#except kiyo who is only slightly not and he's still the best

[syrasenturi]

hiro and taiki, the people pleasers to a fault protagonists

[shsl-fluff]

Hey! I know you haven't done my next request yet but as a draft or request for when you get all the rest of your requests finished up, could I also have shsl fem baker s/o with the drv3 boys? y'know.. that one I requested with the sdr2 boys? I'd just like to know what you think she'd be like for V3 boys! I'm sorry for bothering you! no rush here! ☺️💕👉🏻👈🏻

Gonta Gokuhara

You two met after school when you were walking home. 

He was standing frozen still near the school's courtyard. It was almost hard to see him with his dark green hair blending in with the trees. 

Interested, you walked over to him. "What are you-"

He glanced at you, grinning. Cupped in his hand was a beautiful large butterfly. 

You both stared in awe at the butterfly for at least a minute, until it flew out of his hands. 

He suddenly grinned widely at you. "Thank you!" He said, his voice wasn't one you expected to come from such a large figure. 

"For staying quiet and not running away from me and-" he paused suddenly and stood up straight and tall, brushing his suit nervously

"Gontas name is Gonta Gokuhara" he smiled

You introduced yourself after, and told him what your ultimate was

His eyes lit up brightly. "Ultimate baker? Gonta is ultimate entomologist! Ultimate baker sounds nice!" 

You both talked for a while about your talents, but looped back to bugs a lot. 

You didn't mind, of course! He was ecstatic to share his interests. 

"Do you think you could teach Gonta how to cook and bake?" He asked suddenly, eyes wide. "Gonta wants to be a gentleman, and gentlemen are good at cooking!" 

You accepted his offer gratefully.

Almost every day you would both spend time together after school. You would walk to your home together, and point out all the bugs that passed by, and then at home you would teach him how to cook or bake something new. 

It took him a while to get the hang of the basics, but he was very determined. 

One day before school, he gave you something joyfully. 

"(Y/N)! Gonta made this for you!" He said quickly and handed you a cupcake

It was sloppily decorated with yellow and black frosting. It was a little bumblebee! 

You thanked him gladly. 

He was bashful as he smiled widely at you. "Gonta made it because he wants to thank you!" He said. 

"A-and, because…" he went deep pink, nervously grabbing a piece of folded up and crumbled paper from his pocket and handing it to you. 

"(Y/N), you are kind like a ladybug, and sweet like a cupcake! You help Gonta learn to be gentlemen! Gonta thinks you are pretty like a monarch butterfly" there were a lot of scribbled out words past that point. At the bottom in small writing "Gonta thinks you are a pretty lady"

Your heart warmed as he mumbled, "is it gentlemanly to give a pretty lady a hug?" 

You nodded before he pulled you into a shockingly tight embrace. 

Kiibo (K1-B0)

On the first day of school, you brought a giant tray full of cupcakes for your homeroom

You placed two on every desk and saw most of them eaten quickly. A few people only had one, but you didn't mind, they probably weren't hungry was all. 

One classmate was the exception. He pushed them both over to the corner of his desk nervously and then gave them back to you at the end of class. 

"Here… I'm sorry, but i don't eat. I'm K1-B0, the ultimate Robot, but… Call me Kiibo!"

You apologized for the mix up

"Oh no it's alright! I like being treated like a human" he said softly.

After school that day, you noticed him being kicked around by a few kids in the halls. They were both screaming at eachother about God knows what

You heard a lot of screams about a fake talent, and a lot of threats about a lawsuit.

Kiibo was the one who ended up backing down. He ran out of the building with you following behind. 

You finally caught up to him, kicking and hitting a large tree on the campus as it shook violently.

His face was red and he was sobbing. 

You stopped him before he totally destroyed the tree. "Hey, Kiibo?" You called out. 

He turned around and looked at you. 

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He nodded silently as you say down and patted the ground next to you. 

He let his frustrations out to you. How he constantly felt like he had something to prove to everyone, even as an ultimate. 

How he didn't even know if he could feel. Was it all fake? A combination of ones and zeros?

He didn't know. 

After that, you guys had become close, how could he not have after spilling all his secrets to you?

A few months into the school year, he came to you with a question. 

"Hey, (Y/N)?" He asked quietly. "What is love like?"

"What's love like? Well… I don't know how to explain it, Kiibo…" you mumbled softly. 

"Can I… hold your hand?"

You nodded and reached your hand out to him

He was deep red as he took your hand. 

"I like this, (Y/N). I think I do know how love feels."

Kaito Momota

The power couple of the school 

He tries to convince you to work out with him all the time, but if you get tired easily it's fine!

Even though he works out all the time, he definitely doesn't eat healthy. 

Loves all your sweets to the moon and back. 

You two love movie night together, and have it at least once a week. 

He picks a lot of animated movies, and has definitely found some gems 

He's super strong. Definitely not the strongest student at Hopes Peak, or even in your class, but still strong compared to the average teenager. 

When he hugs you he spins around and picks you up. 

He's very much a touchy person. Not in an inappropriate way, but in a cuddle-y way

If you're fine with PDA he definitely holds your hand in public and give you kisses.

He honestly prefers forehead or cheek kisses more than kisses on the lips, but doesn't really matter either way. 

He tries to make for you sometimes but this poor guy doesn't realize how important measurements can be. 

"Vanilla tastes good, so I can add 4 teaspoons instead of one, right?"

No, no you can't. 

He's trying his best.

He's a big sweetheart. 

Kokichi Ouma

You both have a lot of energy, but you both used it in vastly different ways.

You spent yours spending positivity, and he spent his spreading misteif. 

You meet when he was trying to convince you to make an orange flavored cupcake with toothpaste frosting.

He finally convinced you to make one, but only on the condition that he would eat it himself, and not trick anyone else into eating it.

Surprisingly, he agreed and ate it then and there, cringing but laughing the whole time. 

You sorta admired his ability to joke around durring every situation

You felt like he meant well, even though he pestered people sometimes

He started to hang around and pester you for a while. 

He was expecting to get a good reaction out of you, maybe you weren't really all that chipper and you'd snap and show your angry side?

But instead you just laughed along. 

You even started to appreciate his presence, and he started to appreciate yours.

When you found a letter in your locker asking to meet at a random building after school, you were sure it was some elaborate prank by Kokichi

When you saw him outside of the seemingly normal building, it seemed to confirm your suspicion. 

When he saw you he grinned widely and brought you inside the building

Instead of an office building, it was a large lair, as if from a cheesy superhero movie

"See? I told you I had an evil organization" Kokichi laughed as you looked around in awe. 

"Now, I have a question," he hummed. 

"Would you like to join me as leader? As the queen of D.I.C.E?" He held out his hand

You could tell he wasn't lying.

Korekiyo Shinguji

There were a lot of rumors around school about the new freshman. 

He looked rather intimidating, and hopes peak was known for having a number of strange people, so the rumors came naturally. 

Some said he was a killer, some of the more spiritual students claimed he was a demon. 

The rumors didn't phase you. 

One day during lunch you saw him sitting all alone absorbed in a large book and taking notes. He didn't have anything to eat.

You sat next to him and took out a cookie from your bag and offered it to him. 

"Oh, hello" he looked over at you. "Thank you, but I'm not one to eat in public" 

"Are you sure? You can still have it for later" you gave him the cookie. "It's pumpkin"

You could see his smile from his eyes as he thanked you. 

"Well, let me at least repay the favor to you. How about I tell you about my favorite fable?" 

You nodded and spent the lunch period listening to him talk about fables. 

He was excited to talk about his interests, even if he didn't show it. 

The bell rang. "Thank you for staying with me, my name is Korekiyo Shinguji. It's been a pleasure to talk with you" he said as he got up, grunting slightly as he lifted up his piles of books

He continued to be avoided by your classmates, so you continued to sit with him. 

Soon, you didn't sit with him because he looked lonely, but because you liked to spend time with him. 

You were the one who confessed to him, but he was the one who fell in love first.

One day after school, he looked over at you and pulled you behind the school where they were all alone

"(Y/N), please close your eyes. It'll be quick, I promise"

You smiled and did so. 

Kiyo quickly pulled down his mask and kissed your cheek softly, smiling. He pulled up his mask as you opened your eyes. 

"I love you, darling" he hummed softly.

Ryoma Hoshi

As soon as Ryoma met you at school, he started to push you away

He didn't say it to your face or anything that he didn't want to be around you, but he tried to make it clear enough. 

He would leave whenever you were around, or just ignore you. 

You had heard vaguely of his past through rumors, and it didn't phase you.

It was kinda strange… Why would he avoid you when you were the only person in school who didn't avoid him due to his past?

It was because of how nice you were. You sweet you were. You reminded him of her. 

Of the beautiful woman who did nothing wrong and he wasn't able to protect

After many weeks of avoiding, he finally let you in. 

You two had lunch together and just talked.

Talked about each other's interests. About some random show that was on TV recently. About current events. 

Just talked. 

After lunch that day he hid in the bathroom and cried pure joy. 

It was nice to not be avoided.

Even after spending a few months sitting with you everyday at lunch, he still barely opened up to you. 

With the end of the school year approaching, you both knew that he would be alone for a while. 

On the last day of school, he asked you to meet him at a local park. 

When you met up with him, he slowly started to let his feelings spill out of him.

About how he didn't want to lose you. About how you were the only person he had truly connected with since 'the incident' (he didn't elaborate, but you could assume it had to do with his incarceration). About how much you cared for him even though he had tried to push you away. About how alone he was without you. 

He cried softly as you pulled him into his arms. 

"(Y/N)" he whispered quietly between sobs

"Please, let me love you. Please let me be your boyfriend"

You nodded quietly and held him close.

Shuichi Saihara

You're both very different, so people never thought you'd get together. 

But actually, you balanced each other out well. 

You brought him out of his shell and he helped you appreciate some of the slower things in life. 

He hates PDA, but is very touch starved and likes cuddling with you when you're alone

Play with this mans hair please 

He cried the first time you cuddled him just because he didn't realize how much he'd love it 

He doesn't eat to much sweets, but adores yours. 

You guys watch old crime movies together, even though they have a lot of inaccuracies. 

Coffee dates 

He loves your bread he'd genuinely die for your bread. 

Please love your adorable goth boyfriend.

[elyvorg]

Consider the following scenario: Around chapter 3, Tenko comes to Kaito to ask him to help Himiko. How do you think things would turn out? -As in, do you think the two could become the motivational buddies of Shuichi, Maki and Himiko?- (Also you're literally the only person I can ask this to, and thank you for providing such detailed Kaito content)

Aww, you're welcome! I'm thrilled to be considered the go-to source for Good Kaito Thoughts. (Though this is going to be at least half Tenko and Himiko thoughts, of course, and I don't profess to be as much of an expert at that, but I'll do my best.)

(also whoops, this got long, probably should go under a cut)

First, this'd need a couple of prerequisites: that Kaito's phobia doesn't exist so he isn't non-functionally mentally ill for most of chapter 3, and that Tenko's degenerate males thing is toned down a touch such that she's willing to acknowledge that Kaito is a good person and ask for his help with relatively little hesitation.

(This is sort of like what happens canonically when Tenko gets desperate enough to stop Angie's ritual that she asks Maki and Shuichi for help, and would have included Kaito if he'd been feeling well. But in that case, it was definitely more about "Angie is dangerous and might cause a murder if we don't stop this", rather than being specifically about helping Himiko. And I also get the sense that if there hadn't been at least one girl involved then Tenko maybe still wouldn't have asked them.)

Would This Work?

So, if we assume that, A, Tenko was even more focused specifically on helping Himiko than she already was in canon, and, B, was willing to ignore her prejudices and swallow her pride enough to ask Kaito for help, (and C, Kaito wasn't mentally ill and was able to help), would Kaito's input have been enough?

The thing is, Tenko was pretty much already doing all the right things to try and help Himiko in the first place. She'd recognised that the problem was Himiko struggling to express her emotions and had been trying to encourage her to do so, including suggesting physical training. This is a lot like Kaito's type of approach! There isn't that much that Kaito would have done differently to how Tenko did it. Him lending his input to this would mostly just have resulted in doubling the amount of enthusiastic persistence directed at Himiko, which... since Tenko being such an overwhelming personality was probably part of why Himiko didn't respond to her for so long, that might actually make things slightly worse on its own.

That said, Tenko was also not helping things by having a lot of her interactions with Himiko be unnecessarily overzealous romantic come-ons, which just made Himiko less inclined to want to listen to her in general and meant Tenko had given herself more of an uphill battle when it came to her genuine selfless attempts to help. I'd think the best thing to do about this would be for Tenko to apologise for having sometimes made things about her and make it clear that the most important thing to her right now is helping Himiko and this isn't about Tenko at all. However, I'm not sure if this is an issue that Kaito would actually properly pick up on in order to suggest that Tenko do this.

See, when it comes to understanding what a potential sidekick's struggles are and the best ways to help them overcome them, Kaito is great at it and seems to put a lot of conscious thought into it - but that's the part Tenko was already perfectly good at, too. When it comes to the process of reaching out and offering that help in the first place to encourage someone to begin to change, however, Kaito appears to pretty much just instinctively wing it, with no particular game plan other than "be persistent" and, maybe a little more specifically, "invite them to training". So I don't know if he'd necessarily have any better ideas than Tenko herself had of how to go about this - except, of course, for inviting Himiko to training.

Kaito's whole training thing really is a very effective way of getting through to someone in the first place. While the exercise itself is only tangentially connected to the actual point of self-reflection and emotional growth (especially in Maki's case), it's the directness of Kaito's approach that makes all the difference, because it prevents the potential sidekick from failing to notice or pretending not to notice that he's trying to help them. Just the fact that Kaito makes it a whole Big Thing where he very directly says, "I want to help you, this is how I'm doing it, if you want to get stronger then all you gotta do to take the first step is do some push-ups with me" presents the potential sidekick with a very obvious choice to make over whether they want to face their issues and try to change. In that position, anyone who really does want to change deep down is almost certainly going to take him up on that, whether or not they've been brushing off his other, less "official" attempts to reach out and help.

So maybe Kaito inviting Himiko to training, with Tenko alongside him backing up what he's saying - or leading the speech, even - about how this is all to help her, would indeed have got through to her. There are hints that, towards the end of chapter 3's daily life, Tenko has begun to make Himiko quietly wish she was more willing and able to listen to Tenko's advice. So it appears that the initial desire to change was already there in Himiko - it just sadly took Tenko's death in canon for her to actually acknowledge it.

However, there's also the massive spanner of Angie in the works here. With Himiko being brainwashed into clinging to Angie's escapism as an unhealthy coping mechanism, she was getting a free ticket to take the easy way out of her problems and run away from feeling like she needed to really change. If there had been no Angie in canon, Tenko would probably have been able to get through to Himiko while she was alive without even needing to ask anyone for help. But with Angie being a factor, even if Tenko and Kaito combined forces and invited Himiko to training to very directly present her with the option to change, I really kind of think Himiko would have just refused. She'd have been able to tell herself she doesn't need to change when she's already got Angie and Atua.

Tenko would be dismayed, but I think Kaito would get it. His sidekick thing can only work on people who want to change. Kaito can nudge and persuade, but he can't force people to make that choice; they have to ultimately do it of their own volition. If Himiko really isn't ready for this, there's nothing else Kaito can do. So he'd probably end up advising Tenko to just be patient and keep an eye on Himiko, letting her know that she's still there for her and the offer's still open if she ever changes her mind.

...And then case 3 would happen and Angie and Tenko would die and Himiko's arc would proceed roughly as it did in canon anyway, bleagh. Except for the fact that Kaito would have a lot more personal investment in this, because even if she never quite became his sidekick before, the fact that he extended that offer would still be important to him. I doubt he'd want to just leave her now that she has made the choice to change, even if she doesn't specifically need his help for it any more, and so he'd probably invite her to training in chapter 4 after all, despite the painful lack of Tenko.

(While we're here, let's talk a little about why Kaito never actively tried to make Himiko his sidekick in canon. Presumably, during the first three chapters, it was mostly out of seeing that Tenko was already kind of trying to work on that herself, and then that plus the whole Angie thing meant that Kaito didn't think it would be a good idea to butt in when he'd only get in the way. Then the reason he never invited Himiko to training in chapter 4 when she'd lost Tenko was perhaps because Himiko didn't actually need any extra nudges like Shuichi and Maki did at the beginnings of chapters 2 and 3; she was already going full-throttle and had firmly begun to make her efforts to change. ...That and, by that point, Kaito must have been mentally exhausted just looking out for two sidekicks while also suffering from and hiding his own problems, so he probably didn't really want to increase his burdens even more. Not that he'd have ever admitted that.)

If This Worked

But hey, never mind the fact that my conclusion to the question of whether this'd work is "probably not, thanks a bunch Angie", let's also think about what would happen if this had somehow worked anyway. A five-person team of training buddies sounds pretty adorable, after all!

(...Well, for this to last for any appreciable amount of time, we'd need Kiyo to not up and murder Tenko like an asshole, please. I guess it's possible that if they'd already got through to Himiko before Angie's death, she wouldn't have felt the need to talk to Angie with the seance and Tenko wouldn't have died? I dunno; that might be something Himiko would still want to do for closure even if she was already expressing her emotions more healthily. Ugggh Kiyo sucks. The only meaningful purpose he serves in the story is because someone had to kill Angie and Tenko for the sake of Himiko's character development, so if Himiko's development was going to happen anyway without those deaths, can Kiyo just not be here at all, please? Please? Or be someone slightly less shitty who murders just to escape and therefore stops at Angie.)

But anyway, yes, this five-person training team is fun to think about, because Kaito and Tenko really have a lot in common and it's a shame Tenko's prejudices mean they never get to interact much in canon to show this off. They're both so very Good in terms of their general overzealous enthusiasm and determination and desire to protect people. Tenko is also surprisingly like Kaito in that, though she seemingly needs to literally Aikido throw someone to do it, she can be pretty good at reading people and picking up on their struggles (even - gasp! - if they're male).

