danganronpa - deluded | fanganronpa

[ chapter 3 - rei t-poses on kouta (not clickbait) ]

i listened to africa by toto as i wrote this

-

Akira's night was plagued with vivid imagery - the bright, all-too-cheerful colors, the broken surfboard - the sounds of choked goodbyes and apologies.

It was still dark out, but she was still awake. Running a hand through her hair, she sighed shakily and looked at her fingers - shaking with fatigue and shock. She could hardly even register what she was doing anymore.

She looked to her side and noticed a single piece of paper and a dull pencil. Hoggokuma must've given one to everyone.

Akira walked over, struggling not to trip over herself as she moved, almost like a zombie. She didn't even feel in control of her actions - almost like her brain and her body were two separate entities.

She picked up the pencil, afraid that nobody would even be able to read it, and started to write.

She fell asleep before she could even finish the first sentence, leaving an eerie message of:

' to anyone able to find this

hope's peak is a hellhole '

-

ZZT! ZZT!

"Get up, losers! It's gonna be another fun day of killin' and shit, you hear?!"

ZZT! ZZT!

She groaned, putting a hand up to her throbbing forehead. The pencil had been pushing into her cheek all night, leaving a giant red mark. Whatever she was writing was smudged beyond repair by the drool that had fallen out of her mouth while she slept. 

How long was I out...?

She stood up and wiped her chin. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep for, but chances are people were waiting for her in the dining hall.

Is it even worth going?

They're all going to die. No matter what we do.

She shook the thought away and left, making sure to slam the door as she went.

-

Some people were missing when she arrived, but mostly everyone was there.

"Morning, Akira..." Chiemi murmured quietly, head in hands. She sighed. "Hope you enjoy depressing mornings."

"...Where's Mioko?" Akira asked as she took an empty seat next to Rei, who glanced over and nodded a hello.

"Trying to convince Raizo to come out of his room." Chiemi explained. "He didn't show up, so she got super worried and ran off to find him."

"Oh." Right. That was probably no good.

"This is why making friends is fucking stupid," Naoki hissed, "when you make friends, they die, and this happens. It doesn't help people ' grow ', that's a joke. It just makes everyone sad and then people mistake it for character development."

"You're so misinformed," Mutsumi shot back. She looked tired, but for her, it seemed impossible to be pessimistic. "Making friends does help people grow. Look at all of us - we're able to bond over similar experiences. I agree it's terrible that the four of them are gone now, but that's no reason to mope around. In fact, I say all of you gotta do some exercise to warm up your minds for the future!"

Obokata chuckled to himself. "There she goes. I don't think anyone here's gonna want to do exercise."

"Speak for yourself!" Kouta shot back. He wasn't wearing the ice pack anymore, so Akira couldn't help but feel a bit of relief. "I'm totally ready! My burn's healed and I'm pumped up! Rei's gonna come with me, right?"