Danganronpa V4 - Beyond Death

A New Killing Game

All the students came pouring into the hallway in fear, knowing what was about to occur. A few students were able to reunite in the halls, while others kept searching for their loved ones. They made their way into the gym and began to frantically chat with each other. Nekomaru, being the Ultimate Team Manager, decided to take charge in this scenario. He jumped up onto the stage, prepared to make a statement.

"Listen up! My name's Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Team Manager!" Nekomaru shouted at the top of his lungs, causing the room to go dead silent. He quietly scanned the room for Akane but saw nothing. He lightly smiled, knowing that she must have survived the killing game. "We need to be organized and united if we want to defeat Monokuma. So for right now, we're going to form groups. If you were in the first room with Togami, can you please go to the top right corner of the room?" Kaede, Rantaro, Sayaka, Leon, Byakuya, and Teruteru made their way to the top of the room.

"Room #2, you guys were with Hanamura. Please go to the bottom right corner of the room." Chihiro, Mondo, Mahiru, Peko, Ryoma, and Kirumi walked to their designated area, already getting tired of this process.

"Room #3, that's Amami's room, you guys are gonna go to the top left. A rather large number of students made their way into this corner. Kiyotaka, Hifumi, Celeste, Ibuki, Hiyoko, Mikan, Angie, Tenko, and Korekiyo all skulked over to the top left, everyone giving dirty looks to their killers. Some murders weren't as easy to forgive as Kaede's and Leon's were.

"Hurry it up now, please. We've still got three more rooms. Room #4 with Maizono, can you guys go to the bottom left? I was in that room but I'm going to stay up here for the time being." Sakura, Gundham, Miu, and Gonta made their way over to their corner, Gonta still sobbing over what he did to Miu.

"Room #5 with Akamatsu, you guys need to head down to the bottom middle of the room. Nagito, Chiaki (yes, the human Chiaki), Kokichi, and Kaito walked over to their area, Kokichi giving a mischievous grin to Nagito.

"Normally, I'd say Room #6, but it doesn't seem like we have anyone from there. Kuwata, care to explain this?" Nekomaru asked politely, careful not to provoke the boy who seemed like he had some anger issues.

"It's totally weird, man. This poison-like smoke stuff filled up the room and I got locked out. I've got no clue who's in there," Leon commented. "My guess is that whoever's in there doesn't want us to know about it." Nekomaru nodded as he joined his group. Chaos broke out at this point. Students were looking for their loved ones, crying over their deaths, and trying to figure out who was hurting them all at once.

"Welcome to Death's Peak Academy!"

The dreaded voice spoke once again. The hated bear popped out from below the stage as all the students let out a gasp. "That's right, it's me! Your favorite headmaster, Monokuma!" Monokuma gave an almost devilish grin as the students looked at him in fear. "I'm sure you're all wondering what's going on here, so let me explain it to you. You all died! Isn't that fun?" The students let out a roar of anger as Monokuma tried to settle them down. "Silence! Or else I'll kill every one of you. There's no coming back after that," he warned.

"We're already dead, you fucking moron! Why shouldn't I kick the shit out of you right now?" Miu shouted across the room, Teruteru giving her a look of hunger.

"Simple. You're not dead. This is Death's Peak! The academy for students who have passed through the physical world and into the spiritual! Here, you face the final challenge that determines if you are worthy enough to return to the physical world."

"And what does this challenge entail?" Kirumi inquired, Celeste admiring her style.

"Why, another killing game, of course!" Monokuma said ecstatically as all the students threw a fit of rage.

"We all just got out of a killing game, why would we go through another one?" Kaede shouted, being careful not to anger the bear.

"You all have unfinished business, don't you? Like you, Akamatsu. You wanted to teach Saihara how to play piano, didn't you? I don't see him here. Maybe it's because he's still in the physical world! Or you, Tojo. You still need to lead your people. Isn't that why you killed in the first place? Or Momota. Your life was unfairly taken from you by illness. You could return and be happy with Harukawa! All of you have reasons to go back to the physical world. The question is, are you willing to do what it takes to return?"

Kaede stumbled back in shock. Shuichi. In the craziness of her arrival, she hadn't even thought to make sure he was okay.

"Enough, you guys... I've already prepared myself."

"...You're giving up? But, why? You said... you'd never give up. That we'd get out of here together. That's what you said, Kaede. So why are you giving up now!? Did you mean what you said?! I know we can do something! Don't give up until the end."
"I'm not giving up. Because I have you."

Kaede recalled the last moments of her life, her last words to Shuichi. Nothing could be as painful as telling him and the rest of her classmates that she was the one that killed Rantaro. It occurred to her that here, in this hellish world, she would have to face her former classmates and live with the shame of what she had done. Her thoughts were interrupted by her classmate, Tenko.

"We don't have to listen to you, you degenerate. Wait, you're not a person. Does he count as a degenerate male?"

"He's a shit-bag so I'll allow it," Miu commented.

"I think you'll all find it in your best interest to listen to me. After all, if someone doesn't die in the next three days, I'll start killing your precious little survivor friends," Monokuma said with a huge grin on his face. "And there's no spiritual world for them. No. They go straight to hell!" He began to cackle as the students muttered in horror.

"We can't let him take us over like this! We will not succumb to your threats, Monokuma!" Kaede shouted, causing a light amount of cheers to arise from her classmates.

"Tell 'em, Akamatsu!" Kaito shouted from the back.

"We will never fall into despair!" Chiaki cried out.

"Puhuhu... we'll see what you have to say three days from now when I decide who the first victim is," Monokuma chuckled, leaving the gym. The students became very disorganized at this point, longing for their friends in the physical world to be okay. Kiyotaka noticed this and immediately took charge.

"Listen up! It's been a long day, I'm sure. To everyone, it feels like we just got killed five minutes ago. But there's no time to think about that. Right now, we're going to take exactly seven minutes and thirteen seconds to reunite with friends from our original killing game and then we are going to find our dormitories. There's no point in panicking," he commanded.

"BRO?"

Mondo had finally spotted Kiyotaka. Both of their eyes began to well up. Mondo ran up to Kiyotaka and hugged him, stirring a loving reaction from their classmates. Kiyotaka broke up the hug for a quick moment. "What are you all standing around for? At this point you've only got six minutes and fifty-eight seconds. Get to talking!" At this, he went back to his reunion with Mondo.