Danganronpa/D4DJ One-Shots

I Know Who My First Call Will Be To

The first time Esora Shimizu's emerald eyes opened outside of Hope's Pinnacle Academy was the first time she felt like herself in a long time, but in other ways, she knew she would never be the same again. Maybe her sentence was over—or part of it, at least—but Rei and her entire unit were all dead. Monochio was slain by Shinobu, and while it was using Esora's queenly personality, of all things. It was her worst fear made manifest. She was utterly alone, and all by her own hand. No, her sentence was not over, surely. But even through the haze of trauma, disbelief, and denial, she remembered a name, a face, a boy, a friend.

Hajime Hinata... The Ultimate Corporate Manager knew who her first call would be to...

Esora wrapped her arms around Hajime from behind, resting her cheek on his back. "Esora!" He jerked forward, then turned around, embarrassed. His mismatched eyes darted away from her tired face.

"I just wanted to say... You don't have to keep punishing yourself like this. It wasn't entirely your fault, you know...?"

"Yes it was, Esora." His voice and eyes hardened. "And it was your fault too," he added grimly. She winced, stung.

I know, one part of her said. You weren't supposed to say that part out loud, argued another. I'm just trying to heal...

No matter what it looked like, not a day went by when Esora didn't regret her actions as a Despair, as Mastermind 2 of Headcatster Monochio's Killing School Transfer of Hope's Pinnacle Academy. But what could she do except use whatever power or resources she had left to right some of the wrongs she created? Hajime spoke as if she was trying to evade her guilt again, but that was not the case. They were simply self-flagellating in different ways. He spoke of imprisonment on an island, self-imposed.

"We must be exiled from society, never to return," he muttered darkly, heterochromia gaze staring off into the horizon.

"Must you?" Esora pleaded softly. Why not stay? Do as I do? Use your Talent for Hope to balance your time as a Despair!

She did not understand him. What was this talk of scapegoating? Even if someone had to take the fall to restore the Future Foundation's reputation—which felt dishonest, first of all—why did it have to be an entire class? Why not just Junko? Wasn't she the root cause anyway? It all ultimately—ha, ha—pointed back to her anyway.

Why does it have to be YOU? Esora thought glumly. She was losing another friend, one of the only other friendly faces she might ever see... And even though they'd been apart for so long, Hajime was always with Esora in her dreams. That was why she felt bitter towards him now. He was leaving her so easily, so callously. She wanted to treat him to a shoulder as cold as his heart, but with their time together short, she didn't want to make the same mistake she kept making as a Despair. Even now, I would gladly face ANY scrutiny just to keep you here with me... All this for just one hour of sunshine...

The hideous face of the Ultimate Affluent Progeny—Byakuya Togami—flashed in Esora's mind, unbidden. Yes, even him. She would endure him—starting point of all her problems—if it proved herself honest enough that Hajime could stay. If there was one thing that sickened her most of all about Byakuya, it was that in a twisted way, it was only thanks to him that she ever met Hajime to begin with.

If Byakuya hadn't made thinly veiled threats to Rei Togetsu that Esora took it upon herself to protect Rei from, Byakuya never would've retaliated such that Esora found herself facing expulsion, or demotion to the Reserve Course... It was once an out she bribed her way into, but in time, almost became something good... Hajime almost made the whole ordeal worth it all...

The Ultimate Corporate Manager inhaled deeply, reveling in Hajime's scent. "As I said in my letters, now that I know better I will never lose you again," she murmured in his ear. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand as her warm breath ghosted across his skin.

My friends tried to save me, but I wouldn't hear it, the green-haired girl thought guiltily. They watched me daily disappearing, now for just one glimpse of his smile, what WOULDN'T I do? She stared longingly up at the man in her arms. His eyes were still elsewhere. Somewhere she could not see. Even though memories of him kept her going, and she found ways to incorporate him into all that she did, it was as if she was back at the starting line in his eyes. Maybe that was her Ultimate Punishment, or part of it, at least, it total abandonment was the endgame.

She could not see where his gaze was going, but she had an inkling. Another name flashed through Esora's mind. Chiaki Nanami.

She was a girl so quiet that she was the epitome of forgettable... except by her classmates. They saw a side to her that no one else ever did. Hajime, better than anyone else, saw these other sides of the Ultimate Gamer, and fell in love with each and every one of them. While memories of him fueled Esora through her scariest, loneliest nights, Chiaki was the one who comforted him and Izuru through his guilt and grief.

Even their now-shared status as ex-Mastermind/Despair searching for forgiveness wasn't enough to make Hajime choose Esora over Chiaki. Or maybe the similarities were exactly what repelled him, just as they were what attracted her. Esora and Hajime could both be very dry, witty, sarcastic, aloof, and even a little fake, well-versed in the art of fake smiles even if their social skills weren't always the best, regardless of what one might've expected of them. Most importantly, Esora could sense that Hajime—like herself—was secretly desperate to get into Hope's Peak, but he was simultaneously embarrassed by how much he revered the school, even though he was proud of it too.

It was a complex feeling she related to precisely, and his aloofness—the alienation he felt from his peers because he believed his desire to discover a Talent was more intense than theirs—was also something Esora related to. In Hajime, she saw a kindred spirit, even a soulmate. In her, he saw just a friend. He rested a hand on hers as she continued to rest against his back. Her emerald eyes drifted shut to hold in tears. She knew he wouldn't change his mind about leaving for Jabberwock with the rest of 77-B. The best and only comfort he could offer now was a hand-squeeze.

The scene slowly shifted, melting away to the park where Esora and Hajime used to sit on children's swings.

Wearing imaginary rings, Esora thought, looking at their hands side by side on their respective swing' ropes. Her heart twisted again, another well-deserved reminder of her Ultimate Punishment. Mismatched eyes met hers. Unlike Esora's gaze, Hajime was lucky in that his seemed full of peace, acceptance, and understanding. Esora envied him bitterly, but his calm, kind gaze was reassuring.

Someday you will find your answers too. Just give it time. Time and trust.

It was a hard thing to hear, let alone accept, but rather than protest, the Ultimate Corporate Manager forced herself to swallow her arguments and nod, breathing slowly and deliberately.

It's gonna be alright, I did my time... Even if she was at the starting line, it was deserved, and she would find a way to the finish line again somehow, even if it was different than finish lines of the past... But for now, it was just her and Hajime, just one hour of sunshine. It was everything Esora ever wanted... Slowly, a smile spread across the green-haired girl's face for the first time in longer than she could remember.

AN: Randomly got inspired to write out an AU ending I had bc Esora survived the Killing School Transfer in an earlier draft, and I wound up shipping her with Hajime bc of the backstory I gave her where she was moved to the Reserve Course as punishment (being framed by Byakuya for something due to their "Rich Guy" rivalry). In this AU, she and Hiiro were the only 2 Despairs that survived their Game.

Also inspired by Taylor Swift's "Fresh Out The Slammer".