do you remember in the early 2010s when everyone was making fanfics about danganronpa 1 but would replace the cast with their ocs or characters from their favourite franchise? yeah so i made this in 2014-2015. it is about 70k words long and only goes to "chapter 2" aka we see one execution and the motive for the second case. it's too edgy (a lot of the murders were really contrived and "accidental" which is kind of the point regarding who the mastermind is, but i digress) and i don't want to post it in the modern day, but if you're on this page then you're probably curious to read it! there are a couple bits of writing that i like from it. at the end i will talk about what i remember was going to happen and maybe some of the stuff i'd change if i tried to revamp it!

timeline-wise, this is after danganronpa 1 and features and AU where it was just Towa City that was ruined by the riots instead of the whole world. the rest of the games haven't happened yet and it is in fact really important to note that i wrote this around when ultra despair girls first came out in japan. on the detective conan side, i believe this was before it was revealed that amuro was an undercover agent in the black org? conan knows he's bourbon but not that he's a cop so that's why he's sus as hell.

by the way! i don't want to format this correctly so nearly all my instances of bold and italics will be gone. i fix the ones that i can tell instantly were supposed to be there but not many. sorry if it causes confusion anywhere. maybe i'll fix it some day.

Eleven thirty in the morning. That was the time.

That... had been the time.

That single supposed-to-be-true fact was all that hung on in the mind of Conan Edogawa. Really, the thought that should have been there was how someone knocked him out so fast without him noticing, and he should be figuring out who it was that called him out to such a place.

But no. The time was all he could think about. It was eleven thirty. It had been eleven thirty. And what time was it now?

The young detective raised his head. He quickly realized there was something else more important than the time: he was in some sort of classroom, and had just been sleeping with his head on the desk as if he merely fell asleep during a particularly boring lecture. All of the other desks were empty and completely cleared off. Therefore, it was highly unlikely that anyone was in the room with him (he would prove this with certainty this once he checked behind the podium at the front of the class - definitely alone).

One wouldn’t believe an empty classroom could have many interesting features, but this one definitely did. Assumedly, there were windows, but they had been blocked off by thick, bolted, metal plates. Unfortunately, being in the body of a child, he didn’t have the strength to judge just how secure they were, but it was clear he alone would not be removing them any time soon. Perhaps the most important thing was that they were bolted from the inside. Conan wasn’t sure what to make of that fact.

What was left? The chalkboard had “Welcome back to high school!” written in thick, bright characters. The happy little pictures surrounding it seemed childish, but should have been a sign of joy and security. But it looked far from that. Conan’s circumstances aside (because, who would know about that? Right?), the handwriting was like deliberate chicken scratch, and lines went on for far longer than necessary, as if the chalk just decided to keep going for a bit longer before moving on to the next character. Had the message been written in blood, it would have looked exactly like this - drip and all.

There was a camera attached to the ceiling, which didn’t bode well for what was to come. Someone was keeping an eye on him, apparently. He had no idea what his kidnapper’s motives were, but he doubted these people were anything but malicious.

Alright. The great reveal: the time. The clock above the blackboard showed something horrifying, so Conan went straight to the watch on his wrist (he’s surprised he still has it, among other things, but--).

The watch said the same thing. Conan had been out for hours. 

It was almost ironic: school would have been over by now, yet here he was, trapped in what was likely a high school.

He wondered who was worrying about him right now. Surely Ran - how many people could she have frantically called by now? The police would probably be involved. Haibara probably expects the men in black to be behind this. And maybe they were, but still.

There was nothing of interest left here, so next step: leaving the classroom. The young detective wanted to be prepared for anything he could face out there, so his little fingers hovered near his watch. Someone was generous enough to leave him with all the gadgets he brought along - except the skateboard he used to get here, which was a shame, but hopefully he’d find it somewhere. Of course, they probably didn’t realize any of his belongings were more than they seemed. Although, if they did know and still left these with him… Conan wasn’t sure which possibility was more terrifying. 

Fishing into his pocket, he still had the note that brought him here. “Come to Hope’s Peak Academy at exactly 11:30 AM this Tuesday. No earlier, no later. Come alone; don’t tell anyone. They’ll be here.”

It had clearly been a trap. First off, it was addressed to “Conan Edogawa”, and yet they had him come during school? Nevermind the whole “come alone; don’t tell anyone” thing. The message had been typed and printed off a computer, and gave no clues as to the identity of the sender. If he had more time with it, maybe he could have figured it out, but it arrived late into the night on a Monday. Instead, he had to spend his time investigating the first part of the message.

Hope’s Peak Academy. Some school for gifted high schoolers that was abandoned all at once a few years ago. There were rumours that some celebrities that attended never returned to the spotlight - perhaps because they had died in a mysterious incident, but information on the place was hard to come by. Really, the place had just become one big ghost story.

Conan-- no, Shinichi remembered going to high school with a hidden hope of being invited to the academy for being such a great detective (not so he could attend - since it was basically a boarding school and that felt restrictive to him - but just so he could pride himself in being recognized as the best detective in his age group), but the place closed down within the next couple years. He never found out exactly what happened, but the area around the school slowly cleared out and suddenly became a bad part to live in.

Even his late night research led him nowhere. Information about the place was just missing. He managed to pick up some fragments of names, and if he thought back hard enough, he could remember some of the names of the students that attended at some point. But clearly someone didn’t want him looking at this information, because it was all wiped or protected. At the end of the night, he had to stop because he got a virus alert that was a pain to get rid of.

