(3rd Person's POV)

DING, DONG! BING, BONG!

"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

"Mmmph..." Sora groaned as she woke up to the ear-wrenching sound of Monokuma's voice. After lifting her body up, she fell unto the floor. "Uwah!"

Right... I feel asleep upside-down... Sora thought as she sighed again in her head. Picking herself up, she sluggishly went inside the bathroom and did her morning ritual. After a few minutes, steam came out the door and Sora had her clothes on.

I can't believe it's been four days since I got in this bloody place... Sora thought. And indeed, it has been four days since Sora's imprisonment at Hope's Peak Academy. So far, there had been no updates on any escape routes. Well, not that Sora believed there was one anyway.

"I dunno why...but I feel like somethin' excitin's gonna happen..." Sora said, and as soon as those words left her lips...

DING, DONG!

The sound of the doorbell forced its way into her room.

Sora sighed. Who the hell is that? And in the beginnin' of the morning...?

Yawning again, Sora walked to the front of the room and opened the door, where she found Taka with a proud smile on his face.

"A fantastic morning, isn't it!?" He said.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "What're you-"

"Now then, if you'll pardon the interruption!" Taka said, and without even waiting for a replay, he barged into Sora's room.

"...What do you want?" Sora asked, straight to the point.

"No matter how intensely the stormy seas may batter me, I will not fall as long as my feet are firmly planted!" Taka randomly said, like he was quoting something. "...You agree, right?"

"What." Sora deadpanned.

"And if you can't do it alone, just find someone to support you, and you can support them back! That's how you can overcome any storm!" Taka yelled, raising his fist in determination.

Ew...sap.

"That was really...inspiring, but why did you tell me that, exactly?" Sora raised an eyebrow.

"I was thinking about it last night, and...I decided we all need to really come together." Taka told her. "And that was when I realized... Every morning from now on, after the morning announcement, everyone should have breakfast together!"

...WHAT?! Sora yelled in her head. She spent enough time with these weirdos already, now she has to be around them every morning?!

"And now is the beginning of that fateful day! Please head to the dining hall at your earliest convenience!" Taka requested. "That's all for now! I have to go let everyone else know the good news!"

"Hey, wait! I didn't consent to this!" Sora yelled, but it was too late. By the time she processed and responded to Taka's words, he was already gone. Most likely to tell everyone the "good news".

"...Good grief." Sora muttered. With a relenting groan, she went out of her room. If she just stays in there, Taka will probably go bother her again, so she might as well go...

As Sora made her way to the dining hall, she made some quick glances to see some of the other students in the hallways. Some more...irritated than others.

Regardless, she walked into the dining hall, where she saw a few people in there already. Soon, everyone was here.

"Okay, looks like everyone's here. So then, let's begin our very first "breakfast meeting"!" Taka yelled as he stood up and planted his hands on the table. Deja vu...

"Everyone, thank you for making time in your busy schedules to come together." Taka said.

"Like we had a choice..." Sora mumbled.

"I didn't make time for shit. You dragged me here..." Leon complained.

"I know I already mentioned this earlier, but... In order to get out of here, it is essential that we all cooperate with each other." Taka said. "And the first step is this breakfast meeting, to allow us to become friends and build trust! So from now on, let's all meet here in the dining hall every morning after the morning announcement! Now then, let's eat!"

"You w-want me to eat breakfast with other p-people?" Toko stuttered, pushing her fingers nervously. "I've never done that b-before. I'm not s-sure..."

"Been a hot minute since I ate with anyone." Sora commented. "Or been around anyone at all, actually..."

"Yeah, it's been a while for me, too." Leon said.

"Well anyway...did anyone happen to come up with any clues?" Junko asked.

Silence echoed throughout the hall. Guess that's a "no".

"Seriously? Nothing at all!?" Junko made a deep sigh as her expression changed to one that was a mix of irritation and desperation. "Anything, it can be about how to get out, or who's doing this, nobody has anything!?"

Complete silence entered the hall again. Before anyone could say anything...

"...You are going to die."

Everyone turned to Celeste. And at that, Junko's face stopped cold.

"Huh...?"

"If you can't stop yourself from showing weakness in front of others...you will die." Celeste bluntly told her.

"Wh-What the hell?" The fashionista exclaimed. "Don't even freaking joke about that!"

Celeste expression then changed from her unsettling stare to her deceiving smile. "I am not joking. Adaptability is survivability. Did I not say so? So you'd better hurry up and adapt to your new life here."

"Have you gone completely insane?" Junko asked, narrowing her eyes. "Adapt to my new life here? Do you have any idea what you're saying?"

