[X] I'd listen to the others to see what they'd come up with:
- [X] Hildegard (???), she seems to already know about Killing Games
[x] Etsuko
[x] Kanji Birdcoin! x 1
[X] Yoritsune
Danganronpa Showa
Chapter I: Escapist Fact or Fiction
Sixteen Students Remain
Tsubasa | Genpachi | Toranosuke | Yudai | Momoka | Hildegard | Fuhito | Jeanne | Dejan | Aoko | Kagura | Simeon | Manami | Etsuko | Yoritsune | Kanji
"Alright, everyone calm down!" Toranosuke was quick to assume authority. "As if any reasonable citizens of Japan would start killing each other on such flimsy pretense".
"Hold on, 'Citizens of Japan'?" Jeanne and Dejan simultaneously pointed out, while Hildegard just flinched.
Aoko sighed before she said, "Toranosuke dear, much as I wouldn't want to be a downer... you're being too generous, I'm afraid. I know death, runs in the family after all, so I know seemingly fine people have killed over less than this". As an ex-soldier, I didn't need reminding of that.
Deflecting Aoko's words, just like a real politician I guess, Toranosuke resumed, "All of us came to Hope's Peak Academy promised an education that would best hone our Talents. Even- even despite this disruption, as our nation's future Prime Minister and most senior student here, I shall endeavour to deliver on such an education. I swear it".
Kagura had to give him a side-eye. "'Senior'? Aren't you the same age as the rest of us?" she stated.
Meanwhile, Genpachi burst out laughing. "Yeah, real cute kid, a complete fuddy-duddy like you's gonna teach us all about performing miracles, funeral practice, and being some half-beast freak? Don't make me laugh.
'Sides, fact that yer the 'Ultimate Manager' alone proves you got no right to take charge" he then said, for some reason.
Glaring at him, Toranosuke just hissed, "
Explain".
"Y'ever heard of a little somethin' called mauvaise foi?" Genpachi said.
"That's 'bad faith'" Jeanne had to translate.
"Mala fides, if you will" Kanji Iwai felt the need to add.
"Right, means 'cause you've spent all this time becoming what society deems the 'Ultimate Manager' that when the chips are down, ya can't think for yourself, see? Already it's clear the normal rules just don't apply anymore, yet you're still clingin' to the old ways like some geezer. Yer head's hopelessly inside the box, or in short, ya can't
improvise, kid" Genpachi explained, pointing a finger at his temples.
"As little regard as I have for this man's rambling, he does have a point," Fuhito suddenly said, "I fear Toranosuke's meddling in others' affairs may only obstruct an investigation". He sounded like he took it as a given that we'd start killing.
Toranosuke was at the point of seething now, "Who are either of you to judge my leadership, given you too only just got here? And isn't stability exactly what we need in a crisis situation? Your philosophy, Sakamoto, seems like it would only accelerate this madness."
"Also Sakamoto, aren't you being hypocritical? You're an Ultimate too, remember?" Manami gave a cold glare at Genpachi.
Again, Genpachi gave his steely, screechy laugh and said, "Ultimate Jazzman, dollface, world of difference there. Jazz doesn't cling to fogey old tradition, it improvises, it
thinks, and it don't care for rules or polite society. I ain't some military brat, with a buncha orders beaten into me till I can't think otherwise".
Speaking of rules however, it was then Columbird suddenly reappeared and said, "Oh right, them Birdbooks, almost forgot. Take these ya filthy sprogs, and tune into All-America Occupation Radio to hear the School Rules. That's an order!".
"...But why don'tcha just read them out here?" Etsuko Kimura tried to ask, only to be ignored.
A handheld radio suddenly falling into my hands, I turned it on to hear a mechanised voice read off the Hope's Peak Rules for Students:
"
Rule #1: Once a murder takes place, all surviving students must participate in a class trial.
Rule #2: If the blackened is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.
Rule #3: If the blackened is not exposed, all remaining students will be executed.
Birdcoin! x1
Rule #4: If the blackened survives the class trial, they will be granted their FREEDOM to re-enter the outside world.
Rule #5: Nighttime's from 2200 hours to 0800 hours. The cafeteria and gymnasium are off-limits at night.
Rule #6: Violence toward Columbird, the Headmaster of Hope's Peak, will earn you an ass-whupping, son.
Rule #7: Your Birdbook radios are very important items, so don't damage them or go lending 'em out, ya hear?.
Rule #8: With minimal restrictions, you'll be granted glorious American FREEDOM to explore the campus at your discretion.