He didn’t even know if the virus was real. It could have been a scare tactic, but Conan wasn’t technology-savvy enough to find out.

Conan opened the door and peered into the (very purple?) hall. When he realized the coast was clear, he stepped out and started his way down aimlessly.

So, to recap: someone lured an elementary school kid to an abandoned high school. Upon arrival, they knocked him unconscious and put him in a classroom. The culprit(s?) have the run of the place, considering the security cameras he keeps finding, which all seem to be active.

There were plenty of suspects, a few motives, but nothing that Conan Edogawa could think of made sense. Honestly, this almost seemed a little too convoluted for those men in black. If they wanted to get rid of him they would have just done it.

So the little detective marched on through dim, oddly coloured hallways and peered into the rooms he came across while keeping alert. There was another classroom next to the one he woke up in, so he took a look in it. Very little was different, but most noticeably was the chalkboard. The message was the same except the word “high” in “high school” was crossed out and “DESPAIR” was written in its place. This made the message into “Welcome back to DESPAIR school!”. And, instead of happy little drawings of flowers and smiling suns, there was a cartoonish-looking bear. 

...Admittedly, the drawing was crude and uneven, so Conan was unable to make out the details that the artist intended to make.

The rest of the adventure led him down into a corridor with a locked red door, and then into an AV room and past some sort of store. He would have continued on, but--

Voices.

Conan’s head whipped around when he heard the murmur behind him. It was coming from the other end of this lobby, beyond a set of double doors. He didn’t know the layout of the school, or if those voices were friend or foe. So he approached slowly, edging off to the side just in case someone burst through and saw their defenseless victim right in front of them. How many were there? At least two, if there was conversation. A thought: likely more, considering the size of this place. It had to be at least five stories high, if he could recall the outside. There could be a hundred people within the building right now.

No one opened the doors when he approached, and the voices were a bit clearer if the detective pushed his ear to the wall. He thought… some of them sounded familiar… but he couldn’t be sure unless he got that door open.

Stun-gun wristwatch at the ready, Conan slowly shouldered the door open. He wished he could have opened it just a smidge, but damn this door was heavy so it was either all his strength or none at all involving this door.

Two thoughts occurred at the same time then. One: he definitely knew these voices. Two: one of them had seen him.

“Conan-kun?!”

That voice was enough for him to stumble, because oh no she’s not supposed to be here why is she--?

The brown-haired girl was at his side in an instant, and it really was Ran Mouri and why was she here?

“What are you doing here?!” Whatever the reason, Ran had reason to believe Conan shouldn’t be here either, and the stress and concern was plastered on her face as she kneeled down to be at eye level with him. Asking the same question in return would just seem suspicious, but he had been shocked into silence. Any and all excuses fled his grasp, so he was thankful when someone else spoke up.

“It must be the same reason as the rest of us, correct?” The calm voice came from a girl Conan had never seen before (he would remember that long, lavender-coloured hair if he’d seen it in passing). She stood off to the far side of the room, as if she purposefully put herself in the optimal position to keep an eye on everything. Her arms were folded over her chest, and her violet eyes pierced everything she looked at. He had to be somewhere near his own proper age, though something about her led him to believe she was perhaps a couple years older.

As she had spoken, she retrieved a folded piece of paper from her pocket and presented it with a delicate wave. Ran turned to face Conan once more, with a sad, hopeful look in her eyes.

“...Is it true? Did you get a note too, Conan-kun?”

“Too”? Pulling out the paper he received seemed to last an eternity. Judging by those words, everyone present had been called out to this place.

Once Ran looked over the message, there was this odd look on her face. “...The time is different, like everyone else’s… But it’s also during school hours, isn’t it?”

“S-Sorry…” Conan laughed awkwardly, as if his only crime was cutting class. The way she worded that was strange, though. “Does that mean everyone else had it in the same time frame?”

Suddenly there was a new voice - male: “Only about half of us - only the people who had school at that time.” And oh no, that voice came from Tooru Amuro, didn’t it? Yep, there he is - Bourbon himself - what the hell was he doing here?

Conan’s frantic thoughts immediately came to a conclusion: it was him! He trapped us here! OF COURSE the Black Organization were behind all this!

And yet, he continued speaking, unaware of the panic he was inflicting on the child detective, “The rest of us had random times. Early morning, late afternoon… It seems the culprit was spacing us out to avoid complications.”

“‘They’ll be there’.” Conan nearly jumped - somehow the small brunette under the name Ai Haibara had snuck up beside him, with her ominous voice. “Maybe that’s what the last part of the message meant. We didn’t have to bring anyone with us - anyone we wished to accompany us would already be here.”

Ghuh. Time to tune out for a minute - after all, he’s just supposed to be a kid. Questions and answers later - who was with him here? Ran and Haibara were here beside him, and Amuro - who was likely the most dangerous person here, damn him - was not too far off. There was that mysterious purple girl, as he would call him for now, who was definitely too calm considering their situation. 

Huh, Officers Miwako Sato and Wataru Takagi were here. Already it was clear: whoever set this up was bringing very specific people here. Because Masumi Sera and Subaru Okiya are here (but not talking to each other). Sonoko Suzuki and Kazuha Toyama were coming this way to talk to Ran - though no Hattori, oddly enough. 

Lastly, there were two other strangers off to the side talking about something dramatic (to one of the parties, at least). One was a girl, around Ran’s age, with red hair and served to be the overdramatic part of the conversation, with a strange laugh and a loud voice (Shinichi had to admit, she was attractive, but he swore he had seen her somewhere before…). 

