It had been a few minutes since Monokuma left, and still everyone was in shock. He had given them all digital student handbooks before leaving, and even then, everyone was silent. No one dared to say a word until Jirou stepped forward.

"Look, I know this is a lot to take in, but we still don't know if that bear- or whoever's controlling it- is really telling the truth." Jirou pointed out, earning a few nods and muttered agreements.

Haru was louder with his agreement. "You're right, Jirou. I suggest we all split up into groups and check out this so called abandoned city. We can look for any means of escape and find out what our limits are."

Jirou nodded with a small smile. "Good idea, then we can all meet back here when it gets dark."

I took notice that the two of them both seemed like natural leaders. The director and the therapist... that could make for a good plot. Being a writer, I took a mental note of it before turning my attention back to Haru, who was now speaking again.

"Alright, since none of us really know each other yet, I'll make the groups." Haru waited for any objections, and when none came, he continued. "Riku, Momo, and Mai will be one group, Willow, Ichiro, and Katashi another, Orochi, Natsumi, and Jikkō can go together, Akio, Kaiya, Michio, and Kazuki will be together, and I'll go with Satchiko and Jirou."

Everyone went to their respective groups, and as I approached my group members I got to get a better look at them. I don't know how I didn't recognize him before, but now I realized that Michio was the lead guitar player of a popular rock band. His blond hair almost reached his shoulders, and his brown eyes speckled with gold were enough to make his fangirls swoon over him. I had to admit, he was fairly attractive, and with his disheveled white top and ripped jeans he really did look like your typical band member.

Akio, on the other hand, didn't look much like your stereotypical skateboarder. His short, dark brown hair was sticking up at odd angles, as if he had just gotten out of bed, and his hazel eyes were nothing extraordinary. His black leather jacket didn't seem to go with his tight brown jeans, but Akio didn't seem like the one to care. He seemed pretty normal, overall.

Kaiya seemed like an odd girl. Her long orange hair didn't look like it got much attention, and she too looked like she just rolled out of bed. However, her bright green eyes were captivating, and there was a certain charm to her freckled face. She wore rectangular glasses that didn't seem to fit just right. Her purple knitted sweater looked handmade, and I assumed she probably made it herself. Her light pink skirt was short, but not skimpy, and her purple shoes matched her sweater. I wondered to myself, what would the ultimate cat lady even do? But I had to admit, Kaiya was pretty cute.

"So, should we get going?" Michio asked, "I really wanna see how much we have in this city."

Kaiya shook her head. "Not yet, first we should look at the e-handbook. It might have some important information we need to know."

We all agreed, taking out the devices and turning them on. The first thing that came up was my name, Kazuki Nozomi. Then it opened to a menu with various options. I tapped on the rules, knowing that would definitely be important.

1. Violence against principal Monokuma is strictly forbidden, as is destruction of security cameras.

2. "Night time" is from 10pm to 7am. Some areas are off limits at night, so please exercise caution.

3. With minimal restrictions, you are able to explore at your discretion.

4. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes the "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.

5. Additional rules may be added as necessary.

"This seems pretty straightforward." Akio pointed out, "I'm glad this isn't like in Order of the Phoenix where Umbridge is putting in tons of unnecessary rules!"

"...What?" Kaiya asked, a confused look on her face.

"He's talking about Harry Potter." I explained, and as soon as I spoke Akio's face lit up.

"You know Harry Potter?!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"Well, yeah... even though it's an english series, it's famous worldwide." I stated.

Before Akio could reply, Michio butted in. "Okay, now we can get going, right?"

Kaiya nodded. "Yup! Let's go."

And so, the four of us finally left the hotel together. We walked out onto a paved path, and I realized the entrance of the hotel screamed of importance. On each side of the path was a stretch of grass, and hedges lined each side. There was a fountain in the middle of the path with a statue that appeared to be an angel. We walked around it, continuing down the path until we arrived at a sidewalk next to a road. Though everything looked nice and new, there were no cars or other people in sight. It really did appear abandoned.

We decided to head right, walking down the street and making sure to stay close to each other. I looked up at the sky, noticing that it was already starting to get dark. How long were we knocked out for?

We came across a large building that appeared to be a mall. Michio was the first one to step inside and take a look around, the rest of us trailing behind him.

"Wow, it looks so empty." Michio pointed out, his voice echoing. "Malls look so much bigger when there's no one in them."

"It looks like all the stores are open though," Akio stated, and I realized he was right. None of the stores were closed off.

We spent a while looking around the mall. It had clothing stores, a food court, a bookstore, a game store, coffee places... it was just a regular mall.

"Um... guys, I think we should start heading back... it's getting pretty late." Kaiya suggested after a while, and everyone agreed.

I couldn't help feeling disappointed. We hadn't made any important discoveries, and had no time to explore more than one building.

Oh well, maybe the others found more.