That said, Tenko doesn't make a point of going out of her way to help anyone who needs it like Kaito does, not even just among the girls (she sees Maki as a threat at first), and it's only because of her massive crush on Himiko that she also gained a selfless desire to help her. Still, maybe her collaborating with Kaito on this could help her learn that she's actually really good at motivating people in this way and it feels rewarding even when the target isn't her crush, making her want to use her skills for this more in future!

(Imagine if, in an effort to understand her better and see why Kaito believes in her so much, Tenko politely asks if she can Aikido throw Maki to get a read on her. She'd be kind of wary about what Maki would do if she did it without warning, after all.)

Plus, Tenko is also a big advocate of the idea that physical training can help someone with mental problems, just like Kaito! She might even have a slightly better idea of an actual systematic approach to training than Kaito... but then again, maybe not, because her Neo-Aikido does seem pretty haphazard. So we'd probably end up with these two ridiculous dorks who have no idea how to run a targeted exercise regime just throwing their enthusiasm all over the place and probably bickering and being competitive while they were at it, and poor Shuichi, Maki and Himiko would just have to try and keep up with them somehow. That'd be... quite the spectacle. (Maki would wryly comment that it's like having two Kaitos when one was more than enough... but she wouldn't actually mind.)

Naturally, I also find it interesting to think about how Kaito would be affected by this, especially since, while Shuichi, Maki and Himiko would all be considered his sidekicks, Tenko would be something more like a "co-hero" alongside Kaito in this arrangement. There's a lot of potential inherent in the idea of Kaito forging an important relationship with someone who's not a sidekick to him. If a friend of Kaito’s who was in the position to properly view him as an equal was also emotionally mature enough to see what he's doing wrong and point out that he really needs to talk about his own problems too, that would Change Some Things. However, as much as she'd be doing her best to help, and even if we assume her gender prejudices just didn't get in the way here at all, I... don't think Tenko's that person.

(Can you tell this is something I've thought about quite a bit, albeit never with Tenko. Imagine if Kaede had lived and she and Kaito had teamed up in their mutual desire to support everyone - they'd also have been great influences on each other, stopping the other from getting too self-destructively selfless.)

(Though, hey, what if Tenko Aikido threw Kaito at some point, probably more out of boisterous competitiveness than trying to get a read on him, except then she suddenly realises, "wait a minute, you're sick, what are you doing training them when you should be looking after yourself?" And his sidekicks kind of can't help but agree with her despite his attempts to deny it, because Kaito definitely looks to be in more pain than he should be from that. And then they escape and save his life, like they always would have if they'd known. Man, if only.)

Also, even though Tenko is nominally someone else in the "hero" role here, I can't quite see Kaito's unreasonable standards for heroes kicking in towards her. This is just an instinctive sense I get that I'm not completely sure of the reason for - perhaps because of the way Tenko initiated this by asking him for help? So she kind of is like a sidekick to him, too - just a sidekick in the specific art of being an inspiring and encouraging hero. Man that'd be so confusingly not-black-and-white to Kaito, a lot like Shuichi is to him in this regard as well. What do you mean she's both at the same time??? That’s not how this works!!!

There's also the fact that Himiko would be a sidekick alongside Maki and Shuichi (whether or not Tenko died), which might change things a little for people other than Himiko herself. Maki would be watching Himiko work on trying to express her emotions in a context that's being paralleled with the struggles Maki's trying to overcome. So maybe this could have got Maki to more consciously think about expressing her own emotions, which is something she has difficulty with too after having repressed them for so long, but that she doesn't precisely ever make quite such a conscious effort about in canon like Himiko does.

Also, if we assume that Kaito's issues are relatively unchanged and trial 4 still goes basically the same as it does in canon, Himiko being his sidekick could make a difference for early chapter 5. In canon, when she's not even his sidekick, Himiko still indicates that she's thought a little about Kaito's feelings and what he might be going through, as well as just how his behaviour is making Shuichi feel. But if she'd been actively a part of that sidekick group and had seen first-hand how Kaito's sidekicks - namely Shuichi - look up to him and learn from him, Himiko in particular would have had the capacity to potentially piece things together and figure out the real reason Kaito was avoiding Shuichi. After all, she's been in exactly the same position as Shuichi is here. (This is about my hot take on Himiko's FTEs that I discussed in one of my commentary posts, which I still enjoy thinking about. Kaito has parallels and connections to so many characters in this story and it’s great.)

[originaldanganronpascenarios]

(Indirect Murder Anon) No problem! IE: A spills something on B and B has to leave to clean it, leaving them a sitting duck for C to kill them when alone. Or, perhaps A asks B to meet them somewhere to hang out, not knowing B would run into C in that very spot first and promptly gets done in. A small instance harmless on any other day that on a bad one winds up leading another to their demise. Does that make sense?

Thanks for both wonderful examples you gave I also have something like "saw something but stayed silent wich didn't stop the killer" I hope it also is something we can count I guess?

V3 boys and their S/O indirectly helping someone with murder

Heavy spoiler alert!

Ryoma Hoshi

You were quite surprised but Rantaro asked for your assistance (let's say that the motive lasted a bit longer so you knew Ryoma better and shitz) and he was very bothered by something he said it was about the killing game.

He didn't said what it was exactly but you told him if it bothered him so much he should go and investigate it as soon as possible. You didn't follow him since even though it was suspicious you decided to believe in Rantaro.

So when he left to check whatever it was you went towards the dining hall. Everything was finie and there was nothing suspicious. Except for Tsumigi but you didn't suspect anything when she said she was going to bathroom.

Next thing you knew was Rantaro's body on the ground. Completely lifeless. Ryoma was surprised by your reaction becouse in your eyes he saw guilt. And that's how you felt if you didn't said anything about him about checking it...

When the investigation began you ran away wich made many people already suspicions of you. Ryoma being extremely worried dashed after you. Asking you what's wrong he tried to comfort you.

After you were keep repeating "Its my fault if I just told him to leave it he whouldn't get killed" he knew what was going on. He let out a sigh and said "You shouldn't blame yourself for this one kid... There was no way you could know about someone setting up a murder there" he pat your back and added "How about we try our best for everyones sake and find the culprit?" this kinda gave you smaller hope but you knew you had to explain your escape during the trial.

Gonta Gokuhara

You were part of Angie's council and she asked you if you could get her a candle before she started the ritual. But you had no time to get it since you were late alredy so Angie had to get it herself but she told you not to worry and go do your thing.

What you had to do? You promised to meet up with Gonta before nighttime. You wanted to check on Angie and get her a candle but you thought she had already done it by now so you whould probably disturb her ritual.

Little you knew Angie took her time before taking what she wanted and it was late enough to encounter Korekiyo.

When body discovery announcement played you were very scared. And so you saw Angie... Dead...

But she was in her lab right? It's not your fault right? Maybe if you stepped in that time...

Gonta saw your unusual behavior during investigation but you insisted that everything was alright.

As trial moved on and Shuichi explained that she died becouse she went to get a candle late at night you started to tear up. So it was your fault after all...

Everyone was caught off guard by your behavior and so you told them the truth. Gonta immediately said "S/O enough" everyone fell silent at his sudden voice "Agh! Sorry everyone it was not good of Gonta to raise his voice" you looked at him and waited for him to finish "Gonta thinks that S/O didn't do anything wrong. If it's someone's fault it's Gonta's... If Gonta didn't ask you to meet up you could help Angie" then he started to tear up but you stopped after Kaito shouted "It's none of yours fault its culprit here to blame dammit!" and then the trial moved on.

K1B0

You and Keebo were quite excited and looked forward to Himiko's magic show! So you were helping in preparations even though Kirumi did most of the work as she insisted to do it alone.

The maid asked you to bring her a rope from from the storage room. You didn't knew what was that for but you helped her out since she had some cleaning to do.

She told you the reason why she needed rope it was quite logical but what you didn't knew was the real purpose of that rope.

Next thing you knew was Keebo being thrown right on the fish tank where all was left from Ryoma were his bones...

You helped him get up and checked twice if he was alright since you whouldn't forgive Tenko and Gonta if anything happend to your lovely Keebo.

During investigation you didn't suspect anything. I mean there was no way Kirumi whould kill anyone and if so why whould she need that rope to do so?

So the investigation went the same like the last one. You mostly spent time with Keebo and tried to find useful clues.

However during trial it was stated that the rope way was used... And this threw you off guard.

Keebo was worried becouse of this very thing... He couldn't help but ask you about it and this made everyone suspicious of you.

You now knew that it was probably Kirumi but you couldn't get those words out of your mouth. Still Keebo believes in you and he tired to get you out of this situation "Now hold on a second just becouse S/O was triggered by the word 'rope' it doesn't make her/him culprit! There could be many reasons to this and more importantly we can be talking about 2 different ropes right now!" you knew it was the one but you didn't do it!

You tried to explain it to your classmates and told them that you brought that rope since Kirumi asked for it and the purpose was to stabilize the tank (the one with piranhas) since she thought it was slightly swinging so she wanted to add extra rope just to be safe.

Kirumi quickly secured that statement but her lies were seen through fast thanks to everyone.

Kaito Momota

Before Angies murder you heard Korekiyo talk about ritual that let you talk to ghosts. And so you asked about this (Wich now whould make you a suspect but Kiyo was going to bring it up anyways) that's not the end of your influence on Tenko's murder.

You noticed something odd about the cloth when you went to help out with the statue but you didn't report it since you thought it was just placed this way.

Now you regret staying quiet... Since you were sure it had to do something with that cloth and so you were sure it was Korekiyo who did it. You decided to stay silent though since looking at the fact that your only evidence was something you couldn't actually prove.

Kaito noticed the way you looked at Kiyo and was very concerned. You managed to convince him that everything was fine and there was nothing for him to worry about.

Once the trial started you felt guilty... If you said anything there whouldn't be another victim. Kaito saw how much you were struggling and so he spoke up "S/O is everything alright? You seem like something is bothering you" he didn't suspect you at that moment but someone else did try to make trial more interesting "Oh it all makes sense now! S/O must be the culprit since it seems like she/he isn't telling us something!" Kokichi said wich made Kaito quite mad.

Before Kaito could say anything you told them about the cloth you swore there was something odd about it and it also helped Shuichi since now he knew where the sickle was hidden. Of course it's just one of the many possibilities but it's more likely to be the case.

After everything was over you didn't stop blaming yourself for this... Kaito tried his best cheering you up. He couldn't stand the fact that you thought it was all your fault...

Shuichi Saihara

Once Kokichi was out of control you were lost and that's when you decided to sneak inside the place and Kaito spotted you. He asked you to bring him crossbow from Maki's lab.

You weren't sure about whole thing but you decided to help Kaito stop Kokichi. He whouldn't kill him right?

Still you wanted to hide this fact but it seemed like Keebo noticed you too... That's why during investigation Shuichi asked you about whole thing.

You told him everything you knew and he didn't even question it he trusted you and saw no reason for you to lie.

Still no matter who died you felt like the crossbow you brought had something to do with this...

After you told him everything you looked down and he flet like he had to say something... "S/O... Even if the crossbow had to do anything its not your fault. I know you just tried to help Kaito" he placed his hand on your shoulder "Now let's try our best to solve this crime okay?" it was tough but you didn't let all those stupid things get to you and you tried your best with investigating.

Kokichi Ouma

As the two of you entered program made by Miu he told you about his plan. So Miu was planning to kill him? You asked him if it was necessary to kill Miu... And use Gonta like this...

He told you that he will do it since it is very necessary for his plan to end this game for good. Even though the whole plan seemed wrong and it was total madness you agreed to help out.

Before he got Gonta on his side he told you one thing "S/O don't you dare to blame yourself for this. I am and will be the only one responsible for this" you didn't comment this but felt a tiny bit better about whole situation.

But you feeling good with it is far from truth. All you wanted to do is to finish it once and for all.

What you did? Distracted Miu for a bit so she whould be late for her meeting with Kokichi. Since Gonta isn't the smartest Kokichi thought he whould need extra time explaining everything. Still he all made it pretty clear.

After everything was over Kokichi knew you didn't felt anyhow good about it and he didn't blame you. It was all his fault you felt that way but sometimes you have to act distant to be close...

Korekiyo Shinguji

It was quite late but most of the students were awake. Luckily no one did anything suspicious.

Untill you met up with Kirumi who was holding quite huge stick asking for its purpose she told you that she wanted to get something from high place she couldn't reach. Seemed logical enough? Still why whould Kirumi kill anyone?

You met up with Korekiyo and started just hanging out when Gonta got you and dragged to his lab it was all so sudden but Gonta made sure nothing happened to any of you.

Korekiyo tried to protect you from the bugs even though they weren't much hostile still you can't be too safe Korekiyo also had to be extra careful not to kill any of the bugs becouse then it whould be an end for both of you.

After this nightmare you went to see Himikos show and you couldn't be more surprised to see a dead body. Yet you haven't realized that you know who is the culprit.

During the trial you learned that you were able to stop that crime... If you didn't believe her so easily...

How dumb you had to be... To get tricked by such an excuse she didn't even said anything about either object or 'high place'...

When the trial was over Korekiyo immediately hugged you and said "Don't worry S/O I think that everyone whould believe her it's we are talking about Kirumi after all and in any case you shouldn't be the one to be blamed here"...

Yes there is no Rantaro for a reason.

~Mod Chiaki

[depressed-sock]

Reveal Au part 1

A Fallen Hero Fanfic

Alright, new series!!! =D

So a couple things before you read, this is based on several past prompts (One where Steel sees sidestep’s scars and one with how that situation happened), there will definitely be spoilers in this one, and Kiyo has the suicidal scar!!! (so there will be content based off that).

Plans in Motion

Kiyo:

 You pace back and forth, worry gnawing at your thoughts. That fucking idiot, always sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong and now he's let himself get captured by Hollow Ground. Who knows what’s happening to him… he might already be dead… You let out a frustrated growl grabbing the nearest object intending to throw only to be interrupted by a cough.

 “I would prefer you not break that since it contains acid,” Mortum leans against the doorway of his lab and you sigh placing container gently back down, “I know you’re worried Kiyo-”

 You bark out a laugh, “I think I’m a little beyond worried right now.” Your nails dig into the palms of your hands, you don’t know what to do. There’s no plan, there hasn’t been since Ortega decided to come back into your life. You had, had one; become a villain and use every bit of yourself to take down the farm even if it led to your own self-destruction. But that’s gone out the window, Ortega showing up and refusing to leave you alone… again.

 The present mirrors the past but it’s obviously different now. Like a spot the difference game where the people look the same but the entire scenery is different. And not all the people are there anymore, replaced by shiner new models. You shake your head, it doesn’t matter if there are new players in the game. It’s the fact that Ortega and Chen are...Fuck.

 Ortega drags you back into his life causing the chaos he always brings with him and suddenly Steel is Chen and you want to fight every fiber of your being just to have a life. You should just leave him in Hollow Ground’s hands, let him suffer and die- you can’t do that… you could never do that to him.

 “Fuck!” Your hands grip your hair and you fully intend to just tear it all out when Mortum puts a hand on your shoulder. You let out a frustrated sob and turn into him letting him wrap his arms around you in a hug. Mortum has been a surprisingly good investment… No, you should say he’s been a good friend. More understanding than you would have expected him to be but also cautious.

 You’ve noticed it’s much harder to read his mind and though that put you on edge it also puts you at ease. He’s not hiding the fact that he’s being cautious around you, that he might like you but he doesn’t fully trust you. You prefer that over Ortega’s blind trust and optimism he has in you.

  “I’ve already got my contacts looking for him,” Mortum murmurs to you, squeezing you tight, “As soon as I know where he is I’ll let you know.” You nod your head against him and you wait a moment before you pull away.

 “I should get the suit ready,” you say already reaching out to wake up the Rat King, who happily responds back to you. You stop mid-step turning to really look at Mortum. He smiles at you sadly, worry creasing his brow, “Thank you.”

 “Well I may owe Charge one or two things,” he coughs out a laugh, “And you’re my… friend. So I may as well help you look out for someone you love too.”

 You can feel a blush starting to heat up your face as you start to stutter, “What? No… I..uhh.. No love..” He smiles quirking his eyebrow at you. “I was...using him and it was only a couple kisses and..”

 “Kiyo,” he laughs at you exasperated.

  “You know that can’t happen…”  you frown at him willing your blush away. Mortum you had no choice but to trust with the truth but Ortega? Chen? The Rangers? You can’t do that, you can’t face the disgust they’ll feel when they know the truth. You can’t face the inevitable betrayal when they try to hand you back over to the farm.

  “I think you should give him more credit,” Mortum’s smile softens into a slight frown. Probably remembering your break down when he was in the middle of saving your life. How you begged him to just let you die because you didn’t want to go back to that hell.

  You shake your head in response, “I’ll give him credit when he stops being a fucking idiot.”

 “That may be a long time off than,” he turns waving his hand letting you get back to readying your suit.

 “Yeah,” you mutter sadly but you can already feel Rat King brushing gently against your mind trying it’s best to offer you comfort. “Thank you.” It responds by happily snuggling against your mind and you can’t help the small smile that makes its way to your face.

…

Steel:

 You find yourself glaring at the supposed building that holds Ortega captive, along with a small army of people between your team and him. The frustration you feel is almost unspeakable; the fact that Ortega decided to go after Hollow Ground alone with no backup just brings home the irritating point that you have no control over your team... or at very least you have no control over Ortega. You wish he would stop this spiral of self-destruction, you thought he would with Kiyo back in his life.

  A thought that irritates you more than you would ever like to admit. You thought it was over and done with, being jealous of Ortega’s and Kiyo’s relationship but now it’s become more twisted and complicated. Kiyo keeps seeking you out as a place of comfort; away from Ortega who smothers him in worry, away from Herald who idolizes someone who no longer exists, away from Argents when he steals her snacks. He kept being drawn to you, though you throw actual blame on him being more interested in being around Spoon.

