Rot, Petals by Petals

SKIP IF YOU'VE ALREADY READ THE SYNOPSIS:

"I will come up with the best, most gruesome murders! I Promise! Everyone will love it!" ~ Pregame Shuichi Saihara

"I'm perfect for a Killing game. I don't have any faith in humanity" ~ Pregame Kaede Akamatsu

"I'm not only gonna be in Danganronpa. I'm gonna kill everybody and win!" ~ Pregame Kaito Momota

Those were the lines of the excited viewers of the Danganronpa reality show, those were the inspiring lines of those who wanted to participate in the Danganronpa reality show. But before their characters were made fiction, like having fabricated past and backstory, fabricated personality, fabricated tastes, and so on more fabricated things of the real viewers who wanted to participate in the reality show killing game. It was fictional, so no one cared about the characters who were made, all their pasts and likings, are all fake anyways, who cares if they died or not? If they got entertained by their deaths and execution, also including the class trials, they don't give any slight concerns to those who died and those lucky enough to survive.

Before the fictional Danganronpa reality show was made a thing, those who spreads and shouts their voices out to Team Danganronpa as requests to join the reality show must first participate in 16 different killing game, with each one consisting of 16 participants, this is a REAL killing game test, it will took place in somewhere in Team Danganronpa's personal buildings, outside of publicity, so once the 16 killing game starts, there's no turning back. In each different killing game, only one person will be chosen as to be in the Danganronpa reality show, and plus, they will receive a prize of fortune! Money and fame. The past person alive and standing in each of those 16 killing games will be the chosen one, duh. This is the story of both Pregame Shuichi, and Pregame Kaede got into the original V3 killing game, a REAL killing game outside the reality show's fictions.

Chapter 1: Rot, Petals by Petals.

It seems like there was a certain dark black azure blue-ish ahoge haired boy lying softly and comfortable on his bed, covering the lower-half of his body with a black gray-ish blanket in a room with normal black-painted wall, and, Danganronpa posters? Yup. That boy is a die-hard fanboy of the Danganronpa Virtual Reality Show happening for years now, usually they would be held every month and end accordingly at the end of that certain month or the start of a new month after that. Danganronpa's 53rd Virtual Reality Show Killing Game is scheduled to start two weeks from now, every fan around the world including inside and outside Japan is excited and pumped to watch the killing game happen through live televisions and websites that streams the killing game per episode and while it was live according to every episode's broadcast stream weekly schedule.

Today, was a really special day. He had sent a recording video tape to Team Danganronpa for their, sort of audition/application per se? And as of now, he just received news that Team Danganronpa had accepted his request and wanted to interview him through some few audition tests before he was fully prepared and set to be scanned and be an example for Team Danganronpa to tweak and make up his own A.I for it to participate in the 53rd Virtual Killing Game.

The young teen's name is Shuichi Saihara. This is his story. He's been watching Danganronpa his whole life, he had watched every show to the end and enjoyed all the murders performed by the participants in every show. He was fascinated with every little bit and moments from every killing game. Curious as he is to why and how these murders occurs and happens, and getting exactly mind-blown by what exactly happened and explained by previous killing game's protagonists. He thought it may be best for him to participate in the will-added 53rd Killing Game's application. So he set up a camera, a recorded himself saying the role he wanted and express how great and fascinated he is with Danganronpa, simply showing his love towards the continuously long-running killing game show series. He knew that he can't spell and spat out enough words for him to truly and exactly express his love towards Danganronpa.

But despite that, one of the members of Team Danganronpa had emailed him the news about him getting accepted into the test. He was very happy and excited for that one sole purpose. He was, Danganronpa is a part of his life, and now, he'll make sure he get most of the pieces fit into his life, like a picture puzzle per se, but not exactly. He swore to do his best and got too excited, so he held up and raised his right hand at the position not below or above, but exactly beside his neck. He clenched his right fist and grit his teeth, broke a smile on his face as it quickly turns lopsided immediately upon his attempt to give his brightest and cutest excited-pumped up smile.

Apparently, a sweat was dropping on his face, conveying a message about how embarrassed, scared, terrified in fright, and simply excited he is through the expression he is making on his face. As impatient as he looks seeing those happy and great news about him being accepted to the next stage of the application/audition before he was truly ready and accepted to participate in the virtual reality killing game, he quickly leans over to his bed and shoved his blanket over to him, covering every little and entire surface of his body besides his head. He was blushing lightly and made a cute ">w<" emoticon expression on his face while the blush was still visible and up.

