001 ☆ video

[hopeslastreward]

This is strange. This is very... strange.

[The feed opens on a teenage boy who honestly doesn't look like the picture of health; his hair is a mess, his skin is pale, and even though he's sitting, his posture has a certain slump that doesn't exactly imply "physical strength". Still, even if Nagito Komaeda's body is frail, his mind is still sharp as a tack. ...Well, usually. Sometimes. Depends on the context? Well, it's sharp right now, and that's all that matters.]

[He's silent for a few moments, apparently in deep thought.]

[The first and most obvious conclusion is that this is another ploy by Monobear. Last night, he'd watched the end of the third trial and went to sleep, troubled somewhat by what had happened... and now, not even twenty-four hours later, Monobear had dropped him in a Pokémon region of all places? Was this the motive? If so, why didn't he wait for someone to commit murder on their own first? Honestly, Komaeda can't think of any possible way Monobear could make despair out of the Pokemon world; even if he tried to corrupt it, it would only affect the people who have a strong emotional attachment to the originals. Komaeda could think of no one who might know them except Nanami and himself -- Nanami didn't seem like the killer type, and Komaeda honestly wasn't attached enough to care one way or the other. He honestly couldn't even recall the name of the bull thing he'd been given as a starter.]

[Speaking of Nanami... where is everyone? Komaeda had already tried looking through the network, which raised even more questions. If, again, it was Monobear who did all this, why would he go to the effort of writing so many different entries? Why were there actual people with varied personalities, and not an army of Monobears?]

[...Actually, the bear hasn't shown his face on anything at all so far. And quite honestly, that alarms Komaeda more than if it had. Had something... happened to them? Komaeda plans to find out. Depending on the reaction of the masses, who may be either Monobear's fabrications or real people, he'll get to the bottom of this mystery, just like all the others. First order of business: figure out what's happened outside.]

Oh, I should probably introduce myself...

Nagito Komaeda. That's my name.

Anyhow... has anyone here heard of Hope's Peak Academy? Please tell me what you know.

Comments

video;

[lullabytes]

[ ...Nanami usually responds immediately to her classmates when they make their appearance to the Pokemon world. Or near enough. She might be slow when she speaks and may pause a few times as she goes, but she always at least hits the option to reply as soon as she sees something from one of them.

She does not do that this time. Instead Nanami spends a good deal of time staring at her gear and trying to decide what, if anything, she's feeling. It isn't like she hasn't told people she'd already forgiven what happened before and during the fifth trial. And it wasn't like that was a lie. It never has been.

...But even though it's been nearly a year, Nanami isn't sure she's prepared for this.

She hits reply anyway, after nearly half an hour. ]

...Komaeda-kun. What's the last thing you remember?

video;

[hopeslastreward]

Nanami-san? [The girl's message gets Komaeda's attention pretty quickly, so he responds as soon as he notices it.]

[Finally, another student! Her mere appearance lends weight to the "new motive" theory, since the entire class would have to be somewhere around here in order for a motive to be presented.]

[The question, though. "Last thing you remember"? At first, it seems like an odd greeting, but it makes sense. If Nanami was brought here without explanation, too, she would want to check that their stories matched up. However, the fact that she opened up with that question instead of "what's going on?" indicates that she may have already figured something out...]

Leaving the courtroom after the trial. [He assumes, of course, that Nanami knows which trial he's talking about -- Mikan's.] Do you know why we're here?

video;

[lullabytes]

[ ...All right, that could be anything from the fourth trial back. Although she doesn't think it'd be the fourth trial, given that he's speaking to her in a calmer, kinder manner. So...anything from the third trial back?

She can't guess which trial with that much information, though. ]

...Which one? "Why"...is a little difficult. But people come here from different times...and places.

[ And she's trying to figure out exactly how worried she needs to be about the others, although as long as he's from before the fourth trial, she can relax a little bit... ]

video;

[superordinary]

[ "Nagito Komaeda"... Naegi's pretty sure Saionji mentioned him at some point when she was in Johto, and she didn't seem fond of him at all. But Saionji then turned out to be a rather nasty person and a rare case of Naegi not liking someone, so he's pretty sure the guy can't be that bad.

...Right? ]

I'm a student from Hope's Peak Academy. Are you from Nanami-san's class, Komaeda-kun?

video;

[hopeslastreward]

Oh, hello!

[Komaeda is smiling benevolently when he responds. He seems pleasant enough so far.]

Yes, Nanami-san is one of my classmates.

...How long have you known her?

video;

[superordinary]

Um, since she showed up here last December... So almost a year. I know that probably doesn't make sense, but time works differently in this world.

[Video]

[infinityunlimitedflame]

[Gundam's not even sure how to react to this. He's uncomfortable with Komaeda being here but since there's this whole timeline thing, he's not really sure how uncomfortable to be. For all he knows, nothing's happened yet or he's from some weird point in the future where everything's happened. He doesn't have a clue, so it makes greeting him appropriately incredibly difficult.]

So this world has called you as well.

[There. He thinks that should do for now. It's not exactly a friendly greeting, but it's...neutral. Let's go with neutral.]

[Video]

[hopeslastreward]

So it has.

["Neutral" is all Komaeda expects, really. He's not stupid enough to think that everyone else likes him as much as he likes them.]

How are you doing, Tanaka-kun? I imagine that you would do well out here, considering where your talents lie.

[Video]

[infinityunlimitedflame]

I am...well.

[Hang on, let him try again.]

Though I have only just begun my quest in this world, I have already bonded with my familiar! And it will only be the first of many to join the new Tanaka Empire!

