Phantom Thieves of Hope - A Danganronpa X Persona 5 Story.

Chapter 101: Parental Issues

Beautiful Ruin - Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

"I see...I had no idea that had happened," Kyoko said, crossing her arms. "So Monomi has deserted the Phantom Thieves...That's troubling."

"Mgh! She hasn't deserted anybody!" Chiaki pouted angrily. "She's just...she's gone on a personal break, and we haven't been able to contact her."

"If you can't contact her, and she's intentionally avoiding you, how is that not deserting?" Kyoko pointed out. "She left you all by yourselves while she goes to chase those leads on her own. I give her credit for being mature enough not to jeopardize the current mission, but she is still deserting."

"No! It's not like that!" Chiaki insisted. "She said she'll come back once we get closer to finding a way out, and she promised us that she wouldn't stop us from carrying out our mission. She's just letting us grow on our own."

Kyoko sighed, shaking her head.

"Whatever you say," she relented. "I don't understand her reasoning, but I'll take your word for it."

Chiaki sighed and nodded.

"If you trust Monomi to handle the situation, I won't interfere or butt in," Kyoko promised. "But I am curious about one thing. How come you're the one delivering this news and not Makoto?"

"Would you prefer Makoto delivered it to you?" Chiaki asked.

"I didn't say that," Kyoko stated. "I just don't see why it had to be you, of all people."

"Well, if it helps, Makoto is busy doing other stuff at the moment," Chiaki explained. "I just offered to give you this info because I had the chance to. Also...I was kind of hoping I could borrow you for something. I kind of need your help."

Kyoko curiously raised an eyebrow.

"My help? With what?" she asked.

Instead of replying, Chiaki took off her backpack, reached into it, and pulled out a handful of what appeared to be flyers. She hesitated for a moment, her gaze flitting to the flyer before she extended it.

"With this," she answered, handing the flyer to Kyoko, "if you're not too busy."

Kyoko took the flyer and scanned it quickly. Her eyes narrowed.

"An arcade exhibit for the school festival?" she raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued.

"Uh-huh," Chiaki nodded, a passive gaze in her eyes. "It's been hard to keep track of everything since we've been so focused on our Phantom Thief work, but the school festival is coming up in a few weeks, on top of our practical exams. I think it's largely the reason why Ashikawa wanted to enforce the lockdown at the time he designated. We've managed to keep his eyes trained on us with our preparations for the festival."

"I see...I've been too busy with work, so I haven't been keeping track," Kyoko admitted. "And since I've been spending most of my free time outside of class investigating the Committee, I haven't been paying much attention to the goings-on in the school besides them."

"Well, you were there for last year's exhibit, right?" Chiaki recalled. "Most of the exhibits for the newer students are sort of general school stuff that even the Reserve Course has been helping out with. But for upperclassmen, they usually create their own exhibits to show off their Ultimate talents."

"And being the Ultimate Gamer, yours is an arcade," Kyoko summarized. "Understandable. And the fact that your parents are game developers would assist in the production of such an exhibit. But what exactly do you need my help with?"