#and Angie isn’t even a blackened!

[spittyfishy]

39? :3

39: Which character do you feel deserves more love?

I think Angie does! She’s so fun. Her design’s really cool, I love all the colours, and I’m from an island too so I appreciate her designs beachy vibes lol. She’s also super fun to draw and write, at least in my experience lol

[forbidding-souda]

If you can, I'd like to request an Ultimate Spirit Medium S/O, summoning the spirit of the deceased drv3 characters? It can be blackened or killed, I don't mind. I dont mind if you only do a few, I'd be happy if you did this at all tbh-

SHSL Spirit Medium S/O conjuring up deceased DRV3 characters

WOAH you bet your bottom I will!!! I chose my fav DRV3 characters and I made it so they could see them too bc story writing *~*

Spoilers btw lolz

-Mod Souda

Rantarou Amami

Your fingers dance around the candle. Such a fire hazard. But you need it near. You need it.

Placed in between two bookshelves, right between your legs, is a simple white candle. Your posture is nothing short of perfect. You have to do this precisely. There’s no way you would forgive yourself if you mess up.

You take a deep breath, “I never thought I would have to beg for you to talk to me. You always seemed to be there. No matter what. So how about now?”

Still, you are met with silence. The wick flickers, noting a presence. But no one showed up.

There are a lot of different books around you, a lot of them with a spine hinting towards geography, which you find almost sickening. Such a horrible place for him to die.

“That was begging for you?”

The sound runs a shiver down your spine. The sense of familiarity is uncanny in this situation, even though you were the one that searched it out.

But there he was, sitting behind your candle, resting his hands on his knees.

He leans forward, a bit, trying to get as close as he can without overstepping the underworlds’ boundaries. “You miss me enough to contact me? Well... I should be flattered, huh?”

You laugh. The heavy weight in your throat doesn’t go away, no matter how happy you feel.

“Why do you sound so surprised? Don’t act like you don’t want to see me.” You furrow your eyebrows at the thought. He always thought your talent was a gift brought by despair. People come to you in their sadness, looking for acceptance. It uneases him a bit to think that you are desperate enough to use it to contact him.

He doesn’t respond immediately, and instead, offers you a small smile. “It’s good to see you, S/O.”

Kaede Akamatsu

With your fingers dazing over the piano, you play a every octave’s C and G. If only she lived long enough to teach you a song.

You are grateful to have known her as long as you have. She was kind, optimistic, and a bit flirty. 

Everyone knew you were close with her. You would always trail behind her, eager to assist. 

It was just something in her eyes. Something lively. She could never be a killer.

Her death wasn’t flattering to her person. Hopefully she isn’t the type of spirit that clings to this realm.

You don’t know if you could face her if she was.

“Kaede Akamatsu, come play me a song.” 

Moving your hands, you direct them to the bass section of the piano. “Please.”

The sound of the treble notes singing their tune appeared faster than her ghostly figure did.

After a second of contemplation, you find yourself leaning your shoulder against hers. It holds. 

You shake your head. “You’ve been waiting for me to call you, haven’t you?”

“Oh, of course I have! I knew you’d figure it out soon enough.”

Her blonde hair lacks its usual vibrance. 

She adds as the music stops, “I’ll be here if you ever need me, S/O. I’ll always be here for you.”

Your hands clench into fists. She did not need to stay. It almost seems unfair. 

So god damn unfair.

“If that’s what you want then I guess I’ll comply,” you nod with your eyes close. “For now, how about you teach me a song?”

“Oh?” She doesn’t add much after that. Perhaps her mind is filled with lessons to teach. Or else she is running your undoubtably passive aggressive words through her head.

“Alright,” she coos in a sing-songy voice. Her usual smile covers her phantom face. “Try and keep up!”

Angie Yonaga

“I doubt you even want to come back.” You whisper, to hardly anyone, as you sit alone in the art room. “I want to think you have been missing me. But talking to spirits isn’t a usual practice in your religion, is it? I wish you were here to educate me.”

You passion for art isn’t nearly as intense as hers. But being in this room definitely inspires you. What would she be creating if she were here right now? You mumble the question out loud, fingering the paint brushes.

“I think I’d be creating a masterful art piece of your cute little face!” She coos, spinning on her tip toes around the room. Her white hair bounces in the air like she has no problem in the world.

You stiff, watching her dance. Of course, you think, of course she is happy. It shouldn’t have surprised you.

“You think I’m cute?” You tease, turning to face her completely.

A small giggle leaves her lips as she skips up to you, touching both of your cheeks with her hands. There’s almost a feeling.

“I think your beauty is everlasting, dearest S/O.”

The heart in your chest starts beating faster, and the butterflies in your stomach grow more intense. How selfless of her. 

You shake your head, trying to relieve you constant seriousness. You should be happy, put a smile on your face for her. 

“I think your beauty is the one that is everlasting, Angie.” You tease.

Shinguuji Korekiyo

You feel almost embarrassed to call upon him. It’s a bit tasteless, isn’t it?

And a few steps below ironic.

It takes longer than it should to be able to conjure up an image of him. Based entirely on whether or not you think it’s appropriate. Will he even entertain you enough to come?

You look over to the masks on his wall before pursing your lips. He’s here.

You ask. “Are you going to say hello?”

“This is quite an occasion.”

Certainly is, you mock agree.

Without his mask, he looks extremely different. You’re not too used to seeing him like that. Bare. Exposed. And at peace. 

You hug him, arms almost phasing through his distance body. 

His eyes widen, a bit caught off guard at the affection. There no way you were not this distressed with his death? It opposed the way the two of you got along in the first place.

“My love...” he trails off, letting his bandages hands go through your hair.

There’s a moment where everything around you goes quiet. His eyes dance around his room. It doesn’t look too different. Except his bed is unmade. Have you been sleeping in it?

He continues. “You are strong. You will do well without me, I promise. Feel no burden over what has been done.”

“I don’t.” You reply, almost too quickly for his liking. “I just really wanted to see you.”

He grins, placing his hands on your shoulders to pull you back. “Then I will make this moment the best in your life.” 

Your expression relaxes, the tears fighting to appear subsiding for the moment. You nod. “Thank you.”

[the-peak-of-despair]

what if Shuichi Saihara was a victim? [v3 spoilers!]

No specific ask for this one, just something I wrote when talking to some friends about Shuichi! And if anyone asks I am literally in love with Shuichi. Please god send requests about him, I will do them as soon as I fucking can, I love him so much-

Anyway, I had a very long conversation about how Shuichi would make either a great blackened of victim [please, please please ask me about this.], so props to my friend Moodi for giving me the idea for the body discovery! She deserves love, she gave me the idea for how the body was set up! -Mod Akane

BLOOD/GORE(?) TW, BODY DISCOVERY

“I would appreciate it if you two could follow me into my lab.” Korekiyo says plainly, and if there was any emotion behind it, it was hidden behind his mask and usual cool tone.

“What are you planning, Kiyo?” Maki asks, clearly annoyed her conversation with Kaito had been interrupted by whatever the fuck Kiyo had wanted. 

“Hey, let him talk, Maki.” Kaito said, clearly concerned as he set a hand on Maki’s shoulder. Kaito didn’t figure Kiyo would ask for them to accompany him without a valid reason. “What’s up, Kiyo?” 

He took a breath. “I’m afraid it’s started again. Come, follow me.” Kiyo said, unwavering as he beckoned them with a hand. Fear struck both of them- even if Maki could mask it, and didn’t care quite as much as Kaito, they both picked up a quick pace to follow Kiyo up the stairs and towards his lab. 

“I caution you now.” Kiyo warns as he stands in front of the door to his lab, one hand on the handle to open it for Maki and Kaito. “What is in here is.. Quite gruesome.”

“Just let us in.” Maki sighs, ready to push past Kiyo if he was gonna hold this up any more.

“Shouldn’t we get Shuichi over here? Y’know, he’s my sidekick after all!” Kaito grins, trying to make the most of this awful situation he was about to witness.

“Well..” Kiyo trails off as he opens the door to his lab, and as Maki and Kaito step inside, they’re met with a gruesome sight neither of them had expected.

“SHUICHI!” Kaito screamed, running up to the body.

“Oh my god..” Maki muttered. Maki was quite used to bodies at this rate.. But Shuichi? The boy who had saved their asses in every fucking trial? The boy who hadn’t done anything wrong? A motive hadn’t even been presented yet...

In the smack middle of Kiyo’s lab, surrounded by the display cases of ancient artifacts, was a crudely constructed cross, made of old wood that was clearly about to fall apart. Shuichi had been strung up against it, his hat hung low on his head- whoever killed him must’ve gone through quite the effort to get it, that hat hadn’t been seen since Kaede’s trial- and his clothes were ruffled and in some places torn, as if a struggle had occurred. His blazer was ripped wide open, showing off his white undershirt that had been borderline dyed pink with blood. His wrists were gashed open, and within that gash stood the rope that held him against the cross in an incredibly gruesome manner. Everywhere it was visible his skin was pale, like he’d been drained of all blood and life itself.

“Oh my god, no..” Kaito trailed off, standing in front of his friend’s body. His hand was reached out, like he wanted to touch him, but the thought unnerved him to the very core, it was a cold and dead body. 

Ding - dong! 

“A body has been discovered!” Monokuma called over the monitors, not even trying to restrain his laughter. “Everyone, please gather in the Ultimate Anthropologist’s Lab!” 

Those in the lab could practically hear the other surviving classmates rushing to the lab as Kaito went to pick up the hat off Shuichi’s head. “O-Oh god..” He muttered, backing up again as he held the hat close to his chest.

Shuichi’s head was tilted down, but it was clear to see the emotions that were cemented on his face in his final moments. Pain and fear and nothing more or less coated his face, his eyes open wide in shock and pain, once bright eyes now nothing more but a dull and dead color. 

Others began to rush into the room. People like Tenko screamed in shock or fear and people like Angie tried to play it off as she always did. There was a general understanding amongst the room: Shuichi was gone. The Ultimate Detective, who guided them through every case, was gone.

“Of course they went for Shuichi.. It’s only sensible.” Maki muttered. Of course, she was used to bodies by now. Any emotion or fear she felt would have to be saved for a later date, because from this point on it was about surviving the class trial. 

“Well.. It’s obvious, K-Kiyo did it, didn’t he?” Himiko mutters, barely audible to anyone more than 3 feet away from her. 

“I know I look suspicious since he was found inside of my lab.” Kiyo states. “But I had no reason to kill Saihara.” 

“We can discuss that at the class trial.” Maki interrupted. “For now we have to focus on investigating.” 

And in that momentarily lull of noise, that’s when Monokuma popped in to present none other than the Monokuma File, passing it out to all the survivors in the room. 

‘Victim is one Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective. Victim was found in the Ultimate Anthropologist’s lab. Cause of death is a large gash to the throat. Additional external injuries are gashes to both wrists and rope burn on the legs. No internal or additional external injuries were found.” 

Maki and Kaito both sigh as they look at eachother. “There isn’t much to go off of here..” Maki trails off.

“God.. Shuichi would know what to do..” 

“There’s no time to dwell on that now.” Maki says, and it sounds almost cold, but it’s because she cares. “We need to investigate and find out what happened for Shuichi’s sake, or his and Kaede’s wishes would be for nothing.”

Kaito nods, slowly. “Yeah.. Yeah, you’re right.” And once again, that big idiotic grin is on his face. “I’m Kaito Momota, luminary of the stars! Of course I can figure this out! And Maki, you’ll be my sidekick!” 

Maki couldn’t help but begrudgingly roll her eyes as she began to follow Kaito around. She couldn’t sit back and do nothing anymore...

[threads-of-trust]

What's the question, Audi?

“...” After her eyes shift around the courtroom, they finally nestle on Monokuma. “Bear.” She calls out to the mascot. “A question. How many people must witness the body before the announcement plays?”

“Oh, a question for lil ol’ me? Ooh, how exciting! To answer your question, Aditi, the body discovery announcement plays after three people, excluding the blackened, have seen the body. This does not need to be simultaneous, either.”

"The announcement went off after me and Iyabo saw the body. That means someone else must've saw it too." Hajime pointed out. "It could've been an accomplice. That's the only way no one would report the body."

“The only way? Don’tcha think that’s a little close-minded?” Angie chided. “There could’ve been plenty of other reasons! Perhaps they were frightened by the sight of the body and ran off? Fight or flight response, y’know?”

“Yea, maybe someone who didn’t show up durin’ te whole ass investigation.” Iyabo glared at Vanessa from across the court room.

"Vanessa was in my room for the entire fucking investigation, Iyabo." Ivy snapped at Iyabo, staring her down in return. "Not only that, she was asleep the entire time. I get that you're bitter what happened yesterday, but save that for after we get this trial over with. Fucking hell."

Vanessa buried her face in her hands, still distraught over the events of yesterday. It didn't help that she had just woken up before everyone gathered for the trial, and was still tired.

“Oh really!? Yer gonna get on my case!? I’m te one who almost fuckin’ died, y’know!?” Iyabo snapped back, her hair practically frizzing up like an angry animal. “She could’ve fuckin’ left an’ came right back ‘fore hand after she saw te body. Yer te only one coverin’ fer ‘er. An’ ‘course ya would, she’s yer sister. Stop actin’ like I’m in te wrong! ‘M not! She’s a fuckin’ danger ta all of us!” She snarled.

“Oh yeah, I forgot! The robot lady did almost kill you, huh?” Putri chimed in, tilting her head to the side. Shrugging her shoulders lightly, she continued. “We have to suspect everyone, Ivy! Attempted murderers are logically a prim suspect, duh.”

"Anyway, enough about that!" Hiyoko chimed in. "The only people who wouldn't report a body that isn't an accomplice would be the blind bimbo and her right hand pal the creepy bird thing." She said, pointing at Fay and Leigh as she named them. "Did one of you go visit her and not get an answer? Huh?"

Leigh made a small face at the name, but was quick to shake their head. "No. I don't know Maisie well so I have no reason to visit her." They said with a small shrug.

Fay didn’t respond or even turn her head in Hiyoko’s direction. Spy picked up on that almost instantly, turning towards Fay with a concerned expression. "...Fay, did you open Maisie's room while you were heading down for breakfast? I know you would never kill her, but...we need to know."

The astrologist looked towards Spy’s voice, hearing the concern and her expression faltered finally. “.......... She would walk me to the diner- I... I didn’t know.. I-I...” Fay choked up and turned her head away, ruffling her hair to hide her teary eyes.

[himiko-yumehellno]

Dafaa survey results

So I had a bit of a test survey go out for Dafaa a while ago, and now it's finally time to publish the results! I will be keeping the last question mostly unpublished as I don't feel like showing off a bunch of theories people have will add much to the survey (and not everyone answered that question anyway), but I will touch on some of the popular theories I saw in a handful of reaponses. That means we have about 6.5-7 questions to go through, so without further ado, here are the results!

1. So far, who is best boy?

Kaito Momota came in with an easy win with 14 votes! Tying up 2nd place was Kiibo and Rantaro with 6 votes each, and Gonta came in 3rd with 4 votes! The rest of the boys, in descending order, are: Shuichi with 3 votes, Korekiyo with 1 vote, and Ryoma with sadly no votes at all. Not much of a surprise that our Luminary came in first, but wow, I wasn't expecting so much love for the resident supreme leader!

2. So far, who is best girl?

Much like Kaito, the winner of this question was an easy guess. Tenko Chabashira came in first with an entire 28 votes! Wow! Kaede came in 2nd with 3 votes, and Maki came in 3rd with 2 votes. Angie is the last person to get any votes at all, beating out Tsumugi, Miu, and Himiko with her 1 vote. The other girls, unfortunately, did not receive any votes at all.

3. Who are your suspected victims?

Some people did not adhere to the five person limit for this question, unfortunately. Nevertheless, here are the results:

Gonta Gokuhara came in 1st with 19 votes! In 2nd place was Shuichi, and 3rd place was a triple tie with Kiibo, Korekiyo, and Kaede all receiving 15 votes! Wow, you guys really don't expect the K names to survive, do you?

In 4th place was Angie in 14 votes; 5th place goes to Maki and Tsumugi with a tie of 13 votes each, and 6th place is Kirumi's seat with a total of 12 votes. Kaito comes in 7th with 10 votes, and that's the end of the double digit votes.

Rantaro had 6 votes, putting him in at 8th place, and in 9th place was another tie, with both Tenko and Ryoma receiving 5 votes. It appears none of you suspect me of pulling a protag switch the way Danganronpa did, because coming in at 10th place is our protagonist himself, Kokichi, with absolutely 0 votes!

4. Who are your suspected blackeneds?

Again, not everyone adhered to the 5 maximum votes rule, but it's alright, because not everyone voted up to 5 people. Just don't do it in the future, alright?

In first place we have a tie; Korekiyo and Angie both received 18 votes! Korekiyo was not a surprise, but I wonder what it is that's resulting in so much suspicion thrown Angie's way... Hmm... ;)

2nd place goes to Rantaro with 17 votes (how ironic for the "not suspicious" boi), and 3rd place is – wow! Yet another tie! I never would have expected that! /s Ryoma and Tsumugi both received 16 votes for being suspected blackeneds.

Up next is our second three way tie, as Kirumi, Maki, and Kaito all received 12 points, putting them all in 4th place. 5th place goes to Shuichi with 10 votes, which, wow, I was not expecting as a result! You all really do like the idea of him snapping and killing, huh?

