#the light novel focused on kirigiri | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

zenonaa · 6 years

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Chapters: 10/11 Fandom: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Fukawa Touko/Togami Byakuya, Fukawa Touko/Togami Byakuya/Kirigiri Kyouko, Fukawa Touko/Kirigiri Kyouko, Kirigiri Kyouko/Togami Byakuya (Dangan Ronpa) Characters: Togami Byakuya, Fukawa Touko, Kirigiri Kyouko

Summary: Togami hires Kirigiri to solve a mass murder that occurred at his wedding anniversary party. One hitman was apprehended, but he refuses to say a single word, while the other got away. The mastermind could be anyone, but the list of suspects is getting shorter, and Kirigiri finds herself learning more about the Togamis than she anticipated.

Riding a motorcycle was the closest that Kyouko had come to flying, not including planes.

Actually, maybe including planes. No windows or pillars blocked Kyouko’s vision as the motorcycle hurtled down the country road. Her surroundings poured in from all sides, sunset red and sky blue watercolour staining the evening purple in blotches where they overlapped. The stretching road crackled grey. Wind buzzed white noise as she focused on the road, her hands and feet working on autopilot, making operating the motorcycle look easy, second-nature. No nuance passed her, no temperature drop, no anything. She felt everything intensely.

“Wow, the sky’s beautiful,” came a voice behind her, soft, so soft that Kyouko might have just imagined the statement instead of hearing it.

Then the arms around her middle tightened. Real. There with her. She wasn’t alone. Warmth spread across Kyouko’s face like a puff of air held in for too long.

“That was so exciting!” came the same voice, clearer and louder.

Kyouko nodded.

“You have so much freedom on a motorcycle...” A pause. “It’s so cool. You’re so cool, Kyouko.”

A hand landed gently on the back of Kyouko’s hand, now on her lap. She raised her head. Her gaze trailed up the arm stretched across the blanket. They weren’t on the motorcycle and the person didn’t sit behind her anymore. Instead, the two of them rested in a secluded spot near the road, hidden behind some trees.

Sayaka had the cutest smile of anyone that Kyouko knew.

“Don’t you get scared?” asked Sayaka with wide eyes and rosy cheeks. Traffic occasionally rumbled in the distance.

Kyouko shook her head.

“Oh, wow,” said Sayaka, wearing dimples. She raised her other hand to her own cheek. Her fingers curled and she blinked slowly, like a cat showing a human that it trusted them. “I felt so free on your motorbike. To be truly free... it’s exhilarating just thinking about it.”

“With freedom comes responsibility. When I ride, I must be hyper-aware and I cannot put my trust in others,” said Kyouko. Under the trees, there were more shadows than shards of light. “As I ride, I have to wonder... what is that car going to do? Has that lorry seen me? Am I in a blindspot? I am free, but I have no authority over those on the road.”

Sayaka squeezed Kyouko’s hand, still touching herself on the cheek with her other.

“Doesn’t it ever get lonely?” she asked Kyouko.

“I don’t mind.”

The grip on Kyouko’s hand slackened. Sayaka bit her lip and slowly lifted her hand off Kyouko. She touched her palm against Kyouko’s cheek, but a second later, she withdrew her hand, but not all the way back. It hovered in the space between them.

“Is something wrong?” asked Kyouko, and she tilted her head to one side.

“Um...” Sayaka’s face crumpled a little. She shook her head, but the tension didn’t spray off like water from a dog. It soaked through. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry.”

Kyouko stared at her a bit longer before turning away and casting her eyes out toward rolls of grassy fields. The Sun kissed the top of the furthest one. Cicadas performed a private choir for the couple, and traffic took part as bass.

“Beautiful,” said Sayaka, and Kyouko hummed in agreement. She turned back to Sayaka and realised that Sayaka wasn’t watching the sunset.

Sayaka was watching Kyouko. Heat flushed through Kyouko’s face and she quickly looked at the picnic that had been set out. Not a crumb seemed out of place, no icing on a cupcake smeared or any surface cracked. They were high quality, like designed for a scene in an anime and painted with care, or written in a novel lovingly.

“They are real,” Sayaka assured her, and Kyouko gave a start.

A giggle tickled Sayaka’s throat. The skin by her eyes crinkled with her smile.

“Here, you have some food on your face,” said Sayaka, and she reached forward, brushing her fingers against Kyouko’s cheek. After the light touch, she lingered, faltered, like the daisies’ yellow faces were the lens of the paparazzi’s cameras, like the grass was hair that obscured the ears of the earth, all ready to tell the world what they were doing.

Sayaka’s hand crumbled off her cheek, and her body dissolved into urban greys. Kyouko’s sharp intake of breath shifted into the grind of gravel against her motorcycle wheels. As the vehicle slowed to a stop in a street in a shopping district, Kyouko took her left foot off the peg, but she didn’t place it on the ground until the motorcycle stopped completely.

“I’m going to hurl,” said Touko weakly, her arms, not Sayaka’s arms, wrapped around Kyouko from behind.

“Please don’t do it on my back,” said Kyouko, composed.

Touko pulled away from her. Kyouko waited for Touko to slip off the motorbike, and instead heard a thud. She twisted around and saw Touko lying facedown on the pavement.

“Are you all right, Touko-san?” asked Kyouko, and she took off her helmet. The one that Touko was wearing should have protected her head in the fall.

“... I’m fine,” said Touko, but she didn’t get up. “I’ve probably just broken a bone or two.”

There was the sarcasm. At least, Kyouko hoped it was sarcasm, and she hesitated. A glimpse of leather on Touko’s thigh did not get past Kyouko, whose eyes widened a fraction, but Touko gave a slow wiggle and her skirt shifted and settled, covering it. Despite the movement, Touko still didn’t rise from an undignified heap on the ground.

Kyouko pushed some hair from her face.

“Yukizome-san dropped Togami-kun off in a street a short distance back. We have no time to fritter away. We need to tail him before we lose sight of him,” said Kyouko.

“What?” said Touko, and she jumped up, making a miraculous recovery all of a sudden. She struggled her helmet off. “S-Stop yapping and go ahead without me then!”

Touko yelped as Kyouko whipped her hand over Touko’s mouth. Kyouko’s eyes narrowed.

“We both need to be quiet and whatever we see, unless Togami-kun is in immediate danger, we mustn’t let ourselves be revealed,” said Kyouko, but Touko had made a good point so Kyouko lowered her hand to grab Touko’s hand and they started jogging, leaving their helmets locked to the motorcycle.

“Spying on my darling,” Touko said, panting a little already, “I... I don’t know if I can do it with a clear conscious.”

“Didn’t you basically do that before you were dating?” asked Kyouko, quirking her brow.

Touko squeaked. “No! He knew that I was there...”

Kyouko faced forward.

“We’re wasting time,” said Kyouko. “But he can’t have gone too far without drawing attention to himself.”

They rounded the corner and slowed down, entering a shopping district. A range of aromas swamped them. It smelled like a laundromat, worn clothes mixed with freshly cleaned, humid air pressing down on concrete and a stale cigarette sort of scent. Clusters of people drifted across the pavements and the road, which had no cars or public transport in sight on it. Indeed, parasols stood to attention, scattered across the road, with occupied deckchairs beneath them. Kyouko and Touko passed a group of men under one of the parasols, and seconds later, a cyclist whizzed by.

“Ooh-woo,” went Touko, for lack of better way to describe the noise other than to attempt it phonetically. She shrunk against Kyouko’s side. “There are nearly as many signs as people... How are we supposed to spot him or even know what place he went into?”

“It’s not just us spotting him. There’s a possibility of the reverse happening - him seeing us first,” said Kyouko, and she turned her head from one side to another, scanning the surrounding area.

Mannequins outside a storefront captured her attention. Kyouko led Touko to the store and stopped in front of a mannequin decked out in a straw hat, sunglasses, a scarf and a buckskin jacket.

“How much money do you have on you?” she asked Touko, who squirmed.

“Money...?” Touko mumbled into her fist.

In her haste, Touko had grabbed a coat but not her purse. Fortunately for Touko, Kyouko had nabbed hers on the way out of the manor. Kyouko rummaged through it, preferring to use physical money than a card, and they bought a pack of mouth masks, a pair of scarves and one set of sunglasses. They put the mouth masks on, and Kyouko wore the sunglasses.

“Before we continue, Touko-san, I need you to give me Syo’s scissors,” said Kyouko.

“... Eh?” said Touko, freezing.

“I saw your holster earlier.” Kyouko folded her arms over her chest. “Give me the scissors. I won’t have you or Syo do anything reckless.”

“They’re not Syo’s scissors,” said Touko, but she hitched up her skirt and gave the holster over. Indeed, there was only one pair of scissors in it and it wasn’t the ones that Syo flourished once upon a time ago. “Those things, she gave them to Byakuya the night before our wedding.”

Kyouko turned away. “Wait here for a moment.”

She flitted into a nearby alley. Finding herself alone there, Kyouko hooked her fingers through the holes of the scissors and with her other hand, clutched her hair in a ponytail. In a clean cut, a length of hair fell, leaving the rest just shy of shoulder length, and she returned to the main area with her chin held high.

Touko caught sight of her and inhaled. Anticipating her shriek, Kyouko slapped a hand over Touko’s mouth again, waiting for Touko’s lips to stop vibrating before she withdrew her hand.

“W-Why the hell did you do that?” hissed Touko. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Long violet hair is a giveaway,” said Kyouko calmly. “And I’ve been wanting to cut it, anyway.”

“Spoke so casually! But didn’t you...?” Touko seemed to short circuit and shook her head. “You’re unbelievable. Mad, even...”

“You shouldn’t dismiss people with another way of thinking as ‘mad’,” said Kyouko with a frown. “That’s a dangerous thing to do.”

“Geez,” sulked Touko, but her lips quivered, fighting back a smile. With a hint of fondness, she added, “That sounds like something Byakuya would say.”

Kyouko wrapped the scarf around her neck while Touko wore hers on their head. Before they proceeded, Kyouko inspected Touko from an arm’s distance. The bookworm glasses were a trademark of Touko. She took off Touko’s glasses and tucked them into Touko’s pocket.