The other person he had to perform a double take for, because he initially saw Shinichi Kudo, but of course that was impossible because, well, he, himself, was Shinichi. Enraged, his mind flew to Kaitou KID taking his name and face once again, but the more he studied the boy, the more he realized it was someone completely different. This someone was taking the harassment of the other girl through a very grumpy face, and it was kind of amusing to watch.

That would have left them at perhaps an unfortunate thirteen, but it seemed he started counting too soon because two very loud, very angry voices suddenly faded into earshot and were gradually getting louder. Unlike earlier, Conan could very easily tell who these voices belonged to, and backed away from the door because oh gosh when they open those doors--

--and the double doors flew open and the argument the two newcomers had about ‘keeping your voice down’ and ‘please refrain from slamming doors open and shut’ came to a halt.

The two of them - Heiji Hattori at the door, and Saguru Hakuba approaching from the other side of the lobby behind him - had been shocked into some kind of silence. Of course, those two ended up investigating this massive place together. Of course.

(The gang was all here now, wasn’t it?)

The silence was broken with a “Heiji!” from Kazuha, and the two of them immediately started trading questions and answers and it was surely going to escalate into bickering at some point, so Conan decided he would speak with the Osakan detective about their situation later. For the time being, he could start with the other male detective.

“Did you two wake up somewhere strange too?” he asked curiously. Ugh, Conan really hoped they all weren’t locked in here - or if so, not for long. There were so many people he would have to act like an innocent seven year old to. Especially with those cameras that seemed to be everywhere...

Hakuba offered a reassuring, but somewhat smug smile to the boy. Sure, it was in this guy’s nature, but that smugness led Conan to believe that perhaps he had found something already. 

“We both woke up in a cafeteria on the other side of the school. The two of us ended up searching almost the entire floor before arriving here.”

Ouch. The two of them together for that long? Splitting up was barely an option in this situation, so he couldn’t imagine anything good coming out of that. Conan was glad he woke up where he did.

Unfortunately, before he could ask anymore, that boy that looked like Shinichi made his way over to Hakuba with this big, goofy grin.

“Yo, Hakuba!” And he slung an arm over the Brit’s shoulders, who clearly wouldn’t mind having his personal space back from this carefree guy. “I’m glad you’re here too! I thought I was going to be the only one who didn’t know anybody!”

The redhead had followed him, and clearly wasn’t too pleased about that comment. “Excuse me? What am I to you?!”

“...Annoying?”

“Well, Kuroba-kun--” Hakuba made sure to interject before anyone did something rash, “--if I had not been here, you could have just partnered with one of the other solitary people.”

He tilted his head towards the purple girl, who was still standing off to the side - apparently she was refusing to socialize with anyone. It seemed she really was the only person who was unfamiliar with every other person. As if sensing the conversation, the woman looked straight at the group and glared. It was unnerving enough that the four immediately looked away. The redhead bounced back with a smirk, though.

“He tried before you got here, actually. She shot him down!” And she started laughing jovially, as if it had been a personal victory for herself. The teenage brunet laughed awkwardly as Hakuba merely raised an eyebrow. Whatever joke they shared, Conan was left out of it.

There was a lull in the noise level, and it was just enough for Subaru to speak up and draw everyone’s attention.

“Perhaps we should be sure we all know each other. We’re all in the same situation - being able to work together might save us in the end.”

There was a universal agreement, and, since so many of them already knew each other, everyone decided introductions would be individual. Greet the people you don’t know.

For Conan, there were only three of the fifteen people that he didn’t know the names of. Two were right in front of him, and the last seemed to be a mystery to everyone, so perhaps it was best to start with these two. Even if he decided otherwise, he wasn’t given much of a choice, because the unknown boy immediately jumped on the opportunity - apparently he decided that Conan was the most important to start with.

“I’m Kaito Kuroba! I go to the same school as Hakuba over here.” 

(Something was gnawing away at Conan. Kuroba had immediately assumed that this elementary school student was already acquainted with his peer.)

And he held out a hand with a grin. Conan would have taken the handshake, but Hakuba shot down that idea very quickly.

“I would advise against that. As a magician, he probably has a buzzer. You’ll want to be careful around him.”

“Ehhh? Hey, why would I do something like that to a kid?” Kuroba pouted, and he just looked so offended that it was clear he had some kind of trick up his sleeve for the occasion. He looked down at the boy again and offered another cheesy smile. “C’mon, you trust me, right?”

A deadpan was all the emotion that the older boy would be getting. Childish facades be damned. “Ha ha. Conan Edogawa. It’s nice to meet you.”

Kuroba mimicked Conan’s expression, understanding their stance perfectly. The woman beside him chuckled and held out her own hand for her introduction.

“My name is Akako Koizumi. I also go to school with these… gentlemen. Don’t worry Conan-kun, you can trust me, right?”

And for some reason, he did trust her and did shake her hand. Nothing happened, except Kuroba looked shocked, and then defeated, and Koizumi followed up with a loud laugh. 

...He had to be careful around her. A part of him found her strangely trustworthy, but he couldn’t risk giving into that kind of intuition with a stranger.

Alright. Next was the purple girl, who seemed to be scaring off others by being eerily quick with her words. But first--

“Ah! Umm, where did you two wake up?”