Rule #9: Rulebreakers will be exterminated, so don't come cryin' to me.
Rule #10: Columbird's the Headmaster, ergo it's his right ta add new rules whenever he feels like.
May God bless America"
Columbird then vanished as soon as he'd come back in another firework spark.
It was at this time, in a crowded room with every other student around, that the mysterious voice just had to come back into my head.
"
Good, good, we've gotten to the start of the Killing Game. Okay Enoshima, just do as I say and I guarantee you'll make it out fine. I'll contact you again when there's another murder, 'bout three or so days is the norm for most of these Games, but for now it's best to trust your gut and suspect everyone" the Voice crackled and fizzed inside my brain.
I clutched at my head, not able to say anything to respond to this Voice else everyone start to wonder why I'd be talking to myself.
What I did say though, as my eyes darted around the gymnasium, was "Wait, where did Momoka go?".
"She left after she received her radio," Manami explained, "Said she just... needed to be alone to process all this".
"Oh yes, perfectly unsuspicious behaviour" came Fuhito's pinch of sarcasm.
It was then Yudai, Ultimate Jailbreaker, approached me and tried putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder, all father-like. "Hey there, Enoshima right? Don't stress yourself out, that's the last thing you'd wanna do in a place like this. Trust me, I know that from experience," he told me, before he turned around to the rest of the room, his eyes on Genpachi and Toranosuke in particular, and said, "That goes for the rest of us too, we all got that?".
"Indeed, any would be killer would after all have to contend with me, the Ultimate Detective," Fuhito grinned, before he hissed, "
Regardless of what Hope's Peak calls me".
"Yea, dispiriting ourselves so would only lead us down a dark path," Simeon came forth to proclaim, "Unlike
some of us, I have received the holy wisdom that chaos is not the way. If God has placed such a trial before us, as he did the war, it was clearly part of His plan to do so, and He would not have us succumb to savagery. Through endurance of hardships in this life, we can become closer to He".
"...I dunno, sounds like you've got yourself a real piece-a-shit God there" Genpachi shrugged as he remarked.
"I-will-
pretend-I-did-not-hear-that," Simeon said between clenched teeth, "But be assured, despair is the light by which hope may shine brighter, for in a world without despair, there would be no need for hope".
"...
Then it'd probably just be best not to have either then" Jeanne murmured to herself. I got her point, I mean were all the deaths in the war honestly worth it just for 'hope'? That was what Simeon's logic sounded like to me, anyway.
"I tell ya, this ain't gonna be much of a 'trial' either way," Yudai then said, "My whole Talent's geared to gettin' us outta situations like these. That birdbrain don't know what he's talking 'bout, I'll have us outta here before anyone kills anyone, place ya bets." With those words he grinned and held his hand to his chest.
What that Voice said had gotten me thinking about those 'past Killing Games', so I then asked, "Hey, Hildegard knows about these Killing Games, right? Isn't she the one we should be asking?"
"...Well, admittedly, I only know so much about them," Hildegard said, looking down and adjusting her glasses, "This is the first time I've actually been in one myself. Nazi-ranKillingGames, 'sociology experiments' as they called them, were kind of an open secret; what they'd so is they'd gather the most talented Jews, or anyone they thought were Jews, Romani, <the disabled>, homosexuals, and <trans people> all up and force them to kill each other. All while they made other people in those groups watch. Killing those people wasn't enough, they had to rub it in".
"Hah! Typical Nazis, it's not even an original idea of theirs!" Dejan then said, "Much as it stinks to admit, back in Novoselic, 'Igre Ubijanja' are a something of a tradition. The royals, because yeah of course it's the royals, would host them in the dungeons of the Royal Palace as a means of keeping us 'peasant folk' in line, or 'cause they got their sick kicks to it or somethin'".
"Debatably, ye could trace the roots of such 'Killing Games' back to the Colosseum, no, further back still to Sparta," Yoritsune Seki then remarked, "They had an event where elite school-children wouldst go around hunting and killing slaves. Any who killed, if caught, wouldst be killed in return, not for being a murderer, but just for being caught. I... think that's what this most reminds me of".
"So, ah, what would you recommend we do, Hildegard?" I asked.
She sighed, burying her head in hands. "I don't know, I truly don't know. When a Killing Game got down to the last one standing, they'd just have an officer shoot them anyway".
"Wow, even Novoselic's royals had more grace than that," Dejan remarked, "Victors of the Killing Game got to become nobility themselves, even the Neverminds are descended from a Killing Game winner".