"Yeah, sounds like the girl wants to live here. " Mondo spoke up. "And hell, more power to her. But shit... No way in hell am I living here! I'm gettin' outta here, I don't give a shit!" He yelled.

"Hmhm. Sure, feel free." Celeste chuckled.

"Okay, so...nobody has any clues?" Leon asked, trying to calm down the tense atmosphere and change the subject.

"One thing I can tell you is who's behind all this." Hina spoke up. "Something who's totally weird and messed up. Why else would we be trapped in here in the first place?"

Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down? Sora sighed.

"Well, sure, it could be something like that." Leon said, ruffling his hair. "But for right now, actual clues are..."

"U-Umm..." Chihiro's timid voice perked up, catching the attention of the other students.

"Huh? What's up?" Leon turned to Chihiro.

"If you think in terms of people who are really abnormal or bizarre... Do you think maybe the person responsible for all this could be a certain murderous fiend...?" She asked.

"A murderous fiend... Fujisaki, do you have some idea who might be behind all this?" Makoto asked.

"Well...maybe. I mean, I can't really be certain, but..."

"Certainty is not a concern right now!" Taka yelled. "I'll allow whatever remarks you may have!"

"O-Okay, well..." Chihiro took a deep breath as she looked at the students. "Have you guys heard of Genocide Jack?"

"You mean that serial killer that's been in the news and all over the Internet?" Makoto asked.

"The monstrous villain who's murdered scores of victims in brutally bizarre fashion..." Byakuya spoke up. "The word "bloodlust" was left at each murder scene, written in the victim's own blood. Whoever is is, he's like a ghost. He strikes without warning, and disappears without a trace. And on the Internet, they started calling him... Genocide Jack. That about covers it, I think."

"They say he's claimed over a thousand victims..." Hiro said.

"That's just an urban legend though, right? I mean even like, ten people would be totally insane." Junko pointed out.

"..." Toko's face suddenly scrunched up with fear.

"Anyway, whoever Genocide Jack really is, he's obviously some kind of super crazy killer." Chihiro said.

Why're you assuming they're a guy? Sora wondered.

"And if he really is this "ultimate" psycho, I wouldn't be surprised if he put together something like this." Mondo said.

"But like I said, I can't be certain. I don't have any evidence or anything." Chihiro reminded everyone. "It's just a thought..."

Sora looked lost in thought. If Genocide Jack really is the person who put them in here, why would they make the students kill each other? Wouldn't it be more easier and satisfying to kill the students themselves right off the bat than just wait for people to start killing?

"But if they're the killer, isn't that like a killer of a problem for us!?" Leon exclaimed, sweating bullets.

"It's okay! Everything's absolutely, positively, one hundred percent without a doubt gonna be okay!" Hina spoke up, her tone filled with positivity. "Cuz help's gonna be here soon, I'm sure of it!"

"Huh...? H-Help?" Toko looked at her.

"We've been stuck in here a few days already, right? Nobody's been able to contact us, so I'm sure they're getting worried." Hina reasoned. "I bet they called the police already!"

"AHHH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Everyone jumped at that laugh and turned to see Monokuma taking residence in one of the chairs.

"The police? You're putting your faith in the police!?" Monokuma snickered.

"What are you doing here!?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"You guys, seriously... Do you understand what role the police exist to fill?" Monokuma asked. "All they're good for is being a foil, playing against a villain or anti-hero or evil organization. The bad guys come along and destroy them, and that shows just how badass they really are." He laughed. "Are you sure you wanna rely on such an unreliable group of losers? I mean come on! If you really, REALLY wanna get out of here, all you gotta do is kill!"

Hmmm... Sora thought as her index finger repeatedly tapped her chin.

"Hahahaha!" Hiro laughed.

"Why the hell are you laughing?!" Leon shouted.

"I'm just impressed at the total commitment to this whole act." Hiro said as Sora faceplanted on the table.

"...You're still going on about that?" Junko looked at him with a deadpan expression.

"So, mister serial killer psycho freak bastard...what the hell do you want!?" Mondo glared at the bear.

"Mr. Serialkillerpsychofreakbastard, huh? That's a pretty long name! German, maybe?" Monokuma said, tilting his head.

"We know who you really are!" Mondo proclaimed as Monokuma turned around, making the biker face his back.

"Maybe if I ignore him, he'll just go away..."

Oof. The disrespect. Sora thought.

"Hey! Don't ignore me, asshole!" Mondo barked.

"Okay, okay, let's get back to business." Monokuma said as he turned back around. "Your life here has already begun and a couple of days have gone by, and nobody's killing anybody! I thought all you kids were lazy and selfish, and here you are working together. But I'm totally bored!" He said, putting his head down in sadness.

