Danganronpa: Until Proven Guilty

Chapter One - 1: Stone and the Snails

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"You do it to yourself, just you, and that's why it really hurts."

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After concluding our search as relatively fruitless, we decide to go our separate ways. All the hours spent exploring, desperately searching for a way out of this hellhole, completely crumbled to pieces by such a wild group. Each person is so unique in their own way, and that's not the most favourable meaning of the word.
I figure now would be a good time to just run to my dorm and cry it out. Perhaps screaming into my pillow until I fall asleep would be a good way to pass the time, providing no one murders me in the process.
But no. I can't think like that now. Not if I want to stay sane.
With that, I leave the canteen, exchanging my goodbyes with the remaining students.

My hopes of shutting myself away from the world are forcefully ripped from my hands as I feel that ever so familiar poke on the back of my leg. A poke so mind-numbing, yet painfully annoying, like a baby's cry.
"Hey," That same little voice croaks. The croak that can only belong to one person.
"What do you want, Aki?" I take a deep inhale, releasing all the frustrated air from my chest. Turning around, she's crouched on the ground so much like she had been when we'd first met. One snail is perched on each of her shoulders, seeming rather pleased about mindlessly trailing along the wrinkles of her shirt. Aki curls her lips, narrowing her eyes as if she's just drawn on the walls with a permanent marker or some other crap to that effect.
She leaps up to her full height, similar to that of a frog, bouncing up and down to grab my attention, "Hey, Kinoodle. I wanna show you something."

I roll my eyes, unsure as to whether it's at the nickname or the thought of spending any time around her, "Hm? What is it, then?"
"You'll see," She snickers, reaching up to grab my hand.
Yanking on my arm, she drags me away, her little legs pattering as she dashes through the building. For her size, she's quite quick and agile, and I struggle to match her pace for a while. We run past the dorm rooms, along some corridors, until she's pulled me out of the building and makes her way across campus.
"A-aki," I stammer, desperately trying to pry myself from her unforgiving grip, "Please, I really don't have time. I want to go back to my-"
"Be quiet!" Aki yells, keeping her eyes - well, singular eye - focused on ahead of her, "If you object, I'll touch your belly button."
I groan, allowing her to lead me wherever she pleases. Probably better to lean into whatever strange obsession she has, lord knows what she'll do if she's provoked.

I feel time slip by before she eventually stops. Looking around, it seems she's dragged me to the other side of campus, the ocean surrounding us clearer than ever. Perhaps it would be a shimmering blue if not for the dejected grey sky looming above us.
Aki looks up at me, grinning again, "Now, let me show you."
She turns around, her scrawny hands reaching for each of her snails as she places them down on the floor. Stepping gracefully to the side, she reveals a sizable rock that looks to have been placed on the dirt purposefully. Like it was thrown down from one of the rolling cliffs around us.
Aki sticks her hands out, waving them in an undeniably adorable 'Ta-Da' motion.
"A rock?" I tilt my head. Nothing remarkable about it, besides its strange location.
The excitement instantly fades from her face, replaced with a look that can only be described as disappointment. Failure.
"I'm sorry," She mumbles, looking at the floor, "I thought you'd like Stone."
"Stone?" I blurt out, more of a vocalised thought than a question.
Instantly, she perks up again, picking up her snails and racing towards me, "Stone! This is Stone, a utopia for snails and spiders alike. There's no rules, no laws, just freedom amongst creatures. We're all equal, apart from Cthulhu and Lucifer who get extra lettuce rations on Sundays."
And they say Communism is dead.
"Great," I smile through clenched teeth, "Anything else to show me?"
Aki looks around, bewildered, "Uh, look at my knees. They have bones. Do you have bones?"
I chuckle softly, maybe the first time I've laughed around this girl, "Yeah, we all have bones, Aki."
"Yay!" She giggles, "Anyways, I should leave Stone alone. It's their bedtime."