"Makes sense, no? If you're a rat bastard enough to betray everyone else to zeir deaths, zen of course you're aristocrat material" Jeanne said in reply to Dejan.
"For now, I'd just wait on Yudai to carry out his escape plan. He is the UltimateJailbreaker after all, we shouldn't interfere with him. Other than that, hmm, stock up on food, if they've even given us any, lock ourselves up in our rooms, ignore any offer Columbird makes to sweetenthedeal, basics like that.
Then again," she paused to reflect, "Maybe it's the other way around. I think the more we get to know each other, the harder it'll be for us to start killing. It's much easier to kill a stranger than to kill a friend, after all" she finished saying.
"...That's the most idiotic thing I've heard so far," Manami muttered, "You assume casually revealing information about ourselves to each other
won't be offering our heads on silver platters to any killers?"
"Oi, shipgirl!" Kagura rose up to glare at Manami, "You are aware that you just said that to the girl who keeps her own Talent a secret? Geez, get it through your skull will ya, she didn't mean anything like that!".
Manami had to keep herself from lunging out, as she strained to say quietly, "I was stationed in Okinawa that day while you were playing with your drums back in Izumo-" she stopped and went blank-eyed, as if the word 'Okinawa' caused her to remember something, "Ahem, so do
not assume you know more about tactics and concealing info than me, someone who was actually involved in war".
"Hey, you think I just sat around doin' nothing?!" Kagura burst out, "I was making offerings to Hachiman, Susano'o, Ryujin, Futsunushi, Takemikazuchi, the Emperor, you name 'em, every single day".
"Incidentally, this is why I recommend Christianity. Far less divinities you have to keep track of" Simeon had to slip in.
Birdcoin! x1
Manami strode step-by-step up to Kagura and snarled, "And what good did your prayers and offerings do? We lost, remember? Even our Emperor isn't divine anymore, he said so himself".
The whole room went silent with those words, Yudai finally being the one who broke it, "Look, everyone, whether you wanna open up or keep secrets, I think we can all agree that fighting amongst each other ain't gonna solve anything. Hell, it's what that stuffed turkey wants.
Man, can't believe I had ta reiterate that".
"Nyaa, all this noise is just givin' me a headache" Etsuko hissed, paws on her ears.
Everyone exhausted by then, we all slowly started filing out of the Gym, ready to face this Americanized School Life.
I was tired enough that, while I considered looking around to see where my Pilot's Lab was, I honestly just wanted to go back to my dorm room. However, once I got back to the Southern building, I saw the door open to a room I hadn't been in before. It looked like it'd just been refurbished into an American-style general store, well, what I assumed was one based on descriptions I'd been given.
I saw a slot inside that said it took something called 'Birdcoin', which I figured was that loose change I'd been finding scattered around. Thought I might as well buy a present for someone while I was here, it could help to ease all this tension we built up:
{Current Birdcoin: 16. You can vote for as much as you can afford}
[ ] Yarn Ball, Cost: 3 Birdcoin
[ ] Unbirthday Cake, Cost: 6
[ ] Ryukoka Record, Cost: 5
[ ] Monochrome Fish, Cost: 4
[ ] Black Cat Comic, Cost: 3
[ ] Chocolate Rations, Cost: 3
[ ] Victorian Phone, Cost: 5
[ ] Deerstalker Cap, Cost: 4
[ ] Cherry Blossom Tea, Cost: 4
[ ] Skull Mask, Cost: 3
[ ] Tongue-Twister Tome, Cost: 5
[ ] Pass
I'd visit:
[ ] Momoka, Broadcaster
[ ] Genpachi, Jazzman
[ ] Toranosuke, Manager
[ ] Hildegard
[ ] Aoko, Undertaker
[ ] Yudai, Jailbreaker
[ ] Etsuko, Chimera
[ ] Jeanne, Resistance Fighter
[ ] Simeon, Miracle-worker
[ ] Kagura, Miko
[ ] Yoritsune, Re-enactor
[ ] Kanji, Conlanger
[ ] Manami, Captain
[ ] Dejan, Tank Commander
[ ] Fuhito, Librarian
[ ] Nobody now, I could use the rest
[Optional Vote] I had that hand-radio we were given onto:
[ ][Optional] Eleventh Hour Radio (Pop)
[ ][Optional] Hope's Peak Pirate Radio (Jazz)
[ ][Optional] All-America Occupation Radio (Americana)
[ ][Optional] Nothing, I left it off for now
