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He wakes up in a dark and cramped space.
Wherever he is has only enough room for him to stand in and as soon as he leans forward, he can feel the cool metal against his skin. Light filters in from above, in something that suspiciously looks like louvers for ventilation. He does his best to look down and finds the same on the lower half of the door before him.
The thought finally pieces together, it seems that he’s stuck in a locker.
Well, the first thing he should do is try and get out. (He hates cramped spaces, and being left in the dark with no memory fills him with such dread. But he knows he has to be brave, has to take things step by step. Panicking now would do him no good.) He does his best to throw his weight against the door in hopes that it’ll open.
He winces from the pain that blooms in his right shoulder, he must not have positioned himself well. Then again it was hard to when there was less than half a foot he could move in any direction. Still, he tries and tries and tries until tears begin to collect on his lashes-
With one final push, he manages to get it open and isn’t prepared for the hard landing against the floor.
“Fuck…” He wines, rubbing his shoulder as he tries not to let his tears fall.
He takes in the room, noting how grungy and decrepit the place is. It’s set up like an abandoned classroom, and he wonders if this is all part of some sort of scheme. It seems like a strange place to kidnap and leave someone, but he knows that if he can escape all will be well.
A groan takes him out of his musings-
It sounds like it’s coming from the locker beside him, and he figures that someone else is trapped in the locker beside him, and he takes pity on him.
“Ah, Are you ok in there?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Comes the confident, albeit groggy, reply.
“Here, I think I can open that for you.” He starts, easily lifting the latch on the locker and revealing a young man curled up in the locker. He sees a young man in a strange dark gakuran, with short wild grey hair, cradling a dark hat on his lap. Finally, their eyes meet and the striking golden eyes bore into his soul, searching him without any other words. It’s something strange, he’s never been so scrutinized before since usually his cute appearance always gives him a pass. But for some reason, he doesn’t feel criminalized by this. Instead, he feels respected.
“I’m Itsuki Saihara, the Ultimate Detective.” Those same golden eyes stare right into him, and it makes him feel safe for some reason like he has nothing to hide.
He nods and tries to show the same confidence despite it being hard for him.
“I’m Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Prankster.” He lies.
“Tell me the truth.”
“I’m Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Chess Player.” He lies.
“Seriously?” the detective laughs, the sound making his heart flip for some reason.
“I’m Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Liar.” He lies.
Usually people get tired of this little game by the third time, but Itsuki eyes gleam with a curiosity that only makes his heart skip a beat.
“Ah, I get it now. That’s fine then, I’ll figure it out eventually.” The detective puts on his cap, already moving onto a more important question. “For now, we need to figure out the truth about this place.”
Kokichi agrees with him wholeheartedly. He’s glad to have someone so smart with him. He only hopes that this would end well. But he has to admit, the detective is impressive. Interesting, even.
“Cmon, we should go look around for clues.” He extends his hand, the black nails shining in the bright lights of the classroom. Itsuki takes his hand without a second thought, admiring the dark-clad enigma known as Kokichi Ouma.
And at that moment, an alliance forms that will end the newest killing game within a week.
***
Tsumugi Shirogane watches the pilot episode unfold before her. She doesn’t sleep that entire week, or at least not as much as she should. Tsumugi doesn't waste time on showering, instead opting for a whole week of dry shampoo and using wet wipes to keep from being an absolute slob. Still, her hair feels dry and her skin still craves for water, but it isn't important right now. No, she wants to watch every single minute that she can, and curses her dumb brain for needing breaks.
The results of the killing game were absolutely astounding.
It had not panned out at all like she had initially planned, but the results were more than pleasing. She was more aware now, had a better feel of their characters and the limits each held. That was the beauty of Dangan Ronpa, ever since it became a series there was still a high chance of unpredictability that usual fiction doesn’t have. Hence, Ultimate Real Fiction- which would be more authentic and more interesting than any other kind of television program possible.
