Danganronpa Midnight: Lantern Lament (Fanganronpa)

Nozomu Academy Interlude 2

Kei had left his chair, mumbling frantically to himself as he paced around the room with his phone in his hands, dialling in the same number once again.

"Pick up...Just pick up already!" He muttered, looking down at his phone with clenched teeth.

This was what felt like his millionth try to get a hold of Ryuto ever since the game he thought to be innocent and fun turned out to be a complete death trap.

Deep down, he hoped this was just some glitch. There was no way Ryuto actually wanted this...right?

But...he knew that couldn't be the case.

Kei's heart fell again after the ninth ring, his hand inching to hang up. But suddenly...

"Yo...Ryuto speaking."

Kei perked up, checking his phone to see Ryuto had finally answered his desperate calls. In the background, he could hear his classmates, all sounding overjoyed and content while they await their own game to start.

"Ryuto! You-"

"Ah!" Ryuto's voice shifted. Kei could practically hear his smirk through the screen. "Well, if it isn't my favourite guy ever! I've missed your voice, you know."

Kei paused momentarily but shook his head. "No! This is no time for your...flirting."

"Aw. And here I thought you were going to confess your undying love to me." Ryuto sighed. "Then if that's not the case, what's the problem? I'm kinda busy over here."

"Y-You liar! What the fuck is wrong with you?!?" Kei yelled.

"Woah, woah woah!" Ryuto chuckled. "That doesn't answer my question at all! And for your information, if you're planning on charming me, I'm not one for insults. I like more conventional praise!"

"Stop! Just...Stop joking around!" The other boy furrowed his eyebrows. "You...You know exactly what you're doing."

"Do I? Or are you kind enough to remind me?" The hacker said.

"You clearly know. The killing game."

"...Ah. So that's what this is about." Ryuto's upbeat tone of voice vanished. Kei heard the sound of a door closing behind him as the background noise vanished, assuming he stepped into the hallway.

"You...Your talent development game is a complete joke! A lie! You're...You're a murderer with this idiotic Danganronpa copy and you know it."

"Hey, I never killed anyone," Ryuto argued, brushing off the insults. "Although...that means at least someone has died by this point, huh? Now that is a success! How is it going?"

"H-Huh?!?"

"Is everything running smoothly? Any bumps in the road?" He casually asked, more intrigued by the nature of the game than the participants themselves. "How many have died...Oh! And who killed who? I hope my executions were great. And how's Ryoko? I'm personally rooting for-"

"...You can't be serious." Kei clenched his fists. "Eight people are dead!"

"Already?!?" Ryuto laughed. "Woah, that's better than I expected from that lot. They used to be so friendly to each other over at Hope's Peak from what I observed."

"They can't even remember that! You erased their memories!" Kei reminded him.

"I had no choice. If they all knew each other, we'd have no progress. No one would have committed murder! It would just be all smiles and friendship." Ryuto defended his side of the argument.

"W-We'd have no progress?!?" Kei repeated. "No...No! This is all you. You're messed up! Tricking people...Making us make this murderous game-"

Kei paused.