There. Now, Touko was barely recognisable. Touko blinked, and she tensed when Kyouko squeezed her hand, but then she relaxed, and they set off.

To an outsider, they must have appeared to be two close friends out shopping for the day, peering over at different establishments, prospective customers that moved on empty-handed, one shop after another, again and again. They wouldn’t have been completely wrong, thinking that. Kyouko considered Touko a good friend by this point, but they weren’t customers, and good friend maybe didn’t cover the entirety of what they were.

Weaving between groups of bumbling shoppers, Kyouko peeked into buildings until she glanced into a café and did a double take. Her heart skipped but she marched them past the window front before stopping abruptly and tugging sharply on Touko’s arm.

“Wh-?” Touko started, too loudly, and Kyouko whipped up a hand to cover Touko’s mouth.

She felt Touko’s lips contort against her hand, even with gloves on, and with her other hand, she pointed toward the café, and Touko moved her glare in that direction. Touko mumbled something into Kyouko’s hand and Kyouko removed it from her mouth.

“What?” Touko hissed. “Did you see Byakuya?”

He wouldn’t have been able to overhear them, but Kyouko just nodded, and Touko’s furrowed brow released the tension puckering it. Kyouko had seen someone of Byakuya’s height with the same outfit and hairstyle, so she was sure that it was him, but the café’s storefront wasn’t particularly big, and without pressing up to it conspicuously, they wouldn’t be able to investigate it from the outside.

“Should we go in?” asked Touko.

“Yes,” said Kyouko.

Both took a deep breath and entered the café together.

A bell jingled above their heads. At the back of the café stood a granite counter, where customers queued to place their orders. Ahead of it, two long lines of tables stretched across the room, few of them occupied. Bricks with generous amounts of grey mortar patterned the wall behind the counter, the corners of the room were painted white and the other walls between the corners were grey. Light fixtures hung from ropes attached to the ceiling.

Byakuya was far into the café, seated opposite a figure in a trenchcoat. The stranger had their back to the rest of the people in the café. Touko glared at them. Kyouko led Touko to a table in the other row to which Byakuya and the stranger were in.

“You need to be more subtle,” muttered Kyouko, placing Touko so that she was facing into the other row. That way, Touko wouldn’t have to turn her head to stare, which would have been too obvious.

“Who is that...?” Touko said through her teeth. Her lips had compressed very thin. “I can’t see well...”

Kyouko didn’t answer. Even if Touko had been wearing her glasses, Kyouko doubted that Touko would be able to recognise the stranger behind their disguise. Yes, Kyouko would have gone as far as to say that the mystery person had put on a disguise.

Come on. A trenchcoat and a hat. Really.

The person seemed to be telling Byakuya something with minimal hand gestures. Byakuya’s chin rested in his palm. His hand covered a good part of his face. By his elbow, his latte had hardly been touched. Occasionally, Byakuya replied, barely stirring initially, but then he raised his head and Kyouko made out him say, “No one can know.”

She read it on his lips mostly.

Touko brought a corner of her scarf to her nose and started to tickle herself there. Kyouko realised and seized her wrist.

“Don’t,” Kyouko warned in a low voice.

“I heard!” hissed Touko, playing it awfully close to being loud enough to draw attention to their table. Thankfully, generic pop music played over her. She wrenched a hand under the table, retrieved her glasses and put them on.

Kyouko let her. Touko squinted at the stranger’s back, chewing on her lip, but no recognition lit up her eyes, or her face.

“We’ll order something,” said Kyouko. “That will bring us nearer their table. You can come with me, Touko-san, but you must promise that you won’t react or do anything rash.”

No reply. Touko’s lip endured more nibbles. Kyouko rested her hand on top of Touko’s fist, and Touko broke out of her thoughts, blinking.

“I know it’s tempting, but do you think Togami-kun will be happy if we cause a scene in public?” asked Kyouko. “We need to get as much information as possible, and we mustn’t end the encounter prematurely.”

Touko trembled but nodded. She couldn’t be faulted for feeling what she must have. Kyouko fought to not give into impulse, to bound across the café and demand answers from Byakuya. Though she tensed, she remained resolute. The time for confrontation would come.

They joined the end of the queue, and Kyouko removed Touko’s glasses again. After the customer in front of them placed his order, Kyouko grabbed two muffins and a bottle of water and handed them to the cashier.

“Anything else?” asked the cashier.

Kyouko shook her head. While the cashier totalled their purchase and sorted through change, Kyouko strained her ears, only catching snippets between Byakuya and the stranger, whispered too harshly to make more sense.

“... Shouldn’t...” Byakuya said. “... could... caught...”

“... Work... my life...” The stranger said this. “No regrets...”

They received their goods. Kyouko gripped Touko’s hand and they headed down the centre aisle. As they passed Byakuya’s table, Kyouko’s eyes hidden behind sunglasses, she saw Byakuya reach into a pocket. Unable to pause lest they disrupt them, they continued to the door, and there, Kyouko risked a glance over her shoulder.

Byakuya handed a wad of money over to the person.

She turned forward sharply and marched out, tugging on Touko’s arm.

“H-Hey! W-What is it?” Touko demanded more than asked, once they were outside. Touko snatched her glasses back, put them on and pressed her face to the window.

Both witnessed the person lean over the table and embrace Byakuya in a hug.

Kyouko heaved Touko back.

“What was that?” snarled Touko, this time knowing, and Kyouko wrapped her arms around Touko from behind, pinning her arms to her sides, but Touko fought back, struggling.

Her small frame had its limitations, but Touko put up more of a fight than one might have expected, and that would have been enough to break her free from many.

“Please, Touko-san,” said Kyouko. Every second that passed gave more time for an audience to form. Already, a few people had paused to watch, unsure whether to intervene. “Listen. I think I know what happened.”

Touko thrashed some more before slowing down like a wind-up toy.

“You what?” she asked.

“I need to confirm a few things, but we need to return to your mansion before Togami-kun does,” said Kyouko in her ear. “There is something that I need to check that only you will be able to help me with.”

“You mean you know... what?” Touko had relaxed considerably by now, and not so many people were staring. “What do you mean? Who’s with Byakuya?”

“And who was responsible for Sugawara’s murder,” said Kyouko, prompting Touko to stiffen.

“Who was it? Who is it?” asked Touko.

Kyouko let go of Touko, who did not run away. Touko twisted around and beamed wide eyes in Kyouko’s direction, and Kyouko felt the temperature of her face climb.

“I don’t want to say anything too soon. It may put preconceptions in your mind, or false hope. There are certain photographs which I wish to see first, and the only person who may have them is Aloysius Pennyworth,” said Kyouko. She grabbed Touko’s hands. A shiver jolted Touko. “And you, Touko-san, are the only person who can approve my request. Please...”

Touko’s eyes flickered. Kyouko let go only to take off her gloves, and she held Touko’s hands again after, feeling the other woman tense, seeing her eyes widen.

“... you must trust me,” said Kyouko, “even if I cannot say right now why.”

Had it been Makoto stood opposite her, he would have blessed Kyouko with only a moment’s hesitation, and he would have walked to the end of a plank above a pit of lava if she said she would catch him. They were not a couple, and never had been, and though the physical distance between them had strained their connection, they were connected nonetheless. However, Touko stared at Kyouko, not Makoto.

Seconds crawled under Kyouko’s skin. Touko clicked her tongue.

“I know why I will trust you,” said Touko. “It’s because you’re my friend... and...”

She gulped. Licked her lips. Blushed.

“... and a significant other,” finished Touko. “One of them. And... And I know Byakuya... so I know that I have nothing to be afraid of.”

***

When one recalled their experiences at indoor swimming pools, the smell of chlorine wasn’t an uncommon association. However, the pool at Hope’s Peak didn’t smell of that, or of any chemicals. It lacked any odour, and everything from the tiled floor to the shimmering surface of the water seemed slightly clouded.

Kyouko couldn’t even remember what book she had been reading, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

“Kirigiri-kun!” barked Kiyotaka.

She lifted her head. Her cool gaze clashed with the fiery windows on Kiyotaka’s face.

“You have rested for long enough,” he said, wearing standard navy trunks. He pointed at her. “It is time to participate in the lesson too!”

The mumble of the swimming pool continued, but it sounded more distant than before despite its distance from her not changing.

Sayaka rested a hand on Kyouko’s shoulder and raised her other hand. “Kirigiri-san can’t. Sorry, Ishimaru-kun.”

“Is it your time of the month again?” asked Junko with a grin from the pool, resting her chin in her arms folded on the edge of the poolside. “Maybe you should get yourself checked out.”

“Maybe she doesn’t know how to swim,” suggested Byakuya with a smirk, from a bench by the wall, a book on his lap and a camera next to him. He had been taking photos up until recently in this session for the yearbook.

Kiyotaka put his hands on his hips. “Is that it, Kirigiri-kun? You can’t swim?”

A whistle screeched. Sat in a lifeguard chair, Aoi lowered the small white object from her mouth.

“Kirigiri-chan can’t swim?” shouted Aoi. More people stopped what they were doing to spectate.

Sayaka glanced at Kyouko.

“I can swim,” said Kyouko evenly.

“So why are you disrupting the class by not?” Kiyotaka persisted.

Mondo hoisted himself out of the pool. He didn’t stand up, remaining seated, and grimaced. Water dripped from the end of his pompadour.

“She ain’t doing anything,” Mondo pointed out. “You’re the only one getting worked up about it. Those girls haven’t swam once either, and at least Kirigiri’s wearing her swimsuit.”

He jerked his head in the direction of Touko, who wrung her skirt in both hands, and Celes, standing a short distance away in her loita dress. Touko twitched upon being acknowledged.

“I will be getting to everyone else soon,” said Kiyotaka, whose face grew steadily pinker.

“I have an injury that prevents me from participating in physical education. It’s a pity,” Celes chimed in with her hand over her heart, but only by action, not by expression.

“And I’m hydrophobic,” Touko piped up, not meeting anyone’s eyes. She squeezed her skirt more intensely, her braids seeming extra dishevelled today. “I’m low on the fear hierarchy, so don’t think about throwing me in the deep end of my systematic desensitisation. Years of hard work... would be squandered...”

After a beat, Kiyotaka turned away from her and fixed his stare on Kyouko.

