Danganronpa Ultra Despair Hagakure

Chapter 5 [Nakajima Kanon (2)]

On a certain day, after the first snow of the year had fallen–on the high school field now colored white, I received secret lessons from Leon-oniichan.

If I say it like that, it sounds kind of romantic, but it wasn’t really. I said that it was the first snow of the year, but it was January 1st, so it was New Year’s Day, so actually it had already been snowing lightly the day before, and also the day before that. And of course, after all is said and done, the secret lessons were just baseball pitching practice. Since I wasn’t showing any signs of improvement no matter how much time was passing, Onii-chan was going to show me the tricks of the trade. It was a pretty stupid situation, but my maidenly heart couldn’t help rearranging things to frame it in a more sparkling way, so I was still happy. It was winter break, so that means that besides the two of us, there was no one else to be found on the field.

“Okay, first I’ll give you a demonstration.”

Without even putting on a mitt–actually, he had a regular fashionable glove on instead–Onii-chan took the baseball I gave him, turned towards the net, and threw it with a bang. Getting hit with Onii-chan’s super-fastball made the net look as if it were being hit by a sudden strong gust for a while, as it continued to defy gravity.

“Heheh, pretty cool, huh?” As Onii-chan laughed, the baseball he threw finally stopped turning, and in accordance with the rules of gravity, it plopped back down to Earth. And in that moment, I understood.

Even if I spent my whole life trying, I would never be able to pitch at 160 kilometers an hour. I’d seen Onii-chan pitch at games and on the TV screen at Koshien Stadium and everything, but it really is a completely different experience seeing it up close.

“–Hey, are you crying?!”

“Eh?”

It was true.

I only then became aware of it. Tears were streaming down my cheeks.

“Wait, sorry, I don’t really get why I’m crying either…”

I put on an act like that, but it was all a lie. I knew the real reason. I realized I would never in my life win my bet against Onii-chan–but no, that wasn’t it. I was deeply moved. His pitching was so magnificent–so fast–and more than anything, so beautiful–I was moved to tears.

“I don’t really get it but ’m really sorry, c'mon, don’t cry.” Even though Onii-chan had done nothing wrong, he apologized, petting down the hair on my head. Even though really, I wanted to express my gratitude to him–thank you for showing me something so wonderful–but I was so happy at feeling his touch after so long that I couldn’t tell him the real reason behind my tears.

When I stopped crying, Onii-chan said, “Maybe we should just head back for today?”

“No, teach me how to do it. How to pitch 160 kilometers an hour.”

Even though I knew I’d never be able to pitch that fast, I wanted to take Leon-oniichan’s lessons. Every extra second of time I got to spend together with him was precious, of course, but I also just had a genuine, overflowing interest in how someone could throw such a beautiful sturdy fastball.

But I didn’t pick up even a single point from Onii-chan’s lessons.

“Uh, how should I put it, you go like this, roll your shoulders like whoosh, then bang! That’s how it should feel when you swing your arm to throw.”

“…I don’t get it at all.”

It continued for a while, not really going any better than that, and then the lessons ended for the day.

The lesson that day ended up being the last time I crossed paths with Onii-chan.

Winter break ended, so Onii-chan went back to the Hope’s Peak Academy dorms–not too long after that, “The Tragedy” began–the world rapidly changed–my baseball ability was the only thing that remained the same–

Whatever happened to him–?

Whatever happened to his feelings–?

Is this what they mean by your life flashing before your eyes–? My time with Onii-chan until now was swimming through my mind. Before I realized it, I picked up the crystal ball that Hagakure must have dropped–and threw it at Kotoko-chan, where she was sitting on the robot’s shoulder. I rolled my shoulder like whoosh, and swung my arm like bang. I really hadn’t picked up even a single point from Onii-chan’s lessons.

But–

The crystal ball I threw traveled along the same path I had imagined. It was hurtling towards the bridge of Kotoko-chan’s nose.

I knew.

It was a direct hit.

“Hwah!”

Almost as if it were one of Hagakure’s predictions, the future I had foreseen had come to pass.

The controller to the robot fell from Kotoko-chan’s hands as she took the crystal ball to the face. The robot that should have left us a red smear on the ground came to a standstill right on the verge of doing so. Above our heads, the blackboard-sized great axe stayed steady.

…This was a first.

This was the first time I was able to pitch something and have it go the way I’d imagined it.

Of course it wasn’t going at 160 kilometers per hour, but even compared against Onii-chan’s artistry, it wasn’t bad for a beginner–I wonder why? Even though the terms of my bet with Onii-chan were that I had to pitch at 160 kilometers per hour, and I didn’t succeed in that at all–and even though Onii-chan was already dead, so the bet wasn’t worth shit anymore

anyway–

Why was I happy? Why did I feel like crying?

Just as I was being overwhelmed by that kind of sentimentality, I heard, “N-Now’s our chance!” Hagakure ran towards the controller that Kotoko-chan had dropped.