Danganronpa: Locked Doors of Despair

Ch.6 Daily Life Part 3: Of Brawn, Brains, and Beauty

[A/N] Trigger Warning: Mentions of C*r C**shes in Gou's scene. Be safe, all.  

Ren, January 7th, 4:57 pm

I pluck along at my electric guitar, playing a bopping song that gets my heart pumping. I actually have the amp plugged in this time, so at the very least, everyone on this floor should be able to hear me.

My music seems to attract Chimon's attention, and he peeks his head into the dining room, taking a seat near me. He closes his eyes and smiles, drumming along on his lap. He says something to me, but I can't hear him. "WHAT?!"

"I SAID, THIS IS HYPE MUSIC! IT MAKES ME WANNA GET MOVING!" he repeats.

"RIGHT?! WE SHOULD, LIKE, FUCKING EXERCISE OR SOMETHING!"

He starts cracking up immediately. I can't help but laugh, too, and it snaps me out of my focus. "I mean, sure, why the hell not? It's not like we're pretty much the weakest people here or anything," he snorts sarcastically.

"That's not a fair assessment! If we compare me to everyone who was here at the start, I'm sure I'm like... lower middle of the pack," I respond with joking defensiveness.

"Honestly, I think you still are. Fuji and I are weaker, Yuu, Azumi, and Gou are stronger, right?"

"See?! I'm not like, wildly out of shape or something."

"Well, at the very least, I'M easily the weakest person here. Hachi would've been my only fair competition. That's what happens when you live in the body of a nine-year-old," he plays, punching the air.

"I think we can bump you up to eleven now," I tease.

"So maybe I'll even be able to bench press the bar with like an extra ten pounds!" he winks. "Okay, wait, though. Are we actually doing this? Or are we just playing?"

I think about this for a second. "I mean, we may as well! Just for the shits and giggles."

And so, we wind up in the gym. I try to chase away the bad thoughts by sweating them out. I'm most comfortable with the stationary bike and treadmill, the very few pieces of equipment I had at home. But I also test myself with the bench press and a pull-up bar. Chimon also uses the treadmill, which he seems to naturally do well with, and the bench press, which both of us are shit at. He, however, uses a resistance band and an inclined sit up bench.

The crappy part about me is that, when my body gets tired, my mind gets extra punchy. Lots of insecurities float around in there, and the thought I was suppressing falls out of its constraints. Between pants, I force myself to vocalize it. "Toz was chloroformed in here."

Chimon's pained expression adds a layer of thought. "It must've been awful, struggling like that. I'm so sorry, Ren."

"Why are you apologizing to me? I'm not the one who had to deal with it."

"You cared about him a lot, so you must be in a lot of pain," he explains shakily, doing starfishes with the resistance band.

In a painstakingly slow pace, I pull myself up with aching arms. "Y'know survivor's guilt?"

"Of course."

"I'm definitely doing a little bit of that."

"Same," he grimaces, swiping sweat off his forehead.

"I was trying really hard, because Nari told me to, but if I'm being honest, I really didn't think I would last this long in here," I admit.

"SAME," he echoes forcefully. "As soon as we heard this whole thing was a fucking murder game, I was SURE I'd be one of the first victims." He takes a pause to breathe, but holds up a finger so I know he's not finished. "Cause like, obviously, I'm not gonna be putting up any sort of fight that would actually matter. Every time new places would be opened up to us, I'd look around and find the best hiding spots in case I ever needed to flee. And if I thought someone would find me and think it was suspicious, I would cover it up as hide and seek."