“Eh? ...We woke up in the restrooms on the other side of the floor,” Kuroba answered. He and Koizumi seemed to make another pair that woke up in similar places. “I was in the girls’ room, and Akako in the boys’.”

That answer satisfied Conan, but Hakuba, who was still nearby, picked up on it and sighed, unimpressed.

“Kuroba-kun…”

“What? I didn’t choose to wake up there! And it wasn’t like there was anything to see…”

Interesting people, Conan concluded with an inward chuckle. Hakuba must have his hands full at school. It reminded him of how the shrunken detective often found himself in charge of the Detective Boys. Leaving the three to argue about decency, the boy made his way over to the mysterious purple girl. Along the way, Ran caught up with him.

“Let’s introduce ourselves together, alright Conan-kun?”

Maybe she was intimidated, or just happened to be going the same way as him, but he nodded with a smile anyways and they continued. The purple girl was already staring at them, knowing what was about to happen. Ran started.

“Hello, my name is Ran Mouri, and this is Conan Edogawa.” She tried to keep friendly and relaxed, but there was clearly nervousness in her voice.

At first, the purple girl didn’t respond and simply studied them. When it seemed like they would have to prompt her for a response, she opened her mouth: “...My name is Kyouko Kirigiri.”

Her voice was soft, steadied, and it was clear she didn’t want to speak anymore. Ran was ready to utter a “nice to meet you” and be on her way, but Conan had to ask his question.

“What place did you wake up in?”

Kirigiri seemed a bit startled to hear that question, and was hesitant on the response. Eventually, she answered: “In one of the classrooms on the first floor. It’s just down the hall.”

“Oh…” There was something unsettling about that. Conan had been in one of them. He didn’t know the school layout, so there could have been more than two classrooms. But he wanted to make sure…

“I woke up in a classroom too! Umm, were you in the one beside me?”

She was eying him, as if trying to read what he was up to. Conan thought he was clearly making innocent inquiries, but it really felt like this woman saw right through him. If she did, thankfully she didn’t call him out on it.

“I suppose. There was no one in the room when I awoke.”

“...Ehhh? But that’s strange, isn’t it?” She was watching him with such serious eyes, it really was all he could do to not slip up. “Why didn’t you see me when you left? I mean, when you wake up in a strange place, usually you want to look around and find out where you are! I was sleeping on a desk, so you couldn’t have missed me…”

“That’s because I didn’t go into the other classroom. I came straight here.”

Damn. That was blunt and simple. It didn’t make any sense, but Ran jumped to her defense.

“She was one of the first people here, along with me, Sera-san, and Okiya-san. They both woke up in this room and I was just outside, in the school store.”

“But it’s weird, isn’t it? Why did she know to come straight here?”

Ran couldn’t answer that, but Kirigiri decided she had a satisfactory explanation for him.

“I heard voices, so I followed them. I’ve been here since.”

“But I couldn’t hear everyone’s voices until I got close…” There was something suspicious about this girl, and dammit, Conan didn’t want to back down until he reached the truth.

But it seemed like there was no choice, because she didn’t answer after that. The young detective was ready to give up for now and speak with someone else, but as he and Ran turned to go, Kirigiri’s voice addressed the latter.

“Mouri... As in, Kogoro Mouri?”

Ran was glad she didn’t have to end on an awkward note, so she was able to answer with a smile. “Yes, he’s my father - a lot of people call him the Sleeping Kogoro.”

“I see.” She had a small smile hidden behind her gloves (why was she wearing gloves here, anyways?), and Conan wasn’t quite sure what it meant. “It has been a pleasure meeting you, Mouri-san. I hope we get another chance to chat.”

“Of course!”

As they parted, Conan realized just how foreboding that sounded. Why wouldn’t they be able to talk later? Sure, they had to look for a way out, but they could talk then, right? What did she know?

Conan hoped he would get another chance to talk to Kirigiri before something happened, but for now he would continue his question to everyone else. “Where did you wake up?”. It seemed the majority were alone aside from a couple (strangely fitting) pairs. From this, he learned of: a gymnasium with a trophy room as a lobby, a kitchen in the cafeteria, a storage room, a laundry room, a trash room with an incinerator, and a dormitory (with plenty of name plates of mostly unfamiliar people). A quick talk with Hattori revealed the stairs to a higher floor were blocked, and Conan wished they could have spoken more, but this wasn’t the place for it.

They were in the entrance hall right now, but the door to outside looked like one big vault door. A few people tried to open it, but it seemed impossible at this point.

Once all that was taken care of, the detective was ready to approach Kirigiri again, but he was prevented by a crackle in the loudspeaker above them all. Out came the most bizarre voice he had ever heard - like he was listening to a voice actor for a cartoon.

“Hel-lo everyone! Can you hear me? Ehh… The opening ceremonies are about to start, please gather in the gymnasium! Don’t worry if you don’t know your way around our bea-uuutiful school yet - Kirigiri-san will escort you!”

And that was it. The speaker turned off, and every head turned to the aforementioned. It was unlikely that anyone saw her reaction when the voice fizzled to life, but right now, all Conan read was what he could identify as fear. Her teeth clenched together, and her eyes were trained on the floor. Conan blessed his size for the moment, because he could clearly see the anger and stress on her face.

He believed it must have been because: her name wasn’t supposed to be broadcast like that. She was, without a doubt, now the most suspicious person in the room.

