Danganronpa 0.5: Exotic Paradise

•A light in the darkness•

   "Optimists can make the best out of a tough situation."
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HONOKA AND NAO: JULY 26TH 2021

     As soon as we left the group I took Honoka's hand and as we walked towards her house.

     "I'm nervous about meeting your parents! Will they think I'm cool?" I asked my girlfriend.

     "Of course! I've never dated anyone so they'll be surprised hehe. My brother will like you too, he's only 12." Hon responded cheerfully.

     After a few minutes of walking we reached an old rotting brown house. There was a little sign that read "Ryobes," we had arrived.

     "Here it goes..." Honoka held her breathe as she knocked on the rickety door.

     An older woman with light brown hair answered the door, her jaw immediately dropping at the sight of us.

     "H-Honoka? Is that really you dear?" She reached out and touched Hon's cheek almost as if to check she wasn't a ghost.

     "Mom!" She shouted in glee, wrapping her arms around the woman. Both of them started to cry.

     "I thought you were dead! The newspaper said that all the Ultimates were dead!" She sobbed.

     "Six of us survived." I said quietly.

     Her mom wiped her eyes and looked me up and down.

     "Who are you?"

"Er, I'm Nao Shou! I survived the crash with Honoka!" I introduced myself nervously.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Nao, what brings you to our home? I'm sure your parents would love to see you." She smiled.

"My parents are both dead Mrs. Ryobe, I have nowhere to go." I replied.

"I said he could stay here." Honoka chimed in.

"Ooh it's gonna be a tight squeeze but we can certainly make it work. Any friend of Honoka's is a friend of ours." Her mom patted my shoulder.

"He's not just my friend." Honoka muttered.

"What do you mean dear?"

"I'm her boyfriend." I answered.

Her mom's eyes widened.

"She understands what that means?" Mrs. Ryobe asked me.

"Yes."

"It was her decision to be in a relationship and wasn't forced?"

"Of course."

"You treat her kindly?"

"I'd never hurt her in my life."

"Then you have my full support." She grinned, wiping a tear from her eye. "Welcome to the family Nao!
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Mrs. Ryobe let us inside and showed me around the place. I got to meet Honoka's dad and little brother Akise, that is, after a lot of tears and hugs. Everyone was so kind and very relieved that Honoka was okay.

     At around 6 o' clock we sat down for dinner.

     "Sorry Nao, we're not very fancy! All that I have to serve you is sticky rice." Mrs. Ryobe apologized.

     "No fair! This is the same rice from two nights ago! I can tell!" Akise groaned.

     "Mind your manners. We don't have the money to buy more." Mr. Ryobe said sternly.

     "You said we got meat tonightt." He whined.

     "Akise, we're feeding two extra people right now! Of course we're not getting meat!" His mom scolded. The boy huffed and continued to shove rice in his mouth.

     I had never realized how some families live...it's a lot different from mine. My dad always had enough for us to get by, we lived in a huge house and had a great big savings account.

     Wait...

     That gives me an idea.
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     I let the Ryobes into the door of my childhood home.

     "Nao are you sure about this?" Mrs. Ryobe asked.

     "100%, now that my dad is gone and left his money to me we can all live here! There's enough space for everyone to have their own room! And plenty of good food."

     "We can go to school!" Akise grinned

     "We can have fresh meals!" Mr. Ryobe chuckled.

     "I'm so grateful for you Nao, thank you so much for letting us live in this beautiful house with you." Mrs. Ryobe ruffled my hair.

     "You're welcome!"

     Honoka suddenly wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.

     "I love you..." She whispered into my ear.

     "I love you too Hon."
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TO BE CONTINUED...