(3rd Person's POV)

The students then began their search around the school. Some people split into groups, while some went on their own. Sora was one of the latter individuals who took this path. Not only does she not trust anyone here all that much, but she works best when she's by herself. Having someone with her would only slow her down.

Sora aimlessly walked around until she found a hallway of dorm rooms. She walked to her dorm, which had a room plate with a small pixelated version of herself. She also noticed that it was between Makoto and Kyoko.

Putting that aside, she pushed open the door and went inside.

"...?" Sora tilted her head as she saw the room. It was rather spacey for a school dorm. Like a motel of sorts. It had a bed near the wall and a desk near the edge of the room with a stack of sketchbooks, with a rolling chair in front of the desk, as well as a comfy chair in front of the bed, and a circle-shaped table. There was also a little mini-fridge next to the desk, and an espresso machine on top of the table. 

Her gaze wandered as she saw another door next to the desk. Sora walked in and saw the bathroom. She peered behind the door to see a fully-functional shower and sink. She walked to the sink and tested the waters.

One lever is hot, and one is cold. Just like I thought... Sora thought in her head. She sighed as she walked back into the room. What now...?

She shrugged as she took out the student handbook and re-read the rules. It kinda sucked that she couldn't sleep anywhere she wanted, but it is what it is...

She doesn't know how much time has passed, but she blinked her eyes as she regained her sense of time. She looked at her wristwatch. Before everyone split up, Taka said they'll be meeting up in the "dining hall". It's in two minutes...

Sora got up from her bed, went out of her room, and power-walked through the hallway. She soon found her way and opened the doors, where she found that a few people were already there. Including Makoto, who seemed to be just fine.

---

Soon, everyone strolled in one after another. After a few minutes, everyone had gathered in the dining hall. Taka then planed his hands on the table, getting everyone's attention.

"Okay! It looks like everyone's here. Time to start the meeting! Let's all go around and share what we found during out respective investigations!" Taka told everyone. "The sooner we find out what's going on, the sooner we get out of here!"

"Wait, hold on a sec!" Junko cut through whatever Taka was about to say next.

"What's wrong!?" Taka asked in an impatient tone.

"What about, uh...what's her name? You know, the silver-haired girl..." Junko played with one of her pigtails, trying to run her train of thought. "Uh...oh yeah, Kirigiri!"

"...What about her?" Taka asked.

"She's not here." Junko bluntly told him.

"What!?" Taka shouted. Sora looked around the dining hall, and, sure enough, Kyoko was nowhere to be seen.

"I wonder where she went. Has anyone seen her?" Hina asked, but everyone just shook their heads.

"Wait, so nobody's seen her?" Chihiro said, confused.

Hm...Kyoko's not here yet? Is it because...? Sora thought as her mind flashed back to what Monokuma said earlier.

"Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn't matter. You must kill someone if you want to leave. It's as simple as that. The rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible."

Sora shook her head. No. It hasn't even been a day yet. Don't think about stuff like that...

"Darn it, Kirigiri!" Taka grit his teeth. "You're really going to be late like this on the first day of school!? Not only is she late, she didn't tell anyone she would be late! A most unbecoming personality trait..."

Junko looked at him wide-eyed. "You're being a real jackass right now, you know that?"

I mean, he is the Ultimate Moral Compass... Sora said in her head. Not that I know or care about morality...

"Well, what do you want me to do!? Punctuality is everything!" Taka replied. "Now then, I declare that the first session of the Hope's Peak Academy briefing meetings has begun!"

"...When did we agree on having briefing meetings?" Sora quietly wondered to herself.

"Okay, so since you're in the dark about all this, let me lay out what's been going on." Sora heard Sayaka tell Makoto. "Everyone split up to investigate different parts of the building, but...Togami, Shirayuki, and Taka each went off on their own, and so did Kirigiri. It looks like Kuwata, Hiro, Enoshima and Fujisaki all grouped up together." She informed. "Celeste, Fukawa, and Yamada" were left over, so they joined up."

"I wanted to try and find some clue as to who's responsible for imprisoning us here... But unfortunately, I made no such discoveries." Byakuya said. "That's all from me..."

"Really? That's it?" Taka raised an eyebrow.

"If I'd uncovered anything, naturally I would have more to say. But I didn't. So I don't."

"R-Right, understood..."

---

"I spent some time looking around the dormitory, and..." Taka started. "There I made the discovery of the century! I found that there was exactly one room for each person!"

Everyone sweatdropped.

"Well yeah, I figured that out before anything else..." Hina said, sighing.

