just wanted to help! I figured you'd all be happy if I explained things thoroughly," Kokichi replied with a smile, but it was quickly wiped away with a smirk, "but that's a lie. I just wanted to see who would shit themselves first." 

"You're annoying me. Stop talking." Amaimon said. Kokichi chuckled, hi smirk staying plastered on his face, however he did indeed remain silent.

"He's not wrong though. You do have to kill to get out. Course killing alone won't do you any good," Junko replied, looking to her nails, "You gotta pull off the perfect crime." she replied. Magane looked at her curiously. "Hmm? I assume you're from the same universe as Kokichi." she said.

"Junko is much more then that," everyone looked to the boy in the green coat, who had his eyes narrowed at Junko, "she's the one who invented the killing games. The mastermind, if you will." he stated. 

"Nyow?! She created these so called killing games?!" Johannes said. "Indeed, and by doing so.....she has killed quite a few people." the boy replied. "Except I thought she had died awhile ago." Kokichi said.

"I did, dumbass. We're from different timelines, remember." Junko snapped. Kokichi chuckled and placed his hands behind his neck. "Yeah yeah, I know that. Relax, I was just pretending to forget-"

"LAST WARNING! ANYMORE INTERRUPTIONS AND I START SHOOTING!!!!!" Monokuma boomed. One of the guns fired a single bullet right beside Kokichi's feet, making everyone yelp and duck down onto the floor. I immediately grabbed Lilac and held her protectively. She instantly grabbed my hand as she looked up at me. I wanted to give her a reassuring smile, tell her we would be okay.....but I was far too terrified to even speak.

"Ugh, you guys are so annoying. Just listen up, and maybe you'll live to see tomorrow. Okay, so to start, you will all be participating in a killing game. The only way out of this academy is to kill someone. I don't care how, just kill someone. However, you cannot just kill someone. You must indeed pull off the perfect crime. You see, after a body is discovered, you guys will have a chance to investigate the crime scene."

"Afterwards, there will be a trial. You shall bring together your evidence and try to come to a conclusion of who the culprit is. At the end of the trial, you shall vote who you think the culprit is. It's a group decision, meaning the majority vote gets to count. If you vote correctly, the culprit will be the only one punished. However, if you get the culprit wrong....then everyone else gets punished, and the culprit gets to leave scott free! Make sense to you?" Monokuma explained. 

Everyone looked at each other, then back at Monokuma.

"I-I don't....I don't understand...." I murmured. 

"Seriously? I just explained it crystal clear. Do I really gotta dumb it down for ya? If someone is murdered, you gotta decide who the culprit is. Otherwise, everyone else gets punished, and the culprit gets to go home. Understood?" Monokuma asked.

"So, if I understand correctly, to leave we must commit the perfect crime by any means necessary," we all turned to look at Near, who was finally speaking after a long moment of silence, "I believe I understand your conditions. However, there is one thing I wanted to ask. You keep mentioning these 'punishments', can you clarify on what they are?"

"Ah yes, guess I should huh. Another word people would use for them is executions." Monokuma said. My eyes widened.

"Executions?!" I cried. 

"H-Hold on, so then, if we get the culprit correct, then they get executed. But if we get it wrong.....everyone else gets executed?!" Rin said. 

"Bingo! Someone finally gets it!" Monokuma stated. I was beyond horrified. He wants us....to kill each other? He wants us to betray each other?! He wants us.....set up for execution?! I don't believe this....I don't believe it. This can't be happening. 

"Okay, I think that about wraps up my announcement. I'll leave the rest up to you fools. See ya later!" Monokuma replied. With that he jumped off the podium, and disappeared without a trace. The room was dead silent, with the air so thick you could cut through it. What do you even say after something like that? What do you even do? 

"Okay, I can't be the only one freaking out about this whole thing." the wolf stated. "So....what now? We're not really going to kill each other, are we?" Rena asked.

"Of course not! No way any of us would ever do something like that!" Rin stated. Zack looked away, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

"Tch, then you obviously don't know who we are, kid." he said. Rin looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I'll admit, I'm not exactly an Einstein, but its obvious that he didn't pick us at random. In fact," he looked around the room, "who here has killed someone?" Johannes looked at him wide eyed.

"Huh? What the- you think someone is just gonna admit they've commited murder before?! That's only gonna make us more suspicious of each other!" he stated. 

"That's exactly what Monokuma wants," we all looked to Near, who still remained unphased by the whole scenario, "if we panic, and fear each other, we'll only be drawn to wanting to kill in self defense. However, if we come forward with our actions, then that's the first step of trust. Knowing the truth will prove we can rely on each other to survive. If we want to survive this killing game, we have to have trust in each other. So....I agree with Zack's proposal." he explained. Everyone looked around at each other, seeming hesitant.

However, Magane immediately raised her hand, wearing a smile on her face.

"I might've killed a person or two." I looked at her wide eyed. Magane has killed someone?! How can she say that so calmly and cheerfully?

Zack raised his hand almost immediately after Magane. To my surprise and horror....more and more hands were raised. Junko, Amaimon, Kanato, Mello, even Crona. Seven people....seven people have killed before. And half of those people seemed happy about it. 

"What about you two?" I looked over at the boy with the green coat, who looked at me with a gentle yet serious expression. "Have you ever killed anyone before?" Lilac looked up at me, as if asking what to say. I was silent for a moment, not even realizing I was trembling. However....I eventually answered.

"No. We haven't."

"Great, so we're trapped with a bunch of psychos and murderers. That's freaking great...." the wolf muttered bitterly.

