CHAPTER ONE: Viva Danganronpa!

First, hope wins in exchange for my brother; second, I'm out cold.

I opened my eyes and darkness heard its cue; I couldn't see a thing. I've gone blind, I thought, but the very faint early moonlight coming from a window shot a bullet that penetrated my rather pessimistic idea of blindness. Even with that light source, I've no idea what the hell is this place and where the hell am I. The killing game concludes, and sleeping gas. That's what I can vaguely remember about what happened before I came into this dark place.

I felt my back resting on a soft surface; I instantly thought that it was a bed, though the lack of lighting made me unsure. Trying to navigate in the pitch black room, I stood up and I felt myself slipping.
"K-KYAAAAAAHHHHH!" I cried out.
The trip was a harsh one with the back of my body slamming hard into the cold floor, making a noisy crashing sound but not as loud as my scream. I felt a pillow laying down near my legs, which I wonder was the reason why I slipped. I confess, I toss and turn too much on the bed, so it would make sense that the pillow would fall down to the floor and serve as an unintentional banana peel prank.

I tried to plow through such amount of darkness in my room, attempting to feel my path to the light switch (if one exists) and of course, the exit. My trusty flashlight for crime scene investigation purposes, or at least, for my fictional self's investigation purposes, ran out of juice, but if it didn't, I'd be out of this room, thank you very much. With zero idea of whatever I can do and the darkness slowly draining my composure, I closed my eyes and repeated this word in my mind: darkness. Darkness, darkness, darkness.

During this strange trance that I put myself, my forensic investigator instincts made my hand move to the waist bag hanging on my Danganronpa-issue Ultimate Forensic Scientist uniform's skirt. That was a mouthful, I thought. I suddenly took out a spray bottle of Luminol (I was sure that it was a Luminol bottle because I took that out so much in the past -- or the fictional past that I basically memorized where the spray bottle was positioned) and blindly shot the liquid into the floor. There was a faint trail.

Curious, I followed the lightly glowing blue streak and kept on spraying the chemical to the cold, slippery floor. Strange, I thought. Why was it there in the first place? I tortured myself and thought of a morbid idea that someone was murdered in this room, and I did torture myself since the idea made me a bit worse. I kept on spraying Luminol around, until I felt a hard surface blocking my way. A wall.

The long stretch of glowing blood led me into what I reckon is this room's wall. I let out some of the blood-tracking spray into the wall, and little by little, it uncovered letters sprawled like graffiti on the wall. Was this a secret message, by chance? If so, I was put into a dark room on purpose and I was being tested. As the letters formed words, and words formed to make a complete thought, I read the glowing graffiti. Viva Danganronpa!, it said.
"Viva...Danganronpa," I said as if to repeat the words so I could understand it.
Viva Danganronpa. Viva Danganronpa. Long live Danganronpa. Long live Danganronpa.

