"Our Community" Danganronpa X The Last Man on Earth

The Ultimate Child Caregiver

"Your here... You are really here." The woman stated in utter disbelief.

I rushed to give the woman a hug, and she wrapped her arms around me... Maybe a little tightly, but why should I even care about how tight she hugs me? There's another survivor, and another person to befriend. 

That is when I saw Kaede who jumped in joy when she saw the new girl, and she excitedly joined the hug. 

"Wait there are two of you... Wow... This is like a new beginning." She confessed, and we were happy to have another member join our group of survivors. 

After we all celebrated the uniting of our three parties. We decided to leave this city, and I and Kaede gave each other an understanding nod. Maybe even a telepathic conversation in a way that we would leave the building alone. But for some reason the next time I saw it the skyscraper was completely demolished...

The drive was only ten minutes, and I honestly felt much safer driving back home without any c4 in the back of my van. Well, it wasn't originally my van but I didn't want to explode into a thousand pieces! The human race wouldn't thank me for that. 

"Say, I didn't catch your name," I asked Maki as we departed the abandoned city. 

"I'm Maki... Maki Harukawa and I am the ultimate a- child caregiver." Maki introduced herself, but what was with that stutter?

"You are an ultimate as well Maki!? I am Kaede Akamatsu, the ultimate pianist and Shuichi is the ultimate detective. What a coincidence!" Kaede effused, and it was like we were specifically selected to survive or something...

"I mean having an ultimate talent doesn't really mean much. Besides I didn't really have a choice." Maki confessed, and I frowned at her comment.

I enjoyed having an ultimate talent. I loved solving cases and putting the right people behind bars. It may not have a lasting impact, but when the world was still around I felt honored to have left such a great mark when people were still around. 

I didn't know why Maki didn't appreciate her talent. I mean she didn't become the ultimate child caregiver for no reason. She had to love what she did, and I had no clue why she is saying she didn't have a choice. 

"Maki... Your watching kids... Anyone can watch kids, but you have a talent. I don't know how those kids were, but they probably loved you! I'm sure if you ever wanted a break from it they would of understood." I explained to Maki.

"... Yeah I don't know why I didn't think of that..." Maki trembled, and I could sense a weird atmosphere in the vehicle. 

That is when Kaede decided to change the topic of the conversation. 

"Maki where did you come from? How did you even find us?" Kaede asked her.

If anyone could break the ice here it was Kaede, and one of the reasons why I fell in love with her was that she could easily transform a negative situation into a positive one. However this time it was different.

"Before the apocalypse, I lived in an orphanage with all the other kids. My parents abandoned me when I was only a baby. I don't know why no one wanted me, but if you were in their situation you would pick the outgoing and bright kid. Not the sad girl in the back playing with her extraordinarily long hair." Maki explained with sadness in her voice, and Kaede snuck a worried glance into my direction. 

"I am so sorry Maki. You deserve all the love in the world, and believe me when we get back home we will never leave your side. In a way, we may be the parents you never had." Kaede said trying to uplift Maki's spirits.

"Why should I believe that? I b-barely know both of you, and I could e-easily lose both of you..." Maki stammered, and Kaede looked like she wasn't dealing with this situation as well as she imagined. 

"Maki we are the last people on earth. No one is going to take us away from you, and I promise you that we won't let you out of our sight." Kaede tried to calm Maki down, but it didn't help the situation. 

"Those are just words, Kaede. That's all they are so far, and I don't know if I can believe them." Maki said to both of us, and the final few minutes of the ride home felt very tense.

No one could get the cold atmosphere out of this van, and no one had the guts to say another word. Kaede didn't even hum to the music in her AirPods because she seemed so stressed out after that conversation. All the triumph and rejoice from finding Maki was ripped out of the ballpark, and I and Kaede felt a bit uncomfortable as well. 

It only took us a few more minutes to get back to our little community at the top of the mountain with the cul da sac with the mini-mansions. 

"We made it!" I said in happiness and a bit of relief that this strained climate was going to go away for now. 

"So which of these homes are free?" 

"Uh... All of them except the black house and the one with a piano on the balcony." I said to Maki, and she stormed away from the van in annoyance. 

I wish we didn't question her like that and maybe things would have turned out differently.

"Kaede what are we going to do now? We ruined our potential friendship with the only other surviving person on the face of the planet." I asked Kaede, and she didn't seem to have much of an optimistic response to your statement. 

"I don't really know Shuichi. We may have reawoken some unresolved issues from Maki's past. The only thing I can tell you is to just wait for her to open up to us. She may be upset from all of the questions we asked her, but we didn't know about all of that stuff. It wasn't our fault. Maki was just caught up in a series of unfortunate events."

"I know Kaede, but what if she never opens up to us?"

"I want to say something positive that would cheer you up, but I can only hope at this point." 

Almost on cue, I saw into Maki's window, and between the blinds, I think I could see a wide frown on her face. 

I had to make things right no matter how long it took. It was just the three of us, and we couldn't afford to let Maki detach herself from us. We were the only people that could help her, and I wanted to make things right with her and maybe we can finally befriend her... I could only counsel Kaede, and make her realize that this wasn't the end of our time with Maki.

This was only the beginning.