Sixteen wonderful students have been accepted into the most elite and prestigious school in the country! Hope's Peak Academy. Only people who already attended High School and those with an Ultimate Talent are selected to attend and you are one of them! Isn't that great? On their first day, they eagerly walk into the school and look around. It's... Strangely quiet... And empty. Maybe they got here too early? Or too late? They shook off the feeling of unease before their eyes widen. They felt dizzy and their eyesight became foggy. That's when they passed out, waking up in empty classrooms. Beneath them was a handwritten note, scribbled in crayon.

'Welcome to Hope's Peak Academy! Please make your way to the gym for the Opening Ceremony'

The signature was all messed up and smudged but they shook their heads. After briefly examining their empty classroom and noticing the plated up windows, they decided to make their way to the gym. They took their time but soon arrive at the gym, pushing open the door...

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Kirari stepped inside and looked around. She saw about seven people already in the room, probably more. Kirari then noticed a person with blue hair, reading a book. She liked books so she began walking towards them, deciding to take her chances and try to make a new friend. Ash walked inside awkwardly and pushed her pink hair out of her eyes. She noticed a girl with blonde hair walking towards someone else with blue hair so she decided to make them into friends, if she could.

"Hi." She said to them,"I'm Ash."

Kirari turned around, her frizzy hair deciding it was time to shine.

She pushed the frizz away and smiled at Ash,"Nice to meet you! I'm Kirari."

"Nice to meet you, too!" Ash spoke happily.

Her mum had told her what to say when meeting new people but all those lessons came spilling out of her brain as she thought of what to say next.

"What's your favourite colour?" Ash blurted, she lowered her gaze, suddenly embarrassed and thought,"This wasn't how I wanted this to go..."

Kirari paused. This was awkward. She didn't even know her own favourite colour!

"Uh... I don't really know myself but I think it's rose gold." She responded.

"Ooh! Mine is pink, duh!" Ash tried to sound excited even though small talk wasn't her specialty; clamps her hand over her mouth after saying that last part and hangs her head,"Sorry, that was rude."

"It's okay, you didn't say anything rude!" Kirari said with a smile before continuing,"Do you have your ears pierced? Wait, that might sound weird... Sorry if that sounded totally random! I just wanted to know if I could make you some earrings.."

"Yeah, I do actually! Some earrings would be lovely..." Ash smiled back before she paused, thinking and remembering some of her lessons,"Though what can I make for you?"

"Aw, you don't have to make me anything! What kind of earrings would you like?" Kirari replied, touched.

"I don't care what kind of earrings, though as I mentioned before, my favourite colour is pink." Ash responded.

"Hm, what about pink mushrooms?" Kirari suggested,"I know it seems strange, I just like mushrooms, heh."

"I've never had mushroom earrings before. They sound cool!" Ash exclaimed.

Kirari smiled, happy to have a project to work on.

Ash smiled back and spoke politely,"Thank you again for doing this."
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Ray had a quick glance around, looking for any threats

"As if I even need schooling. Why the heck am I here?" Ray growled, clearly not in the mood to socialize and walking towards a far corner of the gym, away from the crowd.

"Oh, wait up!" A brunette boy quickly followed after Ray,"What's your name? I didn't quite catch it when you walked in."

"The name's Ray." He sighed, biting back a rude comment,"What's yours?"

"They call me Daiko." The brunette boy shrugged.

"It's a pleasure meeting you. Who is 'they', by the way? It leaves space for several things and most of them are not the best for your reputation." Day inquired.

"Just people. I'm a comedian, I work with lots of them on the regular." Daiko told him.

Ray nodded his head, understanding.

"Well Ray, what about you?" Daiko asked him.

"I like to see myself as a sort of... Waiter, myself." Ray explained, not entirely lying and finding a loophole in the question.

"Interesting." Daiko nodded.

"So, do you do comedy for a living or is it just a random little hobby?" Ray asked, deciding to go with an awkward and nice facade; Might as well make some allies.

"It started out as just a hobby but once I realized I could make some cash out of it, I decided to do it as my part-time job." Daiko explained.

"Ah, a job like that seems fun. Being a waiter gets kinda boring after a while..." Ray sighed.

"But you also get to see a whole bunch of people." Daiko stated,"Right?"

"Well, at the restaurant I work at, we kinda get the same people over and over and said people are jerks." Ray explained.

"Let me go visit them, I'll stop them being jerks." Daiko crossed his arms.

Ray chuckled,"I mean, I can totally see you fighting forty year olds that go to the gym every day or something, but alright."

"I'm strong." He crossed his arms.

"We'll see about that." Ray muttered under his breath,"Now, shall we return to the others?"

"Sure." Daiko smiled.

As they approached the other students, Ray noticed there were barely any there.

