Different Paths (Danganronpa)

Ch 3: Taking A Risk

Hinata thought back to his rejection.

Was it really the right choice to reject that offer?

He shook his head. "Of course it was. I'm doing this for Nanami-san."

"Who's 'Nanami-san'?" a familiar voice asked playfully.

Hinata jumped at the sudden interjection but he only sighed once he saw it was only Natsumi.

She leaned on the school's balcony's railing beside Hinata, who was leaning his back on the concrete pillar.

"Anyway, who's this Nanami-san? A girlfriend?" she laughed at the sudden flush of Hinata's face.

He shook off the red tint on his cheeks before answering. "An Ultimate that I've been friends with."

Natsumi's expression darkened. "An Ultimate, huh..." the mood soured and Hinata kind of felt bad for ruining it. But he only shrugged, basking in the fresh air that was available on where they were.

Their hair swayed in the breeze, and Hinata closed his eyes, savoring the feeling.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps going their way.

Hinata opened his eyes and his brows lifted upon seeing his lowerclassman Sayaka approaching.

"Hey." Sayaka greeted once she stopped in front of Natsumi and Hinata.

"Oh, Maizono-san." Hinata said. Sayaka nodded, before turning to look at Natsumi, who was also staring at her.

"Hey, Maizono. Why are you here?" the blonde asked. "Oh, I was actually going to the stairs down on the other side. I kind of got lost after I went out of the Principal's office." Sayaka answered.

"Principal's office? Were you called?" Hinata asked, and Sayaka only nodded before saying her byes and walking away.

Hinata watched her as she disappeared into the halls on the other side.

"Why was she called? Do you have any idea?" he asked, but Natsumi only shrugged.

"Don't know. Though I only hope she wasn't called because of that strict, anger management suck-up."

-----

Sayaka went through the endless halls and finally went down the stairs to her floor.

The Principal let her keep the letter, making her promise that she won't show it to anyone, not even her parents.

She could only say yes, unless she wanted to get expelled.

They told her that other than becoming an Ultimate, she also wouldn't have to pay for her tuition.

Although that didn't apply while she was still thinking about it, it still kind of encouraged her to agree.

But she still needed time to think about it. What would her Classmates say if she suddenly changed to the Main Course? And what would her talent be?

Questions filled her non-stop, but she decided to wait and think about it more lest she wants to make a mistake she'll most likely regret for the rest of her life.

They allowed her any time to think about it, as long as it won't reach a year. Do they expect me to think about it until I graduate?

And they gave her an address, so if she already made up her mind all she had to do was go there and finally say 'I'm ready.'

After the Principal explained more about what would happen if she joined, her intuition told her to reject it as well.

But she ignored that strange gut feeling. It isn't always accurate anyway. There's no use believing an inaccurate prediction when it comes to opportunities like these.

With that said, she walked the halls and to her class again.

She sat down, looked out the window, and continued to tune it all out.

-----

After class Sayaka went to the fountain again to wait for her dad.

He usually picked her up at the Reserve Course building's gate, where he would wait for her and lead her to the car.

But unfortunately, this time, the gate was closed so he wouldn't be able to enter and wait for her, and she wouldn't be able to go outside either.

So she settled to just wait near the fountain.

But once she made it there she saw a familiar brown-haired boy sitting with a girl. They both seem to be looking down at something.

Sayaka approached. "Um... Hello?" she started, and they both looked up at her.

Hinata's brows lifted again. "Maizono-san." he greeted with a nod. A girl that had very light pink hair with a cat hood also stared up at her. Her eyes looked like they were about to close at any second.

"Oh, is this the lowerclassman you were talking about, Hajime-kun?" the pink-haired girl asked him and he nodded. "Yeah."

After Hinata confirmed it, the girl scooted to the side, making Hinata move further on the edge of the bench.

"You can sit down here." the girl said, obviously meaning beside her on the bench.

Sayaka fumbled for a bit, glancing at Hinata staring at her before actually sitting down.

Now she could clearly see that the two were holding game boys on their hands.

"You can watch if you like. I only have two sets of game boys." she said, not turning up from her game to look at her again.

Sayaka only nodded, as Hinata also started to concentrate on his game.

Sayaka watched them both play as Hinata lost over and over again.

"Woah..." she mused, kind of amazed at how the girl was so quick at winning against Hinata.

Hinata kept on groaning but continued to play.

Soon enough, Hinata just quit. "I'm sorry, Nanami-san. I just... I just keep on losing." he said, looking down at his game boy that was now turned off.

The girl looked at him. "It's okay, Hajime-kun. Surely you'll get better." she said. Then, she turned around to face Sayaka, who kept on watching.

"Anyway, my name is Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer if you're wondering." she introduced, yawning at the end.

"Ultimate?..." Sayaka mumbled. So she's an Ultimate, the Ultimate Gamer.

Sayaka briefly glanced at Chiaki's game boy. No wonder she kept on winning...

"Um, okay then. My name is Sayaka Maizono, I'm a first year in the Reserve Course." she also introduced herself.

The girl only nodded.

And then, as if on cue, an old car parked in front of the open exit.

Hinata turned to the direction as a similarly blue-haired man lowered the window to show his face.

Sayaka stood up, taking her bag. "Um, yeah, I gotta go now. See you tomorrow?" she asked, glancing at the two.

"Yeah." Hinata said. "If you'd like to join us, then maybe you can come here every after-class." he continued.

She nodded, and bid her goodbye as she hopped in the car.

Her dad asked her about her day and as promised, she didn't mention the offer she got.

The Principal did tell her that they'll inform her parents once she finally agrees to join.

She looked out the window of their car as she sighed under her breath.

Would it hurt to accept? She glanced at her dad, humming a tune from the radio while driving carefully.

Should I take the risk?