“Togami-kun and Maizono-kun have swam this session,” said Kiyotaka. “If you do not know how to swim, then I would be happy to teach you.”

A smile spruced up his lips, but Kyouko didn’t regard it for very long. She looked down and studied her gloved hands. Footsteps slapped nearby, approaching them.

“Ishimaru-kun, if Kirigiri-san doesn’t want to swim, then she doesn’t have to,” said Makoto, the owner of those footsteps that finished close to Kyouko.

Kiyotaka didn’t speak. No one did. But the silence was loud, taking up too much space in her head. Her chest tightened, and as time trudged on, it didn’t ease up. The twinge buried itself in Kyouko, and every gaze stuck a needle in her skin. She elevated one hand, with her palm facing her, and whiting out everything else in her vision, she slid up her glove far easier than she expected, not removing it completely, but revealing the bottom of her hand.

Everyone’s faces reappeared, etched into the background that melted back in.

“When I was younger, I trusted when I shouldn’t have, and these scars serve as a reminder,” said Kyouko. She looked above where ravaged, purple tone skin was in plain sight, but she didn’t focus on anyone in particular. “I wear gloves to obstruct them from view.”

Kyouko thought it was with disgust that Kiyotaka stepped back. His features screwed up a little, but then he spoke.

“I apologise...” He trailed off, head tipped forward, lacking the powerful boom that so often accompanied his voice.

“Good!” Aoi scolded, still in the lifeguard chair. She pointed at him. “You pressured her to do that!”

His eyes gleamed on his trembling face. He didn’t reply.

“It’s fine. You didn’t know,” said Kyouko, but Kiyotaka shook his head. She spoke more sternly. “I mean it. I only show my scars to those I consider my family... and that is all of you. I suppose, I was afraid that you would turn on me after I did.”

Kiyotaka jerked up his head with the same look of shock as before.

“Never!” Makoto blurted, and several heads nodded. “Kirigiri-san, we would never...”

Sayaka gripped Kyouko’s shoulder harder. Kyouko couldn’t help smiling, even if it was small.

“We’ve all come together as a sort of family, haven’t we?” mused Sayaka. “All of us, even shy people like Fukawa-san and Togami-kun.”

Kyouko raised her eyebrows. Most of the others experienced a similar quiver on their features. Byakuya had never looked so surprised and offended in Kyouko’s presence prior to this, to the extent that he didn’t, maybe even couldn’t, say anything in response. Mondo gave a snort of laughter, and in a domino effect, everyone else relaxed, though Byakuya’s expression didn’t fade away completely.

“And that includes you, Ishimaru-kun,” said Kyouko, drawing back Kiyotaka’s gaze. “I know that though you were insensitive, you didn’t have any bad intentions. People’s minds work differently, which in some cases, can be hard for others to follow and understand.”

A distance away, Mondo stood up and padded over. He stopped beside Kiyotaka and draped his arm over Kiyotaka’s shoulders, which made Kiyotaka tense.

“She’s right. We’re family,” said Mondo, and Kiyotaka finally grinned.

“You are right! We are a closely knit group.” Kiyotaka looked at Kyouko full on. “And if you don’t wish to swim, then you don’t have to, Kirigiri-kun.”

Kyouko smiled and bowed her head. “Thank you, but I think that I will swim now, if that’s okay.”

She discarded both of her gloves and everyone followed Kyouko back to the pool except Byakuya, who returned to his book, Celes, who watched with a smile, and Touko, who chewed on her lips.

Next week, Kyouko was the only person left in the changing room when she heard footsteps. Kyouko lowered her hands as she turned to see who it was.

“Fukawa-san?” Kyouko greeted, straightening. This was the first time that she had seen Touko here.

Above them, the ceiling fan growled.

“Showing those scars...” Touko clasped her hands together tightly. The strap of her duffle bag moved a bit, slung over her shoulder. “That was ballsy.”

Without another word, Touko took off her uniform. Underneath, she already had her swimsuit on, and on her left thigh, tallies had been scarred into her skin. She slipped on some swim shorts, and then faced Kyouko, who did nothing but look at her.

“W-Well?” said Touko, her heels pointing outward and her knees pointing in. “Let’s go already. I’m not going to hold your hand, if that’s what you’re waiting for.”

Kyouko’s lips stretched out, corners creeping upward. They left together, emerging into the bright light of the indoor swimming pool. It dimmed into the afternoon sky outside of the Togami manor.

As Kyouko intended, by the time they arrived there and Touko had almost fallen on her face getting off the motorcycle, Touko had cooled down significantly, and she followed Kyouko out of the garage obediently and readily. In a corridor, Touko retrieved her phone from her leather holster, swiped the screen and with a few strokes, dialled a number.

“Yukizome,” said Touko.

“Good afternoon, Togami-sama,” chirped Chisa.

“I need keys to Pennyworth’s room,” explained Touko, sharing none of Chisa’s warmth. “Meet me in the dining room.”

“Oh?” went Chisa.

Touko hung up. She put her phone away and set off in the direction of the dining room.

“You don’t have immediate access to the room?” asked Kyouko, striding beside her, eyebrows raised. “It’s your home.”

“We have a skeleton key,” said Touko, and Kyouko assumed that Touko meant herself and Byakuya by that. “But... I want to talk to Yukizome too.”

Kyouko furrowed her brow. “Touko-san, please don’t compromise our mission.”

“I know what I’m doing,” said Touko stiffly, without looking at her.

Chisa arrived before them, and she waited in the dining room with a loop of keys between her thumb and index finger. Touko took the keys from her and eyed Chisa.

“Where is my darling?” asked Touko lightly, but it was a thin layer of frost over a block of ice.

“Oh?” said Chisa. Her shoulders jumped. “He didn’t tell you? It must have slipped his mind.” She raised a finger. “He was called out by someone working with the Conglomerate, who insisted that they meet in person.”

Touko’s inflection didn’t waver. “Did he say who?”

“Ah, he didn’t, sorry,” said Chisa. She touched a hand to her cheek, crossing her other arm over her chest. “How forgetful... He might want to think about hiring his sister to remember these details for him. But I suppose it can’t be helped, being such a busy man...”

Chisa tapped her chin, lips pursed in thought or pursed to give off that impression. Touko spun on her heel and walked out of the room with Kyouko by her side. Kyouko felt sure that Chisa sighed as soon as the door shut behind them.

Neither spoke as they headed to a wing of the manor that Kyouko hadn’t visited before, but Kyouko remembered being informed of an area around this part of the manor where the staff slept and kept their belongings. Their living quarters. Until now, she hadn’t had reason to come here. They didn’t find anyone milling about in the corridors as they travelled through it briskly, and in front of one of the doors, Touko stopped and faced it.

She didn’t open it or reach out to do so.

“Touko-san?” said Kyouko and a few seconds later, and only after Kyouko had said her name, did Touko finally unlock the door.

Aloysius’s bedroom had a rustic colour scheme. Pale green paint coated all four walls, the ceiling was off-white and they walked across a varnished wooden floor. Kyouko peered at the mirrored dome above the headboard of Aloysius’s bed, which distorted her reflection. She wiped across it, gathering a bit of dust on her finger.

“When exactly did Pennyworth-san take sick leave?” asked Kyouko. Her reflection mouthed the question at the same time.

“Shortly after the shootings,” replied Touko, who was opening and closing the drawers of a wide, mahogany unit on the opposite side of the room to the bed. A television hung on the wall above it the unit. “It was upsetting. As you will know, he helped raise Byakuya. But he wasn’t just a butler...”

Touko plucked out some things from the bottom drawer and shut it. She stood up and faced Kyouko, hugging two photo albums to her chest. Both women sat together on the end of Aloysius’s bed, and Touko opened the first one. While Kyouko recognised a few of the photographs of Byakuya as an infant, the album contained more than had been in the archives, than what Anastazja owned. Those had all been formal, professional, but these had imperfections, and didn’t always show Byakuya off. Sometimes, they had no big reason for existing, but those were perhaps the most precious. Sometimes, Byakuya blinked, or pulled a face, or his tongue poked out between his lips.

They reminded Kyouko that even Byakuya had been a child. A toddler. A baby.

The photographs were arranged chronologically. Touko turned the pages slowly, unable to not grin. When she reached Byakuya’s early teens, Kyouko put her hand down on one of the pages. She studied a photograph of Byakuya, in which he stood and stared unsmiling at the camera, holding a violin. A hand rested on his shoulder, but the owner had been cropped out of the shot. Her eyes narrowed.

“What is it you’re looking for?” asked Touko. “If you told me, I can help.”

“I believe I know the culprit,” said Kyouko.

Touko twitched. “Who is it?”

Kyouko stroked the photograph.

“I think it would be best if we hear it from the person themselves,” replied Kyouko. “Just in case I’m wrong. I don’t wish to give you false hope.”

“You’re doing that either way,” said Touko. Kyouko frowned, and when enough time elapsed for Touko to accept that Kyouko didn’t intend to answer, Touko pulled a face and rose.

Initially, Touko paced while Kyouko examined her phone. The screen faced up, but there wasn’t anything on it. She looked around. There wasn’t much in the way of decorations, in this room. Her eyes fell upon the television on the wall.

“Touko-san, would Pennyworth-san possibly have any videos of Togami-kun as a child?” asked Kyouko.

“Yes,” said Touko. She came to a halt. “We can access them from a computer.”

“What about the television?”

“It’s just a display,” said Touko, squinting. “B-But... if we connect it to a laptop, you can watch them on the television. Why though?”

Kyouko folded her arms over her chest.

“You’ll find out soon. It shouldn’t be too long before Togami-kun is back,” said Kyouko. “Would you ask Yukizome-san to let Togami-kun know to come here as soon as he arrives back?”

Touko tapped on her phone and then left the room. Five minutes later, she returned with a laptop and a cable. Kyouko connected the laptop to the television, and she let Touko log into the network. A lot more files were visible on Touko’s account, though the folders were all protected. To access some of them, not only was a password required, but a fingerprint on the built-in reader in the laptop.

“What sort of thing are you looking for?” asked Touko, once she had opened a folder with lots of video files in it.

“We can start at the beginning,” said Kyouko.