Moving right along to 6th place, we have Kaede with 4 votes! Our main side characters, Kaito and Tenko, received 3 votes each, putting them in 7th, and Gonta brings up 8th place with just 2 votes. Once again, Kokichi has received no votes, but at least this time he's in 9th place instead of 10th!

5. Who do you suspect is the mastermind?

We have quite the surprise for first place, because it seems a lot of people jumped into the idea that... Kaede Akamatsu is the mastermind! Coming in at 1st place with nine votes... I knew at least one person suspected she might be the mastermind, but I didn't expect so many people would suspect her! Who would have thought, you know?

Next up in 2nd place is a much more expected result: Tsumugi received 8 votes! 3rd place went to Shuichi with 7 votes, but I wasn't as surprised by this result as I knew very well just what details may have left to this suspicion. These three took the lead in this question by far, with the other results not coming close to their numbers.

In 4th place we have Kaito and Kirumi with 2 votes, and 5th place was our biggest tie yet, with Maki, Kiibo, Angie, Ryoma, Rantaro, and even Kokichi receiving 1 vote each! The rest of the students did not receive any votes. But hey, good on Kokichi for finally receiving a vote for once!

6. Which character do you think has or will have the most tragic death?

Poor, poor students of mine... Tenko Chabashira came in 1st place with 10 votes, really showing just how much you all expect the death of one of our most beloved characters in this fanfic. I don't blame you, but I can't help but wonder – how soon do you all think she will die...?

2nd place went to our antagonist Kiibo, with 6 votes! I suppose antags do tend to die a lot, don't they? 3rd place brought us Shuichi with 5 votes, and isn't that an interesting comparison with the mastermind suspect numbers?

In 4th place was Kaito and Gonta with 4 votes each; 5th place went to Kokichi with 3 votes (do you guys think I'll kill off my main character or not?!), and in 6th place with 1 vote each was Miu and Rantaro. Miu is the only one out of this list who has actually died yet, so that was interesting to see! Himiko, Maki, Tsumugi, Korekiyo, Angie, Kirumi, Ryoma, and Kaede all received 0 votes (sorry Himiko).

7. Do you have any theories?

A lot of people talked about the theory of the killing game being virtual reality, which was fun to see. VR is a popular theory for canon as well, so I suppose it makes sense! Many people mentioned the possibility of Team Danganronpa being behind the time loop, as well as Kokichi being bigender, both of which are ideas I've enjoyed seeing in my comments. It's just so fun to see people discuss what could happen, and seeing certain theories become popular is especially fun! It makes me sad that I can't explain the answers to some of your questions until the very end of the fic, or at the very least for a very long number of chapters... I hope you all will be patient with me as the fic goes on!

—

There you have it, everyone! The results of every question in the first ever survey of DAFAA! Thank you to all who participated. Have a great day!

[takonei]

Beta AU - Main story, Chapter 3, deadly life (Part 3)

Note of the author: *breathes in* LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOO

Chapter 3: What is beyond humans’ control - Deadly life

...

Monokuma explained the rules of the class trial as usual.

Shuichi was starting to remember them by heart, which was not a good thing.

He nervously glanced at Kokichi, who was now the first person to his left. He was exactly like when they had found Keebo dead earlier.

Gaze kept to the ground, unwilling to look at anyone in the eye, and a dreadful expression of guilt on his face.

“I’m suggesting we talk about Himiko first, since she is our top priority.” Tsumugi started.

“Agreed. The sooner we solve this atrocity, the better.” Kiyo confirmed.

“Is it really useful to talk about the murder weapon?” Kaito asked. “I mean there were so many of them back in the shrine...”

“Well, from what I’ve seen from the autopsy there are a few things that could be discussed.” Rantaro replied.

“There is something I would like to ask first.” Tsumugi raised a hand, interrupting Rantaro.

“What is it?�� Shuichi turned to the girl.

“How was the motive handled by all of you?” she asked.

“Ryoma, Kokichi and you were placed in the three empty rooms on the fourth floor, that the others had equipped for you to be comfortable while things calmed down.” Rantaro explained.

“Since taking care of patients in emergency situations is literally my talent, I volunteered to be the one in charge alone so the others wouldn’t risk getting infected as well.”

“Since I was trained to stay half awake and on guard, that included me resting on a chair in front of your rooms in case something went wrong.”

She nodded, but looked incredibly skeptic. “I see.”

Ryoma crossed his arms. “If you have something to say about the way we were handled, then perhaps now isn’t the time to complain.”

Tsumugi shook her head. “No. I’m talking about something else.” She fiddled with a lock of her hair. “We can all agree that all the weapons came from different labs, correct?”

Shuichi nodded. “Yes, the scissors came from Maki’s lab, we have some tools from Angie’s and Rantaro’s labs, knives from Kirumi’s lab and even darts from Kokichi’s lab.”

"Then something doesn’t quite make sense.”

“What doesn’t? The killer went to the labs to take them! We all saw how they were all messed up during the investigation!” Miu countered.

“No I mean...” the prodigy narrowed her eyes. “Rantaro was the one guarding our rooms in case something went wrong, right?” She turned to the medic.

“My question is, how did the killer even managed to get all those weapons without Rantaro noticing anything?”

Shuichi’s heart skipped a beat.

“What?” he instinctively said.

Rantaro sighed. “I wanted to stay silent until the trial so whoever did this would have less time to think of an excuse in case they thought I wouldn’t notice it but...”

“... I believe I was drugged last night.”

Kirumi raised an eyebrow. “You ‘believe’? Did you or did you not get drugged last night?”

He crossed his arms on his podium. “It means I didn’t feel someone physically injecting me something, but I’m sure as hell whatever dinner you gave me had soporifics in it.”

“Huh??” Miu’s eyes widened in confusion.

“Hold on. What happened to you last night?” Ryoma gestured to the others to let him speak.

“Miu and Shuichi gave me dinner for the ill ones and me. You two can testify to that.” he explained.

Shuichi nodded. “Well, Kirumi prepared the meals and asked us to bring them to you, so we did.”

Angie put her elbows on her podium, head in her palms. “Kirumi prepared those meals? Pretty suspicious~”

“Let Rantaro finish his testimony.” Kiyo requested.

“Thank you.” Rantaro nodded. “You two gave me three of those meals to give to the sick ones and Shuichi put one of them in my lab for me to grab after I make sure they eat properly.”

Shuichi now realized how suspicious he looked. Was Rantaro doubting him? He wouldn’t even be mad if that was the case, considering how many times he doubted the medic.

“I... I promise I didn’t do anything-”

“Let him finish his testimony.” Ryoma glared at him.

After a short silence, Rantaro continued. “Once the three finished, I went back to my lab to eat, and so I did. After that I took time to wash the dishes and disinfect them.”

He clenched his fists resting on the podium. “But by the time I was done, I was starting to feel tired and I believe I collapsed in the stairs between the third and the fourth floor.”

Tsumugi slightly tilted her head. “Is there anything that could prove your testimony? You could be babbling lies for all we know. Even though you made your intentions very clear last trial, understand that I will only believe you if you show some evidence of the incident.”

“Actually I can!” Miu put her hands on the podium.

Shuichi understood what she meant.

“That’s right... Didn’t you say you found Rantaro sleeping in his lab this morning?”

The street artist nodded. “He was sleeping in his lab and not on the chair in front of the rooms on the fourth floor!”

“Are you saying this was a set-up by the killer to incriminate Rantaro?” Kiyo pondered.

“Drugging the one taking care of others? That’s a low blow...” Angie noted.

“Could you explain your reasoning in more details? This is a rather weak argument in my opinion. Rantaro could have taken the second chair to his lab.” Tsumugi asked.

Upon a quick glance, Shuichi could see the medic’s nails digging into the wooden podium. Considering her attitude last trial, she wouldn’t stop accusing Rantaro for a while.

“When I brought dinner in Rantaro’s lab yesterday, there weren’t any chairs at all in the room. I’m sure of it.” Shuichi explained. “What did the chair look like?”

“It looked like one of the chairs in Kirumi’s lab.”

“My lab?” Kirumi repeated.

“Definitely from your lab.”

The mercenary pondered for a moment. “I was in my lab until nighttime to do my regular cleaning. And no chairs were missing, I’m sure of it.”

Tsumugi continued her interrogation. “And when exactly was the dinner brought to the Despair disease group?”

“It was around 7 PM, I think?” Miu turned to Shuichi.

“I would say between 7:00 PM and 7:30 PM.” the violinist confirmed.

Kaito looked at his monopad. “But if Kirumi was in her lab he couldn’t have taken it!”

“So if Rantaro didn’t take it between after dinner and the nighttime announcement I think we can safely say that he actually never did.” Shuichi concluded.

Tsumugi stayed silent for a second.

“... Not the strongest argument, but we cannot afford to be picky about this for now.”

Rantaro let out a small sigh of relief. At least the prodigy seemed to have learned since last trial.

Angie tapped her cheek with a finger. “But the killer would have to put the soporific in Rantaro’s plate specifically, right? Which means...”

She turned to Shuichi, tilting her head to the side. “... That whoever put the plate in Rantaro’s lab was the one to do it.”

“In other words, you, Shuichi.”

His heart skipped a beat. Everyone’s eyes were on him.

“I- um...”

He had never been accused directly by someone. Last time, Ryoma had suspected a whole group including him, but direct accusation felt different.

He hated it.

Ryoma, Tsumugi and Angie’s accusatory glares sent chills down his spine.

Miu and Kaito waited for his answer with worry on their faces. Like they wanted to believe he didn’t do it. It was his idea to go in Rantaro’s lab by himself to put the plate here. Was Miu staying silent for his sake?

Kirumi, Kiyo and Rantaro were unreadable. It was clear that they didn’t care who was the blackened. They only wanted to stay alive at all costs, which was understandable.

But upon a quick glance, even though Shuichi was accused of killing Himiko of all people, Kokichi wasn’t even looking at him, and he could understand even less what he was thinking.

Was Kokichi wondering something?

He pushed that idea aside. He had to find a good defense, quick.

“I-”

“I don’t know why you think that, but Rantaro wasn’t the only one to get drugged yesterday.”

Everyone suddenly turned to the source of the voice.

Kokichi.

“... What?”

“Yesterday after Rantaro gave me dinner I felt tired and fell asleep soon after.” he said in a low voice.

“So all the plates were drugged after all?” Kaito voiced.

“Now hold on a second.” Tsumugi frowned. “You remember what happened while you had the disease?”

“So you don’t remember either, Tsumugi.” Ryoma confirmed.

She brought up an important point. If those two had no memory of the last few days, how could Kokichi be the only one to remember?

Kokichi looked at Tsumugi with confused eyes. “You... Don’t...?”

It’s true that he hadn’t been there when Tsumugi informed them about this. But the situation felt strange.

“So you just had a fever after all?” Rantaro asked.

Shuichi thought about the day the disease appeared.

...

“W-wait…”

Kokichi raised his hand. “I d-don’t really know… M-Maybe I’m wrong but… I feel like I have it t-too…”

Himiko jumped. “Huh? Really?”

He nodded. “I… I feel dizzy a-and my head is spinning… But I don’t feel any mental change s-so I’m not sure.”

Rantaro approached him and put the palm of his hand on the small boy’s forehead. “You’re feverish. We shouldn’t take any risks.”

...

“I don’t know... Maybe but I... Don’t really know...” Kokichi muttered.

Shuichi may not be the best at reading people, but it was easy to see that the shock, the grief was getting to him to the point of not feeling like doing anything.

That there was no point in continuing.

An atrocious feeling of pure despair.

Kirumi pondered. “We know someone put soporifics in the meals. At least we’re getting somewhere.”

Tsumugi crossed her arms. “I still don’t exclude Rantaro as a suspect since there was a possibility he didn’t want us possibly interrupting him.”

Rantaro rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’m not even trying to convince you anymore.”

“That means we can exclude the ill ones as suspects, right?” Kaito asked.

“I wouldn’t say so that soon.” Tsumugi replied. “Rantaro was still the only one to look after us. Sneaking out was definitely a possibility.”

“That includes you, doesn’t it?” Angie asked.

“It also includes Ryoma and Kokichi. I know better than to exclude myself as a suspect to the price of excluding the culprit as well.”

Shuichi glanced at the other two in question. Ryoma was pretty unlikely considering how he acted the morning he got the disease.

And Kokichi... He was still a mystery. But if he really was the culprit, why would he defend Rantaro and him?

It wouldn’t make sense, but this was not out of the question.

If only they knew what Kokichi even had. That would at least help them understanding the situation.

“Say, Kokichi, do you still feel feverish?” Rantaro raised an eyebrow. He seemed to be wondering the same.

“Not really... I feel awful but... Not physically.” he mumbled. “I’m just tired.”

“If his symptoms stopped right after Himiko died, then surely he had the disease, right?” Angie questioned.

“That’s most likely, but Rantaro, can you confirm the lack of mental change for him?” Kirumi added.

“Nope. No mental change, I’m sure of it.” he answered.

“Is this really important, though?” Tsumugi asked. “We’re straying away from our objective he-”

“How about I spice things up for a change?” Monokuma interrupted.

Angie looked confused. “Spice things up...?”

“I am suggesting you all a deal!”

Shuichi frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Here’s the deal. If you investigate Keebo’s death, which I doubt any of you will do by yourself in this class trial, I will reveal Karma boy’s condition!”

Kiyo looked unimpressed. “... You just admitted the two deaths were not linked in the slightest.”

The bear started sweating. “That’s- Not-”

“It’s not like we didn’t expect it.” Ryoma rolled his eyes.

“Hey! I can’t let you do a class trial with two deaths without any of you investigating the second!” the bear yelled.

The group exchanged glances.

“What do we do...? Is it really that important?” Shuichi pondered.

“If Monokuma suggests telling us that probably means something.” Kiyo put a finger on his chin.

The group started arguing whether or not it was a good idea.

“My, my... Am I hearing a split opinion?” Monokuma put his paws on his mouth.

“I swear I’m going to break this bear into pieces one day.” Ryoma muttered under his breath.

Monokuma placed the key in the lock and turning it.

The podiums started elevating, creating two sides.

This was the third time this happened, and yet Shuichi really couldn’t get used to getting so high in the air, holding onto the podium as hard as he could.

The podiums separated into two sides.

Is Keebo’s death worth investigating?

On the left, Rantaro, Tsumugi, Kirumi, Miu and Kaito. It’s not worth it!

On the right, Ryoma, Shuichi, Kokichi, Kiyo and Angie. It’s worth it!

Scrum debate, start!

Tsumugi: The two deaths are unrelated. We only need to find the first killer!

Ryoma: Because the two deaths are unrelated doesn’t mean Keebo doesn’t deserve justice.

Kirumi: Even if Monokuma reveals what Kokichi’s condition was, I doubt this will truly be useful for this case.

Kokichi: At least I want to know what my condition was...

Miu: But if the two are unrelated, what kind of hints would it give us?

Kiyo: If Monokuma makes a deal with us about it, then it’s probably an important hint.

Kaito: Monokuma could be lying to us for all we know!

Angie: Monokuma is loyal to his rules, lying wouldn’t be good for him~~

Rantaro: There is still a time limit. We can debate about this after the trial is over!

Shuichi: There is a chance Monokuma will give us hints about Keebo’s death as well if we do it during this trial!

The podiums went back to normal.

“Please guys... I know we shouldn’t agree with Monokuma but we could miss a major hint...”

The other group glanced at each other.

Rantaro sighed. “We don’t have a choice, do we?”

Monokuma chimed in. “Nope! You guys will investigate on both deaths! I’m just offering you a nice reward if you do it now!”

The medic glared at the bear for a second. “... Alright. Then it’s for the best.”

“We have to investigate Keebo’s death.”

[serendipitous-posts]

Sometimes, when I’m bored, I like to imagine a world where Rantarou and Kaede both survived, and the two team up with Ouma and Shuichi respectively, becoming two rival teams that basically become the schools two cliques, dragging everyone else in.

Because I love the idea of factions in Danganronpa and platonic(?) Oumami

Kaede and Shuichi’s relationship doesn’t really change; it basically stays as is

Whenever Shuichi lies to try and catch someone out, Kaede will usually back him up

There is a lot of tension after the whole ‘shotput ball’ incident, but they make up after a bit, because, y’know, literal life or death situation 

She’s very supportive, defending him from others and as such Shuichi is slightly more confident

But, in turn, he’s also quieter, shyer. He doesn’t have to be the leader, because Kaede is here. He’s the follower. 

He’s probably not as close to Kaito in this verse, since Kaito and Kaede hit it off so well. Oh, he’s still invited to their training sessions, but Kaede and Kaito are naturally closer than Shuichi and Kaito, with Maki and Kaito being the closest

Amami and Ouma would have probably gotten along great if given the chance

Oh, sure, you may not think so at first, with how chill and laid back Amami is compared to Ouma 

But, like

Rantaro canonically doesn’t trust anyone, and thinks trusting anyone in this situation is the dumbest possible thing to do

It’s also implied that Ouma was especially interested in Rantarou, even to the point of entering his lab, all because he knew something was off about him

So

Ouma knows that there has to be something special about Amami- why else wipe his mind?

He’s also pretty sure that Amami isn’t the mastermind, because why would the mastermind draw attention to himself like that?

But Kokichi is a paranoid bastard, and so settles for needling him any chance he can

Meanwhile, Rantarou’s survivor instincts (tm) are going ham, telling him that Ouma is planning something, and that he’s probably not the mastermind, because the mastermind wouldn’t be so obvious and seclude themselves

Probably

Despite this, the two don’t create an alliance until much later on.

