The elevator shuddered downwards, and as it did I looked around at everyone, taking in their faces, their body language, as if that would help me find who did it.
It was one of us.
As much as I didn't want it to be...
"Asahi." I looked over to see Kioko Kozakura, ashen-faced.
"Hi." I replied. I wasn't sure what else I could say.
"Are you...worried?" She asked, shuffling her feet. I looked to the ceiling of the elevator, then at her, then at the floor.
"No." I lied.
"Oh," Kioko smiled, "that's great. If you know who the killer is, then we'll all survive."
My only reply was a simple nod. I couldn't trust my voice.
As much as I had wanted to tell her about my churning stomach, my racing thoughts, I didn't want to make her any more worried than she was.
If all of us were confident...what could go wrong?
The elevator stopped so suddenly a few people stumbled a little. Slowly, the doors opened, and Monoko led the way out, now carrying a bright pink flag behind it. We walked down a long, dim hallway.
Tension rose.
And then, suddenly, we were in a cavernous room with a circle of podiums in the centre. A throne stood at one end, higher than the podiums, and around the edges of the room were hundreds of empty seats.
It was like a colosseum.
A digital screen wrapped around the edges of the room, flashing the words 'Class Trial 1' at us in obnoxious pink text. The podiums were a simple dark wood, and on each one was a small plaque; a name tag.
Everyone spread out, finding their name tags.
I stood on the opposite side of the throne, between Sora Yukiko and Kaida Satsuki. I looked at Kaida; she gave me a reassuring, if worried, smile. I looked at Sora; she was tapping her foot impatiently, a murderous look on her face.
It was as I was looking at Sora that I realised something.
We were missing two students.
Next to Sora's podium stood an empty one, and a few podiums over was another. But, instead of being empty, this one held a large picture frame.
And inside that picture frame, with a neon pink airplane flying over his face, was Eiji Hikou; saluting to the camera, a huge smile on his face.
A black and white bow was tied in the middle of the frame, with ribbons draped over each side. A small candle, unlit, was in front.
My stomach twisted.
Moments passed, and the room was silent. Everybody waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Monoko had somehow disappeared in the space between when we first entered the room and when we took our spots at the podiums, and was nowhere to be seen.
Tension rose, and a heavy weight seemed to push onto my shoulders as the weight of the situation sunk in.
Despair crept at the corners of my mind.
Maybe we wouldn't solve it.
Maybe we would all die, cramped in this room somewhere underground, where the sun would never show.
"I'm moving." A voice broke through my thoughts and I looked over to see Kyung Hye stepping off her podium.
"Where to?" Tamotsu Ryuunosuke asked.
"Rouko." Kyung replied.
"What if I want to stay here?" Michi Katsu asked. He was standing next to the Translator.
"Seiichi and I can move." Kioko said, stepping off her podium, "I'll go next to Tamotsu."
"Should we take the plaques off and move them?" Seiichi Shigeru gripped onto his and began pulling on it, but it wouldn't budge.
ΔΙΑΒΑΖΕΙΣ
Future's Hope - A Danganronpa Spinoff
Fanfiction'Despair is a wretched, horrible thing. It twists and curls around the corners of your mind, waiting for the moment you weaken so it can break in and engulf your thoughts with bleak, depressing imagery. It bides its time, waits until you are hopefu...