 You started to notice things that would have been better left unfound. The way he smiles and laughs around Spoon always seems genuine, a rarity that you found yourself looking forward to. He’s more honest with you about how he’s really holding up. Trusting you with something he would have never told Ortega. He’s attractive in surprising ways- No you need to focus on Ortega and not in the way Ortega is just as attracti- God-fucking-damnit.

 “What’s the plan?” Herald asks standing nervously beside you. His stance shifting slightly as he also eyes the building. You're going to have to keep him out of the building and you can already feel a headache from his protests that are soon to come. But tight corridors and the ability to fly never seem to mix well and if Ortega's badly injured Herald needs to be ready to get him out of here.

 “We go in, bash some heads, and save our idiot,” Argent responds for you her, no doubt adding kicking Ortega’s ass to her own list of things she's planning. You don't blame her, you too want to strangle him at this point. Letting himself be captured and to make it worse he let it happen in front of Kiyo. You can still see how numb Kiyo was after having to watch Ortega willingly be taken. How broken he looked because he couldn't do anything.

 “We need to plan this,” you respond, “They will most likely have high security-”

 “Are you all just going to stand here awkwardly glaring at the building? Because if that’s your plan on rescuing your ‘idiot’ it’s a shit plan,” A growling distorted voice comes from behind you and it takes a few seconds to comprehend what your hearing. Argent immediately turns to lunge at Heartbreak who easily dodges her attack. “Now, now I’m not here to fight you,” they hold up their hands in a placating manner, “Not today at least.”

  You find yourself gritting your teeth, why are they here? To lead you all into a trap is the most likely answer. Get you all to go into the building and then help Hollow Grounds men pick you off one by one.

 “How about we postpone the later and start the part where I kick your ass now,” Argent growls, though her face has contorted into a hungry grin. Goddamnit, you don’t have time for this and neither does Ortega.

 “As fun as that sounds, I think we all have more pressing matters to attend to,” they tilt their head pointing to the building behind you, “Hollow Ground took something of yours and he took something of mine as well. As much as I despise all of you I know I can’t take on all his men alone and you happen to need a way in preferably a place where you find your stolen teammate fast.”

 You cross your arms glaring at them, “You want to work with us.”

 “More like… I want our goals to align in equal for a moment,” they shrug, “Or you could do whatever it is you’re planning and fail horribly but I at least will get a distraction out of it to achieve my own goals.”

 You study them carefully, their entire suit screams of someone who prefers to give orders rather than follow them. They're not on your side and you can't trust them. Herald apparently fully agrees with you.

  “You're a villain why would we ever help you?!” his fists tighten against his sides, you can already tell he's still put out about his first fight with Heartbreak.

 “Listen I get it, you're all goody two shoes,” they pause in their arm sweep at Argent, “ Except you of course,” Argent snorts in response crossing her arms, “but flyboy here won't be able to fight in a crowded corridor and your ‘charge first think later’ player is who you’re going to save. Meaning you’re down two people and that you'll need to move a lot faster than is really possible or risk having your idiot killed.”

 They pause a moment watching as you grit your teeth. Herald tries to let out a protest but you hold out your hand to stop him. “ And what exactly do you have in mind?”

 “I'm so glad you asked,” they fold their arms behind their back. You pray for Ortega's sake you don't regret this.

[himikoyumeno-chan]

1, 4, 20 :D

Thank you for the ask, Serahne!!! ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡

@serahne-is-here

And sorry it took so long! It has been, like, months,lol. I… have no excuses ^^; I’ve written and rewritten, and re-rewritten this trying to make this more concise and to the point. I gave up, and just now came back to it.

From here: 20 thought-provoking V3 questions

Oddly enough for a V3-centered blog, I haven’t talked too much about my opinions on it here pretty much since I played it, lol. Well, for those that don’t follow my main blog, this is just a warning that I don’t have great things to say about most of it, lol.

1: How do you feel about the game’s writing in general? How does it compare to the other games?

I think I may be able to understand people liking this game, but to me, V3's writing flops. Danganronpa used to have a more defined set of rules, where for the most part, common sense can be trusted. V3 lacks the realism I was expecting, and I’m not even talking about things like there being a talking robot as a student with really highly advanced AI, or how Despair came to ruin the world. Danganronpa treated Despair as if it was a rule of the world, an aspect of it that can cause someone to do insane things, and more importantly, almost anyone could fall for it, even us if we were in that world. Even LUCK in this world seems to have a defined logic (both Naegi and Komaeda’s version of it). I can still accept things like that because they are a part of the DR Universes “rules.” It’s just that V3 seems to unintentionally break a lot of rules of common sense without acknowledging it as being something to expect out of that world.

V3′s main gimmick, the thing that people love about it, is that it aims to be as unpredictable as it can get. That would be fine… if it was done properly and researched well. Murder mysteries that are good have to have reason and logic. While there were a few times in previous games where I really questioned the writing of it (Like Trial 4 in DR2 where Nekomaru is able to hang off of a doorknob??? Or even how was Hiyoko killed? We never discussed a murder weapon), at the very least, the majority of the game made sense, and, if you really pay a lot of attention, you can figure out exactly how it happened because of it. In V3, the trials are just downright ridiculous. In almost every trial in V3, there’s questionable decisions made. How is it that all of these murderers were so lucky for things to work that well? You can argue they still made a mistake, and that is how we catch them, but at the same time, they also make other mistakes that somehow worked. Ch1, we were made to believe Kaede was able to hit Rantarou’s head precisely. Ch 2 had a slew of problems, but the worst was that Kirumi’s CG shows her sliding down the ropeway on a tube tied at two ends, and uf that's what happened, she absolutely would have flopped down into the pool. Ch 3, Kiyo sticks a sword in Kaede’s chest and spins the statue letting it conveniently hit the lock. Ch 4… well actually it made a lot of sense, mostly because the writers could manipulate the world as they pleased. Ch 5, a dying Ouma writes a full three hour-ish script with every possible scenario within, at most, half a night. It was later seen that Kaede did not succeed in killing Rantarou the way she had, but she’s the only one where things didn’t miraculously work out for her (erm… well not that it would have, since she died trying anyways).

It’s not even just trials. The student council arc implies Angie brainwashes the members. You can see a hint of proof from her FTEs. It isn'treally acknowledged, in fact all that had yo do with Angie's plans dies with her, except for Kiibo who for one night tries to get Saihara not to roam at night. There is the fact that Kaito trusts Maki, even though she’s a trained killer, and not Ryoma, a person guilty of one murder and just as, if not more, in need of confidence, is also really weird. Ouma is left practically alone for most of the game, only really gaining importance in Ch 4. Kaito later says he can’t just leave a guy like that alone, when he did. In fact, everyone did, despite being concerned about him and Gonta. At the very least you would expect Shuichi to give more than a passing thought to Ouma, show more concern? Shuichi’s just not one to get involved with anyone, though, it would seem. And one other thing that bothers me, everything to do with the alliance between Miu and Kokichi. When did it start? How? How was Miu even able to create what Ouma wanted her to when everything they showed her invent up until her death (within the main story, mind you) was really simple. She creates a drone and gives Kiibo a few really simple functions… and later on had all the weapons needed to take down Monokuma, and still  gets scared out of her mind. Ouma in general just gives way to too many plot conveniences, so much so it is hard to say whether you should give him credit or not. He takes a key card and we never know where it leads to, he and Gonta planning the murder of Miu all depends on his testimony, him knowing Miu would be capable of inventions to this extreme and allying with her, while she somehow trusts him enough to not blab, and most importantly, somehow figuring out that there had to be an audience and hinting at it regularly.

Over all, the plot was made too convenient. It is way too convenient for things to happen as they did, and they really just build it up, shoving in faces just how much better this game was in every aspect. It’s really flashy, but that doesn’t make this game good, let alone better.

And one last problem I want to address, the story takes way too many ups and downs. One scene, everyone wants to die/give up and starts to cry about their situation. It whiplashes back to hope and never giving up by someone like Kaito or Kiibo. Then it is rejected once again, because a new piece of evidence has been shown, then it whiplashes back again because we can’t give up hope/we just gotta believe! It really just gets so tiring watching these characters go on and on about it. It wastes so much time, and honestly I’m not sure how to feel about the characters at times because they would annoy me so much with their emotions. I feel like in DR1 and DR2, even DRAE, the descent to despair was much slower or less of a common occurrence. I was actually able to feel dread and devastation for these characters because the game let me have the time to feel the weight. In this game, as much as I like the cast in general, it was just getting harder to sympathize with them much. They'll shoot all the way back up again, anyways, right?

I’m really thrashing the plot of this game a lot, but I gotta say they didn’t ruin everything.  Now to the thing V3 does best: characters. Not their backstories, mind you (only half, or probably less than half, of the FTEs are really worth doing for backstories). Each of these characters were given such unique personalities. Sure, it may overlap with personalities we’ve seen before, but there is a great mix of personalities. These characters are all really unique, and best of all is how even in the main story, we get quite a bit out of them since ever character was given a fairly important role. Some of them end up being just murderers as their main role *cough*Kiyo*cough* and that’s their end role, but unlike in other Danganronpa games, the first chapter’s victims are given importance acknowledged later on in the game. I don’t agree with all of them, but I will give SC recognition for commendable effort in making every character hold some importance in this story. The cast is truly amazing, but I sincerely wish they weren’t wasted on this over-the-top game with an overall poorly planned out story. Even characters I didn’t really like, I end up liking more as soon as they are set in a different storyline (like the UTDP Mode, as an example).

4: Did free time events change your opinion about a certain character? What did you learn about the character through these events?

I mean, quite honestly my strongest answer here is Kiyo, lol. Kiyo. I was having my doubts about his character. I’d already been spoiled he was into incest and killed two girls for a ritual, so I was prepared to meet a total creep and come to not like him. So very wrong. Kiyo’s FTEs were so interesting. I had interest in what things he taught Shuichi about folklore and customs, and it helped that Shuichi was also a willing and interested student! His personality was refreshing, and they even added a bit of humor to it regarding his mask XD I am really sad that they decided they had to make him a creepy mass murder in an incestuous relationship, and most importantly, revealed all of that last minute. He was already an interesting character, I don’t think killing him off right after that unnecessarily ridiculous reveal was good. It would have been pretty fascinating if it turned out he didn’t kill Angie, though! Then maybe this incesturous serial murder would actually be more than just a surprising factor? If he survived, that would have been very interesting to see how he is dealt eith once the others are aware of hiw dangerous he is. Still, I’m just not a fan of what they did to Kiyo, I feel like they could have done him much better.

20: Does Shuichi make a good protagonist? Why or why not?

Suichi is an okayish protagonist. Sometimes, I think I mostly just unfairly compare him to Hinata. He’s not really great to me because he’s hard for me, personally, to relate to. I think that his backstory that was revealed through Kaede, and later Kaito, could have been made stronger and fit the theme just slightly more if the man he convicted was innocent, thinking he exacted vengeance, and after execution, the true murderer was revealed. (Maybe that would give away too much actually XD I just got the idea from watching people play Hidden Agenda, lol). I just don’t personally think that the canon backstory for Saihara is that strong? Then again, I have the same ideals as Kaito and Nanami, where murder is murder, in the end (only thing that bars it is if it is in self defense).

Saihara was designed to be a more grey character, much more sympathetic to those who commit murder for a noble/good reason. In general, it was hard for me to look at what Shuichi says or does, and go “yup, I would make the same choice,” but at the same time, it does make him different from the typical protagonist. I felt a lot more in tune with Kaede and admired her far more as a protagonist than I had Shuichi, and she wasn’t even given a backstory. At the same time, I find it ironic that the one with a pretty defined history became protagonist, since almost every other protag has little to none (Mostly because of a lack of talent?). I have no hatred towards Shuichi, and I do love some of the relationships he has with his classmates, but because of the story, it just feels he isn’t as close to other members of the class. A lot of it focuses on Kaito and Maki. At the same time, I didn’t dislike it that much because I love those interactions, but he barely interacts or seem to even care about other characters. Ouma should have been kept on better watch, for example.

He’s been described as even better than Hajime, and I personally don’t see it. Hajime had a very strong character arc that was at least consistent the whole game, while Saihara may arguably have a very great shift in character, a good deal of it is super concentrated at the end, and he is even quicker to give up than any protagonist (except maybe Komaru? However even she refuses to die). His true shining moment is in the last chapter (honestly it was a good moment and I can admit the resolution is better than Hajime who needed to lean on his memory of Chiaki to gain the courage tonend his killing game).

Shuichi being the one willing to die to end the killing game is amazing, but then he lives, and I just gotta stare at the screen asking Spike Chunsoft why they had to ruin that as well?

The game left me exhausted, and I just feel like Shuichi as protagonist, who lets things happen quite a lot, or relies on others to take action instead, was not really helping me like this game.

----

As an aside, I honestly don’t mean to be so harsh on this game, but V3 was just such a let down… like having the game tell you everything that happened in the game was fake was enough, and trying to continue giving what had happened to the 16 kids should have been good, but then the game takes the meaning away and kills off two characters instead of all five. I understand the message V3 tries to convey, and I would agree, except it executes the message really poorly. Them making DR1-DR3 non-canon to V3? Fine. Them basically saying that everything you worked for was a big waste of time because all of it was fiction? Especially when the game makes it sound like everything in this game was better than its previous iterations?

I was left feeling hollow, like I had wasted all those hours playing as Shuichi the protag-that-I-didn't-like-much, with trials that made logical leaps to get it to work, and characters I felt I should have cared more for, but didn't.

I am very much done with Kodaka, Spike Chunsoft, and whoever else wrote V3 and DR3.

I'll just contnue to focus my energy and love on Hajime instead of watching out for any more Danganronpa that isn't the fighting game/rpg XD

[kiyokoxd]

My OC I think

LMAO I AM LAUGHING SO HARD WHILE WRITING THIS

THE BACKSTORY SEEMS SO FUNNY TO ME SO I HAD TO CHANGE IT A LITTLE TO MAKE IT LESS EDGY AHKJSD 🏃‍♀️

I AM WARNING YOU DON'T READ THIS I DID THIS SHIT FOR FUN BUT HERE YOU GO @missrown

Kiyo (help me give a last name to this idiot)

Gender: Yall thought they were a woman, jokes on you my nb ass said no 🤸‍♀️

Age: 18

Affliction: Armed Detective Agency

Sexuality: Pansexual

Ability: Copycat – fucking OP but um, once they see a person they can transform into them and if they touch them once then they can use their ability whenever they want if they know how to control it (not Fyodor's or Chuuya's corruption).

– Might seem easy at first but their talents come at use here too, they're really good at acting and were learning psychology so it's easier for them to act like the other person and really get under other people's skin, literally. Also they get tired if used too much

Hair Colour: Black with a very small streak of white

Eye Colour: Black naturally but they turn red sometimes

Height: 5'5

Relationship: Close with everyone in the Agency – Ranpo and them had a love-hate relationship at first but now it's fine, Dazai and Kiyo do be best friends and Atsushi is dating them bcz I am fucking lonely <3, also very close with Yosano, Kyouka and Kenji, Tanizaki and Kiyo are slightly awkward but yes. Also knows Chuuya and Akutagawa nicely, Akutagawa respects them bcz of their ability and their friendship with Dazai but also it's bcz they're literally dating his enemy so yeah?? Chuuya's just concerned bcz 'why tf are you friends with that dumbass? you deserve better-'

Personality: Almost like Dazai, that's why they besties bitch and almost unpredictable, if Ranpo was honest even he couldn't understand the things going inside their head sometimes. Kiyo comes out as a playful, kind and happy being but struggles with many things and often only acts this way so they can understand other people's weak points, just in case if they end up using them, they have something to hurt them back. A strong believer in karma except they think karma doesn't come on it's on and you need to do it by themself, basically you can say they're really good at manipulation woo?? But yeah soon has a soft spot for ADA and realises they won't leave Kiyo like others?? ://

Backstory: (trigger warning for many things we i said we edgy today)

Uh.. More sensible version

oh shit, still edgy and funny asf so have fun laughing

So like they were some weird experiments – satanic stuff yknow so yEAH that's where they get half their ability from you can say. First they could only copy abilities but now wOoo we have uh, transformation

Soon they're rescued from the cult and the head of the escape thingy and them kinda have this lOvE thing

So yeah uhhh, then betrayal bcz that girl ends up using kiyo so wow what a weird love story

t r a u m a, again??? what the fuck is happening idk LMAO

soon kiyo kinda hurts them and escapes, only to find the agency

Kiyo takes a lot of time to fit in and ends up hurting them too in order to push them away and yeah

They don't go away and Kiyo's kinda confused, bcz all their life they had to be the one who gave things in the relationship, not take

Atsushi and Dazai kinda help them in their own ways while Kiyo helps them

drama drama

a silent voice attempt woo

uh yeah and now we're in the present or some shit and now Kiyo's trying their best to be a better person <3

also relapses once with the weird mental health shit when they see their "ex" but yknow, fuck them ig 👍

this bitch also has bpd and uses self harm as some coping mechanism so they gotta stop that, like, s t o p I am sorry for making it more awkward by adding this part

BHAHASAD IT'S DONE LMAO WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS

INSPIRED FROM GACHA MOVIES?? AKHAHSD

[trashy-fujoshi-blog]

ライアーダンス CHAPTER 3

V3 Spoilers as always. 

POST-NDRV3 Virtual Reality AU Fanfic.

CHAPTER ONE HERE

CHAPTER TWO HERE

Kaede Akamatsu could tell there was something between the two boys. She wasn’t sure what exactly yet, but there was something… And whatever that something was, Saihara seemed to gain more confidence everyday, and Kaede was grateful for whatever Ouma was doing for her friend.

She knew Amami was pretty grateful too, because the two spoke often, being on the same floor and what not. Kaede was pretty certain Amami had noticed something too, because sometimes she’d catch him talking to Saihara, and she was 100% sure Amami was teasing him, but in a way that would help him clear his thoughts and confusion.