Back to the present; it's early in the morning, and the sun rises and slides into view; as the ray of light amasses into vision and blinds the eye for a second with a sudden white cross-shaped flash. Shuichi slowly opens his lid-closed eyes, seeing how tired he were with the bags below his two mid-opening eyes visible now because of the light that amasses into view and clears out the pitch-black darkness of the way that was caused by the morning sun's absence in the darknest night sky, stardom. Shuichi's eyelids stopped moving after it was half-opened.

Shuichi keep on maintaining his eyes open, even if it was only half-open, he had shown some effort and signs of struggle through the twitching and trembles created by his two not-so-dead eyes. Colors of life would slowly but surely, fades in into his dead eyes as his consciousness starts to kick in and awoken up his senses. His pupils that were dead before, the ones without any design or emotions filled inside them that were meant to show and assert how awake he is feeling right now currently at that moment; started to change itself and transform.

A warm gray yellow-ish color would fill into his eyes, replacing the blank darkness as the dark gray-ish emotionless colors would fade out of his eyes. His vision had came in blurry at first, but after some few seconds, he was able to claim a hold of reality, and grasping on his consciousness. He raises his right hand, slowly, and gracefully, holding it up as it trembles and shakes slightly considering how tired his body is in the morning.

He held it up, opening his fist as he creates a flat-opened palm, slowly lifting it down and moving it towards his face, he soon felt the soft sensation of his five fingers from his right hand's palm, covering the entire surface of his cheeks except two of his eyes and a few section of his warm white yellow-ish cheeks. The soft touch of his fingers later turns into a really, really slight squeeze of his palm onto his face, gripping onto it like it'll never let go. His half-opened eyes started to move a little, raising an eyebrow as a little slight opening movement of his eyelids was created along the way with a twitch of his eyes. He yawned for a second, his eyelids immediately shuts and closes. His right palm was covering his mouth, so it was fine for him to do any more movement that would use a lot of energy for him considering how he's in a tired potato state.

His eyelids opened up back to the state before he yawned. His pupils starts to lift up and moves to the right simultaneously with his eyelids as and while they were opening. His field of vision didn't change nor show anything new, but doing so by moving his pupils made him focuses his eyes on a object or subject. It was an object technically, considering that he lives alone. He have no parent, like a father, or a mother, none. All he have is to take care of himself. He worked part-time while struggling to pay his dead father's debts and school dorm loans. He was living a poor and hard life, but he didn't mind and only gave a smile to those who passes him while he was riding his bike along the asphalt of the road. He was rather happy. Every day, he would rush off from school the moment the bell rang and seizes his bike as soon as possible, hastily putting his hands around the handle and grips them tightly, giving them a slight squeeze.

"Life isn't that bad with Danganronpa around, right?"

That was what would always pops in his mind in his every day daily schedule as he broke a bright smile and break for it to his dormitory building. He would often park his bike in random spots considering how rushed he is to watch Danganronpa's new episodes as they broadcast according to their schedule. After that, he usually raises his foot until it's in reach while standing to untie his shoes, and changing to the other foot to untie the other shoe as he tiptoed on his one feet. Put them into their place, arranges them, and make a run for it to the living room. Simply saying he likes it for it's fame and popularity isn't the case; he just does for many many reasons, and you should probably already know that.

He would put his hand around the TV remote, gripping it as he gave it a slight squeeze before raising and holding up his arm towards the direction of the television which he's currently facing to now. You know what happens, he will then change the channels into the channel that currently streams and broadcasts Danganronpa according to it's schedule and seizes a fluffy white pillow. He would snuggle and cuddle the pillow as he slightly squeezes it in his two arms that covers the surface of the pillow as it gives warmth to his arms mid-watching the episode.

He often have his eyes trembles in excitement and happiness while giving a slight and small light blush on his face if he was watching a heated debate between the characters in a class trial. He would snuggle, covers, lifts down, his head into the pillow and closes his two eyes while a tear would normally stuck on the end of his eyelids if he would stumble upon an execution to hide his terrified and frightened face from the whole thing, not wanting to look at his favourite characters get killed off and executed brutally and painfully. Ears all active.

