This night was one of the most eventful and stressful that the participants had experienced since the last time they had entered the premises. Few of them had managed to sleep, and the morning already had a heavy atmosphere.

The things left unsaid from the day before were becoming ever more insistent. 

Everyone headed towards the dining hall, hoping to gain some strength for what awaited them.

Haru glanced at Yuki. The characters they played didn't get along last season, and they did a lot of harm to each other. Haru wished he knew the person behind Kokichi.

With a sigh, he approached this frail being, a tray full of pastries in his hands.Without saying a word, he pulled the chair to his side and placed what he had in his hand on the table.
Yuki looked up, expecting to see Alys.

"Hello", Haru began hesitantly.

Yuki stood frozen for a few seconds before looking away.

"What does the person embodying my nightmares want from me?"

Haru noted how weak and shaky his interlocutor's voice was despite the apparent confidence he exuded. He had to take into account the psychological fragility that seemed to emerge from him.

"I was just coming to meet you. Not as Shuichi and Kokichi, but as supposed people. I am not who I was when we met. My name is Haru. And you ?"

He tried to speak gently so as not to rush him, which seemed to work more or less. After a moment of hesitation, he had an answer."Yuki. Don't treat me like I'm made of sugar. I may be physically diminished, but I still have all my head."

Haru couldn't help but smile at this strength of personality that seemed to come out of Yuki.

" Alright. I hope we get a chance to really talk. Besides... I want to apologize for what I caused you last year. I know it won't fix anything, and I also know we weren't really ourselves, but I still wanted to apologize. Besides, I think it's the same for the other people of the season."

This time he got no response. But the silence wasn't awkward. Yuki seemed to be thinking and considering what Haru had just told him.

However, they did not have time to talk further.
An elegant man with dark hair entered the dining hall. He had red eyes comparable to those of a demon, and a slight cynical smile that did not bode well. Yet when he opened his mouth, only the dignity he represented shone through.

"Hello everyone, dear participants. My name is Sebastian and I will be responsible for guiding you through your installation in the helmet room. I would ask you to please follow me as soon as you have finished your meal. The show will start at eleven o'clock this morning."

Everyone looked at each other and finished their meal in the greatest silence.

.

The participants were now seated under the helmets. Apprehension was building within them, Sebastian was going to connect them to virtual reality. Again, they would experience those familiar sensations. They all looked at each other in turn, saying silent goodbyes, not knowing if it was trauma or apprehension where this bad feeling was coming from.

They closed their eyes, knowing that the next time they opened them, they would be in the shoes of their characters.

There were eighteen of them. Eighteen former participants. There would be eighteen left, wouldn't they? This time, the number would not decrease? They wouldn't forget their memories again?

This fear tugged at most of them at that precise moment. This bad feeling led them to think that all this, this "talk show" pretext, was nothing other than a vast farce to carry out a final killing.

But it was now too late.

"Welcome to the fifty-fourth season of Danganronpa! I haven't seen you for a while, my dear students! Upupupu."