Obviously she shouldn’t condemn such antics, but thankfully, whatever Amami said to the detective that meal time, it’d helped knock Saihara out of whatever thoughts he’d been stuck in for days. Kaede knew, knew that the detective was probably over thinking something, and Amami had probably helped out, because that’s the kind of person he was, he was like a big brother to the two boys… That’s how Kaede saw it anyway.

Amami… was still quite a mystery to her though. She knew a little more about him now, after their time spent together, but she still couldn’t understand him entirely. But he was nice, he was nice even to her, even when she’d tried to kill him, despite everything… and he was too pure for any of them.

Kaede Akamatsu felt 100% certain she didn’t deserve the kindness of Amami Rantaro.

///

Maki Harukawa was lost.

Not physically, of course, but mentally.

There’d been so much confusion when she had awoken, and she wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.

The feelings she had, feelings she thought she’d never feel, feelings she was told were fake… what were they really? Were they really fake, simply spurred on but the events in the simulation, or, despite everything, did Maki genuinely like the idiot Kaito Momota?

She had no idea.

It took a bit of coxing from her carer, the young photographer Mahiru, before Maki finally took the initiative to leave her room.

It only happened once though, and Maki found herself in the presence of Kaede Akamatsu that gentle April afternoon, early on when they’d awoken.

It was… okay, it was fairly nice, because Kaede could relate to her, to an extent, and her presence alone seemed quite calming, like it came naturally to the pianist, to soothe those she was around.

It was only a brief exchange, and after that Maki retreated to the confines of her room, with Mahiru and Mikan being her only visitors, the photographer bringing her food when needed, and trying to act as some form of support, but with little success.

It took quite a bit of time with her thoughts before Maki could firmly say she had a clear grasp on what thoughts and feelings were real and what wasn’t. She couldn’t be indecisive with her thoughts, based on her talent, there was no room for unsurities. She could conclude, yes, she did like that space idiot, and no, she didn’t entirely blame the shorter brat that had used him in the simulation, in his crazy scheme to end everything.

Maki Harukawa could firmly say, she was ready to face everyone, face Kaito, face Saihara, face Yumeno, face Ouma… and Tsumugi.

Her appearance in the dining hall that morning sparked shock, from the six occupants, two of which were maybe just possibly fighting over a slice of toast like petty children.

“Harukawa!” Saihara spoke in surprise, and Maki gave a curt nod in greeting to the detective.

“Eh… Little Miss Assassin makes her appearance, at last~!” Ouma taunted, returning to moving his hand in all sorts of crazy uncoordinated directions, clutching a slice of toast Kiibo tried desperately to grasp, but unable to due to Ouma’s constant uncoordinated movement.

“Ouma! Gimme it back!”

“Nahhh~ c’mon Kiibo surely you’re not completely useless even as a human?”

“That’s rude! I’ll have you know-”

“Ehhh excuses!” Ouma butted in.

“Hello Harukawa.” Amami waved a hand, having not know the girl entirely well during the sim, and not having clear memories of any of their exchanges from before said time.

The final two occupants in the room, besides Saihara, Amami, Ouma and Kiibo, were Iruma and Korekiyo. Korekiyo seemed content to sit at the side and observe everyone silently, and Iruma seemed too busy fiddling with some odd device to notice anything around her, including Kiibo and Ouma’s squabble or Maki’s entrance.

“Hello Amami.” Maki replied, taking a seat at the table, feeling slightly uncomfortable being opposite the supreme leader, who’d finally given up, tossing the toast back to Kiibo, instead taking to leaning on Saihara, sipping silently at a carton of juice, eyes baring deep into her soul. Finally he stopped, tore his gaze away, and up to Saihara.

“”Shuuichi-chan I’m boreddddd.” Ouma pouted, and Saihara just sighed. Maki raised an eyebrow, since when did Ouma refer to anyone by their first names?

“Is that your way of telling me you’d like to leave, Ouma?”

Oh so it was just Ouma, Saihara wasn’t in on it? Maki just shook it off, it was probably Ouma just being weird.

“Yup~ Ah Shuuichi-chan knows me so well~” Ouma beamed and Saihara just shook his head. He couldn’t figure the boy out, but it’d been four days now, since the boy's memory returned, and he realised his gay ass feelings for the boy. Ouma had also insisted on calling him Shuuichi now, which made Saihara’s heart flutter when he heard it, but he’d not let him know that obviously… Not to say Ouma hadn’t worked it out, but Saihara wasn’t sure.

“If you say so, Ouma.” Saihara mumbled, standing up, to help the shorter boy up. It turned out that Ouma’s trip down to the dining hall a few days ago, wasn’t actually a wise choice on Komaeda’s part, as his legs still weren’t 100%. It didn’t do any damage per say, but Ouma had felt a bit of pain the day after, and could barely stand because of it. So he still needed support to walk, and he was only allowed down to the dining hall twice a day, nothing else, the rest of the time, Hajime had told him he had to remain in his room to rest his legs. If by the weekend check up, he’d showed signs of improvements, then he’d have free reign.

Ouma used this time for breakfast, and mostly closer to night-time, because he liked that it was quieter at that time.

Ouma just gave a simple nishishi, grabbing the crutch he still had to use, other arm slung around Saihara’s neck (which was slightly awkward considering Saihara was taller than him.)

“Bye bye Little Miss Assassin~ try not to miss me too much?” Ouma gleefully spoke, missing Maki’s brief concerned look, as he departed with a small limp, Saihara holding him on his feet as he did.

Amami noticed this look though.

“He can’t walk properly, that’s why Saihara helps him out, apparently he underwent too much physical stress.”

Maki frowned. That was probably her fault wasn’t it?

“He didn’t even get his memory back till about four days ago.”

“Memory..back?”

“Oh you don’t know?” Amami asked in surprise, and Kiibo used this time to butt in.

“Ah Amami it might be best if you don-”

But Amami continued, unaware of the whole Kaito and Maki thing, including her talent to which he’d never actually been told.

“Some people don’t actually have any memories other than like… fake ones made in the Sim? Like.. Pre-Killing Game? I think that’s what Saihara called it. Anyway, Ouma didn’t know anything true except his own name till Saihara worked his magic.”

“Who.. Who else?”

“I believe Shirogane, on the 6th floor, and Tojo and Momota? They’re on the 12th floor. Ouma was the only one who didn’t react violently due to the memories. Apparently he was quite the opposite, he was really reserved and when me and Saihara tried to see him, he was really upset at being in the same place as us.”

“The other three are under constant supervision, and react violently when they can. Apparently Momota actually managed to injure one of the staff members recently, by faking an improvement in his condition, to be trusted enough with cutlery. Stabbed one of the female staff members in the leg with a fork.” Kiyo mumbled from the side, and Maki’s eyes widened. Kaito.. Had done that?

“Oh where’d you hear that?” Amami asked curiously.

“The girl who checks up on me. She’s quite detestable, and she lets infomation slip too easily.” Kiyo replied, and Kiibo let out a splutter.

“Th-That’s rude!”

“It’s true though.”

“Momota… doesn’t remember?”

“No, I’m sorry Harukawa. Myself and Iruma are helping out the best we can too!” Kiibo admitted, with a faint blush, because goddamnit that girl was distracting more than helpful, and she was also still completely engrossed in the device in her hands to listen to her being spoken about.

“Do.. do you think I could see him? I might be able to help like Saihara did? I.. can handle myself.”

Amami just gave a quizzical look which Kiyo cleared up.

“Ah. You don’t know because it was revealed after you died. Harukawa is the Ultimate Assassin.”

Amami just blinked once, twice.

“Oh.”

And then he gave a nervous chuckle, because what Ouma called her as he left made sense now.

“Well I’m sure you could handle yourself then.”

“You reacted quite well.” Maki commented and Amami just shrugged.

“What can I say, I hang around enough abnormal people to just not get surprised anymore.”

Iruma finally paused enough to notice Maki.

“Eh. I haven’t seen you around. Where have you been hiding Harukawa?”

“...”

“Suit yourself. If you’re wanting to see that idiot though, I know just the person to ask.” Iruma added, and Maki narrowed her eyes with interest.

“Ir-Iruma are you suggesting-?” Kiibo spluttered and Iruma smirked, giving a nod.

“Exactly.”

///

And that was how Maki Harukawa met Komaeda Nagito, a.k.a The Original Little Shit

Apparently Komaeda wasn’t actually staff of either Hope’s Peak or the Remnants of Future Foundation, he was just here because of Hinata Hajime, and just seemed to be breaking rules left right and center because he apparently didn’t give a shit for order? That’s the impression most of them had of him by now. Komaeda did hang around Hope’s Peak quite a bit, but he just got away with a lot of things and Maki had no idea what to think of the guy.

“Harukawa is it?” Komaeda asked, and Maki nodded.

“You’re wanting to see Momota… Even after I told poor Saihara no, twice.”

Maki blinked. Saihara had tried to see him too? It made her feel a bit better knowing the detective hadn’t lost that courage the astronaut had helped bloom.

“Yes.”

“Okay~”

Maki just blinked.

“That easy?”

“Yup. You see, I just have an inkling that these guys that don’t remember, just need someone to kickstart their memories. Worked for Kokichi, so…”

And apparently Komaeda was on first name basis with Little Shit 2.0

Made sense.

“So you’re thinking I’m that someone for Momota?”

Komaeda just nodded.

“I watched most of the game, since it broadcast back to the monitors. I even have an inkling for the other two.” Komaeda gave a sly smile and Maki had to stop herself from shuddering at the sight of it. This guy was.. Not normal, he made her feel on edge, and he seemed quite capable of pulling off some dangerous and insane shit.

How was there someone worse that Ouma in this world?

“Yet you’ve not said anything?”

“Of course not. Everyone’s hopeful enough without my ideas. It’s nicer to see you guys form your own hope, than have it forced upon you by me.”

Maki just frowned.

“But luckily, I happen to have been classmates with the two with Momota, and I’m sure I could convince them, so just give me a bit of time.. Say..2 hours?”

Maki just blinked. Did this guy have that much faith in himself? Or was his faith placed in something else?

///

As it turned out, Komaeda convinced Pekoyama Peko, and Nidai Nekomaru, that Maki could see Kaito, if she didn’t get to close, and the two of them, and Hajime Hinata had to be present. Mako wondered what Hinata could do, considering she’d seen him and he looked pretty weak to her?

She’d been informed, however, that he had a large array of talents, due to some messed up project from a few years ago, before everything fell to shit… which was partly his fault.

So, accompanied by a swordswoman, a huge ass guy who looked capable of killing someone with his pinkie, and the scrawny form of Hajime Hinata, Maki finally got in to see Kaito Momota.

////

“Shuuichi-chan~”

Saihara just looked at the boy in question, eyebrow raised, as they exited the dining room.

“Harukawa stayed in a room with me for more than 5 minutes without a threat on my life!” Ouma said, eyes sparkling in fake excitement that had Saihara roll his eyes at the boys antics. He suspected the boy had wanted to leave before Maki found out about Kaito’s condition, since Saihara was certain the girl would find some way to pin it on Ouma, and well... They didn’t need that in their lives at the moment, they already had enough burdens.

“I’m worried about her though.” Saihara admitted and Ouma sighed, as they reached the elevator, which had finally been fixed.

“Shuuuuichi-chan.” Ouma extended the ‘u’ vowel as he spoke, stopping for a moment before continuing to speak.

“You can’t help everybody y’know. Sometimes you have to look after yourself too!” Ouma commented and Saihara’s face went blank.

“Don’t try and hide it from me. You can’t hide that sort of thing from a Liar like me, y’know?” Ouma continued, as the number above the life slowly traveled downwards.

12, 11, 10, 9…

“I.. I-” Saihara didn’t have any excuses. It was just how he felt. He’d no issues with helping others, while staying silent about his own problems, because that’s the kind of person he was. Saihara Shuuichi was too considerate of everyone else and it was slowly killing him.

8...7...6...5

“Look after yourself more.”

4...3...2..

“I’ll try.”

..1

Saihara didn’t hear Ouma’s muffled thank you, as the doors dinged open for them, but that’s okay, because Ouma didn’t want him to hear anyway.

///

Despite everything, the Detective and the Supreme Leader still both slept in Ouma’s room, it was just one of those things they didn’t want to stop, mostly because it was comforting to have someone there, to tell them everything was okay, and that they weren’t in that horrible school, every time they awoke disoriented and scared.

It was usually Ouma that struggled with the nights to be fair though, it wasn’t often he did wake up, but Saihara was there regardless, he was a light sleeper so 9 times out of 10 he awoke to Ouma’s distressed noises, ready to assist in anyway he could. Maybe it was Maki’s appearance that brought the weight of everything back to Saihara, that even if it wasn’t reality, he failed to protect anyone, everyone had died before him, after he’d promised to continue Kaede’s wish, and even now he felt pretty helpless. Kaito couldn’t remember a thing about him… or anything for that matter. Saihara was finally starting to feel the pressure, because he felt the need to help everyone out, to aid in anyway he could, because it was the least he could do.

What kind of detective was he, letting everyone die before him? Letting himself be deceived and lied to without realising? Why didn’t he have the answers he needed? Why had he given up so easily?

On top of that, how could he even call himself the Ultimate Detective if he had to wait for someone else to tell him what he’d been feeling for Ouma? How did he not even realise his own feelings?

Saihara didn’t sleep much that night.

Ouma fell asleep pretty quickly, loosely wrapping himself around Saihara, because for some reason the Supreme Leader was a clingy sleeper. Saihara did eventually drift off, sometime in the early hours of the morning, but the only thing that greeted him was horrific nightmares.

It had started out quite nice, the 16 of them in Hope’s Peak, quite cheerful and happy if anything. And then Tenko had turned to face in, neck dripping in blood, eyes drawn in accusation at him. Saihara whipped around in desperation, only to come face to face with Angie, her too dripping in blood, finger pointed at him, besides Amami, who held a hand to his head, blood trickling through his fingertips. Slowly but surely everyone around him began to point or glare at him accusingly, the friends he’d tried so hard to help all glared at him like it was his fault, bodies reflecting the injuries they’d sustained before their deaths.

There was too much blood, and Saihara couldn’t escape, no matter how far he ran, they were always right behind him. Somehow, in his endless running, Saihara began to recognize his surroundings as the dreaded Prison school, and he could tell from the dark colours and whirring of machinery where he had wound up, from the press that lurked in the corner, two of his friends stood beside it, feral expressions littering the faces he knew would never look like that. Even as Saihara struggled, there was no way to resist the 13 students who shoved him forward, and the two who lurked beside the press, one grabbing each arm, hoisting him forward towards the metal he never wanted to go near again. Resisting did nothing though, and sure enough, Ouma was hoisted onto the slab, still trying to break free from the arms that held him into place. It was in the briefest of moments, that Saihara wondered if Ouma had been just as terrified, laying here, knowing what was to come, before the fear and panic overtook him once more. He knew this wasn’t real so why couldn’t he wake up? Why couldn’t he alter it? Why? When the heavy metal of the press finally dropped down, towards his struggling form, it ended.

Saihara bolted up from the bed, muffled scream from his lips, breathing uneven, hand shakily reaching instantly to clasp at his chest, as he tried to take in the oxygen he so badly needed. He could hardly breath, and the darkness of the room had him hyperventilate further, he was okay but his brain couldn’t accept that, it was still driven by fear and panic, and Saihara couldn’t function, he couldn’t move, all he could do was sit there, tucking his knees up, willing away the tears that made him have to choke back sobs, still unable to calm his breathing.

Why couldn’t he escape?

Why would it always be there in his mind?

Why couldn’t he just forget?

Saihara shuddered, breath hitching as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He managed to pick out the blurry form of Ouma, himself slightly disorientated, awoken by the noise Saihara made. The shorter boy had placed a hand on his shoulder, as to not spook him, there was silence between the two, as the supreme leader finally moved forward more, wrapping both his arms around Saihara, tugging him forward and into the smaller boy’s chest.

“Shuuichi it’s okay. Breathe for me, yeah?”

Saihara could only shake his head. He couldn’t- He couldn’t do it. Ouma didn’t give up though, one hand moved to calmly run his fingers through Saihara’s hair, combing it softly, the other to the stark pale face of horror and fear that was pressed against his chest, small fingers moving to wipe away the tears on the detectives cheeks.

“Shuuichi please.” Ouma asked again, and Saihara tried to take a shuddery breath, his shoulder jittered, and all he could do was make a feeble noise as he tried to inhale before exhaling sharply.

“There we go. Keep that up, breathe in.” Ouma mumbled, and Saihara followed in suit, finding it a tiny bit easier to gulp down the air he needed so desperately.

“And breathe out.” Saihara exhaled, calmer this time, but still unable to stop himself from letting out a sob, one he’d tried to contain.

“Shh, it’s okay Shuuichi, I’m here, okay? You’re safe.”

Saihara nodded, letting the boy know he’d heard, opening his mouth to try and speak, but only managing to let out another choked noise, hands moving up to clamp over his mouth, shaking his head wildly against Ouma who simply sat holding him.

“Don’t worry. You don’t need to rush. I’m not going anywhere, take your time, Shuuichi.”

Eventually, Ouma’s words and actions helped Saihara calm down, relaxing slowly but surely, in Ouma’s hold, his breathing evening out to a normal rate. Then the silence came.

That was the first time Ouma had ever woken up because of Saihara. Usually the detective could keep himself quiet and under control, but it’s likely the constant stress the Detective was silently enduring had finally caught up, and it had become too much to contain. Saihara was more than willing to care for Ouma when he awoke in a state, but it was the first time Saihara had ever disturbed the Supreme Leader. He felt like shit for disturbing the boy who already didn’t get enough sleep, and now he had just disrupted him with his pathetic panic. Ouma said nothing, and didn’t let go of Saihara either, even after he’d calmed down enough to breathe properly.

“You think too loud, Shuuichi-chan, I can hear you from here.” Ouma mumbled, the typical chan returning down the boy had calmed down considerably. Saihara didn’t notice the lack of honorific in his panic. Saihara just looked up, and Ouma sighed at the obvious guilt the detective was reflecting in his eyes.