"What kinda school is this? There are hardly any people at all." Ray wondered aloud.

"A weird one." Daiko shrugged.

"True that, true that indeed." Ray murmured, taking in his surroundings for the first time.

Daiko slowly stepped behind Ray, noticing someone else run into the room. Ray noticed his face and turned to see the new person who entered the room.

"Great. Just fabulous. More social interaction." Ray thought.

"Ray, please protect me from her. She's gonna kill me." Daiko whispered.

"What happened to the big, strong man?" Ray asked sarcastically,"And who exactly is this mystery girl? Angry ex? That's not the right vibe. Aunt? Wait, nope, she's too young. Sister...?"

"Mhm, that's my twin sister." Daiko nodded slowly,"I may or may not have woken up first and locked her in a locker."

"Avoid eye contact. If you can't see them, they can't see you." Ray whispered sarcastically.

Daiko quickly covered his eyes and turned away, soon being spotted.

"Daiko, you bastard!" His sister ran over.

"Les salutations! Qui est ce Daiko dont tu parles?" Ray asked in french.

"C'est cet enfoiré derrière toi." She pointed, responding in french.

"Ah, that one." Ray chuckled, turning to Daiko,"Sorry, mon ami. I think we've been compromised."

"Agreed. My name is Terishi Magorobi and that bitch behind you is my brother." Terishi introduced herself, gaining an offended look from Daiko.

"I've heard. Apparently I'm not the only one that seeks revenge after a rough awakening." Ray joked, stepping out of her way.

"Ray!" Daiko gave him a look before running, Terishi not following.

Ray gave a small chuckle, watching how fast the boy could run.

"Dumbass." Terishi rolled her eyes.

"So... What do you do?" Ray asked, trying to start a conversation.

"I'm the Ultimate Actress." Terishi told him,"What about you, Ray, was it?"

"I'm a waiter and considered the Ultimate Chef." Ray explained.

"Ooh, very nice. I'm afraid I'm not very skilled at cooking." Terishi chuckled.

"Well, since we'll presumably be spending a year here, I can probably teach you." Ray grinned.

"That sounds great." Terishi smiled, offering her hand to Ray.

Ray shook her hand, the grin still on his face,"Now then, if you'll excuse me, I have to go introduce myself to the others. Talk to you later?"

"Of course." Terishi nodded, still smiling.

Ray walked away, looking around at all the other students.

"They all seem fairly non-threatening... Other than that girl." Ray thought.

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Sancia pulled at her shirt as she entered the room. She glanced around, allowing herself to comprehend the little amount of students gathered for the 'Opening Ceremony' and attempting to ignore the nervous tug that seemed to pull at her stomach.

"Boo!" A grey haired girl popped up behind her.

Sancia let out a yelp of surprise, turning on her heels. A burst of laughter escaped her chest, her face reddening slightly.

"Hello!" She grinned.

"I'm Akira, what about you?" Akira asked, swaying on her feet.

"I'm Sancia, but you call me Cia!" She introduced herself.

"Well, what do you do?" Akira raised a brow.

"I train animals, what about you?" Sancia tilted her head slightly, her eyes widening with curiosity.

"I make things go boom!" Akira smirked.

"Like, explosions 'n stuff?" Sancia tugged at the teal strand of hair hanging in front of her face, her expression on of excitement.

Akira nodded,"To be more specific, I'm an arsonist."

"Wow." Sancia grinned.

"Maybe after the ceremony, I can show you some of my tricks." Akira offered.

"Cool! That would be awesome!" Sancia then paused,"What do you think about this school? Isn't it kinda lacking in students?"

"Good to know it's not just me." Akira nodded,"Surely it can't just be us, right?"

"Wanna go ask someone..?" Sancia frowned, fiddling with her shirt again.

"Sure, I'll let you decide who." Akira answered, looking around.

Sancia glanced around. There were a few girls behind them and in the corner, two boys but she was unsure who to approach. She then turned back to Akira.

"I don't really know. They all look nice..." She paused.

"Allow me." Akira dragged Sancia over to a tall, dark-haired girl"You, hi."

"Uh, hello?" She raised a brow.

"Hi. I'm Sancia and this crazy person is Akira! You can just call me Cia." Sancia tried to keep a straight face as she glanced at her friend.

"Oh, it's my pleasure. My name's Stevie." She smiled.

"Nice to meet you." Sancia again tugged on her hair, unsure how to ask the question that had been bothering her and Akira without sounding like a weirdo.

"Where do you think the other people are?" Akira asked her.

"Oh, uh, good question." Stevie nodded,"That I don't have an answer to."

"Hm..." Sancia cast her stare around the room,"I wonder when the ceremony will begin. Maybe more people will arrive then?"

