Danganronpa: Painful Truth

Settling In

The events that followed were numb and fuzzy to our exhausted minds. The DICE gang split up as soon as we landed, off to face their parents on their own.

Ayu brought us to meet her own parents first. To our surprise, her father was Makoto Naegi, the man who had restored and operated Hope's Peak Academy, at least until it became unsafe to do so. Although he seemed frustrated by his daughter's reckless behavior, he welcomed us as though he were still a headmaster who greeted ultimate students every day.

Her mother was Kyoko Kirigiri, a former ultimate detective. In contrast to her husband, she seemed somewhat cold, but it was clear from talking to her that she cared just as much. She even offered to let me work with her, as long as I was still interested in detective work. I agreed without much thought, surprising even myself. I couldn't explain it, but something about the killing game had given me a desire to prove I wasn't weak, that I was strong enough to continue to fight for the truth.

After that, we met Natsumi's parents, which was a much less comforting experience. Her father was Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, an ex-yakuza with a short temper and a fouler mouth than his own daughter. Her mother was more stoic and soft-spoken, but had a pair of intense red eyes that seemed to bore right through me. She explained calmly that she was the former ultimate swordswoman and hitwoman for the Kuzuryu clan. The information did very little to help ease our minds, although Maki showed a slight interest in talking to the woman further.

The most shocking thing about the intimidating couple was the fact that they were the ones offering us a place to stay. Natsumi and Shigeri were tasked with cleaning and furnishing the rooms as a punishment, while Kokichi cheerfully volunteered to help. We were all surprised, but I had a sneaking suspicion that he was doing it to avoid us.

"Hang on, I'm injured," Shigeri argued, pointing at the dried blood on their forehead. "I shouldn't have to do all this hard labor."

"That's your own goddamn fault," Fuyuhiko snapped. "Ask Mikan for a bandaid and a fuckin' lollipop later."

Kokichi giggled at them, but Natsumi stayed silent, looking uncomfortable.

We waited in what the others called the 'war room,' a large and cartoonishly decorated room that took up a large portion of the Kuzuryus' basement. It was set up like a conference room, with a square of sleek wooden tables and ten fancy checkered gaming chairs. Shinji offered us drinks before suddenly insulting our worn clothes and excusing himself.

Ayu giggled. "Don't worry, he's gonna make some new clothes for you guys! If I know him, he was already brainstorming cute outfits while we were watching you guys on TV!"

The room seemed to empty out quickly as the others went their separate ways, motivated by the infectious excitement of their new friends. Kiki escorted a drooling Miu away to show off her lab. Tenko was immediately interested in Ryu and Yoshi's training setup, but refused to go alone with two men, so she dragged Himiko along with her.

Gonta insisted that he didn't need a bedroom, as long as he had a nice clean closet where he could hang up his suit. Yuri volunteered to show him the coziest spots in the forest, and they left excitedly together.

Eventually, only Ayu, Kaito, Maki, and I were left. Ayu spun herself in her chair and hummed the theme to a popular magical girl anime while we waited. The overall carefree attitude of the group was almost jarring.

"Ayu, I'm curious about something." I spoke mostly to fill the exhausted silence. "Not that we're not grateful, but I'm surprised you all aren't in more trouble for doing something so dangerous."

"Hmm...yeah," Ayu nodded thoughtfully. "Our parents are a little...weird. They're pretty mad, but they're used to us doing crazy stuff together!" She giggled. "My mom is probably gonna take me on some long boring drive while she lectures me and makes me explain what we did and why, but she always listens, so I think she'll understand!"

She counted off on her fingers as she listed off her friends and their situations. "Shinji's parents are weird weebs like him, so they probably thought it was cool...Ryu's parents are the same way, but his dad might make him do push-ups or something." She laughed. "That's not even a punishment for him! Yoshi's dad is always spaced out, so he probably didn't even notice we were gone. Kiki's mom is a crazy punk rocker and her dad's got no backbone, so she's probably in the clear!"

Maki shook her head in disbelief. "Don't you kids have any structure?"

Ayu plowed ahead, pretending not to hear her. "Yuri's moms are pretty cool, they know she wouldn't do anything she couldn't handle. Miss Fukawa is a writer though, she might make Yuri write lines or something..." She winced sympathetically at the thought of her cousin's potential plight. "Tetsuo didn't go with us and his dad doesn't care about anything except money so he's fine. And Natsumi's parents probably seem a lot angrier than they are, actually. They're scary-looking, but they're really nice people! But Mr. Kuzuryu doesn't want people to know he's nice, so that's why she has to clean the rooms!" She laughed mischievously.

"At least someone here knows how to be an adult," Maki spat. "Let me guess, Kokichi and Shigeri's parents don't care either, right?"

Ayu shook her head, looking slightly sad. "They don't have any," she said simply. "The Kuzuryus found them after they ran away from an orphanage together, so they're the closest thing they have."

Maki looked somewhat surprised. "Well, I guess that explains a lot."

Just then, Shigeri appeared in the doorway, yawning. "Alright, bastards, we got the rooms set up," they announced boredly. "Kokichi said to tell you that he definitely didn't do anything weird in any of your beds so don't worry."

"Oh good! Now you guys can get some sleep!" Ayu smiled sweetly at them. "Shigeri, let's go tell everyone else that they have rooms!"

"Fuck that." They yawned again. "I ain't the one who let everyone scatter. Go do it yourself, I'm goin' to bed."

"But Shigeri, it's dark!" Ayu whined. "I don't wanna walk around alone!"

"Send a fuckin' text message," they suggested over their shoulder as they staggered to their bedroom.

Ayu pouted. "Stupid Shigeri and their lazy smart ideas."

With that, the insane night was finally over. The sun was already peeking over the horizon, but once we saw our tiny, simple rooms, complete with basic dressers and sturdy air mattresses, we were too exhausted to care what time it was. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.