Kaito and Kaede probably drive the two nuts. It’s a lot subtler in Rantarou, but their continued insistence that everyone should stay together and not suspect anyone, basically dancing on strings for the Mastermind, is fucking infuriating for Amami especially

In fact, as I’m thinking about it, had Rantarou survived for longer, he would have really hated Shuichi. It’s an odd thought, but the fact that Shuichi never really looked into the possibility of a mastermind, or one of the students being behind it until the very end, would have pissed the Survivor off to no end

(No offence, Shui, I love you so much. But, like, Kirigiri was investigating that possibility from the very beginning. Step it up, emo boy)

Anyways, Rantarou and Ouma would both be annoyed by Kaito and Kaede, though Amami chooses to show it through subtler means, usually by giving them vaguely threatening advice before walking off

Eventually, Amami says out loud, with Ouma in earshot “they are going to get themselves killed” and Kokichi is just like

“rIGHT?!?!?”

They start to bond over this shared exasperation, sharing looks and complaining to each other when they’re alone, but they still don’t trust each other yet.

I think Rantarou would be the first one to extend the hand of friendship; not by telling Kokichi his secret, but by showing him the bookshelf, and explaining his theory

So Kokichi and Rantarou go to check it out, and the shotput ball trick fails, as it does in canon, but Shirogane doesn’t attack Rantarou because now Kokichi is with him

Instead, the two hastily retreat, because they know a DEATH THREAT when they see one

They go back to Amami’s room, and Kokichi is too freaked out to even freak out about being in someone elses room, vulnerable, during a killing game, because what the hell was that-

The two go back and forth for a while, trying to figure out what the hell just happened, and eventually realise that that must of have been a trap set by the mastermind

“Pretty shitty trap” Kokichi jokes weakly, but Rantarou still laughs a little

Meanwhile, Kaede and Shuichi’s side of things, Kaede realises her shot-put ball trap failed, but doesn’t say anything

The cameras are checked and-

There Are TwO mAsTeRmInDs?!?!

They are, understandably baffled. Shuichi cautiously suggests that maybe, like them, Rantarou and Kokichi found the secret door which-

Kaede denies. It can’t be true. It can’t. Because if it is-

She glances at her shotput ball, then looks away before Shuichi can see what she’s looking at

Instead, she suggests that they bring it up in front of everyone, to see if they can explain themselves

And boy, can they

Even as Shuichi and Kaede lay all of these things out for all to see, Amami and Kokichi are dead silent, glaring at the two

And Kaede feels her hopes start to rise; maybe she was right. Maybe this entire thing can end, right here, right now

And then Amami starts talking

It’s weird; it looked like Kokichi was going to at first, but then he and Amami’s eyes met, and he steps back and allows the green haired boy to speak

It is the first case of silent understanding and trust between the two

Amami carefully explains what happened, how he found the door, and showed it to Kokichi

Since he’s the one explaining, and not Kokichi, nobody is quick to accuse him of lying, but Shuichi does cross examine him a bit- why Kokichi? Why not tell anyone else?

And the bitch goes off

“Look, I’m all for the optimism here guys, but the fact of the matter is, we are a bunch of strangers being forced into an enclosed space, prodded with sticks, and being told to kill each other. Sorry if I’m not exactly trusting any of you.”

Kaito sputters for a bit, gesturing towards the grinning Ouma “and you trust him.”

Amami eyes him for a moment “yes” he says, surprising himself “he’s the only one here talking sense.”

Protests all around, but Rantarou speaks over them all “the fact that the door was in the library tells us that somebody is working for Monokuma and that that somebody is in the building.”

Kaito raises a fist, ready for anything “really? Well, lets go find them then!”

“You idiot” Maki mutters “he means that whoever is working for Monokuma has to be one of us.”

“Well, duh!” Kokichi sticks out his tongue and gestures towards Kaede and Shuichi “they think so too! That’s why they set up the camera, to catch the Mastermind”

Then his expression darkens, and he’s almost whispering when he says “you wanna tell ‘em what else you set up?”

Shuichi is really, really confused, and Kaede is really, really scared, because now she realises just how badly she screwed up

When Kokichi and Rantarou explain what happen, Shuichi immediately interjects, saying that they didn’t do that, that it must have been the master-

He notices how quiet Kaede has gone. She’s pale, and her eyes are watery, and-

And she admits it

She admits what she did

And- damn

Kokichi and Rantaro didn’t think Kaede had done it.

What follows is an hour long argument. The group basically fights over the two basic ideologies of the killing game

No Kaede shouldn’t have done that, but wasn’t killing the mastermind the right thing to do? Should they really trust everyone, especially as one of them could be working with Monokuma? So what you want to just turn on eachother? That would be playing into his hands!

They don’t even notice when the time runs out, and Monokuma rushes in to tell them all that he’s not going to kill them all, that would be too painless, but warns them

“I’m being super duper nice, letting you off with a warning this time around, but don’t think it’ll happen again. Even I can’t be that sweet!”

(Realistically, they wouldn’t kill everyone off after only one episode, it would be a hassle and a half to reopen auditions and find a new location and it would really disappoint the fans, so, no, I don’t think Monokuma was ever actually planning on killing them all off. But they didn’t know that.)

And now our ragtag bunch of misfits basically splinter off into two separate factions.

One faction, basically lead by Kaede and Shuichi, believes in keeping the peace, and trying to stop the killings before they happen, to keep distrust as low as possible to avoid a blackened situation and values things like optimism

Their members include; Kaito, Kiibo, Himiko, Tenko, Angie and Tsumugi

(I think Tsumugi would like to be in the other faction, so she could keep an eye on Amami, but is also scared that they’ll see through her)

Meanwhile, the other, lead by Ouma and Amami, believes in finding out which one is the mastermind, of not playing into the masterminds games and values things like pragmatism

Their members include; Maki, Miu, Korekiyo, Gonta (kind of? He just follows Kokichi), Hoshi and Kirumi

Both sides have equal points in their favour, and both sides are flawed

Basically, it’s highschool cliques all over again

I’m absolutely going to come back to this again when I have the chance

[imaginedanganronpa]

While also doing some headcanons on Singer Leon, Barista Nagito, Masseuse Kirumi and Navigator Angie? Now we’ve got our cast together!

This is the last of the Talent Swap AU Requested, the other two parts can be found Here and Here! This was a fun Cast, I hope you enjoy!

Talent-Swap AU: Ultimate Singer Leon Kuwata, Ultimate Barista Nagito Komaeda, Ultimate Masseuse Kirumi Tojo & Ultimate Navigator Angie Yonaga!

Ultimate Singer Leon Kuwata

While Leon has always admired musicians and musical artists, he never thought he had what it took to become one himself. His family always pushed him towards other hobbies, mainly athletics and sports, but he was never nearly as drawn to those.

Leon is a hot-blooded and fiery teenager and his family wanted him to get into sports so that he could harness that energy. Leon complied for a short time, mainly because the athletes in his school attracted the attention of the ladies, but quickly realized that that isn’t what he wanted to do.

His cousin, Kanon, was the only one who he felt like he could confide in and she opened him up to music. She dabbled in music herself so she had the resources available for him when he was ready to try.

She could see the natural knack Leon had for music since he picked it up right away, but what he really wanted to do was sing.

From that point on, Kanon helped him with his vocal lessons in secret while he continued to pretend like he had interest in sports. Leon was always too insecure in his musical abilities despite what his cousin said and was unsure of how to bring it up to his family.

When he finally did land a gig at a local restaurant is also when he finally told his family he wanted to leave sports for music. Originally, they didn’t support Leon since music isn’t a ‘promised’ career, and he argued that sports wasn’t, either. This didn’t discourage him, though, because he was too passionate about it to quit now.

His family still came to his first show to support him, and that’s when he was scouted by a Hope’s Peek Academy recruiter who happened to be in the audience. 

They were floored when Leon was given a spot in the infamous Academy that night for his natural ability for music and singing. His voice was very versatile - Leon could master any kind of genre and proved that at his show. He could preform raspy punk and rock songs, mellow acoustic, upbeat pop, twangy country, and so on. It was a skill that not many people had, and it was even more impressive since it was his first ever live performance.

He gained the support of his family after his admission into Hope’s Peak, and while Leon jokes about ‘only being in it for the groupies,’ you can tell how much he loves it because of how alive he looks on stage.

Leon is an optimist who always wanted to improve his skills. He hired Kanon as his manager and started touring, gaining a massive fan-base right out of the gate and at such a young age.

After being stuck in the Killing Game, Leon panics since he’s just started his career and didn’t want to lose it all right away. That optimistic personality started to crumble and he struggled to maintain his appearance, losing himself in the Game.

A lot of the others pegged Leon as a potential Blackened, but he soon mellowed out and became a more cooperative member during the Investigations and Trials. Although, he may not take the Killing Game as seriously as he should and flirts with the ladies, sometimes offering to sing them to sleep.

This really isn’t the time or place for that.

Ultimate Barista Nagito Komaeda

Nagito just seems like the kind of person who would work as a Barista.

During his childhood, his family hit a patch of debt after struggling to pay for his medical bills. As a result, he burned through too many odd jobs to count, having a handful of different jobs at a time and always changing work places.

The one place that really stuck with Nagito, though, was his local little cafe. He was always told that he had the ‘face’ of the coffee shop which simply attracted customers naturally. However, he was polite, shy, and a little bit insecure.

Nagito was so good at his job that he got transferred to a higher-up place owned by the same company. Here, they not only served coffee and sweets, but also alcoholic drinks. He’s technically not allowed to serve those, but Nagito was such a remarkable and valuable employee that they gave him a pass. He became the youngest employee they ever hired which spoke volumes.

It came easily to him - he had frequent costumers coming just to see him, and Nagito always remembered everyone’s name due to his sharp memory; he was also good at charming his customers which adds to his appeal. On top of that, he was talented at making the beautiful, intricate designs in the drinks that became his mark.

His bright smile attracted people to him. Nagito had a friendly face that seemed to welcome even those who didn’t drink alcohol or coffee. His talent for bringing people into the shop was credited to be one of his greatest strengths and was not overlooked by Hope’s Peak Academy.

The bright smile and iconic laughter of his is what brought people to him, and he became like a local celebrity. Everyone knew about Nagito and the shop in which he worked, which in turn brought in tons of revenue for his workplace.

He never intended for this to be his full-time job, but he still loved it. Nagito thrived in the shop’s atmosphere and really knew how to work with people. The tips alone that he made in a single day would surpass that of even his paycheck, which is practically unheard of.

Unbeknownst to Nagito, one of his frequent customers was a recruiter from Hope’s Peak who didn’t reveal their affiliation with the school right away. They offered him a spot in the program as the Ultimate Barista in person after several months of watching him, and he graciously accepted right away.

In his mind, Nagito believed that this would help his family greatly. 

He was the kind of student who always brought a large coffee to class, and it was almost always a new drink he created. He loved mixing flavors and recipes to concoct his own drinks, which he would then serve to his friends and customers as free samples. Eventually, the menu became almost entirely his creations. He’d also wear his work’s apron as a normal fashion statement, especially to class.

In the Killing Game, Nagito would offer to make drinks for everyone to uplift their spirits, promising that his secret recipe would always brighten their day.

He tries to remain calm and be as helpful as possible during the Trials and Investigations, but he’s genuinely terrified of the Killing Game. He doesn’t want to die here and becomes determined to find the Mastermind, although his insecurity flares and he feels as though he won’t be able to help and sees his talent as pointless and useless in the Game compared to some of the other Ultimates.

Ultimate Masseuse Kirumi Tojo

As a young woman, Kirumi is refined, mature, and polite. She had very high expectations placed on her by her family which she strives towards adhering to.

They always pressured her into going into something that had to do with the medical field, or any career where she would be successful. This never really appealed to Kirumi but she was terrified of letting down her family and wasting her own intelligence.

She studied the human body extensively and always found the muscles and veins to be particularly interesting. Kirumi gave her first massage to one of her relatives while reciting the different muscles and areas of the body, only to accidentally put them to sleep.

This alarmed her at first, until she realized that it was just due to her massage. Kirumi was told that that was the best feeling they have ever received and praised her for her work, although that wasn’t her intention.

From then on, she continued to offer her services to friends and family, realizing that she had a natural skill for massages. All of her clients left feeling weightless and invigorated, as if they could do anything.

It became more of a hobby until her family started referring Kirumi to professionals and business-people. She was told that her hands could lift the stress from anyone’s shoulders - one of her clients happened to be a Hope’s Peak Academy recruit, who offered her a spot due to her impeccable talent for massages, as the Ultimate Masseuse.

Kirumi was going to decline until her family pushed her in the other direction. Although it wasn’t the path they originally intended for her, a student at Hope’s Peak Academy was guaranteed success in life no matter what, and that’s all they wanted for her.

Overall, she is very selfless and cares deeply about others. Her massages were designed to get the blood flowing - she was even rumored to be able to change the direction of one’s blood-flow, even just temporarily. Kirumi started giving massages to world-class athletes before and after games, and they made a world of difference.

She became famous for her ‘magical hands’ and she started to fall in love with her talent; she had a long list of regular clients and thrived with success, just as a teenager.

Kirumi can lower fatigue and improve one’s physical and mental abilities with her massages, almost like magic. No one, not even herself at times, knows how she does it.

In the Killing Game, Kirumi would offer her services to help the others de-stress in the high stakes situation. While the others worried that this may make her susceptible to being killed, she didn’t mind, as long as she helped others. That was her ultimate goal in life.

She is very classy and has set rules for her massages, very picky about who she will give them to.

And in the Killing Game, she will be very generous and polite. Even during the climax of the Trials, Kirumi is very level-headed and calm. The deaths and executions never seem to really faze her due to her relaxed personality, which calms the rest of the Ultimates as well.

Ultimate Navigator Angie Yonaga

Angie has always had a passion and need for traveling, even when she was just a young girl. 

She is also a very spiritual person and traveled in a group of faith tourists and missionaries that her parents were a part of, spreading the word of her religion and her God, Atua. While Angie did love spreading her faith, she more-so got a kick out of the traveling aspect of faith-tourism.

She has always had a renowned sense of direction. When she used to travel in a group, Angie could tell by just the wind alone which direction they were traveling in. 

Because of her raw talent, they never got lost. Once, she saved them from walking in circles for hours in an unfamiliar rural area, before her group could have passed out, or worse, from starvation and dehydration.

When asked how she did that, she would always have a smile on her face and insist that, “I just knew!” 

She has also claimed that Atua told her where to go and that she is his vessel, as he will “Always lead me in the right direction!” She is someone who is very in-tune with nature as well, which is a part of her talent.

It doesn’t matter if she is on land, air, or sea, Angie will always be able to navigate an area despite never being there before. She has spent time with pilots, helping direct them to new countries and grew up around fishermen and boat-captains who would bring her along their missions so she could navigate to the most plentiful fishing and treasure spots.

Once again, Angie simply insists that Atua tells her what the right path is. She says she just gets a feeling, and she has never been wrong. Perhaps that’s what makes her an Ultimate.

But her family worried that, while her talent was unmistakable, she would never be able to make a living off navigation. Despite that, Angie only wanted to see the world and that was her biggest goal in life.

So, she set foot on her own journey and sailed the sea until she arrived in Japan, her intended destination. While it may look like she was simply wandering aimlessly, she knew exactly where she was going.

Angie has heard of Hope’s Peak Academy before and easily found her way to the school where she presented her case as the Ultimate Navigator. The school was a bit hesitant at first, but after proving herself, they gladly offered her a spot in their program.

She is a strong believer that traveling is good for the soul and thinks that everyone should go out and try new things. The world is a big, wide, open area full of uncharted territory and beautiful places.

And she has a passport that is full of stamps from her different traveling destinations, and a journal where she scribbles down everything about her adventures. Angie carries a compass, although she doesn’t really need it, and a map in one of her pockets. She also keeps her hair up in a tight ponytail.

In the Killing Game, she is accidentally peppy and positive, not believing in its seriousness until the first murder occurs, mistaking it for a cultural event in Japan. Still, Angie does her best to keep everyone in good spirits.

But she hates the feeling of being trapped in the school and desperately wants to escape since her adventures are far from over. She is tempted to break the rules and explore the ‘off-limits’ areas of the Killing Game, navigating through the restricted areas, but decides against it because she is determined to survive this.

- Mod Rantaro

[kawaiikichi]

See You on the Other Side (3/5)

Part three of five of my Saiouma Day one-shot! Okay, I literally underestimated how long it would take me to finish writing this along with how long it was going to be. So, that’s why it’s being posted tonight rather than last night.

So, there will be more canon divergence (who doesn’t love canon divergence)! It will diverge from canon after the double murder in chapter three.

I hope you guys like it! :)

Title: See You on the Other Side

Summary: The world works as such: everyone has a soulmate that they must find before either one of them dies. If one of them dies, the other person will become stuck in a loop, starting from a specific moment in time. However, the soulmate indicator changes each time and gradually becomes harder to recognize. This will continue until they find their soulmate.

Now that Shuichi knows for certain that Kokichi is his soulmate, he will stop at nothing to try and break the loop. But no matter how hard he tries, even going so far as to convincing Monobear to put off the third classroom trial until the next day, a bigger force is determined to stop him from getting Kokichi to acknowledge and accept him as his soulmate...

Soulmate Indicator: Tattooed on your arm is the last words that your soulmate says to you before they die. The tattoo will disappear once the soulmate has died. As the words disappear, a tingling sensation along with immense pain follows.