"That makes sense-" Stevie was interrupted as a girl with purple hair and a mask ran in.
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"Hey there, howdy, hello! Is everyone here? If not, too bad! Let's get things rolling!" A mysterious voice called out to them.

Kirari's eyes widened,"H-huh? Who are you?"

All of a sudden, a black and white bear popped up, landing on the speaker's podium.

"Ew." Kirari thought to herself before speaking,"A bear? Why are you here?"

"I'm not just any bear. I'm Monokuma! I'm this school's headmaster!" He announced.

"Ha! You? The Headmaster?" A ginger boy laughed.

Kirari walked around, worried. This felt wrong...

"Come on, where's the applause? The 'Hello, Mr Monokuma's? You kids have no respect." Monokuma crossed his arms.

"Hello, Mr Monokuma." Kirari spoke warily.

"Took you long enough." Monokuma muttered.

Kirari took a few steps back.

"What's with that look? Doesn't seeing your fabulous headmaster make you happy?" Monokuma asked.

"Listen here, Teddy Bear. I don't know if you got the memo, but bears aren't supposed to talk." Ray growled, slowly approaching the Headmaster.

"Eep!" Monokuma began to back away,"Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly against the rules!"

"And what are you gonna do if I don't play by the rules, huh? Will you hug me to death?" Ray asked, a malicious and taunting grin spreading across his face.

"I'll be forced to punish anyone who breaks the rules." Monokuma told him.

"I see. Well then, I am happy to be in the presence of such a fearless principal! Glad to have you here, sir!" Ray exclaimed, saluting; his grin immediately changing to a warm and fake smile.

"You're one weird kid, Luciano." Monokuma shook his head.

"I could say the same about you, Mr... Teddy?" Ray asked, already forgetting his name.

"My name is Monokuma!" He placed his paws on his waist.

Ash then walked forward towards the group of people, waiting for a chance to introduce herself.

"Hi." She started with a smile,"My name is Ash."

"Oh, what is this?" Monokuma tilted his head,"It's nice to see that some students care enough to speak politely to me."

Ash didn't know how to feel. Should she be happy that Monokuma seemed to be nice to her? Should she be embarrassed for being to quiet?

"... Thanks." She said finally.

"So... Uh, what are you exactly? A plush? A robot?" Stevie started asking.

"Ugh, figure it out. You're just a glorified babysitter." Monokuma ignored her question,"Any other questions?"

"I have one." Kirari raised her hand,"What are we doing first?"

"I'm glad you asked! You'll all be participating in a little game I have planned." Monokuma answered.

"A... Game? What kind of game?" Kirari inquired.

Ray raised his eyebrow at the word 'game'.

"A Killing Game!" Monokuma announced.

"Great, let me start with you, Teddy." Ray said, rolling up his sleeves; clearly thinking Monokuma was lying.

"Aaaand that's my cue to leave." Kirari staggered to the door,"U-uh, why is it locked?"

"Um... Wha... Killing?" Ash stuttered,"What do you mean?"

"Murder, homicide, cutting lives short, expiring their subscription to life!" Monokuma listed,"Do that and get away with it, and I'll let the killer walk free!"

A flicker of awareness could be seen in Ray's eye,"Oh, shit, here we go again.."

"And before you ask, any means of murder is accepted! Bludgeoning, burning, drowning, electrocution, toxic gas, you name it!" Monokuma explained.

Kirari gulped. This was bad. There were definitely people in here who would like to or be willing to kill someone and what protection did she have?! SHE WAS A FREAKING JEWELER!

"I'm not going to let you do this to us!" Stevie stepped forward.

"That's... Probably not the best idea." A girl with brown and pink hair shook her head.

Kirari tugged on Stevie's arm,"We don't know what this bear is capable of."

Stevie sighed and shook her head.

"Well then, I hope you enjoy your indefinite stay here!" Monokuma began to laugh.

Ash had started to back away into a corner, holding her head in her hands, repeating,"This isn't real... This isn't real... This isn't real..."

"Hey, try taking some deep breaths." Terishi walked over, reaching her hand out to her.

Ash looked up at Terishi and tried to take a deep breath but it came out all quick and shaky.

"We'll make it out of here, all of us. I promise." Terishi assured her.

Ray slowly backed away from the group. Once he was far enough, he broke into a full on sprint.

"Huh? Ray?" Daiko looked around.

"Sorry Daiko, I have no intention of dying yet!" Ray yelled as he ran.

"I'm not gonna kill you!" Ray called, chasing after him.

Ray knew very well who could kill who among the two of them but he realized he needed an upper hand on... Her.

"Follow me." Ray slowed slightly,"I don't think we can trust anyone but each other right now!"

"I'm sure we can trust Teri-" Daiko began.

"No one. Not even your sister. Not yet, at least." Ray cut him off.

"Oh, alright.." Daiko nodded slowly.