"Morning," Amy yawned as she collapsed on a bench in the cafeteria.

The brown-and-blonde with hazel eyes next to her- were they a guy or a girl??? She couldn't tell- smiled a little. They wore a white button-down beneath a pastel orange-brown sweater vest, along with both a tie and a ribbon around the neck, a black corset, a dark gray short skirt, white thigh-high socks, and two beaded bracelets around one wrist.

"Get much sleep?" Alister asked.

"Oh hell no," Amy laughed, her sleep-deprived state making it sound a little more hysterical than she'd intended.

Ash, the dark-haired person she'd also met yesterday, slumped onto the bench across from them. "You're not alone on that one."

As they sat there, chatting, the four little twerps that Amy assumed to be no older than sixteen filed in. The tiny one with too much energy was dragging the guy with the dog with her. He looked both uncomfortable and glad to be included at the same time. After a few minutes, the golden-blonde with the therapist personality entered as well. Ash motioned for her to come join them.

"Wow, um, thank you," she said. "I don't know if I formally introduced myself, but I'm Dawn. If you ever need someone to confide in, I'm your person."

"Might have to take you up on it," Alister grimaced, twirling a strand of their blonde hair. "Sh*t's gotten crazy."

"If I die, I'll never know what my GPA ended up being," Ash mumbled. "That would suck."

Amy stared at them. "That's what you're worried about?"

"I have priorities!"

Alister snorted.

"I think that you have a right to want to know," Dawn intervened.

Before Amy could insult Ash, though, the door opened again, and a tall figure ducked his head as he stepped inside. He wore a high-collared black shirt underneath a gray plaid flannel, with a pocket in which seemed to be several pens. He held a notepad in his hand, which his storm blue eyes, shielded by glasses, were locked on. For Amy, though, his wild dirty-blonde ponytail was the most intriguing part. She wondered how long it was when let down.

"Yo!" she called to him. "How you doing?"

He blinked at her, as if fumbling for words. Yep, this nerd was an introvert.

"I spent this morning doing some research," he said quietly. "There's an exit door in a room down the hallway, however, it cannot be forced open. The stairways are sealed with iron bars that, once again, cannot be avoided. The kitchen is also fully stocked, and there was a notice inside explaining that it gets restocked daily so we will not starve."

"Damn, who are you?" Amy whistled, impressed.

He hesitated for a moment. "Stratus."

It took her a little too long to realize that that was his name and he wasn't just saying a type of cloud.

"Neat name!" Alister piped up with a grin. "I love unique names like that."

Stratus looked them up and down. "I can tell you like to be unique as well."

"Fashion is one of the best ways to express oneself," they declared.

As if they wanted any more surprises, a familiar voice that Amy despised came over the loudspeakers. "Hey everyone! Headmaster Ace here. Hope you slept well- actually, that doesn't matter, because you'll all be wide awake after this! Come on over to the A/V room across from Classroom 1-C, I've got some neat stuff for you guys!"

"No, I'm not going," Amy decided, crossing her arms and choosing to embrace her Taurus horoscope.

"You nearly got blown to bits yesterday!" Ash argued. "Who knows what'll happen if you don't listen?"

She thought it over for a moment. They had a point. She let out a deep sigh.

"Fine," she muttered, standing up and following everyone out of the cafeteria and over to the A/V room.

It was a nervous walk for everyone, that was clear. All around her, people were murmuring to each other about what could possibly be next. Amy just hoped that Ace was going to announce that this was just a prank. But when she saw the dragon-whatever holding a stack of DVDs inside of the A/V room with monitors lining the walls behind them, she felt her stomach flip.

"I figured that what I said yesterday was a bit sudden... and dramatic... and you probably can't take me seriously when I look like this," Ace began. "So I took it upon myself to give you all some motivation to play along! Neat-o, right?"

As they passed out the DVDs, they added, "Go watch 'em! Don't be shy!"

Amy watched as she was handed a DVD with her name on it, then took a deep breath and hoped to god in the first time in her life that it would be the Rickroll. She approached a monitor and inserted the DVD.

It was not the Rickroll.

"Hello, Amy, mi hija!" Amy's mother smiled. Sitting on the couch in their living room next to her was Amy's father, brother, and sister.

"We miss you!" her sister chimed in. "But we hope you're having fun!"

"Make sure you're studying-g-g-" As her father spoke, it began to lag and glitch out.

Damnit, she must've smudged the disk.

To her absolute horror, though, the video cut sharply to the living room, but everything was different. The couch was torn up, the wallpaper was barely clinging on, it was all much darker, and there was glass indicating a smashed window. There was no sign of her family.

A scream suddenly rang out from across the room, and Amy turned just in time to see the tiny brunette bolting out of the room, sobbing.

"I'll go after her," Dawn offered, and then ran out of the room as well.

"Is, uh, everyone okay?" Ash spoke, their voice trembling slightly.