Notes: This is a mashup of both soulmate and time loop AUs; there are many rules that are put into place in this particular universe; some parts will be longer than others due to how much content needs to be covered (particularly Loop #4)

Warnings: Major canon divergence (ex. an additional rule being added to the handbook), character death; read at your own risk!

Links down below:

♾ First ♾

♾ Previous ♾

♾ Next ♾

Continue reading under the cut!

♾ Ｌｏｏｐ ３ Ｓｔａｒｔ ♾

Again, the detective was confused by the change in events.

He was waiting for them to rush to Kaede’s research lab and find Himiko’s dead body among the music sheets scattered on the floor.

He was waiting for Angie to be revealed as the culprit and be dragged to her execution.

He was waiting for Tenko and Korekiyo to fall into their comas from the shock of losing their soulmates.

So, why was it that it never happened?

Why did it go back to what happened during the first loop, with Rantaro being murdered in the library and Kaede being the culprit?

Shuichi dropped down onto the bed, running a hand through his hair.

This is too confusing...just what is going on here, he asked himself.

He rose his hand up, observing the tattoo that had appeared on his arm.

People will start to think you’re in love with me, Saihara-chan.

This phrase...does he say this to me or something, he asked himself.

He let his hand drop back down to his side.

“I guess I’ll have to wait and see...” he muttered under his breath.

He turned over on his side, blinking tiredly at the door. The nighttime announcement began to play as the lights turned off in the room. He found himself drifting off to sleep as the nighttime announcement came to an end.

💜💜💜💜

The third murder investigation came upon them quicker than Shuichi had expected. Everyone had split up and begin to investigate both the art room and the middle room, where Angie and Tenko’s bodies laid.

Shuichi had finished checking the floorboards as he noticed a bottle laying on the ground.

He furrowed his brows at this.

“What in the...? A bottle?” he wondered out loud.

He walked over to the bottle and picked it up.

“Did you find something?” Maki called out to him.

“Ah...” he turned, watching as she made her way over to him. “Yeah. I just happened to find this bottle on the floor.” he said.

“A bottle?” she questioned, quirking a brow in confusion.

She stopped beside him, taking the bottle from him and observing it.

“It’s empty...not only that, there’s no label on it.” she stated.

“That’s strange. Why was there a bottle in here, to begin with?” Shuichi asked.

“I wouldn’t know. What I’m curious about is how come you guys didn’t notice it before when you were all setting up for the seance?” she asked.

“Maybe it was the lighting?” Shuichi suggested.

“Could be.” she continued to observe the bottle. “This bottle...I think I saw ones similar to it in the warehouse.” she commented.

“You did?”

“Yeah. From what I remember, these are soulmate pain suppressants.”

“Soulmate pain suppressants?”

“Yeah. You can take these so that if your soulmate does happen to die, you will feel little or no pain at all.”

“I see...”

Shuichi brought his hand up to his chin as he continued observing the bottle.

If Harukawa-san’s correct, then that would mean Shinguji-kun took these pills so that he wouldn’t feel anything when he killed Yonaga-san. It must’ve been hard, having no choice but to kill your soulmate because they happened to stumble upon you preparing your murder, he thought to himself.

“We have some time before the trial, right? I want to head down to the warehouse and check to see if this really is a bottle for soulmate pain suppressants.” Shuichi stated.

“Alright.” Maki flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. “Let’s go, then.” she said.

Shuichi nodded, stuffing the bottle into his coat pocket and heading out of the room.

As soon as he stepped out, the pungent smell of blood reached his nose.

“Blood? Where is that coming fro—“ he turned and then, his blood turned cold upon seeing the sight before him.

Kokichi laid motionless on the floor, his face in a large pool of his own blood.

Shuichi swore his heart stopped beating. Panic flooded through him as his breath caught in his throat.

He knew that the supreme leader was joking. He knew that in a couple of minutes, he was going to raise his head and say in a chirpy voice that it was all a lie.

But for some reason, he found himself thinking for just a minute that maybe the supreme leader wasn’t lying this time.

There was an incessant ringing in his ears as memories flashed through his mind.

Their conversation about the star in his neck when they were changing out of their wet clothes.

The love suite dream.

The pain he felt as he was heading back to his room from his research lab.

Waking back up in the classroom with Kaede after passing out.

Finding Kokichi pestering Keebo in the warehouse.

Finding Himiko’s body in Kaede’s research lab rather than Rantaro’s body in the library.

Angie getting executed rather than Kaede.

His interaction with Kokichi in the library about soulmates.

The red string that connected them both.

Him running after the supreme leader upon recognizing the soulmate indicator.

Kokichi being sniped before Shuichi could reach out to him.

The tears, screaming, and sobbing that shook his being as he collapsed, vision going black...

He felt himself shudder at the memories, tears welling up in his eyes as Kokichi rose his head from the floor.

“It was a lie!” he declared.

Shuichi knew he was lying.

But he couldn’t shake the terror he felt upon seeing his motionless body on the floor.

He moved with wobbly legs towards the supreme leader, throat dry. Maki’s words were distant along with Kokichi’s giggling as he dropped down before him.

“Saihara-chan, why so—“ Before he could finish his sentence, Shuichi pulled him into a hug.

Kokichi stilled as the detective wrapped his arms tightly around him. His chin rested on his shoulder as the blood seeping from his head rolled down the sides of his face and stained his coat.

“S...Saihara-chan...I told you that I was—“ Kokichi stopped as Shuichi choked out a sob.

“I don’t care if it was a lie! Don’t do it again! I...” tears streamed down the detective’s cheeks. “I really thought you were dead...!” he choked out.

Kokichi pressed his lips into a thin line as he listened to the detective sob. He slowly pulled away, watching as tears continued to roll down Shuichi’s cheeks.

“Oh goodness, are you seriously crying?” Kokichi cupped Shuichi’s cheeks, swiping away at his tears. “I told you that it was a lie, Saihara-chan...” he trailed off.

“And I told you before that I don’t care!” Shuichi snapped.

Kokichi stared at him with a look of bewilderment as a voice interrupted them.

“Ahem! May I ask what’s going on here?!”

“Monobear!” Shuichi shot a look at the monochromatic bear. “I think Ouma-kun hit his head somewhere!” he exclaimed.

“Hm? Hit his head somewhere?” The bear shrugged. “Eh, he looks fine to me. There’s no need to panic over hitting your head on something, anyway.” it pointed out.

“But he’s bleeding!”

“Eh, so? It’s only a drop or two!”

“‘Only a drop or two?!’ There’s enough blood here to fill a small-sized pool!”

“Now, now, you’re exaggerating—“

“But, it’s still a fair amount of blood, isn’t it? In order to even have his head bleeding this much, he must’ve hit his head really hard! For all we know, he could have a concussion!”

“Uh, Saihara-chan, it’s okay.” Kokichi lowered his gaze. “I can handle it—“

“No, you cannot.” Shuichi stared at Monobear. “Put off the trial until tomorrow.” he said.

“Saihara, what are you—“ Monobear cut Maki off.

“Put the trial off until tomorrow?! Are you being for real right now?! That is total blasphemy!” it exclaimed in horror.

“Yes, I am being for real. He is terribly injured! He can’t participate in the trial like this!” Shuichi pointed out.

“Oh? But, I’m pretty sure he can, though. All he’s got to do is wipe the blood away and it’ll be good!” Monobear said.

“And what if that’s not the case? What if he ends up dying from this? If he does end up dying, then one of the rules will be violated, won’t it?” Shuichi countered.

Monobear began to sweat as Shuichi reached into his pocket and pulled out his Monopad.

“According to rule number sixteen in the handbook, the blackened can only kill two students max during the game. But, I’m sure we can also interpret it as having only two deaths, excluding the execution, occur all at once. So, if we leave Ouma-kun alone and he does die, then that rule would be violated. From what I can see, you like to follow your rules to a tee. So, if you do leave him to die, then you’ll be considered as someone who doesn’t even abide by their own rules.” Shuichi explained.

Monobear continued to sweat as Shuichi’s piercing gaze bore holes into it.

“You do want to follow the rules, don’t you?” he asked.

“Of...Of course I want to follow my own rules!” Monobear pulled out a mega phone. “Listen up, you punks! The classroom trial is being postponed until tomorrow due to one of your beloved classmates suffering from a major injury!” it shouted.

“Are you for fucking real right now?!” Kaito roared angrily.

Monobear put the mega phone away and it looked at Shuichi.

“There. Are you happy?” it asked.

“I am. Now,” Shuichi picked Kokichi off of the ground bridal style, “can you please bring some medical equipment to his room? I’ll carry him there.” he said.

“Roger!” Monobear replied, quickly saluting him before vanishing into thin air.

Maki watched Shuichi in surprise.

“Are you kidding me? Why are you showing concern for this little shit? He can bleed to death for all I fucking care.” she bit out.

“You may want him to bleed to death, but I don’t.” Shuichi told her.

“But, he’s caused nothing but trouble—“

“For you, he might have. But, not for me.” he began to walk off. “If the others are looking for me, tell them that I’m in Ouma-kun’s room!” he called out over his shoulder.

Maki wanted to protest, but decided to keep quiet as Shuichi headed downstairs to the third floor.

As he walked down the hall, Kokichi peered up at him through half-lidded eyes.

“Saihara...chan...?” he weakly muttered.

“It’s going to be okay, Ouma-kun. I’m not going to let you continue suffering like this.” Shuichi said.

A weak chuckle came from the supreme leader.

“Geez...why are you suddenly...caring...” Kokichi didn’t get to finish his sentence as he lost consciousness, his head resting against Shuichi’s chest.

Shuichi began to pick up the pace as he made his way down to the second floor.

Don’t worry, Ouma-kun. I’ll make sure that you don’t die on me, he said to himself.

💜💜💜💜

Hours have passed since the trial was postponed until tomorrow and Kokichi was given appropriate treatment for his injury.

Shuichi stayed by his side, wiping the blood off with a damp cloth and checking his condition every half hour.

As he went to empty the blood colored water into the bathroom sink, he heard a small groan.

“Ouma-kun? Are you awake?” Shuichi called out.

“Mmmm...yeah?”

Shuichi set the bowl down on the sink counter along with the cloth and he stepped back out.

“Are you feeling okay now?” he asked, grabbing for one of the chairs and pulling it over to the side of the bed.

“Yeah, I guess. My head just hurts a little, that’s all.” Kokichi replied.

“I see...” Shuichi trailed off.

He sat down in the chair and he reached out to rest the back of his hand against Kokichi’s forehead.

“Well, it seems like you don’t have a fever...” a smile crossed the detective’s lips. “I’m glad.” he said.

Kokichi furrowed his brows, a frown pulling at his lips.

“You don’t need to fret over me like that.” he swatted Shuichi’s hand away. “So? What ended up happening? My mind is kind of all over the place, so...” he murmured.

“Ah, Monobear put off the trial until tomorrow.” Shuichi replied.

“Huh? That bear did what?” Kokichi sat up, shock evident in his features. “But why would it do that? There’s no way it would willingly do such a thing.” he said.

“I know. I managed to convince Monobear to put it off.” Shuichi told him.

“Huh? You managed to convince Monobear?”

“I did.”

“But...why? You guys can do the trial just fine without me, you know.”

“You’re injured, Ouma-kun! You can’t participate in the trial like that!”

“Says who? I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s not like anyone would care if they find out that I was the one that was injured—“

“But I do! I do care, Ouma-kun! If your injury had gotten worse...I don’t think I would have been able to bear it!”

“Oh? And why is that, Saihara-chan?”

“Because you’re my—“ that was when he felt his throat go dry.

The words that he wanted to say simply refused to be said. It was as if something was preventing him from telling Kokichi that they were soulmates.

This is weird. Why...are the words not coming out, he asked himself.

Kokichi tilted his head to the side, peering at him curiously.

“I’m your what?” he asked.

“You’re my s—“ he felt himself getting choked up once again.

Why can’t I just say it, he asked himself.

He quickly stood.

“I think my throat’s a little dry. I’ll go get some water for us.” he said.

“Okay, then.” Kokichi replied as he dropped back down onto the bed.

Shuichi turned and he began to head out. Before he could step out, he heard Kokichi call out to him.

“Saihara-chan, before you go, I need to say something.” he said.

“What is it?” Shuichi answered, turning to look at him.

“You...are you actually...” Kokichi trailed off, licking his lips.

Shuichi eyed him curiously.

“Ah, forget it. It’s not that important, anyway.” Kokichi smiled at him. “You shouldn’t show so much concern for me. People will start to think you’re in love with me, Saihara-chan.” he warned.

Shuichi’s grip on the door handle tightened as he forced himself to grin.

“I’ll make sure to keep that in mind, then.” he said before exiting the room, closing the door behind him.

He sighed as he made his way to the dining hall.

Why couldn’t I tell him that he’s my soulmate? That was the perfect opportunity to do so! So, why couldn’t I?! It was almost like something was preventing me from telling him, he thought to himself.

He walked into the dining hall and headed into the kitchen, grabbing two glasses from the cupboard as a thought hit him.

Maybe...something is preventing me from telling him. It’s almost like something is trying to keep me in this loop forever, he thought to himself.

He felt the temperature in the room drop as he turned on the faucet and filled up the first glass.

“Is that really it...?” he muttered out.

He brought the second glass under, watching it fill up with water as he mulled over the thought. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice that the cup was overflowing, nor did he feel the water cascading down the sides of his hand like a waterfall.

A hand reached out and turned the faucet off, pulling Shuichi back into reality. He turned, seeing Tsumugi standing beside him.

“Shirogane-san...” he trailed off.

“Sorry, did I scare you?” she asked, her voice timid.

“No, no, you didn’t scare me at all.” he said.

“Oh, I’m glad.” she noticed the two glasses in his hands. “Who are you taking water for?” she asked.

“Ah, it’s for me and Ouma-kun. My throat felt a little dry and I feel like he needed to drink something, as well. So, I came out and got some water.” he explained.

“I see...well, I shouldn’t hold you up for too long.” she said.

“Alright. I’ll get going now.” Shuichi said as he began to head out of the kitchen.

“Oh, before you go!” Tsumugi called out.

“Hm?” Shuichi turned. “What is it?” he asked.

“Shinguji-kun hasn’t shown up since Monobear decided to put off the trial to tomorrow. If you happen to see him, tell him to come to the dining hall.” she requested.

“I’ll do that.” he said as he stepped out and headed back to the dormitory.

He furrowed his brows.

What in the world would Shinguji-kun be doing? He’s not destroying any of the evidence, is he, he asked himself.

Just then, he felt a tingling sensation on his arm. He slowed, glancing down at his arm as the tattoo began to disappear.

“What the...” he muttered.

Why is it disappearing like that? Is that even supposed to be—

Then, that all too familiar pain took over his body all at once. The glasses fell from his hands, shattering on the ground.

Wait...I got the indicator all wrong. The words on my wrist aren’t the most important thing he has to tell me. This is his last words to me before he dies, he thought to himself.

His eyes grew wide at the realization.

“No...” he muttered under his breath.

He fell to his knees as he let out a scream.

“No!” tears began to fill up in his eyes as the pain grew more intense. “Why?!” he screamed.

He dropped to the ground.

“Why, why, why?! Why do you keep doing this to me?!”

He sobbed, watching as his vision began to blur.

“Please stop keeping him away from me...stop killing him...please stop killing him!” he cried out.

The last thing he saw was the dormitory and a familiar figure slipping out before he lost consciousness once more.

♾ Ｌｏｏｐ ３ Ｅｎｄ ♾

[crazynekochan]

If you had to change the survivors, killers and victims from each DR game, how would everything turn out? (You can go into as much or as little detail as you’d like- I’m just curious who you would make survive. Thank you very much for your time!)

DR1:

Make Kiyotaka survive. I would have loved to see him overcome his grief of having Chihro and Mondo die instead of just dying like this, and then work against Junko and later on against despair as part of the FF

Make Sakura survive or die while fighting Junko. While I love her arc and how it played out (even if it made me cry), I wish that she would have had the chance to redeem herself in other ways instead of killing herself to do it

Have Sayaka’s plan succeed and make her kill Leon. While the small twist of her betraying Makoto would be even more obvious (which is okay as the first trial is easy anyway due to tutorial reasons) it would have been interesting seeing Makoto’s inner turmoil of trying to trust Sayaka until the end while it gets more and more obvious that she is trying to frame him. In the end he would have to kill off his one friend, which would probably chance his motivations a tiny bit

DR2:

Nothing to do with the cases, but fucking take out the whole Sonia, Kazuichi, Gundham lovetriangle bullshit because it’s bullshit and has no reason to be there. I hate lovetriangles with a burning passion!