But instead of defending herself, Kirigiri quickly walked out of the room without a word - supposedly expecting everyone to follow, as the voice said. And what choice did they have? Someone tried to question her, and others whispered about the situation, but it was clear she wasn’t going to stop for anybody. Somehow, they all mutually agreed that sticking together was the best option, even if they were walking right into a trap.

The walk was short: the gym was right around the corner from where they had just been. Keeping up with Kirigiri proved to be difficult, especially for Conan, who was almost running to stay with the group. Ran had been keeping close to him, but somehow she ended up a few feet ahead of him at some point.

“What do you think?” Haibara was beside Conan (apparently having no trouble walking at a brisk pace) and kept her voice low so no one else could hear them.

“I have a bad feeling, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Don’t we all?” The shrunken scientist smiled grimly. “But, what about that Kyouko Kirigiri?”

“She’s suspicious alright,” Conan nodded, “but it doesn’t make sense for the enemy to reveal their own mole, if that’s what you’re getting at. There’s a chance she’s in the very same situation as us. ...Is she part of the organization?”

Haibara scoffed. “I don’t think so. But there is someone like that here, isn’t there?” She looked uneasy, and Conan knew why but didn’t speak up about it. “...The fact that they knew who she was though. Have you ever heard of her? She gives off the same vibe as your kind with the way she eyes the rest of us. Like a hawk waiting for its prey...”

Conan thought about it seriously. “A detective? ...I’ve never heard of her before, but it’s possible, now that you mention it. I don’t think anyone else knows her either. I… Maybe--” A pause and hiss of frustration. Nothing made sense - there hadn’t been enough time to figure things out. “I don’t know yet. Let’s try talking once things have calmed down, alright?”

She nodded, and they were both quiet as they entered the gym. Everything seemed ordinary - chairs had been set up, as if it really was an opening ceremony for a new school year (of course no one anyone would sit in them in a time like this). He didn’t get a chance to look around much, because the little detective’s eyes were immediately drawn to Kirigiri, who stormed right up to the stage and gracefully bounded atop of it as if she had done it a thousand times before. It looked like she was going to stand behind the podium and address them all through the mic, but what actually happened was much more surprising.

The purple girl dropped to her knees and her hands brushed along the floor behind the podium, as if she was blindly looking for something. But soon enough, she managed to open a trapdoor and, without warning, hauled something out of there.

“Awawawa!! Kirigiri-san, you’re so impatient this year-- ahhhhh!”

And this something spoke very clearly, even though it was a something that shouldn’t ever talk. It looked like a bipedal cartoon bear - half white, half black. It must of been a robot, but it was so lively and seemed to throw everyone off their thought processes.

Kirigiri had pulled it out of the trapdoor by its head, and dropped it off the stage. The bear comically fell onto its back and flailed a bit before getting up in a rage.

“Oooooh, you’re gonna get it! Don’t you remember the rules?!”

“My apologies. I forgot.”

It was very clear from her tone that she didn’t forget, whatever this rule was, and that she wasn’t sorry in the slightest. Kirigiri stepped off the stage, and apparently her excuse was good enough for the bear. It stewed in anger for a bit, humming in frustration, but it calmed down quickly.

“...Okay, but I’m letting you off with a warning! Not just because you're our main character, but because it’s the first day after all - I can’t pull out all the stops yet! After today, it’s no more mister nice bear! No more second chances!”

“I understand. Please move on to your opening speech.”

No one knew what was going on, but everyone seemed to realize these two characters were very familiar with each other. So many questions, but the way these two were going, there was no chance to interject.

“You’re very eager! That’s what I like to see in rising stars like you guys!” The bear said this as he climbed back onto the stage and took his place at the podium. “Oh, maybe Kirigiri-san wants to make this year’s speech…? That must be why you forget our precious rules, you were memorizing a--”

“No.”

It was so blunt and sudden, that it stopped the conversation long enough for Hattori to say what everyone had been thinking.

“...What th’ hell’s goin’ on?”

They were all angry, and confused, and almost all their fear was gone when they saw this weird stuffed toy. The bear completely disregarded the atmosphere and cleared its throat.

“Good evening everyone! And welcome to the reunion of Hope’s Peak Academy’s 78th class-- oh?” 

And he stopped in a dramatic and comical way, as if reciting a script. A script that said "pretend it just occurred to you that there is something wrong".

“...Hey! Where is everybody? I hope my invitations didn’t get lost in the mail… And I had so much prepared for this special day…!”

He looked genuinely upset about this development, but it didn’t take long before the bear bounced back. Its mood swings were genuinely jarring to watch, Conan thought.

“Oh well! Since you guys are here anyways, I’ll have you be their replacements! No one likes reruns, after all! I’m sure a few will make it eventually… Upupu...”

Conan had gotten closer to the stage and was opposite of Kirigiri now, who was at the very front of the crowd and was staring down this weird bear. At the last sentence, he saw her face going pale and her fists tightening, and he only had a thousand ideas as to why.

“Since you all know each other now, I’ll introduce myself! My name is Monokuma, and I’m the headmaster of this school! Umm, but since a lot of you aren’t students… just consider me your boss, alright?”

“What?! D’ya think we’re gonna work fer a toy??”

“Awah!” Monokuma was taken aback by Kazuha’s aggressive voice. “N-No way! It was just a synonym! And I’m not a toy, I’m a bear! Uuuu, you’re just as rude as the actual class… I hope no one throws me around this year...”

“He’s saying,” Kirigiri started, without turning to face the crowd. Her voice was stable, and showed no hints of the fear that slipped through previously, “that we must listen to him, or else there will be consequences. Like a boss, or a headmaster.”

