Danganronpa Ultra Despair Hagakure

Chapter 5 [Hagakure Yasuhiro (1)]

I could see Kanon-cchi's face in front of me. She was furrowing her brow, biting her lip, tearing up... Oi oi, what's with your face... And you had it so nicely put together, too; what a waste...

...No, that's not right.

...I got it.

Kanon-cchi was strangling me.

When I became aware of that reality... Shit... My vision was becoming blurry. My consciousness was drifting further away. I was going to die if this kept up. I gotta find some way to shove Kanon-cchi off of me-but my blood wasn't flowing enough for me to even lift a finger.

I... was... gonna... soon...

Con... scious... ness... fading...

"Tarirariran~ no Konyanyachiwa~!".

Right after I thought I heard that happy-go-lucky voice, in what seemed like the next instant-my brains were crackling with oxygen after the dozens of seconds without it. From the ends of my hair to the tips of my toes, I was assaulted by the sensation of blood starting to circulate all at once. After a beat, the whiteness in my field of vision finally started clearing up.

...Huh?

From where I was lying face-up on the ground, about 9 meters from my feet, I saw a metallic orange robot. I kept blinking, thinking it must be some kind of mistake or hallucination, but, after everything I'd already been through, there was no way it would turn out not to be real.

On the robot's shoulder was the pink-haired grade school girl from the other day. I understood what had happened while I had blanked out.

That robot had blown Kanon-cchi away. So my strangling was interrupted. With a hacking cough, I moved my body. Kanon-cchi was engaged in a fight with the giant robot.

"I'm going to pay you back in full for putting me through that embarrassment!"

The giant axe, the size of a blackboard, swung down towards the crown of Kanon-cchi's head as she was slumped over the railroad tracks. When it was a hair's breadth away, she sprung back and to the right, tumbling awkwardly onto the gravel to the side of the tracks. The robot, which had been floating about one meter off the ground, heavily brought its feet down. There was a solid clunk. It started to run towards Kanon-cchi as she tumbled on the ground.

Kanon-cchi propped her upper body up with her arms. She kicked off the ground with her left foot, bounding towards the robot. She slipped through the robot's legs as it tried to trample her. The robot turned around, swinging down its large axe. Once again, Kanon-cchi avoided it by a hair's breadth-she was moving completely at the grade school girl's pace... Kanon-cchi was on the defense.

I saw that she wasn't using her hacking gun, and figured she must have fun out of bullets again somehow. Then she should just fling herself forward to challenge the enemy like she had been up until now-but, no way that would work. The grade school girl was riding on the robot's shoulder. She wasn't within a high school girl's reach. The distance between them was overwhelming.

Not to mention-Kanon-cchi's right leg might have been injured. Her movements weren't as sharp as they had been. I could clearly tell that she was dodging attacks while shielding her right leg.

...It was only a matter of time. At this rate, Kanon-cchi would definitely lose. She'd get her skull cracked open by the robot's axe, and become nothing but a futile bloodstain.

Imagining that potential future, my pores all opened as if someone ran tissue paper down my back.

I'm glad it's Kanon-cchi and not me in that position-

I wanted to die for having those despicable private thoughts.

A voice inside my head said, "Why are you taking for granted that you're just a bystander?! If you don't save her, then who will?!"

I understood that but, but-

That woman tried to kill me! I couldn't say for sure that she wouldn't try to kill me again even if I saved her! I had no obligation to save her!

"That's not what's important right now!"

...I understood. That wasn't what was important right now.

How much had I changed after graduating from Hope's Peak Academy and joining up with the Future Foundation-how much had I grown as a person-was I able to do what I needed to do-this was that kind of scene. This was that kind of story. I was Hagakure Yasuhiro, a member of the Future Foundation's 14th Division. I should run to Kanon-cchi.

But-my legs shook. My stomach cramped up. Every fiber of my body was refusing to let me run to Kanon-cchi. Almost as if I were stalling for time, I tried divining my future

In the divination, I was in despair. Kanon-cchi's corpse lay before me, and I felt utterly speechless. In real life, I had my back against the wall, shaking with my teeth chattering loudly.