Make Sonia the blackened instead of Gundham. (No this has nothing to do with me playing favourites, because I love Sonia) From the very beginning I would have loved to see Sonia as a blackened, because it would have been such an awesome and devastating blow to everyone when it is revealed that their second leader actually killed someone for the greater good of her kingdom which she needs to lead as their princess

Make Hiyoko survive longer. I understand why the devs decided to kill her off instead of Fuyuhiko and how it fits with her connection with Mikan and her being her victim (even if it was coincidence). However it was a bit sad that they stopped in the middle of her character growth arc to kill her off

DRV3

Change Korekiyo’s whole motivation. While I found him seriously interesting from the very beginning, I’m happy with leaving him as a blackened as he is an interesting one. However take out the whole incest backstory, because that is just a big no. I actually have an alternate motivation in my head and here is a short summary of it:

He and his sister were still seriously close and she still decided on how he was supposed to live his whole life and carter it completely to her needs in every aspect. However they never became lovers. He also never began his delusion that his sister is part of him now and instead broke in another way with his grief. During his many travels he found a book explaining a ritual were a spirit can be brought back to life through the sacrifice of 100 virgins (as in never used for rituals). So in his delusional state he decided to bring his sister back with this ritual. The ritual seen in the game is actually the sacrificial ritual he needs to use for bringing his sister back

Make Angie a blackened. Just like with Sonia I would have loved to see her as a blackened. Truth to be told I expected her to be one from the very beginning and found it sad to have her as a victim instead. She had so much potential

Kill Himiko and let Tenko survive. She could actually even end up as Angie’s victim who lured her in to kill her then for Auta or something. I would set this after Himiko’s character growth and in the middle of Tenko’s character growth

Have Maki die at the very end. I have to agree that this is a bit of personal reasons. Don’t misunderstand me, I love Maki but I kinda hated it that she did such an awful thing by going against everyone’s plan and ending up killing two people, and then getting away with it without any consequences. She literally tried to kill Kokichi, which would have ended with either her or everyone else dying as well, but instead she had Kaito the guy she apparently love have to sacrifice himself and die. And then she didn’t even come forward that she “killed” Kaito, thus literally planning to have everyone else die and she escapes. Like have her die while killing Tsumugi like Kiibo did or something that makes her redeem herself

DR3 (I know this isn’t a game, but I want to mention it)

Rewrite the whole thing. The plot itself is nice enough and I like the characters, but actually make the despair story follow the canon of the games! Literally next to nothing has any resemblance to what was said in the games with what happened in the past. (Also what the hell is it with everyone treating Nagito like shit in his class without any reason whatsoever?)

[noddytheornithopod]

Started Danganronpa V3... and yeah, it’s already a fuckton to take in. I’ll do my usual game commentary thing of course.

Weird opening scene where Kaede and Shuichi arrive in a classroom in lockers but have no talents, and it turns out the other 14 students don’t have talents either? Also we’re chased by a giant mech and it turns out there’s other ones and they’re controlled by Monokubs.

Yeah, Monokubs are a thing. So far they’re... okay, I guess? IDK if they just need to grow on me or it’s just a lot to take in, but I’m not sure I’m following their shtick, even if there’s a weirdly amusing cheesiness to them. Monodam is easily the best one though, it’s always the quiet ones you gotta watch. Monosuke has some fun meta moments and Monokid has a few nice lines, but for now I’m gonna wait and see on them. Also... Monokid has a dick???

So the students were supposedly all kidnapped by someone (Monokuma’s forces?). This will obviously come up later, also this is a different school, the Ultimate Academy, which is apparently under construction still. The Monokubs also make them all “remember” their talents, which I can’t help but find suspicious (especially since it’s later suggested them forgetting stuff could be a result of brainwashing).

Music is great as usual, though the voice in the Monokubs theme is kinda weird. Visually it definitely seems like there’s a lot of upgrades, the game looks pretty nice. Also like the gameplay mechanic of shaking objects for Monocoins. The school is a bit hard to navigate right now but hopefully I’ll get used to it.

I REALLY dig the addititon of showing Kaede’s face when she talks to other characters, it really adds more character to the interactions. I’ve seen people call Makoto and Hajime bland protagonists, and while I don’t completely agree I do think showing us Kaede’s reactions during dialogue and not just internal monologue really helps convey more personality.

I like Kaede so far! She has a few Makoto vibes with the cheerful optimist shtick, but I am getting a sense of how she’s unique. Like obviously she has her pianist talent, but I mean personality wise she seems a bit more confident, even brash at times? Also a lot of her reaction sprites in dialogue are pretty cute.

Shuichi I’m gonna wait a bit on, because I’m not sure what to think yet. I do appreciate they’re doing an ultimate detective that’s different to Kirigiri, one that’s way less sure of himself and lacks confidence. TBH I kinda get a few me vibes from him with the quiet and introverted shy guy thing, lol. Bets: him and Kaede will have some sort of romantic interactiton at some point because all these fucking games do. But yeah, no strong impressions yet but he has potential.

Tsumugi Shirogane is probably one of my faves so far. She’s just really fun and nerdy, and also kinda weird which I like. Also, Kaede, you are NOT straight, you clearly find her attractive.

Rantaro is a mystery. He’s our resident ??? of the game, so he’s obviously going to play some part in the larger story going on... probably, unless they’re subverting things. He seems like one to watch out for, he’s oddly chill about everything.

K1-B0 IDK about yet, he does kinda give me Astro Boy vibes though (but without the dead kid backstory thank fuck). So far he just seems like “the robot guy” and there to make robot jokes (not gonna lie, the “robophobic” line was pretty lousy IMO), though I’m sure that will change.

Kokichi... okay I already can’t stand this fucker. Leave K1-B0 alone you prick. Also, ultimate supreme leader of an evil organisation... if he’s not lying. He seems to REALLY be into lying. Given this game is apparently all about truth and lies, he’s definitely one to watch out for. If he’s not lying about himself, then this evil organisation might be important. Relation to plot aside... he is so fucking annoying seriously.

Miu Iruma kinda gives me Hiyoko vibes, but is somehow more likeable. Weird scientist girl could be interesting. Also she likes drugs and makes inventions to increase productivity when you sleep, lol. The pervert exchange with her and Shuichi was weird, but that’s Danganronpa, of course you have weird shit like that. Also she seems to really play up her looks, lol. Bets: she talks about how she’s the most attractive girl ever and shit but she’s gonna fall for K1-B0 isn’t she, like personality wise he’s fairly plain but he’s also a robot so she’d be fascinated by him? Or will that be subverted too lol.

Himiko isn’t too remarkable right now even if her backstory is intriguing, Tenko isn’t too much either but she does have a bit more going for her in terms of personality. Also I guess she’s our Mahiru, calling boys degenerates. :P Also... Kaede did you find her attractive as well? Maki I feel the same about too, she does have potential but there’s not much to say.

IDK what’s up with Ryoma, but he definitely is gonna be a killer or be killed at some point. He seems ready to kill, it’s hilarious.

Korekiyo is weird. Not much to say. He’s just really fucking weird.

Kaito is pretty charismatic, a hotshot astronaut. In terms of likeability he ranks one of the highest as of now.

Kirumi Tojo is a maid... with how she seems willing to serve everyone, I definitely think she’d gonna be caught up in a murder somehow, whether she does it for someone or does something for a blackened.

Not sure about Gonta, it’s cool that he’s nice but the first person is pretty heavy handed. Also the animals thing reminds me of Gundham, lol. He feels very Tarzan, living in the wild and raised by wolves. Wonder if saying you hate bugs will cause a murder?

Angie... okay I don’t think I’m a fan, because TBH she feels racist. She’s clearly Pasifika, probably Polynesian (Atua are apparently Polynesian gods and spirits, and she says Atua is her god), but it feels like such a stereotype of indigenous people. She acts simple and naive, is cheerful to strangers, does everything because of a god, wears only a bikini under her robe (because apparently Polynesian people all dress like fucking hula girls or something) and does sacrifices (that involve blood, because of course they’re brutal). I hope they flesh her out more, because this stereotypical portrayal really isn’t sitting well with me.

Thank fuck Monokuma finally shows up at the end of the Prologue. I love how hilariously heavy handed the line about him being knowledgeable from reading “alternate facts” from “fake news” (YES THEY FUCKING WENT THERE).

I do wonder how this is all going to fit together, especially since in the intro they showed all the past games and the Danganronpa 3 anime to indicate this is in fact a continuation of the same story and not a soft reboot. I’ve heard a couple of things here and there and I’m not sure how much context I have, but these things tied with all this talk about everything feeling fake and like it’s not real (especially when they just suddenly “remember” their talents) is certainly fishy. There’s also been a lot of fourth wall breaking (especially with that weird intro where everyone had no talents and the mechs and they had to redo it when they “regained” their memories) and talk about not following the script correctly, hmm...

There was a shot of Kaede lying in some kind of chamber. Is this more Neo-World shit going on?

Okay WOW that’s a lot, I should play some more tonight.

[commentaryvorg]

Danganronpa V3 Commentary: Part 1.5

Be aware that this is not a blind playthrough! This will contain spoilers for the entire game, regardless of the part of the game I’m commenting on. A major focus of this commentary is to talk about all of the hints and foreshadowing of events that are going to happen and facts that are going to be revealed in the future of the story. It is emphatically not intended for someone experiencing the game for their first time.

Last time, as we finished up chapter 1’s Daily Life and shifted into Deadly Life, plotting a murder was not relaxing, Shuichi had issues and he and Kaede were FRIENDS, Kaito finally made a legitimate but basically inconsequential attempt to do something about the situation, and Rantaro fell right into Kaede’s (but really the mastermind’s) trap. We also got through most of the pre-investigation discussion, including nobody taking the First Blood Perk, so we’re about to jump in here as everyone takes a look at the Monokuma File.

The photo of Rantaro’s body in the Monokuma File doesn’t show the blood on the back of his hand that was holding the Monopad. The body discovery cutscene included that correctly, but it seems someone forgot to draw it here.

Both the file and the cutscene don’t show the trail of blood from the shot put ball that implies it rolled away rather than being placed on the ground by someone, which was something that made me assume right from the beginning that the murderer wasn’t in the room when he died. (I thought it was Shuichi who set a trap, though.)

(And, since the real murderer actually was in the room after all, I guess that means she probably threw it at him from a distance away? That would also prevent her getting any blood on her clothes. Assuming the trail of blood seen in the investigation but not in the cutscene/file is in fact canon.)

Kokichi:  “And try to take this seriously, okay? Our lives are on the line.”

Excuse me, you have no right to tell other people to take things seriously when lives are at stake.

Everyone’s agreement to investigate with at least one other person makes a lot of sense. In the previous games it was always just “have two people guard the body”, but crucial evidence that the culprit might try and destroy could be anywhere. This is a much better way of trying to prevent that.

Kaito:  “It’s not something you should be proud to say… but I guess we don’t have a choice.”

Hah, look at Kaito not liking to admit that they have to suspect each other enough to do something like investigate in pairs just in case.

Kaede:  (Once we expose the mastermind, we’ll be able to escape…)

Yeah, that’s right, expose the mastermind. That’s totally what this trial’s for, right? Not catching the blackened or anything.

Kaede:  “Anyway… we have to stop the mastermind so this is the last murder that ever happens here! We just have to.”

Shuichi:  “…”

…Has Shuichi already realised the implications of the fact that Kaede keeps talking about catching the mastermind and not the blackened? Oh no.

Ryoma happens to join in a conversation about the sensor and the receiver, in which Shuichi mentions he can turn the receiver off. Ryoma then goes on to be the person in the trial who argues that Shuichi could have faked his alibi by turning off the receiver. It’s nice that the writers actually keep track of who knows what piece of information when most characters are only involved in a small part of the investigation.

Kaede:  “Well, I still think the mastermind is the culprit.”

Guh. The mastermind is the culprit, but Kaede is only saying this to encourage people to hone in on the mastermind during the trial. She doesn’t truly believe for a second that her shot put ball might have missed and the mastermind might have wanted to finish the job for her.

Shuichi:  “He moved *away* from the hidden door… to this spot. Why would he do that…? And there’s no trace of his body being moved. It… doesn’t add up.”

Kaede: “…”

Shuichi:  “Ah, are you okay? You’ve gone pale.”

Nervous that Shuichi’s already figuring out your plan and you’re not going to get a chance to uncover the mastermind in the trial, Kaede?

Shuichi finds Rantaro���s Monopad in his pocket. Later when we see the photos, we see he had a Monopad in his hand. These two pieces of information are given to us far enough apart that it’s quite easy to miss the contradiction in it, and nobody notes the contradiction in this chapter, but it is important. I remember vaguely noticing on my first time that it was weird the Monopad wasn’t where it should be, but wrote it off as a minor writing mistake in the end since it was never brought up in the trial. Nope!

Shuichi:  “The shot itself is fairly heavy… You would have to be fairly strong to use it as a weapon.”

Kaede:  (Fairly strong, huh?)

This is probably Kaede thinking she can use this as an excuse to hide her crime by claiming that she’s not strong enough to kill someone with a shot put ball, exactly like she goes on to do in the trial.

Kaede:  “You mean… he had the same idea as us? N-No way… He should have told us… We could’ve worked together…” (I collapsed to the floor, crushed by the weight of my frustration.)

Look at Kaede being especially devastated upon realising that not only did she kill an innocent who wasn’t the mastermind, she killed someone who was just as determined to fight back and help everyone escape as she was.

Shuichi:  “…the culprit’s objective wasn’t to survive, it was to kill everyone here.”

Kaede:  “E-Everyone?”

Kirumi:  “That would explain why they would forgo their survival in favor of a class trial.”

Kaede:  “But… doesn’t that seem like a bit of a stretch to you?”

Heh, Kaede’s thinking about the First Blood Perk from the framework of why she ignored it and not even realising that other people might assume she did it for an awful, selfish reason like that.

Kirumi:  “Well, if the culprit it also the mastermind, then it’s certainly plausible.”

Kaede:  “W-Well, true… Killing us all does seem like something the mastermind would do…”

And here’s Kaede realising that she can use this as more ammo to get everyone to zero in on the mastermind during the trial. (It really isn’t something the mastermind would do, though. If they just wanted to just kill everyone, they’d have done it already and wouldn’t go about it in this convoluted a manner.)

Shuichi:  “The books that you stacked up haven’t moved.”

Kaede:  “Oh, you mean the ones I stacked to keep people from going through the vent.”

“Oh, you mean that thing I did with them that definitely wasn’t me setting up a death trap, just reminding you that I was totally blocking the vent with them even though that doesn’t make sense.”

Ryoma:  “Tell me who you think the culprit is. I don’t mind if it’s just an educated guess.”

Kaede:  “Oh, I wanna know too…”

…Do you really, Kaede?

Ryoma:  “But… there’s someone you’re a little bit suspicious of, right? No, there’s gotta be.”

Shuichi: “Ah…”

Ryoma:  “But you’re afraid of that. You’re afraid of suspecting someone, aren’t you? That’s how it looks to me.”

One of the cool things about Ryoma is that he’s really perceptive like this. Shuichi has definitely seen enough evidence by now to start suspecting Kaede, but of course he’s too terrified to acknowledge it. Ryoma doesn’t even know about Shuichi’s issues, but he can still see this!

Maki:  “…Am I a suspect?”

Kaede:  “Oh, no! That’s not what I meant—”

Maki:  “You should suspect me. In fact, you should be suspicious of everyone.”

I mean, no, she shouldn’t suspect you, Maki, you have an airtight alibi that you’re about to explain to them. In a lot of ways this case is really brilliant, but one of the decidedly less brilliant things about it is how everyone involved in the strategy meeting temporarily becomes an idiot when it comes to understanding how alibis work. Some of said characters are genuinely a bit dim, but Maki is emphatically not.

At the very least, this does work nicely to establish how Maki feels about suspecting people – that it’s simply the sensible thing to do, especially when it’s her you’re suspecting.

Maki:  “So trust no-one, Kaede… Or you’ll lose, got it?”

Guhhh, it’s so heartbreaking that Maki is convinced this is how the world works but also so, so understandable for her. At least she isn’t going to stay trapped in this mindset forever!

Maki:  “And he picked the seven people he thought would be useful in a fight.”

Kaito’s idea of “the seven people who would be useful in a fight” is… interesting, to say the least. Two obvious candidates he should have included that he didn’t are Ryoma and Kirumi. It’s perfectly understandable that Kaito avoided Ryoma, given his issues with him (which I will discuss plenty in chapter 2, don’t you worry), but Kirumi is a little more strange. It’s possible Kaito wasn’t aware of just how much of a hypercompetent badass she is and assumed she could only do normal maid stuff.

Maki:  “Kaito thought Himiko’s magic and Angie’s connection to Atua would be useful.”

For these two, I feel like it might have been less Kaito’s decision than it seems. He was probably inviting Tenko when Tenko insisted Himiko should come with her because of course she would, and then seeing that Himiko was coming, Angie invited herself along too because Atua thinks it sounds fun! or whatever. And then Kaito kind of shrugged and went, “well I guess magic and Atua might help? Whatever, the more the better.”

Kaede:  “But what about you, Maki? Why did he also pick the Ultimate Child Caregiver?”

Maki:  “He just looked at me and said, ‘Yeah, you probably know how to fight.’”

And he’s right, isn’t he! Kaito is a really good judge of character, without needing any concrete evidence to go on. It might seem like he’s just being ridiculous and reckless and idiotic, but he actually has a very keen intuition when it comes to people.

Still, can we take a moment to appreciate the utter trainwreck that this strategy meeting must have been? Gonta locked himself in the back room to watch a bug movie rather than participate, Tenko, Himiko and Angie were probably bickering like they always do, and Rantaro, one of the most sensible and down-to-earth of the bunch, left a few minutes in because he clearly figured his own plan was better than this nonsense. Kaito may be good at motivational speeches, but he is terrible at actually strategising, which would have very quickly become apparent the moment he tried to start doing so. Maki probably sat quietly in the corner wondering why the hell she even decided to go along with this idiot in the first place. She could totally have taken control of the meeting and devised a strategy herself, but I imagine she wasn’t comfortable revealing how much she knows about fighting and killing things, besides which most of the people in the room would probably be too busy being ridiculous to pay attention to her plan.