"Want the f*ckin' truth? No!" the overdramatic guy with the varsity jacket snapped. It was the first time he seemed to be taking it seriously, and he was pale as a ghost.

Amy then realized how heavily she was breathing. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths to ground herself. It would be fine. She was fine. After she could no longer feel her heart threatening to pound right out of her chest, she opened them to see Stratus standing there and looking at her. He seemed completely unfazed.

"You seem shaken," he observed.

"No sh*t, Sherlock," she spat, then cleared her throat. "Sorry. You're right."

He gave her a half-smile. "I know."

"Oh, so you're an *sshole, too."

"Yup."

Amy couldn't help but laugh a little. This son of a b*tch wasn't half bad.

"Alright, nerd, we're staying together from now on," she decided, grabbing his arm and dragging him away.

They spent the next few hours exploring the school and taking note of locations.  Amy noticed that she was doing most of the talking, and Stratus just seemed to take it all in.  So he was an observer.  She could work with that.

At one point, they stumbled across one of the classrooms, where most of the group seemed to be engaged in a game of Pictionary.  Amy watched as Narwhale- the tiny hyper child- interrupted Ash's drawing just to show them how to properly draw a cat.  At least she seemed to be feeling better.

"Are you going to join in?" Stratus asked her.

Amy thought for a moment. "Nah.  Wanna come to my room and chill?"

When he gave her a suspicious look, she quickly added, "Not like that, genius.  Get your head outta the gutter."

"Oh, then I guess I'll come," he agreed, seeming relieved.

They continued down the hallway to the student rooms.  Amy stopped him in front of the room with her nameplate and opened the door. 

"So, I figured out that the bathroom doors have locks.  That's good, in case someone tries to jump me while I'm pissing," she joked.

Stratus gave her a blank stare before saying, "I... I don't believe mine does."

"That's because only girls' bathroom doors lock!" came Ace's voice from an unseen loudspeaker without warning. "But don't worry, the boys all have tool kits in a drawer in their rooms!"

"I'm not seeing how those two things are related," Amy said dryly.

"They're trying to nudge us towards murder," Stratus mumbled, pushing his glasses a little further up his nose.

"Oh." She then blurted, "You're not, y'know... gonna kill me, right?"

To her relief, he just smiled and answered, "What would the point of that be?  I like this flannel too much to get bloodstains on it."

"I'd kill you, but I'm too lazy," she teased.  To her delight, she got a small chuckle out of him.

They went to dinner a while later, but then headed back to Amy's room before curfew.

"You're not half bad," she told him.

"What about the other half?" Stratus smirked.  She punched him in the shoulder affectionately.

Right before they entered her room, they passed by Narwhale, who was saying good night to Dawn.

"I'm going to go to the infirmary to get some sleeping pills," Amy heard her say.

"Would you like me to come with you?" Dawn offered.

"No, I'm good."

Amy glanced over her shoulder as the brunette walked past everyone else, who were also heading in for the night.  She flopped onto her bed as soon as she entered, exaggerating a yawn.

"Tired?" Stratus asked her, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah.  Wasn't easy to fall asleep last night," she grimaced.

"I get it."

They both were quiet for a moment before Stratus turned away. "I should head out.  If I were you, I wouldn't answer the door until morning, even if it's me.  Just in case."

The fact that he was looking out for her made her smile. "Thanks."

"Good night, Amy." And then he was gone. 

For some reason, the reassurance from this rando she'd just met that day made her feel at ease, and the next thing she knew, she was asleep.

***

Amy had to basically drag herself to the cafeteria for breakfast.  Sure, she'd slept fine, but that didn't matter when she was a teenager; no amount of sleep was ever enough.

"Morning, sleepy," Alister greeted as she sat down. "Careful, or you'll pass out on top of your breakfast."

"Ha." Amy rolled her eyes as she pondered whether or not she felt like walking all the way to the kitchen to get something to eat.

"Anyone seen Narwhale?" the dog guy, Jax, asked, scanning the room as he entered.  Said dog trailed behind him, wagging her tail as if she didn't have a care in the world.

"Nah, she's probably still sleeping," Evan shrugged. "She said herself that she wanted to take sleeping pills."

The reminder made Amy realize that she wanted to make herself a protein shake.

"I'm gonna head to the infirmary to find some protein powder," she said as she stood up. 

The walk... yeah, it was painful.  Too much walking for her first thing in the morning.  She barely made it to the doorway before practically collapsing as she fumbled for the light.  Yeah, she was hella strong- one of the best martial artists in the world, for f*ck's sake!- but exhaustion was inevitable at the age of eighteen years old.  She finally managed to locate the light switch and flipped it on.

***
(1929 words)

I'm convinced Ana controls the wheel.

Anywhoooo crummy attempt at a Danganronpa-style crime scene goes brrrr

So, before the next chapter comes out.... Who do you think did it? (Yes the killer is random but still) I'd love to hear your theories 👀