"There's nothing you can say that'll make us start killing each other..." Makoto said, looking confident in that statement.

"Wait, I think--yes!" Monokuma exclaimed. "Ding ding ding! I figured it out! All the mystery ingredients are here--right people, right place. So why hasn't anyone killed anyone yet? That's what I couldn't understand. But I just realized there was one very important piece missing!"

"Wh-What are you...?" Makoto stuttered.

"If you wanna know, I'll tell ya! It's motive! Puhuhu!" The monochrome laughed. "It's so simple! I just have to give everyone a motive!"

"Motive? What the fuck are you talking about!?" Mondo demanded.

"Oh, by the way! There's something I wanna show you guys!" Monokuma said, completely ignoring Mondo.

"Stop changing the goddamn subject!"

"I have a little video I'd like you all to see." Monokuma said before sweating a bit. "Oh, but don't worry. It's not some pervy "adult" video or anything. Seriously, it's nothing like that!"

Dammit.... Sora puffed her cheeks out in disappointment. 

"It's a special video for each of you showing what's going on outside the school." Monokuma said.

"Outside the school...?" Makoto repeated in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Heh-heh! Ooh, Master's so impatient today! Why don't you just watch it and find out?" Monokuma chuckled. "Here in the school, there's a specific place you can go that has everything you need to watch the video."

"Good, then we can go watch the video right now." Kyoko spoke up. "But before we do that, I'd like to know..." She folded her arms as she looked straight at Monokuma. "What are you? Why would you do something like this? What do you want from us?"

"What do I want from you...?" Monokuma tilted his head. "Well, if you must know..."

The bear's lone red eye started glowing again as he answered.

"Despair. That's all." He said menacingly. "If you want to know more than that, you'll have to figure it out for yourselves. Do whatever you need to to uncover the mystery hidden within this school. I won't try and stop you." He then laughed. "Cuz to be honest, it's entertaining as heck watching you guys search so desperately for answer! So I guess I want amusement from you, too."

And with that, Monokuma left.

"He's gone... And once again, he left before we could find out anything useful." Sayaka said.

Hm... Despair... Sora mused.

"Really? I think we learned something very useful." Kyoko replied. "He has no intention of standing in the way of our pursuit of the truth. Interesting..."

"Perhaps, but what about the video he mentioned?" Sakura spoke up. "I'm very curious to see what's on it."

"Same here!" Mondo agreed. "Okay, so...!"

Mondo started glancing around the dining hall...but when his gaze landed on Makoto, he stopped.

"Hey, Naegi!" Mondo grinned. "Check this out for us, would ya?"

"Huh? Why me!?" Makoto exclaimed.

"Cuz you're the closest to the door! That's the rule, right?" Mondo said.

"R-Rule...?"

"Hey, hey..." Chiaki- I mean, Mondo put his head down before looking at Makoto. "Hey hey hey hey hey!"

Is he having a stroke? Sora thought.

"HEEEEEY!!!" He yelled. "You see how passionately I'm begging you!? What's the big deal? Just check it out real quick!"

Makoto flinched as he nodded. I guess he didn't want a repeat of what happened the last time he got Mondo angry.

"...O-Okay...I guess I'll get going, then." Makoto said as he got up.

"Awesome, thanks! I owe ya one!" Mondo grinned.

"...If Naegi's going, I'm going with him." Sayaka said as she got up as well. "It's not safe to walk around this place alone."

"Yeah, sure thing. Then we're countin' on both of ya!" Mondo said. "If anything happens, just yell and I'll come runnin'!"

With a short nod, Makoto and Sayaka left the dining hall.

---

A couple minutes passed as Sayaka came back into the dining hall and told everyone that they found the "special room" Monokuma mentioned. The students nodded as they followed Sayaka and went into the hallways.

The students found that the place Monokuma was talking about was the Audio and Video room. It seemed pretty obvious to Sora, as it was the only place here were you can play DVD's.

As they went in, however, they heard Makoto's, who's voice was mixed with anger and irritation.

"I have to get out of here. I have to get out, right now! I need to make sure everyone's safe!"

"Naegi...?" Sayaka gently said as Makoto turned his head to see the students. "What happened? Make sure who's safe?"

Everyone was standing out the entrance room, they're faces full of confusion as they stared at Makoto.

"Wh-What's going on?" Hina asked.

Without a single word, Makoto pointed to a small cardboard box.

"Is that what Monokuma was talking about?" Leon asked.