"Each door already has a nameplate on it, so I guess all the rooms have been assigned already." Junko said.

"And each room key was attached to a keychain with the owner's name precision-etched onto it." Sakura added.

"And Fujisaki and I found out that all the rooms are totally soundproof." Junko said.

"Your next-door neighbor could scream their lungs out, and you wouldn't hear a thing..." Chihiro exampled.

"Well, each room also had a private bathroom, which could also lock." Celeste chimed in.

"But it looked like there were only locks on the bathrooms in the girls' dorms." Junko informed them.

"Okay, so they got a bunch of rooms ready for us. They're assuming we're gonna be here a while..." Mondo mused.

"Well, better to have than have not! At least we don't have to worry about surviving like wild animals." Taka spoke up.

"Th-That can't be all you have to r-report, can it Mr. Honor S-Student?" Toko rhetorically asked.

"... That's all for my report! Let's move on to whoever's next!"

---

"We went all up and down the school, double-checking the windows in all the hallways and classes." Junko shared. "We wanted to see if we could get any of those metal plates to come off. And what happened was..." She trailed off.

"Nothing. Not a damn thing. We couldn't get a single one to budge even a little bit." Leon frowned.

"There wasn't any hope of escape anywhere... The school really has been totally cut off." Chihiro said.

"This sucks... It really sucks! It sucks sucks sucks sucks SUCKS! What the hell are we gonna do!?" Junko freaked out.

"Goddamn, calm down! You're starting to make me nervous!" Leon told her, sweating a bit.

---

"We thought maybe we could find a way to communicate with the outside, so we went looking all over!" Hina said before putting her head down in disappointment. "But...we didn't find a thing. Sorry..."

"I went back to the main hall, thinking maybe we could do something about that giant hunk of metal." Mondo spoke up. "But even with Ogami and me both, it wouldn't budge. We hit it with desks and chairs, and nothin'... It was hard as, like...metal."

"...Pretty sure it is metal..." Sora muttered under her breath.

"Anyway, if we're gonna get outta here, it's not gonna be through there." Mondo said.

"I feel like I could just cry... But no, I have to hold it in! I have to manage my hydration...!" Hina said, trying to restrain herself.

...Does crying actually cause dehydration...? Sora wondered.

"I shall tell you what happened next..." Sakura spoke up. "It has nothing to do with communicating with the outside world, but it's still worth worrying about. In both the school and dorm areas, there was a set of stairs leading up to another floor."

"But there were gates there, and we couldn't find any way to open them, so we couldn't check it out." Hina said.

"In other words, at this point we are only able to search the 1st floor." Sakura closed her eyes. "We can further assume that there is potentially something above the 2nd floor, as well. And if that's the case, there is at least a chance it may lead to a way out."

---

"If I am being honest, I can't quite say we acted as one." Celeste said while casually playing with her hair. "Rather, we did nothing as one. We spent the entire time in the gym. Honestly, we are not exactly the types to go running around a school like a gaggle of junior detectives."

Wow. Just...wow. And I thought I was lazy. Sora thought.

"What the hell were you thinking, just sitting around the gym the whole time?" Junko scowled at them.

"W-Well it's not like any of you i-invited me along!" Toko glared at her. "Nobody said 'hey, c-come with us!' I blame y-you for leaving me out! I-It's your fault!"

"If you wanted to go with someone, you should've just said something!" Junko told her.

Toko scoffed. "Hmph. F-Forget it. Like I'd w-want to go anywhere with a dirty s-slut like you..."

Sora blinked twice in surprise.

"S-Slut...?" Junko gasped out.

"Your mind is as th-thin as your body. You m-make me sick to my s-stomach..." Toko sneered at her.

...OH. Sora widened her eyes, but quickly replaced it with an amused and intrigued look.

Junko's eye twitched as she clenched her fists. "I...I don't even know how to react. How can you say something so awful to someone you just met?" She angrily asked.

"Alright guys, everybody just calm down, okay?" Hiro said, stopping the soon-to-be verbal catfight.

"Yeah!" Sayaka exclaimed. "It sounds like you two are so close now you're fighting like sisters!"

Everyone sweatdropped. They don't think that's what's going on...

---

"So that's what they have to say, huh?" Sayaka asked no one in particular. "Then I guess I'm the only one left..." She cleared her throat before explaining. "I went and had a look around the dining hall... I found a fridge in the back of the kitchen, and it was overflowing with all kinds of stuff. I guess we don't have to worry about food at least."

"Sure, for now." Hifumi responded. "But even with all that, there are sixteen of us. How long can the food last...?"

