Danganronpa - Murderous Generation

Chapter 2 - Impossible Paradise (pt 7)

(Virtue's Last Reward - Consternation)

Drake had returned to the dinning hall with Ataeru and Violet to speak with the Kūki AI, Scarlet decided to explore the second floor library, while Josho returned to his dorm.

"Well … what do ya wanna know?" Kūki's AI asked, the trio huddled around the table, propping up the tablet against Ataeru's bag. The room fell into a hushed silence, the humming of overhead lights rang in their ears, and the bleak feeling from earlier still hung around their necks. "... Nobody's got anythin? Jeez, what was even the point of getting me up today?" He groaned, crossing his arms.

"Well. Kūki, how about you just tell us a bit about yourself?" Drake suggested finally, trying to kick off the conversation as quickly as he could.

"Alright, guess that's one way to start. Well, I was born into a poor house, it wasn't much but my folks took care of me as best they could. I didn’t have much growin’ up, but I did have a wild streak in me.” He continued “I was a mess, I’d break things and hit people, even bit my dad on more than one occasion” he laughed at the thought.

“One day, he’d had enough of my bullshit, grabbed my arm and said in a quiet voice ‘if you can’t control those hands of yours, we’ll cut ‘em off!’ that was my old man for ya, stoic but sure as hell full of anger.” Kūki scratched the back of his head and chuckled “nah, they were good to me. Good folks who were just tryin’ to give their kid a good life.” The trio listened intently, Violet smiled throughout, and Ataeru became fixated on watching Kūki tell his story, Drake too followed along with a similar amount of dedication to what was being said.

“Well, this is very informative, but I do have one question for you Kūki.” Violet interrupted, leaning forward in her seat to ask politely “how did you become an ultimate?”

Kūki changed his position, looking a little more relaxed as he let his shoulders drop “well, I can’t say it’s an interestin’ tale, but I’ll share it with you guys, maybe you could return the favour?” Kūki asked, everyone agreed and let the AI begin.

“Aight, so it started when my dad tried to find a way to deal with my pent up energy, not many kids could handle my rough play style, so he dragged my ass to the gym one day. Set me down on a rowing machine and just said “go.” Lemme tell ya, I ain’t ever rowed that hard in my life, I went all in, took me at least an hour before I called it quits. But I loved it.” Kūki broke a smile as he recalled his past, he rubbed his neck and pulled at the bandana around it “guess it was the first time my dad ever took me to a place on his own. I was only 13 at the time, but I decided to dedicate my life to fitness, and it showed.”

Ataeru smiled at the screen “that sounds wonderful Kūki, I’m sure your dad was very proud of you.”

“Yeah. Yeah, he was pretty happy about it all. But I didn’t start boxing until I was 15, that was my own decision.” Kūki rubbed the back of his head again and sighed “am I done now?” He asked with an annoyed tone, surprising the trio of listeners.

“Oh? I thought you were happy to share your past with us. Why the sudden change of heart?” Violet asked with a tilt of the head. Kūki sighed and shook his head “ah, so you were just entertaining us then?” She nodded understanding his shift in mood.

“Look, I'll give it to ya straight, I don’t exactly trust any of ya, but since anyone one of yous could break me, I thought I’d play the devil's advocate.” Ataeru sank back in his chair slightly, he didn’t realise that Kūki wasn’t being friendly simply because he felt like it. He felt worse thinking that he was threatening someone, and it showed on his face. “Well, is there anything else ya want from me? Or can I power off now?” The AI asked them with a bored expression. Drake and Violet were hesitant to let it shut down, they had questions that needed answering but it seemed like Ataeru wanted to stop.