Also note how Maki is alone in the game room and not investigating with anyone else like they promised. Probably she did at first go into the A/V room to question Gonta but then got fed up with the idiocy of everyone else involved and left.

Gonta:  “Gonta happy to be invited to meeting.”

Aww, I bet he was. He’s so desperate to protect everyone and be useful to everyone that he must have been overjoyed when Kaito asked him for help with this.

Gonta:  “But Gonta think he not be much help, cuz he not smart…”

Gonta really isn’t as dumb as he thinks he is, though! He’s honestly about on par in intelligence with most of the meeting’s participants.

Gonta:  “Why… no-one believe Gonta!? Gonta feel so… pathetic!”

Aww, it’s so sad that he feels pathetic and useless because people don’t realise how much he means well. Don’t worry, Gonta, most of them will come to appreciate how good you are in due time! Especially Kaito.

Kaede:  (Ultra Despair Girls 2… Coming soon…?)

This: not actually breaking the fourth wall! Just a little in-show advertisement for one of Team Danganronpa’s other projects. Though I find it a little strange that they’d wait over fifty seasons of main-series Danganronpas before deciding to give one of its early spin-offs a sequel.

Kaito:  “So I’m not cleared of suspicion yet, huh?”

Yes, you are! We just got done discussing your alibi! You were with at least Tenko the whole time! Gah. Kaito should also not be so stupid as to think this. He is considerably smarter than people always say he is.

Shuichi:  “Ah, don’t worry… you’re not a likely suspect…”

Kaito:  “Hey, that’s not something a detective should say!”

Shuichi:  “What?”

Kaito:  “If you suspect me, you better pursue it to the end. Investigate until you’re satisfied.”

However, I can’t be too annoyed since it gives Kaito a reason to say this, which I really like. One of the traits Kaito puts a lot of value in is having strong convictions and being true to yourself. He believes that if someone feels a certain way about something, they should accept that feeling as a part of who they are and run with it 100%, not try and pretend they don’t really feel that way at all.

(This is one of the reasons Kokichi pisses Kaito off so much – because he’s the exact opposite of this. I’ll probably be talking about this a lot.)

Kaito:  “Well, I’m not planning on leaving it all to you guys. I’ll investigate my own way!”

Yes, Kaito, look at you doing something about this even though you’re not going to end up contributing anything new to the investigation other than what you already have.

Kaito:  “If either of us find something, we’ll report it to the other, got it!?”

Communication! It’s all very well people spreading out to investigate multiple things, but if they never share that information with each other then it’s a lot less helpful. Teamwork is important for astronauts!

Although Kaede never does end up reporting the rest of her investigative findings to Kaito. Sorry, Kaito.

Gonta:  “Gonta not eat door for breakfast! Breakfast most important meal of any gentleman’s day!”

Shuichi:  “…I agree.”

It’s just as well Shuichi’s not actually agreeing about the breakfast part, because he shouldn’t be – he never usually has breakfast until Kaito convinces him to start doing so next chapter.

Kaede:  “I guess an arm could fit through as well, if it were thin enough…”

This should be proof enough that Gonta didn’t do anything involving sticking his arm through that door, because his arms are definitely not thin.

If you talk to Maki again after leaving the A/V room, you get a new conversation.

Maki:  “Were those two still there?”

Kaede:  “Yeah… I didn’t wanna get involved.”

Maki:  “Smart move. Just hearing it wore me out.”

Ha, I figured as much. Maki: always 1000% done with everybody’s nonsense.

(I wonder which two out of Kaito, Himiko and Gonta she’s taking about. Even though he was being the most sensible, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kaito was one of the two, knowing Maki.)

Maki:  “Well, detective, if you do solve this case, it'll really help us out. We're only in this mess because the culprit refused to step forward.”

Shuichi:  “…”

Kaede:  “Let's go, Shuichi! We still have more people to talk to!”

Shuichi:  “Y-Yeah…”

[the camera slowly and pointedly pans over to Maki, who is giving them one of her death glares]

Maki:  “…”

This part makes me think that Maki is looking at the cheeriness between Shuichi and Kaede and noticing how subtly forced and awkward it is because Shuichi already suspects Kaede.

Kokichi is wandering around on his own despite everyone’s agreement to investigate with someone else, because of course he is.

Kaede:  “Why would you do something that would make everyone suspicious of you?”

Probably because he’d rather everyone be suspicious of him and keep their distance than have someone act like they trust him and so he can trust them too only for them to turn around and stab him in the back.

Kokichi:  “Nee-heehee… I’m so excited. I want the class trial to start already.”

Sure, just keep telling yourself that this is a game and you’re having fun with it, Kokichi.

Kiyo:  “My appearance and actions thus far suggest I am someone who would commit a murder.”

BECAUSE YOU ARE. AND YOU HAVE. MULTIPLE OF THEM.

Kaede:  (At least he’s self-aware…)

Exactly what I was about to say, Kaede.

Kaede:  “Well, Tsumugi *is* the Ultimate Cosplayer. She could’ve gone to the bathroom to secretly disguise herself as someone else.”

*deep breath*

NO. THIS IS A STUPID ARGUMENT. You do not need to be disguised as someone else to commit a murder if nobody is going to see you do it! The only point at which a “maybe Tsumugi disguised herself!” argument has any kind of relevance is if somebody who isn’t Tsumugi was witnessed committing the murder, or coming out of the library just afterwards. Then, sure, we should question if that person was really who they appeared to be or if it was Tsumugi in disguise. But the whole point of this mystery is that nobody was seen doing anything of the sort! Maybe Kaede’s saying this because she’s expecting someone to be in the photos, but once they see the photos and don’t see the murderer in them, everybody should drop this line of questioning altogether.

That’s not even getting into how ridiculously dumb Tsumugi’s whole cospox thing is. I find it incredibly difficult to buy that it’s real, and Kaede should, too. Tsumugi even told her to look away while she got changed – she could have been secretly applying makeup to fake the rash during that time! And even if it is somehow bizarrely true that Tsumugi does get cospox from cosplaying real people – well, she considers Kaede and everyone else in this school to be a fictional character, doesn’t she?

And, even if you take this as concrete proof that Tsumugi can’t disguise herself, that doesn’t magically give her an alibi! She was still using the bathroom at around the time Rantaro was killed, and, as I said, funnily enough, you don’t need to be wearing a disguise to be able to kill someone.

I’m not saying all this because I believe everyone should have actually figured out Tsumugi did it during this chapter. I just think it’s frustratingly dumb that that’s the reason they use to write her off as a suspect. The real reason she apparently couldn’t have done it is because nobody knows about the hidden passage in the bathroom, and therefore that she could have got into and out of the library without being seen by the multiple witnesses who were just outside it and would have seen anyone using the normal route.

Tsumugi:  “You breathe life into characters. It’s almost like you’re summoning them. From fiction into the real world…”

Yes, Tsumugi, and once you’ve summoned a fictional character that you wrote into the real world by using a Flashback Light, they are real people and you no longer have the right to fuck with their lives for people’s entertainment.

Kaede seems really convinced the mastermind is going to be in these photos. She has to just be desperately telling herself that, because she has no reason to assume that the mastermind would have wanted to interfere with her murder plot. She should expect the photos to show exactly as little as they do.

I love how Kaito is clearly SO READY TO PUNCH SOMEONE in this photo of them rushing in. He was told the mastermind was in here, so here he is, already rolling up his sleeves getting ready to give them a piece of his mind.

Please also appreciate how Gonta is the first to run in out of the next four, even though he had farthest to run because he was in the A/V room. He probably insisted that everyone else get behind him just in case something dangerous was in there. Gentlemen protect everyone.

Kaede:  “Yeah, that’s pretty odd. Why isn’t there a picture of the mastermind entering?”

Yep, definitely odd, you definitely think that’s odd and weren’t expecting it in any way.

Now really would be an appropriate time for Shuichi to mention the intervals, since it provides the possibility for someone to have got in without being in the photos. I guess he’s too busy thinking that these photos prove the culprit has to be Kaede and freaking out about it to mention that, though.

There’s something kind of interesting about the fact that Rantaro was opening the moving bookcase. It implies he’d never done so before – if he had, he would already know the door behind it is locked with a card reader. If he already knew that, then his plan here wouldn’t have been to try and get into the secret room; he’d have been better off just staking out the library and trying to catch the mastermind in the act, exactly like Shuichi and Kaede were doing. Heck, if Rantaro had known that beforehand, he could have innocently suggested to Kaito to hold the strategy meeting in the library, which would have completely ruined both the mastermind’s hypothetical attempt to make more Monokumas, and Kaede’s murder plan.

(Kaito came so close to completely accidentally saving everyone, if only he’d happened to hold his strategy meeting in the basement’s other room. Instead, what he actually did was completely accidentally ruin everything by delaying Kaede and Shuichi long enough to let Tsumugi get away.)

Shuichi:  “Ah, I did notice something while I was removing the camera… The security sensor for this camera was switched off.”

Did you not also notice that the flash was switched on, Shuichi? Or are you just neglecting to mention that detail because you don’t want to consider what it means?

Kokichi:  “Oh, by the way… Rantaro had his Monopad the whole time, didn’t he? Do you think anything was in it?”

Kokichi is potentially being very observant here. But.

Shuichi:  “I inspected his Monopad, but I didn’t find anything suspicious about it.”

…Other than the fact it was in his pocket and not in his hand like this photo shows it should have been, no?

Kokichi:  “Aw man, so it’s got nothing to do with the case. How confusing.”

I swear to god, Kokichi, if you’ve actually noticed the contradiction between where his Monopad was and where it should have been and you’re not mentioning it to ~make things more interesting!~ or whatever the fuck, then the deaths of literally everybody who dies from this point onwards are on your head for being an uncooperative, selfish little shit. This fact proves that the murderer was in the room with Rantaro, which proves it can’t be Kaede. If Shuichi had known that (and he’s probably only not noticing because he’s too busy freaking out over all the evidence that Kaede did it), then maybe we’d have reached the actual truth in this upcoming trial.

I am going to be charitable towards Kokichi and assume that this is not in fact the case, otherwise I would be complaining constantly throughout the rest of the story that everything bad happening is technically partly his fault, and that’d get pretty repetitive pretty quickly.

Kaede:  “I-It’ll be fine… I just… feel like my back is up against the wall.”

Yeah, your back specifically, right? Everyone else will be fine no matter what.

Huh, you can examine stuff in the warehouse after everybody but Kaede and Shuichi leave to go to the trial. But they didn’t change the investigation text for the shot put balls. Shame.

Shuichi:  “Kaede, really, are you okay…?”

Aww, look at Shuichi worrying about Kaede, even though he himself is very decidedly not okay right now for reasons specifically related to her.

…how is it daytime outside. It should be nearly midnight by now.

Shuichi:  “Do you really think it’s one of us…? Not just the culprit… But the mastermind as well?”

Kaede:  “Huh? Isn’t that what you told me, Shuichi?”

At this point, Kaede believing the mastermind is among them isn’t just because she believes in Shuichi’s reasoning, it’s also because she has to believe that for there to be a hope of her saving everyone in this class trial.

Kaede:  “If you just dismiss a possibility and look the other way without confirming anything… then you’re just turning your back on the truth.”

Shuichi:  “…”

Kaede:  “What’s the matter, Shuichi? You seemed so sure of yourself during the investigation.”

Shuichi:  “Ah, sorry…”

Shuichi knows he’s turning his back on the truth right now and he hates himself for it but still can’t bring himself to face it.

Tsumugi:  “Don’t worry about my cospox. It always goes away as soon as I stop trying to cosplay real people.”

Which is all the more proof that it’s utter bullshit and Kaede should be suspicious as hell about your claim.

Kaito:  “Don’t worry. Even if we gotta do a class trial or whatever, I’ll do something about it!”

Yep, Kaito is going to do something about… the entire class trial! Somehow. Because that’s definitely a thing that can have something done about it and he’s definitely not just desperately trying not to feel powerless.

Kaede: “Remember our promise? We’re gonna escape this place and remain good friends afterward… So let’s do it! I’m sure we’ll be alright! Because… we make such an incredible team.”

Kaede is still pure and good even when she is a murderer.

Kaito:  “Heh, I wouldn’t be able to call myself a man if I was still scared after hearing a girl say that.”

…Okay. Look, we need to establish something here. I am of the firm, unshakeable belief that Kaito’s talk about manliness is not toxic masculinity in any meaningful way, and isn’t even that strongly about gender. I will be commenting on basically every instance of him talking about manliness in order to build up a picture of what the concept of being a “man” actually means to him throughout this commentary.

So it is extremely inconvenient that the very first instance of this also happens to be one of, what, maybe four or five lines Kaito has in the whole game that are somewhat misogynistic. Aside from this tiny handful of lines, everything else about Kaito’s personality, principles, and behaviour towards the game’s female cast – especially Kaede and Maki, who mean the most to him – indicates that he considers gender completely irrelevant to how much he respects a person, to the point that these few lines come across as jarring and out of character. This line here implies that he sees Kaede as beneath him because she’s a girl, and that his concept of manliness involves men needing to be emotionally stronger than women, and both of these things are objectively not true about him. I’ve talked about Kaito’s respect for Kaede more than enough for the former of these being untrue to already be abundantly clear, and as I said, I will be making a case for the latter being untrue as well as we go along.

Danganronpa’s writing can sometimes be annoyingly sketchy and awkward like this (see: 80% of the things Miu ever says, and every time Tenko yells about degenerate males, to name the most obvious examples from this game). While Kaito is usually so well-written that he’s unaffected by that, it seems that ever so occasionally it manages to graze him with a temporary Misogyny Bullet. These moments should be disregarded as bad writing and not taken to be a meaningful part of Kaito’s character, since they are contradicted by absolutely everything else about him.

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled Kaito Being Good:

Kaito:  “Bring it! I’ll show them how I, Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, live!”

Kokichi:  “Don’t you mean ‘die’?”

Don’t worry, Kokichi, he’ll show them that too, in time. And that’ll do a better job at your main goal of pissing off Monokuma than you ever will.

Kaede:  “If you’re scared, borrow the strength of others who will be there to help you.”

Yeah, Shuichi! Like Kaede is here for you right now, and like Kaito and Maki will be later! Friendship is exactly what people need to help them deal with the terror of a killing game, and it’s great that we finally have a Danganronpa that realises this and makes it such a big part of the story.

Kaede:  “Think of everyone you’re helping, and let that be your strength.”

And now Kaede is definitely speaking from personal experience – she’s able to be as strong and encouraging as she is because the thought of the people she’s doing it for gives her that strength!

Kaede:  (Those words were mainly for me… To inspire me, so I would not turn back…)

Guhhh. She knows she’s almost certainly going to her death; of course she’s terrified and needs to give herself courage like this!

Kaede:  (Rantaro… He died without knowing his own Ultimate talent… No… He was murdered… by some horrible, lowlife scumbag…)

AAAAAAAAA. KAEDE, NO, YOU WERE TRYING TO SAVE EVERYONE.

(I mean, he was actually murdered by a genuine scumbag, but Kaede is not thinking that the scumbag isn’t her.)

Kaede:  (I’ll never forgive his killer… That’s why… We’re going to expose the mastermind and end this killing game!)

Because she thinks that the only thing she can do to try and make up for this unforgivable crime is to at least actually save everyone else when all is said and done.

Kaede:  (I can’t show any fear here… I must fight till the bitter end.)

…Yeah. The bitter end, all right.

---

[Next post]

[lotusdiscussthis]

@yunevii 

I read your tags and I was afraid to respond to it considering you didn’t show it on the reblog. By putting your comments on the tags, I could’ve easily overlooked it, so I didn’t know if you really wanted to talk about it or not. In the end, I’ve decided to link you to give you my reply anyway. I hope you don’t mind.

I don’t blame you for not agreeing. After all, my perception of Saihara can be hard to believe when I haven’t given enough explanations as to what made me look at Saihara in such a negative way. It’s mainly due to having to reanalyze the story in a different perspective after discovering things that paints the supposedly innocent detective in a different light. But I’ll try to explain my thoughts the best that I can...

“kokichi often makes conversations go in frustrating circles because of his lies...

True, talking to Ouma also gave me headaches when I first played. Though sometimes the best way to determine someone’s nature is to not always rely on their words, but through their actions. It’s easy to say things like “I’m really evil” and act like the bad guy, but if your actions contradict with that behavior, that would naturally raise questions.

Let’s take Ouma’s evil speech after Gonta died. He said he enjoys their suffering, yet in the previous chapter, he urged Himiko to express her grief properly. How is it that he would go that far for someone he barely even knows, only to suddenly make a big show about he loves their suffering later on? Or when Ouma looked like he faked being injured only for Saihara to notice him wobbling as he walked and failed to notice how he was blanking out while talking to him? Or how about when Ouma was screaming “WE want to live, so don’t get in our way!” mid-trial while arguing with Kaito? We’ve just forgotten that part when Ouma later explains, “Oh yeah, me and Gonta were totally planning on getting you all killed so you wouldn’t have to face the horrible despair of the outside world!” None of this makes any sense. 

How is it that Saihara would overlook these major redflags that would contradict the fact that Ouma was a heartless person? If I can notice this myself, how is it that the protagonist, the Ultimate Detective, can’t??? (Also, reading between the lines is kinda what detectives do, so this is no excuse)

“i think more than anything saihara wanted to feel like kokichi was on his side-...” 

