Danganronpa: String Theory (DrV3)

4.23 - Out The Weed Lies

A/N: The above art is my own work and for my own use only!

⚠️ Tw/ drugs & suicide ideation ⚠️

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"Try this," Himiko says, passing me something neatly rolled up in paper. The end is wider than the mouthpiece she indicates I'm supposed to place between my lips.

The two of us are seated in the doorway of the dining hall's back exit. We're able to see out into the snowy courtyard, flakes of ice gently falling at our feet and into the doorway. It's sort of uncomfortable sitting there when the snow starts to melt underneath us, but I can't really find it in me to get up or suggest another place to move to.

As I put the rolled paper between my lips, Himiko holds up a lighter and waits until the end of the roll catches embers. Eventually I can see the smoke gently wafting off of it, far more pronounced in the super cooled air of "winter" that surrounds us.

"Inhale and hold in the smoke," she instructs, my mind too anxious ridden and foggy to ask for more specific directions. How long do I hold it? How much should I be holding in?

Who cares how long. Inhale as much as you want.

Succumbing to the carelessness brought upon by my stress, I let my mind wander for a brief moment.

Kokichi could be the one who assaulted Himiko and Tenko. Kokichi could have attempted to kill Korekiyo and me. There's something wrong with me and the cold isn't affecting me anymore, my hair bleeds and has a mind of its own, Kirumi is out and about again, there seems to be someone Korekiyo and I know wandering the halls unnoticed that my intuition can't identify, Tenko probably deservedly hates me, Kaito seems seriously ill, we're going to resurrect Kaede who might possibly end up being a doppelganger or something, and-

"Trust me, this will calm you right down...I used it all the time when I would get really nervous," Himiko insists, making me snap out of my thoughts and inhale deeply.

The smoke rakes against the inner walls of my windpipe, traveling down and tickling my throat until I pull the roll away to cough and clear it out.

"What...what even is that? It doesn't feel good at all," I ask once I'm able to speak, watching as she brings it back to her own lips. With a flick of the lighter, she inhales deeper than I have, a slow motion capitalized by the plume of smoke she exhales when she hands both things back to me.

"My magic powder. Don't worry about it too much, just enjoy it," she says, watching me as I decide whether to go in again and take another drag. At first, I only stare blankly at the roll in my hand. The next moment though, I bring it up to my lips and light the end of it myself. The second inhale is just as rough as the first, but I prescribe myself to dealing with the dryness of it as I hold in the smoke and wait.

Not just until I think it's time to exhale. I'm also waiting for Himiko to bring up the inevitable. She didn't exactly get a straight answer before, so she's bound to ask now that we're alone.

"...If I ask what's going on with you and Tenko, you'll tell me now, right? Since she's not here anymore...?"

It takes a second, but I eventually give her a nod after a few more inhales. It's grating on my throat less with each subsequent inhale I take, though I still cough when I take a particularly hard hit.

"I told her you didn't like her and...I accused her of doing the same thing Kokichi did even though I know it's not exactly the same. And when I told her that I hated her, that was a lie," I manage to say once she takes the roll and lighter, watching her expertly inhale and allow the smoke to drift out past her lips. I can tell she's waiting for me to keep going, so I do. "I also said...she and I are going to die young and lonely...and that I hoped I would die."