Most of the videos ranged from several minutes long to less than a minute. In the earlier ones, they watched him as a baby. Learning to walk. Trying to mimic what Aloysius, behind the camera, said. Byakuya pouted at Aloysius, getting increasingly frustrated, but Aloysius never lost his cool. In some of the recordings, Byakuya performed, his hair growing until he won the competition, when his hair became abruptly shorter. Up to this point, Osamu hadn’t appeared in many, keeping to the background like mould growing on a far wall.

They still had many left, though.

“There are a lot,” Kyouko remarked, staring at the folder as Touko positioned the cursor over the next file.

“As I was telling you, Pennyworth wasn’t just Byakuya’s head butler.” Touko didn’t click the file yet, resting her finger on the button without exerting any pressure. “He had a big responsibility in raising him alongside Byakuya’s mother.”

“I see.” Kyouko rubbed her chin. “Before we continue, I have one last question. Do you know if when Togami-kun was evacuated from the party, if he left the building?”

Touko looked like she tasted something sour.

“... I believe so,” admitted Touko, fidgeting her hands, stooping her posture. “But he must have returned soon after to interview everyone. People could only leave after that.”

That confirmed it. Kyouko kept her features composed.

“Thank you,” said Kyouko.

The next video, which Kyouko barely registered, was one of Byakuya’s piano performances, but she couldn’t fully focus as her mind was caught in a whirlwind. Partway through, the door to the room creaked. They turned toward the source of the noise.

Byakuya gazed at them, without a wig, and he wore a dark suit now instead of a maid dress. First, he looked at Touko, but then his gaze strayed to Kyouko. His brow creased.

“Did you cut your hair?” he asked Kyouko, who didn’t even shrug.

She just stared back at him.

He bordered on glaring, but seemed to be making an active effort not to. “Why are you here?”

Touko sprung off the bed and before Kyouko could think about preparing to react, Touko grabbed Byakuya’s shoulders and pulled.

Roughly.

Byakuya yelped.

She might have punctured him had she not had time to cool off before his return.

“What’s going on?” Touko demanded, eyes bulging. “Me and Kirigiri... We know that you snuck out to a café to meet someone... and exchanged money...”

He didn’t answer. His eyebrows raised in... confusion? Surprise? Kyouko stood up, but she didn’t rush over like Touko had done. She stayed standing where she was and looked toward the doorway. Her eyes widened, but just for a moment, and she quickly smoothed over her features.

“Now that we are all here, it’s an appropriate time to announce the killer,” said Kyouko. “Not the person who hired a hitman, because there was no hitman for Sugawara. I’m talking about... the killer himself.”

Touko’s gasp didn’t make it out of her throat. She tightened her hold on Byakuya. His face didn’t change, remaining an exhausting, unsolved equation.

“Before the first shooting in the hall, Togami-kun was with Touko-san.” As Kyouko narrated the events, she imagined the sequences in the form of manga panels. “Sugawara approached them and Togami-kun asked Touko-san to get drinks for them. She did, but when she returned, she couldn’t find either of them, and then the shootings occurred.”

The imaginary hitman fired a gun. Pink blood splattered the pages. Touko cringed in real life.

“Around this time, Sugawara was murdered in a side room, and the weapon was not found,” said Kyouko.

No one spoke. Kyouko stared at the couple.

“We tried to deduce how a guest could dispose of a weapon despite not being allowed outside of the premises prior to being searched and interviewed. How the gun could also not be found on the grounds either. It is because the killer wasn’t a guest,” said Kyouko. She imagined a shadow falling over Osamu’s body. The shadow of a man painted grey. The murderer.

Her finger whipped forward and she pointed at Byakuya.

“It was you...”

#togafukagiri #touko fukawa #byakuya togami #kyouko kirigiri #togafuka #fukagiri #danganronpa #fanfiction #step inside

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oumakokichi · 7 years

Note

May I ask your opinion about the story in DR0?

Honestly, I’m a pretty big fan of dr0, though I admit it’s been a long time since I last read it. But when the novel was first released, I was really satisfied with a lot of the answers it provided in what makes Junko who she is.

Prior to dr0′s release, Junko was a fun antagonist, and a memorable one, but we knew virtually nothing about her. Neither her talent as a SHSL Gyaru/Fashionist nor as SHSL Despair fully explained why or how she was able to accomplish the things she did in overthrowing the world. Even her definition of “despair” itself was very loose.

Dr0 provided a perfect glimpse at how “despair” is something Junko especially enjoys inflicting on those she loves. The time and effort she took to make her classmates suffer in dr1 was put into a very different and even more chilling context by understanding exactly how close she was to them, the same way that she enjoyed killing Mukuro in order to despair. Killing Matsuda in dr0 was the final push needed to send her back from being “Ryouko” to being “Junko” again, after an entire novel of seeing her “love” and obsession for him firsthand.

Ryouko Otonashi is a fascinating glimpse at Junko stripped of everything else. The reveal that her talent was actually SHSL Analysis also paved the way for future DR games and served to make Junko and several other characters far more interesting than they would otherwise have been. Dr0 was the first instance in which the idea was really established that boredom is like a poison to the highly intelligent, highly analytical characters within the DR universe, and the debate over whether despair was really a “cure” to that boredom came to light.

Without dr0, pretty much everything else that Junko does wouldn’t make sense. Her ability to foresee things to a ridiculous extent, the AIs of herself that she left behind, even her immediate understanding that Kamukura and Mitarai would be important for her purposes in dr3, wouldn’t make nearly as much sense without knowing about Junko’s SHSL Analysis talent, and the fact that she is constantly thrill-seeking for an escape from knowing everything by throwing as many horrible factors into one big pot and watching the chaos ensue.

Dr0 also helped set the stage for sdr2 by explaining the conflict with the reserve course and the rest of Hope’s Peak. The conflict and protests with the reserve course in dr0 alone were more interesting than almost any appearances made by the reserve course in dr3, if you ask me, but that’s probably because the brainwashing thing hadn’t been run into the ground by then.

I will say that other than Ryouko and Matsuda, not many of the original characters in dr0 stuck with me very much. But since the point of the whole novel was to flesh out what was already there and give more depth and explanation to Junko’s mindset than dr1 did (while also focusing a little more on characters like Mukuro and Kirigiri), I didn’t mind that the original cast wasn’t very memorable.

That’s just my take on it, anyway. Once I finish with my dr1 and sdr2 reread I’ll probably go back through dr0 again! Thanks for asking!

#ask #opinions #i don't think there are any v3 spoilers or mentions in this one #okay to reblog #kenix27

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flydotnet · 7 years

Text

Febris-Induced Case - A Naegiri Sickfic - Chapter 3

Read on AO3

First part / Previous part / Next part

Chapter 3: Heated Conversation

The room was plunged in a deep, undisturbed silence. She could have done actually useful and interesting stuff, she had the time to do so after all, but she wondered what he could possibly do if she happened not to be by his side when he wake up. He had showed he was capable of.

While she was reading a novel, Kyoko heard light coughing. Even if this was such a faint sound, she could hear it perfectly. She was used to listening to almost quiet discussions. She knew what that meant and put her book away.

It would only take a few seconds for the boy next to her to stir and slightly open his eyes. She carefully watched him wake up, without a word, just silently watching over him.

She knew he would ask about Maizono when he would first wake up. She was the last one he had seen before passing out on the floor. But a part of her knew the idol would have probably screamed in his ears asking how he was feeling, telling him about how she had been worried for him. No, he wasn’t in condition to deal with this kind of high-pitched excited rambling.

Naegi’s eyes turned to her, mostly closed.

“Ki… Kirigiri…?” he whispered, his voice almost caught up inside his throat.

“Indeed.”

“You…”

He was about to speak, but a fit of cough stopped him temporarily. Kyoko could have sworn she heard something in his throat. Probably mucus. That wouldn’t be a surprise.

“Why you… Are you here…?” continued Naegi.

His eyes had trouble to adjust to the light it seemed.

“Because you need someone to watch over you.”

“I… I don’t…”

He coughed again, only stronger.

“You’re the one who staggered to my door burning up with fever.”

Naegi’s eyes opened more when he looked at his arms.

“Wait… Where is my…”

“Your hoodie? Maizono took it off when putting you to bed. You would only make yourself sicker that way.”

Silence again. Kyoko wasn’t sure of how she would ask him what had invaded her mind. She also wasn’t sure if he was in the right state to reply correctly and honestly. He wasn’t that naïve: he knew she had been worried for him the moment she had opened the door.

He had clearly been hiding something from her and that was frustrating her more than it should have ever done. Or had he just been reckless? Considering who Makoto Naegi was, she wouldn’t have been so surprised…

But then, why would have he attempted to apologize to her earlier on?

“Kirigiri…? What’s wrong…? You look… Weird…” she heard him mutter.

“You’re just delirious, Naegi” she replied, keeping her façade on check

“I’m not… You look… Sad…”

“I’m not sad.”

“Then… How are you…?”

Kyoko blocked on the spot. Was her mask broken again? Was he seeing through her game?

“Bullseye…” whispered Naegi, his voice a little clearer.

“What… What did you see Naegi?” she asked, trying to hide her surprise.

“You’re… You’re not worried aren’t you…?”

She paused. Why bother keeping up a façade when he could say such things so easily? She felt even more frustrated now. She had to keep it together not to snap at him.

“Of course I’m worried!”

It escaped her mouth.

“You really were…?” he asked, a slight hint of surprise on his face.

“I am, yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

He didn’t respond and just looked away.

“Why… Why do you worry about me…? I’m just an average guy…”

Naegi was caught in such a coughing fit he was gasping for air when it was over. She could feel her worry grow second by second. He really was in an awful condition.

“Stop repeating that, Naegi. I worry about people I care about when they’re unwell. And in your case, you’re beyond sick.”

He just looked at her, breathing heavily and eyes only half-focused.

“Why did you hide that from me?”

He said nothing.

“Why did you hide that from me, Naegi?”

He coughed a little bit before smiling. She couldn’t tell if it looked forced because of his sickness or because he really did force it onto his face.

“You said that case was very important to you… And you asked me if I wanted to assist you… It was important and I… Couldn’t…”

He coughed. The detective could see green in the palm of his right hand. That wasn’t just a little cold.