I will be frank, you shouldn’t expect people to do anything for you so simply. That was pretty much what I was trying convey in my original post. To think that somebody on the opposing side as you is automatically suspicious, not good, or wrong is just incredibly flawed reasoning. Especially since the reason why Ouma wasn’t on Saihara’s side in the first place was because he was mostly siding with Kaito the whole time. And Kaito, a man of instinct/belief/blind optimism, mostly showed hostility towards almost everything Ouma says and does. Ouma clearly knew the gravity of the situation and yet, he gets treated like the pariah because almost nobody wants to listen to what he has to say.

Ouma tried several times in the beginning to speak logically about their circumstances, yet practically everyone would automatically think he’s trying to start up pointless trouble. Like when Ouma said if Gonta were to continue being gullible, he was going to get killed. The reason why we saw Ouma as the bad guy in that moment was because everyone around him started to get all defensive and called him insensitive for saying such things after Kaede and Rantaro died. Which isn’t rational. THEY ARE IN A DEATH GAME. Whether Ouma had said anything or not wouldn’t have changed that fact. 

Out of everyone, Ouma has proven to have put in the most effort into showing his trustworthiness by spitting out the facts and warning them all to be careful, but it was everyone else (besides Miu and Gonta) that had rejected his help in the end.

On the one hand, Saihara hadn’t really done anything to earn Ouma’s support and friendship since meeting him. Even if Saihara was truly expecting what you had claimed, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s selfish for him to think that way. He doesn’t owe Saihara anything.

On the other hand, Ouma also did say at one point he was on everyone else’s side. And in the 5th trial, he had put everything on the line for his final plan to work and put an end to the killing game. Knowing that, does it still sound like he was not on his friends’ side? Even if you’ve figured it out, Saihara somehow couldn’t bring himself to comprehend this fact.

“...but talking to him always feels like a battle just to get the truth out” 

If the ‘truth’ you are referring to is about knowing Ouma’s true intentions and plans, then there’s a good reason for that. Ouma did mention in the beginning that carelessly opening up to people would be dangerous. And no, I don’t think he was speaking as Mr. Paranoia as much as the fandom loves to see him as. I think he said that because Monokuma would most likely be listening in on their conversations and that one of their friends is most likely the ringleader. (Just like how Kyoko was cautious of talking to Makoto out in the open in DR1) And turns out he was correct. So if he explained that much in the beginning, shouldn’t that give the listener (Saihara) a better idea as to why he shouldn’t be too outright with his intentions? There’s only so much you can do without getting careless within a killing game. 

“also by the time saihara says that he’ll never get kokichi to change kokichi had proven to be not just hard to talk to but pretty heartless and villainous as well” 

I would like for you to recall how Ouma first introduced himself... Now this is something I’ve always found curious, but never really dove into too deeply in case the story were to prove me otherwise at some point. But now that it’s been a year since I first played, I just have to ask those who think that Ouma has a single sadistic or villainous bone in his body.....

What kind of antagonist would out themselves as a liar in the beginning? In a killing game, no less?

We all know that he’s an incredibly clever boy who knows how to play mind games and put on an act that would befit the situation. So if he was truly serious about winning the game and was willing to coldly disregard the lives of others, wouldn’t it make more sense to not reveal that problematic aspect of himself? Wouldn’t it give him a better advantage to NOT play the flaming jerkwad role and piss everyone off to the point of wanting to kill you? Much like how Komaeda played innocent until Hajime and Chiaki cornered him into admitting that he set up the murder plan and then showed his crazy side. Ouma could’ve played himself up just like that as well, but no. Instead he kept claiming he’s nothing more than a liar.

Admitting to a bunch of (supposed) strangers that he’s a liar just makes no sense at all. Although, to disregard his intentions as just him being crazy or just him screwing around would be oversimplifying things. Even Nagito had an understandable method to his madness... 

“though he hadnt done anything drastic he does fuck up the trials and says (lies) about how much fun the killing game is”

When you say “fuck up the trials”, you mean when he took Ryoma’s motive video or saying that he killed Angie? I had to ask to make sure because just simply saying “he screwed up the trials” is not a clear enough explanation. Anyway, we never actually knew the real reason as to why Ouma stole the motive vid. We were made to think he did it for kicks, but in the end, he explained on Ryoma’s behalf that his motive video was empty when nobody knew what could’ve made him lose his will to live. I guess he also speculated that Maki was Ryoma’s killer and wanted to steal it before she got a hold of it. After all, she was the original holder of his video and nobody knew about her and Ryoma’s encounter besides Ouma, so nobody would’ve questioned her as to why she had his video. And I think Ouma was waiting for an opportune moment to shove the evidence in her face if things went differently. (I’m just guessing here tho.) But I do believe Ouma has reasons for why he does what he does, instead of simply doing it for jokes.

On the matter of him claiming that he killed Angie, he said so himself that he was trying to lure out the culprit by pretending to be the killer. He said if he played the killer, the actual blackened would likely push the blame onto him. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s more of a valid reason to do it than simply screwing around.

It’s rather funny to me how the fandom talks about how Ouma screws up the trials, but what about Tenko, Himiko and Maki??? 

Tenko kept others from questioning Himiko for the sake of the investigation, Himiko would sooner let everyone die for the sake of keeping her magic a secret, and Maki stupidly kept quiet and put the trial on hold so nobody would figure out her talent. And yet, Saihara would sooner side with them and lie for their sake in the middle of the trial even though he had just about as little relations with them as he did with Ouma. Why????

“its really hard for saihara to feel like he’s on his side despite how much he does want to work with him”

I’m sorry to say, but Saihara had that opportunity to work with Ouma when the boy himself made the offer in the VW. Without considering it or even questioning him, Saihara just ignored him and logged out. Saihara clearly had no intention of working beside him.

“i do kinda agree that he didnt really ask that many questions but kokichis answers really had proven to always be super vague or just a lie” 

Which vague answers are you talking about exactly? I wouldn’t know how to answer that myself because that’s not specific enough. Give me an example?

“the point is i really dont believe saihara is an arrogant person.”

I’m afraid that the screencaps I’ve shown in the original post aren’t the only proof I have to show that he’s an arrogant person. I wanted to mention them in a different post, but I’ll give you a few other brief examples.

He has insinuated that Ouma is stupid despite the fact that we’re talking about the same dude that has pretty much been doing more detective work than the actual detective did. Not to mention that Saihara’s the one that believed Ouma was the mastermind and screwed up the first case majorly.

After the 5th Closing Argument, Saihara claimed his detective���s intuition was flawless even though it was clearly just conjecture in the end. He had practically no proof to back up what he had laid out for them. He may have gotten Kaito to exit out of the exisal but only because he had to lie. That doesn’t prove that was what actually transpired. Only Kaito knows about what had happened between him and Ouma, and seeing how Kaito was following the script he was given, we wouldn’t know the extent of it.

This one really peeves me. Because he thinks he knows better, he thinks he gets to shut down someone else’s emotions because he thinks they’re lying when he couldn’t possibly have gotten the chance to know one thing about him. Whether you think someone is insincere or not, it’s not your place to disregard their feelings like that. 

There’s also the fact that Kirumi got unexpectedly personal and called out on the fact that Saihara doesn’t even listen to others in the 2nd trial. It was weird how she could make these accusations at all like she knows something...

And despite the fact that Tsumugi claimed it was Kaede’s twin as the possible suspect, Saihara would sooner disregard the piece of evidence because he trusted his intuition moreso than looking into possible facts. Same can be said in the first trial too, where he trusted his intuition to pin Kaede as the culprit despite the fact that she WASN’T...

I’ll just stop it here...

“i dont think its right to compare gundam and kokichi” 

Well, I don’t see how it’s wrong either, honestly... Considering how the game itself gave me a lot to work with to show how much these two said characters contrast with one another. I actually made something before that would showcase a lot of comparisons between Ouma and Gundham. So if you wish, you can look for yourself and see what I mean... (Link to Self-Sacrificing Duos post) And a friend of mine actually analyzed a scene between the two when they had a moment in TDP and the game even subtly hinted about them being similar! (Link to Gundham and Ouma TDP moment post)

It’s kinda hard not to compare when there are a number of things you can compare within this franchise, not just Gundham and Ouma. They are all by the same creator after all and he loves to re-utilize his own tropes.

“wow i should not have written all this in the tags its so long sorry i make it sound like i dont like kokichi when i really do. he’s a great character just really hard to get along with. i hope this made any sense lol”

It’s no problem. I just hope that what I’ve explained made sense ^^; I apologize if I come across as harsh or anything like that, but I couldn’t find myself expressing certain points any better than I did... 

Hopefully, this gives you at least a better understanding of where I’m coming from.

[dr-imaginesnmatchups]

Leon, Mondo, Teruteru, Gundham, Korekiyo, Gonta and Kaito are being executed when their s/o saves them at the last second and comforts them?

Ah, if only this were possible in canon…..Obvious spoilers for all 3 games!

Leon Kuwata

-The first trial had come to a close and your boyfriend, Leon had been revealed to be Sayaka’s killer

-Nobody knew what to expect for “punishment time”

-So when a chain clamped around his neck and dragged him away kicking in screaming, you all chased after him in horror

-When you caught up to him he was bound to a pole with a large machine aiming at him, his hands grasping at his neck. 

-There was a fence in between the class and him so you thought there was no way you could get to him

-Until you followed the cord for the machine and saw it was…plugged into the wall? That seems like an oversight

-Turns out since they were expecting Sakura to be the first blackened, they hadn’t finished everything with the punishments for everybody else

-So, you walk up and simply cut the cord with scissors from you’re sewing kit while Monokuma is focused on pelting him

-The whole thing whirrs to a halt and Monokuma stomps out of the gate to demand an answer

-You and your classmates rush in and get him down off the pole and rush him out of the trial grounds

-You’re in the dining hall applying ice to his bruises- he holds your hand and apologizes for what he’s done. You’re still in shock from everything but you say you forgive him (while you can, because Monokumas coming with a vengeance)

Mondo Oowada

-The room was filled with screaming and tears as you and Taka held onto Mondo desperately 

-He shook you guys off of him and told you to be strong, and for both of you to make it out of here alive

-When he was strapped to that bike and was about to head for the cage, you and Taka both sprung into action 

-Taka ran ahead of you and grabbed onto the front of the bike, rendering it impossible to drive without running him over

-While Monokuma tried to move him, you went to work getting Mondo off the bike

-He was at a loss for words- two good, innocent people were risking their lives to save him- even after he admitted to murdering one of their friends and getting his own brother killed

-He realized that you guys needed to try and save him in order to feel closure, so he let you try without saying anything

-He didn’t expect for you guys to actually succeed

-You raced off, pulling Mondo along with you. When you were back into the main school building you hugged tightly while he asked you why you guys would do something so stupid

-You told him that you and Taka couldn’t live without him, and he’s just dumbfounded that he was able to find a best friend and a S/O who loved him so much

Teruteru Hanamura

-Everybody was in disbelief that Teruteru had been the one who murdered Byakuya- but in even more disbelief that he had managed to get a S/O (Kazuichi may have cried a little)

-No matter what anybody thought about him, you weren’t letting anything happen to your boyfriend

-When the helicopter came around with him tied to a rope under in, you quickly snatched Peko’s sword from her back and threw it in a desperate attempt to cut the rope

-Somehow, it worked (physics be damned this is for love)

-You run to catch him in your arms as he falls 

-Everybody is too dumbfounded to do anything, so they all just clap at the sight of Teruteru falling out of the air and into your clutches

-Eventually you stop basking in the moment long enough to put him down and untie the ropes

-He’s crying into your shoulder because he was so scared that he’d die never getting to see his mother again

-Monokuma isn’t even mad about his execution being ruined because that shit was cool

-Peko on the other hand…

Gundham Tanaka

-Gundham was getting ready for his execution, and was saying his last goodbyes

-He pulled you into a close embrace and you felt something odd

-When you pulled away you found that the Devas had crawled out of his scarf and onto you- he was entrusting them to you, as he was the only mortal he saw fit to care for his minions while his physical form left this realm (Now Sonia was the one crying)

-His execution was ongoing, and a herd of animals was visible over the horizon

-With the power of the devas, you made your way onto the execution grounds and stood firmly a few feet in front of him

-The stampede immediately screeched to a halt at your feet, not able to mow down an innocent bystander

-Gundham used that opportunity to move out of the way, and when he was gone so were you

-You found him after and his face was full of pride after the way you “tamed the horde”

-Despite this you could tell he was a bit shaken- both over the thought of dying himself and the thought of losing you

-You held his hand and assured him that everything was going to be alright, and that the great Gundham Tanaka couldn’t be defeated that easily- and neither could you

Korekiyo Shinguuji

-You had a lot to take in following Angie and Tenko’s trial

-Not only did your boyfriend murder two of your friends- but he was also a serial killer with a split personality who was in love with his dead sister, and one of those personalities was his dead sister

-You’re not even sure what was going on anymore, but all you knew is you didn’t want to lose Kiyo

-So when they had him bound and dropped into the boiling pot, you made your way through the crowd and kicked the pot as hard as you could

-It landed on it’s side and all the water poured out along with Kiyo

-His face was already red and his body was hot to the touch- but you didn’t care

-You went to untie the ropes but he asked you not to (I wonder why)

-So, you held his head in your lap and said you were going to help him, that you forgave him for everything he did and you loved him

-He spoke calmly about what a beautiful display you rescuing him was, and how your forgiving soul truly reflected the reasons why he was so infatuated with humanity

Gonta Gokuhara

-This was a trial that truly broke everybody’s heart- especially yours

-Watching Gonta trying to come to terms with the fact that he killed Miu, and having virtual Gonta confess was too much

-You couldn’t help but break down

-Gonta wrapped you in his arms and kept apologizing over, and over

-When he had to let you go to be executed, you looked up and saw Kokichi and got mad

-Gonta doesn’t deserve this

-So when the large insect broke out of Monophanies stomach you walked right up and stepped on it before it could move, crushing its wings

-It attempted to pierce you with it’s talons but you grabbed them and broke them- you were not to be fucked with right now

-When the bug was destroyed you walked over to Gonta, who was horribly swollen, and let him down

-He immediately checked you for any injuries before you both broke down crying in each others arms 

-You gave light kisses to the bumps all over his face- you didn’t care if it was gross

-You just wanted Gonta to feel safe and loved, because it’s what he deserved

Kaito Momota

-Throughout the whole investigation and trial, you already had to come to terms with the fact that Kaito might have been the one who was killed

-But you couldn’t accept that, so you fought to the bitter end to prove it was him inside the exisal- and with the help of Shuichi’s sleuthing skills, you were able to do just that

-You completely forgot the fact that if he was alive now, he soon wouldn’t be- he’d be facing an execution

-So when they were strapping him into the space ship, you lost it…You just had to deal with the thought of losing your boyfriend, only to have it be revealed he was never gone, to then be taken from you again

-It was a rollercoaster of emotions that nobody wanted to be on

-So all of you remaining worked together to cling to the spaceship so it couldn’t take off

-While Monokuma and the monokubs fought with your friends, you crawled inside to rescue Kaito

-When you got there, he wasn’t in good shape…you realized that no matter what, saving his life wasn’t an option

-So instead of freaking out trying to escape with him, you merely crawled into his arms so he’d be comforted in his final moments

-He stroked your hair and said you were crazy for trying to save him- but that was ok, because he was just as crazy about you

-He told you to never forget him, and to make it out alive

-And even though he never got to go to space, it didn’t matter- because you were his whole universe

~Mod Sakura

[patricksilvrrozartistry]

Current Music Obsessions: February 2019

Time for the second Current Music Obsessions post in the new format! Although the lists are technically longer, only talking about just a handful of songs is so nice. So here are the honorable mentions and regular obsessions.

Textures - Consonant Hemispheres Within Temptation - In Vain Autumn's Mourning - The Morning Mist Bad Wolf - Shooting Star Trail of Tears - Mournful Pigeon Trail of Tears - Enigma of the Absolute Angie - IDGAF Levinia - Prayers Phildel - Electric Heights Young Medicine - Shinju Forever Sill - Rew1nd Leprous - Angel (Massive Attack cover) Todesbonden - Fading Empire Ray Noir - All Alone feat. Mariann Rosa Ivy Crown - Lonesome and Cold feat. Kim Song Sternkopf All Hail - Witch Hunt Rose Funeral - Entercism Stream of Passion - Far and Apart Chemist - Awaken Divided Island - Mermaid Tragul - The Hummingbird Asrai - Restless Lighthouse in Darkness - Monochromatic Memories Stream of Passion - Now or Never Within Temptation - Mad World Qveen Herby - 310 Within Temptation - Endless War Moon Tooth - Trust Palehorse - Dead Wrong Heonia - Shy

Soul Extract - Nebula Pentastone - Poisoned Mind Reism - Broken Romina Falconi - Vuoi L'Amante Vetrar Draugurinn - Hinterlands Skypunch - Psych Edge of Paradise - Face of Fear Diabolical - Betrayal Asrai - Touch in the Dark H.E.R. - Gone Away The Design Abstract - Technophage New Zone - Breathe Jamala - Solo The Birthday Massacre - Red Stars Vetrar Draugurinn - I Am

Now for the main obsessions.

Waterparks - Crybaby

This was just a regular obsession, but then it became a main one. I heard this song while my sister and I were browsing around in Hot Topic one day and it caught my attention so I decided to look it up when I got home and wound up loving it. Like I've mentioned in the past: I'm a sucker for pitch-shift harmonies, and this song has plenty of them. I've checked out some of their other songs and they don't appeal to me (I'm not into pop-punk), but this song is absolutely amazing.

