Danganronpa Zero

Chapter Sixteen

And so, after everything that's happened, I, Ryouko Otonashi, and Yasuke Matsuda-kun made the decision to drop out and put Hope's Peak Academy behind us.

Right now we are waiting for our flight at the airport lobby. Soon, we will both board an airplane and embark on our trip to America, the land of the free. I have finally realized what's important. As long as I have Matsuda-kun in my world, I don't need to fuss over such trifling matters as Hope's Peak Academy. I have no obligation to participate in this irrational story. If you happen to be interested in what happens next, by all means - go ask someone else. We're busy. After we get to America, we're going to develop a new species of corn at a corn plantation, and then go to NASA and work on relocating to the moon. "Hey, Matsuda-kun!" I say, turning towards Matsuda-kun who is already hard at work growing corn under the seat next to me. "Hey, we're not at the plantation yet! Isn't this too early?" "Don't interfere! I'm busy planting the Saibamen!" he replies while planting some seeds in the ground. "Y...You can't, Matsuda-kun! Saibamen require richer soil to grow! Nappa-sama is going to be soupset!" But he is not listening to my advice and bang bang bang bang-

I opened my eyes.

I raised my body up wearily, and took a look around the room. A beige carpet. A small dresser. Empty bookshelves. Here and there, small notes reading "This is my room" were pasted on the wall. Since they were there I knew that this was, indeed, my room.

I gave a sigh of relief - and then realized I didn't have time for that.

Bang bang bang bang bang. Someone was knocking violently on my door, as if trying to bring it down.

"I...I'm coming, just a minute..."

Bang bang ba-ba-bang! Bang-ba-bang-bang! Bang-ba-bang-bang!

Not only didn't they wait, they also started knocking in a strange rhythm. I sulked, crawled out of bed, and then realized I had been sleeping with my shoes on. "Hm?" I thought as I removed them, picked up the notebook that was lying next to the pillow, and rushed to the door.

"...Who is it?" I unlocked the door, then opened it softly.

"Yoooohooooo!" A blond girl in loud makeup peeked vigorously through the gap. "Waaah!" I reacted in surprise.

"Hey, hey! How much longer were you planning to sleep? It's noon already, y'know! What are you, a giant?!"

"...Huh?"

"Oh, wait. Sleepy was a dwarf, wasn't he. Sorry, my bad!"

I opened my notebook to check who this mysterious person who didn't seem to care about the proper way to start a conversation was, but-

"Oh? Have you forgotten about me? Let me tell you, then. My name's Junko Enoshima-chan! AKA ̳Super High-school Level Fashion Girl'!"

Junko Enoshima, huh? I hurried and looked for memories of her in my notebook. Soon, alarms started going off inside my head. That's right... This is the girl who called herself a murderer and tried to get me involved in something I absolutely mustn't get involved in!

"G...Go awaaaaaaaay!" I screamed as if my brain was coming to a boil. I closed the door in a panic, but she had already forced her foot through the gap in the style of a door-to-door salesman, and stopped me from doing so.

"Oh? Are you, perhaps, thinking you can run away? That kind of attitude's just gonna hurt my feelings, y'know."

"I...I don't care! Just go awaaay!" I used my entire body's strength in an attempt to push the door close, but it didn't budge.

"Ding dong! Eureka, I got it! You think I'm a strange girl, don't you? You think there's a screw loose in my head, don't you? Could it be you don't even want to hear what I have to say? Is your conviction that strong? In that case, BIG SHOCK!" Enoshima-san opened her eyes wide and spread both her arms forward as she said the last two words.