“It’s not your fault Shuuichi-chan. I promise.” Ouma mumbled, trying to get the Detective to stop looking so guilty.

“B-But I woke you up- and-”

“So? You never complain when I wake you up. You’re allowed to be selfish sometimes y’know? If you feel lost, remember everyone in this building is here for you, okay?”

Saihara could tell Ouma was acting quite different than normal, and his voice slightly reflected that of the boy he’d been before his memories returned… Was it possibly the two personalities had merged?

“Bu-But-”

“No but’s. You’re allowed to put yourself first.”

Saihara just gave a weak nod. He didn’t want to, not when people were relying on him, or when people had bigger issues than him, but Ouma’s demanding tone made him consider trying at least.

“Now, you’re going to lay back down, and sleep, and if you wake up again, I am going to be right here for you, okay?” Ouma asked, one hand moving down to clasp at Saihara’s, squeezing reassuringly. Saihara just nodded quietly, complying with Ouma’s orders. As the detective slowly fell back asleep, he said nothing, reassured by the silent yet ever present squeeze of Ouma’s hand.

The boy didn’t have anymore nightmares that night, and by the time morning rolled around, Saihara woke up, and actually felt pretty rested, hand still held loosely by Ouma’s. The boy was already awake, staring at him curiously.

“You okay Shuuichi-chan?”

Saihara nodded, faintly embarrassed at the events of last night. He’d been so close to Ouma, and he’d looked so weak, after he promised he’d be strong for everyone.

“Good. Now let’s get you some food, that’s the best cure for feeling uneasy, don’t you know?” Ouma asked and Saihara furrowed his brow. It was?

“What time is it?”

“Like.. 3pm.” Ouma mumbling and Saihara never bolted out of bed as fast as he did that day.

“Ho- What the hell, why didn’t you get me up sooner?”

“Silly Shuuichi-chan. You needed sleep. Who cares what time you wake up? It’s not like we actually have anything to get up for at the moment, we’re stuck here till they sort out the others guys memories.”

“Bu-But-”

“You can’t risk your own safety to help others. Kiiboy and Iruma are doing what they can already, and you helped a lot, don’t you remember? You helped me, and you helped Kayaday and Amami too. You help us all without even knowing.”

“I- I do?”

“You do.”

“If you say so.” Saihara wasn’t overly sure he’d done anything to help, he didn’t feel like he had anyway but Ouma didn’t appear to be lying.

“Now, shall we get some food or not?”

Saihara nodded. He felt pretty hungry even though he’d only just woke up, and it did sound like a nice idea to head down to the dining hall at this time, since it’d probably be empty.

///

It wasn’t actually empty, but it was near enough. The only person in the room other than the two of them was Angie, who greeted them cheerfully but paid little other attention to them, too busy sketching with one hand, and nibbling on a sandwich in the other.

“Now, let’s find something for you to eat?”

Saihara just gave a nod. Did the Supreme Leader even know how to cook?

Apparently he did, and Saihara couldn’t help but be a tiny bit impressed at the boy, a small smile making his way onto his face, at the sloppily presented but rather tasty omelette the shorter boy cooked up for him.

“It’s probably not as good as what Tojo could make..” Ouma trailed, he kind of missed the maid, since she was pretty convenient to have around, and she did kind of feel like the mother he should have had but never did.

“It’s perfect Kokichi.” Saihara muttered, quickly shoveling it down, not even noticing his slip up with Ouma’s name. Ouma noticed though, and even if he was a master at deceiving people, he couldn’t deceive himself, tips of his ears turning red in embarrassment, because goddamn it he wanted Saihara to call him that all the time if that’s how the word sounded from the detective's mouth.

“No problem Shuuichi-chan.” Ouma smiled, a genuine smile that had both of them feel just a tiny bit happier in their rather complicated lives.

[takonei]

Beta AU - Main story, Chapter 4, daily life (Part 1)

Note of the author: I'm not the type to beg for comments but if no one talks about the 37 moments worth commenting about I'm gonna fucking cry

Also there’s a possibility I’ll go on a short hiatus for the story after the second or third part of daily life.

Chapter 4: Dance, dance, hanged puppets - Daily life

Day 13 since the beginning of the game.

8:00 AM.

Shuichi woke up to the morning announcement.

He had a lot of trouble sleeping. Which was also the case after the other trials.

They felt like nightmares in themselves, but the aftermath was always hard.

The violinist didn’t even feel like leaving his room.

What was the point?

With every murder came other motives, and other murders.

He wanted to keep hoping for the best but... That felt useless.

He wanted to get out of here. To see his uncle again. His cousin. Even the obnoxious clients he would play for.

Anything to get out of here.

After staring at the ceiling for who knows how long, he finally decided to get up. To take a shower and eat something.

Now that he thought about it, did Kirumi and Miu prepare breakfast? He wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t. Especially Miu.

She probably felt really bad after hearing Kaito’s words after the trial.

“... Stop trying to be everyone’s mom. It’s annoying. I’m not your damn kid.”

Shuichi knew good it felt for her to take care of others and to feel like a mother again.

He should tell her that it’s more than okay to care for others. That she doesn’t have to feel guilty about it.

He also mentally noted to tell Kaito that he should apologize to her.

Speaking of Kaito, what was that about yesterday?

“... Supposing this is true...” he turned to the rest of them. “This is the first and last time I want someone rummaging through painkillers. I want to be here if any of you want some painkillers, since I know it’s easy to take the wrong doses.” 

Just a few days ago he and Kaito had gone to the medic’s lab to get painkillers, and he specifically said he told Rantaro about it.

Even when they were searching through the lab during the investigation...

“That’s not the solution everyone likes, but keeping secrets is more useful than you would think.”

Although he tried to hide it, Kaito flinched. Was he hiding something?

Was it about his health? He even noticed him limping the day the two were hanging out.

But was it really worth asking? Shuichi was worried about him, but perhaps he should wait until things calmed down before questioning him.

He shook his head. For now, let’s just focus on getting out of this room.

After a quick shower, he stumbled out of the dorm.

No one was out. Were they still in their rooms or was he the only one still here?

He stopped thinking about it and left the dorms.

He didn’t see anyone on his way.

However when he reached the main building...

... He came across an almost completely exploded Monophanie, her mechanical insides visible.

To each trial, a monokub died with the blackened, and this trial was not an exception.

“How tragic! My sweet Monophanie died in such a horrible way...”

Shuichi flinched at the ‘horrible way’.

No, Himiko and Angie died a horrible way, not your damn kid.

He ignored the bear and continued his way towards the dining hall. He also ignored the yells about how insensitive he was.

Before he could reach the dining hall, he could hear voices. Were people arguing in there?

After opening the door, he noticed Kirumi, Miu, and Kiyo seemingly discussing an important matter.

Kirumi immediately turned to the violinist.

"What is going on?" He asked.

Kiyo hesitated at first. "I know this sounds odd but..." He paused.

"Have you taken a knife from the kitchen last night?"

Shuichi blinked. "Huh? No I didn't..."

Miu put her face in her palms, elbows on the table. "It couldn't have disappeared like that, did someone take it?"

The boy could only glance at the others in confusion. "Is... There a knife missing?"

The mercenary nodded. "Yes, one of the huge knives is not here anymore. Monokuma has replaced everything so someone must have taken it."

They already had a trial yesterday, was someone acting that soon? Why?

Whywhywhywhywhy-

“We should check on everyone just to make sure no one is hurt.” Kirumi suggested.

Shuichi snapped out of his thoughts and nodded.

But just as he was about to join the other three, Kirumi turned to him. “Take this.”

She threw him a tangerine that he caught easily.

“At least eat something.”

“... Thank you.”

They headed to the dorms, worry growing inside them. From what Shuichi managed to see on their faces, none of them managed to sleep well, especially Miu.

She looked more tired than worried which was... Unsettling considering her attitude the last few days.

The usual Miu would have been worried and determined to make sure the others were okay.

After all, he didn’t miss her bringing breakfast to Kokichi the day after the second trial.

Once they reached the building, they decided to separate.

Miu glanced at Kaito’s room, but quickly shook her head.

“Do we tell them about the missing knife?” she asked.

Kiyo shook his head. “For now we just tell them that it’s to check on them to see if they’re okay.”

The street artist nodded.

“So, who checks on who?” Kirumi asked.

Miu immediately headed towards the girls’ rooms. “... I’ll be checking on Tsumugi.” she mumbled.

Shuichi took a look at the doors.

Now it was getting difficult to distinguish which rooms were occupied and which were not.

He approached Rantaro’s door, but before knocking, he overheard Kirumi and Kiyo’s conversation.

He decided to pretend to think about what to say and listen in on the two. Judging by the volume of their voices, it was clearly not about which rooms to check.

“Why did you lie about not knowing who took the knife?” Kiyo muttered under his breath.

“... I’m not lying about anything.” she raised an eyebrow.

“I’m a therapist. I may have failed my judgment on Angie, but I know you’re hiding something.”

“... Check Kokichi’s room. I heard sobbing last night. I don’t know if it has anything to do with it but you should check on him.” she left to approach Ryoma’s room.

... What was that?

He knocked on Rantaro’s door. After a few seconds he heard a muffled noise from behind the door, then the door opening.

“... Shuichi?”

The medic still had dark circles under his eyes from the last few days. He was wearing his usual shirt and pants. He looked like he was getting ready, but hadn’t woken up long ago.

“Oh, um... You doing okay?”

Dammit. He should have thought about something.

“Yeah, I just continued sleeping a bit after the morning announcement. My bad. Did something happen?” he replied.

“Oh, not at all! We’re just checking since we were only four in the dining hall.” he lied.

“Huh. Just give me a few minutes, okay?” he smiled faintly. It was a fake smile, but it looked like he tried.

Shuichi nodded and closed the door.

When he turned back, he saw Tsumugi and Ryoma talking to Kirumi and Miu.

At least they were okay.

Kiyo was still in front of Kokichi’s door. His attempts at getting him out of his room seemed unsuccessful.

“Miu, perhaps you should check on Kaito.” Tsumugi noted.

The girl stiffened at the remark. “Oh um...”

Shuichi felt bad. She probably didn’t feel like talking to him for now. “I’ll do it.”

Miu blinked and gave him a weak smile.

He approached the biker’s room and knocked.

...

No response.

He knocked again.

“WHAT??” he faintly heard from behind the door.

Thanks to his good hearing, Shuichi could sense that Kaito was yelling from his bed.

He wasn’t sure if Kaito would hear him back, however.

So he knocked again. Big mistake.

“Fuck off, I’m trying to sleep here!” he shouted, the noise muffled by a pillow.

Shuichi took a deep breath.

“I-It’s Shuichi, I’m checking to see if you’re okay...”

He heard movement and... Kaito falling from his bed.

After two long minutes of muffled noise and struggle(?), the biker finally slightly opened his door so only his head could be seen.

His hair was messy and that’s when he finally noticed how his natural hair was different. It almost reached his shoulders, but the natural look felt strange.

It didn’t take a genius to guess that he was not dressed up in the slightest.

“What.” he grunted.

“Um... We’re just checking on everyone to see if they’re o-”

“I’m fine, as you can see. I just want to sleep.” his tone was passive-aggressive. Very much not the usual Kaito.

He immediately closed the door.

Shuichi sighed and turned to the others in the building. Rantaro was out and Kiyo had probably given up on Kokichi, for now.

After going down the stairs, the others noticed Kaito’s absence.

“Huh? Kaito’s not coming?” Rantaro asked.

“He... Doesn’t want to be disturbed, to say the least.” he admitted.

The others glanced at each other.

“... We should at least get breakfast.” Ryoma suggested.

“Agreed.” Rantaro nodded.

The group went back to the dining hall, Shuichi eating the tangerine Kirumi gave him earlier.

He hoped Kokichi and Kaito were okay anyway.

He turned to Kiyo to ask him about the former. “Hey... Is Kokichi okay? Since you were the one checking on him...”

The therapist winced a little. “He didn’t open the door but he told me he wanted to rest for now.”

Shuichi looked down. He was not taking Himiko’s death well, whether he admitted it or not.

“However I cannot let him continue self-isolating, I’ll have to find a solution, and fast.”

He sighed. “Which is also the case for Kaito I presume?”

Shuichi looked away. “Pretty much... I think.”

The breakfast was eaten in silence. It wasn’t an organized one since Miu and Kirumi didn’t prepare anything. And no one complained.

After all the last trial was exhausting for everyone.

From the ill ones trying to understand the events, to the ones directly affected.

Even though some of them were good at pretending everything was fine, it was clear that no one left the courtroom indifferent.

Even Rantaro, who was always the one taking the leader position, felt powerless over the situation.

Perhaps it had something to do with being drugged with his products.

Just as they finished, Monokuma appeared in the room.

“Oh my! I’m sure you guys were thinking about me again! You must love me!”

Kiyo sighed. “No, we weren’t. Go away.”

“Never mind that... You guys are probably eager for it, right? My prize that is.”

He started sweating from pleasure. “Right? You guys can’t live without getting a prize right now, right?”

“That’s what I thought, so I brought a prize!”

They heard the jingle they all resented now.

“Rise and shine, ursine!”

Now it was just Monotaro and Monodam.

After what felt like an eternity of the annoying shenanigans from the two, they finally decided to give the ‘prizes’.

“Ta-da! The legendary Levistone, the priceless Octobrush, and...”

Monodam took a bunch of what looked like cards.

“CARD-KEYS. THEY-WILL-BE-IMPORTANT-FOR-THE-LIFE-AT-THE-ACADEMY.”

“Which just so happen to be part of the motive!” the red bear exclaimed.

Each of them received their card key. They all looked grey and bland, with the symbol of the academy printed in the corner. The only thing differentiating them from each other was the names written with each talent.

“A part of the motive...?” Shuichi muttered.

“Yep! Those mysterious card keys are part of your next motive, which is not ready yet! Make sure you don’t lose them!”

Rantaro frowned. “And what if we do?”

“Puhuhuhuhu! Glad you asked!” the black and white bear laughed.

Shuichi heard his monopad vibrating.

“I added a new rule concerning the card keys! Make sure you read them!”

A new rule indeed appeared.

#16: If a Sanzu key gets destroyed, the owner shall be executed.

“A Sanzu key?” Kiyo frowned.

“Well, since you guys obliterated the motive videos, I made a rule this time! Bears learn from their mistakes, you know!” He raised his paws in the air.

The others stared at their card key.

Shuichi Saihara Ultimate violinist - Sanzu key

“Also, I forgot to mention this, but I’ve hidden another flashback light somewhere. I wonder what memories you’ll uncover next! Happy hunting!”

The bears left.

Sanzu key... What did it mean? Why were they important enough to be executed if they were destroyed? It sounded like they were part of a grander scheme.

For now, they had to see which labs opened... And search for the flashback light: The only connexion they had with the outside world.

“Should we perhaps give the card keys to Kaito and Kokichi?” Tsumugi took both of the cards.

“I’ll do it. Don’t worry about me.” Kiyo volunteered.

Rantaro weakly smiled. “Thank you.”

He turned to the rest of the group. “For now let’s just do as usual. We split up and search for what’s new.”

The others agreed.

“How do we split up?” Shuichi asked.

“I suggest we go into three groups.” Kirumi raised a hand. “Since there’s a higher chance both objects will be used in the main building, two groups go there, and one group searches outside.”

Rantaro nodded. “It sounds like a solid plan. Does anyone object?”

No responses.

Kirumi and Shuichi decided to investigate the Octobrush.

Ryoma and Tsumugi took the Levistone.

Rantaro requested to be with Miu since he had to talk to her. They were the group checking outside.

As for Kiyo, he was going to give the card keys to Kokichi and Kaito.

The searches began.

Kirumi and Shuichi ended up using the brush rather quickly since it opened the fifth floor.

The floor in itself had a strange atmosphere. Almost from a fantasy universe.

Now that he thought about it, Kaede probably would have been inspired by these large corridors.

There was a lab next to the stairs. The doors looked rusty but really heavy and solid. The aspect almost reminded Shuichi of the warehouse.

But after inspection, the door was locked with no possible way to open it.

“It looks like something I could work in, but I guess it’s not for today, huh.”

Ryoma came from behind, putting a hand on the door.

“Too bad.”

So Ryoma’s lab was on this floor, but not opened. Strange.

The group decided to head to the other parts of the floor.

The corridors were stunning. Who even built this academy?

They came across a door that seemed unlocked for once. It looked both fancy and casual.

After coming inside the lab, they starred at the cozy interior. A warm ambiance that looked like you could have a nice hot chocolate in. It felt relaxing. There were a few bookshelves on the sides, a fireplace, a desk with a chair and a sofa. It almost looked like...

... A therapist’s room.

It was definitely Kiyo’s lab.

Tsumugi approached a bookshelf and grabbed a random book. “Freudian psychology... Interesting. I will have to borrow books from here at some point.”

Shuichi noticed a faint grin on her face. It was rare to see her genuinely smile.

“Tsumugi, we have another room to explore. We’ll check back later.” Ryoma called her from outside.

The two left Kirumi and Shuichi.

Shuichi looked through the drawers. There were empty notebooks waiting to be filled.

“I know this is a bit ironic considering the place we’re in but...” Kirumi brushed some dust off the sofa.

"Yesterday’s trial was rough. Even I have to admit I felt sick looking at Himiko. Are you handling the situation well?”

That was... Unexpected.

“Um... It could be better but it could be worse, I guess...” his gaze shifted to nothing in particular.

She hummed. “I see.”

The mercenary approached the exit. “... Remember to seek out help if you need to. Kiyo is qualified for this, but anyone is fine. Perhaps not me since I’m bad at comforting others.”

He didn’t expect Kirumi to care but a part of him was getting worried.

Did she herself have trouble with reaching out for help? Or is she considering herself not worth helping because of her past?

“You too, Kirumi.”