"What's on them?" Taka walked towards it, and soon, everyone else did. In the crowd of people, Sora managed to find her DVD with her name scribbled on it and took it.

She walked to the nearest monitor and sat down on a chair as she slid the DVD into the expensive looking player. She stared intently the dark screen when...

"Hey, Imoto-chan!"

"Huh...?" Sora blinked twice.

The static fizzled out to show an image of two young girls who looked just like Sora, along with a white cat sitting happily on one of the girls' lap.

Sisters...? Kobayashi...?

"Congrats on getting into Hope's Peak!" One of the girls smiled. "I'm so proud of you!"

The other blonde nodded while crossing one of her legs over the other. "Likewise. Do your best, alright? And try to make a few friends in there, okay?"

"Meow!" The white cat meowed happily.

After that, static appeared as a grim image appeared right in front of the blonde's eyes. It looked like some sort of warzone happened in that very room. 

"Ah, family...isn't it a beautiful thing?" Monokuma's irritating voice made its way into the speakers. "Sora Shirayuki has always depended on the support of her dear sisters, along with the companionship of her dear pet! But...what happened to them?! Did something manage to break apart the Three Sisters?!"

FIND OUT AFTER GRUADUATION.

After that, the DVD slid out the player as Sora picked it up. Her eyes were covered by a shadow casted upon Sora's face. Her expression was unreadable. It took all of her willpower not to break this thing with her bare hands.

The others, must have had something similar on their videos, 'cuz their reactions said it all.

"What the fuck...?" Mondo whispered, a stark contrast to his usual boisterous voice.

"Th-This can't be real, right? It has to be fake, right!?" Hina said in fear.

"Yeah, no way it's real. Haha...no way." Leon said, his body twitching.

"I can't t-take it anymore..." Toko's pupils shrunk as she put her hands on her head. "I c-can't take this anymore! Let me out of h-here!"

Everyone got a video of their loved ones in danger. Sora could tell from their faces. Nobody even bothered trying to hide their fear and confusion.

Well, except for her. Even when everyone else was panicking, she found a way to keep that same stoic face on.

"I see... So this is what he meant by motive." Kyoko mused. "He wants to fuel our desire to leave so that we're more likely to start killing each other."

"It is the classic "prisoner's dilemma."" Celeste said, which made some students gave confused looks.

" ...Huh?" Hifumi asked.

"Let me use an example. Imagine two countries are on the brink of war." Celeste said. "But both countries want peace, and each commits to scaling back their forces as a sign of good faith. But there's a chance that one country may betray the other, so each country fears lowering their guard. The result is that neither scales back their forces and they both end up betraying each other." She finished. "In other words, the fear of invisible treachery becomes the greatest enemy of stability."

"That kinda sounds l-like us right now..." Toko managed to speak. "Everyone says they'll work together, but in our hearts we're all afraid someone might betray us..."

"Don't put those awful thoughts in our head!" Taka scolded. "That's exactly what they want us to do!"

Leon gave Taka the stink eye. "You can say that, but maybe you're thinking that once everyone drops their guard, you can just..."

"What!?"

"This is exactly what Monokuma, or whoever's behind this, wants." Sakura spoke up. "They want us to fight. Don't you see?"

"Yeah, you're right. We all need to calm down..." Chihiro slowly nodded.

"Okay, then. Maybe we should start by all just...talking." Junko suggested. "Maybe if we all just talk about what we saw, that'll help get everything out of our system. Besides, I think we're all super curious, right?"

"Hey, Maizono..." Sora turned to see Makoto approach Sayaka, who looked like she'd seen a ghost.

"..."

"What was in your video, Maizono?" Makoto asked, but Sayaka refused to say anything.

"..."

Sora walked up to the bluette and waved her hand on front of her face, but she got no results.

"..."

"What's wr-wrong? Just hurry up and t-tell us..." Toko said, though it sounded like a demand.

"..." That obviously didn't help Sayaka any, only freezing up more

"Maizono?" Makoto gently placed his hands on Sayaka's shoulder.

"...STOP IT!"

Exploding like a ticking time bomb, Sayaka pushed Makoto's hand off her and ran off.

"Maizono?!" Hina yelled in concern as Sora apathetically rolled her eyes.

"Let her go." Byakuya said.

"I-I can't do that!" Makoto shook his head. "I have to go make sure she's okay!"

"I h-hate romantic comedies like this. I don't care what h-happens to her, personally..." Toko said.

"That's because you're totally thoughtless!" Junko said, giving Toko a disapproving stare.

"I'm...really worried." Hina said.

Celeste placed one of her hands on top the other. "Then why don't you go do whatever you think you have to? We don't all have to stick around together, right? Speaking of which, I have my own things to take care of. Goodbye."