I realized that my idea of being tested was right. Is someone playing a prank at me? With how the peculiar words were written and how they were supposed to be uncovered, I felt a few of my burning questions start to get themselves answered. This place may be a Team Danganronpa facility, and the sleeping gas from before I came here was done so they can carry me to this place. Just as I was starting to make sense of my surroundings, a blinding flash came to life at what may be this room's ceiling. The darkness lost its rights to be in this room, and the glow from the Luminol was outcasted by the light's powerful glare.
"W-what is going on?" I blurted out a second after the flash. It reminded me of a Flashback Light; the perfect tool for memory hacking.
I took a second to look around the room now that I can finally use my eyes properly. It looked like a bedroom of a Victorian-era design, with a wooden bed adorned with a bright white bedsheet. I stared at the pillow that fell off my rather grandiose bed, and my eyes then glanced at the wood cabinet and the shelves lined with random chemicals, with some of them that I recognize. Before I even finished scanning the room and describing its Victorian interior, a rather piercing yet familiar voice came into the room.
"VIVAAAA DANGANRONPAAAAA!!! Welcome to the Victory Hotel!" the voice screamed. It was really loud that it sounded like the perfect replacement for an alarm clock. As I heard it, this place is called the Victory Hotel.
"Come out, come out, whomever is screaming!" I said.
A figure bursted out under my bed as if it was a monster that lurked under bedding. One second in and I instantly recognized it.
"M-Monokuma?! Why are you here?" I said, trying to keep my composure.
"I'm here because I AM here! Did you really think that I only exist inside killing games and die with it when one concludes? Oh, and did you like the Luminol puzzle? Soporil Gamma's a really power-packed anesthetic, so we thought that leaving you on the dark is a good idea to wake ya up! Get it? On the dark?" Monokuma said.
"Seriously though, your timing is perfect." I smirked as if I was being sarcastic. I scanned the Monokuma unit for a while and I noticed an armband wrapped around its left arm; it was a Team Danganronpa logo. I figured the Monokuma may be a Team Danganronpa unit, used as a guide for its facilities and basically as a mascot.
"Perfect? Puhuhu..." Either it's just me or it doesn't know sarcasm.
"Monokuma, what is going on here? Is this some post-season procedure or whatever?" I asked. I still felt too oblivious to the situation.
"Misaki Amami's still not getting her bear-ings yet about her surroundings, so she asks a question... Get it? BEAR-ings? I then answer her question, and I say yes, yes it is!"
"I've no time for bear jokes right now."
Monokuma's metal claws popped out, which meant that my last words were a bad idea. I stood back a few steps, then it finally settled down. "Anyways, congratulations for surviving Danganronpa 52: Despair Solitaire! Even with all that despair, you have managed to win the heart of the audience and have proven that hope will always win! You're a hero, and the people agree."
"Hero? Stop with the flattery, will ya Monokuma? 'Audience's toy' is the better term."
"You ARE a hero! You both used the Ultimate Forensic Scientist talent to solve even the worst of crimes committed by your own classmates AND the power of family bonds with your brother! Oh, I love watching familial love being tested by death games and despair! Ahahahahaha!" Monokuma said.
"Then where the hell is my brother?" I asked angrily.
"You mean Rantaro Amami? Oh, guacamole head's currently with Team Danganronpa employees for some... negotiations."
"Negotiations? Is that related to him sacrificing himself for me?"
The Monokuma unit sat on top on my bed. It breathed in and spoke. "Puhuhuhu... You should know what the 'punishment' really is, right? Remember one of your late classmates who had that Ultimate talent?"
I went over the info I had about Ultimate Survivors. The students volunteer to sacrifice themselves while only two only get to leave, and they are forced to play the next killing game. They are bestowed upon with special perks; the Survivor Perks, which they could use to win. With those in mind, did my brother have other intentions as the sacrifice other than help his sister flee?
"You mean the Ultimate Survivor thing, right?" I said.
"Ding ding ding! You got it right! Rantaro's participating in another season of thrills, chills and kills! That's what I'm allowed to say for now," Monokuma responded.
So it'll tell me more later, judging by its wording. "Now the real question is, what's next for me?"
"As I said before, you! Are! A! Hero! The world gladly celebrates you and your fellow survivor's triumph against despair, so per Danganronpa procedures, I'd say a hero's welcome tour across the cities fit you really, REALLY well! Oh, how they rejoice of the prophecy's chosen one..."
"I'm not taking part on this," I said while trying to remain firm and calm.
Monokuma raised both left and right arms and glared at me. "So you DO want to be punished as well, don't you?"
And at that moment, the only choice I had was to be a good girl and follow orders. Being punished might mean devaluing what he did in order for me and my fellow survivor to be winners of Danganronpa 52. If we had more leads and we had the willpower, we could've ended the killing games altogether and make the audience wake up and realize what they were really seeing. But they, as we saw them, were too powerful. And now, I was forced to parade in front of a mad world that watches death games for entertainment.
"When's this whole parade even going to happen? Just clear things up and explain!" I exclaimed.
"Two days from now, brother complex!" Monokuma said.
I felt a tidal wave of red splash against my face, and both of my hands covered it out of embarrassment.
"S-stop! You're getting the wrong idea, alright?" I said.
"We DID write your character for this season's theme of 'siblings reunited in the worst way possible', all right?" Monokuma shot a glare at me and laughed wryly.
Yeah, I myself am living a life as a fictional human being. A life of fiction. Living a lie. It's hard to come into terms with, if you ask me. If I were past Misaki, or whatever her name was, I'd prefer joining a resistance group instead.
"So, what's next?" I asked. I honestly have no idea on what I could say now.
"Delicious dinner, of course! What's Danganronpa without grandiose meals for the winners? That would be so despairing for you if you weren't fed after our flagship killing game! Puhuhuhu..." Monokuma tugged my left leg and pointed to the door. Am I supposed to follow him?
"Then let's see how grandiose this meal is. I'm hungry, to be fair."
The animatronic bear made a quick dash to the door and jumped to reach the doorknob. It managed to get a grip on it and it twisted the knob, opening the door. I left the room and followed after it along a long stretch of winding hallways filled with doors leading to what may either be bedrooms or offices. Like my room, the Victorian decor was the prominent feature. As I followed Monokuma around the Victory Hotel, part of me wanted to punch it or force it to give information about all this. Unanswered questions still lurk around. Who the hell am I really, and where is my brother? Things gain sense then lose that sense in a neverending cycle. Truths and lies pile up constantly. Frustrated, I walked a bit faster and in a passive-aggressive manner, about to murder a robotic teddy bear.