She quietly nodded and left the room.

Tsumugi and Ryoma had gone to the room next to the lab. And after entering they discovered...

A computer room?

That’s what it looked like at least.

There were chairs on the sides, and what looked like a giant cubic machine in the middle. There was a huge contrast between the dreamlike ambiance of the floor and the futuristic look of this room.

What could this computer even be used for?

“We’ve inspected this giant thing through and through, and we didn’t find anything. It looks like a piece is missing for it to function.” Ryoma explained.

Shuichi frowned. “So this thing is useless?”

Tsumugi approached the two. “Pretty much.” 

There was nothing left to look at, and yet they hadn’t used the stone. That must mean something was outside.

Just as they left the room and started walking through the corridor, Miu and Rantaro appeared.

Did Miu look... Happier? She looked more refreshed than this morning. Rantaro must have said something to cheer her up.

“Hey there. We were looking for you guys.” Rantaro waved at them.

“We found the use for the stone!” Miu exclaimed.

“I figured as much.” Tsumugi said. “Where is it?”

The medic took out his monopad and pointed at a part of the map, near the shrine of judgment. “There’s a black cube with a hole the size of the stone in it. There’s no building around but I think it will work like Gonta’s lab.”

Shuichi hummed. “How did it even work anyway? One day it wasn’t there and the next it appeared.”

Tsumugi sighed. “I do not know, unfortunately. Perhaps we’ll finally see the mechanisms.”

The group went to the spot Miu and Rantaro pointed out, and Ryoma placed the stone. It levitated, span for a moment then crashed onto the block once again, but this time a blue light flowed through it like the roots of a tree.

The earth shook for some time, and a building suddenly appeared from the ground.

From the looks of it, it felt like a garage.

Unlike some other labs, it had more of a steampunk look than a modern look. Gears were decorating the walls, as well as wheels on the side of the building.

From Shuichi’s guess, it was Kaito’s lab. Unfortunately, the biker was not with them to see this.

Tsumugi was the first to move, directly heading to the door without questioning anything.

“Hold on, perhaps we should wait for Kaito since it’s his lab...” Shuichi stopped the prodigy.

She briefly glanced at him. “For now he locked himself in his room. Perhaps the flashback light is in there. We don’t have time to waste.”

Before he could say anything, Tsumugi opened the door.

In there were dismantled motorcycles as well as barrels of oil and multiple toolboxes.

However, on the other side was a bar. It felt like one of those underground bars you could see in movies, where gangs would assemble and talk about their next move.

At least it was in a better state than Kokichi’s lab. There were a few tables, with chairs and sofas around. Even some small shot glasses.

Was Kaito an underage drinker?

He brushed off the thought and approached the various motors.

Without something to attach them to, they were pretty useless. Perhaps Kaito could do something with them?

After looking around, they left the lab.

On their way to the main building, they came across Kiyo, who had the flashback light in hand.

“Oh, you found it?” Shuichi asked.

“Yes, it was near the dormitories.” he replied.

“What about Kaito and Kokichi? They should join us for the flashback light.” Kirumi questioned.

“I told them to come as soon as they could since we would be waiting for them in the dining hall.” he declared.

The others nodded and made their way there.

Shuichi approached Miu quietly. “You look happier. Did Rantaro tell you something?”

She almost jumped at the remark. “It’s- um...”

Shuichi raised an eyebrow. Even though he wouldn’t admit it out loud, Miu and Rantaro’s relationship was interesting to watch evolve.

“No, he just told me that I shouldn’t give up on taking care of others and Kaito probably didn’t mean what he said... That even though it sounded silly, treating people like family had a great impact on them. So I think I’ll continue being the mom here.” she explained with a chuckle, slightly blushing.

Shuichi smiled. At least she could go back to her mom habits. But he noticed a tiny bit of disappointment on her face.

“You look disturbed anyway... Did something happen?”

She glanced away for a second, looking embarrassed.

“I didn’t know he was aromantiiiiic...” she planted her face in her palms, the embarrassment still showing.

Shuichi giggled and tapped her back. “It’s alright, it’s alright. It’s not like he hates you right?”

“No but I feel dumb now... I didn’t know what rejection felt like until now.” she mumbled.

The violinist quietly chuckled so the others wouldn’t notice. He knew Rantaro wouldn't return her feelings but didn’t dare to tell her.

“Oh and...” she put her hand in one of her pockets and slapped an object onto his palm, and he closed his hand immediately. “I know you saw me take it so I’m giving it to you. You’ll probably need it more than me.”

Shuichi glanced at the object. It was the love key she had bought at the casino. “Why giving it to me?”

“It doesn’t feel right for me to use it. So knock yourself out if you have the hots for the bookworm or the femme fatale. Or one of the guys if you swing that way.” she winked at him. 

... What is that supposed to mean??

He shoved the key in his pocket.

“But...” she muttered. “He was acting strange. Like he was only pretending to care.”

Shuichi narrowed his eyes, looking at Rantaro talking to Ryoma peacefully. “Are you sure?”

“Perhaps it’s just my imagination.” she sighed.

They reached the dining hall. To their surprise, someone was already there.

It was Kokichi, the hood on his head as usual and his head in his arms, staring at the void.

The dark circles under his eyes were bigger than Rantaro’s, which was worrying.

He thought back at what Kirumi said to Kiyo before the latter could check on Kokichi.

“... Check Kokichi’s room. I heard sobbing last night. I don’t know if it has anything to do with it but you should check on him.” 

But the girls’ rooms were not close enough to the boys’ for something to be heard from a boy’s room to a girl’s. That must mean she had seen something.

Was it why she told him to seek out help if he needed it?

He could ask her, but that would mean he would have to admit he listened in on their conversation. So perhaps it is not a good idea.

... Now that he thought about it, she had a bigger heart than she let know.

Miu looked at Kokichi, but he didn’t seem interested in a conversation at all. Like he just left his room not to make them wait but will go back to his room without a word after that.

“It’s nice to see you up, it’s a good start.” Kiyo smiled at him.

The boy just hummed and went back to a half-asleep state.

The therapist discretely gestured to them that they should stay silent for now.

Now they just had to wait for Kaito.

After a good ten minutes, just as Shuichi was about to suggest that they should go check on him, the door opened, revealing the biker.

Even after using probably a liter of hair gel, his hair was messier than usual, tie hastily put on and... That’s just when the violinist realized he was probably putting eyeliner before.

Miu, glanced at him, a hint of worry on her face that she wanted to repress.

Tsumugi stood up, reaching for the flashback light. “Is everyone ready?”

“What’s the point?”

Everyone turned to Kokichi. “Huh?”

“What’s the point of recovering memories? We’re dead to the rest of humanity anyway. We might as well die here like... Like nothing.” he muttered.

“... Say whatever you like, but I’m not wasting an opportunity to learn more about what’s happening. We need that to piece it all together.” Tsumugi argued.

“The question is: Are they really safe to use? We all know what happened to Keebo. Who says it doesn’t have side effects on us as well.” Ryoma asked.

“Keebo’s a damn robot. We know that’s why he completely got screwed.” Kaito rolled his eyes.

“Didn’t we agree that your maintenance mistake was the fatal blow?” Tsumugi raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not my fault if those fucking flashlights screwed his program!” the biker approached her, clearly mad.

“It doesn’t change the truth and you know that.”

“You fucking-” he grabbed Tsumugi by the collar.

“Let’s not fight now.” Kiyo interrupted before things heated up. “Kaito put Tsumugi back down and Tsumugi, don’t cause unnecessary conflict. Please.”

Kaito glared at the therapist before putting the prodigy down. “... Fine.”

Tsumugi fixed her collar and bow.

Rantaro took the flashback light. “I think if it had any physical side effects on us we would have seen it by now.”

The others glanced at each other to see if anyone objected to the use of it.

It seemed as though Kokichi gave up on convincing them not to use it.

After one last collective glance, the medic activated the flashback light.

The memories all flashed back at once.

The meteorites, people claiming that humanity deserved damnation...

Shuichi stumbled on his feet.

“The meteorites...” he mumbled.

“The meteorites- I was hearing about them non-stop!” Miu exclaimed.

“Some of the buildings where I lived were destroyed. There was a constant panic here.” Kiyo frowned.

Tsumugi put a finger on her chin. “Researchers were claiming that it was the same phenomenon from millions of years ago and that our species would become extinct.”

Kaito clenched his fists. “And those fuckers claiming that we deserved it...”

Kirumi nodded. “I remember getting more and more requests from those people... But I never accepted any of them.”

“Hold on, the what?” Rantaro blinked.

“Shuichi raised an eyebrow. “You don’t remember? People were in the streets claiming that humanity deserved to die...”

“Well, some people don’t live in cities here.” Ryoma glared at him. “Some were busy somewhere else working their asses off to make sure their clique stayed alive.”

Ah... He forgot about Rantaro and Ryoma being soldiers. Those groups were in the streets, so it’s understandable they never heard about them.

“Wait, meteorites? But we would have seen them from here! Everything looks fine!” Miu changed the subject.

“It is possible that they overestimated them and humanity is still alive?” Rantaro suggested.

Tsumugi shook her head. “No. I was working with researchers on the phenomenon. The meteorites would have impacted all Earth, creating a heavy atmosphere and destroying all life on this planet, and even if we somehow survived the meteorites we would die anyway because of the lack of food, breathable air, and all resources necessary for us to live.”

Shuichi didn’t quite follow.

“... In other words, to me, the most plausible theory is that we’re in a very strong bunker underground and the sky is actually made of screens to simulate day and night.”

In a bunker? That felt unreal.

Kiyo put a finger on his chin. “Could this group claiming that we deserve damnation be responsible for our situation?”

Shuichi tried to think. “But why would they make us go through a killing game? And why us?”

“What I want to know is what happened to that so-called ‘project to save the world from meteorites’?” Kaito put his hands on the table.

That’s right... It was...

The gofer project.

“I vaguely heard from it. Just that it failed.” Ryoma put his hands in his pockets.

“Hold on, what?” Miu turned to him.

“That’s what I’ve also heard.” Kirumi explained. “I’ve heard that it failed, but I can’t seem to remember what it even was.”

Kiyo put a hand on the table. “Let’s recap all we know.”

“We were part of some ultimate hunt, where some people were after us. We even erased our memories because of it.”

“Then we remembered the funerals, and that to humanity, we were officially dead, that either we faked them or the people who captured us faked them.”

“And now we remembered about the meteorites and a group wanted humanity to die.”

Tsumugi paced around. “To me, the group wanting us dead is the one who created the ultimate hunt, and after capturing us, faked our funerals. I would even dare to say...” She stopped.

“That the leader of this group is the mastermind behind the killing game, and is watching us in this very moment, controlling Monokuma.”

The mastermind... Wanted them to kill each other? He thought it was by pure pleasure, but it was to eradicate them? What was the point?

Did the person behind this whole movement get pleasure from watching them suffer?

He didn’t know. That felt like too much information at once.

Tsumugi glared at Kirumi. “Say, you claim that you never accepted requests from those people, but you also claim to have nothing to go back to outside. It sounds pretty suspicious to me.”

Kirumi’s gaze was still as cold as ice. “I’m specialized in quick and painless deaths. Besides, I work alone.”

“Now isn’t the time to fight.” Kiyo interrupted a fight once again.

Kokichi stood up and left. “... I’m going back to my room.”

Just as Kaito started doing the same, Miu stopped him. “Wait-”

“I don’t know what you want, because there’s nothing to say, Miu.”

She approached him, just centimeters from his face. “I’m not letting another person isolate himself because of this entire game.”

“And what does it give you? Good conscience? Or you want recognition from others?”

“And what do you gain from self-isolating??”

“Don’t try to say you understand anything from me because you don’t!”

“I know more than anyone else how you feel, I tried to kill you for fuck’s sake!”

“I didn’t fucking kill Keebo! It was an accident!”

“That’s why you don’t need to act like this!”

“I told you yesterday, stop trying to babysit us like we’re k-”

A slap echoed across the room.

Miu had just hit Kaito in the face.

The biker reached for his cheek, reddening from the hit, his eyes wide from the shock.

“... You’re nothing like the biker I admired for so long. The Kaito Momota I admired gave money to children in hospitals, won every race he competed in with passion and hard work, even with that in the way. He cared for his gang like a family and rejected offers of sponsorship from anything other than charity.”

“The one standing in front of me is yelling at everyone to protect his own ego. And right now I’m feeling bad over one single thing.”

“It’s that in reality, you are nothing like the Kaito Momota I used to look up to as a hero.”

There was a moment of silence that felt like an eternity.

Shuichi could see hints of tears in the corner of Miu’s eyes.

She left the dining hall without a word.

Kaito left shortly after in another direction, still recovering from the shock. Shuichi could faintly see defeat in his eyes, even though it was mostly hidden by anger.

The others glanced at each other, trying to apprehend what just happened.

Tsumugi approached the door. “... I’ll be doing researches in my lab. Please don’t disrupt me unless it’s urgent.”

The others left one by one.

Rantaro claimed he wanted to talk to Ryoma outside.

Kiyo wanted some time to think alone in his lab.

That just left Kirumi and Shuichi.

The two looked at each other.

“Do you... Plan on doing something?” the violinist asked.

She thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I’ll keep exploring, I think.”

“Is it okay if I go with you?” Shuichi hesitantly asked. “To be honest I don’t think I want to be left alone with my thoughts for now.”

She stared at him for a second. “Sure. If you wish to.”

The two went to the fifth floor to explore in detail.

Shuichi noticed how thorough she was in her research, almost like she expected a hidden button to be here somewhere.

He decided to observe the details of the stained glass. The cathedral atmosphere felt unsettling, yet relaxing. It was strange.

The monokuma statues were the oddest ones. This whole academy felt like Monokuma was the one who built it.

Perhaps looking for hidden traps and passages was useless.

That’s what Kirumi must have felt as well since she went back to him.

“I don’t think anything is going to help us here. But there’s one place I want to check in this building.”

Shuichi blinked. “Huh?”

“Follow me.”

The violinist felt uneasy but decided to trust her.

The two went to the library.

Kirumi, with no hesitation at all, activated the button to make the bookshelf in front of the hidden door move.

“What are you-”

She glanced at the panel and the card reader. With a swift hand movement under her dress, she grabbed a knife. Did she have weapons hidden on herself??

“I’m tempted to destroy the panel, but I don’t know if it will either block the door completely or open it.”

Shuichi raised his hands. “P-Perhaps there’s a less risky solution? I mean what if Monokuma notices, there’s a possibility he will execute you...”

She sighed. “Besides, even if it blocks the door, I don’t think this is the only way to enter. But perhaps it isn’t in the main building. It would look too easy.”

Shuichi pondered. “But what if they wanted to put it in an easy to access location? They just need to know where it is and how to hide it.”

The mercenary nodded. “That’s also a possibility. My instinct is telling me that it’s not on this floor. There’s a thin line between easy and too easy.”

“Then perhaps the first floor?” Shuichi suggested.

“We could try.”

The two walked up the stairs. Shuichi turned his monopad on.

“Let’s see... I think we go way too often to the dining hall for a secret passageway to be here.” he theorized.

“Agreed. I don’t think it’s in a lab either. That would be strange.” she replied.

Shuichi looked up and stared at the hallway. “I know this sounds odd but what about the restrooms?”

Kirumi raised an eyebrow. “... I never exactly searched through here. But we could give it a try.”

The two approached the doors.

“Should we split up since we’re... You know...” Shuichi muttered.

The mercenary looked at him unimpressed. “Don’t take this personally, but I don’t trust somebody claiming something without anyone else to confirm it. Especially in this killing game.”

She stepped in the boys’ bathroom.

There was no use in stopping her, so they might as well search through it.

After five minutes of handling the mirrors, going through the closet, the restrooms, and even moving the closet, nothing came from this.

So the two went to the girls' bathrooms. Same process, and yet...

Still nothing.

The two gave up on searching through this room.

Since lunchtime was coming soon, Kirumi went to the kitchen to prepare the meals. However, she wanted some time to think, alone.

Shuichi, in the meantime, decided to check on anyone. Just anyone.

Miu was in her lab. Perhaps he could try to see if she was doing okay after she argued with Kaito.

After he reached the lab, he knocked on the door.

... No response.

He stepped in anyway.

She was tagging a huge canvas tapped on a wall with black and dark hues from turquoise to purple. This didn’t look like a concrete painting, more like something abstract. Or perhaps it just wasn’t finished.

“Hey...” she turned around at his call.

“Oh, hey.”

He took a look at the wall, then back to her. “You feeling okay? After... This morning...”

She stayed silent, eyes on her work.

“... He hasn’t been himself recently. I know that. But if giving him a piece of my mind wasn’t enough, then perhaps I was right.”

She is obviously talking about Kaito.

“Somehow... I think you got through him. Maybe just a little, but still.”

Miu placed a finger on the paint to see if it dried yet, then sighed.

“That’s what I want to believe. I know he isn’t a selfish prick I just...”

She paused.

“He just needs someone to snap him back to reality.”

Shuichi nodded. “I think... He needs time as well.”

Miu approached the other part of her lab- where she was making her own paint.

“I don’t care how much time he takes. I just want him to be back to his usual self.”

Shuichi frowned. “But... Don’t you think it was a little harsh? You still slapped him pretty hard...”

She stopped in her tracks. “... I’ll have to apologize too.”

After a few minutes, she came back with four paint sprays, each labeled using a black marker.

“Turquoise”, “Sky”, “Royal” and “Purple”.

She shook one of them and started spraying the wall, a brighter hue of purple appearing.

Shuichi sat down to look at Miu working for a while.

If she was painting a concrete thing, then it certainly didn’t look like it.

But that didn’t matter. Perhaps all she wanted was an abstract canvas of colors. At least the gradient was nice.

After she was done with the bright colors, she put back the spray on the ground and placed her hands on her hips. “Now I just have to way for it to be dry so I can continue.”

However, before she could say anything else, Rantaro came through the door.

