Danganronpa Midnight: Lantern Lament (Fanganronpa)

Nozomu Academy Interlude

"Ah, geez. Where is he? I texted him ages ago." The brunette groaned, spinning around in his chair overlooking the sixteen participants, each with their own headset.

"I don't know...Would you like me to call him again?" The violinist asked from across the room, walking towards the boy and pulling her phone out.

"Nah, don't worry about it Kuro. Besides, you should've left ages ago." He sat up. "Why the hell are you still here?"

"I can't just leave you alone waiting for Kei. As class president, it is my duty to take care of my classmates." Kuro smiled. "Even if one of them is running late..."

"Aw! You're so sweet, you're gonna make me melt." Ryuto grinned. "No wonder Mizuki's all over you."

"Ha, I suppose you do have a point there...But this whole talent development simulation was really all your idea. The rest of the class and I just helped out. You're the sweet one."

"Huh, I really am sweet, aren't I?" He smirked.

"And amazingly humble." She laughed.

The hacker turned to the door. "But knowing Kei, he has a thing for being fashionably late. He'll turn up in about three...two..."

The door burst open, revealing Kei trying his best to catch his breath.

"One. Look who finally showed up." Ryuto jumped up out of his chair, clapping his hands together.

"Kei? Are you ok?" Kuro wondered.

"Y-Yeah...Sorry, I'm late. I got lost..."

"You? Lost?" Ryuto laughed. "This is your own dad's abandoned building. How are you getting lost?"

"Keyword being abandoned..." Kei sighed, flipping his black hair out of his face. "There's a reason the company and my father don't use this building anymore. It's been abandoned for years. It's inefficient, dark...and stupidly hard to find. That's why we don't keep maps or records of it."

"And that's why he lent it to me." The hacker walked over to the other boy and put an arm around him with a chuckle. "You can go now Kuro. Get ready for when the whole class meets up tonight for our own simulation. I can take care of Kei before I get going."

"Are you sure?" She looked between the boys, confused.

"Absolutely! Kei's in good hands, aren't you buddy?"

"Right..."

"Alright then." Kuro picked her bag up. "If you need anything, just give me a call."

"Got it."

With that, Kuro walked past the two boys and started to find her way out of the building.

Kei let out a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry again. I had to rummage around my dad's office and find the keycard and everything. Then I had to figure out how to get around all these hallways and-"

"Chill out." Ryuto shrugged. "I kept your seat warm for you. Right in front of all our participants."

The hacker took Kei's hand and led him to the large comfy chair, letting the other boy take a seat.

"And of course, a massive monitor set up so you can overlook the whole simulation. Plus, your very own laptop!" He slid the desk holding the setup over.

"You've been to my house, Ryuto. You know I have my own laptop at home...Multiple actually."

"Whatever. Who's gonna complain about one more?" He asked.

"I am. It's way too many..." Kei sighed again.

"Eh, who cares. The more the merrier."

"I don't think that applies here."

"Anyway, everything else is already set up and ready to go! Toshiro and Mizuki really helped out with getting most of the participants. Who knew those fools could pack a punch?" He continued, checking on each participant.

"It's obvious. Toshiro's super strong and Mizuki is...Mizuki."

"Don't stress the details." Ryuto took a step back. "Damn. Almost two years of working on this project and it's about to finally happen..."

"I bet you're excited, huh?" Kei gave a weak smile.

"Of course. Obviously, I gotta give credit to you and your dad. Aside from Kuro, you definitely helped the most."

"Don't mention it. I'm glad to have helped."

"I'm surprised you were even able to be separated from Reina for more than two seconds to help, ha." Ryuto walked back to Kei as the boy looked down at the mention of that name. "Hm? Still get flustered when I mention your so-called 'amazing' girlfriend?"

"It's not that..."

Ryuto stared at him for a bit, and then back to the participants. "You know what you have to do right?"

"Yeah. I just have to watch them all talk and develop their talents for a while, make sure nothing goes wrong so we can be ready for tonight for our own game. Sounds easy." Kei summarised his responsibilities.

"Amazing. You're the perfect guy for the job. A true...mastermind of this test, let's say." The hacker smiled again.

"What-"

Ryuto placed both of his hands over Kei's on the armrests of the chair.

"H-H-Huh...?" Kei stuttered, lifting his head up to see the boy leaning over him.

"Ha," Ryuto smirked, his face inches from Kei's. "A famous and taken guy like you getting all embarrassed and flushed so easily by a guy like me..."

"I...You-"

"What do you see in Reina?" The hacker asked bluntly.

"R-Ryuto...?"

"She's always planning dates, meeting up with you, talking about you. She's obviously in love with you, putting all her effort into your relationship. People would kill to be you, you know. Of course, you're dating but also best friends after all." He explained. "But you, Kei. You put no effort at all. You don't love her, not romantically at least. You always saw her as a friend first."

"How do you know that..."

"It's obvious. Your mind, even during dates with her, was always somewhere else...dreaming about someone else. I guess that makes me your dream come true, hm?" He grinned.

Kei had no reply to that, his face just flushing further.

"You must really not want to break that poor girl's heart..." Ryuto's hands shifted from the chair to Kei's face, his fingers first brushing the mole under his lip gently before cupping Kei's cheeks and staring into his golden eyes.

Kei's breath got caught in his throat as Ryuto's fingers formed a frame around Kei's left eye before he smiled. "Who knew you had such beautiful eyes..."

Suddenly, Ryuto thrust a fountain pen out of his pocket and lunged it towards Kei's left eye, but stopped just as it was about to hit him. "Bam!"

"H-Hey!" Kei jumped. "That's...not funny."

"Haha. Sorry, you were just sooo focused on my face!" Ryuto laughed but paused, thinking deeply before suddenly letting go of Kei and turning around, slipping the pen back into his pocket. "I gotta get going. Remember to stop the simulation before we all meet up tonight in class, alright?"

"Y-Yeah." Kei nodded, still recovering from what Ryuto had done.

"Good! I'll see you then...And have fun!"

Ryuto left the room, the door slamming behind him. Kei let out a shaky breath before glancing at the monitor, seeing all sixteen participants asleep on the bus, ready to begin.

"Fun...Yeah. I hope so."

If only he knew about the despair and calamity that was about to occur.

Maybe then Kei would have been able to stop it before anyone could've gotten killed.

-