He still enjoyed the show, he was still sad that they had died, but all of his favourite characters were mere fiction, so he shouldn't give too many attention and affection towards them. But enough of that, back to when he woke up; present-day in the that one certain special day for him. Today was the application's test. He didn't forgot, that's why he woke up early, according to his clock. His pupils was looking to the right, focused on the clock, it was morning at 6:50 AM.

The right palm on his face would slowly slides and falls off his face and down to the side of the bed. It would go as far as touching the ground with his five fingers, right before he pushes his body to the side to extend his reach and puts his palm onto the ground. He picked up speed, he ignored his tired and slow speed and pushes his legs down to the side of the bed, stepping one foot on the ground before pushing his palm against and off the ground, putting momentum and regaining balance as he spins his body once before standing up normally.

He would get ready, eat toast for breakfast, change into his usual clothes (Pre-game Shuichi's is like in his video tape), and walks towards the door with a normal walking speed or pace. He raises and holds up his right hand and put them around the door handle, gripping it firmly to assure that he would spin it without any sort of possible failure like slipping off it or something related to that.

He breaks a slight smile on his face, all-ready and fully prepared, packed up with excitement and happiness as the other feeling of nervous, fright, and embarrassment boils up and courses through his body, he knew he wasn't really that ready and prepared, but despite all that, he kept a smile and good expression on his face, blushing slightly without notice. This is the time he surely shines, he just knows it. So he'll make up for all his mistakes and apply for this test.

He spun open the door handle, a clanking noise would be heard filling in the air of the room's atmosphere. He would feel himself leaving the room's temperature as soon as he took that one step forward, stomping his right foot forward as a small cloud of dust would pile and flies off the ground and vanish into the air. He knew he had felt a cold and soft breeze hitting up his face. He shuts and closes his eyes the moment he had felt the breezy cold sensation of the wind hitting against his face. It would push and messes up his front hairstyle and create a wind-breezing kind of sound effect onto the air as it fills into the atmosphere.

He would take another step forward, and open up his eyes into a normal opened state instead of before. He kept his cool and cute expression on his face, made a bright smile that doesn't reveal all of his teeth but the insides of his mouth, and blushing lightly. He then made a run for it keeping all of those active up on his face. He loved Danganronpa, he really was.

He had step into the building that scheduled to hold the application test. He was looking into his phone even when he had took the step onto the building that looked totally and definitely Danganronpa-styled. He finally looked up from his phone as his smile would turn lopsided and a sweat would drop off his face, he had a rather strange and perplexed look up on his face.

"Th-This is the place, isn't it?"

He said, stuttering a little bit in the start as he stammered to himself, but that didn't bother anyone if they were hearing him spewing and spatting out those words, they would still completely understand him because of the lack of stutters in his sentence. Not like a certain tsundere girl they knew from a certain anime that revolves around a boy with misfortune traits and an ability called Imagine Breaker, eh?

There were 15 people there, him being the 16th. He looked around at them, they all seemed like diehard fans of Danganronpa, like him. Tho, there were those that he couldn't read their faces well, since they looked rather serious. There's this one guy, probably around the same age as him; he was wearing a scarf covering his neck, one with azure blue and pitch-black boxes design. He also wears an all-black google on his forehead. He had red gray-ish eyes. His hair is as spiky as Naruto from the shonen anime series, Naruto; or maybe Touma Kamijou from the Toaru series? That, along with a pitch-black color, with the right edge of his hair's one huge tip colored in azure blue and an black azure blue-ish ahoge.

He had kept up a blank and simply confused perplexed look on his face. Shuichi decided to confront him considering how he wanted to know the fellow participants a little bit more before the real test starts. He walked towards the boy and raises his right hand, holding and keeping it up at a waving state as he continues to wave at him as he speaks.

"H-Hey there, it's very nice to meet you..! I'm Shuichi Saihara. A fellow participant, like you." He exclaimed, stammered at the blue-ish ahoge boy a little bit at the start of the sentence.

The male that stood in-front of Shuichi would tilt his head towards Shuichi and breaks a smile on his face. His eyelids were closed while that was happening and opened it right back up as soon as he about to speak, and then, he spelled and spouted out the response and introduction to Shuichi who was standing right there, not even five meters from him.