“Hey there. Lunch is prepared. We're waiting for you two.”

After washing their hands, they went to the dining hall.

Everyone was already there aside from Kaito and Kokichi, who were probably still in their rooms.

However, Tsumugi was also absent. From what Kirumi said, she asked for her lunch to be brought to her lab since she was deep into her research, dozens of books stacked on her desks and she was aggressively writing on the blackboards of her lab.

The prodigy was never that deep into her research, was she? On second thought, she didn’t have much time to enjoy her lab after it opened because of the despair disease.

They ate in silence, no one really wanted to talk after this morning’s events.

Shuichi finally noticed what Miu meant by ‘Rantaro faking his smile’. He also remembered how silent he was after the flashback light.

What was going on with him?

After lunch, Shuichi approached Rantaro. “Hey, you free this afternoon?”

He scratched his neck, glancing to the side. “Sorry, I kinda promised Ryoma to go to the casino with him. Perhaps another time?”

Miu was right. It was hard to spot, but he was definitely faking a smile.

“No, it’s alright, have fun!”

He hoped his fake smile was convincing.

Shuichi decided to follow Miu back to her lab.

She was preparing a stepladder, wearing a belt with a small bucket of white paint attached to it.

“Oh, you here again?” she turned her heels to him.

“I don’t have much to do, so might as well watch you paint but...” he turned to the canvas. “What... Exactly are you drawing?”

She put her feet on the stepladder and started climbing.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

She took out a small paintbrush in her right hand and a paper on the left. Wasn’t the brush from Angie’s lab?

After a couple of minutes, he finally realized.

She was painting a night sky.

It took her a huge amount of time to cover the whole canvas but watching her paint was relaxing.

They engaged conversations from time to time. Her biggest regret was not having her signature hoodie. A custom made black one with fluorescent markings similar to her boots on the sleeves, and a white fluorescent firefly on the back.

The world didn’t know her as ‘Miu Iruma’, but as ‘The firefly of the city’. her actual name and intentions were unknown to other people. She was just a prodigious artist whose only known info was her gender and the color of her eyes.

It felt nice to know the artist behind those paintings as a person.

She also drew a few planets and a bright, white star.

The whole artwork was wonderful.

By the time she was done, it was around 6 PM.

There was still time before dinner. Miu left to help Kirumi prepare the meals.

After all, last time she left Kirumi alone in the kitchen someone ended up dying.

Looking at his monopad, he saw Kiyo leaving the dorms to go to the main building. Perhaps he could hang out with him for a while.

After joining him, the two went to the therapist’s lab. He was satisfied with it, saying that the atmosphere was perfect to talk to people. Especially during those times.

The violinist sat on the sofa. It was comfortable.

“You look troubled, Shuichi. Is there something wrong?” he sat at his desk.

Now it looked like he was his patient.

“Huh? Nothing, really.” he lied.

... He was not buying it.

“You heard our conversation with Kirumi this morning, didn’t you?”

Touché.

“Ah... Yes I did...” Shuichi admitted.

He took out a notebook from his pocket.

“Do you... Know what’s going on with Kokichi?” the violinist hesitantly asked.

He stopped going through the pages. “... I tried to talk to him during the afternoon and even this morning. However, he refuses to speak about his issues.”

Kiyo closed the notebook and approached the bookshelves. “I do have an idea of what’s going on, though.”

Shuichi perked up. “Really?”

He nodded, taking one of the books. “From his attitude, his way of thinking, and how he acted during the trials, I would say the symptoms he is showing are those of a person with PTSD.”

He blinked. “PT... What?”

“Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD for short. It is often seen in people who experienced traumatic events. The symptoms vary from a person to the other, but there’s a high chance Kokichi has experienced something traumatic in the past. However, I do not know the extent of it.” the therapist explained.

“But please refrain from telling anyone about what I just told you. This should only be a matter between Kokichi and me unless he wishes to talk to you guys about it. I explained to you only so you wouldn’t try to do anything risky. Mental illnesses should not be taken lightly, especially when you do not know how much it affects the person.” he added.

Shuichi nodded. “Understood.”

The two talked about more cheerful stuff for a while.

At some point, Kirumi knocked on the door to tell them that dinner was ready.

When Kiyo asked her if Kaito and Kokichi were there, she explained that she brought them the meals already, for lunch earlier and dinner.

Kokichi was in his room, but surprisingly, Kaito spent the entire day in his lab.

As for Tsumugi, she finally left hers.

The dinner was less silent than lunch, which was a good thing.

This day hadn’t been that exhausting, but everyone still went to their rooms anyway to rest.

Shuichi preferred to stay outside for a while. To take a walk before going to bed.

After going around for some time he went back to his room.

But a small object caught his attention.

A small folded piece of paper on the floor.

He grabbed it and unfolded it.

...

He didn’t understand a single thing written on the paper.

The violinist went back to his room to examine it, just in case someone walks out and notices him reading a suspicious piece of paper.

After making sure he locked the door, he sat on his bed.

-. --- - .... .. -. --. / -- .- -.- . ... / ... . -. ... .  .. / .... .- - . / - .... .. ... 

Was that morse code? It certainly looked like it.

However, he didn’t know how to read it. Not in the slightest.

Damn it.

He put his ear on the door to make sure no one was roaming around.

He folded back the paper and left his room to put it back where it was. If anyone found the paper in his room for whatever reason, that could be bad.

Shuichi went back to his room with unanswered questions and worry about the next motive.

Could he even hope for the best? He didn’t know.

He fell asleep. Hopefully, he will sleep better this time.

--

“...”

“The next few days are gonna be painful to watch.”

“But that’s the price to pay for the grand finale that I’m preparing.”

“...”

“This whole motive is going to be a huge gamble.”

“... And I’m going all in.”

[trashy-fujoshi-blog]

ライアーダンス - CHAPTER 2

The trashy VR-AU POST-NDRV3 FIC CONTINUES~ Yippee.

Chapter One < Here

This is POST-NDRV3. 

Even if everyone is alive in this, there is still cannon game spoilers mentioned. 

Read at your own risk. 

(Also typo’s because I don’t proof read shit, I’m a lazy hoe.)

Saihara, with his detective work, slowly but surely began to compile a list of who he saw around, to work out who else didn’t remember. He heard that Kiyo was on the 6th floor, whichever girl was alongside him didn’t remember, but he had no way of knowing about the 12th floor, he couldn’t get up there without the inhabitants agreement, and since neither remembered, it was like the floor was off limits.

It took two days before Saihara managed to get a hold of Kiyo in the large establishment they were kept in. Mostly because Saihara didn’t like to leave his floor, he still lacked the confidence to face everyone, but Amami had helped him..

“My floor? Tsumugi Shirogane.”

Saihara nodded. He’d expected the girl to have some memory issues, she’d been tampered with quite a bit, but it was surprising that Amami was fine, since he’s gone through quite a bit too…

Kaede told him that she met up with most of the girls already, except Tsumugi, Iruma and Kirumi, so it wasn’t any of the others. Saihara could already cross Tsumugi off, and had to put Iruma and Kirumi on the list of possibilities for the 12th floor.

From the boys, he was only missing Kaito, the rest he’d seen or had others confirm they were okay. So that left it down to those three. Iruma, Kaito and Kirumi. But which two?

In the end, Saihara found out from Kiibo, who he overheard talking to a short blonde staff member with the eyepatch.

“Have you seen Iruma? I need her opinion on some of the security measures I can’t bypass.”

“5th floor last I saw her.”

“Thank you.”

So Saihara now had to face the fact Kaito and Kirumi also didn’t remember.

He wasn’t to fussed about the Ultimate Maid, they hadn’t spoken much, and while she was nice to everyone, she’d been executed before he could properly get to know her… and his pre-sim memories of her were still hazy. Not that he didn’t like her or anything, he actually found her presence to have been calming, and she was pretty much adopted as the entire classes mother before Ryoma’s murder… But still… Kaito...

Kaito….

It hurt a lot more.

Saihara had hoped he’d finally be able to make things up with the Astronaut, and fix his mistakes, but now it was like God was punishing him. First Ouma and now Kaito?

Saihara just wanted to apologize to them…

Saihara eventually managed to get in to see Ouma late one evening in secret, with the assistance of Komaeda Nagito, who Saihara was uneasy about. The light haired male had offered to sneak him in to see Ouma, without alerting anyone else… which seemed both preposterous and stupid, but Saihara complied. He tried to bargain for time with Kaito, but apparently he wasn’t in a state for any visitors, and he’d had to be assigned two of the strongest staff members, because he was dangerous, and constantly trying to kill anyone that entered the room…

Saihara had shuddered while being told that.

That wasn’t Kaito… it wasn’t...

Ouma was a mystery to though.

He just didn’t fit the personality he’d expected of someone who’d sign up for murder and death, and it left him to wonder what exactly Despair had written his false reasons to be.

“Ouma.”

Saihara stood awkwardly in the doorway, Ouma was sat in one of the corners of the room this time, looking even smaller than before, if that was possible, backed against the wall.

“You came back…”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“...”

Why indeed.

Saihara had no clue.. If anything he just wanted the chance to sit and properly talk to the Ultimate. Everything that had occurred… he just needed to sort it all out, verbally, with the boy. He just...

“I don't know.” Saihara finally replied, watching Ouma slowly clamber to his feet. He was wobbly on them, and his hands clutched onto the wall to stay upright. Saihara thought he’d fall if he was honest, but he didn’t want to intrude the boy's personal space, when he obviously didn’t want to be around them.

“I.. I still can’t walk properly.” Ouma admitted, indicating for Saihara to come closer, which surprised the detective. It had been a while since the Simulation ended, and most of them were back to being able to function properly, hell, even Ryoma was stable now, and when he’d woken up apparently he was in a state; physically.

Mentally there was still issues with most of them, but physically they’d all gotten over the worst of it already.

Saihara moved forward cautiously holding out an arm, which Ouma wearly took, weight now supported by the Detective.

“I was told it was because my nerves endured intense shock… something to do with... that ... “ Ouma trailed. Saihara knew what he meant.

Of course, being forcefully crushed to… whatever remained of Ouma at that point … by a fucking hydraulic press was bound to affect him, but regardless, the boy clearly wasn’t going to be stopped that easily. Saihara made a small noise of understanding, as Ouma hobbled over to the bed with his support.

“... Saihara.” Ouma mumbled, and Saihara’s heart sunk, at the lack of ‘chan’ at the end. It might have been slightly weird to be referred in such a way, but the lack of cheerful tone behind Ouma’s words had Saihara feel lost.

“Ouma?”

“Will.. will you do me a favour?” Ouma asked, finally letting go of Ouma’s arm, letting the Supreme Leader sit down onto the bed, tucking his knees up instantly. Saihara stood beside him, unsure what he should be doing with himself.

“What can I do for you?” Saihara asked, curiously.

“ Stay .”

“W-what?” Saihara asked, confused.

“Stay.” Ouma asked again, lip trembling slightly, eyes darting between the window and Saihara.

Oh.

Oh .

The boy didn’t like the dark?

“Okay Ouma.” Saihara mumbled, and let himself be tugged down to sit beside Ouma, by weak arms. The two sat there for a moment, neither speaking, before Ouma rested his head on Saihara’s shoulder, arms still securely wrapped under his knees.

“Thanks Saihara-chan.”

If Ouma felt him tense up at his words, nothing was said.

If Saihara felt his entire being freeze at the words, nothing was said.

Nothing was said at all for the rest of the evening.

Saihara felt a tiny bit uncomfortable intruding, but his heart wouldn’t let him leave the boy alone, when he’d spoke with such fear dancing in his eyes. It actually helped calm the detective himself if he was honest, having the gentle breathing of Ouma present in the normally silent darkness he endured every night.

It was... Nice.

Saihara had meant to slip out once Ouma had fallen asleep, but that didn’t happen. He wasn’t sure how he’d ended up falling asleep, but it had happened, and the next time Saihara awoke, it was to the whimpers and sobs of Ouma Kokichi, who was clung around his waist tightly, small form shivering against the detective.

Saihara could feel his heart break further, at the distressed sounds the boy was emitting. Reaching gently, with one hand, he carefully buried it in strands of dark purple hair, combing it gently to try and calm the boy down.

He knew waking people up while they were distressed was dangerous, because they could react violently while unaware of themselves. He’d once accidently punched Naegi in the face that way, having been woken up from a nightmare by the boy only to accidentally flip out. He’s profoundly apologized after, and learnt that it was best he didn’t follow Naegi’s example.

“Shuuichi… ”

Saihara froze. He’d not told Ouma that… he’d only introduced himself though his family name… Saihara caught himself though, noticing he’d stopped moving his hand when Ouma let out another distressed sound, making Saihara restart his actions.

Maybe Ouma subconsciously remembered through dreams?

Who knew…

Anyway, slowly but surely, Ouma’s uneven breathing calmed down, and the sobs and jutters of his shoulders relaxed into quiet snores once again. The detective was grateful it hadn’t ended too badly, but he couldn’t shake the odd feeling he was experiencing. Eventually the detective fell back to sleep once more to, arms wrapping around Ouma protectively as he drifted back into the darkness of his own night terrors.

Komaeda found them the next morning, and even he had the decency not to make any comments, instead leaving the two, clinging to one another as though their lives depended on it, and looking at peace for once which was pleasant to see.

“Nagito?” Hinata asked, and Komaeda simply put a finger to his lips, turning to Hinata in the doorway, shaking a hand to waft the boy back out.

“I believe you can say you found where the little Detective went.” Komaeda whispered, leading Hinata back away from the room, he’d known the entire time where Saihara was but he knew it was crucial for Ouma to have someone he could trust...

And he’d be damned if he left anyone try and say otherwise.

“Is it okay to leave them?”

“Yeah.Trust me, Hajime.”

Because Komaeda Nagito could well and truly admit he had taken a liking to the small Supreme Leader from the moment he’d stepped into Hope’s Peak more than a year ago, and he’d do anything to have him back to normal, even if he had to break a few rules and weave a few lies.

It was around noon when he awoke. Saihara opened his eyes to find Ouma staring up at him, eyes reflecting an emotion Saihara couldn’t place, one he knew he hadn’t seen on the boy before. Despite the Supreme Leader being awake before the Detective, he had made no attempt to move, content with staying wrapped around Saihara, simply watching him sleep.

“Ouma?”

“Good morning Saihara-chan.”

So the chan was back for good it seemed, which had Saihara feel a bit better. It was certainly a step back to Ouma’s normal self… and he was sure the boy knew more than he let on.. But he wasn’t sure how to go about approaching that subject with him yet.

“Ouma… Why were you staring at me?” Saihara asked groggily, raising a hand to wipe his eyes, the other trapped between his and Ouma’s bodies.

“Because Saihara-chan is cute when he’s asleep, obviously.”

Saihara simply gave a spluttering noise.

“See!” Ouma countered, small grin littering his face and Saihara could feel the blush it caused.

If anyone was cute it was Ouma.

Wait what?

“Let’s… let’s get up.” Saihara mumbled, trying to change the topic, and Ouma let go of the detective with a quiet grumble.

“But you’re so warm.. And Saihara-chan feels safe.”

Saihara wasn’t even surprised anymore, at the amount of times this boy was making him speechless.

“C’mon Ouma.” Saihara said once more, climbing to, up stand on his feet, brushing down his clothes he’d slept in, creases obvious against the fabric. He’s need to get changed before he went anywhere else.

Ouma made no attempt to move, snuggling deeping into the covers.

“Ouma?”

“Not getting up.” Ouma mumbled, shutting his eyes.

“Ouma.. You need to get up, you need to eat something.” Saihara mumbled and Ouma shook his head.

“Don’t need to.”

It was like arguing with a child and Saihara couldn’t help the small smile that graced his features at Ouma’s stubbornness. This boy slowly but surely was reminding him of the Ouma he knew.

“Do you want me to bring you something?” Saihara asked and Ouma shook his head the best he could.

“No.. I… No. Feel free to visit again though Saihara-chan.” Ouma whispered, and turned over, as if to tell Saihara to go.

So Saihara did.

He didn’t want to push his luck, after he’d finally managed to earn a sliver of Ouma’s trust.

He headed back to his own room, getting changed into a fresh pair of clothes, before heading down to the ground floor, towards the dining room he’d spent most of his time avoiding, he didn’t feel ready to be around everyone at all once… but now… he felt ready.

Maybe seeing how hard Ouma was trying gave him some confidence… he wasn’t sure, all he knew was that it was time to start facing reality more.

“Saihara!” Yumeno grinned, pointing her toast at the boy who she noticed in the doorway. The rest of the room turned to look to, smiles meeting the detective who stood awkwardly in the doorway. Not everyone was there, but it was nice to see more than one or two of them, together, as though nothing happened... moving on… There was only a few people missing from the group, minus the four Saihara knew not to expect, the only ones missing were Gonta, Kiibo, Iruma and Maki.

It was a little weird to see Kiyo sat talking to Angie, all things considered, but then again he knew those two weren’t exactly normal.. In fact they were quite extraordinary people.

Saihara just raised a hand in greeting, shyly, as Amami shuffled further down the bench, to make space for him, between the Adventurer and the Ultimate Pianist.

“Hiya Saihara! You okay?”

Saihara nodded before sitting down in the space made for him.

“Where were you?” Amami asked quietly and Saihara raised an eyebrow in question.

“What do you mean?”

“Last night. Half the staff went crazy with worry, because you’d vanished, I overheard them.”

“Oh.” Saihara mumbled, he didn’t even know, but he guessed it made sense, since Naegi came to check on him most evenings, and if he was missing, it probably would have raised warning bells… since Saihara barely left his room.

Saihara could feel his face flush, he could hardly turn around and say he'd slept with Ouma, even if that was all that had happened… no way, he couldn't say that… But Amami looked like he had an inkling anyway.

“Oho ?” Amami asked, with a sly smile.

“I erm .. I was with Ouma…”

“I figured as much.”

“Wait.. what?” Saihara kind of expected him to be mad or agitaited or something… considering how close they’d been..