“You couldn’t what?” her tone got sharper.

“I couldn’t abandon you the morning before…”

His eyes filled with tears. That itself provoked another spark of bad feeling inside her already blackened heart.

“…and yet I was useless… I barely followed… You did everything alone…”

She was definetily showing what she was thinking. There was no way she could hide the intense feelings she was having.

“I’m sorry, Kirigiri.”

That was the nail in the coffin. She was the one who pushed him to do such a thing. He knew he was sick. He knew it was going to worsen. And yet he went with her. Not because he was reckless, or because he was scared of her.

Because he didn’t want to give up on her.

And yet she was barely able to put her thoughts into words. She felt happy for having someone caring so much about her… But guilt was making her blood boil. That wasn’t right. Being so selfless wasn’t right. He could… He could… With such a spirit, he could… He could die.

She didn’t want to lose him.

Kyoko looked down, eyes hidden by her bangs.

“Naegi.”

“What is it…?”

“Never do that again. Please, never do that again.”

The unlucky boy slightly got up. He really shouldn’t make any effort, but who was she to tell him what to do?

“I… I really did something wrong… You look so… So sad, really, Kirigiri… I wasn’t meaning to do so…”

He coughed and spit again. Green. She hoped he wouldn’t turn into rust nor red…

She was burning up with guilt, with guilt, with guilt. But curiosity got the best of her. She preferred to focus on him than her anyway.

“Did you know you were sick?”

“I did, yeah… It wasn’t so bad this morning though…”

“Naegi… It was already bad this morning, wasn’t it?”

He gasped before coughing.

“You… You knew it…?!”

“I wasn’t paying much attention but I can recall you being paler than usual and coughing here and there.”

“I’m sorry, Naegi.”

The boy blinked. His eyes were now almost fully open, as if they ignored his fever.

“But… Kirigiri… Why are you sorry…?” he asked, naivety in his voice.

“Because I didn’t pay attention to you. You went through all of this, in such a bad shape, and I didn’t even look at you for more than five seconds. That wouldn’t have happened if I had paid attention to you, Naegi.”

“You shouldn’t feel sorry, Kirigiri, it’s normal to help friends…”

She snapped.

“Not when your fever is reaching forty you idiot!”

Naegi clearly looked startled. Even in his cough he kept the surprise on his face.

“Don’t you understand? You don’t go outside when you’re that sick! I’m happy you care that much about me, but I… I… I don’t want you to put your health on the line to help me with some case! If I hear one more apology from you, I’ll…”

She was clutching her fist not to scream or explode at him. She had to keep her calm.

“I can’t deal with it, Naegi. I can’t let that pass so easily when your condition was caused by me asking you if you wanted to help me.”

After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke up.

“I didn’t know you felt so bad about that…”

“And I didn’t know you cared so much about me.”

Still, the question was burning her lips. Kyoko had to ask him.

“Why did you hide that from me? I wouldn’t have hold a grudge against you or forced you. There must be something else than wanting to help me.”

“I didn’t want… I didn’t want you to worry about me”

He coughed then continued.

“But that was a failure… Now you’re worried sick about me…”

Kyoko couldn’t feel but warming up to him. It was the worst moment to think how cute he was when he was that sick. Deep inside, he had moved her. While she wasn’t sure her guilt had reduced, and she still felt bad for him feeling so sorry, she indeed felt a little bit better now that she had spoken to him.

That didn’t mean the last thing he had said wasn’t complete garbage.

“Naegi. How many times will I have to explain this? I’m less important than your health. Please, take care of yourself. You had Maizono and I really worried about you. And don’t even think about getting out of this bed.”

She blushed.

“I’ll watch you tonight. I don’t want you doing anything reckless again. Seeing you collapse in front of me once was enough.”

When she got up, Kyoko noticed that he was stretching a hand towards her. A little smile appeared on her face.

“I’m not leaving you for long Naegi. I’m just getting you the school nurse.”

And with that, she left the room, making sure to lock it with the key she had “borrowed” earlier.

She had to return the favour.

#fanfiction #danganronpa #naegiri #makoto naegi #kyouko kirigiri #sayaka maizono #sickfic #febris-induced case

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dangan-analysis · 7 years

Text

Character Analysis - Mukuro Ikusaba

Name: Mukuro Ikusaba (戦刃むくろ)

Title: Super High School Level Soldier (超高校級の「軍人」)

Appearances: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (video game), Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc - The Animation (anime), Danganronpa: The Manga (manga), Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc IF (light novel), Danganronpa/Zero (light novel), Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak Academy - Side: Despair (anime), Super Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the Destroyer of the World (OVA // cameo), Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer (manga)

WARNING: UNTAGGED SPOILERS FOLLOW

Introduction

Mukuro Ikusaba. The sixteenth student. Lying hidden somewhere in this school. The one they call the SHSL Despair… Watch out for her...

This ominous quote from Kirigiri from the end of Chapter 4 is our first introduction to the mysterious and potentially dangerous Mukuro Ikusaba.

Revealed to be Enoshima’s older twin sister and right hand woman, Ikusaba helped her sister plot the downfall of the world into despair. Following her sister’s instructions, Ikusaba disguised herself as her sister and participated in the School Life of Mutual Killing; however, she was ultimately betrayed by Enoshima in the end, violently stabbed to death by multiple spears in a surprise attack. Not only did she die brutally, but Ikusaba’s corpse was disfigured in an explosion during Chapter 5, serving as the trial victim for that particular chapter. The topic of her true identity arises during Chapter 6 and highlights Enoshima’s willingness to achieve ultimate despair.

Ikusaba’s character arc allows for very little information about her past and personality. However, from what we can infer from her FTEs where she breaks character and her accompanying side novels, Ikusaba was an emotionally distant but kind, loyal older sister, albeit submissive, who truly cared for her sister and only wanted to guarantee her younger sister’s happiness.

Backstory

Ikusaba’s FTEs are truly unique because not only is she acting as someone else during them, but you view them a whole different way after you realize her true identity.

One of her first slips in character is when she complains about how she’d rather be homeless, which she’s “done before, ya know”, than be bored in the Killing School Life.

This is obviously her attempt at mimicking her sister’s hate for boredom, which foreshadows Enoshima’s love for despair later on.

Regardless, this slip, among many others, reveals that Ikusaba and Enoshima must’ve lived in harsh environments as they grew up.

And yet, if Ikusaba and Enoshima were homeless, how could Ikusaba run away to join Fenrir during a surely expensive family vacation to Europe?

In addition, what environmental factors inspired her interest in the military, encouraging her to win a survival game tournament and began writing for military magazines during elementary school?

A possible theory is that Ikusaba and Enoshima were raised by a parent, relative, or guardian that was involved in the Japanese military somehow. It is also likely that this guardian was not very responsible, given that their environment was described as “harsh” and the sisters were once homeless at a certain point in their past; perhaps the guardian was discharged from the military.

Regardless, I believe that, despite Japan’s strict legal system that “almost never cuts parental rights”, the twins somehow up under the care of a foster family. If this so, the sisters must’ve been under the age of 6 since Japanese adoption regulations won’t allow adoptions of children older than 6. A new foster family would satisfy the fact that her family had enough money to go on a vacation despite being raised in a hostile environment. Perhaps Enoshima met Matsuda while she was with her new foster family.

Of course, there are more possibilities for the twins’ past considering how little we know about it, but this seems more realistic and plausible than some other theories.

Now that we’ve cleared up some sketchy childhood questions, let’s talk about a bit more well-known part of Ikusaba’s past — her past as a member of the mercenary group Fenrir. As previously stated, Ikusaba somehow made her way to the Middle East to join Fenrir after she ran away during a family vacation in Europe. What happened then?

We know that Ikusaba was constantly catcalled by her fellow mercenaries. Her first FTE consists of mostly telling Naegi to not plan any sexual activities with her, claiming that “all men eventually turn into savage beasts”, “men always gather around me”, “I always have to keep them away!” This level of generalization is similar to Koizumi’s, and yet Ikusaba immediately brightens when Naegi agrees with her (we’ll find out later why).

Like any soldier, Ikusaba went through harsh experiences on the battlefield. For example, here’s a portion of her second FTE:

Ikusaba: Don't underestimate sleeping outside! It was a warzone! You never knew when some kind of enemy would attack you! Naegi: ...Warzone? Enemies? Ikusaba: I mean, there were guys preying weak and helpless girls all around. Isn't our entire world nothing but war zones and enemies? Oh, well. Since I've left that cruel life behind me I only became stronger...

Despite a young, inexperienced prepubescent female, Ikusaba somehow trained herself so that she made it out of several years on the battlefield without suffering from a single injury. Her abilities, demonstrated in Danganronpa/Zero, including dodging bullets and administrating first aid.

And despite being such a talented soldier,

Although Ikusaba was a Super High School Level Soldier, her skills were largely limited to battle. In fact, even an average high school student could probably best her in matters of war strategy and negotiation.

There’s some pretty interesting things to conclude from this revelation. First of all, both war strategy and negotiation involve foresight. In order to strategize well, you need to be able to see all possibilities in a given situation and know the results of choosing each possibility. Similarly, negotiation involves social skills and being able to make compromises that give you the most benefits. Since both skills involve insight, we can thus conclude that Ikusaba isn’t dumb, she’s not as holistic as she needs to be to be able to use those skills well.

On the other hand, Ikusaba is smart enough to manipulate her enemies into fighting each other on the battlefield (see: making Genocider and Oogami fight each other in DR:IF) and understanding of Enoshima enough to outsmart her escape Hope’s Peak Academy with the other students in DR:IF. So she’s not dumb, she’s just too focused on one singular thing to see the big picture, which is necessary in war strategy and negotiation.

Also, a bit of trivia that might be worth noting: the kanji for her name literally translates to “corpse warblade”. It is extremely likely that Mukuro Ikusaba is a code name, not her birth name, and likely why Enoshima is so tired of explaining the “cheesy” reason she and Ikusaba don’t have the same surnames despite being twins.