“Extra credit for Kirigiri-san! Ehh… Following the plan I had to celebrate the reunion…” Monokuma took a moment, shuffling through papers on the podium. Conan tilts his head to try and see through the pages from the bottom where he's standing - just to discover they're all blank. “...Here it is! You guys are going to live here! Forever! Upupu, isn’t it exciting - you get to be one big family!”

As expected, an uproar of negative response followed: “What do you mean?”, “Is this serious?”, “No way!”, and other such phrases spilled through the room. Conan couldn’t hide the shock on his face, but perhaps he was more surprised to see a stone-faced Kirigiri to his left. She hadn’t moved, or said a word. She knew this was coming.

“Shut up, you bastards! Don’t interrupt me, or I’ll have you put in detention!” (That got a subtle wince out of Kirigiri, shockingly enough. Conan really needed to figure out this woman.) Monokuma returned to a calmer demeanour. “Ehh… As I was saying, all you bright, young people will be staying here forever. Don’t try looking for a way out, because the only way is the front door. And you all know about that!” He laughed to himself before continuing - and he did so quickly, so no one could cut him off.

“Butbutbut--! There’s a special rule that allows any one of you to leave! I used to call it the ‘graduation’ rule… But I guess it’s different here, so I’ll just call it the ‘leaving-the-school’ rule! I’m sure you all want to hear it…!”

Everyone became aware that there was something very very wrong with this rule, especially considering how the bear’s voice lowered and gradually became excited and ominous.

“I’m beary strict when it comes to order… So anyone who interrupts order will be expelled! I will personally see them to the door, and kick them out with an iron foot! And I’ll have you know, I have a ferocious kicking skill! I was the MVP four times in a row on the soccer team back at the zoo!”

“Just tell them what you mean by interrupting order.”

Kirigiri certainly wasn’t having any of this, so even if someone else wanted to ask the questions, they were left following this woman’s quick prompts for now.

“Okay, okay! You’re very interested this year, Kirigiri-san, it’s almost making me suspicious! Anyways, by interrupting order, of course, that means: you gotta kill somebody! After all, how else can I get you detectives riled up? No one will care if I expel someone for spilling milk all over the floor… And a lot of you are too thick-headed for forbidden romance plots...”

“W...What makes you think any of us are going to kill someone?! There are children here!” Takagi spoke with clear horror and defiance, and it just egged on others to throw in their resistance. 

“Why do we have to kill people?”

“This is ridiculous!”

“Why were we really brought here?”

“S-Slow down everyone! Raise your hands if you have a comment!” Monokuma looked flustered as he sorted through the questions. “U-Um… Nobody brought you here, you came by yourselves… This was supposed to be a special reunion with my beloved class… A-And I don’t know about any children you see in here - I mean it’s rude to call these young adults something like that - but people kill each other all the time, y’know, no matter what their age. Why, there was this one class - the entire classroom! It was amazing! Two survivors! My favourite student, ahh, he was… wow…!”

There was so much to say there, but Sera stomped up to the stage to repeat a question.

“Why do we have to kill people?”

“Eh? I just told you - so you can get out! I mean, you don’t have to, you can always stay and live here peacefully...”

“But why is the solution murder, of all things?!”

Monokuma clapped his paws together, as if he finally understood. “Ohhh! Well, to be honest, it’s just tradition. The students were so full of hope, and it brought them such despair… It brings a tear to my eye, to remember their faces.” A paw wiped away at an imaginary tear.

“I mean, you’ve all been exposed to dead bodies before, so it makes our heart-thumping murder mystery less exciting… But to think about how someone right here, right now, could be planning your murder, or your best friend’s murder--! Maybe your best friend is planning your murder! Ahaa, it makes my heart thump just to think about it…! And think about how creative you kids could get after having so many experiences…!”

Monokuma returned to a neutral expression and shrugged.

“Basically, I just want you bastards to fall to the ground in a sniveling mess and lock yourself away from the world. Drown in sorrows and despair, so to speak. That’s all!”

Hattori was the first to reach his breaking point, because he came straight up to the stage and looked ready to strangle someone. At this point, most of the crowd seemed to be unified and approached in a group. Theoretically, they had the numbers to take on this bear easily.

“‘Stead’f hidin’ behind a stupid mask, why don’ ya come out an’ show yerself?!”

The Osakan, along with others, looked ready to resort to violence to get answers out of Monokuma, who reacted in fear.

“Nononono, violence against the headmaster of the school is forbidden! I don’t want to make an example out of any of you, but I will if I have to…!”

“Everyone, please stop and remain calm for just a while longer.” Kirigiri was the only one in complete control of her emotions at this point, although her words were meaningless. “Monokuma, are there any more rules about killing someone to escape?”

Conan recognized she was baiting him - she expected more, and yet this stupid bear wasn’t saying it. Monokuma took on a thoughtful pose, drawing out a long “hmm” before staring down Kirigiri - red eye glinting in the light and his voice taking on a whole deeper, softer, serious tone. Conan wasn’t even sure if everyone could hear him.

“If you tell any of them, I’ll kill them all and start over with a new group.”

Conan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There it was. Their enemy just admitted what they’ve all been suspecting. Kyouko Kirigiri knew exactly what was going on. Whether this meant she was friend or foe was yet to be seen - there were certainly arguments for both sides.

Kirigiri said absolutely nothing after that.