"Y-You can just eat sesame s-seeds or something..." Toko suggested.

"Huh? What am I, a parakeet?"

"I don't think we have to worry about it. All the food gets restocked automatically each day." Sayaka assured them. "At least, that's what Monokuma said..."

Everyone's eyes widened at the mention of the bear.

"You saw him!?" Junko yelled.

"Yeah, he came out of nowhere while I was checking the fridge, told me that, then disappeared again." Sayaka told them. "He was so fast, I can't believe someone could have been moving him around with a remote control..."

"A weaponized toy that can just appear from nowhere... I can't tell if we're supposed to be afraid or not." Chihiro said.

"But was everything okay? He didn't try to like, eat you or anything?" Hina asked with concern.

"E-Eat her...?" Hifumi perked up as she started drooling perversely "Um, what do you mean by that? I mean, when you say "eat," what kind of eating are we talking about?"

"C-Come on, man!" Hina blushed.

"Good grief..." Sora commented.

"What the hell, fatty!?" Leon yelled. "You're acting like some kind of sleazy drunk dude."

"Not like there's a good kind of drunk dude..." Hiro muttered.

"Hey! Stop screwing around, all of you! Are you still asleep or something? We're prisoners here! We could all just die any second!" Junko harshly scolded.

"She's right." Mondo nodded. "We can't be makin' stupid jokes right now. We gotta do something, or--!"

"You're all spending an awful lot of time yelling and carrying on." A voice interrupted Mondo as Kyoko walked into the dining hall. "Do you really think you can afford to do so? Have none of you accepted the reality of the situation?"

"Well, it's nice to see you, too..." Sora muttered.

"Kirigiri! Where the heck have you been!?" Taka yelled. "We already started the meeting without you!"

She didn't say a word. Instead, she just dropped a piece of paper on the table.

"Huh? What's this...?" Makoto asked.

"It appears to be a map of Hope's Peak Academy." Kyoko told them.

"A map...?"

"Wh-What the...? Where did you find this?" Taka inquired.

"It doesn't matter where I found it." Kyoko brushed off.

"It DOES matter! You're really freaking us out right now!" Taka shouted.

"Never mind that. What's it mean?" Junko asked.

"Just look at it. The building we're in right now is laid out in precisely the same way as Hope's Peak Academy." Kyoko said.

"So what you're saying is...this really is Hope's Peak Academy?" Makoto asked.

"Well, in terms of its construction, yes." Kyoko nodded. "But it looks like it's had a number of strange...renovations done to it."

"Renovations...?" Makoto tilted his head.

"I don't know all the details yet. All I found was details about the 1st floor." Kyoko folded her arms.

"But then...this really is Hope's Peak. We didn't get kidnapped and taken to some other place..." Chihiro clasped her hands together.

"So stupid it's not even possible." Mondo grit his teeth. "This is where the country's future elite are supposed to come and learn?"

"But if this really is Hope's Peak, where are all the other students?" Hina wondered.

"Hey, come on, guys. " Hiro spoke up. "Let's just stop talking about all this...you know, negative stuff..."

"But aren't you worried?" Makoto asked him. "Things don't look good..."

"Worried? What's there to be worried about?" Hiro ignorantly smiled. "I mean, this was all planned out, right? The people in charge of Hope's Peak put this all together, right? Man, if I got stressed every time something like this happened, I'd have ectoplasm shooting out my mouth!" He laughed. "Good things come to those who wait, right? So we just gotta chill and everything'll work itself out!"

...I wish I could be as ignorant as you... Sora thought.

"Hahaha!" Celeste laughed.

"Wh-Why are you laughing? What's so funny!?" Toko asked.

"I am just happy, that is all. It seems splitting up to investigate was a good idea, after all." Celeste smiled.

"Haven't you b-been listening!? Looking around was a t-total waste of t-time!" Toko told her. "We d-didn't find a way out, didn't f-find who's behind this. We still have no idea what's g-going on!"

"Huh? Is it not crystal clear to you what is going on?" Celeste condescendingly asked as she unsettlingly stared at her. "It is perfectly obvious that we have been imprisoned in some secret location, with no way out."

None of them had a response to that. Most of them didn't want to accept that. But it was staring at them right in the face.

"You didn't h-have to go and s-say that..." Toko groaned. "I w-was trying not to th-think about it... N-No way out... We're t-trapped in here. What are w-we supposed to d-do...?"

"It's very simple." Byakuya chuckled. "If you want to leave, you just have to kill--"

"Don't even joke about that!" Junko yelled.

