The Ultimate Biologist (Danganronpa 2 x OC)

Prologue III: Panic at the Heart-throbbing School Trip?

The introductions had taken a while, with fourteen new people to individually talk to, but they were finally finished now. Overall, Katsumi had a relatively neutral opinion of the rest of her classmates.

Some of them have pretty colourful personalities though, for better or for worse...

Once exiting the park, the nearest monitor lit up with Usami's figure sitting on a poofy sofa in a colourful room. "Congratulations everyone!" came her voice through the built-in speakers. "It appears that everyone has finished collecting the Hope Fragments! Soooo... I've prepared a present for everyone that'll make you all veeeeery happy! I apologize for the trouble, but please gather at the beach! May shining hope be with you all!"

Once she finished, the screen shut off.

Hajime eyed the monitor suspiciously. "I-Is that going to be okay...? I'm starting to have a bad feeling about this."

"Thinking won't solve anything," Nagito said. "We can do that after we've gone to the beach."

"I don't really feel like going, but I have a feeling everyone else is going to be there," Katsumi added. "It won't be good if we're the only ones not gathered, so it might be safer to go."

"Yeah... I guess so..." Hajime said reluctantly.

The three of them crossed the bridge to the first island and headed over to the beach. When they arrived, everyone else was already there.

Byakuya spoke up in his usual condescending tone of voice. "You guys are the last to arrive, what are you dilly-dallying for?"

"Sorry to keep you all waiting," Nagito apologized.

"Well, it's alright. More importantly, this is our only chance to talk between ourselves before that rabbit returns."

"Kyahaha! Let's talk!" Hiyoko exclaimed.

"Now then, let me hear your initial impressions of this island."

The class started sharing their discoveries, from multiple blocked-off bridges from the central island that led to other islands, a ranch, a supermarket that supplied all their living needs and a lavish hotel that came with a restaurant. It was nothing Katsumi hadn't heard before.

After the class finished, though, Byakuya scoffed, "All of you are fools... I can't believe nobody has mentioned the most serious truth. If no one here has realized it, then you're all bigger fools than I thought."

"What did you say, you fat bastard?!" Fuyuhiko growled. "Don't be talkin' all big and shit!"

"Small dogs shouldn't bark so loud," Byakuya quipped back. Before Fuyuhiko could angrily reply, Byakuya resumed his explanation. "Have you all gone to the park that's across the bridge? When I saw it, I remembered a story I'd heard before. There's an island in the Pacific Ocean, a beautiful island paradise where summer never ends. It consists of a central island surrounded by five islands. It's also said that five holy animals represent each of those surrounding islands. That island's name is—"

"Jabberwock Island, isn't it?" Katsumi said.

The class collectively turned their heads.

Shoot. Maybe I shouldn't have spoken... Everybody's looking at me...

"Oh?" Byakuya responded, mildly surprised. "Well, it seems not everyone here is as much of a fool as I thought."

"So could this island really be...?" Nagito said.

"However, I cannot be too sure whether that is true or not since—"

"No," Katsumi interrupted. "I don't think there's any doubt that this place is Jabberwock Island."