[Okay, that sounded better.]

But tell me, what is it that you remember occurring last? What was the last event to be seared into your soul forever more?

[That should give him some sort of idea on how to proceed, he hopes. It's hard to tell with you, Komaeda.]

video;

[idolminded]

Ah...you must be from the other class.

[Since she is pretty sure she's never seen your face before.]

...Komaeda-kun, was it? I'm Sayaka Maizono, I'm from the class before you. It's nice to meet you.

video;

[hopeslastreward]

Yes, that's it. A pleasure to meet you too, Maizono-san.

[The class before theirs? Hm, interesting. Well, he's only heard of one other class so far...]

Are you classmates with anyone named Makoto Naegi?

video;

[idolminded]

Oh, you know Naegi-kun? Then yep, you're right! You're speaking to his "Super High-School Level Assistant"!

[For a moment, her countenance turns serious as if she's telling the truth, but then she grins.]

Ehehe, just kidding! We're very good friends, though.

[Video]

[babel_hacker]

[New arrivals naturally gains Atsuro's attention. After all, he knows what it's like to be new and asking question.

That said, "Hope's Peak" did get his full attention. Huh, does this mean this guy is a classmate of Makoto's?]

I'm Atsuro Kihara. It's nice to meet you, Nagito.

[A young man, perhaps a few years older than Komaeda, pops up on the screen. His tone is both casual and friendly.]

You said Hope's Peak, right? Does that mean you know Makoto?

[Video]

[hopeslastreward]

I only just met him earlier today. We're from different classes.

Aside from that, have you heard of it?

[If his name is 'Atsuro Kihara', he's probably Japanese. How can anyone be Japanese and not know of Hope's Peak?]

[Video]

[babel_hacker]

Oh, I see.

[Which means he probably don't know Chihiro. He shakes his head.]

And nope. I never head of Hope's Peak until students from there show up here.

[Sadly, his world doesn't have a school like that. Japan was more concerned with other matters.]

[video]

[crystalballer]

[Whoa, Hope's Peak people are just popping up all over the place lately! This guy seems nice enough...though he doesn't look so well. Hopefully he's going to be okay...]

Yeah, I went there! Did you too?

[The name doesn't ring a bell, but maybe he was in Nanami's class?]

[video]

[hopeslastreward]

Supposedly. I got the application letter, but my memories were wiped after that point.

[He is, however, still a student.]

What is your name?

[video]

[crystalballer]

[Nagito might notice Hagakure's expression shift ever so slightly at the mention of wiped memories. Yeah, he has to be Nanami's classmate. They were involved in a killing game like his class, and messing with memories is one of Monobear's things.]

Yasuhiro Hagakure. I'm the Super High-School Level Fortune Teller. Nice to meetcha and stuff.

[...]

Do you know Chiaki Nanami?

[ardent]

[...Oh. Well, that's...

...dude, are you going to be okay because you look kind of]

I'm a former student at Hope's Peak Academy - a member of the 78th class! My name is Ishimaru Kiyotaka; it's good to meet you, Komaeda-kun!

[Not like it's going to stop him from yelling at you anyway. Welcome to Johto.]

Since you aren't a member of our class, I'm assuming you attended school with Nanami-kun?

[hopeslastreward]

[No, he's probably not going to be okay, Ishimaru, thanks for asking. But he'll try to do as much as he can before he kicks the bucket.]

And it's good to meet you too, Ishimaru-kun! [...Wait. If these guys are the class before him, then he should probably be calling them...] Ah, excuse me. Ishimaru-senpai! [Yes, there we go.]

That's right! Nanami-san is a classmate of mine. She seems to be quite popular!

[ardent]

She was the first person from your class to show up here, so most of us know her by now! She's a kind person, too, so most of us like her!

[Spoken with all the social understanding of a confused four-year-old, but so it goes. She's nice and therefore she is popular because that is totally how high school works.]

She's been here for about a year now; several of your classmates are also here, and I imagine they'll get in contact with you soon. Until then, I can answer questions if you have them!

[loveisanopendoor]

[Another time, another game, the name of that place would probably make Anna tense up in seconds. But thankfully...]

Nope! Can't say I've ever heard the name...is it a famous school where you're from? I hope you've found a bunch of classmates of yours already! This place seems to take people from all over, so I'd be kind of surprised if there wasn't at least one person you recognize...and if there isn't, well, new people come in all the time, so I'm sure you'll find someone at some point!

But I'm sure you have a ton of questions, so if you need anything answered, I'd be more than happy to help! I've been here for close to half a year now, so I know what it's like to be kinda lost from how new this place is.

[hopeslastreward]

Oh yes, very famous. Everyone in Japan knows the name, and most people outside of it should, too.

What do you mean, "where you're from"? You are the second person now who hasn't heard of it, and that puzzles me. Is there some difference between where I came from and where the rest of you did?

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[freshprints]

[And well after pretty much everybody else has had the opportunity to check in with the new arrival (and conversations have been had, and the public portions of this network post have been scoured, and was that really necessary to ask Maizono, Komaeda-kun, really), along comes a text message, as if to establish that this device does more than just video.

Also because it's a lot harder to needle at someone when you can't see their face, miraculous deadpan or not.]

Have you found the answers you were looking for, Komaeda-kun?

text;

[hopeslastreward]

Some of them, yes. Thank you for asking.

[Komaeda doesn't yet know anything about a Hope's Peak student named Kyouko Kirigiri, so he assumes that this girl is just another random person on the network.]