Danganronpa: Locked Doors of Despair

Ch.4 Daily Life Part 1: Of Falling Down, Standing Up, and Going Out

[A/N] So much music research just for like seventy to a hundred words' worth of content. But honestly, I don't regret it. I apologize if it still sounds ridiculous and like I have no clue what I'm talking about. I hope you enjoy regardless.

Tozen

"We're all eating dinner together. No more of this meal shift bullshit. I don't even care if it's healthy today, we've been through too much," I command.

"My appetite is all but vanquished," Azumi murmurs helplessly. "You will excuse me, as I must decline."

I gently tilt her chin up so that she's forced to look at me. "No, I won't excuse you. None of us have eaten for... nineish hours, and I won't be letting any of you waste away to skin and bones."

"Tozen..."

"I'll keep bothering you until your answer is yes! And that goes for all of you!"

"I can help cook!" Fujiko squeals.

"I—Uh—"

"Fujiko, we're gonna turn this into a party, so I need your help with decor," Gou delegates, rescuing me from having to make sure the building doesn't burn down.

"Oh! Okay then! We'll make the place look real pretty! The parlor, right?"

"Yep! Ren and the dancers, you choose music."

"On it! We'll be sure to enchant you all," Ren winks.

The dancers give each other a wary glance, having just abruptly ended a month-long fight. But then Monterio takes her hand with more confidence than expected, and she brightens up. "You're not allowed to load up on dozens of love songs, you doof." Kana insists as the three of them leave together.

"Umm... what else do we need for a party? It's been so long since I've actually had a party," Gou clicks his tongue.

"I'll get some board games from the game room!" Chimon volunteers eagerly.

"Umm... I think I just need to be alone for a while... but you can call me when everything's ready. I'm not intending to be a total hermit or anything." Yuu gives us a smile, but it quickly falters as he slinks away.

Wakumi flips one of her braids, expression mostly unchanged from the start of the trial. "Aye. There's nothin' fer me ta do since we ain't got stuff ta make grog. I think I'm gonna go huntin' fer loot in the shop."

I take a breath, and my shoulders sink. "Okay. Okayokayokayokayokay. You can pick what we make. My one requirement is that dessert absolutely HAS to be mochi ice cream. Whenever we talked about food, Bisque ALWAYS looped around to how much he loves the stuff. That sound good, Zu?" She stifles a bit of a gasp, and I suddenly realize what I just did. "Shit, I'm so sorry! I— I didn't mean to take his nickname for you, it just kind of came out that way!"

She squeezes me tight and starts to sniffle. "How are we going to DO this, Tozen? He stole my heart so quickly, and now it feels like he took a part of me with him."

"We have to live day by day. If we look too far in the future, it'll overwhelm us for sure. So tonight is all about tonight; we can deal with tomorrow when it comes."

"But it's terrible knowing that none of our days will have him in them anymore! I— I had this daydream all the time where we were able to get him home safe and sound, and he'd introduce us to his real parents, and we'd get to be part of his life. And I was fully aware that this was a delusional, silly wish, but to know that it's truly, irrevocably shattered to pieces...!" I start to feel her slip to the ground, so I sink to meet her, and suddenly we're on our knees and I'm cradling her head. To have such a pure-hearted daydream is something I can barely fathom, and it makes me angry. What right does our captor have to destroy something so uncorrupted? A muddy blend of grief and fury fills my heart as I let her cry into my chest.