Hopeful Blacksmith (Danganronpa 1 x OC)

Chapter 17: The New Kiyotaka...?

I was working on my new weapon when I heard a knock on my door. I wondered who it could be, so I opened the door. Standing there in a dazed state was Taka, almost staring past me with blown-out eyes.

"Taka...! Is there something wrong...?", I asked with a worried tone.

"... Is it true? Can I really... see Chihiro?", Taka muttered.

"You mean Alter Ego...?", I questioned.

"He's... still alive?", Taka asked, a glimmer of hope in his eyes for a split second. I sighed, I didn't want to hurt him any further, but he needs to snap out of it.

"No, he's... dead, Taka. The one you're mentioning is a program made by Chihiro...", I explained.

"Let me see... I want to... talk to him...", Taka requested, a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Taka...", I let out a frustrated sigh. Kyoko said not to use Alter Ego, but with how Taka was now... How could I say no? "Okay, let's go together.", Taka stayed silent, but he nodded in acknowledgment. I led Taka to the bathhouse, opening the locker where Alter Ego rested. Taka stared at the blank computer, not doing much. I cleared my throat and stood next to Taka. "Okay, um... *ahem* this laptop stays in this locker. On the laptop has a program to talk to Alter Ego, understand?"

"How do I... talk to him?", Taka asked quietly.

"Well, you just tell me what you want to say, and I'll type it in for you.", I explained. Taka turned to me and asked me to type something that almost made me collapse in tears.

"... Do you... hate Mondo? And since I couldn't stop him... do you hate me?", Taka's voice was so weak it hurt. It was like the words crawled out of his throat by force, from the darkest depths of his heart.

"T-Taka...", I whispered, wanting to comfort him but not knowing how.

"...Please.", Taka pleaded, and I simply nodded. I turned on the program and typed out the words. Alter Ego flashed on screen, a look of worry in his eyes.

"...Do you hold yourself responsible...? If Master could talk now, I think this is what he would say... Please, live your life for the both of us. It's impossible for me now, but you can still survive and escape—all of you.", Alter Ego pleaded, making my heart wrench. Taka was silent, staring at the screen with the same blank face of his.

"Taka...", I wanted to say something, but the words dissipated in my throat.

"The one asking those questions is... Taka, right? Analyzing all available data, that's the only conclusion I can come to. Master told me how close Taka and Mondo had become. So that must be why he feels responsible...", the screen suddenly went black, making me panic for a second. But the screen flashed on again and I gasped audibly; On the screen was a perfect replica of Mondo, his signature scowl on his face. Mondo began talking to Taka. "You're not letting yourself get crushed under the weight of that responsibility, are you!?"

"Gh--!", Taka inhaled a sharp breath, staring at the screen with the first strong emotion in his eyes. I couldn't decipher it, but it was there.

"A man's only worth as much as the load he can carry! You get it, right bro? Hell, what am I saying? Of course, ya do!", Alter-Mondo lectured. Taka was struck silent, which was understandable.

"M-Mondo... That was Mondo...", I whispered to myself, a hand over my mouth in overwhelming surprise. Alter Ego switched to Chihiro with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry if I startled you... That was my attempt at a simulation, using the data about Mondo that Master had given me. I figured if Taka was depressed, that's the kind of thing Mondo would have said to him...", Alter Ego switched to Mondo again. "So, you're just gonna stand there, huh? Just wait for things to get better? Just take your time and get all depressed... Take the time to indulge your regrets... You might even start walking again without realizing it. Sure, that kind of mediocre thinking might work for some people.", another switch. "... What if I said it with that kind of condescending tone!?", all this sounded so weird to me. I didn't know what to think with all these switches of tone. I turned towards Taka in surprise when I heard him... laugh.

"Hehe... Hahaha...", His laugh sounded... broken, yet hopeful again.

"Taka...?", I mumbled, watching Taka clench his fist with a proud smile. He almost looked like he was... glowing?

"It's starting to sink in... The way a bucketful of water sinks into a bone-dry sponge...", Taka started to glow even brighter, scaring me as I took a step backward. "Those words... Deep within my heart...! They're inside of me!", Taka let out a battle cry, the glowing turning his hair WHITE, his eyes having the same intensity as the late biker gang leader as they glowed bright red, and his overall demeaner... It was the same. It was like Taka took Mondo's aura and fused it with his passion.

"W-What the hell!? T-Taka!?", I gasped, falling to the ground in fear and surprise.

"Who the fudge is Taka!?", Taka asked with a smirk, the glowing in his eyes flaring when his eyes set on me.

"Y-You... Your eyes... Your hair...! W-What...?", I stuttered, my head spinning with what I saw in front of me.

"Hey, don't worry about it! I guess I caused kind of a scene, huh? Shoot, man...", I just realized his voice was... mixed with Mondo's, which just confused me even more.

"H-How did you do that!?", I gasped.

"I'm... a new me... Hraaah! I'm totally stuffed with fighting spirit now! Ya dumbbutt!", Taka yelled. I didn't even think about Taka (kind of) cussing at me, as I shakily got up to calm him down.

"Taka, j-just calm down for me, okay?", I urged.

"I AM calm! And don't call me Taka! That's... that's not my name anymore... I'm... me! I! Am! Meeeeeee!", with that battle cry, Taka(?) ran out of the bathhouse with full force, making me fall flat on my butt.

"T-Taka!!", I called, but he didn't even spare me a glance. Just as I was about to run after him, someone came into my view that sent a shiver down my spine; Kyoko. Great, just who I wanted to see to whoop me. Kyoko walked in with her glare fixed on me.

"What do you think you're doing?", Kyoko asked with ice in her tone.

"K-Kyoko! Uh, I-I can explain...!", I stuttered with a nervous smile.

"Don't go around doing whatever you feel like. It causes problems. And not just for me. For everyone.", Kyoko scolded me, her frown evident. I sighed and twirled my knife in my hand.

"I-I'm sorry...", I mumbled.

"If you're really sorry, you'll get out of here. Now.", Kyoko sighed and pointed at the door. I looked down and nodded, muttering another sorry before running out of the room, embarrassed and confused.

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MONOKUMA THEATER!

- You wanna know why I hate video games? You might not believe this, but I had a best friend once. Actually, he was my *only* friend. But unlike me, he had all kinds of friends. So me and him were at his house one day, when a big group of guys showed up to hang out. They'd just bought the latest big-budget video game. They sat there lost in the game, passing the controller back and forth, for hours. But not me... I just sat there watching. That's right, I just watched! What's wrong with that!? I didn't care! Just by watching, I was able to nail down all the best strategies! Even though I never actually played it! And I don't plan on ever playing it in future, either!

END OF MONOKUMA THEATER!
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CHAPTER 17, END!

✋︎ 🕈︎⚐︎☠︎👎︎☜︎☼︎ ✋︎☞︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ☟︎☜︎☼︎ ✌︎☼︎☜︎ ⚐︎☠︎☜︎ ✌︎💧︎ 🕈︎☜︎☹︎☹︎✍︎

(A/N: I'm making the chapters shorter since it's hard making long chapters ack. Hope you guys don't mind, I'll be able to post more frequently like this :3)