"Everyone just calm down, please!" Sayaka spoke up. "We need to stop and think about what to do from here."

"There's gotta be something we can do..." Leon said in a desperate tone.

"All we can do is adapt." Celeste smiled. "Adapt to living our lives here from now on."

"Live here...? Are you saying we should just accept it?" Chihiro asked with a saddened expression.

"A lack of adaptability...is a lack of survivability." Celeste said. "Survival is not based on who is the strongest or the smartest. It comes down to who can adapt. And as someone who has come out on top more than once, I have a suggestion."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mondo asked.

"We all understand that we are trapped here." She said. "Which means we will be spending the night. However... You all remember the rule regarding nighttime, right? So regarding this "nighttime," I think we need to add a rule of our own."

"Which is...?" Sora inquired.

"Going out at nighttime should be prohibited altogether. The school regulations do not actually tell us not to go out at night. I would like to make it official." Celeste said.

"B-But why...?" Toko asked.

"The way things are now, every time night comes we will all start to get worried and anxious." Celeste explained. "We will be afraid someone might try and come kill us."

"What!?" Sayaka raised her voice a little.

"If we have to worry about that night after night for who knows how long, it will wear us down in no time." Celeste said.

"So you're suggesting we limit our activity at night as a kind of preventative measure." Sakura looked at Celeste.

"However, unlike the other rules, nobody can be forced to comply. We all have to agree to follow it." Celeste told them.

"I see what you mean. But...I think I can agree to that." Junko nodded. "It's just like the little goth lolita said. Without something like that, we're just gonna self-destruct."

"On behalf of all the men here, I agree to comply!" Taka proclaimed.

"Hey, you can't just decide to speak for us!" Leon said.

"So everyone is in agreement?" Celeste asked.

I'll go out whenever the hell I want... Sora thought. But other than Sora's mental defiance, nobody spoke up.

Celeste took that as a yes. "Good. Then, if you will excuse me..." She got up from her chair.

"Huh? Wait, where are you going?" Chihiro asked.

"It is almost nighttime." Celeste pointed out. "I want to take a shower before it arrives. So...goodbye." She smiled as she left the dining hall. Her behavior was so so natural, nobody imagined anybody trying to stop her.

"S-So I guess it's pretty obvious where we go from here." Hifumi spoke up. "We'll be spending the night, it looks like."

"Adaptability..." Sakura mused on Celeste's words.

"So, Mr. Chairman..." Junko glanced at Taka. "What next? One person already left."

"U-Umm... " Taka awkwardly said. "Well then, what say we call an end to today's meeting!? Like she said, it's almost nighttime anyway. We can reconvene first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Do we really have to stay the night here...?" Chihiro asked, not exactly keen on sleeping in what's basically a prison.

"We don't have a choice." Junko answered. "We can't go for long without getting some sleep."

"So we have to just give up..." Mondo bowed his head down.

"That's all f-fine and good for t-today, but what to we d-do tomorrow?" Toko asked.

"Our only option is to split up and look around again, and let everyone know if we find anything." Sakura said.

"Yeah, okay. Let's do that...!" Hina nodded.

"Then we're done for today? Good, I'm exhausted..." Junko let out a rough sigh, and with heavy moments, the students headed off for their private rooms.

---

As Sora closed the door in her room, she sighed. Is this were she'll be staying for kami-knows-how-long? Trapped in a school with a bunch of living obstacles?

"Augh..." Sora groaned.

DING, DONG! BING BONG!

"Mm, ahem, this is a school announcement." The monitor in Sora's room showed Monokuma in a chair. Drinking...wine? Can robots even drink? "It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Soon the doors to the dining hall will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited. Okay then...sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite..."

The monitor then shut off. Looks like it's nighttime. The students all "promised" that they wouldn't leave their rooms. But...it's not like Sora made an oath or anything. She'll go out when she wants to.

But she doesn't have any reason to. Nor is she in the mood to. For now, she might as well get some sleep.

Quietly mumbling to herself, Sora plopped down on the bed, and she went to sleep immediately. She was utterly exhausted. She got knocked out, was practically forced to speak to a bunch of schmoes, and had to face the fact that she was in a killing game. It was like she spent the entire day binge-watching a bunch of T.V. shows and movies.

And that's how Sora's first day at Hope's Peak ended. Would it be too much hope to think this was some bad dream?

Of course. It's not like Sora to cling onto such false hope. Or any hope in general.

As she drifted off to sleep, one thing was clear to the blonde...

This was gonna be a hell of a school life.

Chapter 2: End

To be continued...?