(In fact, she would remain silent until Monokuma finally left them alone. But that was still moments away.)

“Anyways! I have a couple welcoming presents for all of you!” Monokuma hopped down from the podium and waddled off the stage with an arm full of items. Everyone towered over him angrily, but made a path for him anyways. He dropped them all on the floor - half of them were keys, and the other half were some sort of cards.

“These are keys to the dorm rooms and some Electronic Student ID cards! Unfortunately, there was no time to personalize them for all of you, so you’ll be living in shoes of my previous students! I would advise taking a key and card with matching names, but it isn’t necessary… Oh, but make sure you take one that matches your biological sex! You wouldn’t want to run into trouble later!”

He paused and looked at the pile - which no one had approached quite yet. “Oh, I should probably take this one…! A poor girl might grab it by mistake, upupu...” He swiped one of the cards - somehow able to identify it from all the others despite not being turned on yet. “It’s fine, anyways, since there are only fifteen of you… Treat these well - I remade over half of them just for you! Anyways, I’ll leave you guys to decide your fates!”

And then he ran back onto the stage and dove behind the podium. Conan and Hattori scrambled onto the stage and checked - he was just gone. Sure enough though, there was a trapdoor. But before they could pry it open, Kirigiri spoke up.

“Leave it. You won’t get anything more from him - there are more important issues at hand.”

“Might we perhaps get information out of you, then?” Surprisingly, Hakuba was the first to fish a few cards out of the pile. He offered one of them to the stone-faced woman with a smirk, who didn’t even flinch when she saw “KYOUKO KIRIGIRI” on the screen. She accepted it without a word, and snatched her own room key out of the pile at her feet.

“Should we look at the dorm layout before deciding?” Amuro asked, watching as a few skeptical individuals rummaged through the pile, “I’m sure most of us will be more comfortable if we are beside someone we know and trust.”

“These cards seem to have a map of the school,” Subaru said as he tapped away at one of them, “so we can decide right here.”

“That stupid bear also neglected to tell us about some extra rules,” Sera snorted. “There’s one about that weird ‘graduation’ rule he mentioned.”

Kuroba picked up from there; crouched in front of the remaining cards. “‘A culprit who kills a fellow student will graduate the school. However, they must not let any other student know they are the culprit’. Well, it looks like all of the great detectives among us will be leaving! It was nice knowing you guys!”

“Idiot, we ain’ killin’ anybody!” It would probably be a miracle if Hattori calmed down at all - it seemed he was stuck being permanently aggressive until he got some answers.

“...Um. But what happens if someone finds out they’re the culprit…?”

Eyes moved to Ran, who nervously asked the dreaded question. Sonoko, who had almost-cowering been beside her best friend for the last while, grit her teeth and took on a pompous attitude.

“Well why don’t we ask Kirigiri-san? She seems to know the answer to everything!”

And for not the first time that day, all eyes turned to the mystery girl, who kept all her emotions locked away. Sato cautiously approached her with reassuring words.

“Kirigiri-san? I know we’re strangers to you, but, if you know anything, you should tell us. We all need to safely get out of here. Understand?”

Kirigiri stayed silent, crossing her arms and watching everyone around her carefully. Other people urged her to speak, but her mouth stayed shut. Just as everyone was about to give up, her voice came out in a whisper.

“You’ll die--”

She paused slightly - and the pause felt like an eternity - it was enough for momentary fear to strike hard and fast in the others’ hearts, but then she continued.

“--if I tell you. You were all listening to what Monokuma said, correct? I apologise, but if I had anything to tell you… I simply can’t. I’m sure you’d all rather I kept my mouth shut anyways, hm?”

With that, it was clear she was done with them, and she started to make her way out of the gym. As she walked, she called out to everyone who stared after her with distrust.

“After you decide on your room arrangement, please gather in the cafeteria. We’ll start our investigation from there, and I would like to speak with everyone once we’ve settled.”

No one replied to her. But once she was out the door, Hattori scowled and angrily shifted the keys and cards around.

“Who does she think she is?! Does she even understand tha position she’s in?”

Hakuba could only chuckle as he watched the Osakan make a mess with their gifts. “Well, regardless, she is handling this better than you.”

“‘Course she is! Surely even you can tell she’s involved with all this, yeah?”

“Please, everyone calm down!” Takagi said. “At the very least, we can all trust each other, right? There’s fourteen of us, and one of her, so as long as we stick together…!”

“Takagi-kun is right,” Sato said. “We won’t get anywhere if we constantly doubt who our allies are. I’m sure everyone in this room can vouch for the trustworthiness of at least one person.”

Conan held back a snort and his eyes travelled to Amuro. Well, the boy detective certainly could vouch for the very opposite for this person. Thankfully, that only left the thirteen of them, which still outweighed the suspicious ones. But, despite that...

“We don’t know how many people are behind this,” Sera pointed out. “It has to be at least two if Kirigiri-san is involved, since someone needs to be controlling the bear. Considering the amount of work it would take to ambush and knock out some of us, I would be willing to wager there’s a lot more.”

That was one topic they managed to discuss earlier. While some were knocked unconscious while unaware, others stepped onto the property and remembered putting up a fight before being overwhelmed by unrecognizable figures.

“...We don’t have enough information,” Conan finally said. “I think we should just listen to Kirigiri-neechan for now.” He put on a smile in an attempt to draw the attention away from the dilemma at hand. “She said we were going to investigate the school, so we should hurry up and pick our rooms!”