Battle Beast - No More Hollywood Endings

Noora is such a drag queen and I love it. Homegirl PAINTS her face. Anyways, this song is so good. It's such a fun and powerful track. Noora's voice is so strong in this song and is such a great first single for the upcoming release (which I'm so excited for).

Raizer - Precious

I went through a bit of a phase where I was listening to a good bit of electro-rock/metal and this is definitely one of the better ones I heard. It's such a beautiful track and the singer has such a pretty voice. I'm definitely gonna look into more from these guys, because this track definitely has me intrigued.

Jinjer - Perennial 

The Micro EP is a very impressive one from these guys and I think this has to be my favorite off it. The video is great and I especially love seeing the instruments being played by bodies in a graveyard; it's so cool. This track really shows off Tati's versatility as a singer really well and just how powerful her cleans and screams can get.

Qveen Herby - BDE

This is such a fun song off EP 5 and is my favorite off it. And again, Amy turned out some sickening looks for the video. It definitely has a cheesy factor that I really like with all the eggplants all throughout the video for a song about big dick energy. The chorus sounds so innocent and fun, even though it really isn't that innocent. And that rap verse is everything.

Une Misere - Damages

Found this ball-buster of a track thanks to their record label. This is an amazing blackened death metal track and it has such cool and intense riffs. It's constantly in your face from start to finish and I can't get over it. The video might be simple, but the imagery and the atmosphere it creates really suits the song.

Swallow the Sun - Firelights

This is such a beautiful track. I need to hurry up and listen to the new album, because I'm loving everything I'm hearing from it so far. Mikko's voice is so lovely and you get a great feel for that in this song. He puts so much heart and emotion into it. And I absolutely love the nod to Aleah at the end of the video when they showed her iconic necklace laying in the snow. It's making me wonder if this album just might be dedicated to her or if there will at least be a few dedicated to her.

Lunar Path - The One Behind the Mirror

I found this song while digging around on my first YouTube account and I fell in love instantly. I love gothic metal songs that invoke this kind of vibe and I especially love the fact that their front woman isn't afraid to get into her lower register. That lower register in the chorus is everything. It's so beautiful and haunting. I'm definitely am gonna be checking out more from these guys. It's such a bummer they broke up though.

Imperia - Book of Love

This was their second single of Flames of Eternity and it's a powerful one. It's so lovely and heartfelt. Helena has such an amazing way of channeling her emotions into music, and this track is pure proof of that. I especially love the shift to the dramatic side during the last chorus. That power and beauty is just one of the things that I absolutely love about this band. Definitely go check out Flames of Eternity. It's such an epic and amazing album.

I hope you guys enjoy this new format, because I'm loving it. The posts are easier to make and are more spaced out than before, which again, makes these posts a lot easier to do. But enough of that, let's wonder what March has in store for us.

[takonei]

Beta AU - Main story, Chapter 3, deadly life (Part 4)

Note of the author: *grabs popcorn* This is where the fun begins

Chapter 3: What is beyond humans’ control - Deadly life

...

“Where do we even start?” Miu asked.

“Ryoma, did you find anything on Keebo?” Rantaro turned to the other soldier.

"Kaito and I checked on his body to see what was wrong, and all his circuits are intact, from what we’ve managed to look at.” the smaller man explained.

Angie tilted her head to the side. “And... What does that mean?”

“It means basically that no one harmed him in the span of time we were investigating.” Kaito answered.

Tsumugi rolled her eyes. “Of course. That would have been way too easy otherwise.”

Shuichi looked at the Monokuma file. “The cause of death isn’t given, just that he received no injuries... But how could he even die then?”

Kiyo frowned. “Unfortunately I do not have knowledge in robotics, and neither does a majority of us. We’ll have to leave this to you three; Ryoma, Kaito and Tsumugi.”

Ryoma pondered. “The file says he died this morning, he was very much alive when we started the investigation.”

Kirumi bit her nail. “We were not even separated for a long time. I doubt the killer would have time to deconstruct him and rebuild him enough for us not to notice if anything was wrong.”

Rantaro tapped a finger on his arm. “Besides, I don’t think Keebo would have let himself being deconstructed and killed. He would have to fight back.”

Shuichi frowned. Nothing made sense. He wasn’t injured, he died when everyone was away investigating, and all of this in such a short amount of time.

“If the killer actually rebuilt Keebo enough for us not to notice it, they would at least have had tools on them and managed to trap Keebo, right?” Kaito was confused as well.

“Or they were competent enough to disable him without Keebo even being able to do anything.” Tsumugi suggested.

“Doesn’t that look too convenient to you?” Kiyo raised an eyebrow. “That would mean their plan went perfectly, and knew exactly where Keebo was going to be, and plus, out of everyone’s sight.”

“Besides, trust me when I say that there are no tools to quickly disassemble and reassemble Keebo in less than 20 minutes.” Ryoma explained.

Kaito nodded, agreeing with him.

Miu pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let me get this straight. No one would have been able to just disassemble Keebo and put him back so none of us would notice anything, but someone still managed to kill him in a span of 20 minutes?”

Shuichi crossed his arms and pondered. Mechanic or not, this was indeed impossible to pull off in such a short amount of time.

“Are we sure his death wasn’t accidental and Monokuma isn’t just messing with us?” he asked.

“Hey! Bears never lie!” The mascot yelled from his throne. “I made quite clear that one of you is responsible for Mr. robot’s death!”

Tsumugi perked up. “Responsible...?”

Kaito waved a hand in confusion. “Well, yeah? He said so earlier!”

Rantaro had a finger on his chin. “No, I think I understand where she’s getting at.”

“And that is...?” Miu frowned.

“’Killed’ means the person went out of their way to murder him. ‘Being responsible’ means that they are indeed the cause of Keebo’s death, but not necessarily directly or on purpose.” Tsumugi explained.

“... But the person would still be considered the blackened if there wasn’t a victim discovered before.” Rantaro concluded.

“Exactly.”

That put things into a new perspective. At least the person behind it perhaps didn’t want to kill him in the first place.

“So, should we assume the killer acted indirectly, not on purpose or perhaps both?” Kirumi asked.

Ryoma crossed his arms. “One theory at a time. I guess we could try the ‘not on purpose’ one since it’s most likely what happened.”

Shuichi nodded.

Angie looked up and started thinking. “Perhaps the two fought and they ended up killing Keebo instead of simply injuring him?”

“That would mean either Keebo engaged the fight and ended up getting killed in the process, or the killer wanted to disable him and accidentally killed him instead.” Kiyo suggested.

“... Perhaps the killer wanted a discussion with him and it went out of control?” Shuichi added.

“A discussion during the investigation of a murder?” Tsumugi raised an eyebrow.

Shuichi now realized how odd that sounded.

“Are you insinuating the killer knew Keebo was the one to murder Himiko and decided to talk to him?” Ryoma looked skeptic.

“But why would they talk to the killer of all people and not one of us??” Miu felt the same.

Kiyo shook his head. “I don’t think that’s it.”

“It still wouldn’t explain how he was killed.” Rantaro added.

Angie tapped her cheek. “He was discovered in the entrance hall, right? Perhaps the killer pushed him from one of the upper floors!”

Kirumi frowned. “There would have been injuries on his body if that was the case.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Ryoma interrupted. “I worked on his maintenance for some time, and his body is extremely resistant.”

“So pushing him from a higher place wouldn’t have injured his body at all?” Rantaro asked.

The small man nodded. “It’s a possibility.”

“But could that mean he had internal injuries?” Kirumi turned to him.

Rantaro looked at his monopad. “The Monokuma file says ‘no injuries were noted on the victim’s body’, so I’m a bit skeptic.”

Shuichi perked up. Perhaps...

“What if the fall didn’t break a single piece, but still derailed his program?”

Tsumugi’s eyes widened a little. “That’s... Actually plausible.”

Kaito hit his palm with his fist. “We didn’t notice anything on the circuits, but we couldn’t have seen anything if it was the program itself!”

Kiyo frowned. “However there’s something that I have to ask you all.”

They all turned to the therapist.

“Did any of you hear the fall?”

Now that Shuichi thought about it, he didn’t hear anything, perhaps because he was on the upper floors.

But as everyone glanced at each other, he realized that no one did either.

“If Keebo did fall from one of the upper floors, his crash on the floor would have been quite noisy.” Kiyo added.

“So we can rule out ‘the fall’ theory?” Angie pouted.

“I think so...” Shuichi muttered.

Tsumugi sighed. “Back to square one.”

Ryoma shook his head. “Not entirely. At least we know something was done to his programming.”

Kaito pondered. “But still... Doing something to Keebo so his program would derail without anyone hearing and in a span of 20 minutes without him defending himself looks odd.”

“And either indirectly or not on purpose.” Tsumugi added.

“Are we sure we’re on the right track?” Shuichi asked.

Rantaro was nervously tapping his fingers on the podium.

“What I fail to understand is why the second killer is staying silent.”

He was right, sort of. Monokuma would only punish the first killer... But he could understand why the killer wouldn’t want to make themselves known.

“They wouldn’t be the blackened of the case, nor executed. And if the death wasn’t intentional then I personally wouldn’t consider them a killer.” Kirumi added.

Silence.

Tsumugi was intensely thinking.

“What if the killer doesn’t know they’re the killer?”

Miu frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense, how could you not know you killed someone?”

“Then why is no one saying anything already? Unless Himiko’s and Keebo’s killers are the same person I don’t get what they would gain from staying silent!” she exclaimed.

“Let’s not get heated so soon.” Kirumi interrupted. “Let’s recap the possibilities.”

Ryoma started counting on his fingers the theories. “Either the two killers are the same person and their identity could be revealed through this case.”

“A theory we can rule out since we know the two cases are not related. Monokuma said so himself.” Kiyo countered.

“The killer doesn’t know they’re the killer, for whatever reason.” Ryoma continued.

“This doesn’t make any sense but go on.” Miu rolled her eyes.

“The person indirectly killed Keebo and doesn’t want to admit they’re a killer. That’s still a theory we didn’t explore.” he went on.

“I guess that would be possible...” Angie pondered.

“... And finally the killer didn’t do it on purpose and still doesn’t want to admit it even though we’ll have to find out in order to continue the trial.”

More silence.

“I think we can rule out the last one, right?” Shuichi asked, hesitant.

Kiyo glanced at everyone, to perhaps try and see if that was the case.

“...We can rule out the theory.” he declared.

“Although I don’t think that’s the case, I would like to add a theory.” Kirumi raised a hand.

“And that is?” Tsumugi replied.

“What about a suicide?”

Shuichi’s heart skipped a beat. “A... Suicide?”

“None of us actually had the ability to kill him in 20 minutes. But if he knows about his own program, then it wouldn’t be impossible for him to deactivate himself.” she explained.

“I don’t know who built Keebo, but I don’t think the creator wouldn’t at least add the three laws of robotics in his programming. That’s a basic thing to do.” Tsumugi looked skeptic.

Angie blinked. “The what now?”

“A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.“ she recited. It’s as though she learned them by heart.

“In other words... He should have a program preventing him from ending his own life.” she summed it up.

Rantaro hummed. “Besides, earlier, Monokuma basically said it wasn’t the case.”

...

“First off. The body discovery announcement plays only when the death wasn’t from natural causes! Which means...”

“... That one of you really is responsible for metal-face’s death!”

...

“He said ‘one of you is responsible’. He didn’t include Keebo in this.” he explained.

“Hey! Stop using my words against me!” Monokuma yelled from above.

Shuichi swore he could read a ‘watch me’ on Rantaro’s lips.

Ryoma didn’t seem to want to enter the conflict. “Anyway. The killer either doesn’t know they killed him, or they indirectly did kill him and stays silent.”

“I’ve been observing everyone since the beginning of the trial. And I think we can go on with the first theory.” Kiyo noted.

Shuichi raised an eyebrow. “But how would the killer not know about their crime?”

Tsumugi’s gaze shifted to the side, to no one in particular. “... I’ve been thinking about this theory and since Keebo is a robot that is plausible.”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Kaito asked.

“The killer could have modified Keebo’s program without knowing about it, and that’s what led him to his death.” she explained.

“But still, in 20 minutes without Keebo even defending himself?” Miu countered. “We’re still talking about something impossible to pull off”

Rantaro frowned. “Hey Ryoma, Kaito, are you sure you didn’t find anything suspicious with his circuits?”

“I think saying the cause of death is unknown isn’t exactly right. From what Kaito and I have seen, his battery is completely fried, but none of the circuits looked out of place.” Ryoma explained.

Tsumugi fiddled with her hair. “So the killer couldn’t have changed anything in 20 minutes. That’s what we established.”

Kaito nodded. “Yeah... Pretty much.”

“Then how about this.” she started.

“The killer modified Keebo’s program to fry his battery even before Himiko’s death.”

Ryoma’s eyes widened, then he started thinking. “The killer modified the program before Himiko’s death... They didn’t know someone would act tonight, and the battery was programmed to die this morning, killing Keebo with it?”

“Precisely.”

Kaito remained confused. “But still, wouldn’t Keebo try to defend himself against the killer?”

“I don’t know Kaito, you tell me.” she bluntly said.

The biker almost jumped. “... Excuse me?”

“I have been informed that you were the one doing his maintenance while Ryoma and I were sick.”

He was speechless, eyes wide.

“And as far as I know, you were the one he trusted for his maintenance those last few days. Now tell me, was it accidental or intentional?”

Kaito couldn’t even say anything.

"No... I didn’t- I-” he stuttered, unable to find words to defend himself.

He nervously laughed. “Haha... That’s... That’s a joke, right?”

Silence.

“Guys... Come on... This isn’t funny...” he muttered.

Ryoma looked at Tsumugi. “You’re saying that Kaito’s maintenance went wrong and Keebo’s battery ended up frying during the investigation?”

“C-Come on! Keebo was fine this morning! T-There’s no way he wouldn’t have noticed his battery was dying!” Kaito exclaimed.

“I wouldn’t be so sure. A human bleeding to death would obviously notice their wound, but a robot isn’t designed to feel pain, so even though he was dying this morning...” Tsumugi explained.

“... He probably didn’t notice it until it was too late.”

Kaito’s grip on his podium tightened, his eyes were darting on all sides, head low so he wouldn’t have to face the others.

He didn’t believe this.

And neither could Shuichi. Miu seemed to feel the same, judging from the terrified look on her face.

“B-But even if I made a mistake during his maintenance t-there’s no way it would derail his program that much and kill him!” he exclaimed.

It looked like a part of him knew, and the other didn’t want to believe it.

But he was right on that point... Even if Kaito wasn’t the best mechanic in robotics, it surely wouldn’t have made him derailed that much, right?

Unless...

“Come on! You guys believe me, right?! I didn’t do it I swear!!”

It’s going to be difficult, but this is the only way.

This is the only theory that makes sense.

He has to make him understand.

To continue this trial and hopefully learn more about Himiko’s killer.

He doesn’t have a choice.

Argument armament start!

“That’s wrong!”

                            “I’m not responsible for Keebo’s death!”

               “I only performed a

                                                             simple maintenance on him!”

                                      “I didn’t try to do anything!”

"I don’t even have

                            the knowledge to

                                                             make him derail

                                                                                               that much!”

           “It’s not my fault I swear!”

                                          “You have to believe me!”

                                         “There’s no proof I’m the one who killed him!”

“He’s a robot,

                                                  he would still

                                                                                             have known

                             if I did

                                                     anything wrong!”

          “Those are just theories, you guys have to be wrong!”

“There’s no way such a tiny maintenance mistake alone could have derailed him that much!”

                         Flash           back           lights           damage

“Kaito... The flashback lights already damaged him, remember? It’s possible they modified his program and it derailed just enough for a mistake to be fatal...”

“I...”

The biker didn’t have more to say. Was he finally accepting the truth...?

“I didn’t... It’s not- It’s-” he couldn’t even form a proper sentence.

“It’s not my fault, right...? I’m- I’m not the one who killed him, right...?”

This was difficult to look at. To think Kaito was responsible for Keebo’s death... It felt unreal.

Surely it was an accident, but someone’s life ended nonetheless.

He remembered when Miu tried to poison them a few days ago... It was intentional, but she didn’t end up killing anyone.

For Kaito it was the opposite. He didn’t plan on killing anyone, but ended up doing so by accident without knowing it.

Shuichi knows Miu still feels guilty over the incident and tries her hardest to make up for what she has done.

How would Kaito even act after the trial...?

Shuichi couldn’t bring himself to think about something else.

If Himiko didn’t die, Kaito would have been the real blackened and been executed for it.

But things were different from a normal case.

Kaito was going to live, and will have to feel the guilt of killing someone.

To have blood on his hands for the rest of his life.

But of course that would be assuming he isn’t Himiko’s killer.

Shuichi brushed off this thought. Judging by Kaito’s reaction to killing Keebo, surely he wouldn’t be the one who killed Himiko so brutally, right...?

“Monokuma...” Rantaro turned to the bear, visibly frustrated.

“You said you would give us details on Kokichi’s condition if we solved Keebo’s murder. Is Kaito really the killer?”

He stayed silent for a few seconds.

“... You are absolutely right!”

Shuichi felt a chill running down his spine.

“The blackened who killed Keebo is Kaito Momota, the Ultimate biker! But because of his status as the second blackened, he will not be executed for this crime!”