"Perhaps things look brim, but we should not give in so easily," the boy with the green coat said, putting on a smile, "we have to have hope, right? We need to stay strong and try to find a way out of here."

"I do believe that a thorough search of this academy is necessary. We should split up into groups of four," Near said, suddenly pulling out a small black tablet, "if no one else has noticed yet, there should be a small black tablet somewhere on you. Perhaps in your pockets. I found mine when I first woke up." I perked up and checked my pocket, pulling it out.

"I didn't even realize I had this...." I thought.

"I was searching through the files as Monokuma spoke. It has profiles on all sixteen of us, a map of the academy, and the regulations we must follow while we're here." Near said. 

"Guess he expects us to stay here for awhile...." the wolf said.

"It even says there are dorms for us to stay at." Amaimon added. Near looked up, standing up fully.

"Let's begin the investigation of this academy as soon as possible." he stated. 

*    *    *    *

(In case anyone was curious, this is what the twins looked like. Courtesy of Monokuma and the author. Left if Lilac, and right is Violet)

We did as Near said, and broke up into four groups of four. Lilac and I ended up with the wolf and the boy with the teddy bear, which I soon learned were Ulric and Kanato, thanks to the strange tablets we were given. 

The four of us were currently on our way to inspect the dining hall, where we were supposed to have our regular meals while we were trapped here. I wanted to relax and focus on leaving this place, but....I just couldn't. 

I mean, we were just told the only way we could leave is if we killed someone, and got away with it. And it was more then just that. If the murderer got away with their crime, then they would end up killing everyone else as well. I...I can never do something like that. Just the sight of people fighting is too much to me, so how could I handle waking up one morning to suddenly see a bloody corpse, much less actually killing someone?!

But....I can't let my sister stay in this place. So how do we get out of here?

I flinched when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and snapped to see who it was, only to relax slightly to see Lilac staring at me with a concerned expression. "Lilac...." I murmured. She leaned closer to me and nudged me, as if insisting on something. I put on a fake smile.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm fine. I'm just a little tired." I said, but I could hear the fear in my own voice. Lilac didn't seem even a little bit convinced, but nodded. She grabbed my shaking hand and gave it a squeeze, making me look at her puzzled. Then she put on a wide smile of assurance, which strangely made me feel much calmer.

Lilac was always good at bringing out the best in people, as well as making them feel better. I'm not sure how she does it though. Guess its just a part of her charm.

"Hey, pick up the pace back there!" Ulric called out to us, looking over his shoulder. 

"Oh right! G-Gomenasai!" I called out. Lilac released my hand and ran up ahead, and I began to follow her. We eventually caught it with the other two boys as we were approaching two yellow doors, which I assumed led to the dining hall.

"It's just on the other side of this door, right?" Ulric asked.

"Supposedly. I do not understand the point of having a dining hall, though. If this damn bear wants us dead, then why feed us? Why not let us starve to death?" Kanato replied. "Monokuma wants us to kill each other, not just to die. And we can't very well do that if we're weak and on the verge of starvation." Ulric replied. Lilac looked at the entrance curiously and didn't hesitate to rush inside.

"L-Lilac! Hold on a sec!" I called, following her inside. Upon entering the room my eyes immediately began to wander. It seemed to be like any cafeteria you'd see at a school, just not quite as many tables. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. However I was disappointed to see that the windows were still boarded up.

"We should start looking around." Kanato stated. So that's what we began to do. We searched every inch of the dining hall; under the tables, by the windows, in the kitchen, and in the storage closet that was nearby. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything interesting.

"Is this all we got in here? Damn, I was hoping there would be a back window or something." Ulric sighed, scratching the back of his head. 

"I'm not sure how long Monokuma plans for us to stay here, but it looks like it'll be for a while. There is a ton of food inside the kitchen, and I read a note on the fridge that said the food is restocked daily, depending on how much eaten." I said.

"How can that thing have that much food? Especially for sixteen people." Kanato said, his tone slightly irritated. As if he didn't believe me. 

"I-I don't know...." I admitted. Kanato let out a sigh. "This whole thing is bothersome. Being trapped in this place with a bunch of fools. How annoying...." he muttered. "Well suck it up, bat boy, cause I don't see us leaving any time soon." Ulric stated. 

"Do not speak to me that way. You have no right." Kanato said sternly, eyes narrowed. 

"Oh that's right, you're some sort of rich kid, aren't ya? Hell, a rich vampire kid. That's two stuck up points for you then, brat." Ulric said in a mocking tone, a smirk playing on his lips. "Urusai (shut up) I do not wish to smell your disgusting dog breath, so do us a favor and be silent." 

The two of them continued to bicker, making me sigh and ignore them. However, I noticed Lilac was walking away, going over to a small hallway that was beside the kitchen door. 

"Huh? Lilac, where are you going?" I asked. Lilac looked back at me with a smile, gesturing me to follow her. Then she turned on her heel and ran down the hallway. "Lilac! Matte!" I called, running after her. I could hear the boy's bickering stop and their footsteps following behind me. The hallway was straight and narrow, no turns, so it was fairly easy to follow Lilac.

However, I winced as a light at the end of the hallway got brighter and brighter. I eventually had to cover my eyes as I ran, until I finally managed to get to the room Lilac was in. 

"Lilac, I've told you before not to wander off alone-" however a sight before me made me inhale sharply. The footsteps behind me got louder as Ulric and Kanato followed us. 

"Oi, what are you two doing?" Kanato said.

"Yeah, we don't need anyone disappearing all of a sudd- whoa." The four of us began to stare at the sight we did not foresee. 

It was a large trophy case on the wall. But instead of trophies inside.....there were only weapons. Many, many weapons....