“That seems to be the best course of action. The more we know about our situation, the better prepared we are.” Hakuba apparently already picked his room; he had an ID card and the corresponding key in his hand. “Should we tell each other our choices? It should make organization easier, and we’ll know where we are in case of an emergencity.”

“That’s a good idea! Hmm… So, if you have ‘Byakuya Togami’, I think I’ll take ‘Mondo Oowada’!” Kuroba was giddily peering over Hakuba’s shoulder, who huffed in response to his nosiness. “We’ll be neighbours! Do you need me to wake you up every morning? Ooh, I can bring you breakfast everyday!”

“We’re neighbours, not roommates - thank God. Besides, I don’t think you could wake up early enough for me.”

“Oh yeah? I think you’ve got that wrong, tantei-san.”

“Conan-kun, which one do you want?”

At the sound of Ran’s voice, the detective boy took his eyes off the map on the card he was holding. Backing out to the main screen, the name on it was “Makoto Naegi”. That one was… beside Kirigiri’s room, right? And to the right…

“Umm, I think I’ll take this one.”

“Okay! So I’ll take…” Ran fished through the pile until she found a key and card with the name “Sayaka Maizono”. “I’d like my room to be beside yours. Is that alright?”

“Mm-hm!” Honestly, that decision put Conan more at ease.

Looking over, apparently Sonoko and Kazuha had chosen the rooms labeled “Junko Enoshima” and “Taeko Yasuhiro” respectively, which were right beside each other. Nearby, he heard a distressed growl from Koizumi, who seemed to be pissed at Kuroba’s earlier choice.

“Move somewhere else! Our rooms can’t be beside each other if you choose that one!”

She was right - there were no female rooms beside the “Mondo Oowada” room. Conan had a feeling this was intentional somehow.

“Huh? No way! Then I can’t be roomies with Hakuba--”

“Neighbours!”

“--and besides, there aren’t any spots left that would allow us to be beside each other!”

Lo and behold, Takagi and Sato already decided on the rooms of “Leon Kuwata” and “Sakura Oogami”. All that was left was a string of male rooms or a string of female.

“Ugh! Fine! I’ll take ‘Touko Fukawa’ - it’s almost right across from you! Oh, don’t worry, Kuroba-kun, I’ll still be able to wake you up in the morning and bring you breakfast everyday!” Koizumi laughed gleefully, and her poor victim was left with clear disdain all over his face.

“Guess I’ll take ‘Kiyotaka Ishimaru’, then.” Hattori gave Conan an understanding look. It seemed the plan was to keep an eye on Kirigiri, then. She was at the very end of the hall. Conan would be beside her while Hattori was directly across the hall.

“...Hey, there’s one pair here that doesn’t have a match…” Sera had been quietly studying the remains of the pile for awhile, and she finally spoke up about what had been bothering her. “There’s a key for someone named ‘Chihiro Fujisaki’, but the card is for a ‘Mukuro Ikusaba’... Do you think that bear took away the wrong card earlier?”

Sonoko was dumbfounded. “Huh? But there’s no room for anyone named ‘Mukuro Ikusaba’! What gives?”

“Just take it and ask Monokuma about it later.” Haibara had been silent for a long time, but as she was picking up the last available female ID card, she opened her mouth. “‘Aoi Asahina’.”

“Two left!” Amuro seemed far too cheery as he retrieved the last two, handing one to Subaru. “I have ‘Yasuhiro Hagakure’, and he has ‘Hifumi Yamada’. I suppose if anyone wants to switch at any time, we just consult each other about it, right? I mean, I doubt we’ll be getting cozy in a situation like this, so it should be fine!”

“If anyone switches rooms with someone, let’s agree to tell everyone about it. We can avoid confusion that way.” Hakuba lay this unofficial rule down casually, though he left no time for anyone to agree because apparently something more important came to his attention.

“So, out of curiosity, does anyone else recognize any names?”

“Oh? Is tha’ why ya picked tha’ one? I was wonderin’.”

Hakuba nodded and continued, looking a bit proud of himself. “The Togami conglomerate is perhaps one of the largest and most influential in the world. Our families have communicated before - Byakuya Togami is the most recent heir.”

Sonoko smiled wide with admiration for the original owner of her chosen room. “Junko Enoshima is the most beautiful model with perfect clothes and perfect styles! Aah, I can’t believe I get to stay in her room…!”

“Wasn’t Sayaka Maizono that really popular idol from awhile back…?”

“Ehhh?! Oh, I remember her! I can’t believe she went to school here too!!”

“I think Mondo Oowada was the leader of that famous gang! Um… Crazy… Crazy Diamonds, I think?”

“Sakura Oogami is considered to be the strongest person in the world.”

“Wait, is Aoi Asahina the olympic swimmer Aoi Asahina?!”

“Ooh, I’ve read some of Touko Fukawa’s books! She writes her romance so beautifully…!”

Not all the names were recognized - Conan was admittedly disappointed when he couldn’t put a face to “Makoto Naegi” (although, looking at the features on the card, he found out that his title was “Super High School Level Good Luck”, which meant he only got into this school through a raffle, so it was completely understandable) - but there was this joyous buzz when everyone learned they were basically living in the homes of celebrities. Certainly, the circumstances weren’t good, but it was something to look forward to.

Once the conversation had died down somewhat, the group decided it would be good to start their investigation before “Night Time” began. So, huddled together to generate a sense of security, they departed to meet with the fifteenth individual who so desperately wanted to speak to them...