Hope In Humanity (ON PAUSE)

Chapter 1

Time was passing by slowly, Shuichi and I were just waiting for the receiver to go off. Each second that passed by, my façade was crumbling. For the past day, around Shuichi I had put on my "innocent" mask.... I didn't want him to know, I didn't want him to stop me. It was something only I could do. It was the burden that I placed upon myself, but no matter how prepared I thought I was.... the weight of what I was going to do, it was crushing me.

I can't think like this.... they... they deserve this. In order to stop this killing game... I have to—

"Bzzt! Bzzt!" The receiver in Shuichi's hands rung, cutting off my thoughts.

Shuichi looked up at me in fear and surprise, "Kaede! The bookcase! It's been moved!" The Ultimate Detective shouts. He runs out of the classroom, with me following behind.

Now's the time. I... have to do this.

I quickly slipped off my backpack and lifted the shotput ball out. I kneeled down to the vent and closed my eyes, preparing myself to seal my fate. The mastermind was going to die, and I was going to kill them. 

"Kaede? What's taking you so long?" Shuichi calls out to me, I look up, shotput ball still in hand, to see him standing at the doorway. Shuichi looks at the shotput ball in my hand and his eyes widen in realization of what I'm about to do. "No! You can't! Not when we're this close to finding the mastermind!" He jumps for the shotput ball in my hand, and successfully catching me off guard. I drop the shot put ball on the classroom floor, it rolls away... far away from the vent it was about to travel down.

"Shuichi... I was going to kill the mastermind!" I screeched at him.

"I know Kaede. I know. But I don't want to live if it means sacrificing someone's life."

Tears started flowing from my eyes, "S-Shuichi." I sniffled, "I don't want to die. The mastermind... they're probably gone by now."

Shuichi came closer and attempted to give me a hug, and silently shushed me, "It's okay Kaede... we tried our best."

Sobs shook my body, my hands... no my whole body was trembling. I don't know if it was the fear of what I was about to do suddenly overcoming my body, or if it was the realization that we were going to die.

Finally the dreadful music that had been playing since time started running out stopped.

"A body has... NOT been discovered? You kids really don't take me seriously! Come to the gym for one final announcement!"

I gulped, "Final announcement? What's the point, we're gonna die anyway."

Shuichi looked puzzled as well, "Maybe not... I guess we should go."

I silently nodded my head, my throat too clumped up too speak. A sense of anxiety mixed with the relief of not being able to commit my crime overwhelm me. I don't know whether I should be happy I didn't kill someone... or if I should be upset I couldn't go through with my plans. Shuichi and I slowly made our way to the gym, and to my surprise everyone else was gathered there. A buzz of excitement was going on, as if optimism had been refilled throughout the entire cast.

"Now now children! Settle down!" Monokuma announced, popping up out of nowhere.

"Yeah you losers! Listen to Papa Kuma!"

"Daddy's so cool!" Monophanie cheered.

"Ahem, so it has come to my attention. That no one died! Are you kids crazy?" Monokuma said with an evil glint in his eyes, "So now without further ado, I will proceed to keep my promise!"

"You mean we're gonna die after all?" Tenko shouted.

"Nyeh... I don't wanna die."

Ryoma looked to the ground, "Let's get this over with."

The Ultimate Supreme Leader burst into tears, "I DONT WANNA DIEEEE! Oh well, no one'll miss me either way. I'm just so sad this was boring."

Only Rantaro said something reasonable amongst the chaos, "You said everyone forced to participate will die right? Does this mean... someone wasn't forced?"

"You betcha! In fact..." Monokuma trailed off, "None of you were forced to play this killing game! You wanted it."

Needless to say, the reaction of the crew was immediate. No one believed a word Monokuma had just said.  Shouts of disbelief were everywhere. Unable to shut you all up, Monokuma flashed some sort of light on to the crew. Suddenly, I entered a flashback.

"I'm perfect for a killing game! I have no hope in humanity!" I heard a voice too similar to my own sayi.

I jolted back into reality. I started gasping, trying to grasp what I had just saw. I couldn't believe what I had seen. The memory felt so vivid, so real. It really was my own memory. I could remember myself saying those lines, I remembered myself signing up for this death game. 

Then why did I feel so differently now?

"Oh my god, I made it into Danganronpa?! Why didn't I kill anyone then?" you heard Shuichi say. "I wanted to see if they used my execution that I came up with!"

My eyes widened, "Shuichi?"

"Oh... Kaede... I know I agreed with you earlier to stop the killing game... but we signed up for this! This is our dream! I'm going to try my hardest, as you should too."

"Some of you may have been very different when you volunteered  for this killing game. So your personalities will all probably be changing as time goes by. Now that you all know the truth! Have fun and try your best!"  Monokuma cheered, "Of course... if you die here your really dead. And all of you knew that when you signed up."

The black and white bear disappeared, and I was left surrounded once again by the strangers. The people around me weren't the ones I met before. They weren't who I thought they were. 

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Just a random idea that I had recently, tell me what you guys think!