For Ouma to latch onto him and not Amami?

“I’m not mad if that’s what you’re thinking. If anything I’m relieved. I was pretty concerned after the other day, so I’m glad he’s at least let you in. Look after him okay, Saihara?”

Saihara just let out a quiet eep , face flushing at Amami’s words.

“I believe in you.” Amami quietly spoke, as to not alert the others, before getting up from his seat.

“I’ve gotta go, bye everyone.”

And then Amami was gone.

The rest of the day went by smoothly, the group stuck together for most of it, Saihara getting a better tour of the place, which he hadn’t properly explored. It kind of reminded him a bit like that damned Prison School, with all the different rooms, but Saihara tried to ignore that idea, pushing it to the back of his mind.

As the evening drew it, Saihara found himself in the huge library the facility had, with Kaede, a sick feeling in his stomach because the last time he’d been with the girl in such a place…

No.

He wasn’t going to think that way.

“Saihara, are you okay? Is it this place? I wasn’t sure if you’d feel okay here... “ Kaede asked, concerned and Saihara nodded.

“I’m okay.”

It was a lie, and Kaede saw completely through it, but if Saihara didn’t want her to know, she’d go along with it.

“I finding calming, you know? Being around all these books… It's stupid but I like it.”

Saihara just nodded, unable to find the words he wanted.

“Did you get any further investigating? Amami told me you were trying to find out the other students?”

“Yeah, Kirumi, Tsumugi and.. And Kaito.”

Kaede just hummed in reply.

“I see. I thought for sure it would be Iruma, I never see her.”

“Apparently she helps out alongside Kiibo, with trying to recover and reverse the memory issues… I guess that means she’s too busy to be around us…”

“Possibly… I wish I could help out someway to… I feel so useless. Why are we still here anyway? What’s the purpose of waiting here, what are we waiting for?” Kaede pondered, her thoughts voiced without her realising. She stammered.

“I-Ignore that.”

“No, I agree. I think they wanted to keep an eye on us at first, after all there was a possibility we could have been brainwashed to Despair, and they wouldn’t want to let us slip through their fingers. Now I think they just want to keep us all together until we’ve all recovered.”

“That would make sense… maybe.. I just don’t like this pointless waiting around… I want to see the world again, my sister, my family. Do you know in this massive facility there isn’t a piano?” Kaede rambled and Saihara let out a tiny snicker at the end part, which had Kaede giggle to.

“A piano shouldn’t be so hard to find in a post-apocalyptic world, should it?”

Saihara felt himself relaxing more. Kaede’s presence certainly calmed him down when he felt on edge. The girl just had some sort of ability that cheered him up, and it was nice, pleasant, welcome.

The evening drew in further, and eventually the two departed from the Library, Saihara feeling the relief of leaving the room.

“I’m going to head back up to my floor. I’ll see you tomorrow Saihara! Come down and see us more!”

And Kaede was gone.

The walk back to the 11th floor was.. Tiring. The elevator was out of use for the day, due to some maintenance, and Saihara just felt shattered after walking up to the 9th floor. The first floor, and floors 8 to 10 weren’t dorm rooms, instead they housed areas like the library, dining room, and a bunch of office-like areas that the staff used. Saihara was pretty sure the 10th floor was used for their own dorm rooms, but he wasn’t sure because he didn’t have access to get through the doors.

Eventually he made it to his floor, walking through the doors to the floor, and straight into the body of Komaeda Nagito, the taller male catching him, and steadying the two of them, to stop them from falling.

“Ah, Saihara.”

“Ah! Sorry- I wasn’t loo-”

“It’s quite alright, I’m actually quite lucky to run into you, you’re just the person I was looking for.” Komaeda slyly admitted, and Saihara frowned.

“Me? Wh- What is it?”

“”Come with me.” Komaeda smirked, grabbing the Detective's arm, and fair dragging him, despite his quiet protests. The luckster dragged him to Ouma’s door, before letting go of him, and crossing his arms, giving a nod in the direction of the door.

“All yours.” Komaeda spoke and Saihara let out a feebly splutter in protest.

“Wh- What?”

“The rest of the staff don’t want students in each others rooms at night until you’ve all been cleared of suspicion, and especially not with the special cases…I’ll turn a blind eye to this, if you continue to stay with Ouma.”

And then Komaeda left.

It made sense they didn’t want students together at night, because considering nearly half of them had killed someone in the class in the Sim, or been murdered, there was certainly the incentive to commit horrible acts, and when better than at Night when there was less chance of being witnessed…

Regardless though, if Komaeda thought his presence would help Ouma, he was willing to give it a shot. So, with shaky hands he opened to door to the room, cursing himself midway at forgetting to knock.

Ouma was perched on the windowsill once more, legs tucked up to his chest and head down. Despair really had written his character to be this anxious soul? It made sense in a sick way though, that the most eccentric and confident one of them all was made into.. Well this.

“Ouma?”

Ouma’s head snapped up instantly, eyes darting to Saihara, and tiny smile upon the boy's face, despite the obvious tears that gave away that he was crying. Saihara's own face fell at the sight, and before he even knew what his feet were doing, he was over beside the boy, pulling him towards his chest in the most comforting embrace he could muster.

“Ouma… It’s okay.”

“Saihara-chan. W-Why do you keep coming back to someone like me?”

“Idiot, of course I would. We’re friends aren’t we? Even if you don’t remember me.” Saihara mumbled, as he felt Ouma’s fingers clutch onto his uniform, his head buried in Saihara's chest.

“I do.” Was Ouma’s quiet response and Saihara froze.

“Y..You do?”

“Yeah.. Yesterday… but…who knows, I am a liar after all~ Saihara-chan .” Ouma managed to say, raising his head from Saihara’s chest to look up at Saihara, tears still evident on his face, eyes watery, but with the most genuine smile Saihara had ever seen on the Supreme Leader's face, and Saihara could feel himself return it, how could he not? It was infectious.

“Why.. haven’t you told anyone?”

“Komaeda knows, he’s a little shit though.”

“Ouma.. I don’t think you should be referring to the staff that way.” Saihara scolded and Ouma just let out a quiet nishishi.

“Says who? Supreme Leaders don’t take orders from anyone… but I’ll make an exception for my Beloved Saihara-chan..” Ouma taunted and Saihara just shook his head, attempting to conceal the laughter threatening to burst past his lips.

“Will Saihara-chan still stay, even if I remember?” Ouma asked, and Saihara only just managed to catch the flash of fear before it hid itself behind Ouma’s carefully constructed masks… Maybe Despair hadn’t messed with Ouma’s personality at all, because after spending the briefest of time around said ‘personality’ Saihara could conclude the boy in front of him still had the same aspects to him, just hidden better. Was that the kind of person Ouma had always been? Masked insecurities and fears, behind lies and taunts?  

Saihara didn’t want to think about it, because it made him feel awful, so he pushed the thought from his mind, and nodded.

“Yeah, I will.”

Ouma let go of Saihara’s jacket and raised his arms in mock victory.

“Yay. You just couldn’t resist me, right? Right?” Ouma asked, his tears had stopped by now, and the boy discreetly wiped them onto his scarf, cheeky tone back in his voice as he spoke. Saihara just scoffed.

“If that’s what you want to believe, Ouma.”

“Ehhh… There’s only room for one liar here Saihara-chan.” Was all Ouma said before attempting to climb down from the windowsill, legs still unsteady below him.

“You okay?” Saihara asked, holding out an arm for the boy to use as support but Ouma shrugged it off, slowly hobbling over to the bed in the room.

“I’m fine, Saihara-chan… gosh.” Ouma pouted childishly before flopping back to lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling, Saihara rolled his eyes at his antics.

“Is that a lie, Ouma?”

“Who knows~!” Ouma replied, before using his toes to prod the detective in the side.

“Your feet are cold.” Saihara concluded and Ouma just scoffed.

“That’s what you paid attention to?”

“...” Saihara blinked. What else was he meant to pay attention to?

Ouma just sighed, sitting back up to grab the detective by the shoulders, before tugging him back down with him.

“Now stay there and provide me with warmth, your Supreme Leader commands it.” Ouma boasted, wrapping himself around Saihara, who froze, dumbfounded. Even after remembering everything, Ouma wanted him here, to stay?

“I can hear your thoughts, they’re that loud, Saihara-chan.” Ouma mumbled, as Saihara relaxed slightly.

It wasn’t that bad… if anything Saihara felt a sudden joy at being wanted, at Ouma desiring him to stay with him… it was… Saihara couldn’t really explain what he felt, but it was nice, so he stopped trying to think so much about it, and simply closed his eyes, allowing Ouma to use him as a source of heat, arms wrapped around him.

“Thanks Saihara-chan~!” Ouma beamed, with a small nishishi , and Saihara just smiled in return.

No problem Ouma.

The next morning, Saihara awoke first, and flushed upon realising his position. Somehow he’d gotten his legs tangled up with Ouma’, and one arm was trapped under the shorter boy, the other wrapped around his waist, Ouma’s own arms clinging to him in return. Saihara was pretty sure he’d lost the feeling in the arm under him, he couldn’t wriggle it, and he concluded it was dead, he’d have to wait for Ouma to move, so he could get the blood to return to it.

He didn’t have to wait long, but in the time he did wait, Saihara saw the appeal of watching the other sleep, just as Ouma had done the day before. Ouma looked like the epitome of an angel while he slept. There was no false facial expressions masking his face, or emotions, there was no mischief in his eyes, and best of all, he looked happy, a tiny smile on his face at whatever dream he was enduring. Saihara scolded himself for acting weird. Why did he feel like this around the boy.. What even was he feeling? Saihara was confused, and in his deep thought, he failed to miss Ouma stirring.

“Saihara-chan~? Earth to Saiharaaa-chan~” Ouma prodded the boys cheek, and Saihara’s eyes widened, before looking down at Ouma.

“Ah.. sorry Ouma.” Saihara tried to catch himself, and Ouma just pouted.

“My Beloved Saihara-chan was busy thinking about something else to notice me~ I’m wounded by this betrayal.”

“S-Sorry Ouma!” Saihara apologised and Ouma snickered in return.

“Just lying~!” Ouma beamed, tugging himself off of Saihara, freeing his arm, and untangling their limbs, before brushing off his clothes.

“Aw… now everything is creased... “ Ouma sighed.

“We have spares anyway.” Saihara explained and Ouma nodded.

“I know… It’s like being back there .” Ouma pointed out and Saihara shuddered at the thought. It wasn’t a false statement though, the fact they were stocked with extra pairs of their uniform did remind him of the Prison School. They did have other things in their wardrobes, casual clothes and things like that, but predominantly they all mostly settled for wearing their uniforms because it's what they felt most comfortable with.

Ouma stuck his head into the wardrobe he had, while Saihara managed to drag himself out of the bed.

“Ooo look Saihara-chan!” Ouma pulled out a long cape from the wardrobe and Saihara let out a groan. His pre-sim memories might not be a lot, but he sure as hell could remember that damn cape, and Ouma parading about in it like he was the new supervillain (because Ouma refused to be called a superhero.)

“I can look like a phantom thief with this, Saihara-chan~! Will you try and catch me though?” Ouma asked, raising a finger to his chin as he did. Saihara spluttered at the thought of chasing the boy, heart racing for some reason, until Ouma gave his trademark laugh.

“Just kidding.”

“I’m going to need to change my own clothes too.” Saihara announced. He’d also not showered for like two days now, because he’d been staying with Ouma on a night.

“Okay~ Saihara-chan.” Ouma replied, as Saihara let himself out of the room, agreeing to come back in half an hour.

Saihara didn’t encounter anyone on the way back to his room, thankfully, and was able to grab a quick shower without worry. He was grateful the rooms all had ensuites.

When he got out and headed over to the wardrobe, he found himself pulling out a version of his uniform, succumbing to wearing the same outfit once more, simply because he felt lost without it.

Saihara departed the room once more, after ensuring he’d dried off his hair the best he could, and accidently running into Komaeda once more.

“Saihara!” Komaeda gave a sly smirk, ruffling his hair with a hand, that had Saihara feel uncomfortable.

“Thanks.” Was all the luckster said before leaving, walking down the hallway away from Ouma’s from, to the staircase.

Saihara shrugged it off. Ouma already told him Komaeda was the only one who knew about his return of memories, so it was probably just to do with that.

Once Saihara made it back to OUma’s door, he gave a quiet knock, remembering to do so this time, and he was welcomed with the cheerful enter which sounded exactly like the Ouma Saihara knew. It was nice to have him back.

Ouma was donned in his normal uniform, including the cape Saihara knew to expect, because the cape was one of the few things he knew for sure Ouma loved about his uniform.

“Yoho~ Guess what, Saihara-chan?” Ouma asked, and Saihara shrugged.

“Komaeda said I was in the clear, and he’d arranged to allow me to leave the room!” Ouma beamed. Saihara guessed behind stuck in the same room for more than a month could drive anyone a little crazy.

“So I have decided you have to take me to see Amami-chan. I need to say sorry to him.” Ouma pointed out.

“Why me?” Saihara complained, but his lie was easily seen through by Ouma.

“ Nishishi , don’t lie to me, Saihara-chan, you’re elated to be able to spend time with me.” Ouma chortled and Saihara just sighed.

“Okay then. Off we go.” Saihara replied, knowing arguing with him wouldn’t be worth it.

“Thanks Saihara-chan.”

Getting down 11 flights of stairs took time, but Saihara was patient, and Ouma persisted, getting to the 7th floor without much help, but relying on Saihara from there downwards. Eventually the two made it to the first floor though, and Saihara slowly took Ouma in the direction of the dining room. Komaeda had left Ouma with a crutch, so the shorter male could use that alongside Saihara, and it did help relieve the ache in his legs, which still protested to moving so much.

The dining room was the fullest Saihara had seen it… but Saihara had only seen it twice so that kinda made sense…

Anyway, it contained everyone from the day before, but this time, Saihara could also see Kiibo, Iruma and Gonta had joined them, summarily only missing 4 of the class, Kirumi, Kaito, Tsumugi and Maki (three of which made sense to Saihara, but come to think of it, he hadn’t actually seen Maki at all.)

It was probably a sight to see, considering news had circulated between the class about the fate of the four who didn’t remember, so seeing Ouma Kokichi in the doorway, supported on his feet by a crutch and Saihara Shuuichi likely wasn’t what they expected to see.

“Nishishi , you all look like you saw a ghost or something…” Ouma snickered and Saihara could visibly see the shoulders of about half of the class relax, as Ouma unknowing confirmed his memory had returned.

Amami, as expected, was on his feet instantly, and over to the boy in a heartbeat, tugging the shorter boy into a hug.

“Idiot.” Was all the adventurer said, and Ouma just gave a laugh in reply, letting go of Saihara to wrap an arm around the taller student.

“Amami-chan was worried about me~? I’m touched.” Ouma joked and Amami just rolled his eyes, used to the boys antics.

“Amami-chan might want to let go now, before I collapse.” Ouma added quietly, and Amami pulled back, just as Ouma’s legs gave out from under him, Saihara catching the boy the best he could, Amami lending a hand too.

“Ah. Thanks. Nishishi .”

“Idiot.. You should have rested more, if you still can’t walk properly.”

“Amami-chan, A Supreme Leader like me cannot be beaten by something as simple as this.” Ouma lied and Amami sighed.

“No, of course not, Ouma, being crushed by a hydraulic press and suffering from extensive nerve damage and temporary amnesia certainly isn’t something that could beat someone as mighty as you.” Amami said, sarcasm dripping in his voice, Ouma shrugging, as Saihara helped him sit down.

“Exactly, Amami-chan” Ouma replied with a sly grin, one of the ones Saihara knew was a false mask for confidence, he’d seen it enough in the Sim to work it out already.

The rest of the students seemed to have their spirits lifted by Ouma’s evident recovery, hope for the rest wasn’t misplaced it seemed, and a few of the students seemed quite happy to engage in conversation with the short student, even if they’d all thought him annoying in the Sim.

Kiibo seemed interested in monitoring Ouma, and asked some questions about how he remembered and what triggered it, to try and aid the others in a similar way.

“Eh.. Keeboy isn’t a robot? Lame.”

Kiibo just let out a noise of protest, before opening his mouth to speak in retaliation.

“I might not be a robot, but that’s not the issue here, Ouma. The issue is, how did you remember?”

“Easy~ My Beloved Saihara-chan.” Ouma replied, before pausing, face blank.

“Or was that a lie~?”

Kiibo let out a frustrated noise before Iruma butted in.

“Oi, Brat, answer his questions already.”

“Ehhhh. Why?” Ouma complained and Saihara couldn’t help the tiny smile that made it’s way onto his face, listening to Ouma’s childish antics.

Amami leaned in, from the other side of the detective.

“Thanks Saihara. Whatever you did, I appreciate it.”

Saihara just flushed, blood tinting his face a bright red, detective lowering his head to try and hide it.

“Also, how long are you going to be in denial that you’ve got the biggest crush on him?”

Saihara promptly choked on his orange juice.

“Saihara! Are you okay?” Kaede asked with concern and Saihara just held up a hand to signal he was okay, while struggling to steady his breathing, turning to Amami with wide eyes.

“W-what?!”

“It’s so obvious, Saihara, even a blind man could see it.”

“W...what…”

“You didn’t even know… did you?’ Amami asked, with realisation, and Saihara shook his head.

“I… I like Ouma?” Saihara asked, and Amami just nodded as if he’d asked the stupidest question on earth.

It made sense the more Saihara thought about it. Ouma made him feel happy, and safe, and so weird when he was around him. But it was that weird feeling that he could finally place with Amami’s help.

Affection.

Before Saihara Shuuichi could even realize it, he was head over heels in love with Ouma Kokichi.

And he had no idea what the fuck he was going to do now he knew that.

Nishishi. That’s the end of chapter 2 c;

This fic is also on A03, under the same name, ライアーダンス, if anyone’s interested on reading it on there rather than here.

Thanks for reading~!