After spending at least two years fighting with Fenrir, Ikusaba returned to Japan to be with her sister. Around this time, Enoshima was inspired to start “The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History” — The Tragedy. She enlisted her sister’s help in accomplishing ultimate despair by initiating a series of unfortunate events at Hope’s Peak Academy. Enoshima enrolled both her sister and herself in Hope’s Peak Academy as the part of the 78th Class, and while attending Hope’s Peak, Ikusaba met Naegi, who would eventually change how she perceived the world.

Character

Ikusaba’s character consists of key qualities for a SHSL Soldier, yet her care for others heavily contrasts with it.

For example, she’s determined to achieve her goals. Whether it be an order from her commander or a personal one, Ikusaba makes sure her goals are completed, no matter the obstacles, making her capable of initiating change.

And despite having the capabilities of taking initiative, Enoshima’s deprecation of Ikusaba during their childhood has transformed her into a generally submissive, shy, and not very emotionally-invested or eloquent individual. But her care for others is genuine; it’s so great that she virtually has no concern for her own safety or opinions. Her singular goal in Danganronpa/Zero is to help all of her cherished classmates escape Hope’s Peak while hesitating to betray Enoshima despite her commitment to her.

Additionally, although she can’t really see the big picture, her high detail orientation allows for near-perfection in fighting on the battlefield and executing plans.

Thus, Ikusaba’s character can be summarized into the following qualities:

Determination and commitment

Submissiveness

Focus on details

Selflessness and loyalty to others

Although these characteristics combine in negative ways (following orders blindly), the events of the Killing School Life help Ikusaba discover herself as an individual.

Killing School Life

We know that Ikusaba had never quite agreed with Enoshima’s vision of wrecking despair all over the world; however, since she wanted to guarantee her sister’s happiness, Ikusaba put aside her morality and helped her sister initiate The Tragedy.

Again, since Ikusaba’s never really had a voice for herself, Ikusaba agrees to participate in the Killing School Life disguised as her twin. I’m not sure what Ikusaba felt about sending her classmates into doom like this, but again, her devotion to Enoshima negated her love for her classmates.

Outside of her FTEs, Ikusaba doesn’t play a crucial role in the storyline — while she’s alive, that is (and she serves more as a plot point than a character postmortem). Again, acting as a loyal sister, Ikusaba does her part to make Enoshima’s plan of scaring the other students into submission successful. Following their plan, Ikusaba attacks Monokuma disguised as her sister, expecting to be imprisoned for rebelling against the headmaster; however, Enoshima releases a trap that kills Ikusaba.

In the moments before he death, Ikusaba is shocked; why would her sister, the person she cared about the most in the world, deliberately betray her? Ikusaba dies heartbroken, not knowing that Enoshima had killed her to bring both of them what she valued the most — despair.

During her FTEs, however, we see a side of Ikusaba that we don’t really get to see until DR:IF. Ikusaba reveals that she’s emotionally sensitive, such as when Naegi worries about her. Although she’s initially shocked by Naegi’s supposed perception of her as a potential killer because she’s hurt that he sees her as a monster, Ikusaba is touched by how Naegi worries about her. Living with abusive people (including Enoshima) has resulted in Ikusaba receiving little concern from others, so she’s moved by how Naegi cares for her.

Meeting Naegi changed how Ikusaba perceived the world; previously apathetic and content with murdering for the sake of her love of the military, when Ikusaba meets Naegi, she realizes the importance of showing love and care for not only other individuals but herself. In her final FTE, she becomes motivated to search not only for her dreams but discover herself; unfortunately, she never finishes this as she is soon stabbed to death.

Danganronpa:IF

Unlike Danganronpa, DR:IF is primarily focused on Ikusaba’s narrative. It offers a great amount of insight into her character, such as her crush on Naegi and relationship with Enoshima.

DR:IF reveals that Ikusaba isn’t really aware of her thoughts and feelings — she really doesn’t realize that she likes Naegi until Enoshima points it out, and she doesn’t realize her disgruntlement as a SHSL Despair, dissatisfied with both wrecking havoc upon the world and following in her sister’s footsteps. In fact, we can easily point out that the only reason Ikusaba is involved in SHSL Despair is because Enoshima, who represents a major figure in her life, is involved. Specifically,

Mukuro Ikusaba, meanwhile, had neither hope for the world nor despair at it. At least, not while she was a member of Fenrir. She had only come to believe that she was among those who brought despair because she grew up with Junko. She had nothing against the world, and only followed her sister because she believed this was her mission.

Up until the events of DR:IF, Ikusaba’s entire world was “Enoshima, Enoshima, Enoshima”. I mean, what else would you do if you’ve never had a proper guardian to show you how to find your own purpose in life? Although Enoshima was abusive and showed little care for Ikusaba, she at least gave Ikusaba a life purpose.

When she meets Naegi, everything changes. Again, as I previously stated, she realizes the importance of showing love and care for not only other individuals but herself. When Naegi shoves her out of the way of the Spears of Gungnir, Ikusaba is spurred to action; because of her previous submissiveness, she has followed in Enoshima’s footsteps of wrecking havoc on the world. But now that her passiveness has resulted in the injury of her cherished classmate, the person who has revolutionized how she perceives the world, she can’t take it anymore; Ikusaba wants out of SHSL Despair and Enoshima’s vision.

This is why she sacrifices almost everything that she’s ever known — Enoshima, Fenrir, SHSL Despair — in a seemingly-futile effort to defeat the SHSL Analyst and escape with all her classmates alive. And through her skills and determination, she succeeds; and when Enoshima ultimately rejects her, Ikusaba feels pain, but she’s even more motivated to fulfill Enoshima’s dream of ultimate despair for both Enoshima and herself by moving on with her betrayal.

Summary

Mukuro Ikusaba never received much care from the people in her life, causing her to feel very apathetic about the state of the world and preventing her from developing a voice of her own. She blindly follows her dreams of serving in the military and making her sister happy, much too focused on these two goals to realize the negative effects of her unconditional loyalty and selflessness.

However, upon meeting Makoto Naegi, Ikusaba learns to care for both other individuals and herself. In Danganronpa:IF, she tests the limits of her skills and dedication in an effort to save her classmates from the cruelty of her sister, determined to find a new dream for herself after leaving behind her past.

The evolution of Ikusaba’s character in Danganronpa:IF is truly extraordinary; she transforms from someone without a voice for herself to a caring, motivated individual that abandons all she’s ever known in hopes of creating a better world.

Author’s Notes

Oh my god. This took waaaaaaayyyy longer than expected. Like how hard do you have to procrastinate on something to take almost one whole month to write? I’m really really sorry about taking this long :( Thanks to all of you for your patience.

In all honesty, there was a lot of content to cover (and exactly why this ended up begin 2600+ words), and I felt conflicted about skipping out on the less important parts (DR3 for example, but I wasn’t a big fan of it in the first place and I like to pretend it doesn’t exist :P). Regardless, I hope that this analysis was less of a ramble that it ended up becoming and more comprehensive instead.

Anyways, the next character up for an analysis is Byakuya Togami SHSL Imposter, who I’m definitely excited to write about since he’s one of my favorite SDR2 characters. Hopefully, he’ll be done faster than poor Ikusaba.

As always, the ask box is open for any lingering questions you have. Again, thank you for reading this character analysis and your continued support of this blog! I hope you enjoyed this analysis as much as I enjoy Ikusaba’s character :)

#mukuro ikusaba #ikusaba mukuro #dr #dr1 #dr:if #dr spoilers #dr1 spoilers #dangan ronpa #danganronpa #character analysis #dangan-analysis

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apriltheotaku-blog · 7 years

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Guide to the entire Danganronpa franchise

Hello! In this blog I'll be explaining how to experience the Danganronpa series, hope this helps you out!

Let's get started~

I'll explain the basic plot of Danganronpa first.

All the main Danganronpa games revolve around 16 students trapped inside Hope's Peak Academy by the bear, Monokuma and forced into a killing game with each other.

Trigger Happy Havoc is the first entry into this franchise, and this is where you should start from, the protagonist- Makoto Naegi is selected to come to Hope's Peak Academy, but ends up trapped in a killing game of despair. you can either play the game "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc" or watch the anime adaptation of it, which is titled "Danganronpa: The Animation".

I'd definitely recommend playing the game over watching the anime however, the anime wasn't the best adaptation, most of the fun of Danganronpa comes from investigating the murder and coming to a conclusion on your own, and presenting it in the class trial, and the anime lacks the player interactivity which made the games so fun. An alternate option is to watch a "Let's Play" of the games, which I'd still recommend over watching the anime. After completing this game, School Mode is unlocked, which is a bonus mode.

After you're done with Trigger Happy Havoc, you can move on to the second installment into this franchise, "Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair", which doesn't have an anime adaptation. This game revolves around a new protagonist- Hajime Hinata and a new class of students, but this time, instead of being trapped in a school, they're trapped on an island instead, and forced into another killing game. After finishing "Goodbye Despair", Island Mode is unlocked, the bonus mode for "Goodbye Despair".

Danganronpa IF, a light novel is unlocked after beating "Goodbye Despair" as well, don't forget to read that!

After finishing "Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair" read the light novel, "Danganronpa/Zero" which is a prequel to the first game, "Trigger Happy Havoc".

Next comes "Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls" which is a spin off 3rd person shooter game which revolves around Toko Fukawa from the 1st game and Komaru Naegi, the sister of Makoto Naegi- the protagonist of the 1st game. This game takes place between "Trigger Happy Havoc" and "Goodbye Despair" but should be played after playing "Goodbye Despair" as it contains spoilers for "Goodbye Despair" and was made after "Goodbye Despair" as well.

After playing "Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls" watch the anime, "Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy" the order to watch it in is:

Future Episode 1 -> Despair Episode 1 -> Future Episode 2 -> Despair Episode 2 -> Future Episode 3 -> Despair Episode 3 -> Future Episode 4 -> Despair Episode 4 -> Future Episode 5 -> Despair Episode 5 -> Future Episode 6 -> Despair Episode 6 -> Future Episode 7 -> Despair Episode 7 -> Future Episode 8 -> Despair Episode 8 -> Future Episode 9 -> Despair Episode 9 -> Future Episode 10 -> Despair Episode 10 -> Future Episode 11 -> Despair Episode 11 -> Future Episode 12 -> Hope OVA.