With that, everyone went their separate ways. Makoto ran out the room in a rush, presumably to find Sayaka and comfort her as the other students went to their dorm rooms.

---

Closing and locking her door, Sora sighed. Well...she was definitely right about this day being interesting.

The image of her sisters appeared over and over inside Sora's head. There's so many questions... Are they okay? If so, where are their? And how'd Monokuma find out about them?! Every time she thinks about the fate of her beloved pet, her desire to leave this place grows. ...But she can't kill anyone without some possible consequences.

Sora shook her head, getting ahold of herself. Patience, Sora. She thought. The more she worries, the more she'll be tempted to kill. And she can't do that. Not while facing some potential risks.

With a tired yawn, Sora plopped onto her bed and went to sleep.

---

The next day...

DING, DONG! BING, BONG!

"Good morning, everyone! It is now 7 a.m. and nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

Sora slowly pulled herself out of bed. After she did her morning routine, she sat on the edge of her bed. Then, she remembered...

"...Right. The breakfast "promise". Augh..." Sora deeply sighed. As much as she didn't wanna go, she knows she's gonna have Taka hounding her at the door. "...Let's just get this over with..."

The sardonic blonde left her room and made her way to the dining hall. By the time she got there, a few already was in the hall. She sat in the same seat she did yesterday and placed her cheek on her hand, waiting for everyone.

A few minutes later, Makoto made his way into the dining hall.

"Hello, Naegi, and good morning!" Taka smiled. "Can you believe it? I was the very first one here this morning!"

"Ehehe...good morning." Chihiro greeted.

"..." Sora didn't say anything but quickly waved at Makoto, but just as quickly turned away.

"Mornin'!" Hina exclaimed.

"I suppose I'm early..." Sakura mused.

I suppose the people you see here could be considered model students. And the one's who showed up a little late...

"Yo." Mondo nodded.

"Sorry I'm late! My make-up just would NOT cooperate this morning!" Junko said, giving a v-sign.

You look the same way you do every day...

"My apologies, ladies and gentlemen. My morning, ah, duty took a little longer than usual..." Hifumi let a contend sigh.

...Not even gonna address that.

...Were the types with a more relaxed sense of time. Most high schoolers fall into this category. And finally, the ones who kept everyone waiting forever...

"...I suppose I'm late." Kyoko said as she walked in.

"Good morning, everyone." Celeste greeted with the same uncanny valley smile.

"My bad, guys! Slept right through my alarm!" Leon chuckled.

"Wh-What? Is it s-so awful to be l-late?" Toko grit her teeth and scowled at the students.

"I didn't oversleep, just so you know." Hiro said. "Nope, got lost! I blame the Bermuda Triangle..."

...Don't care about time or other people in general. They're the kind to move at their own pace. But regardless, everyone had arrived.

At least, that's how it was supposed to go...

"Wait, aren't we still missing some people?" Taka asked, looking around the dining hall.

"Yeah, Maizono and Togami aren't here yet." Hina sighed.

Sora couldn't care less about Byakuya, but she would put Sayaka in the "model high-schooler" category. So for her to be late...

"...What's going on? Did something happen?" A voice asked as Byakuya walked in.

"Hey man! Have you seen Maizono?" Mondo asked.

"Why would I have?" Byakuya said, looking at Mondo as if he was an idiot. "I just came straight from my room to here."

"Did she forget about our breakfast promise...?" Hifumi wondered.

"I got the sense she always has her stuff together..." Kyoko mused.

As everyone talked, Sora sighed. Did it finally happen? Murder?

"I-I need to go... I have to check on her!" Those words barely left Makoto's lips as he got out of his chair and ran off into the hallway.

---

It's been a couple minutes. Makoto hasn't come back yet.

Letting her impatience get the best of her, Sora pushed back her chair and got up as everyone gave her questioning stares.

"Hey, stop staring. I'm just gonna check on 'em." She quietly said as she left the dining hall and went into Sayaka's room.

But when she did...the room had been transformed.

"...?" Sora tilted her head in confusion. A replica sword was dropped on the floor, along with its sheath. There were scratches everywhere. From the bed, to the floor, to the walls...

Where are they...? Sora thought as she went to bathroom. She opened the door and found Makoto unconscious on the floor. Oh, there he is. But where's Sayaka? And what made 'im-

Her question immediately got answered as Sora's smooth and soft face lost its color briefly. 

In a mess of pink horror...

Laid the dead body of Sayaka Maizono...The Ultimate Pop Sensation.

Chapter 4: End

To be continued...?