Still, she hadn’t realized she had made so many flaws in her initial draft of the story. Then again, that was what fiction was. It had to be written and rewritten, tirelessly edited to make sure to bring forth the best experience possible.
Hell, she now knew she would have to re-write Kokichi Ouma’s character in order to prevent him from finding out too much too quickly. He was such a weak and timid boy despite all his lies, so she was sure if she turned his classmates on him that he would crumble like sand. And she definitely had to rewrite Itsuki Saihara’s character. She hadn’t anticipated for them to team up as they did. Most importantly, she was completely blindsided to find that they even sort of had hints of a budding romance, unaware that the detective would become bewitched by a great mystery wrapped up in a cute boy. That was probably an oversight on her part, detectives love mysteries after all, so to have one personified may have ensured their relationship.
It was sort of beautiful, it certainly added sentimentality to the game- but sentiments don’t sell like how violence and drama does.
No, she would have to wedge them apart.
She doesn’t even bother to turn to the random producer that enters the monitor room with her, much too lost in her own thoughts of improving her work than to hear whatever he has to say.
“Congrats Miss Shirogane, the company has decided to green-light this season.”
He awkwardly waits for any kind of response but gets none. He drops it and simply watches her eyes glitter with too many ideas, her fingers twitching for a pen. He has heard about her and wonders if she really is the literary genius everyone says she is.
Regardless of whether she is or isn’t, it becomes clear that this season was certainly going to be special.
***
Kokichi Ouma wakes up in a dark and cramped space.
Wherever he is has only enough room for him to stand in and as soon as he leans forward, he can feel the cool metal against his skin. Light filters in from above, in something that suspiciously looks like louvers for ventilation. He does his best to look down and finds the same on the lower half of the door before him.
The thought finally pieces together, it seems that he’s stuck in a locker.
Well, the first thing he should do is try and get out. (This all feels fishy. He remembers being kidnapped, and then- nothing. It reeked of foul play, and he knew he would have to be on his toes.
Trust no one.
) He does his best to throw his weight against the door in hopes that it’ll open.
He winces from the pain that blooms in his right shoulder, he must not have positioned himself well. Then again it was hard to when there was less than half a foot he could move in any direction. It opens easily enough the second time he tries-
He steps out into a cruel world, his eyes taking in every detail of the room before him. The classroom is decrepit, who knows how long it has been abandoned.
It doesn’t take long for him to go help out the pathetic robot in the locker beside him, and he laughs as he decides to play with the metal boy-
It isn’t until they are found by another pair of teens that he feels himself fill with something like dread. He can’t take his eyes off the shy boy that enters. He feels familiar, but also so foreign. It’s paradoxical, almost like how his lies are. It makes him curious, but also scared. Yet, he wants to know, needs to know why he feels so strongly for someone he supposedly doesn’t know. It’s right there, just at the surface of the water, a name just at the tip of his tongue.
Still, his brain stutters and stutters, worse than a dial-up connection.
The blonde Pianist dominates the conversation, and he plays along, trying not to be too concerned with the implications of this scenario. He teases the robot and tries to joke, humor was his other forte, besides being an evil leader of course. They finally get to introductions and he butts in-
“That’s not faaair! You can’t be the only one who gets to show off! I’ll introduce myself too!”
“Oh, uhm… go ahead.” The blonde is clearly taken aback by his confidence but stays quiet. Her companion still has yet to say anything.
“I’m Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader!”
His introduction seems to utterly confuse everyone in the room. Finally, the last person who hasn’t introduced himself speaks up-
“I’m Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective.” He opens his mouth to say more but the blonde chastises him, emphasizing that he shouldn’t adjust his intro any further.
Somehow hearing his name crushes that familiar feeling welling up in Kokichi. It was dumb, he had never heard this name before. This was a stranger, someone wholly unfamiliar and someone he could not trust just because of a shy demeanor. It was probably some weird deja-vu mistake, brains were weird like that after all.
And with that, the 53rd season of Dangan Ronpa starts off without a hitch.