There's also an addition OVA, "Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the Destroyer of the World" it is set after "Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair" and before the "Danganronpa 3: Side: Hope" OVA and focuses on Nagito Komaeda.

After that you can move on to the latest game, "Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony", the protagonist this time is Kaeda Akamatsu,

and once again, you have a brand new class who will be put in another killing game and infected by despair once again~

There are also many side manga and light novels which aren't really important to the main plot:

Manga:

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc 4-Koma KINGS.

Super Danganronpa 2: Komaeda Nagito no Koun to Kibou to Zetsubou.

Super Danganronpa 2: Nanami Chiaki no Sayonara Zetsubou Daibouken.

Super Danganronpa 2: Nankoku Zetsubou Carnival!

Super Danganronpa 2: Dangan Island - Kokoro Tokonatsu, Kokoronpa.

Super Danganronpa 2: Sayonara Zetsubou Gauken: 4-Koma KINGS.

New Danganronpa V3: Minna no Koroshiai Shin Gakki.

Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer.

Small Danganronpa 1.2 Light.

Danganronpa: Academy of Hope and High School Students of Despair.

Super Danganronpa 2: Sayonara Zetsubou Gauken.

Zettai Zetsubou Shoujo Danganronpa Another Episode.

Zettai Zetsubou Shoujo Danganronpa Another Episode: Genocider Mode.

Light Novels:

Danganronpa 1.2 Beautiful Days.

Danganronpa: Kirigiri.

Danganronpa: Togami.

Makoto Naegi Secret File.

Ultra Despair Hagakure.

These are all the installments in the Danganronpa series thus far, hope this was helpful, bye!

I would also really appreciate it a lot if you guys would go give this post a like on Anime Amino! Thank you so much! - http://aminoapps.com/p/d4h4jir

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hopeymchope · 7 years

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The First Talk - Naegiri One-Shot - Danganronpa Fanfic

“Nice night, huh?"

Kyoko Kirigiri looked up from the book she was reading to see one Makoto Naegi standing about four meters away from the stone bench where she was sitting. He had positioned himself beneath a light along the walking path so that she could clearly see him.

Kyoko was seated beneath one of other the lights along the path herself, right near the edge of Hope's Peak's central plaza. She looked around, both to try and spot any other people nearby and to quickly gauge the atmosphere of the evening. "It's pleasant enough," she acknowledged. She then lifted her left arm to check her watch. "12 minutes until midnight. You're going to miss curfew if you don't head for the dorms soon," she noted.

He slowly started walking towards her as he countered, "Won't you?"

She shook her head briefly. "The back entrance to the women's dorms is four minutes from here if I cut straight through the grass," she explained quickly. "However, to reach the men's dorm on the other side, you'd have to walk around the perimeter of the women's, then cross over to their front entrance. Given the length of the building, that's at least another three minutes."

Makoto stopped walking one meter in front of her, standing with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. "Well, uh... wow," he said awkwardly. "I guess you're not going to be staying here much longer, huh?"

"No," Kyoko said as she turned her eyes back to her book.

Makoto frowned slightly at the way the young woman seemed to be... ignoring him? Attempting to ignore him? He wasn't the best at reading people, so Makoto wasn't certain that he was right on either count. "You can tell me if I'm bothering you," he told her in an attempt to get a bead on her feelings. "But I was just, y'know... hoping to talk to you?"

She looked back up from her book and examined his face curiously. "All right," she said, closing her book and setting it aside. "Can I ask why?"

The boy felt relief when she signaled she was open to the conversation, but the question threw him a bit. He glanced sideways and shrugged. "I've already talked to the rest of our classmates," he explained, feeling self-conscious. "I'm only... I'd like to get to know everyone I can in our class."

Kyoko raised one hand to her chin as if contemplating that idea while she looked him up and down. "Okay," she said softly. "Is that why you're out here at this hour?"

Makoto chuckled. "No, no," he said. "I was out for a walk. I wanted to enjoy the weather, see what the campus looks like at night... besides, I haven't slept much for the past few days." He grinned as he looked around the nearby buildings. "Being here... " he said in awe as he looked at the surrounding campus, "...it's just too exciting! We're at the launching point of our future — the dawn of the rest of our lives. And here we are, taking that ship out from the greatest port imaginable!"

The left corner of Kyoko's mouth curled up. "You're certainly... optimistic," she said with amusement creeping into her tone.

He smiled warmly at the remark. "I've been told that's my best trait," Makoto said. "So uh, you're the Ultimate Detective?"

"That is what this place calls me, at least," Kyoko said. "My name is Kyoko Kirigiri. And you're Makoto Naegi - this year's 'Ultimate Lucky Student.'"

Makoto covered his face with his hands in embarrassment. "Oh god, I forgot to introduce myself!" he sputtered, redness growing in his cheeks.

Kyoko was unable to hold back the smile that crept across her face. "It's okay," she assured him gently. "I've known you were part of this class since before I got here, after all."

He hung his head in shame, still quite embarrassed. "R-right," he said. "And they call my name when they're taking roll, I know. It's just... " He paused and raised his head to look at her again, biting his lip. "It's just polite," he finished.

She inspected his face carefully, pondering whether this boy was really as innocuous as he seemed. He locked eyes with her, then quickly looked away, blushing. That was cute, she thought spontaneously, and suddenly the context of looking at his face changed in an instant. She was admiring the boyish good looks inherent to his cheek contours, the shape of his nose and-

"I didn't see you in any of the identified student lists online," Makoto said as he turned back to face her and interrupted her thoughts. "But you're the headmaster's daughter, right?" he asked innocently.

Immediately, Kyoko's face went dark. Tightness filled her chest. "If you mean to imply that I'm only here because of him," she spat, "You can-"

"N-no!" Makoto said quickly, waving his hands in front of him. "I wasn't saying that," he insisted. He stepped closer, cutting the distance between them in half, then paused to swallow before continuing, "I was only saying that he must be really proud and happy to have you here."

Kyoko's eyebrows shot up as tightness in her chest deflated. "O-oh," she said calmly. "I... I wouldn't know."

Makoto's shoulders slumped. "I see." He dragged a foot along the ground slowly, drawing a pattern as he searched for his next words. "I'm sorry to hear that."

She pursed her lips as she frowned. "It's fine," she said. "He was at the entrance ceremony, at least."

He scratched his cheek uncertainly. "But you didn't talk?" he asked uncertainly.

"No," Kyoko responded curtly. She blew out a breath slowly, then looked up at his face — now merely half a meter from her. "Well, come on." She scooted over on the stone bench.

Even so, he didn't move. "'Come on' and what?" he inquired, clueless.

Can anyone sincerely be this oblivious? Kyoko thought. Her eyes drifted sideways as she explained. "Quit hovering and sit down. If we're going to talk, let's do so properly."

"Oh! Thanks!" he answered brightly. He took his hands from the pockets of his hoodie and spun around, plopping down on the bench next to her. "So what're you reading? Is it for school?"

"No, it's for personal enjoyment," Kyoko informed him. "The Finishing Stroke. It's an old novel that... well, it reminds me of simpler times."

"Oh I get it," Makoto answered. He sounded confident as he theorized, "You like to read about times gone by and think back on how people's lives used to be slower-paced and more relaxed, huh?"

Kyoko's forehead furrowed. "Uh, no," she said flatly.

Makoto blinked a couple of times while staring at her. "Then wha-"

"Ellery Queen stories are an old favorite of mine," she explained calmly. "I used to read these stories... " She paused and let out an exasperated sigh in an attempt to release her lingering tension. "Nevermind," she said at last.

Makoto smiled sympathetically at her. "They remind you of when you were younger," he observed gently. "So... you're reading this book because it reminds you of a time when your relationship with your dad wasn't so complicated."

Kyoko stared at the boy he'd begun speaking in tongues. "I... yes. That's it exactly," she said quietly. She returned his smile with a small one of her own, locking eyes with him. "Nicely deduced. Or was that due to your luck?"

He laughed a little and shrugged, "I dunno," he admitted. "My luck isn't really the kind of thing I can see in action, if you can understand that."

"Ah," she said back. "May I ask you another question?"

"Absolutely," he responded.

"Why am I the last person you talked to in our class?" she asked, still smiling.

"Oh - no reason," Makoto said, glancing down. "I just couldn't seem to corner you anywhere. You keep to yourself, and... well, you move pretty fast when classes end."

Kyoko closed her eyes and considered his answer. "I see," she said. "You're not wrong."

"So why is that?" Makoto said back. "You never linger after class, you haven't gone to the first couple of social events... are you avoiding everybody?"

The subtle smile on her face faded, and she opened her eyes. "Well," she started to tell him, "I have a... very particular reason for wanting to attend Hope's Peak that I'm focusing my energies on. It doesn't involve socializing."

"All right then," Makoto said, examining her face. Wow, she's... really pretty DON'T say that out loud. "But what if you're missing out on something that could really change your life here?" His speech escalated in speed and volume progressively as he went on: "This could be the place where you meet the best friends you'll ever know! Maybe the love of your life! Or a new detective partner? I mean, anything is possible!"

Kyoko's eyelids drooped and the corners of her mouth twinged upwards a bit. She replied, "How do you keep up this level of enthusiasm? Are you on drugs, or... "

"Nothing like that!" he insisted with a blush. "I'm just... a little more gung-ho than most people, heh." He looked down and to the side, smiling in spite of himself.

She raised her hand back to her chin, contemplating that. "Perhaps you're so excited about Hope's Peak because you never expected to be here," she suggested. "I took considerable effort to make my way here, and I always expected to succeed. You, on the other hand, neither tried to make your way here nor anticipated it. Is that right?"

"Of course it's right," he told her sheepishly. "I always looked up to Hope's Peak... obviously. Everybody does, right?"

Kyoko idly glanced towards the Reserve Course Building at the far end of the campus, then looked back at him. "I suppose there's truth to such a claim," she mused.

"But there's nothing special about me," Makoto said, bearing an expression that looked both grateful and guilty. "I just got here because of a random drawing."

"That second statement may be the truth," she told him. She squinted as she added, "However... I feel like there is something distinctive about y-"

"Oh crap!" Makoto yelled. He jumped to his feet. "I'm so sorry but I gotta go!" He eyes were bulging as he looked down at her and blurted, "The curfew!"