"Oh? Hello there! Pleasure's all mine. I'm Yoruichi Soramatsu."

He gave another smile before he pull and shoves in his two hands into his jacket's pockets and exhales, letting out a heavy sigh. "I guess it's just my rotten luck all over again.."

Shuichi tilted his head abit, confused to what he was saying.

"Wh-What?" Shuichi stammered back.

Yoruichi lifts up his eyes towards the confused Shuichi and spouts out a reply to clear out his clouds of confusion. "Oh. Yeah, you don't know. I'm hated by good luck, and in exchange, I was highly loved by bad luck. It happened since I was born. I'm technically the Ultimate Misfortune if you might say?" He exclaimed and then looked away.

"Nevermind. I'm not suit for bragging. Anyways, I'm just stumbling upon this whole mess, again." He said while he was looking at the opposite direction of where Shuichi was facing, Shuichi on the other hand is looking at him, so he's avoiding eye contacts as it seems.

"What do you mean by that? Stumbling upon this whole application, 'again' you said?" Shuichi questioned, curious as to why he said again. Did he repeat the test? How many times?

"Oh. I'm somehow, by rotten luck, got through the video tape stage and participate in the second stage test, right now, for five times." He exclaimed, answering the question of the curious Shuichi who stood face-forward towards Yoruichi with a sweat dropping down his face.

"F-Five..?! And isn't that good luck you meant?" Shuichi stammered back, he had a shocked look on his face.

"What? No. It could either be good luck or bad luck. For you, I guess. But it's technically bad luck for me, everything I think that are bad luck are somehow just what happens to me. I'm not bragging, but I never felt the feeling of 'good luck', as what people states as." He said.

"Just to be honest, I don't really want to be here. I would rather eat a thousand needles than participate in a hellhole to kill people. No, I just, don't want that. Hope versus despair? What's the point in that honestly? I don't support the killing games, not because of the cringe these 'hope' and 'despair' whatsoever thingies made, but because of the characters. Had you seen their suffering? Yeah, you maybe think they're just mere fiction but still, even for someone fiction that's surely a goddamn painful and despairful way to die, just think 'bout it, your friend somehow kills your best friend over some stupid reasons in real life, doesn't that just sadden you the way these 'fictional characters' does? It just pisses me off that people actually enjoy these." He stated.

"Anyways, hope versus despair.. What a mess that is, huh? People can't decide which one better but mostly supports hope. Though, I don't think that way. Hope? Despair? Screw all that. If you have friends who you look up to everyday, emotions to feel and feelings to express, then that's basically just it. That's maybe called hope, trying to find the faint light in the darkness, but no; all we could do, is simply wish for tomorrow to be another normal and good day, just you and your friends, and goes to bed, we can't decide whether tomorrow will be a hopeful or despairful day, but as long as we wish for it, we can overcome even the-" He continues and suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"AH! ENOUGH BLABBERING!" A voice from a speaker could be heard, shouting.

"You were forced by your friends five times to record the video tape, you didn't say anything major so that's what made you so funny and interesting considering how much effort people put into their video tapes! Yet you still fail all those five times! This is just an one thing that's definitely in your misfortune schedule!" The male voice said, blowing a laughter after shouting at Yoruichi with facts about his backstory.

Yoruichi sighed, and looked up at the speaker. "So.. What kind of test is it this time?" He said.

"Ufufufufufu… Upupupupu…. IT'S A KILLING GAME TEST, EVERYBODY!"

The 16 students had shown their faces of shocked and surprised, this is totally unexpected and really is out of the blues. Yoruichi was the first person brave enough to speak up first in the heavy and dark atmosphere.

"Say what?! In the last test you told us to do public speaking on-stage about a topic revolving in us stating out what we like about our crushes. I failed miserably, I don't have any; and before that, you told us to play a game where we strip off one piece of clothing if we lose a round of Fortnut… And now, this? Are you joking?" He said.

"Nope… IT'S A REAL KILLING GAME! COWER IN FEAR AND DESPAIR!" The atmosphere around the place would get heavier and the usual-soft and soothing atmosphere would shatter and dissapear from sight, never again to appear in the despairful night it is now.

Chapter 1 ~ Rot, Petals by Petals ~ End