Maki's Dream • Danganronpa V3

1. Familiar Faces

Darkness. That's all I can see. I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head as I slowly open my eyes. I don't recognise the room I'm in. The walls are a pale yellow, and there's a doorway to the right. The soft morning sunlight is shining through a small window on the left side of the room. I'm in a reasonably comfortable bed with a coral coloured bedsheet to keep me warm. But the most notable thing is standing at the end of the bed. It seems like a puppet? No that can't be right, he seems to be alive as he fiddles with his fingers idly. But he's made out of wood, this doesn't make any sense. But strangely he seems familiar.... he reminds me of-
He suddenly notices me looking at him.

"Ah, you're ok!" He says, he then turns to the door, "Miu! She's awake!" He calls, before turning back to me. "I'm coming I'm coming! No need to be so loud Kiiboy!" I hear a familiar voice reply. I can hear footsteps, before someone else walks in. Her face is covered in ash, but I instantly recognise her. "...Kiibo??Miu?? You're alive??..." I say as I sit up. They give me funny looks. "Well Duh you moron" Miu says. "But you died! Both of you! What happened to your plan failing, or self destructing??" I don't know what's happening, I'm usually able to keep a level head during stressful situations, but this.... this is surreal. What's going on?? Kiibo and Miu exchange a look between them. "Just great, Kiibo you found a nutcase" "What's going on?" I ask. I need to get a better idea of the situation I'm in. "I was out collecting wood for Miu, when I found you unconscious in the woods, I was afraid that if I didn't bring you back to the village the bears would get you, so here you are" Kiibo explains, still a bit uneasy after my sudden outburst, "The bears?" I ask. "Yeah, the forest is crawling with them, and they have a history to aimlessly attack-" "You should've left her there Kiiboy, she's definitely insane or something" Miu interrupts Kiibo, placing her hands on her hips. She turns to me. "Yeah, you have to leave" "Huh?" I stand up. "You heard me. We helped you, and now that you're okay you should leave. Unless you're willing to pay us" She narrows her eyes. "Miu this is no way to treat a guest-" Kiibo says in an attempt to reason with her, but Miu's already ushering me out the door. "Goodluck flat-chest!" She shouts before shutting the door on me. Well that was... something. I look down to realise I'm no longer wearing my usual uniform. I'm now sporting a white shirt under a brown tunic, with a long red skirt. There's also a red ribbon tied around my neck. Where did this come from? My thoughts are suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door opening again. I turn around to see Kiibo leaving. "Oh, you're still here! I'm terribly sorry about Miu, she's just in a bad mood, she's usually nicer!" I raise an eyebrow. I've known Miu long enough to know that that was a lie. "If you say so.." I cross my arms. "Hey if you don't have any plans, I'm off to worship Atua with the others, sadly Miu doesn't really believe in all that stuff but it's very uplifting if you'd like to tag along!" Kiibo offered with a smile. Under normal circumstances there'd be no way I'd ever go to worship Atua, but maybe I could find out how to get back to Shuichi and Himiko, so I sigh and accept his offer. Kiibo claps his hands together and skips off down the road. It's about 10 minutes before we arrive at what seems to be a temple, and I can see some random villagers walking in. I follow Kiibo inside as he leads me to two empty seats in one of the front rows. Once everyone's settled down, I hear a recognisable laugh. "Nyahaha! Thank you all for attending today! Atua is very pleased with you all!" The person says as she walks over to the front. It was none other then Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist. "You will all be able to send your offerings to Atua this afternoon" she says in a sing-song voice. I silently listen as she talks about her beloved Atua, everyone else seems 100% interested in what she had to say. After a while the meeting comes to a close. "Atua loves you all!" Angie announces, just as people start filing out of the building. But instead of following them I approach her. I lightly tap her shoulder, and she shoots around to see who it was. "Hmmm I don't recognise you, you must be new here! Atua welcomes you!" She says, excited at the thought of another member to her 'group'. "Yeah- uh, my name's Maki-" but I get cut off. "Nice to meet you Maki!" She says, grabbing my hands. "Will you be giving any offerings to Atua today?" She says, looking me in the eyes.

"Actually I was meaning to ask you something-" I say, not wanting to answer her question, "You have a question for Atua? Go ahead! I shall tell you his response!" "Okay then..." I say, awkwardly removing my hands from her. "This is probably hard to believe, but I think I'm somehow... in another world...? I don't know it's just everything is so different, and people that are supposed to be dead are alive and well" I say, looking at her neck as I say that last part. There doesn't seem to be any sign of damage at all. Surprisingly, she doesn't look at me like I'm insane like Miu and Kiibo did, she just looks up. "Mhm..." she says, before looking back at me. "I'm afraid there is nothing Atua can do" She says, shrugging. "What??? Are you serious???" I say, getting ready to leave. "Sadly not" She says" "But" She continues. I stop in my tracks and turn back to her. "I think I know someone who can help you!" I get a feeling of hope. "Really? Where can I find them?"