Danganronpa Zero Vol. 1

13

Hope's Peak Academy East District.

The courtyard -

The area surrounding the facility was completely dark, the lights outside were arranged at regular intervals but made little difference to the lighting. On the edge of the courtyard, outside the clock tower - stood a lone girl.

She squinted, looking at the clocktower in front of her.

"Any moment now." She muttered quietly.

The girl stood there, waiting for someone. Although when she had first contacted them, they replied, "We don't need to meet" - she then offered an exchange of information and thus they made an appointment. For someone who made a profession out of digging up dirt on people, it was easy for her. For people she does not know about, it's easier for her to meet them in person - That was her opinion.

The hunger for fame is a scary thing.

Even if it's seems impossible, people are determined to become great.

And so she waited - for a member of Hope's Peak Academy's Steering Committee. She needed to meet them no matter what. She needed to talk to them face-to-face no matter what. She needed to talk to them about the cover up on "that information"-

Most likely, the principle, her employer didn't know about the information. That's why it was vital that she questioned him face-to-face.

It had not yet even been a few days since she begun her investigation, but she had a reason to be this quick.

She had an incredible talent - that was why.

That girl's name was - Kirigiri Kyouko.

She was from Hope's Peak Academy's 78th batch, her talent was "Super High School Level Detective".

Currently that girl was investigating "that incident" within Hope's Peak Academy.

"He's late..." She muttered, looking up at the clock tower again.

Five minutes late.

I should have told him to be more punctual.

As she frowned, a line between her eyebrows became more obvious. However as she looked at the clock tower once more, her crease vanished. In the distance she saw a figure. The figure seemed to be on guard as they looked around while slowly walking towards her. Gradually the figure became clearer - It was an old man with a black suit and tie, as if he were in mourning at a funeral. His hair was styled back with pomade and looked like a man made artifact.

As the man approached, his expression became clearer. He had wrinkles on his forehead that seemed to be carved into his very skull, and beneath them, deep set eyes which glared at Kyouko.

Soon they were around 3 metres away from each other.

The man stopped.

"... Was it you who called me here?" His mouth, drawn on his face in a straight line, opened and he spoke to Kyouko with a gritty voice.

"What the hell-" The old man's words were cut off.

Something fell from the sky and landed in front of Kyouko's eyes.

The man, and his words were crushed.

It seemed to happen in slow motion.

Or perhaps like seeing the frames of a video, one at a time.

A school desk fell from the sky, and fell onto the man in front of her. As he was hit by the desk, the man's body seemed to fold over in the impact, while the desk on the other hand bounced off him into the air. As that happened, another desk fell down. This one crushed the man's waist and he bent backwards like a doll. Another desk fell and bent the man's neck at an unnatural angle - The man didn't have enough time to even look surprised. His face was frozen as he called out to Kyoko. The desks fell to the ground in a cloud of dust and the man's figure was obscured.

Immediately after, a delayed noise sounded out.

An immensely loud sound.

As that happened, a desk flew out of the cloud of dust and missed Kirigiri by mere inches, it spun like a spinning top behind her.

That was the crazy scene that transpired before her.

That was the outcome of the crazy scene.

The moment the man standing in front of Kyouko had opened his mouth, a large desk fell out of the sky and crushed him in a nano second.

It interrupted her thoughts for a moment - but only for a moment. As the dust was still settling she ran to the mountain of desks and started shifting them. A bright red liquid was already spreading around the rubble of desks. A dark liquid flowed from his eyes, ears, nose and too many other places to list.

Kyouko quickly decided to instead look above of her. On the roof of a school building she spotted a silhouette. Her eyes came into focus. Behind the figure, the moon beamed brightly. The figure looked as though it was holding something above it - they threw it.

A folding chair was speeding straight towards Kyouko.

She dodged it and ran towards the school building.

There was a crashing sound behind her.

She ran into building, keeping as low to the ground as she could and ran up the stairs. At that point it no longer mattered whether she made herself a target or not. Now she was simply running for a lead, even in danger she was just as enthusiastic. In little to no time she had arrived on the landing and found the remains of a padlock on door leading to the roof.

This school should pay more attention to crime prevention.

She thought sarcastically as she grasped the doorknob. She could feel the cold bite of the metal on her fingertips. She twisted the doorknob and the door opened quietly. The moment she opened the door, a strong gust of wind passed by Kyouko.

As she took a single step she looked around the rooftop, illuminated by the dark night sky. However, there was nothing there. She stepped onto the concrete floor and looked behind the door, every nook and cranny she could find, she searched everywhere.

But she really couldn't find anything.

I'm too late.

Overcome by a sense of frustration, she leaned against the roof fence. Looking up she whispered to the night sky.

"This is why... I hate my job..."

Chills went down her spine.

She had a bad feeling.

She turned around and looked at the courtyard through the iron fence.

A cold blast of wind hit her face and for a moment everything went cloudy. Around the clock tower she could see the remains of the desks and folding chair.

Of course they were there.

However the dead body - was gone.

Kyouko gritted her teeth as she took her phone from her uniform pocket. Her finger descended towards the call button but she hesitated momentarily.

Even so, she pressed it.

She listened to the voice of a man through the phone.

"Should we meet soon?" Kyouko said, not bothering to introduce herself, "I have something I need to report. I'll be heading over there soon."