"Calm down," Kyoko ordered him. She smiled tightly once more. "I'll walk you back to your dorm."

"B-but," he stammered as he started to sweat, "You said that it'd take me seven minutes to-"

Kyoko stood up with her book under her right arm. She ran her left hand through her hair as she told him, "It'll be fine. I have multiple ways of getting in after the doors lock."

Makoto's jaw hung open for a second before he repeated, "'Ways of getting'... what? But isn't that against — I mean, you're a detective!"

"Private detective," she corrected him. "I'm not with the police or with Hope's Peak Security, for that matter."

Makoto took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay," he said finally. "You walk me back, and I'll walk you back."

Kyoko narrowed her eyes, but she was obviously amused. "That's not how this works," she said. "I don't need your help to get into my dorm."

"I'm just trying to be chivalrous," he offered, throwing up his hands. "Besides, I'm sure you can teach me your break-in trick."

"Oh," she said in realization. "Trying to make me reveal my secrets, are you?" she teased.

"Only if you're willing," he said with a grin.

"Not just yet," she told him as she started to move towards the women's dormitory.

He jogged a bit to make it alongside of her. "Well, then maybe you can tell me more about that thing you mentioned?" he suggested hopefully.

Kyoko raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you mean the thing I find dist-"

"Ellery Queen," Makoto explained with a guilty look. "I've... actually never heard of it."

Kyoko shocked herself by giggling just a tiny bit. "Sure," she promised.

#naegiri #kyoko kirigiri #makoto naegi #naegi #kirigiri #kyouko kirigiri #makoto x kyoko #kirinae #danganronpa fanfic #danganronpa fan fiction #danganronpa fanfiction #danganronpa

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oumakokichi · 7 years

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Because you were talking about Juzo, I'm curious, why was Kirigiri one of your favorites as well? I feel her character development was minimalistic at best and was dropped after the first game, especially in the dr3 anime

Although Ouma is definitely myfavorite ndrv3 character, I’ve been joking a lot lately that Saihara is the one Iactually relate to the most—because I too am an anxious depressed mess, feelsocially awkward at all times, and am a huge Kirigiri fan.

While Kirigiri is certainly nota character to demonstrate her emotions very noticeably outward, I wouldn’t saythat her development is minimalistic in the first game. If anything, Kirigiriis one of the characters whose growth and development is followed the most bythe first game, after Naegi.

The thing is, her developmentstarts from a different position than Naegi’s. Rather than starting from astandpoint of being naïve and overly optimistic or trusting, Kirigiri startsout rather like Ouma, actually. She’s rather cynical at heart, especially indr1, something many people tend to forget about her character. As a detective,she accepts what neither Saihara nor Jin Kirigiri want to accept about theirjob: that people have to be doubted, suspected, and questioned.

Dr3 certainly does drop theball on her character development, but, well—it did that for everyone’scharacter development, pretty much. Future Arc started strong, showed lots ofpromise, and then sadly ruined all the potential it had with weak writing. Bydelegating Kirigiri to the role of “damsel in distress” and “beautiful self-sacrificingcinnamon roll” all at once, dr3 did a really bad job at remembering whyKirigiri became so popular in the first place, because she never used to fitinto those character tropes typically reserved for female characters in the DRseries.

While I’m glad she lived (Seiko’santidote bottle was something I noticed right away when her “death” episodefirst aired, so the foreshadowing was definitely there), I don’t feel dr3 didher justice by any means. She was forced to take a backseat role; just as Chisawas used as nothing more than an object for Munakata’s character arc, Kirigiriwas forced to parallel her by being used as an object for Naegi’s arc. And thatwas a pretty huge insult to her character, in my opinion. Had the switch beenthe other way around, with Naegi sacrificing himself (in a wonderful throwbackto dr1 Chapter 5) and Kirigiri taking an unexpected protagonist role, I would’vebeen a lot more satisfied.

But unlike other DR characters,there are plenty of other materials besides just dr3 to give us insight intoKirigiri. The Kirigiri light novels, for one, as well as the new visual novel,Kirigiri Sou. Kirigiri��s continued popularity is a testament to what sherepresents to the DR series, from a mystery perspective. Just as Junko isiconic for her role as an antagonist, Kirigiri is iconic because of her role asnot only a detective, but thedetective. All the insight she provides Naegi and the player in dr1 about whatsolving a mystery entails, about how to reflect on the mindset of both victimsand culprits, as well as what exposing the truth really means, are themes thathave come up not only in dr1 but in every other DR installment to date,including ndrv3.

Kirigiri is perhaps thecharacter whose advice and teachings have lasted the longest. She instinctivelyunderstands, and helps the player understand, what a real mystery is all about.Where ndrv3 leads the player into a false sense of security before lampshadinghow ridiculous and utterly dangerous it is to trust people blindly, Kirigiriwarns Naegi of the dangers of blind trust and extreme paranoia as early asChapter 1 in dr1. While she’s certainly aloof and uninterested in socializing,especially at first, she’s someone who grasps what the “heart” of a mystery isall about, and helps guide Naegi and the player into understanding it too. Andunderstanding the “heart” is the first step to understanding any mystery presentedin the future, too.

Kirigiri starts dr1 as someonewho is level-headed, reasonable, and extremelysecretive (excessively so, sometimes). She’s smart, calm, and collected, butcertainly not infallible; having replayed dr1 quite recently myself, I’venoticed several instances in which her failure to take action as quickly as shecould’ve causes her to be surprised and blindsided when murders take placeelsewhere. Like Ouma, she often prioritizes her own objectives in: 1.)exploring the school and exposing the mastermind behind the whole game, and 2.)finding out the truth about her own memories, backstory, and talent, so smallerhurdles and culprits among the group can and often do throw her off guard.

Most importantly to note, she’snot a team player, especially not at first. Kirigiri’s cynicism and paranoiamakes it difficult for her to trust others besides herself, though notimpossible. The one major difference between her and Ouma is that Kirigiribelieved in the necessity of trust after doubting others first. Her bond oftrust with Naegi is something gradually developed throughout the course of dr1,slowly and steadily. It’s not something she would have developed with justanyone, but rather something she and Naegi both developed specifically becauseof their shared experiences with one another.

But she certainly didn’t careto explain her motivations or objectives to the rest of the group, nor did shebelieve in telling even Naegi about what she knew on anything more than a “need-to-know”basis. She’s extremely sensitive about people butting in on her personal life. Inher FTEs she says point-blank that she feels emotions just the same as otherpeople, but that she intentionally hides them behind a mask of composure—becauseshe has nothing to gain by tipping other people off as to what she’s feeling orthinking at the moment. In this sense, she’s also quite similar to Ouma. Butwhere Ouma’s mask is all about feigning every emotion, usually in a veryexaggerated fashion, Kirigiri’s is a mask of stoicism.

When others in the group wantto know where she’s been or what she’s been doing, she doesn’t feel any need totell them. Even when it clearly begins putting the group in a more disorganizedstate and things begin reaching a boiling point in Chapters 4 and 5, sheremains extremely closed-off and secretive, and it’s clear that there’s no onein the group she would trust with any of her personal information besidesNaegi. And even Naegi, she never tells the whole story to.

Naegi had to make a consciousdecision to cover for Kirigiri’s lie in Chapter 5—it wasn’t something sheprepared him for, and she knew there was a chance she might actually be sendinghim to his death, if Alter Ego failed to kick in. Still, it was a sacrifice shewas willing to make if need be, and that’s something incredibly cold andpragmatic and that I love to see in characters who are all about “the endsjustify the means.”

Just like Ouma, she wasabsolutely dead set on investigating things to the end. She couldn’t let thingsend with her death, which is why she refused to sacrifice herself in Chapter 5,just as Ouma initially refuses to let himself die in ndrv3 Chapter 4. Hertunnel vision towards stopping the mastermind and figuring out what happened toJin Kirigiri and how far he was involved with the killing game means that shedoesn’t want other people sticking their nose into her business.

Her feelings towards Jin arethe main proof of the fact that Kirigiri can also be driven by personalvendettas, pettiness, and unresolved anger and frustration. As someone who canperfectly understand the resentment towards an absent father figure, I alwaysappreciated that Kirigiri’s conflicted feelings about Jin were handled quitewell in dr1. The narrative ultimately focuses on the fact that yes, Jin lovedhis daughter and was a caring father, but he was also careless, overlytrusting, and thoughtless about how his actions would influence others.Kirigiri was allowed to be angry at Jinwhile also still caring about him, and that was a deeply realistic and humanreaction.

I appreciate the fact thatKirigiri, especially in dr1, was a character never played for fanservice, andnever used as an object of male character development or waifu-baiting. Therewas little to no forced romance between Naegi and Kirigiri in the first gamewhich is what led me to enjoying naegiri quite a lot on my own—when thenarrative isn’t trying to push it in a romantic connotation, I tend to warm upto these sorts of ships a lot faster. Dr1 was very emphatic about appreciatingtheir dynamic as friends first, withanything more than that being a matter of personal interpretation.

The fact that she’s extremelyintelligent, capable, and arguably a protagonist in her own right thanks tospinoffs like DR: Kirigiri and Kirigiri Sou now is a large part of the reasonwhy she’s still #2 on my overall DR ranking. Before Ouma came along, she wasactually #1 and I didn’t think anyone would ever shake her position. I stillreally enjoy her every time I do a reread; if anything, Ouma’s character hasmade me appreciate Kirigiri even more, given the noticeable similaritiesbetween them.

Anyway, these are just my personalthoughts on the subject! I’ve always appreciated that Kirigiri was a characterwho both embraces and embodies the role of a detective, but who alsounderstands the full meaning of “the truth,” and isn’t afraid to lie, cheat, orrely on other cold and calculating tactics in order to achieve her objectives. She’san extremely compelling female character in my opinion, and I’ll always have abig soft spot for her. Thanks for asking, anon!

#dr1 #dangan ronpa #danganronpa #kyouko kirigiri #kirigiri kyouko #ndrv3 spoilers //#spoiler tag is there because i make a few comparisons to ouma!#my meta #okay to reblog #anonymous

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