Dangan Ronpa:return to Despair Academy

School Rules.

Paranoia.

The moment Monokuma said we had to kill each other we were filled with it.There was no way to know if someone there was already planning a murder.Kimiko quivered in fear,Yoshie, who must have been so excited to attend was green and looking down right nauseous.Satoru's eyes were wide and he looked as if he was questioning everything.Takumi looked as if he were trying to remain calm but was having an internal heart attack.

To be honest, I probably looked worse than all of them combined.

Suddenly,Yoshio spoke up.

"Uh...so where is our stuff?"

I nearly forgot,he had a valuable "possession" in his luggage...

...I paled at the prospect of being trapped in an enclosed space with a fully armed hunter, a nationally famous one at that!I felt that if I told anyone about it, he would be shunned by the entire group,and there was no saying if he was going to use it.I chose to keep my mouth shut.

But that did raise the question of where our stuff went.

"Hey look!"

Masaru pointed to the back of the gym, where Monokuma sat on a cardboard box.

"Oh hey guys!"he waved one paw at us casually."I almost forgot to give you each one of these!"

No one made any movement to get closer, not after his little show with Maiko-

Maiko ran up to the box with no hesitation.

I face palmed.

Monokuma jumped off the box and opened it, pulling out what looked like a PDA.Before handing it to her he wiggled his hips and said,"Don't think about pulling any of *that* on me!I don't need to explain our school's rules about sexual activity, but I'm a bear!I don't have any of your 'special accoutrements'!"Maiko simply gave him a lazy smile and took the PDA.Slowly, each one of us got the courage to go to Monokuma and get one.

"Now that you all have one let me explain your "e-Handbooks!Get it?"

No one said a word.

"Well this handbook has a map of the school and profiles on ALL of your class mates!Not to mention it has use for...other things."

I gazed at Monokuma and saw a flicker of what looked like anticipation pass through his red eye.

"Now all of your stuff will be in your own dormitory, where you will sleep and shower, both of which feel free to do with or without company!"

"In addition to a map and profiles, those handbooks contain a list of the school rules!Breaking any of the rules will result in 'punishment'."

None of us needed to ask what he meant, we all remembered what he did to Maiko, even if she herself didn't seem to.

With that Monokuma vanished again,although that time we had no idea how.For a long time, we stared at the space he once occupied, until Igao spoke up.

"I suppose we should look at the rules first.That way we know to be careful."

Each of us turned on our e-Handbooks.When it powered on it displayed my name, then faded to a menu, with a "Map" , "Profiles", and "Rules" icon.I pressed on the "Rules" icon, and a list popped up.

"Students may reside only within the school.Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time."

"Figures since he doesn't want us to leave without..."Fumiko trailed off.

We went on to the next rule.

"'Night time'is from 10pm to 7am.Some areas are off limits during this time so please exercise caution."

"That reminds me!"Minako piped up."I haven't seen a clock since I woke up!"

When she said that we all looked around the gym for a clock but found none.There didn't even seem to be one in the e-Handbook.

"So how will we know if it's too late to be somewhere?"Shoichi stared at the e-Handbook apprehensively.

"I guess, we will find the time somewhere."Kimiko seemed oddly confidant about this,as if she were one of the few people who were trying to retain their dignity by acting calm.

Rule three...

"Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly."

"With minimal restrictions you are free to explore Hopes Peak to your discretion."

'I wonder if we could find a way out if we searched hard enough?' I wondered.

"Violence against the headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras."

"That must be why Maiko was shocked."Satoru deduced."Her trying to hug Monokuma was seen as an act of violence."

"I just wanted to hug him!"Maiko defended."He is so cute, like a turtle that has fallen on its back, or a bear that is trapped in a bear trap!"

Hearing her say such things are cute made all of us eye Maiko warily.

"Anyone who kills another student will become the 'blackened' and will graduate unless they are discovered."

All of us were very confused as to what that meant, but I had figured that it wouldn't matter since no one in their right minds would kill.Except maybe Maiko.

"Borrowing anyone else's e-Handbooks is forbidden and will result in punishment."

"Breaking down doors is against the rules."

That being the last of the rules, we turned off the e-Handbooks and put then in our pockets.

"So what happens now?"Akihiro asked darkly.

"We should investigate the school for a way out, or a weak point of some sort."Kimiko said,the power of the Ultimate Class President rising in her voice.

"Alright, so we should break up in groups of two and-"Yoichi started.

"Are you crazy?!"Shoichi asked his voice rising."What if your partner tries to kill you?"

"Then we will go in groups of three."said Igao simply.

"That's impossible.There are sixteen students here."Satoru said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which it sorta was.

"Then I will go on my own."he said without a trace of fear in his voice.

My eyes widened at him for being so brave, or stupid.

"B-but doing that w-would be dangerous w-wouldn't it?"Tomoko asked her eyes wide with worry, not shock.

"If you are in groups of three everyone will be watched by the other two memebers.I should be fine."Without even discussing the matter more, he walked away.

Everyone was silent for a moment, until Kimiko cleared her throat and said,"Well, that's that.I will go in a group with Satoru and Yoichi.Shizuko you will go with Minako and Takumi.Tomoko will pair with  Yoshio and Maiko.Masaru go with Shoichi and Akihiro.Aya can group with Fumiko and Yoshie."

The groups decided(Yoichi happy that he could group with Kimiko, and Yoshio nervous about having to watch Maiko) we went on our ways to explore the academy.